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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson
Reiner Remembered As Champion For Progressive Causes; New Videos Released Amid Manhunt For Brown Univ. Shooter; FBI Arrests Four In Alleged California Bomb Plot; Documentary explores what Govt. Knows About UAP Activity; Film Shines Light on Evidence of Non-Human Intelligent Life; Interview with "The Age of Disclosure" Director Dan Farah; Police Early Indications Bondi Beach Shooting Inspired by Islamic State; Lawsuit Challenges California's Congressional Redistricting; Interview with State Assemblyman David Tangipa (R-CA). Aired 1-2a ET
Aired December 16, 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: Get your tickets. That's it for this hour of The Story Is. A lot of news in the next hour of The Story Is which starts right now.
The Story Is Rob Reiner and his wife murdered. We're at the crime scene with "Entertainment Tonight's" Kevin Frazier learning new details about Reiner's son, who police believe carried out the attack. Plus, how Reiner helped make gay marriage a reality in California.
The Story Is a massive manhunt in Rhode Island. The person police are looking for they believe is connected to a deadly shooting at Brown University. The Story Is age of disclosure.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The American people are ready to receive the truth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Director of the best-selling documentary in Amazon history is here on set with evidence that we are not alone in the universe and the government knows all about it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Los Angeles, "The Story Is with Elex Michelson."
MICHAELSON: Welcome to The Story Is. I'm Elex Michaelson. We're following several big breaking stories right now. We begin with the investigation in the deaths of Rob Reiner and his wife Michele. The LAPD says that the couple's son, Nick Reiner is, quote, "responsible for those deaths."
The 32-year-old is being held without bail. His case will be presented to the LA County DA on Tuesday. A source familiar with the incident recalls seeing Rob Reiner having an argument with his son at Conan O'Brien's Christmas party in LA on Saturday. We've learned that the couple's daughter was the person who discovered her parents dead at their Brentwood home the following day.
Earlier, just outside that home, I spoke with the host of "Entertainment Tonight," Kevin Frazier.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Kevin Frazier of "Entertainment Tonight" such a sad, sad story. What do we know about the relationship between Rob and Nick?
KEVIN FRAZIER, HOST, "ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT": We know that it has been troubled quite some time and that Nick spent time homeless when his family was giving him kind of the tough love treatment that, you know, he had been to rehab more than a dozen times. He admitted that it was 17 times on a podcast once, but that there were attempts over and over and over again to make his life better. And that you look back at the two of them making that movie about Charlie together. Nick wrote most of that movie and Rob said he deferred to his child. He -- you -- he clearly wanted his child to succeed.
And clearly in the end, it was just, it could never work out.
MICHAELSON: And you've also talked about the fact that his other brother, his older brother Jake --
FRAZIER: Yes.
MICHAELSON: -- is somebody that he was kind of constantly striving to compete with.
FRAZIER: Sure, Jake, very successful. And you have to remember Nick, not a high school graduate, not a college graduate. Meanwhile, you have to watch your brother who has this great bond with your father, in Nick's words. And he didn't have a great bond.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
FRAZIER: He watches his brother succeed.
MICHAELSON: And his brother had worked in the news business, somebody --
FRAZIER: Yes.
MICHAELSON: -- that we've known and also as an actor director --
FRAZIER: For so long. Yes.
MICHAELSON: -- himself. Meanwhile, just in terms of Rob Reiner and his legacy, I mean, the amount of things that he did well.
FRAZIER: And we have to go back to, you know, for many of us, where it started on all in the family. MICHAELSON: Right.
FRAZIER: One of the most popular shows of all time.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
FRAZIER: And if you want to talk about a sparring partner for Carroll O'Connor on camera, it's was Rob. His Michael Meathead Stivic was a one of those iconic characters in T.V. history. And then he shifts gears and becomes this prolific director. And if you think about all the great rom coms, I mean, Harry Mansell, the American president, but also --
MICHAELSON: Yes.
FRAZIER: -- the movies of substance he did like "Ghosts of Mississippi" --
MICHAELSON: Yes.
FRAZIER: -- that brought the story of Medgar Evers to so many people that didn't know that story. And "A Few Good Men," which he was nominated for. He has been great. And he just did "Spinal Tap 2." Really, "Spinal Tap 1" was the thing that set it all off --
MICHAELSON: Right.
FRAZIER: -- as a director for him.
MICHAELSON: And "Spinal Tap 2" so, so --
FRAZIER: Yes.
MICHAELSON: -- funny. Available streaming now --
FRAZIER: Right not.
MICHAELSON: -- as well. What a legacy. And so, so sad.
FRAZIER: It is a sad day and we lost a piece of Hollywood royalty. Remember this house before it belonged to him, belonged to Norman Lear. Norman Lear sold him this house. So --
MICHAELSON: Man responsible for all the family --
FRAZIER: All the family.
MICHAELSON: -- who you calls a second father.
FRAZIER: Yes.
MICHAELSON: And speaking of royalty, of course, his own father --
FRAZIER: Exactly.
MICHAELSON: -- Hollywood royalty. FRAZIER: Carl.
MICHAELSON: Carl Reiner as well.
FRAZIER: Yes. So there are so many connections and it is a very sad day here in this city.
MICHAELSON: Thank you for taking a moment to talk with us about it. Appreciate it. Kevin Frazier, you can check him out, of course, every night on "Entertainment Tonight."
ROB REINER, AMERICAN FILM DIRECTOR: We have one group of people living in this country that are living as second class citizens. And it's just not what the Founding Fathers envisioned. We talk about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for everyone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: That was Rob Reiner in 2010 speaking out in opposition to Proposition 8, which banned same sex marriage in California. Two years earlier, Reiner started the American Foundation for Equal Rights. He was a vocal supporter of a number of progressive causes, including higher taxes on the richest Californians to help fund childhood development services, taxing tobacco in order to pay for early childhood education. I spoke with Governor Gavin Newsom earlier today and asked him for his thoughts about Reiner.
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GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM, (D) CALIFORNIA: I was -- I was on a zoom with the Reiners just a few weeks back and had this wonderful conversation comparing notes. And, you know, I was just reminded about how consistent they've been, how constant they've been, and the cause of not just protecting democracy, but promoting wellbeing, social justice, racial justice, economic justice. When, Elex, I was out there feeling a little alone, doing same sex marriage in 2004, it was Rob who reached out. It's how I got to know him, saying he had my back at a time when a lot of members of my own party, the Democratic Party, didn't.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Paul Katami and Jeff Zarrillo were plaintiffs in the case that legalized same sex marriage in California, a case largely funded by Rob Reiner.
Jeff, Paul, welcome. So sorry for your loss.
PAUL KATAMI, PLAINTIFF, HOLLINGSWORTH V. PERRY: Thank you, Elex.
JEFF ZARRILLO, PLAINTIFF, HOLLINGSWORTH V. PERRY: Thank you.
MICHAELSON: Talk to us about Rob Reiner or how important he was to your case.
KATAMI: He was a champion to us. Not only is he a hero in the entertainment industry, he's a hero on making sure that our community was represented, that Jeff and I could be married. We actually said this yesterday in the disbelief of what's happening that I don't believe that we'd be married without him. He was the first one to step up. And he and Michele didn't just support us, they supported us and our foundation.
They supported the cause. They put their money and their stand out there for us and it made all the difference in the world.
MICHAELSON: I mean, literally the first person to write a check, right?
ZARRILLO: Yes, he was. He wrote the first check and was a prolific fundraiser and a prolific supporter of this cause. He believed, just like Michele believed, that if we were not -- if not every citizen was free, then no one was free. And he believed passionately in the right for Paul and I and our co plaintiffs, Chris and Sandy, to get married and all the thousands of couples that have gotten married since.
MICHAELSON: As we think about how much the politics has changed since that moment. But back then, a lot of the only people that did that either were gay themselves or had like a gay kid. But Rob Reiner did this because he felt like it was the right thing to do.
KATAMI: He did. And he also had gay people and lesbian people and trans people in his life.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
KATAMI: So he understood the plight. He knew the cause needed someone that had a platform and that can make a difference. And as we know, he was outspoken and gregarious and smart and he was able to understand that this was the time for us to make moves in terms of equality.
MICHAELSON: What did you learn from him, working with him so closely?
ZARRILLO: You know, Rob and I have. You know, we texted a lot because were big political junkies. We're big JFK fans. What I learned from Rob is when you have a platform, you should use it, and you should take every natural step along with Michele to protect the citizens of our country. Chad Griffin said it well today in his statement, today, democracy doesn't defend itself, right?
You need to be out there defending democracy. And for ordinary citizens like Paul and I, who didn't necessarily have the means or the platform to bring a case like this, Rob was -- and Michele were so passionate about doing it with us.
MICHAELSON: Talk to us about Michele, because so much attention is being put on Rob. But let's hear Michele's story.
KATAMI: Michele is a powerhouse of love and a powerhouse in a way you wouldn't want to get in her way. If she had her mind set on something, she made sure of it. I'll never forget one of the first times that we sat in their home for dinner, and she said, if you're sitting at a table in my house, there's only one conversation at a time. She wanted to make sure that if you were speaking, your voice was heard, that you were respected, and that whatever you were saying was the most important thing in that moment. And that was so exemplary of who they were as people.
They wanted everyone to have a chance to use their voice and to be represented.
MICHAELSON: How are you processing this, which happens so suddenly out of nowhere?
ZARRILLO: I'm not sure we've processed it yet, and I'm not sure many people in Rob and Michel's orbit have processed it yet, and it's going to take some time. Our hearts are broken for those who loved him, Jake and Romy and all of us and part of the American foundation for Equal Rights family. We truly became a family with Rob and Michel at the helm of this organization, really helping drive the change. And we will miss them. We will think about them.
But we constantly were talking today about how do we keep them alive in our lives and the lives of the LGBT community and America as a whole. Because I think Rob and Michele, at the end of the day, while they were prolific in Hollywood, prolific producers, I think one of their most important roles, if not their most important role, was the role of citizen.
MICHAELSON: Yes. And for so many different causes, not just the cause that you're talking about --
KATAMI: Right.
[01:10:00]
MICHAELSON: -- as well. And you kind of figured he would be around close to forever. I mean, his dad --
KATAMI: Yes.
MICHAELSON: -- lived into his late 90s. Mel Brooks still going in his 90s --
KATAMI: Right.
MICHAELSON: -- his dad's best friend and --
KATAMI: Yes.
MICHAELSON: -- this thought of him being gone is hard to imagine.
KATAMI: You just wish that this isn't reality. I believe that their real life impact is not in the past tense, though. I mean, it still lives in every movie theater that will show his art. It's on every television screen. It's in the communities that helped. It's in our marriage. And so I think it's our chance now to just take that courageousness that they gave us, that he and Michele so generously gave to us and continue it forward.
MICHAELSON: Last question, favorite Rob Reiner movie.
KATAMI: This one's easy for me. It is "A Princess Bride" for sure.
MICHAELSON: OK.
ZARRILLO: I once recited the last five minutes of "A Few Good Men" with Jack Nicholson to Rob at a dinner table, and he -- and he applauded me. So without a doubt.
KATAMI: Verbatim, mind you.
MICHAELSON: What was that like?
ZARRILLO: That was incredible because he didn't believe I could do it.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
ZARRILLO: And I did it in front of you and in front of Michele. And then he -- then he clapped. But --
KATAMI: Yes.
ZARRILLO: -- we will miss them dearly.
KATAMI: If I may as well?
MICHAELSON: Yes.
KATAMI: Rob told us a story personally about "When Harry Met Sally."
MICHAELSON: Yes.
KATAMI: And he said that ending was not the original ending.
MICHAELSON: Right.
KATAMI: I don't know if a lot of people know this story, but Michele changed the ending of that story because he didn't think he'd ever find someone to love the way that she loved him. And so he actually changed the end of "When Harry Met Sally" for her. And I think it's just a beautiful tribute to their love and who they are and how they live their lives.
MICHAELSON: Well, Jeff, Paul, it is great to see you guys. I remember covering you guys at the Supreme Court all those years ago. I remember seeing Rob at so many different events as well.
KATAMI: Right. Oh, yes.
MICHAELSON: And all these years later, it's great to see the two of you happy and to know that they lived such a happy life together for so many years as well. Thank you so much.
ZARRILLO: Thank you.
KATAMI: Thanks for having us.
MICHAELSON: Authorities say they are making steady progress following new leads in their search for the gunman who targeted Brown University, killing two students and injuring nine others. Law enforcement released these new surveillance videos of person they want to identify. They're appealing to the public for any information that may help their investigation. Kind of hard to see based off those videos. But more than two days after the shooting and with no one in custody, some patience is running thin.
CNN's Leigh Waldman has more from Providence, Rhode Island.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEIGH WALDMAN, CNN REPORTER (voice-over): The manhunt intensifying for the gunman who opened fire at Brown University on Saturday.
CHIEF OSCAR L. PEREZ JR., PROVIDENCE POLICE DEPARTMENT: We're asking for the public assistance in identifying this individual.
WALDMAN (voice-over): Authorities releasing new videos to the public tonight showing three new angles of a person of walking through Providence in the hours before the shooting. A new poster released by the FBI with the images describing the suspect as approximately 5'8 with a stocky build. The FBI also offering a $50,000 reward for information.
TED DOCKS, SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE, BOSTON FBI FIELD OFFICE: It's painstaking work and we are asking the public to be patient as we continue to run down every lead so we can get victims, survivors and their families and all of you the answers you deserve.
WALDMAN (voice-over): FBI teams seen searching for evidence today in Providence going door to door asking residents for any video that may help in the investigation.
REF BARI, STUDENT AT BROWN UNIVERSITY: I suddenly heard this pop, pop, pop, pop seven or eight like pop sounds.
WALDMAN (voice-over): The shooting began around 4:00 p.m. Saturday afternoon in the Boris and Holly building on Brown's campus. The first 911 calls were reported shortly after 4:05 p.m. according to the mayor's office. The reality of the event setting in on the campus as gunshots rang out. The University issued its first emergency alert about an active shooter at 4:22 p.m. terrified students took cover on campus. Law enforcement cleared university buildings and the campus remained on lockdown throughout the evening.
The shooting left two students dead. Eighteen-year-old MukhammadAziz Umuzokov described as incredibly kind, funny and smart by family members. And Ella Cook, vice president of the Brown University College Republicans. Nine others were hurt. Classes and exams for the rest of the semester have been canceled.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am pretty spooked. We're pretty shaken up.
WALDMAN (voice-over): A person of interest in the shooting was questioned and released Sunday night and cleared in the investigation. Now the community is on edge as a killer considered armed and dangerous remains on the loose.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is no real sense of safety.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: Joining me now is retired FBI Special Agent Bobby Chacon.
Bobby, thanks so much for being with us. Knowing what you know about the way investigations work, what's really going on right now?
BOBBY CHACON, RETIRED FBI SPECIAL AGENT: Well, I think they're scrambling on several fronts. The first one is the video. All these videos are coming in. They've got to vet them. They can't just push them out to the public without knowing if they're real.
We've all seen this now on the Internet with specifically with AI. People actually do create fake videos and try to push them in for whatever motive, I don't know. But so they're getting video in. They've got to pour over it, making sure it's the person they're interested in. It matches the one that they've already put out and then push out more video.
[01:15:10]
That's what they're trying to do now. And so they're getting the video in, they're vetting it, then they're enhancing it if they have to, if they can. And then they're pushing -- they'll be pushing more video out. But that's one of the processes that's very labor intensive. And they're probably getting a good volume of that video from different people that are sending it in, or they're going door to door and finding ring doorbell cameras.
It's not an immediate process. You've got to look at the video, you've got to enhance it if you can, you've got to vet it to make sure it's legitimate and it's the person that you're interested in and then you can release it.
The other thing they're doing is they're interviewing people that are in that classroom. The number one -- the number one thing for me to know is who is the first person shot in the classroom? Because if this was a targeted attack, once the gunman entered that classroom, he would have shot the person he intended to kill first. And so you're trying to interview people that are injured, people that are in a hospital, they could have critical injuries. So we're only in Monday and this happened Saturday afternoon.
So all day Sunday they were probably getting medical treatment and things like that. So they're interviewing the people that were inside the classroom to find out who the gunman went after first. And that's going to give you motivation, and motivation could lead you to the suspect.
MICHAELSON: How do you sort of balance what to release and what not to release publicly? You know, do you risk tipping somebody off if you -- if you release something publicly? Do you risk the idea of having a bunch of leads that really don't go anywhere?
CHACON: You absolutely do risk that, Elex. And you know, there was only two criteria that I would be in favor of releasing any information from my investigations. Number one always is top is public safety. If releasing this information makes the public more safe, legitimately more safe, then release it. The other thing is, the second criteria is if it has a strategic benefit to the investigation, if it will cause the perpetrator to move or to do something that will smoke them out and we can capture them.
And so those are the two criteria that I used to use. So if there's a legitimate, now a legitimate public safety concern, release it. Or if not, hold on to it. Or if it can serve the investigation, release it. So right now they're releasing things because the public can help identify this person.
So that's a strategic benefit to the investigation. And so those -- so oftentimes you're right, though. I would hold onto things if I thought I was on to the person, onto the right person. I didn't want to spook them. I didn't want them leaving town, I didn't want them leaving the country.
So you hold that close to the vest if you think you can close in on the person without the public's help. Now, if you need the public's help, of course, you push that stuff out to the public.
MICHAELSON: Meanwhile, a nice win for the FBI and for local law enforcement here in Southern California today, an announcement of an arrest of four different people that they believe were intending to do an attack on New Year's Eve in Southern California. Your takeaway from the fact that they were able to bring this -- you know, stop this potential attack.
CHACON: Yes, that's my old field office. I retired out of Los Angeles field office of the FBI. And amazing work by both the FBI and the U.S. attorney's office and the local partners because they got on this quick. This stuff just started popping up in November last month, and the attacks were planned for less than two weeks from now. So, yes, and it was further along than most of the ones we see, ones that taken down.
They literally were building the bombs. They were literally testing them out in the desert out here where I -- not far from where I live. And so this plan, it's not one of those plans. You can say they were only talking about it. They really weren't going to do it.
They had obtained the components to build them and they were testing them out in the desert. We have the video of it from our FBI surveillance planes and things like that. So, yes, this was a serious group. They had five targets picked out across L.A. on New Year's Eve. Large public gatherings that would have been easy targets. And so, yes, this was -- it's frightening, but it's also inspiring work by the FBI.
MICHAELSON: And great to see the cooperation between the local law enforcement and the federal law enforcement, who don't always agree on everything, working together on this one.
Bobby Chacon joining us from Palm Springs in a place that looks very Palm Springs, nice job on the decorating.
CHACON: Thank you.
MICHAELSON: We appreciate you being with us.
The California governor announced that his state is setting up a new public health initiative. Governor Newsom said that former CDC Director Susan Monarez will held up the -- head up the Public Health Innovation Network Exchange, which includes multiple states in the region.
[01:20:08]
I spoke to Governor Newsom earlier today and he told me that this is about rebuilding trust in public health care institutions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NEWSOM: Elex, you know, and I've mentioned this before, we've been going through a process and we're very shortly going to be presenting it. Really looking and stress testing at what we did right and what we did wrong during COVID. And I think that's how you rebuild trust, is you stress test things. You don't, you know, you can't act in an ideological way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: So we'll have more from Governor Newsom on that in the weeks ahead. Ever wondered if we're alone in the universe? A new documentary takes a closer look, finds evidence that says we are not. It's a wild documentary. It's the best-selling documentary in the history of Amazon Prime Video.
Secretary of State is part of it. I'll speak with the filmmaker behind "The Age of Disclosure" joins me on set next. You're not going to want to miss this.
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[01:25:24]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The American people are ready to receive the truth.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Humanity is not the only intelligence in the universe. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Humanity is not the only intelligent species.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are absolutely not alone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nonhuman intelligence exists.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: UAPs are real. They're here and they're not human.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: "The Age of Disclosure" is the best-selling documentary in the history of Amazon Prime Video. Dan Farah spoke to individuals at the top levels of the United States government about unidentified anomalous phenomena or UAPs and found evidence that could alter the way we think about the universe and our place in it. "The Age of Disclosure" is available to buy or rent via Amazon Prime right now. It is being considered for an Oscar nomination as we speak. Dan Farah joins us here in studio.
Welcome to the story is congratulations on the documentary. It is one of the best documentaries I've ever seen and one of the most important documentaries I've ever seen and literally can change the way you think about the world and our place in the universe, which is unbelievable. You spent --
DAN FARAH, DIRECTOR & PRODUCER, "The Age of Disclosure": Thank you.
MICHAELSON: -- three and a half years working on this thing, right?
FARAH: Yes. Three and a half years and couldn't be prouder to have it breaking through right now.
MICHAELSON: Talk to all these top people. So for people who haven't seen it, sort of, what's the main thing that you've found?
FARAH: So I interviewed 34 really high level military government intelligence officials and collectively they broke their silence to reveal that there's been an 80-year cover up of the existence of non- human intelligent life. And on top of that, elements of the U.S. government have been involved in a high stakes secret war with adversarial nations to reverse engineer technology of non-human origin.
MICHAELSON: So that's a very intense thing you just said.
FARAH: Yes, yes.
MICHAELSON: Obviously there's been -- you also get into the fact that there's been a lot of stigma over this over the years of.
FARAH: Yes.
MICHAELSON: Whenever anybody tries to talk about this they're, you know, called crazy.
FARAH: Yes. MICHAELSON: But that's why you were sober in doing this. You did this using journalistic principles and you spoke to people that have a lot of credibility.
FARAH: Yes. So I really believe that this day and age, the greatest evidence we will get on this topic on this situation is credible high level people putting their reputations on the line. We live at a time where you could put a 4K video of a UAP on, you know, primetime news and half the country will tell you it was generated by AI or it's, you know, Hollywood visual effects. But high level, credible people that work within the government, the intelligence community, the military that are putting their reputations on the line, they have a lot at stake in doing that. That's the most compelling evidence that could possibly exist.
MICHAELSON: And some of that really compelling evidence was one of them saying, I actually saw something that was not human.
FARAH: Yes. So one of the intelligence officials, Jay Stratton, who was the director of the U.S. Government's UAP Task force, and when he retired, he was senior executive service, Defense Intelligence, which is the equivalent of a two star admiral, he went and put his reputation on the line saying that he saw with his own eyes non-human intelligent life and craft of non-human origin.
MICHAELSON: And that's quite something.
FARAH: Yes.
MICHAELSON: And there's been this plot apparently for years to silence people that have come forward on this. A lot of this is found, though in this legacy program, which is largely secret from most people. And there's a bipartisan push now to try to get more transparency.
FARAH: Yes. One of the really surprising things I learned early on was that despite the cultural stigma in our country around this topic, the giggle factor that people, you know, apply to this, it has unbelievable high level support in both parties. So the leaders of both parties in our country can't agree on anything, it seems, but they agree that this is a very serious and urgent issue.
MICHAELSON: And you showcase some of that, including Marco Rubio, who was then senator when he talked to you --
FARAH: Yes.
MICHAELSON: -- now is the secretary of State and the national security adviser.
FARAH: Yes.
MICHAELSON: And part of what they talk about is that the president doesn't even know all of this.
FARAH: Yes. Marco Rubio says on camera that even presidents are considered to be on a need to know basis at this topic. The issues around it have been withheld from congressional oversight and even from sitting presidents. And I interviewed Rubio on the same day in the same room that I interviewed Senator Gillibrand from New York. You know, two people who are ideologically, politically opposed to each other, but they were very much lined up on this.
MICHAELSON: So this has been out for a few weeks, including that statement out now for a few weeks. What's the reaction?
[01:29:42]
FARAH: Well, I've been hearing from sources inside of government, inside of the military and intelligence communities telling me that the film is opening a lot of eyes and there's a lot happening behind the scenes right now. I would not be surprised if it's in the relatively near future that we see a sitting president step to the microphone and tell the world were not alone in the universe.
This film certainly sets the stage for that, makes it possible. You know, 34 very high-level people, including people who have been a part of key administrations recently going on the record saying this is real. It sets the stage for a president to do that.
MICHAELSON: We know President Trump likes a dramatic TV moment, and I can't think of anything more dramatic than if he were to step to the microphone and do what you're talking about.
FARAH: Yes, it would be hands down the biggest moment in human history if a sitting president stepped to the microphone and told the entire human race that we are not the only intelligent life in the universe and that the U.S. intends to lead the way in this new chapter. It would be as big a moment as it gets.
MICHAELSON: And that's the big question Also, just to wrap things up, because this isn't just a U.S. issue in that case. This affects the rest of the world --
FARAH: Yes.
MICHAELSON: And there could be like a race going forward, a competition on this.
FARAH: Yes. So one of the big reveals in the film is that there is a high-stakes race to reverse engineer this technology of non-human origin.
This technology could either be used to revolutionize the way we live and improve our lives for the better, or it could be used to create weapons of mass destruction.
And so, you know, what's imperative is that it's used for the betterment of mankind.
MICHAELSON: And it really is something that these UAPs seem especially focused on a lot of our military facilities, including our nuclear weapon facilities, which is part of the reason that we should be paying attention to this. FARAH: Yes, 100 percent. There's been a lot of activity over our
nuclear weapons sites. Rubio talks in the film about that simple fact requiring urgent attention.
MICHAELSON: Again, it's called "The Age of Disclosure". It's available to stream right now, Amazon Prime Video.
Congratulations.
FARAH: Thank you.
(CROSSTALKING)
MICHAELSON: Really important. I hope people will check it out. Make up your own mind. It's better to be informed and transparency is always good.
Back with more of THE STORY IS right after this.
FARAH: Thank you.
[01:32:06]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MICHAELSON: Welcome back to THE STORY IS. I'm Elex Michaelson.
Let's take a look at today's top stories.
L.A. police have arrested Nick Reiner, alleging he is responsible for the deaths of his parents, Rob and Michele Reiner. The son of the famed Hollywood director is currently being held without bond. His case will be brought before the L.A. County district attorney's office on Tuesday.
Police have not yet released further details about what led to the arrest of Nick Reiner.
President Trump said that he asked Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is not that guy right there -- our future guest -- to consider releasing Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai.
On Monday Lai was found guilty in a landmark trial under a national security law imposed by Beijing. President Trump said he felt, quote, "so badly for Lai". The verdict drew widespread condemnation from leaders around the world.
President Trump is suing the BBC for $5 billion. He accuses the network of deceptively editing his January 6th, 2021 speech to make it look like he's encouraging violence. The British broadcaster has already apologized for what it calls an error in judgment, but maintains there's no basis for legal action.
We are getting more information on the two suspects in the Bondi Beach massacre and their likely links to the Islamic state. Authorities confirmed the father and son had traveled to the Philippines last month, visiting an island that has long been a hotbed of extremist and insurgent groups.
Counterterrorism officials believe the pair underwent military-style training while there, according to Australia's public broadcaster. A vehicle belonging to one of the suspects contained improvised explosive devices -- IEDs, as they're known -- and two homemade ISIS flags.
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KRISSY BARRETT, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE COMMISSIONER: Early indications point to a terrorist attack inspired by Islamic state, allegedly committed by a father and son. There is no evidence to suggest other individuals were involved in this attack. However, we caution that this could change given it is early in our investigation.
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MICHAELSON: The police commissioner went on to say that Jewish Australians had been quote, "hunted down". Among the 15 brutally killed ten-year-old Matilda, who was enjoying the beach festivities with her family and friends, an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor Alex, who died while shielding his wife from the bullet's. That's according to a Jewish organization.
Let's bring in CNN's Angus Watson, who is live in Sydney, following this story. And, Angus, you've just obtained some new video.
ANGUS WATSON, CNN PRODUCER: It's new video that brings to light more heroic actions by members of the public on that dark day, Sunday afternoon here in Bondi, where 15 members of the community were murdered by this father and son duo.
Now this new video dashcam footage shows before the attack had begun.
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WATSON: It shows the two alleged suspects exiting their car and being confronted by two members of the public, a man and a woman.
The man is able to wrestle the gun off one of the suspects there before they're -- another -- later on in the video, the pair actually suffer fatal wounds themselves, and they're killed.
So there's -- this video, which -- part of which were not showing shows the desperate attempt by members of the public to save the situation, which of course, spiraled into the worst terror attack in Australian history.
I can give you an update about one of the other heroes here in this story. Ahmed al-Ahmed, a 43-year-old father of two, son of Syrian refugees, who grappled with one of the alleged perpetrators to take his gun away in that famous footage that most people have seen around now.
He took 4 to 5 bullet wounds in the shoulder and has had one successful surgery. A GoFundMe page for him has raised over US$1 million, Elex.
MICHAELSON: Wow. Such heroism. And you feel for those who lost their lives trying to help save their countrymen.
Angus Watson in Sydney, it is remarkable to see those images. Thank you for your reporting.
You are watching THE STORY IS. For our international viewers, WORLDSPORT is next. For our viewers in North America, I'll be right back with a Republican assemblyman who's standing by live on our set right now, who's actually suing the state of California over Proposition 50.
It could change the way maps are really for the entire country. He testified in court today and came to our set tonight. What he said in court, when we come back here on THE STORY IS in North America.
Thanks for watching to our international viewers.
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DAVID TANGIPA (R-CA), STATE ASSEMBLYMAN: And I believe that the people of California were lied to. I believe that they're all confused about what has gone on. And we don't believe that the governor and the legislative body followed the process.
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MICHAELSON: That was California state assemblyman David Tangipa, the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging Prop 50 in California's congressional redistricting.
He spoke with me last month about the motivation for the lawsuit. That's when he announced the lawsuit in Sacramento.
Well, he testified in court for the lawsuit today here in Los Angeles. And he joins me live here tonight.
Assemblyman Tangipa, welcome back to THE STORY IS. Good to see you.
TANGIPA: Good to see you.
MICHAELSON: So what was it like in court? Talk to us about what happened.
TANGIPA: Yes, this was my first time sitting on the stand. But I can tell you this. We brought these -- this lawsuit because I had warned the legislators, my colleagues, about this rush process. And how they were making a lot of mistakes all the way along the line when they really just forced this in four days.
They were to allocate hundreds of millions of dollars. They gutted and amended bills that had nothing to do with this process. And then they just threw it in front of us. They didn't give us any of the data. They didn't give us any of the information.
MICHAELSON: So for people that aren't following this that closely, Proposition 50 is what the Democrats did in California they said as an answer to Texas Republicans gerrymandering that state. So California Democrats said, we're going to gerrymander our state. We're going to throw out this independent redistricting commission, and we're going to try to basically knock out some Republicans by redrawing the maps.
And California voters overwhelmingly passed that because California is an overwhelmingly Democratic state. And this message of giving a middle finger to Donald Trump seemed to resonate with people here.
What is unconstitutional about that? What's legally wrong with that?
TANGIPA: So it's about how they started the process. And that started with bills in the assembly -- AB 604, SB 280, I believe, ACA 8. That is how Proposition 50 considered the measure started.
And in that -- in the legal language on those bills, they were wrong. They actually lied. In those -- in the language of that bill, it states that the assembly elections and the senate elections committee prepared these maps.
We know that that is a lie, because, you know Paul Mitchell drew these maps. Well then, why did it say that we prepared them? I know that that is a lie because I'm a member of the elections committee. I did not get the data.
But also when the authors of these bills presented them, they used race to justify their reasoning behind these maps. They also brought up the Voter Rights Act.
If you bring up the Voter Rights Act, there is a strict protocol for how you create Voter Rights Act districts. They stated the authors -- the people who created these bills said that the Voter Rights Act took high consideration when formatting these maps.
Well, that means they owed me data on the Hispanic, Latino, Black, how they could draw these maps. What a nonracial district would look like in this area. They owed me the data that shows that there are racial barriers in the state of California that would show the necessity to make race related districts.
And in the state of California, think about it like this. We have no ethnic majority in this state. The largest ethnic group is the Latino population.
MICHAELSON: Yes, a majority-minority state.
TANGIPA: And when Paul Mitchell came out, he said the first thing he did was create more Latino minority districts for the largest ethnic group in this state. And that punishes and hurts other true minorities in this state. And that's the lawsuit that we brought forward. MICHAELSON: So Paul Mitchell, for people that don't follow that is
somebody who owns a company that focuses on a lot of these redistricting lines. Every ten years, he helps people sort of engineer those. And he has not testified so far about his role in all of this, right.
TANGIPA: Well, not only has he not testified, he's running. He did not testify in front of us when they brought these bills to us in the elections, in the appropriations committee.
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TANGIPA: He wasn't there. He ran again. And now he's running from court. If they knew that they were doing something right, he would just come and say race wasn't a major factor here. But he can't do that because once they swear him in, that would be a lie as well.
MICHAELSON: Well, it'll be interesting to follow the next couple of days. Then a three-judge panel is going to rule, ultimately probably ends up in the Supreme Court either way. And then we'll see in terms of these districts, which could swing congressional control one way or another. And we'll see if the Supreme Court gets involved in this.
They gave Texas their maps. We'll see if they give California theirs.
Great to see you. Thanks for coming in.
TANGIPA: Thank you.
MICHAELSON: We appreciate it, Assemblymember.
More of THE STORY IS right after this.
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MICHAELSON: Fans of "General Hospital" are mourning one of the soap opera's most popular stars. Anthony Geary, played Luke Spencer, became a pop culture phenomenon as half of the power couple Luke and Laura. Their 1981 TV wedding drew a record 30 million viewers.
He won eight daytime Emmy Awards over his 40-year career, and he died Sunday after complications from surgery in Amsterdam, where he lived with his husband. He was 78 years old.
An estimated one in five children in the U.S. struggles with hunger, and now a group of musicians is teaming up to feed those in need. And you can be a part of it.
Grammy Award-winning duo Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis are working with the 100 Billion Meals co-founder Tony Robbins to record a new fundraising song. That's happening Tuesday, December 16th titled "The Next Verse". Will feature stars from Dr. Dre to Duran Duran to Pitbull. The entire world invited to join in? Log on to 100billionmeals.org to
donate. Find out how you can record or upload your own verse, hook or harmony. They have a Zoom happening tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. Pacific time, 3:30 eastern.
Join us back here tomorrow on THE STORY IS. I'm going to be doing exclusive coverage behind the scenes. And we will take you inside to show you what happened. Talk to some of those big stars. All coming up tomorrow on THE STORY IS.
Also tomorrow on THE STORY IS, got an exclusive conversation with the United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Scott Turner, about homelessness.
Plus, a debate with Brian Tyler Cohen and Will O'Neal.
Thanks for watching.
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