PBS NewsHour full episode, March 26, 2024

things and also trying things that we know have worked in mainstream media. JEFFREY BROWN: On the business side, Sirius' Kelli Hurley also sees new opportunities. KELLI HURLEY: We'll see content creators expand beyond audio and become true influencers. That can mean all forms of social media. This can mean YouTube content or video content. That can even mean a live event, a tour. JEFFREY BROWN: On Air Fest founder Scott Newman believes the future is still being written. SCOTT NEWMAN: It will be the people who are here who will decide what the future is, through their actions, their investments and their creative work.

JEFFREY BROWN: As for music Norah Jones. NORAH JONES: I mean, I'm not quitting my day job. It's more of a labor of love, it's fun and it's just joyful. JEFFREY BROWN: For "PBS NewsHour," I'm Jeffrey Brown at On Air Fest in Brooklyn, New York. WILLIAM BRANGHAM: One of the world's greatest athletes, Shohei Ohtani, has been embroiled in allegations of illegal betting. The Los Angeles Dodgers just signed a record 10-year, $700 million contract, but now it's mired in controversy. This is what we know. Ohtani's former performer, Ippei Mizuhara, said he asked Ohtani to pay millions of dollars of his gambling debts.

Mizuhara, who was fired by the Dodgers and is under criminal investigation, said Ohtani did not participate in any bets. And although $4.5 million was sent from Ohtani's bank account to an alleged illegal betting house, Ohtani has not been charged with any crime and denies any involvement. SHOHEI OHTANI, Los Angeles Dodgers (via translator): I am very saddened and surprised that someone I trusted did this. I want to make it clear that I never bet on sports nor have I intentionally sent money to the bookmaker. WILLIAM BRANGHAM: For a closer look, we turned to Andy McCullough, senior writer at "The Athletic" and author of "The Last of His Kind: Clayton Kershaw and the Burden of Greatness." Andy, thank you very much for being here.

Just for our viewers who aren't familiar with who Shohei Ohtani is, this is one of baseball's stellar athletes, an incredible hitter, he keeps getting better, he was an incredible pitcher when he's on the mound. Many believe this guy is the best in the game today and apparently one of the best as well. Then this news is published about these gambling accusations. How did that news come about and how did it reach the baseball community? ANDY MCCULOUGH, senior writer, "The Athletic": Yeah, I mean, I can respond to the second person, the second part first. It fell like a bomb.

It's been... basically still breaking out almost a week later. I mean, the way the story initially broke was that the Los Angeles Times reported that Ohtani's name had appeared in... the kind of books or records of an alleged legal bookie named Matthew Boyer, who lives in the South of California, is under federal jurisdiction. investigation. When the Los Angeles Times and later ESPN approached Ohtani's group about Ohtani's... sort of presence in these books, the answer given is that Ohtani appeared there because he was paying off Mizuhara's debts, Ippei Mizuhara, Mizuhara su lifelong performer. Mizuhara later recanted his story after, as framed by Ohtani's camp, he told Dodgers players and staff that Shohei is a great guy and that he stepped up to pay my bills. debts.

Ohtani, his team, as presented, did not know that this was what Mizuhara was telling the Dodgers. When Ohtani realized what Mizuhara had said, he said, "That's not true." I never consciously paid his debts or anything like that. And he subsequently accused Mizuhara of a massive theft of at least $4.5 million. Mizuhara was fired. He did it; To be clear with Mizuhara, he initially said that Ohtani was being a good friend and paying off his gambling debts, but then he backtracked and said: that's not true. I can't say how I got the money, but Shohei doesn't know anything about this.

And that's why there are still many unanswered questions. Ohtani came out yesterday on what you played before and clearly said that he didn't bet on baseball and that he was scammed by his friend. However, there are still many things that need to be clarified to explain how exactly this scam could have occurred. WILLIAM BRANGHAM: I mean, as you well know, then Major League Baseball and all professional sports have spent generations trying to keep gambling at bay, but now professional sports gambling, legalized apps and all that They are very widespread. What are professional players and people in professional organizations not allowed to do?

ANDY MCCULOUGH: Sure. And it's important to say from the beginning that Ohtani has said that he did not bet on baseball. And Mizuhara has even said in both accounts that Ohtani did not bet on any sports. Ohtani said he didn't bet on anything, to be clear. So, that's not really the problem yet. But it will be important for this investigation to find out what exactly Mizuhara was betting on. If he is, as a former employee, as a former employee in baseball, Mizuhara would be subject to the same punishment as a player if you were found to be betting at an illegal bookmaker on college basketball, the NFL, tennis, whatever.

Most likely, that will be your punishment with a fine. That is the precedent. If you are betting on a baseball game that you do not participate in, the punishment is a one-year ban. If you bet on a baseball game you are participating in, it is a permanent ban. WILLIAM BRANGHAM: So this could be that Ohtani had done nothing wrong and his former colleague had stolen it. I mean, in the end, that's what this could all turn out to be, but we still don't know? ANDY MCCULOUGH: Well, that's certainly possible. That's what Ohtani presented to the public when he spoke on Monday, that Ippei was his friend, he stole from her and that surprises him a lot.

I think the next thing is to find out how much Mizuhara stole. It has been reported that it was at least $4.5 million. And how exactly did you do it? How did this person get access to his accounts? How could he complete that kind of robbery? And I think one thing they've mentioned in talking to the attorneys pursuing this case is that for Ohtani's side to come out so strongly and allege things this way, they have to feel pretty confident in their evidence. Now, it's not that (because the legal exposure you would face) for gambling, even legal gambling, is probably less significant than what you could face for possible perjury, which, again, there is no evidence that you committed that in no case. kind of way.

But it is by firmly committing to a story that suggests your legal field feels confident in the evidence they have. We'll have to see how it shakes out. WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Okay, Andy McCullough of "The Athletic," thank you so much for helping us get through all of this. ANDY MCCULOUGH: Yeah, thanks for having me. Brief but spectacular WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Finally tonight, Brandon Stosuy is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Creative Independent. It is an online resource that provides emotional and practical guidance for writers, musicians, and artists. Here he shares his brief but spectacular insight into the power of crying in public.

BRANDON STOSUY, co-founder and editor of The Creative Independent: I think people can break down crying if they don't expect it. It's a powerful thing. If someone is willing to go to that place in front of you, you react. I think very rarely does someone cry and you have no emotion. I feel like I cry quite often. I cry during sports. I'm a huge Buffalo Bills fan and sometimes I cry with joy. My mother died 13 years ago, so sometimes I notice that I cry more then. Then my wife points out, like, oh, yeah, you're kind of approaching the anniversary of your mom's death.

So I think sometimes there are times of the year when you just cry more. The first time I noticed people crying in public was when I was running and I saw someone running towards me and they were crying. And once I realized that, I started noticing more and more people crying. I started documenting it and writing it down. So, a guy eating fruit salad and crying, a guy at the airport crying at the urinal, when I saw a guy crying in a bathroom at JFK, playing a Chicago drum kit, "It's hard to say I'm sorry." So I would write it like this.

And then when I posted things on Twitter and saw so many people reacting, I realized there were other people thinking about this too. So I wrote a book called "Sad Happens," and the book has 115 essays from a variety of different people talking about crying. And that's how it started my friend Matt Berninger, who is in the band The National, he was the first person who gave me something and he writes a lot of lyrics about sadness. So we keep adding people. I think my favorite story in the anthology is this one about a woman named Olivia.

She wrote to me in my DMs and said, Hey, I'm a zookeeper and I want to write about the animals I take care of that eventually die. And then she wrote an article about loving these animals and then having to do it: her favorite owl dies. I hope that after people read the book, they will feel more willing to share. I'm not necessarily saying that everyone has to walk down the street sobbing all the time, but I do think it's okay to have those moments where you pull back the veil and say, yeah, I'm struggling or, hey, no.

I'm very excited or I'm having this moment that I want to share with you. It is this actual biochemical release that will ultimately make things better for you and healthier. That's really the ultimate goal of the book: for more people to realize that, oh, yeah, this is a universal thing. I am not alone in these types of feelings that I am struggling with. My name is Brandon Stosuy and this is my brief but spectacular vision of crying in public. WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Remember, you can always watch more short but spectacular videos on our website. And that's tonight's "NewsHour." I'm William Branham.

Thank you very much for joining us.