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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson

Blue Origin's New Glenn Rocket Explodes on Launchpad; Sources: U.S. & Iran Reach Tentative Deal; Netanyahu Says He Directed Military to Take Over 70 Percent of Gaza; Explosion Engulfs Texas Apartment Building, Killing 3; Rescue Divers in Laos Working to Extract 5 Men from Flooded Cave; Poll: Bass, Raman, Pratt in Tight Race for L.A. Mayor; San Antonio Spurs Win Game 6 Against OKC Thunder; Haiti Competing in World Cup for 1st Time Since 1974. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired May 29, 2026 - 00:00   ET

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

LAURA COATES, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking tonight, a Blue Origin rocket exploded on the launch pad during a ground test. The company, which is owned by Jeff Bezos, says the rocket experienced an anomaly.

[00:00:13]

The rocket was set to carry 48 satellites for Amazon.

Bezos put out a statement: "All personnel are accounted for and safe. It's too early to know the root cause, but we're already working to find it."

Thank you all for watching. THE STORY IS with Elex Michaelson is next.

ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Elex Michaelson, live in Los Angeles. Welcome to THE STORY IS.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAELSON (voice-over): THE STORY IS explosion. A massive fire on what was supposed to be a Blue Origin rocket launch.

THE STORY IS to be decided. An unofficial deal with Iran is very close. Just needs President Trump's final approval.

SCOTT BESSENT, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: Perhaps have the makings of a deal here.

MICHAELSON (voice-over): THE STORY IS L.A.'s next mayor. New polling shows it's a very tight race. Our panel will discuss what voters are thinking.

And THE STORY IS NBA playoffs. Who dominated game six of the Thunder- Spurs Western conference finals? Rachel Nichols, live on our set.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Live from Los Angeles, THE STORY IS with Elex Michaelson.

MICHAELSON: And the top story is a Blue Origin ground test that went horribly wrong. Look at this video.

The company's New Glenn rocket exploded just a few hours ago on a launch pad at Cape Canaveral in Florida, during what is known as a hotfire test.

Blue Origin says no one was hurt. They called the incident an anomaly. Look at that cloud, though, of fire.

U.S. Space Force says an investigation is now underway. But by all appearances, the fireball is a big setback for the Jeff Bezos-founded company and its mission to the Moon.

Bezos himself writing on X, quote, "It is too early to know the root cause, but we're already working to find it. Very rough day, but we'll rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and get back to flying. It is worth it."

Meanwhile, people around Cape Canaveral are sharing their views of the sky turning orange after all of that.

Let's bring in Laurie Leshin, who is the former director of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. She's now a professor of space futures at Arizona State University, joining us from Sedona.

Laurie, I mean, the images is stunning. What do we know about what happened here?

LAURIE LESHIN, PROFESSOR OF SPACE FUTURES, ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY: Yes. Good evening, Elex. It's a tough night in the space business, for sure.

Huge explosion. The largest I can recall at Kennedy Space Center. Certainly, one for the record books, if you will. It's a terrible record to be setting.

This was during a test. So, what happens is they put fuel onto the rocket, and they hold down the rocket really tight, and they fire the engines.

And it seems that the -- there was a problem when they were firing those first-stage engines, and a massive explosion ensued.

So, we've got a lot to learn about what went wrong here, as Jeff Bezos said. And we need to figure out what went wrong and -- and figure out how to move forward.

MICHAELSON: And so, what does this do in terms of the timing of the missions that Blue Origin is doing right now? Especially because we know they're working so intently towards trying to get humans back on the Moon and trying to be a part of building a Moon base.

LESHIN: You bet. This is going to be a setback, for sure, for Blue Origin's plans and for NASA's plans, potentially. Because Blue Origin is a key partner in the next set of Artemis missions, which are ultimately designed to get our crew down to the surface of the Moon. But the next mission, Artemis III, was supposed to be the Orion

capsule, which, of course, we all saw during Artemis II, taking the astronauts around the Moon. Another Orion capsule was supposed to dock with the landers that would ultimately take them down to the surface in Earth orbit, and Blue Origin had one of those landers.

So, it's going to be tough, because that mission is supposed to happen next year. And it's hard to see how they're going to be ready to launch and operate their lander in Earth orbit on that kind of time frame.

MICHAELSON: So, what's the process now, in terms of an investigation into this? How does that all work?

LESHIN: So, there will be a formal investigation. The FAA has already been contacted and will be involved in that investigation and will have to be involved in understanding root cause, and in making sure that they would clear that rocket for future launch. So, that will start right away.

[00:05:10]

And what that means is that launch site is going to be locked down for a while.

You know, the last time we had an incident like this was a SpaceX rocket ten years ago at the cape. That launch site was locked down for months and months while they gathered evidence and really made sure they understood exactly what happened.

The same thing is going to happen here.

And then there's going to be, after the investigation, what the corrective actions are going to be and how they're going to rebuild that infrastructure.

Because not only did we lose a rocket tonight; a launch pad undoubtedly was damaged severely. We don't still know how much. It will be interesting, you know, when the sun comes up to see what's left on the pad?

MICHAELSON: Yes. I mean, hard to imagine much when you see that fireball. Really is extraordinary.

Laurie Leshin. The best news, though, is that nobody was hurt, and nobody was on that rocket. And so, all this stuff can be replaced.

LESHIN: Yes.

MICHAELSON: We appreciate you joining us on this breaking news story late tonight. Thanks, Laurie.

The U.S. has reached a tentative agreement with Iran, according to U.S. officials. Tentative. It's now down to just a couple of sticking points.

Vice President J.D. Vance says it's hard to say whether the president will sign off on this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.D. VANCE, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: I do think we've made a lot of progress here. It's very clear that I think the Iranians, they want a deal.

Hopefully, we'll continue to make progress. The president will be in a position where he can endorse the agreement. But obviously that's still TBD.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: So, this temporary agreement does not address Iran's nuclear program. Sources say it's just a deal to stay at the table and begin 60 more days of negotiation, including discussing what to do with Tehran's enriched uranium.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BESSENT: The teams have been going back and forth.

I think that we -- we can see that the president very clearly stated out, stated his three -- the -- open the straight, highly enriched uranium nuclear program. So --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are those three aspects that you just outlined, part of the temporary deal that has been agreed?

BESSENT: That if there can be no deal without those, why would there be a deal without those?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: Now, what this deal does include is reopening the Strait of Hormuz and lifting the U.S. blockade on Iran ports, which would have a big impact on gas prices for everybody.

Iranian state media, citing unnamed sources close to the negotiating team, is reporting that the text of the proposed agreement, quote, "has not yet been finalized or made definitive."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): Right now, we are tightening our grip on Hamas. Yes, we are now in 60 percent of the territory in the Gaza Strip. We were at 50 percent. We moved to 60 percent.

My directive is to move to take it, step by step. First of all, 70. Let's start with that. We are tightening our grip on them from every direction, and we will deal with the remnants.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: That's Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu there telling a conference in the occupied West Bank on Thursday that he had directed Israeli military to take over 70 percent of Gaza's territory.

Now, under the October ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, Israeli forces withdrew to a demarcation line known as the yellow line, which encompassed roughly 53 percent of Gaza. Hamas accuses Israel of moving the line, saying this is a, quote, "explicit and ongoing undermining of the ceasefire agreement."

Now, it's unclear how a tentative deal with Iran could affect the conflict in Lebanon, where Israel is escalating its military campaign.

An Israeli source says the IDF targeted a Hezbollah missile unit commander in Beirut on Thursday, marking the first strike in Lebanon's capital in weeks.

The United Nations says it is, quote, "deeply alarmed" by the latest wave of Israeli strikes, following one of the deadliest days since a fragile ceasefire took effect last month.

Joining us now to help us unpack all of that is CNN's national security analyst, Alex Plitsas. He's also a former Pentagon official and a U.S. Army Special Operations veteran.

All right, so we just talked about three stories there. We want to get you to weigh in on all three of them: Iran, what's going on with Gaza, and what's going on in Lebanon?

Let's start with Iran. What do you know of the sticking points on this potential memorandum of understanding? And what do you make of the fact that the vice president is talking about it, but saying, we don't know if the president will sign off on it?

ALEX PLITSAS, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: So, I think there's a few things that have come out and that they reflect what I'm hearing from backchannels, as well as from government officials.

It seems that the sticking points are around the nuclear program, which is what President Trump had made his -- you know, his main objectives for this -- this conflict. And that is, as you mentioned, the highly enriched uranium and how that will be disposed of.

[00:10:06]

So, originally, the Iranians had said that they weren't going to negotiate over that at all. Now, we've moved to the point where the discussions are over whether or not it should be diluted and can remain in country, to go from 90 percent down to 3.67 percent, which is what's needed for fuel, but no weaponization.

And now the final sticking point really seems to be around enrichment. So, I was told originally the U.S. began with a total moratorium. The Iranians countered with something like ten years, which what was under the JCPOA for when they would be allowed to enrich uranium.

And now that's gone back and forth.

So, they're looking for some finality on those issues altogether, just to frame up what the deal would look like.

Because otherwise, if it's opening the Straits of Hormuz in terms of the Iranians allowing free flow of vessels, the U.S. then would lift its blockade of Iran so that traffic could flow. And for that, the Iranians are looking for financial relief.

So, if there isn't more that the U.S. gets on the back end of that, then essentially, they would be paying the Iranians or giving them financial relief to return the straits to a pre-war condition, which it was already at, which doesn't really make a lot of sense.

So, I think the president is looking to try to get more. And he really wants to close this out. As he said before, he doesn't want to be coming back and dealing with this again.

So, what's unclear is then what happens with the missiles, the drones, and the proxies in the region. And that's what we're all waiting to see. So, waiting for text to be released.

MICHAELSON: So, you're saying he wants to do all this at the same time and not sort of push it off for another 60 days to negotiate the fine print?

PLITSAS: So, the fine print will be negotiated over 60 days. But I think he's looking for a framework, at least at a high level, for an agreement, that these are the things that will be achieved. How we get there and what that looks like will then take place over the next 60 days.

MICHAELSON: All right. Let's get you on the other two big stories that we're following. Israel and Gaza.

Israel now saying we're going to operate 70 percent of Gaza after before agreeing to 53 percent. How is that legal in terms of what happened with the ceasefire? And does Israel really want to operate 100 percent?

PLITSAS: So, unfortunately, there's actually parallels to the previous topic we were just discussing, because the deals are structured very much the same way: in which there was a ceasefire in Gaza, which would then give way to a second round of negotiations and what was supposed to be a demilitarization or a disarmament of Hamas, which so far has not happened. And it is six months late and past due.

And so, Prime Minister Netanyahu is pushing military forces further back into Gaza, because Hamas so far has failed to meet its obligations under phase two of the deal.

MICHAELSON: And speaking of a ceasefire, there's also been a ceasefire when it has to do with Lebanon and Israel. What are your sources telling you about that conflict?

PLITSAS: So, Israel has been going after Hezbollah and Hezbollah infrastructure inside of Lebanon.

So, for those who are not familiar, Hezbollah is a designated terrorist organization, but it's also part of the Lebanese government in the sense that there are members of Lebanese Parliament who are elected as part of Hezbollah's political wing.

But they control the Southern portion of the country militarily, to a certain extent, along Israel's border. And they've been firing rockets and missiles across the border since October 7th. Long-standing history and problems there.

So, unfortunately, that conflict has continued to boil over. There's something known as the Litani River, which is North of the North of the Israeli border. And Israel would like to see Hezbollah disarmed and all forces move North of there, with the Lebanese armed forces taking responsibility for the disarmament of Hezbollah, which hasn't happened.

So, as a result of that, Israel turned the military operations back on. And Iran, which has always said, Hey, we don't really have proxy forces. We don't like that title. These groups operate independently, mysteriously -- this is basically a tacit admission from the Iranians that Hezbollah is, in fact, under their control to a certain extent. And they've asked for a ceasefire in Lebanon, in addition to a ceasefire between the U.S. and Israel, as part of this deal.

But Hezbollah is refusing to disarm. That hasn't happened in 40 years that people have been asking. So, very precarious situation.

MICHAELSON: So, Israel, involved in all three of these stories: involved in Lebanon, involved in Gaza, and of course, involved in Iran, as well.

CNN national security analyst Alex Plitsas, thank you so much for your info on the entire region. We appreciate it.

Eight people are now confirmed dead after emergency crews recovered the remains of six people from a paper mill in Longview, Washington. They died when a tank containing hazardous chemicals ruptured on Tuesday.

Crews are trying to reach three victims who remain missing and are now presumed dead.

Officials say they haven't found any containments [SIC] in the air -- contaminants in the air or local water system. But they're managing a spill of caustic liquid from the plant that could potentially affect a dike network that runs through that community.

An explosion in Dallas, Texas, caused an apartment building to go up in flames, killing three people and sending at least four others to the hospital.

[00:15:03]

Look at this video. Crews continuing to search for the wreckage for survivors. CNN's Sherrell Hubbard has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JASON EVANS, PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER, DALLAS FIRE & RESCUE: We can confirm that there have been three fatalities. Two females and one child of unknown gender.

SHERRELL HUBBARD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Dallas Fire Rescue said a possible explosion caused a massive apartment fire. The fire department says it was called around a quarter to 1 p.m. Local time, and arrived two minutes later. And what started as a two-alarm fire escalated to a five alarm.

Some residents describe narrowly escaping.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The commotion was everywhere, because the whole apartment was shaking. But the explosion felt like it came from, like, coming upstairs or somewhere around there. And as soon as I exit, I just see smoke coming out of, like, the main, like, the whole apartment.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My little cat is in there, and everything I own of mine and my kids is in there.

HUBBARD (voice-over): In the aftermath, dozens of firefighters can be seen scouring through the smoldering rubble of what was once a multi- story Dallas apartment building.

EVANS: We will have personnel using hand tools and their hands to actively dig through the debris, to make sure that there are no additional victims.

HUBBARD: The cause of the incident is still being investigated. I'm Sherrell Hubbard, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAELSON: Five men spent days trapped deep inside a flooded cave in Laos before being found by rescuers. Their ordeal, far from over. The precarious plan to bring them to safety. We go live to the region, next on CNN.

Plus, a new poll shows a tight three-way race for mayor of Los Angeles. We'll see who is leading the field. Our political panel weighs up -- weighs in, ahead on THE STORY IS.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:21:12]

MICHAELSON: This is just a crazy story we've been following for several days.

A team of specialized divers is working to launch a high-stakes extraction of five men who are trapped deep inside a flooded cave in Laos.

The men are among seven who entered the cave more than a week ago to search for gold deposits in a remote part of the country. They became trapped when a torrential downpour caused flash flooding inside the cave system, blocking their exit.

Our Mike Valerio has been following this day after day and joins us now with more.

Mike, what is happening on the ground right now?

MIKE VALERIO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They're trying to figure out when they can really kick this operation into high gear. I think that's the best way of explaining what is happening at this hour, as we've now crossed noon in this part of the world. They're an hour behind us in Laos, 11 a.m. local time.

And what I mean by all of this is they're trying to clear a huge path through the jungle, Elex, to bring in a bigger generator, because the logic here is, if you have a bigger generator with more power, you're able to pump out a whole heck of a lot more water much faster.

And that is the critical component of this whole equation.

They were able to make their way into this cave system, 220 meters, around 800 feet. If they're able to pump out that rainwater from the flash flooding last Wednesday, the rescuers seem to think that the men are well enough to be assisted and led out of there, if none of all of this water that we see is flooding the cave system.

So, when this is going to happen, that's the critical question. When they're able to bring in that bigger generator.

I can tell you, Elex, since the last time we spoke, there's more international expertise that is on the ground. More expert divers from France, Indonesia, Malaysia are now on the ground to bring as much knowhow as possible to increase their chances of coming out in great shape.

I think also one more dramatic element that we should add -- we just put this into our live story on CNN.com with Laura Sharman, our own Kocha Olam heading the byline for that -- food is big (ph). We were talking yesterday, the last hit that we had with you, about how they've been getting some soft food (ph), but apparently, you know, who can blame them? That is certainly not enough.

We have a new quote from one of the people who's stranded in there, telling a rescuer, quote, "If we don't get any food, we're out of strength. If we're still here after another two days, we will be dead."

I mean, that is an arresting quote, if there ever was one.

MICHAELSON: That's -- yes, I mean --

VALERIO: Probably one of the most dramatic quotes that we've gotten from the rescue scene. Yes.

MICHAELSON: Yes. And if you think about the fact that, you know, they may need to walk out of there, they need to have some strength based off of how you're describing this, as well. They may be helped, but it's so narrow, they may need to do some of this on their own.

We know that weather, clearly, was a big factor in starting this whole thing. I mean, that's why the rain came. Is there any more rain coming?

VALERIO: So, 79 percent chance of rain today, and it pretty much tapers over the next couple of days. I think when I was looking at the forecast a couple minutes ago, it drops to 40 something percent. And then by Monday, Tuesday it's like 3 percent, 1 percent.

But conditions -- I know it's so much easier for us to see these images from our TV screen or from our phones. It feels like 104 F today. Feels like 40 Celsius for all of the rescuers who are there.

So, you add still rain today. And those temperatures, I mean, its miserable. And our hearts and our minds, prayers go out to everybody who's part of that rescue effort, an incredible, incredible job.

[00:25:00]

But that's the latest we have for you right now, Elex.

MICHAELSON: All right, Mike, thank you. I know you'll stay on top of it. Hopefully, we have some good news to share on that front soon.

Meanwhile, investigators are looking into the cause of the latest school fire in Kenya. Officials say at least 16 students are dead after the blaze ripped through a girls' school on Thursday. Seventy- nine others were injured, but most are already out of the hospital.

School fires are common in Kenya, which saw more than 100 such blazes in 2024.

Researchers say the fires are often set by students to protest harsh discipline and poor conditions.

Well, he once called the 911 attacks an inside job and appeared with Alex Jones to talk about that.

Well, now, L.A. mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt has a new outlook. What he told Jake Tapper earlier today.

Lot to talk about in the mayor's race. We've got new polling on that front. Caroline Heldman, Lanhee Chen, our panel. You see them standing by live to discuss. Two of the smartest people I know. I'm about to learn something, when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:30:46]

MICHAELSON: Welcome back to THE STORY IS. I'm Elex Michaelson. Let's take a look at today's top stories.

Blue Origin, New Glenn rocket exploded during a ground test at Cape Canaveral. The video is really something. The company is calling this an anomaly. Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos

said all personnel are accounted for, and that it's too early to know what went wrong here. But he's vowing to, quote, "rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and get back to flying."

The U.S. is drawing backlash over its plan to send Americans who may have been exposed to Ebola in Africa to health facilities in Kenya.

A 50-bed quarantine unit is expected to become operational on Friday. Kenyan doctors are warning of the risks of bringing Ebola exposure into a country that has reported no cases as of Thursday.

U.S. officials are confirming that American and Iranian negotiators are closing in on a peace deal. That tentative agreement would see the Strait of Hormuz reopen. It would also kick off 60 more days of negotiations on Tehran's nuclear program.

President Trump has not signed off on that yet, and neither has Iran's supreme leader.

We are now just five days away from the final day to vote in the California primaries. People have already been voting for weeks. The races for governor and L.A. mayor are up for grabs.

Spencer Pratt, Republican mayoral candidate. Remember, it's a nonpartisan race, but he happens to be a Republican. Won't say that on the ballot -- is distancing himself from comments he made back in 2009, when he was a much younger man, that the September 11th attacks were, quote, "100 percent an inside job."

He was supporting Alex Jones at the time.

He told CNN's Jake Tapper today he was young and naive, and now he blames government failures and negligence for those attacks.

A new U.C. Berkeley/"L.A. Times" poll shows Pratt gaining ground in the mayor's race. Incumbent Karen Bass leads with 26 percent, council member Nithya Raman at 25 percent, Pratt at 22 percent. But essentially, you've got almost a statistical tie.

Remember, the top two advance. If nobody gets over 50 percent -- and based off of that poll, it doesn't look like anybody's going to get over 50 percent.

Here's what Nithya Raman said about this poll today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NITHYA RAMAN (D), L.A. MAYORAL CANDIDATE: I think if voters are looking for an alternative to our crumbling status quo and to the MAGA Republican in this race, I am that alternative. I have a demonstrated track record of results in my district, and I'm here to serve the people of Los Angeles.

(END VIDEO CLIP) MICHAELSON: Joining me now here, live in studio, is Caroline Heldman, Democratic strategist, professor of critical theory and social justice at Occidental College. And Lanhee Chen, former policy director for Mitt Romney, former candidate for comptroller in California, who did better than any Republican candidate in California in many, many years.

Caroline, Lanhee, welcome. Good to see both of you in the house.

CAROLINE HELDMAN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Thank you much.

MICHAELSON: Let's talk about sort of where we see this mayor's race, Caroline. This is the first real polling that we've seen in a while, and it is tight.

HELDMAN: It's not looking good for the incumbent, Karen Bass, although it's pretty clear she'll probably advance to the general election. And I'm --

MICHAELSON: Not necessarily, though. I mean, you see how close that thing is. Yes.

HELDMAN: Well, we'll see, right? And you're right.

MICHAELSON: Yes, most likely. The conventional wisdom certainly supports that.

HELDMAN: You're right. I mean, it's a horse race three, three ways, right. Nithya Raman is pulling on the left and Spencer Pratt is pulling on the right. Ten percent of voters are undecided in Los Angeles. I don't know how that's possible, given that it's this close.

MICHAELSON: Or maybe they don't like their three choices. And so, they're waiting for something to pop.

HELDMAN: It is clear that Karen Bass is not popping like an incumbent should pop, right?

And it mostly has to do with her response to the Palisades Fire. A bit to the issue of homelessness.

But if you look in poll after poll, about half of Los Angeles voters think that Karen Bass did a terrible job. And it's something that -- that has legs even a year later, her response to the Palisades fire. And of course, that's what Spencer Pratt is running on.

MICHAELSON: And yet she's got a lot of endorsements. Gavin Newsom is behind her. Alex Padilla is behind her. Most of the Democrats on the city council, even the Democratic Socialists on the city council are behind her and not behind Nithya Raman.

[00:35:00]

And she's got a lot of infrastructure support. And in a place like Los Angeles, historically, Lanhee, that's been very helpful. LANHEE CHEN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Yes, I mean, infrastructure

matters a lot. A city as big as L.A., as hard as it is to reach voters, its expensive.

And remember, there are campaign financing limits that are a lot lower in the city of L.A. than there are statewide and other parts of state -- of California. And so, I do think that being an incumbent is a natural advantage.

The problem is she's been a bad incumbent. And so, you're seeing a lot of anti-incumbent energy. That's really what's fueling Spencer Pratt. It's what's fueling Raman.

There may be some consolidation of that vote in the next couple of days. You've got a couple of other stray cats and dogs that are sucking up, maybe, you know, 15 percentage points or so. So, you might see a little more consolidation, I think, around that anti-Bass vote.

So, I'm not exactly sure that she's a shoo-in to make it through to that top two. And then, we would have a truly open race, which would be fascinating.

MICHAELSON: It really would. And some of the fascinating part of the last few weeks has been trying to figure out who is Spencer Pratt and how would he govern?

Because we have no examples to look at in terms of that. That was part of our conversation with him, was trying to get a sense of who he is. Who are his role models. What does he think?

Some folks have looked back at old tape from back in 2009 when he was on "The Alex Jones Show," and back then he was the reality show villain from "The Hills."

And he expressed some support for Alex Jones, who was talking about 9/11 being an inside job. Jake Tapper pressed him on that, asked him, do you regret that? Do you still think that? Now, here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SPENCER PRATT (R), L.A. MAYORAL CANDIDATE: Regret. Of course, I have 20 years of regret. I've talked about how many regrets.

But that doesn't connect to my mission now. Once you lose everything, once your parents lose everything, once your neighbors lose everything, you become a new person. The person I am now is very different than the person before January 7th.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: What do you make of that, just from a strategist perspective? Is that a good answer to a sort of bad, hard question?

HELDMAN: Well, I think it's an honest answer, and I do actually think it plays well. We love this sort of evolution story. Right? And Spencer Pratt has been a surprisingly strong candidate. Now, can a Republican win in Los Angeles? Probably not.

But Spencer Pratt has this great online presence. At debates, he's actually much stronger than anyone anticipated he would be. He has a good purchase on policy issues.

And then his narrative about his experience with the Palisades Fire really does hit. Let's assume, or if it's Karen Bass moves to the general election, he will give her a run for her money in a way that I don't think a lot of folks thought would happen.

MICHAELSON: And the other thing, Lanhee, that it would be tough to run against Spencer Pratt is the -- his mastery of social media and his online army with their A.I. and everything else that's going on is not something somebody like Karen Bass, who's been in politics for decades, has ever experienced. And that is a lot coming at you.

CHEN: It is, and I will say, few candidates have managed to capture that magic in a bottle the way that Spencer Pratt has.

The question is, how does that translate into votes? Right?

MICHAELSON: Right.

CHEN: It's one thing to have a lot of social media presence. We really have to see in this era. How do you get that to actually motivate the people you need to vote who live in Los Angeles, right?

You might motivate people who live in other states. They might look at that and say, well, that's great. Look, someone's running for mayor of L.A. who actually wants to change things. But they don't vote in Los Angeles. Right?

MICHAELSON: Right.

CHEN: And so, that's really going to be the question. Can you translate that into actual votes?

MICHAELSON: And last night here on THE STORY IS, we had Paul Mitchell, who is the No. 1 data guy in tracking who's returning ballots.

And he said, so far, the kinds of people that would be motivated by that are not turning in their ballots, at least so far. We'll see. They have a few more days to turn them in.

You know what it's like to run statewide as a Republican in California.

CHEN: It's not easy.

MICHAELSON: You did. You did better than any Republican has in many years. But you lost by about nine points, right? Instead of losing by about 25 points, which is what a lot of other people lose.

In our next hour, we're talking to Steve Hilton, who's running for governor of California. I know we had a new poll in that race that showed, basically, that Xavier Becerra, the HHS secretary, seems to be ahead at 23 percent; Steve Hilton at 20 percent, the Republican. Top two advance, regardless of party. Tom Steyer behind at 15 percent.

Those seem to be the three at the top. We'll see what happens.

Is it possible? Is there the math right now, given the electorate, for a Republican to win in California?

CHEN: I think that there is the math for someone who wants to reform what's happening in the state.

That's something I learned when I ran, is that there are a lot of people who are frustrated with the status quo. Xavier Becerra is about as much of a status quo candidate as you're going to get.

He has not articulated, really, what he wants to do that's any different from what's happening now. How is he going to change and improve the state?

One thing I will give Steve a lot of credit for -- you'll have him on later. He's actually put out a bunch of ideas. You can agree with him.

MICHAELSON: He has.

CHEN: You can disagree with him. He's put out a bunch of ideas to change the status quo.

MICHAELSON: Yes.

CHEN: That's what we need in the state.

So, what I learned is, if you're able to apply the resources against a message that says, we've got to change the status quo, and here's how people respond.

We saw great progress in places like Santa Barbara County, San Luis Obispo County that had not voted for a Republican in decades.

[00:40:13]

It was because of that message that things were not working well. And I think that's the kind of message that can succeed in California.

MICHAELSON: But is that enough of a message --

CHEN: It's going to be hard.

MICHAELSON: -- to get ten points more than you guys?

CHEN: It's going to be hard. It's going to be hard. But I think we have to acknowledge that no trend lasts forever.

And while it's the case that Republicans have not been able to be competitive in California in a while, and this cycle is going to be tough, given the broader macro environment, as well --

MICHAELSON: Yes.

CHEN: -- I think it's the right message to say things are not working well. We've got to change them.

MICHAELSON: How do you see the governor's race and this real battle at the top of the Democratic Party right now? It seems to be between Becerra and Steyer going into the final days.

HELDMAN: Well, the latest polls are showing that Becerra is really pulling out front, and I think he's a safe candidate.

And I would humbly disagree with Lanhee. I think that this is a Democratic state, and especially in the era of Trump, with so much animosity toward the Republican Party and party division in the country, that Californians would -- are digging in their heels even deeper.

And honestly, if someone like Lanhee Chen couldn't get elected to statewide office, what hope does a Republican have in this state?

I do see it as -- as being a Becerra-Hilton. At least the polling, you know, is -- is showing a clear gap now that we haven't seen at any other point in this race.

MICHAELSON: And you think people want a safe choice?

HELDMAN: I think people are choosing the safe choice. I think that a lot of factors came into play.

I think Swalwell would have taken it, but his departure, obviously, over allegations of sexual violence really shifted the race.

The fact that Kamala Harris didn't decide to run -- goodness knows why. She needed to build political capital after that loss. But OK. She gets -- she makes that decision late.

And then we have all of these candidates, you know, flooding -- flooding in. And I think that one Swalwell got out and Becerra started rising, all of these other candidates said, hey, maybe we can do that, too.

But at this late stage, it does look like it's going to be Hilton- Becerra heading into the general.

MICHAELSON: Are you suggesting that Kamala Harris's political instincts might not be the best?

HELDMAN: I am suggesting that, yes, whoever gave her advice on that.

CHEN: We've seen better. We've seen better.

HELDMAN: She should be running. She would have won.

MICHAELSON: Yes, she probably would have won.

Caroline Heldman, Lanhee Chen, thank you both. Great to see both of you.

HELDMAN: Thanks.

MICHAELSON: Still ahead, the San Antonio Spurs take the Oklahoma City Thunder to game seven. The two best words in sports: Game seven is coming.

FOX Sports analyst Rachel Nichols here live to break down that series. And what's going on with the Knicks and some new anti-tanking rules. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:47:15]

MICHAELSON: THE STORY IS the NBA playoffs. The Western Conference finals headed to a winner take all game seven, baby.

San Antonio Spurs crushing the Oklahoma City Thunder just a short time ago in game six. Final score: 118 to 91.

The winner, game seven, will face the New York Knickerbockers in the finals for the NBA championship.

Joining me now to break down a big night in sports, FOX Sports analyst Rachel Nichols. Welcome back to THE STORY IS.

RACHEL NICHOLS, FOX SPORTS ANALYST: Hello. Thank you.

MICHAELSON: Great to see you. The two best words in sports.

NICHOLS: I am so excited. And any game seven is great. This game seven. I mean this is one of the best series we've had in the NBA in years. You have two heavyweight teams. You have the two-time MVP versus the guy who is very much about to be the face of the NBA, and it's for all the marbles.

MICHAELSON: I mean, and it felt like this was headed towards game seven.

NICHOLS: It really did. Yes.

MICHAELSON: The entirety of the game one, it felt like we were headed towards game seven when they ended up in double overtime. So, what should we look out for? How do you break it down in terms of this weekend?

NICHOLS: Well, it's interesting. When you go into a game seven, everyone feels like, oh, the home team's got to feel so good. The pressure's on the visitor, right? You know, especially in an arena like that, which is so loud.

In fact, what we normally find is that the pressure is on the home team. They're expected to win, especially in this case where you have a little bit older team, more experienced team. You've got the MVP on the team. And the Spurs really get to play like they have nothing to lose, because no one expects them to win. And that attitude, I think, may be one of the deciding factors in who wins this game seven.

MICHAELSON: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the MVP of the NBA.

NICHOLS: Two-time MVP.

MICHAELSON: Is he the most valuable player on the court?

NICHOLS: Well, we'll have to see who -- I mean, certainly, whoever wins will be the most valuable player; will be named the most valuable player.

It is -- it is so fascinating to watch Wemby learn in real time, because Victor Wembanyama came into this league. He obviously was a great basketball player coming in. That's why he was drafted No. 1 overall.

But his head is such a supercomputer. And you can see it in this particular series from game to game. He looks at what he did wrong. The coaches put it in front of him, and he processes it very quickly. He's great at film study.

And you have a night like tonight, where he came out so dominant. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, only 15 points tonight. That is a season low for him.

MICHAELSON: Wow. On the biggest stage in one of the most important games.

And so, the theory all season was that these two teams are, by far, the two best teams in the NBA.

NICHOLS: Yes.

MICHAELSON: And that whoever came out of the East would essentially walk in and maybe be swept.

NICHOLS: Yes.

MICHAELSON: Because they had no shot.

NICHOLS: Yes.

MICHAELSON: Then the Knicks go on this historic --

NICHOLS: Yes.

MICHAELSON: -- dominant playoff run. Are you rethinking this now?

NICHOLS: I am a little bit. Look, there was no reason to believe that the Knicks could beat any Western -- any either of these Western Conference teams in the final going into the playoffs.

[00:50:00] In fact, game three that the Knicks played in the first round, they were down two games to one in that series. They were looking like they were in danger in the very first round.

They made a huge offensive change, which is very brave in the middle of the playoffs. Most people don't totally rework their system.

But if you watch Knicks games now, all you've got to do is look for Karl-Anthony Towns. The ball goes to him at the top of the key.

MICHAELSON: The big guy in the middle.

NICHOLS: He distributes. Everybody gets to be involved.

And this is true at any workplace right? If everybody gets to be involved, everyone's more excited. They work together better. They do even the boring stuff because, hey, we're part of a team together.

MICHAELSON: Yes.

NICHOLS: And the switch to sort of just wait, wait for a shot, you know, wait for a project to be assigned to you versus we're all doing everything. It's worked, just like it would in any office.

And this team has been phenomenal.

MICHAELSON: Yes.

NICHOLS: And I've got to tell you, I said just a few weeks ago, I said, look, it's amazing, this Knicks run. They really haven't played great competition. That's just the truth. So we'll see.

You know, when they get to playing one of these Western conference teams. I don't know, man. I don't know if they can win the title.

And I now feel that they definitely could win the title. I mea culpa, all my Knicks fan friends. Because it's true. I mean, we didn't know back then that this system was going to work so well. This new offense.

And we also didn't really know what was going to happen on the West side. Game seven are the best words for you, for me, for the fans.

For the two teams playing who have been knocking each other up --

MICHAELSON: Yes.

NICHOLS: -- and injuring each other --

MICHAELSON: Sure.

NICHOLS: -- which is what has happened in this series. They're going to come off this game, whoever wins, to a Knicks team that has had eight days of rest.

MICHAELSON: Yes. NICHOLS: And in fact, the Knicks will be playing their third team in a row coming off a seven-game series.

MICHAELSON: Although sometimes you have that much rest, you can get rusty.

NICHOLS: You can.

MICHAELSON: And that also can be a problem.

NICHOLS: Yes.

MICHAELSON: By the way, three of the best fan bases in the entire league.

NICHOLS: It's going to be amazing.

MICHAELSON: You've got San Antonio, Oklahoma, and New York, which hasn't hosted a finals since 1999. It's going to be so loud, and you're going to be there.

NICHOLS: I will be there, absolutely.

MICHAELSON: So, we've got to check out your coverage.

NICHOLS: Yes.

MICHAELSON: And check you out on social media and FOX Sports and all the places, as well.

NICHOLS: Yes.

MICHAELSON: Podcast, everything. Rachel, have fun.

NICHOLS: Thank you.

MICHAELSON: It's going to be great.

NICHOLS: I'll see you throughout.

MICHAELSON: Who wins?

NICHOLS: I -- I don't know, I don't know who they're playing. I don't know who the Knicks are playing. I really don't.

MICHAELSON: Who wins that game?

NICHOLS: I think the more likely team is the Thunder, just because they're more experienced. And you know,. this has been a seesaw series and they're the see or the saw right now.

But my heart would love to see Wemby in an NBA finals game. How fun would that be?

MICHAELSON: Wemby is so fun to watch.

NICHOLS: Yes.

MICHAELSON: Yes. We will see him in some, if not this year.

NICHOLS: Oh, absolutely.

MICHAELSON: Thank you, Rachel. We're now less than two weeks from the start of the World Cup. Excitement is building inside Haiti.

The Caribbean will be competing for the first time in more than half a century, facing Brazil, Morocco, and Scotland in Group C.

Stefano Pozzebon shows us what this means for the island that could really use a win.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR (voice-over): This was the moment Haitians held their breath for. Their national team made it to the FIFA World Cup, the first time in more than 50 years.

It was more than a sports victory. It was some much-needed good news for a nation battered by humanitarian crises.

And national team players like Woodensky Pierre don't take that responsibility lightly.

WOODENSKY PIERRE, HAITI NATIONAL SOCCER TEAM PLAYER (through translator): I always had in mind that playing for the country was a privilege, and I would be able to use my talent to help the country.

POZZEBON (voice-over): Gangs have overrun much of the capital, Port au Prince, and parts of Haiti's main agricultural region.

In Port au Prince, the violence has made it hard to access medical care. Entire families are fleeing. Add to that a deepening hunger crisis and economic turmoil.

Because of the unrest, Haiti's soccer team cannot even practice at home. But now there is something to look forward to. A new hope, especially for younger generations.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I want to play for the national team. My dream is to win a World Cup with the Haitian team To show others what Haiti is.

POZZEBON (voice-over): It's a dream Pierre hopes is within reach for more and more young Haitian athletes.

PIERRE (through translator): Playing in Haiti and making it up to the national team, this is something to be proud of, to be happy. And there's going to be an opportunity for a lot of other younger talent in the national league to make it to the national team someday.

POZZEBON (voice-over): Haiti's World Cup stint will not solve its problems, but for now, it's given the country something to finally celebrate. Stefano Pozzebon, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAELSON: We've got much more coming up on THE STORY IS, including Steve Hilton, Republican candidate for governor of California, joins us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:59:34]

MICHAELSON: Actors Tom Hanks and Tim Allen were among the stars at the premiere for "Toy Story 5" in London. Isn't it great to see them like that together again? The rest of the toy gang, back together, facing one of the biggest challenges yet: the ultimate battle for playtime.

The toys are trying to secure their place in children's lives against the kids' obsession with electronics and smart devices. How 2026 is that?

"Toy Story 5" will be released in theaters worldwide in three weeks.

Models and robots strutted down the runway together at a fashion show in Seoul. The event on Thursday was billed as, quote, "physical A.I. fashion show."