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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson

Six Candidates Face Off In Debate As Primary Elections Nears; Survivors Get First Look Inside Devastated Homes; Lawmaker Questions Scientists' Death, Disappearances; Movies in Review. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired April 23, 2026 - 01:00   ET

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

[01:00:00]

OLIVIA CHOW, TORONTO, CANADA MAYOR: It surprised us. And Drake does bring -- he supports our city and we'll chat with him. But I asked the chief and the fire department, but it was only one afternoon, I believe, and people were overly excited. So -- but hey, it is creative and that's what arts and culture is all about.

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ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: Interesting politics of Drake in Toronto. Thanks for watching this hour of The Story Is. The next hour starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Ultimately he will dictate the timetable.

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MICHAELSON: The Story Is President Trump says there's no time frame to end the war with Iran while the U.S. pushes its naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz.

The Story Is a debate in the race for California governor. My panel, POLITICO's Melanie Mason and strategist Mike Madrid live to break it down.

And The Story Is a new Michael Jackson movie now in theaters, but is it a thriller? Ray Drake live on set to review.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Los Angeles, The Story Is with Elex Michaelson.

MICHAELSON: Thanks for watching The Story Is. I'm Elex Michaelson live in Los Angeles.

Tonight, the top story is in the Strait of Hormuz where Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps sees two ships escalating tensions amid a fragile ceasefire. Iranian state media released this video showing Shoulders boarding one of the vessels. But the White House says that President Trump doesn't consider Tehran the capture of non U.S. ships to be a ceasefire violation.

President Trump says there is no timeframe for the conflict with Iran to come to an end and denies that the midterms are driving his decisions. The White House is calling for a unified proposal from Iran and says it knows who will sign off on a deal despite divisions in Tehran. But Iran's president says although Tehran still wants peace talks, believes, quote, "breach of commitments, blockade and threats are the main obstacles to genuine negotiations." Let's bring CNN's Will Ripley, who's following all this for us live from Taipei, Taiwan.

Will, what more can you tell us about those ships allegedly seized by Iran in the strait? It was quite something to see that video.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. The video is really striking because it shows the power of these tiny speedboats, albeit with commandos with heavy weapons, to be able to paralyze shipping through one of the most important oil choke points in the world. They're talking about 20 percent of the world's oil passing through there. These two ships, the MSC Francesca with a Panamanian flag and the Epaminondas with the Liberian flag. The crew members are safe, but they were boarded, as you see, by these masked men who went through the ship and opened doors.

The ships now if you look at satellite tracking data, they're both off the Iranian coast. So they're clearly stopped and they're under Iranian control. Iran says that they were violating the rules, possibly tampering with their navigation equipment. The White House downplaying this. Even though the ships were fired upon, they are, because they're not U.S. flagged vessels, that this did not violate the cease fire.

You can listen to the press secretary speaking about it within the past several hours.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Does the President view that as a violation of the cease fire?

LEAVITT: No, because these were not U.S. ships. These were not Israeli ships. These were two international vessels.

These two ships were taken by speedy gunboats. Iran has gone from having the most lethal navy in the Middle East to now acting like a bunch of pirates. They don't have control over the strait.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIPLEY: But pirates can cause a lot of chaos, Elex. I mean, these boats are small, but when you swarm enough of them around an unarmed ship, it's easy to see how nobody would want to risk sending their crew members through the Strait of Hormuz right now. They don't want to risk their crews being detained, shots potentially being fired. So this is a really big problem. And obviously these ships are very difficult to track on radar. Even though there are many less of these ships now than there were before the war, when it was believed the Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps had about a thousand of these, there are at least believed to be still several hundred that are operational right now. And that means that Iran does have leverage in basically stopping global shipping through this crucial waterway, which makes this precarious cease fire all the more important for the United States to try to resolve. And one of the reasons why Iran is in no hurry to resolve it, because they feel like they still have leverage. I mean, there's one line, Eleni Giokos in Dubai called me up, and she pointed out that at least 27 Iranian vessels have actually made it past the U.S. blockade since it began and there are thousands of seafarers who remain trapped in the strait right now. So the Strait of Hormuz really is going to be crucial, Elex, in negotiations about all of this at a relatively low cost from the Iranian perspective, they can create massive economic disruption around the world (inaudible).

[01:05:15]

MICHAELSON: I mean, Will, doesn't this feel like a different era? We're talking about pirates taking over ships?

RIPLEY: Yes, I mean, and I think if we go back to show this video, this video really tells the story of the challenge. Because just imagine if you're on one of these massive ships and then you're swarmed by, yes, it's essentially pirate boats, commandos with these huge weapons. They just pull right up to your ship, they can climb right up, what can you do to counter that? The --

MICHAELSON: Yes.

RIPLEY: You have this potential coalition led by the U.K. and France, they were talking about 30 countries involved to try to escort ships through the straits. So imagine you're going to have the cost and logistical nightmare of getting warships to escort these cargo ships or you're going to try to have autonomous technology, you know, drones going through the area, patrolling for mines and whatnot. But it's incredible how at such a low cost you can cripple very expensive military systems --

MICHAELSON: Yes.

RIPLEY: -- and also you can cripple commerce. And you know, we talked about, you know, it's not just on the -- on the seas. Remember they have those manpads that we were talking about that they were believed to be getting parts from, from China, allegedly, although China denied it. You know, one person operates the thing, can fire up at a -- at an F15 and, and if they have good enough aim, they can lock a heat seeking missile on the thing and shoot it down. So it's a big problem.

Asymmetric warfare is no joke.

MICHAELSON: Wild. Will Ripley in Taipei, thank you so much.

The European Union is unveiling proposed emergency measures to soften the impact of the war. It has already spent an additional $28 billion on emergency imports since the conflict began. And along with higher energy prices, potential shortage of jet fuel also looming. Experts are warning of a possible recession for Europe if the energy crunch lasts through the first half of the year. Proposed measures include coordinating the sharing of fuel and possibly tapping into emergency stockpiles.

CNN spoke with the E.U. Energy minister on Wednesday.

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DAN JORGENSEN, E.U. ENERGY AND HOUSING COMMISSIONER: The European Union is so closely connected, our economy is so closely connected that if things go bad in one country, they go bad in all countries. So we do have tools. We are now setting up an observatory where we will get the overview of exactly how much fuel have we got? Where have we got it? For how long have we got it?

How much do we import? How much do we export? All of these things that are needed for us to if this indeed becomes a security of supply crisis and we will need to redistribute and share the stocks that we have.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR: Given what you've put in place here, how would you now characterize the risk though to that all important summer travel season in Europe?

JORGENSEN: No, but it is -- a big risk. And if there was one thing that I could do or we could do as policymakers that would -- that would solve this, of course, we would -- we would probably do it. But the fact of the matter is that what determines whether or not this will be a long lasting crisis and how serious it will be will be the duration of the crisis and the severity of the crisis in the Middle East.

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MICHAELSON: CNN's Paula Newton there.

Meanwhile, airlines are warning of pain to passengers. United has announced plans to raise significantly and is signaled they may not come back down even if fuel costs fall. It's amazing how that always happens, right? And Lufthansa is counting tens of thousands of daily flights. CNN Aviation Correspondent Pete Muntean picks up the story.

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Not a huge surprise here. Airlines run on thin margins and historically, fares don't really come back down once they go up. Here is the new warning from United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby from Wednesday's earnings call. Passengers are paying about 20 percent more per mile than they were a year ago. And Kirby says even if fuel prices fall, those higher fares are likely to stick around.

The data from travel site going shows just how much prices have jumped. Domestic airfare up 18 percent for the summer. International fares up 8 percent. That's about 13 percent overall. Labor is still the single biggest cost for airlines. But remember, jet fuel is number two. And the price of jet fuel is roughly doubled since the start of the war with Iran, meaning airlines have no choice but to adjust.

German carrier Lufthansa is cutting 20,000 flights through October. That includes about 120 flights a day through May. The goal is to save money as fuel costs surge. This is classic airline playbook. When costs go up, airlines start slashing capacity.

Fewer flights means fewer choices. And the routes most likely to disappear first are the ones that weren't really all that profitable to begin with. But here's the kicker. Demand for air travel is still very strong. And airlines admit that they think travelers will keep paying these prices. And so far, they're right.

[01:10:04]

Pete Muntean, CNN, Washington.

MICHAELSON: Staying in Washington, the U.S. Senate is working through the night as part of a marathon vote series. You are looking at a live picture right now from the Senate floor where it's after one 1:00 in the morning and they're still working. All this is a first step for Republicans hoping to fully fund and reopen the Department of Homeland Security without the sport of Democrats who have been demanding reforms to immigration enforcement. There's a whole lots of votes on lots of different bills happening throughout the night. You see right there the leader of the Senate, John Thune, speaking after one of those votes just wrapped up.

Last hour, I spoke live with Democratic Senator Chris Coons and asked him about this late night so called Vote-a-rama.

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SEN. CHRIS COONS (D-DE): It is the one way that you can force through a bill in the Senate with fewer than 60 votes is this reconciliation process. It's a special budget process and it should not be used for this purpose for appropriations. We hung together as a caucus and refused to fund ICE until there were modest responsible reforms. Republicans in the Senate we unanimously voted to fund DHS except for ICE and CBP and then the House rejected it.

So, it's been ping ponging back and forth. This is Republicans way of solving this without addressing the real problem, the cruelty and the violence that we all saw in Minneapolis that caused this impasse in the first place.

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MICHAELSON: So if Republicans get their way, essentially there would not be reforms of ICE. It would be funded as is. You look there at the senator from Massachusetts who is now speaking. Even if the measure passes in the Senate, House Republican leadership will not say in it has enough votes in the House right now, though Senator Coons told me that he believes the whole reason they're doing this right now is because they do have enough votes in the House and that this thing is likely to move forward.

Here in California, a televised debate in the governor's race wrapped up just a short time ago on Nexstar stations. Six candidates appeared on the stage, four Democrats, two Republicans. It was an opportunity to move the conversation forward after a couple of candidates suspended their bids, including Eric Swalwell. That one was pretty public.

One of the top issues facing the state is the rising amount of people experiencing homelessness. Here's how all six candidates graded current Governor Gavin Newsom on how he has addressed that problem.

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KATIE PORTER, CALIFORNIA DEMOCRATIC GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: I'm a notoriously tough grader, but I would probably give him a B on homelessness.

I don't think this has been an easy problem to solve. But I do give him a lot of credit for calling attention to the problem.

MATT MAHAN, CALIFORNIE DEMOCRATIC GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: I'll give him a B on Care court and Prop 1 and many of the important initiatives that he championed where I've been proud to stand with him.

XAVIER BECERRA, CALIFORNIE DEMOCRATIC GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: The governor has made efforts. We've seen him come down to Los Angeles, actually go out and try to clean some of these streets. On effort, I would give him an A.

CHAD BIANCO CALIFORNIE REPUBLICAN GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: It is an absolute dismal failure. And anyone that says it's not is fooling themselves or trying to fool voters.

STEVE HILTON, CALIFORNIE REPUBLICAN GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: I'd love to be in your class, Katie. If he get a B for -- well, Gavin Newsom, still on homelessness. My goodness. Of course it's an F. It shames our state, the situation with homelessness.

TOM STEYER, CALIFORNIE DEMOCRATIC GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: So I'd give the governor a B minus on this. And I want to start with a simple statement, which is no one gets well on the street.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: Joining me now for our political panel is Melanie Mason, California Bureau Chief for POLITICO, and from Sacramento, Mike Madrid, co-founder of the Lincoln Project, founder of Latino Working Class Project as well. Good to see both of you.

Mike, we will talk with you in a moment. Let's start with you, Melanie. You helped to oversee the California POLITICO playbook, which is must read every day. You write great headlines. You always have fun with that. What's the headline for this debate? Is there one?

MELANIE MASON, CALIFORNIA BUREAU CHIEF, POLITICO: It's tough to kind of come up with one, which is not great because that is our job is to figure out what the headline is. But in some ways I almost feel like that was by design, right? I mean, we did not see any of the candidates really have a standout moment where they took on another candidate on the stage. I mean, yes, there was swipes back and forth, but you know, the thing that really does cause a headline is when you see some fireworks.

MICHAELSON: Yes.

MASON: And it felt like the candidates wanted to maybe get their message out, maybe introduce themselves to the voters, but they didn't want to have that hard contrast with their opponents that I think would stick in the minds of voters and journalists like us.

MICHAELSON: And this was really the first debate with all these folks on stage. There are going to be more of them. So maybe they were holding some of that. But it seemed like the both format of the debate and the choices of the candidates on the debate was to not do that, to not necessarily be aggressive in going after different people.

Interesting that the -- that this grade question that our colleague Ashley Zavala has asked people on her show that they picked up tonight on grading Governor Newsom getting a lot of attention, he still looms large in this whole thing, right? And he hasn't endorsed anybody.

[01:15:06]

MASON: He has not endorsed anybody. And I think that that tiptoeing around the question that we saw from the Democrats, I think reflects the fact that none of them want to get on Gavin Newsom's bad side. I think that that was actually a much easier question for the Republicans on stage, right? They could just tee off.

MICHAELSON: Simple. F, of course.

MASON: Right. Exactly. And to voters who -- I mean, even, I think Democratic voters are probably not particularly happy with the state of homelessness in the state, for example, or the high housing prices. And so when, when you hear answers like A for effort or giving them a B, I mean, it feels a little dissonant to, I think, what is the lived experience of voters in the state. But Democrats don't want to do anything that makes Gavin Newsom mad.

So they have to have these kind of squishy answers.

MICHAELSON: Yes, I mean, why is that? Why are they afraid to take him on? I mean, one candidate, Matt Mahan, the mayor of San Jose, has gone after him repeatedly before he ever gotten into the race, but the others really haven't.

MASON: And Matt Mahan has kind of walked that back a little bit since he's been running for governor. I think that's in part because Gavin Newsom remains pretty popular, particularly with Democratic voters in this state. So as these Democrats are trying to consolidate the Democratic voters, Gavin Newsom is still, I think, is more -- seen more positively than negatively. And so I think making an enemy, it probably puts them on the wrong side with a lot of voters.

MICHAELSON: So in a debate, a lot of the questions are who won, who lost. I think it's very strange that people can bet on politics these days. I personally don't really find this very comforting and I don't put a lot of credibility into this. But there are people that put money on the line that believe a candidate's going to win and it changes.

So we want to put up on the screen from Kalshi, these are the post debate odds and these are people who are literally moving their money around based off of what happened. So it showed that Tom Steyer basically stayed the same as the front runner. But look at this, Xavier Becerra who was really surging down 7 percent after the debate. Matt Mahan up 7 percent after the debate. Steve Hilton, Katie Porter, stay unchanged. Chad Bianco down just one.

But that story, because a week ago or a couple weeks ago, Xavier Becerra, Matt Mahan weren't even on the stage. Because Swalwell dropped out, they put out a new poll. Becerra, Mahan are on the stage, and they seem to be getting the most attention.

MASON: Particularly, I think that the Xavier Becerra story has been so fascinating, right, because he really did zoom up the polls as soon as we saw Eric Swalwell drop out. I think because, you know, people look at him and they say he has quite a long resume, he has a lot of experience. Maybe let's give this guy a new look. And I do think -- look, I agree with you. I don't think we should put too much stock in these Kalshi numbers, but I think in some ways it is an indicator perhaps of how people are viewing the momentum in this race.

And for a while, the Kalshi odds were moving towards Becerra. Seems like maybe they slid a little bit back.

And look, I know the Becerra team loved the Kalshi odds when it was showing that he was zooming up.

MICHAELSON: Yes.

MASON: And if you're going to live by those odds, you're going to die by him. And so he, in this case, if they -- if they're saying after the debate, maybe people are slightly less enthused, then that might tell you how his debate performance went.

MICHAELSON: And Becerra was the only candidate not to go to the spin room to talk more about it. And so that may be an indication of the way they felt about it. Or sometimes if people are really confident, they feel like we left it all on the floor.

Let's bring in Mike Madrid to our conversation right now. Mike, you have worked on campaigns in this state for such a long time. You're not working on one of these campaigns right now, which I'm sure is interesting for you, so you can be a more objective viewer of this. Who do you think was sort of the winner on the Democratic side?

MIKE MADRID, CO-FOUNDER, THE LINCOLN PROJECT: Well, thanks for making me feel so old there, Elex. Look, I think that Melanie really nailed it. I mean, look, this was kind of a much ado about nothing, and I think that was by design. I think these candidates are a little bit unsure of their coalitions, as small as they are. And I think you're seeing some of that fluidity still exists in the race.

I think if there were two candidates that probably did come out at the top, they would be Becerra and Mahan, only because the downward trajectory didn't emanate. There wasn't any big, bad moment that was going to knock them off their heels. So I'm not too sure this race will probably move numbers too significantly, but there's still a tremendous amount of fluidity in this race and I think we've got a long, long way to go with a lot of ups, a lot of downs and a lot more changes in curves ahead before we get to June 2.

MICHAELSON: You could argue that the biggest sort of opportunity and challenge was for Matt Mahan, who was not well known to a lot of people before this, Mike. And is trying to get his name out there, is on the stage, has a lot of money behind him, but it seems like he's kind of in a make or break moment, right?

MASON: I think this was a make or break moment. He's definitely going to have a very interesting set of days in the coming week or so. The challenge for Mahan -- and I know Matt, I think he's got a fantastic future. I just worry about the message that they're trying to drive. There's no lane for a Democratic Party to hear the criticism that they're hearing in this tremendously anti-Trump moment.

It's kind of like telling people that they've got a crack in the foundation of their house when the house is literally on fire. Everybody wants to throw water on that fire. Or in the case of Gavin Newsom, fight the fire with fire. But the foundation of those main problems, challenging and criticizing the problem, there's not a lot of appetite for that right now. And that probably explains why he's pivoted as much as he has.

[01:20:15]

The question is, is there a lane that's big enough to break through? I think you're seeing Steyer with really got -- he's kind of topping out, $120 million. He's paid about $10 million per percentage point.

MICHAELSON: Yes.

MASON: You know, Katie Porter isn't moving in her range. So, yes, I think it's a make or break in the next week or so for Mahan. If he doesn't get into contention, he's probably going to have to look at another cycle to run for governor.

MICHAELSON: And meanwhile, on the Republican side, Mike, you know, Steve Hilton recently got the endorsement of President Trump. That gives him, obviously, a lot of money there, but a good night, it seemed like, for Chad Bianco with the Republican base. If you are a Republican watching this, he was speaking your language. MASON: He really was. He's much more of a populist candidate, sort of that MAGA brand candidate. Hilton's got a lot of advantages that he does have that name recognition as the Fox News personality. He does run in that MAGA inner sanctum of Donald Trump. He got Donald Trump's endorsement.

He also is a little bit peculiar in that he really is, regardless of kind of the sticky substance and persona that he presents, this is a substantive guy who understands policy. He's like one of the last remaining members of the -- of the substance wing, the policy wing of the old Republican Party. He understands these problems. You don't have to agree with them, but he can debate them and discuss them.

I think what Bianco showed was that he couldn't answer a basic question about the gas tax. He didn't know how much it was or where he would find the revenues to replace it when he said he'd eliminate it, other than waste, fraud, and abuse, which is kind of this old Republican saw for saying, I have no idea. I just don't study. I don't look at this stuff. And I probably don't even know what the gas tax generates.

MICHAELSON: Thank you, Mike.

And Melanie, last word to you, sort of, where do we go from here?

MASON: Well, look, I do think that after, in the wake of the Swalwell scandal and now we are starting to see these debates, televised debates, kind of one after and then the other in the next couple of weeks, I do think that this is the moment where people are tuning in. And so I'm going to be really interested to see what happens in the polls over the next, you know, 10 days, 14 days. I think as voters decide, OK, you know, the ballots are coming to our house now, I actually maybe have to make a decision. I think we're going to get a real indication of perhaps what the appetite is from the voters.

Do they want somebody who projects kind of like calm steadiness, like Xavier Becerra? Do they want somebody who can, you know, promise some of these flashier programs like Tom Steyer? I think we're waiting to see where the voters land.

MICHAELSON: And of course, the ballots are supposed to arrive in the mail by May 4th. And then on May 5th, CNN has a debate which we are --

MASON: What time?

MICHAELSON: -- which we are looking forward to. Kaitlyn Collins and I will be co moderating that right here.

Mike, thank you. Melanie, thank you.

A lot more to talk about in the weeks ahead as we prepare for that big debate here on CNN.

Still ahead tonight on The Story Is months after they were driven from their homes by one of the largest fires in Hong Kong history, residents get a chance to return. We go along as one man sees what's left of his home. That's just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:27:29]

MICHAELSON: Well, here's a picture I certainly didn't expect to see at the beginning of the day. LA Mayor Karen Bass and the Oval Office meeting privately with President Trump pushing for more FEMA assistance to those impacted by last year's Palisades and Eaton Wildfire. She was joined there by LA County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who oversees the Altadena portion of all of this. Earlier, they issued a joint statement calling the discussions, quote, "very positive."

For the first time since Hong Kong's deadliest fire in decades, people are getting a chance to go back to what's left of their homes. It was five months ago that a massive fire engulfed seven high rise apartment buildings in the Tai Po District, killing more than 160 people and destroying the homes of thousands of others. Our Kristie Lu Stout spoke with one man who went back to see what he could salvage.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): This is what Tai Po fire survivor Dorz Cheung saw when he returned home for the first time since the deadly tragedy five months ago. Blackened walls, broken windows, rooms in disarray.

DORZ CHEUNG, WANG FUK COURT RESIDENT: Many sad memories inside. And when you think about like some of people would die inside and it made me cry.

STOUT (voice-over): Cheung and his 88-year-old grandmother used to share this 450 square foot apartment. She couldn't make the trip, but her grandson walked up 14 floors to get here and had only three hours to collect their belongings. It wasn't easy to work up to this moment.

CHEUNG: I just left for three hours and cannot sleep. Maybe too much pressure for about this. I'm so nervous. Yes. And many uncertainty.

STOUT (voice-over): Last November, the fire tore through seven high rise residential towers in Hong Kong's Tai Po District. They were home to more than 4,000 people, 168 people were killed. There is sorrow, there is trauma.

ODILE THIANG, CLINICAL ADVISER, MIND HK: Our home is our kind of psychological safety net. And when we lose our home, we lose that sense of safety. And all of a sudden everywhere seems unsafe, which makes it so, so much more complex and so much more difficult to digest.

STOUT: So the survivors are now returning home to recover their personal belongings. What should they be, you know, bracing themselves for?

[01:29:41] THIANG: Coming back to the trauma. So all the trauma triggers again --

whether its smelling charred material, seeing the charred, you know, hallways or rooms, just seeing all of that, and bracing for that sort of one, emotional trigger to just understanding the scope of what happened.

DORZ CHEUNG, WANG FUK COURT RESIDENT: I found my running prizes, like all are still here and not burned, but I have to clean it.

STOUT: Cheung also recovered his grandmothers cherished Bible study notes from decades ago. She hopes to return to the apartment one last time to see it for herself.

Authorities blame substandard renovation materials for stoking the inferno. Over a dozen people have been arrested on related charges for fueling a blaze that has taken so much from families who only now are starting to pick up the pieces.

Kristie Lu Stout, CNN, Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: Pope Leo XIV is wrapping up his 11-day tour of Africa.

The pontiff visited four countries during his trip, sometimes drawing crowds of more than 100,000 people. His final stop is in Equatorial Guinea and in about four hours, he'll celebrate mass at a stadium before flying home.

Earlier, he visited what's considered one of the world's worst prisons. The Pope criticized the treatment of the inmates and also called out the country's income inequality.

We have an update on the search for answers in the death or disappearance of at least ten U.S. scientists. What a key congressional committee chairman is saying about a possible sinister connection.

[01:31:43]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAELSON: Now to the conspiracy theory that will not die down.

The Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee is pointing at America's adversaries in the deaths or disappearances of at least ten people connected to sensitive national security issues.

CNN's Natasha Chen has an update.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NATASHA CHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Whether coincidence or conspiracy --

REP. JAMES COMER (R-KY): There's a high possibility that something sinister is taking place here.

CHEN: The deaths and disappearances of about a dozen people who are either scientists or worked with scientists with access to sensitive national security information, has gone from a fringe talker to a federal investigation.

What do you think your dad would say if he knew that there was an investigation like this?

JULIA HICKS, DAUGHTER OF MICHAEL HICKS: I just know he is rolling in his grave knowing that his name is going around, being involved in something like this.

CHEN: Julia Hicks' father, 59-year-old Michael David Hicks, was named in a letter from the Republican-led House Oversight Committee calling for the FBI, NASA, Department of Energy and Department of Defense to investigate possible connections among cases, including his. Because he worked at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory on projects working to deflect near-earth asteroids and his obituary did not state a cause of death.

Julia Hicks was the one who found her father when he died.

HICKS: He had underlying medical conditions for years and years and years. And when he passed away, I knew why there was no need for an autopsy for me.

CHEN: But the House Oversight Committee chair, Republican James Comer, thinks there's more to the story.

COMER: It's very unlikely that this is a coincidence. So Congress is very concerned about this. Our committee is making this one of our priorities now, because we view this as a national security threat.

CHEN: President Trump called the matter pretty serious stuff.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I hope it's random, but some of them were very important people. And we're going to look at it.

CHEN: The case sparking speculation date back to 2022 when Amy Eskridge died at age 34. She had founded the Institute for Exotic Science.

AMY ESKRIDGE, FOUNDER, INSTITUTE FOR EXOTIC SCIENCE: You can't be calling these people to be like, can I disclose UFOs tomorrow? You have to be like, in talks with these people.

CHEN: But her family told CNN in a statement, people should realize that scientists die also and not make too much of this.

Conspiracy theories also swirl around 39-year-old Matthew James Sullivan, a U.S. Air Force intelligence officer who died in 2024.

Republican Congressman Eric Burlison wrote about Sullivan in a letter saying Sullivan was about to testify in a whistleblower case about UFOs.

Circumstances around some of the scientists being lumped into this mysterious group are actually well-documented.

ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Specifically, the MIT professor who was killed, as we know, by the same person who shot up the classroom in Brown University.

There was another researcher who was a scientist who was a researcher for a big pharma company that also doesn't really fit the potential pattern.

CHEN: But former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe says it's worth exploring the cases with no known connection and cannot be explained at the moment, like the disappearance of Melissa Cassius and Anthony Chavez, who worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Chavez's best friend told CNN it's about time for a federal investigation.

As for some speculation that these deaths or disappearances could be linked to work with UFOs --

MCCABE: That's really not very helpful to investigators. They want to kind of not prejudge anything and really just look at the raw facts.

CHEN: Another person on the list is Retired Air Force Major General William Neal McCasland, who hasn't been seen since he disappeared from his Albuquerque, New Mexico home on February 27th.

[01:39:51]

CHEN: Now, his wife spoke to CNN at the time. He did at one point in his career command the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright- Patterson Air Force Base. And she told us then that, yes, there was a brief association with the UFO community, but that connection was not a reason for anyone to abduct him.

She said at the time, quote, "no sightings of motherships hovering".

Natasha Chen, CNN -- Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAELSON: Thanks to Natasha.

There's a big day ahead for the parent company of this network, Warner Bros Discovery -- that's a live look from outside our window. Shareholders are set to vote on Paramount's $110 billion takeover bid. The deal is widely expected to be approved.

The mega merger came together after Netflix dropped its bid for the Warner Brothers movie studios and HBO streaming device.

Thousands of actors, directors and others in the entertainment industry oppose the Paramount deal, fearing that it will stifle competition.

Well, "The Devil Wears Prada 2" doesn't hit theaters until May 1st, but some viewers in London got a sneak peek on Wednesday.

Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, Stanley Tucci, Meryl Streep -- all back at it again two decades after the original film. Meryl Streep spoke about the changing media landscape.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MERYL STREEP, ACTRESS: It's sort of underwrites all the flash and fun and music. And that -- the uncertainty of this current moment is sort of in the media landscape, but in every form of business, life, music, art, movies -- pick a thing.

We're all being undermined, you know? And so that's where the movie kind of starts initially.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: How great does she look?

You're watching THE STORY IS.

For our international viewers, "WORLDSPORT" is next. For our viewers in North America, I'll be back with Grae Drake and film reviews, including the new Michael Jackson movie.

[01:41:45]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAELSON: 17 years after his death, a biopic on the legendary Michael Jackson will be hitting theaters across the U.S. on Friday. His nephew, Jaafar Jackson, plays the title role in "Michael", which details the singer's career arc from child star to King of Pop.

Early reviews have been bad, as Michael Jackson said, with critics saying the movie lacks substance and plays more like public relations than cinema.

Joining me to talk about "Michael" and other movies hitting the big screen is Grae Drake, film critic with cbr.com.

All right. The lame way to do this is, is it a thriller?

GRAE DRAKE, FILM CRITIC WITH CBR.COM: It's not bad, not bad. It's really, really ok.

MICHAELSON: Ok.

DRAKE: There is absolutely zero revelation in this movie.

MICHAELSON: Ok?

DRAKE: So just don't go expecting that. This doesn't cover the allegations portion of his life. They tried, they couldn't legally so they reshot it. And what you end up with is just a celebration of Michael's music and

a very softball movie that is just like -- Michael loved animals, and he was kind to children and he was a little odd. That's what you end up with.

MICHAELSON: Ok, so it gets you from song to song, basically.

DRAKE: Correct. And it doesn't matter because what this movie is truly about is how incredible Jaafar is.

MICHAELSON: And is he?

DRAKE: Unbelievable. And I'm telling you, without exaggerating that it's like Michael's come back to life.

MICHAELSON: Wow.

DRAKE: It's unbelievable what he does. And it's weird that he's Jermaine's son because as the stories go, Jermaine and Michael had the most contentious relationship out of all the siblings. And its wild that his child ended up being like another Michael, literally.

MICHAELSON: And you're saying -- and the kid that plays young Michael is a standout too.

DRAKE: So good. And they are the anchors of this movie that I have a lot of thoughts about.

Janet doesn't exist, not a Janet in sight in this movie.

MICHAELSON: What?

DRAKE: She asked to not be included. And so you'll notice just by being a human being on the planet earth, the things that are missing from the story.

MICHAELSON: Janet was pretty famous.

DRAKE: Right? Every --

MICHAELSON: So no Janet Jackson.

DRAKE: Everybody knows the story. Even if you don't know that you know it. So once you start seeing what they chose to include, you'll be like, that was weird. Oh, wait a second, it's another amazing song.

MICHAELSON: Yes. Yes. Oh, the Jackson Four. No, no, not quite.

DRAKE: Everyone is going to go. Everyone is going to love hearing Michaels songs and seeing the performance. And then eventually you'll be like, that was a little weird that thing.

MICHAELSON: Yes. So the kid who plays young Michael is going to be joining us tomorrow on set here on THE STORY IS and we're excited to talk to him.

DRAKE: Yes.

MICHAELSON: Ok.

DRAKE: He's delightful.

MICHAELSON: Another movie "Over Your Dead Body".

DRAKE: Ok. Jason Segel from "Shrinking" is married to Samara Weaving from "Ready or Not 2" --

MICHAELSON: Wow.

DRAKE: -- marriage is in trouble. Elex, they are not doing well. In fact, they're going to go up to a cabin in the woods. And Jason Segel is planning on killing her.

MICHAELSON: Oh.

DRAKE: Yes.

MICHAELSON: So we've moved from "Shrinking". It's a little different character.

DRAKE: Exactly.

MICHAELSON: From the nice therapist.

DRAKE: This character needs therapy.

MICHAELSON: Ok.

DRAKE: And what they don't know is that there are three lunatics that have escaped from a prison, including Timothy Olyphant from "Justified" and "Natural Born Killer" herself, Juliette Lewis.

Chaos, surprises at every turn. Like this movie was super fun. It's a very dark comedy and I loved every second of it. It's really fun.

MICHAELSON: Ok. And then finally "Fuze".

DRAKE: "Fuze".

MICHAELSON: "Fuze".

[01:49:45]

DRAKE: And this one is in the middle of the U.K. an excavation crew building a building. They find a World War II bomb that needs to be defused.

So they clear all the surrounding blocks. There are some robbers that use this as an opportunity to steal something.

So we've got Aaron Taylor-Johnson from "Kick-Ass". We've got Sam Worthington, Mr. Avatar himself. And just when I was ready to write this movie off, it really surprised me. So, good twists in this heist film that meets "The Hurt Locker". So I

was impressed with "Fuze".

MICHAELSON: Ok.

DRAKE: I think -- I was like, oh, ok, this actually works. Directed by the same guy that did "Hell Or High Water", another great heist movie. And so I say, this is a great week for movies.

MICHAELSON: Ok. Very good. And if you're looking for a streaming option, we just had the finale of "The Pitt" --

DRAKE: Right.

MICHAELSON: -- with this season I think is actually even better than the first season.

DRAKE: Oh my God.

MICHAELSON: What -- some of the best TV done in years.

DRAKE: Truly, my nervous system cannot handle it.

MICHAELSON: Yes. All right. Grae, thank you so much. Great to see you as always.

DRAKE: You bet.

MICHAELSON: See you next week.

We'll be back to wrap things up here on THE STORY IS after this.

[01:50:58]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAELSON: Two classic movie characters are the heroines on the official poster of the 79th Cannes Film Festival. The artwork features a scene from the 1991 film "Thelma and Louise". It shows actresses Susan Sarandon who plays Louise, and Geena Davis as Thelma, sitting on their Ford Thunderbird convertible.

The festival, says they symbolize unforgettable fighters who broke gender norms and showed the way to emancipation when it becomes vital. The Cannes Film Festival runs May 12th to the 23rd.

Thanks so much for watching us here on THE STORY IS. I'm Elex Michaelson.

We'll see you tomorrow with one of the stars of the new Michael Jackson movie.

Plus lots of news and politics and all the rest.

And the report on the NFL draft, which is happening tomorrow night as well. One of the biggest nights in sports all year long. The news continues right here on CNN after a break. We'll see you

tomorrow.

[01:56:14]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)