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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson

Search Underway For Crew Member Of U.S. Jet Downed In Iran; Iran Offers Reward For U.S. Crew Member Of Downed Jet; Trump - Downed U.S. Jet Won't Affect Negotiations With Iran; Cuba Releases Political Prisoners Amid U.S. Pressure; Nasa Releases First Photos From Artemis II Mission; Artemis II On Trajectory To Loop Around The Moon; White House Releases Fiscal 2027 Budget Plan; Aired 1-2a ET

Aired April 04, 2026 - 01:00   ET

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

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ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN HOST: -- Coy Wire for us in Indianapolis. Thank you, Coy. One player a lot of people are going to be watching this weekend. As UConn's 23-year-old Alex Karaban. He's trying to become the first college basketball player since the 70s to win his third national championship. I asked him how he's feeling ahead of his latest Final Four appearance.

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ELEX KARABAN, UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT BASKETBALL PLAYER: I mean, the Final Four, everything is just amplified. I mean, like, the stage is bigger, the media gets bigger, everything really. And it's such a unique environment and a unique opportunity for us. So you're excited for it. There's obviously a little bit of nervousness, but you're excited for it.

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MICHAELSON: You can catch our full interview with him in the next hour of "The Story Is," which starts right now.

"The Story Is" missing crew member. Military Analyst Cedric Leighton with us live to break down what's happening now in the search for an American lost in Iran.

"The Story Is" in outer space, an inside look at daily life for the astronauts headed to the moon.

"The Story Is" abusing Medicare. First Assistant U.S. attorney Bill Essayli here live with allegations of a multi-million dollar hospice fraud ring.

And "The Story Is" making history. Alex Karaban is hoping to become the first men's basketball player in decades to win three national titles. He joins me from the Final Four.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Los Angeles, "The Story Is" with Elex Michaelson. MICHAELSON: And welcome. It is 10:00 p.m. here in Los Angeles, 1:00 a.m. in Washington D.C., and 08:30 a.m. in Tehran, where a huge search and rescue operation is underway at this hour in the country of Iran after a U.S. fighter jet was shot down over that country. One of its two crew members was rescued and is alive and receiving medical attention. The status of the second crew member is unknown right now. It is the first time that a U.S. aircraft has been shot down over Iran during the conflict.

The downed fighter jet was an F-15E Strike Eagle. Typically, its pilot sits in the front seat with a weapon system officer in the back seat.

This video shared on Friday appears to show Iranian police officers shooting a pair of helicopters flying at low altitude in Southwestern Iran. It's not clear who those aircraft belong to or if they were involved in search efforts or some other operation. Tehran is offering a reward to whomever can find the American service member and hand them over to them.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (translated): If you capture and hand over a pilot or pilots of the enemy alive to the law enforcement and military forces, you will receive a valuable reward and prize.

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MICHAELSON: Multiple videos show aircraft from the military operating over Iran on Friday apparently searching for that U.S. service member. Israel postponed some of its planned strikes on Iran so as not to interfere with those search efforts. Iran also struck a second U.S. military plane on Friday, an A-10 Warthog like this one. U.S. officials say the pilot navigated away from Iranian territory before ejecting and has been rescued.

U.S. President Donald Trump says that the downing of the fighter jet would not affect negotiations with Iran. Live now to CNN's Hanako Montgomery who is following developments right now in Tokyo. Hanako?

HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Elex, as you mentioned, the status of that missing U.S. service member is still unknown. But we do know that a search and rescue mission is still currently underway to try to locate that individual. And videos verified by CNN actually show what appears to be part of that rescue mission with low flying aircraft spotted across Iran.

Now the other U.S. service member who was on board that downed fighter jet, F-15, was rescued and is currently undergoing treatment. But, Elex, this situation is very, very serious. It marks the first time that a manned U.S. aircraft has been shot down over Iran since the conflict began over a month ago. And it also underscores two key things here. The first is that Iran still very much has the capabilities of posing as a threat to U.S. aircrafts, even after a month of fighting, and they proved that once more after shooting down this F-15 by also attacking a second U.S. military plane just a few hours later. Also, Elex, it underscores how the longer this fighting goes on, the more this war goes on, the greater the risk is to U.S. service members fighting in The Middle East. Now as you mentioned, Elex, the U.S. President Donald Trump has said that it will not affect peace negotiations with Iran, but Trump is still yet to provide a public comment about this downed fighter jet.

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Now as this search and rescue mission is underway, Elex, fighting is still ongoing across the Middle East. In fact, Reuters reporting that the Israeli military is striking Hezbollah infrastructure in Beirut in Lebanon, and you can see some videos there, I hope, showing that Israeli missile striking Beirut early Saturday morning. You can also see some plumes of smoke rising into the Beirut night sky.

Now separately in Israel, we also know that an Iranian missile hit a residential area, and emergency responders were at that site as well. So far, no casualties have been reported, but you can see some of the damage there to nearby buildings. Now also separately in Iran, Elex, early Saturday morning, state media has said that one individual was killed in Northern Tehran as a result of a missile strike. The Iranian Red Crescent Society saying early Saturday that it was providing emergency assistance in the wake of these overnight strikes.

So, again, Elex, as peace negotiations are still ongoing and appear to not really be making any headway, at the moment, fighting, of course, very much ongoing as more lives are lost in this escalating conflict, Elex.

MICHAELSON: Yeah. We see a lot of violence, despite those, "negotiations." Hanako Montgomery, thank you so much for the latest live from Tokyo.

Let's go to Washington now and bring in CNN Military Analyst, retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton. Thank you for being back with us. Some might be wondering, how do you get one crew member, but not the other, and how close would they typically be to each other?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yeah, Elex. That's a great question. Well, when they eject from the aircraft, the aircraft is flying at obviously a very high rate of speed. The ejection seat goes up from the aircraft and then the person in the lead on the front part of the aircraft up ends up usually going one way and the person in the back seat ends up going another. There's actually a few millisecond delay between the ejections of the first person and the second person, the pilot and the weapon systems officer.

So there are a lot of reasons why they won't land in the same exact location. Some of them as that will have to do with the prevailing winds and the timing, as I mentioned. And there also are factors that, depending on if there's a delay in the actual release of the parachutes, there are several different factors that apply here.

But the reason that they go apart is because number one, there is physics involved. And number two, it's actually to their advantage sometimes to go in different directions because then it splits up the possibility of the enemy forces coming in and taking them both at the same time. So it becomes a very good way for them to escape and debate because they're not together in this case.

MICHAELSON: I encourage people to check out, Cedric did a great vertical video for cnn.com and also on CNN social media sort of explaining this whole process in-depth. And one of the things you said in that video is this idea, that they're wearing beacons. Can you describe what that means, how those work, and how that could be helpful in trying to search?

LEIGHTON: Yeah, Elex, that's -- yeah. That's one of those things where when you end up by in a -- an invasion type situation, what you have is a beacon that's basically a radio signal that is then picked up by search and rescue crews. So the combat search and rescue elements, in this case, the air force, pararescue groups, the PJs as they're known, as they will then follow those beacons into an area where they presume, the downed aircrewman actually is.

So these beacons become one of the ways in which they can track the location, and it also helps the rescue crews come in to a particular area because they will usually have a designated area that they will go to. And that designated area is, of course, an area where they think they can land to the helicopters that would take them back to a base, a safe U.S. base. But the beacons are a critical component to this, and they're picked up by satellite and then transmitted to the air operations center, which then transmits them to the combat search and rescue team.

MICHAELSON: And you mentioned a helicopter retrieving someone. Most likely, that's what happened at some point today. What do we know in terms of, the retrieval of the one crew member? How does that work? How does that typically go?

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LEIGHTON: Yeah. Typically, what happens is they will go into an area so they'll they will figure out where exactly the -- we're pretty close to exactly where the downed airmen is. And in the case of the incidents that happened in Bosnia back in the 1990s, they would often, be located they would hide themselves in the tree lines of the forests there. Iran's a little bit different. Not too many forests in that part of Iran that we think this happened at, but there are still areas where they can hide in.

So, the helicopters will land close to that area. Usually, the rescued person will be able to see the helicopter, and sometimes they'll be able to guide them in, but that's a kind of a risky thing to do. They may use mirrors or things like that to signal to the air crews that they're there at that particular location. And then there's -- as they land, there's a challenge word that the rescuer and the air crew member exchange with each other, and that then verifies the identity of the person, and they're then brought onto the helicopter and basically off they go. And then in addition to the helicopter that lands, there's usually another helicopter or a fixed wing aircraft that is providing overwatch and will try to keep a hostile forces away from the rescue party.

MICHAELSON: And that video that we've been showing of the low flying plane was likely doing what you were talking about right there, which is to provide some of that oversight. We don't know that for a fact, but that certainly seems to be what that video is. Colonel Cedric Leighton, thank you for the insights once again. Really appreciate it, and we are sending our troops our best right now as well.

Israel is considering a plan that would demolish all Lebanese towns and villages with in up to 3 kilometers from the country's border. That's from an Israeli military official who says that is one of several options for the IDF. The move would be part of a future buffer zone against Hezbollah, but it could potentially violate international law.

Israel military operations have already forced more than 1 million people to flee their homes in Lebanon. Nada Bashir spoke with some families who now live in tent cities and have no place to go.

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NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Displaced by war and left searching desperately for safety, this is the reality for so many families in Lebanon. This is one of many camps that have been set up here in Beirut to house those displaced by the war. And we're actually in quite an upscale neighborhood, but this open space has been transformed and filled with tents to house families that have nowhere else to go. And above us, we can still hear the drone buzzing, a constant reminder that this war is far from over. And for many families here, there is no certainty of if they'll ever be able to return home.

Susan and her family of seven fled their home in the southern suburbs of Beirut after a night of intense Israeli air strikes. For over a month now, they have been sheltering out on the street in these small tents, joining the more than 1 million people now displaced across Lebanon.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (translated): Our home was destroyed. The glass was broken. The balcony was blown off. The first strike hit during the night, and we fled straight away. My daughter was shaking. She had a panic attack just from the sound. My youngest daughter, she's 7-years- old, was also afraid. Where is the humanity? Where is the humanity?

BASHIR: 85-year-old Abu Mohamed was also forced to flee his home in Dahya. Over his lifetime, he has seen conflict tighten its grip on the country time and time again.

ABU MOHAMED, INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSON (translated): Our situation is very bleak. We left even without our clothes. We couldn't bring anything with us. They told us to shelter here, and we've been here ever since as you can see. BASHIR: But it's not just shelter that people are in need of. Medical and psychological support centers have become a lifeline for many. At this makeshift clinic in Beirut, NGO Doctors Without Borders is working to reach displaced patients struggling to access medical care.

DR. CALINE REHAYEM, MEDICAL COORDINATOR, DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS: We are mobilizing our teams to respond to primary health care needs, including the general medical consultations, the care for non- communicable diseases or chronic conditions, as well as sexual and reproductive health care, and very importantly, mental health and psychosocial support.

BASHIR: Elsewhere in Beirut, volunteer medics are visiting shelters to provide weekly checkups. At this elementary school, more than 250 people are currently being housed. Each classroom now a makeshift shelter. But it's not just physical health that is being attended to here.

SAMER EL SAFAH, MAKHZOUMI FOUNDATION: We give a lot of care and attention to children and especially during, where they are the most affected.

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So what we do is we do recreational activities on a daily basis for them. Those two, three hours that we do the recreational activities with them are the time that they -- we get them out of what they are passing through the day, hearing bombs, voices. Their parents are on edge.

BASHIR: 13-year-old Fatima and her family are also among the displaced. They fled from the South, narrowly escaping an overnight Israeli military attack.

FATIMA RIDA, INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSON (translated): At night, they bombed the building behind us. Of course, we were very scared. We were sleeping. We thought that was it, that we would be murdered.

BASHIR: While shelters like this provide some respite for these families, there are no guarantees of safety as the expanding Israeli military assault continues to loom large over Lebanon. Nada Bashir, CNN in Beirut.

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MICHAELSON: Three suspects in last week's North London arson attack are expected in court in the coming hours. They've been charged in connection with destruction of four ambulances used by the Jewish community in Golders Green. The suspects are 20 and 19-year-old British men and a 17-year-old boy who holds dual British and Pakistani nationality. The charges against them include arson and being reckless about endangering life. The March 23rd attack gutted the vehicles and led to evacuations of nearby buildings, including a synagogue.

Up next, better news, we head live to outer space. Artemis II is making progress on the long journey to the moon. This is a look at the crew there. We'll have more on where they're headed next when we come back.

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MICHAELSON: Ukraine's President is denouncing what he calls an Easter escalation of Russia's strikes on his country. Officials say Moscow fired close to 600 drones and missiles across Ukraine on Thursday and Friday, killing at least two people. The strikes damaged up to 200 homes in the country's north. But further east, watch this.

A Russian drone plowed into an apartment building just outside the capital Kyiv on Friday. Officials say there were no casualties there. More than two dozen people were injured in separate strikes in Northeastern Ukraine. Russia is increasingly switching from nighttime to daytime attacks to evade Ukraine's air defenses.

Cuba says it is releasing about 2,000 political prisoners. It's all part of what the country calls a, "sovereign and humanitarian gesture," and it is the largest amnesty on the communist run island in the last decade. On Friday, a steady stream of people left a prison near Havana, reuniting with loved ones and holding up their amnesty forms to celebrate their freedom. The release coincides with the U.S. fuel blockade that has led to widespread power failures and shortages of drinking water. Political prisoners have been a sticking point in talks between Havana and the U.S., but Cuba's government denies it is acting under U.S. pressure.

Well, NASA says that the Artemis II is now more than halfway to the moon. On Friday, we got our first glimpse of the home planet. Look at this. We're talking about the Orion spacecraft took these beautiful pictures. The photos were taken by the Mission Commander on Thursday. We want to take a live look as the Orion crew is apparently preparing for some shut eye soon. Earlier on Thursday, they got some much needed private time with their families. We're able to speak to them for the first time since the launch.

Meanwhile, they're expected to fly by the moon on Monday, likely during our broadcast. CNN's Ed Lavandera in Houston with the latest on Artemis historic journey.

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REID WISEMEN, ARTEMIS II COMMANDER: You could see the entire globe from pole to pole. You could see Africa, Europe, and as if you looked really close, you could see the northern lights. It was the most spectacular moment, and it paused all four of us in our tracks.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: These are the first breathtaking images shared by the Artemis II crew as they officially set course for the moon.

CHRISTINA KOCH, ARTEMIS II MISSION SPECIALIST: There's nothing that prepares you for the breathtaking aspect of seeing your home planet both lit up bright as day and also the moon glow on it at night with a beautiful beam of the sunset.

LAVANDERA: The four astronauts have traveled at speeds of up to 3,400 miles per hour.

KOCH: You're getting a live look outside the windows of the Orion spacecraft.

LAVANDERA: That's nearly 5,000 feet per second as they head into the most crucial part of their mission.

WISEMEN: I got to tell you, there is nothing normal about this. Sending four humans 250,000 miles away is a Herculean effort, and we are now just realizing the gravity of that.

LAVANDERA: We got the clearest view yet of the astronauts onboard the Orion spaceship as they answered questions about their journey so far and revealed they've been glued to the views of Earth from the four main windows in their cabin and also finding the best ways to sleep.

WISEMEN: Christina has been sleeping. Heads down in the middle of the vehicle, kind of like a bat suspended from our docking tunnel. Victor's been up where Jeremy is right now. It's more comfortable than you would think, and it's nice to get sleep and weightlessness again. Every time I was dozing off last night, I had that image, and I was tripping off a curb, and I was waking myself up. So my body's getting reacclimated.

LAVANDERA: Friday's wake up song in a daydream by the Freddie Jones band.

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WISEMEN: It was really great to wake up this morning and look out the window and see the full moon of the front of the vehicle. There's no doubt where we are heading right now.

LAVANDERA: Their planned course adjustment was canceled. It wasn't needed.

WISEMEN: Copy that.

LAVANDERA: They are transitioning their seats positioned for the launch to set up for their lunar flyby when they make history.

VICTOR GLOVER, ARTEMIS II PILOT: This brought us together and showed us what we can do when we put -- not just putting our differences aside, when we bring our differences together and use all the strengths to accomplish something great.

LAVANDERA: By Saturday morning, the Artemis II crew will be about halfway to the moon. And until then, they will continue doing systems checks and preparing the Orion capsule, for that historic moment. And in the meantime, they do have some time to have private conversations with their families here on Earth and updating them on how their missions are going. Ed Lavendera, CNN, Houston, Texas.

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MICHAELSON: Thank you, Ed, and thank you for watching "The Story Is." For our international viewers, African voices is next. For our viewers here in North America, I'll be back with reports of massive Medicare fraud. Bill Essayli here when we come back.

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MICHAELSON: Welcome back to "The Story Is." I'm Elex Michaelson. Let's take a look at today's top stories.

U.S. search and rescue operations underway right now in Iran after Tehran shot down a U.S. fighter jet on Friday. One of two U.S. aircraft the Iranians knocked out of action. U.S. officials say they have rescued one of the two crew members on the first jet. Status of the second crew member is unknown at this time. Iran is offering a reward for the capture of the U.S. service member. By the way, that other jet, the person was successfully retrieved. President Trump says the downing of the jet would not affect negotiations with Iran.

A fast moving brush fire fueled by the Santa Ana winds is burning in Riverside County here in California. It's already burned more than 4,000 acres, more than a 1,000 homes in the surrounding area under evacuation orders, and the fire is only 10 percent contained so far.

The White House has requested $1.5 trillion for defense in the 2027 budget. That's an increase of more than 40 percent compared to last year. Historic spending comes amid the ongoing war with Iran. Congress has control over government spending and rarely enacts the White House budget in full.

President Trump's new budget proposal also came with some surprises. The White House wants to reopen the infamous Alcatraz Prison here in California. Their budget plan includes a $152 million to cover its first year of costs. President Trump also wants to add $481 million to the Federal Aviation Administration's budget to continue hiring more air traffic controllers and implement aviation safety enhancements. But his budget would cut $52 million from the Transportation Security Administration and propose initial steps to privatize TSA airport screeners. The White House is also proposing drastically cutting $73 billion from domestic programs including housing, social security, and Medicare.

Federal officials say several hospice care centers build Medicare in fraudulent schemes totaling more than $50 million in Southern California. This is video released by the FBI yesterday of an early morning raid that netted eight arrests in LA and Idaho in connection with nine separate health care fraud investigations. These cases are getting national attention. They're being talked about by the Vice President of the United States, the Governor of California, the new acting Attorney General, and they're being prosecuted by our next guest. With us live on set is Bill Essayli, First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California. Welcome back to "The story Is." Good to see you.

BILL ESSAYLI, FIRST ASST. U.S. ATTORNEY FOR CENTRAL DIST. OF CALIFORNIA: Good to see you.

MICHAELSON: In Layman's terms, what is the case? What do you say is happening here?

ESSAYLI: Yes. These are individuals who are obtaining a hospice license to operate a hospice. As you know, it's for people who are terminally ill and they're expected to die soon. And then they are signing people up to be beneficiaries. So they'll meet them at a market or wherever and they'll say, hey, I'll pay you $300 cash a month if you let me use your name to sign you up for hospice. And so some people do it unknowingly, unwittingly, and some people are doing it for the cash. But they're billing Medicare about $5,000 or $6,000 a month for each person that they sign up.

And so for the folks we arrested yesterday, I mean, they all billed millions of dollars, and it went to their personal pockets, their mortgages, their cars, vacations, and that's mine and yours money. That's tax money.

MICHAELSON: And when people think of hospice, usually people unfortunately pass away within like three weeks of going into hospice, but not the people you're talking about.

ESSAYLI: Correct. So the name of the operation was called Never Say Die because their survival rate is over 80 percent and that's actually the inverse of what it should be. The survival rate after three months, three, six months should be about 17 percent. So it's a huge indicator that these are fraudulent operators.

MICHAELSON: Dr. Oz, who is now sort of overseeing Medicare for the Trump administration was on Fox earlier and said that they have closed 221 hospices in 10 months here in Southern California, which is quite something. How big of a problem is this? Not only here, but around the country.

ESSAYLI: It's a massive problem. So what's Dr. Oz has told us from his unit that oversees the Medicare spending. There's 800 hospices just in LA County. That's one-third of all hospices around the world -- around the country are being operated in LA County. That doesn't that's not right. He says almost half of those could be fraudulent. So it's a massive problem.

MICHAELSON: And this is something that your department is looking at sort of as a larger fight at this point.

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Now Governor Gavin Newsom is responding to all of this, because there's been a back and forth between you all. He says there's been a ban on new hospices in LA, and that Medicare is a federal program. Let's put up on the screen what his press office put out. He said that glad the government is finally stepping up to do their part. State has been taking action for years, including suspending 280 plus licenses and banning new licenses since 2022. Big question, will Trump pardon any of them like he's done to so many fraudsters before? What's your response to that?

ESSAYLI: You see how he politicizes everything. We're going after fraudsters here, and he wants to make it political about the President. This is what the American people want. Look this is the way it works. The federal government is the piggy bank were the money. The programs are administered through the state. So every single one of these fraudulent hospices, they have to be licensed by the state of California.

They're responsible for overseeing the licenses. They're responsible for regulating doctors and nurses. And the California auditor has said California needs to enact emergency regulations to crack down on this fraud, and they were supposed to be enacted by January 1st, and he hasn't done it. I don't know why not. I can tell you having been up in Sacramento, there isn't a lot of interest in Sacramento to go after crime or fraudsters or send people to prison. They want to close prisons.

MICHAELSON: You were previously a Republican assembly member for people that may not follow California politics that closely. So in terms of where we go from here, you put out a thing on social media suggesting you guys are hiring more because this is such a big problem. I mean, tell us more about that.

ESSAYLI: Yeah. So we are definitely hiring. There's been a natural attrition and also a lot of attrition when people in the department did not want to be part of the new administration or they took the DOGE severance, which was very generous. So in our fraud section, we have half as many lawyers as we probably would have at this current time. We're doing probably more work than we've done before.

MICHAELSON: Yeah.

ESSAYLI: But the Department of Justice is hiring. So if you're a young lawyer out there, maybe you're at a firm and you want to actually be in court and do trials and serve your country, I'd encourage you to look working at the Department of Justice.

MICHAELSON: Because clearly there's going to be more on these cases. I mean, last night we heard from Todd Blanche who is now the acting Attorney General. We have no idea how long he's going to be in that role, but he mentioned this among the first things, this particular case -- your case. I mean, we're going to see more of this across the country, right?

ESSAYLI: Yes. The Vice President has made this a top priority. We're working with his task force on fraud. This was the first big operation under that new task force, and we're going to get the resources that we need to do these cases.

MICHAELSON: And for critics who say this is a cynical attempt to highlight Gavin Newsom in a negative way when he's about to run for President, you say?

ESSAYLI: Fraud is the number one issue for taxpayers who pay taxes every day. We're going to go after fraud wherever it is, if that's a blue state or a red state. And I think the state should work with the federal government and not criticize us.

MICHAELSON: Bill Essayli, thanks for coming in. Great to see you. Appreciate you sharing your views.

ESSAYLI: Thank you.

MICHAELSON: Let's talk some sports. University of Connecticut basketball star Alex Karaban is looking to do something that no college player has done in decades. Just ahead, I'll talk to him about his historic run and ask him why unlike most other players, he stayed at the same school for five years. Stay with us.

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MICHAELSON: Now to women's college basketball, the University of South Carolina punched its card to Sunday's national championship game. The game, Cox pulled off a stunning upset Friday against the defending national champion, UConn, who had won 54 straight games. Now in the final seconds of that game, UConn Head Coach Geno Auriemma and South Carolina's Head Coach Dawn Staley got into a heated exchange. The two did not appear to shake hands after the final buzzer clearly exchanged words had to be held away from each other.

South Carolina will battle out against UCLA for the national title. The Bruins hung on to defeat the University of Texas Longhorns in a defensive slugfest. The final score there, 51 to 44. The Bruins are hoping to secure their first NCAA women's basketball championship on Sunday.

Let's talk about the men now.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We see how great of a player Alex Karaban is when watching him play, but maybe what are some of the things that we don't see that has brought him to the stage so frequently?

DAN HURLEY, UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT MEN'S BASKETBALL COACH: I mean, it's like hiring a babysitter for your team.

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MICHAELSON: That is coach Dan Hurley from the University of Connecticut talking about 23-year-old Alex Karaban. This weekend, Karaban is trying to become the first college basketball player since the 70s to win his third national championship. UConn Huskies are facing off against the University of Illinois fighting Illini after an amazing last second victory against Duke.

Alex Karaban, welcome to "The Story Is" for the first time, and congratulations.

ALEX KARABAN, UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT BASKETBALL PLAYER: Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

MICHAELSON: So let's start with what your coach just said about you. You've been around the rock, the block so often. He's referring to you as a babysitter. Do you agree with that? And if not, what would be the one word you would use to describe your role on this team?

KARABAN: I guess in a way it is a babysitter. Just kind of someone who's been around for a while and really knows what's expected, what to do in the locker room, on the court, off the court, and really making sure my teammates follow that. So I guess in a way babysitting my teammates to make sure they're doing everything they're expected to do. So I agree with coach on that.

MICHAELSON: OK. So this is your third Final Four. How is it different when you step on the court for a Final Four game versus the other games? And what are you teaching your teammates about that?

KARABAN: Yeah. I mean, the Final Four, everything is just amplified. I mean, like, the stage is bigger. The media gets bigger. Everything really, and it's such a unique environment and a unique opportunity for us. So you're excited for it. There's obviously a little bit of nervousness, but you're excited for it. And just trying to tell my teammates to enjoy the moments. I mean, we've grown up watching March Madness and dreaming of being in the Final Four. So now to be in the Final Four and in a way living out our dream, you just want to enjoy every second of it.

[01:45:00]

So and I'm not really trying to add any extra pressure on us. So just enjoy the moment and just have fun playing UConn basketball.

MICHAELSON: So speaking of enjoying the moment, we were just looking at some pictures of your last game. You guys overcame a 19 point deficit to beat Duke on a 40 foot last second Hail Mary shot that went in. Describe what was going through your head in that moment and describe what the party in the locker room was like right afterwards.

KARABAN: Yeah. In my head, I was really like, we got to get something quick. I'm holding the ball with four seconds left, and I'm like, all right, you got to shoot it. I got to pass it to (inaudible), I trust my guy Braylon right behind me. So really just pitched him the ball, saw the shot go up in like slow motion. It really was slow motion for me and slowly went up in the air.

And once it released his hands, it really looked good, and he made the shot. So big time celebrations for us in the locker room. I mean, we were spraying water all over each other, just really hyping them up and really realized that we made this amazing comeback. Braylon had this historic moment to send us to the Final Four. MICHAELSON: And your coach looked really, really pumped. Dan Hurley, who is one of the great coaches in all of college basketball and one of the great characters too. What's the biggest thing you've learned about leadership from observing him?

KARABAN: Yeah. I mean, my leadership's grown so much just being under him. It's really I think it's the unique connections that you could have with people, and he's able to push us so much and really just use his passion of basketball to make us better players. But it really all starts just with the connections that we have with him off the court, and we're able to get pushed just from knowing that he's pushing us out of a place of love. And if we ever need advice or he's always going to be a mentor for me.

So if I'm ever going to need advice, I could go to him and be like, coach, what should I do? And I think it just really starts sort of the relationships that he has with us, and those have been developed since high school. So I really think just a lot -- just being so close with him allows everyone to feel like they can get pushed by him.

MICHAELSON: We've just been looking at all the sort of pictures of his -- just his facial expressions on the court. If you were to describe his leadership style in one word, what would that word be?

KARABAN: I really think it's passionate. It's a passionate leader. Just someone who cares so much about winning, cares so much about putting the best result out there on the core, and also just someone who truly cares about the well-being of others. I mean, he's always checking in on you. He's always making sure you're OK, and he takes pride in being a leader and being a coach, and most importantly, just someone that can be by our size forever. So just the passion that he has in general, just the care that he has for UConn and for one another.

MICHAELSON: Well and you guys have won two titles together. You're a real rarity at this era of college basketball. So many players during this time of NIL when people can get paid are transferring from team- to-team every year. You've been at UConn for five years. What is the value in staying in one place? And what does UConn represent to you?

KARABAN: UConn's home for me. I mean, I never had a thought of leaving. I just felt like the perfect place for me. And, I mean, it was pretty easy to stay when you win a national championship your first year. So I'm really just staying here and really just enjoying every moment, and I've always been a guy who's big on loyalty and just saw the value that UConn had the historic program. It just honestly felt like the perfect place.

So, and then just being able to develop these relationships that I have out of this great relationship with the coaching staff, so many great teammates I've played with, and most importantly, the fans. I've developed this relationship with the fans for the last four or five years. So, really, just knowing that stores is always a place to call home for me in the future. I could come back in 30 years and really just feel at home just with being able to stay at the same school for four years, and I wish I was more common in college basketball. I wish we saw more great careers end up at one school and just really see more legacies being created.

MICHAELSON: Well, you have one of the great legacies in the history of UConn, and that could get even greater with a third national championship this weekend. Good luck. Hope you can get some sleep tonight, and we'll be rooting for you both this weekend and hopefully on Monday as well. Alex Karaban, thank you so much. Congratulations again.

KARABAN: Thank you. I appreciate it.

[01:50:00]

MICHAELSON: We'll be back with more of "The Story Is" right after this.

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MICHAELSON: It's the holiest week of the year for Christians culminating on Sunday with Easter, which believers say celebrates Jesus' resurrection from the dead. Pope Leo marked Good Friday by leading the way of the cross procession at Rome's Colosseum. Look at this dramatic image. He carried a wooden cross symbolic of Jesus' crucifixion for the full root, the first Catholic leader to do so in decades.

The pontiff offered prayers for victims of war and human trafficking, refugees, and children deported by immigration policies, and he warned global leaders that their decisions, including going to war, will be judged one day. The future of fashion accessories could be taken from prehistoric times. Scientists and designers have unveiled this handbag made with collagen from Tyrannosaurus rex fossils.

[01:55:00]

Scientists are hoping the bag will demonstrate the value of laboratory grown leather.

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DR. CHE CONNON, LAB GROWN LEATHER LTD.: I think one of the challenges that seems to be associated with some of the fake leathers is the heavy reliance on plastics, et cetera, involved in there. And the leather we've been showing today has no plastics or finishing on it at all. So it's demonstrating that you can get the -- an interesting aesthetically pleasing leather that's also wearable without the use of plastics.

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MICHAELSON: Teal bag is on display at Amsterdam's Art Zoo museum until May 11th. It then hits the auction block with a reported starting price of more than $0.5 million. Thanks so much for joining us on "The Story Is," and for this week here on "The Story Is." We got quite a show on Monday. Eva Longoria will be with us to talk about her new CNN documentary. Lamar Odom will be with us to talk about his new Netflix documentary. Plus, much of the most exciting part of the moon mission will be happening live during our show. All that next week here on "The Story Is."

In the meantime, have a great weekend, and happy Easter for all who celebrate.

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