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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson
J.D. Vance Begs Americans For 'Patience' As Economy Woes Continue; Russia Escalates Provocations Amid Diplomatic Push From U.S.; Israeli Settlers Torch Homes And Vehicles In Palestinian West Bank Villages; Diddy Faces New Sexual Assault Probe by LA County Sheriff; Trump Accuses Democrats Of Seditious Behavior For Urging Military To Ignore Illegal Orders. Mozambique Hit by ISIS Resurgence Amid USAID Cuts; "Wicked Sequel" Receives Negative Reviews Ahead of Opening. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired November 21, 2025 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: -- with vines and leaves. Above her rests a skeleton and strings of dynamite crowded with a vibrant banquet. Listen to this. The painting last sold at auction in 1980 for $51,000. Now it's over $50 million. Talk about inflation. That is a good investment.
Thanks for watching. Stay with us. The next hour of The Story Is starts right now.
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J.D. VANCE, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: We know that there's a lot of work to do.
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MICHAELSON: The tough day for the markets. What's really going on right now with the economy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Emotions incredibly high here. I mean, it's all about people's livelihoods. Really, and a lot of anger.
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MICHAELSON: The story ISIS returns. CNN's Nic Payton Walsh takes us to Mozambique for a disturbing look at a resurgence of the terror group.
The story is Baywatch is back. How an expanded film and tax credit lured back production to California.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The really sells it.
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MICHAELSON: And the story is mixed reviews. Is the newest movie "Wicked" good or "Wicked" bad? Our movie critic Grae Drake flies in for her review.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Los Angeles, The Story Is with Elex Michelson.
MICHAELSON: I'm Elex Michelson live in Los Angeles. The story is mixed messaging at the White House on the state of the economy. A live picture from there right now, where it is after 1 o'clock in the morning after weeks of President Trump insisting that the economy is thriving, the vice president of The United States, J.D. Vance, now acknowledges concerns about the cost of living and affordability.
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VANCE: Since the American people who are still feeling like things are unaffordable, who are still feeling like things are rough out there is look, we get it and we hear you. Even though we've made incredible progress, we understand that there's a lot more work to do. And the thing that I'd ask for the American people is a little bit of patience.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: But Americans aren't biting, especially when it comes to inflation. In a new Marquette University Law School poll, 75 percent of people say groceries are more expensive, which they are. Those numbers are similar to a Fox News poll where 85 percent of registered voters said grocery prices are higher than they were a year ago.
According to the Fox poll, just 4 percent of voters think that the economic conditions today are excellent, while 42 percent say conditions are poor. As for who voters think is more responsible for the current State of Affairs, 62 percent say Trump, only 32 percent say Biden.
This comes as some of America's major companies warn consumers are being more cautious about their spending. Walmart says it is seeing a boost in sales thanks to more middle and upper income households shopping at its stores to save money.
With all this economic uncertainty, let's take a look at how global stocks are doing. Asia markets all down in the red and U.S. futures are actually looking up for Friday's opening. Compare that to Thursday's close. The Dow and P 500 and the NASDAQ were all in the red. Tech and AI stocks pushed the market lower as concerns resurfaced about the potential of an AI bubble. That AI is too good to be true.
While many view America's economy in a negative light, the labor market just posted a stronger than expected jobs report. Situation still a little murky as CNN's Matt Egan tells us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Well Elex, were hoping that there's a long delayed September jobs report was going to provide some much needed clarity. Instead, it's just adding to the confusion because this report was about as mixed as you can get.
Now the good news is the U.S. economy added 119,000 jobs in September. That blew away the forecast, which was just for 50,000 jobs. And it does suggest that this job market is not imploding, but at least it wasn't as of the end of September.
However, the bad news is there were more negative revisions to prior months. Both July and August were revised lower and August went from a tiny gain to a tiny loss, which means that after nearly four years of uninterrupted monthly job growth, the U.S. economy has now shed jobs in two of the last four months. The other disappointing news is the unemployment rate.
It unexpectedly went higher to 4.4 percent. That's the highest rate in nearly four years. And when you look at the trend here, it's clearly moving in the wrong direction.
Now as far as where the jobs are, health care continues to be a major source of strength, gaining almost 60,000 jobs in September alone. And construction, after losing jobs for a few months, gained 19,000.
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That's encouraging. That's the most that construction has gained in a single month in a year. However, manufacturing continues to lose jobs, losing another 6,000 in September. This is a sector that now has lost jobs in every single month since April, the month the President rolled out his Liberation Day tariffs.
Of course, job loss is the exact opposite of what those tariffs are designed to do. Relatedly, as imports have plunged because of high tariffs, transportation and warehousing lost 25,000 jobs in September alone. Look, I think the bottom line is this jobs report was so mixed, it's probably not going to move the needle all that much in either direction. Job market looked shaky coming into this report afterwards. Still looks pretty shaky. Back to you, Elex.
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MICHAELSON: All right, Matt, thank you. Within the past couple of hours, CNN has learned the details of a draft U.S. peace proposal for Ukraine, which the White House so far has kept under wraps. We obtained the 28-point draft which shows Ukraine would have to make some major territorial concessions to Moscow, including the recognition of its Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk regions as what they call de facto Russian.
The current front lines in the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions would be frozen as they are. Ukraine would also have to stay out of NATO and limit its military to 600,000 troops. And get this, it would have to hold elections within 100 days. In return, it would receive security guarantees. Many of these ideas have been rejected time and again by Ukraine and its allies in the past.
On the ground, Russia is escalating its attacks and provocations against the West. Clare Sebastian has the details.
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CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Russia's provocations against the West are becoming bolder. A deadly drone and missile attack on Western Ukraine causing NATO to deploy jets. A Russian spy ship in British waters. A Polish rail track funneling aid to Ukraine attacked.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The intention was clearly to kill Polish citizens.
SEBASTIAN: Russia is escalating far beyond the front lines. Cruise missiles hitting residential buildings Wednesday, killing more than two dozen people and causing Poland and Romania to scramble jets. This Russian intelligence ship sailed to the edge of British waters this week, the U.K. says, and directed lasers at Air Force pilots sent to track it.
JOHN HEALEY, BRITISH DEFENCE SECRETARY: So my message to Russia and to Putin is this. We see you. We know what you're doing.
SEBASTIAN: The Kremlin refused to comment and says it had nothing to do with the Polish train line attack. But why now? Why hasn't recent U.S. pressure? The shelving of a planned leaders summit in Budapest.
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I got to be wasting my time.
SEBASTIAN: Sanctions on Russia's oil giants. Ukraine openly using U.S. made ATACMS missiles on Russia this week. Why hasn't all that deterred Moscow? Well, perhaps Russia wants to show what it's capable of before international pressure steps up again.
But U.S. and Russian sources told CNN this week that high level talks have continued behind the scenes keeping Russian hopes of improved bilateral relations alive and perhaps giving Moscow the confidence it can still persuade the U.S. the war will end quickest on Russia's terms. Clare Sebastian, CNN, London.
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MICHAELSON: One of the countries that helped to mediate the Gaza ceasefire is condemning the new Israeli airstrikes. Qatar says the IDF's brutal attacks are threatening to destroy the tenuous truce. Brutal was their word. The Palestinian Health Ministry says the latest strikes killed at least 32 people in Gaza.
Israel says it attacked Hamas targets after IDF soldiers came under fire. Hamas rejected the IDF account and is urging the U.S. to pressure Israel to respect the ceasefire agreement. Some Palestinians in Gaza say they wonder what happened with the long awaited truce.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): They say there's a ceasefire. Where is this ceasefire they're talking about? Where are the guarantors of the ceasefire? Every day, 10, 15, 20 martyrs die. We wake up to martyrs and go to sleep to martyrs. And they say there's a ceasefire.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Azzam's house, five people. They were sleeping. They are children, children. Old people, children. They are children. Children. What is the fault of these children?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Palestinian authorities say 312 people have been killed in Gaza since that ceasefire began last month.
A new wave of arson attacks is hitting the occupied West Bank. Israeli settlers set fire to a vehicle scrapyard in the northern town of Huwara. The scrapyard's owner says more than a dozen settlers descended on the site smashing cars, starting fires that damaged or destroyed some 150 cars.
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The attacks came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was holding a security meeting focused on settler violence. It has surged over the past few months. On Monday, a rare condemnation of settler violence. Mr. Netanyahu blamed the attacks on what he called a, quote, small extremist group.
Meanwhile, a delegation of former hostages freed from Gaza met with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday. They also met with senior U.S. officials, including special envoy Steve Witkoff, who helped negotiate the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. The group is calling for renewed efforts to bring home the bodies of the three hostages still remaining in Gaza.
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SEGEV KALKOF, FORMER GAZA HOSTAGE (through translator): The fight isn't over. We're here in Washington, D.C. to close our own chapter. But there are families still living through the pain our families endured. This won't be over until everyone comes home. There's a rally this Saturday night. I'm asking everyone to show up. Everyone needs to come home now.
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MICHAELSON: Story is the weather. Parts of Central Texas are underwater after heavy rains, but that's only a taste of what's to come. Multiple storms have lined up back to back over the region, with more rainfall expected on Sunday. Menard County was hit with 10 inches of rain on Thursday, prompting evacuations of campsites and RV parks. Flood watches were in effect across the region late into Thursday night. Parts of the state still recovering from deadly floods that killed more than 130 people in July. Farther west, this time lapse video captured a haboob, which is a dust
storm that appeared in Wolf form. The phenomenon darkened the sky over the area there. This is in Texas and we've seen rains for days here in California as well.
A warning off the top here. The details in this CNN exclusive are graphic. Elizabeth Wagmeister is here. She spoke with the man at the center of a brand new investigation into Sean "Diddy" Combs.
ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Elex. So Jonathan Hay claims that Combs sexually assaulted him in 2020. He laid out his case in a civil lawsuit, but now the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department is investigating his claims. Again, the warning. This interview includes graphic details that may be distressing to viewers.
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JONATHAN HAY, MUSIC PRODUCER AND PUBLICIST: Violated me like I've never been violated.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Jonathan Hay in his first TV interview since the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department opened a new investigation into allegations that Sean "Diddy" Combs forced Hay to perform oral sex on him.
HAY: Someone is listening and I feel like I'm so close to justice. Finally.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Hay, a music publicist and producer, says his first incident with Combs came in 2020 when they collaborated on new music honoring Biggie. The late rapper Notorious B.I.G. This is Hay modeling Biggie's actual clothes. A photo he says he gave to the police, taken on the day he says he found himself alone with Combs.
HAY: He took a phone call, sat down. I could hear, like, sex noises. He was really, like, masturbating. This goes on for a few minutes. I just, like, want the whole thing, you know, to be over. Next thing you know, he ejaculates into one of Biggie's shirt. So is his shirt. I mean, he was like, rest in peace, Big.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Hay, in this police report, says that he kept the incident to himself, but it began to eat at him and eventually told Biggie's son, C.J. Wallace, who was collaborating with him on the new music.
HAY: I finally got that off my chest after almost a year.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): But Hay told police that the dynamic of the partnership changed. In March 2021, Hay went for what he thought was an interview for Combs Revolt TV. Instead, he says he was taken to a house where Combs entered the room.
HAY: Chaos erupted, and he was screaming at me. He was in a rage, and that's when he violated me. WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Hay told police Combs stuck his penis inside
of his mouth. Hay says he pulled away, but Combs pulled his head back and allegedly did it again approximately three to four times.
WAGMEISTER: What was going through your mind in that moment?
HAY: Shock, like blur. I didn't know if I was going to die at that point. It's the first time in my life where I felt suicidal.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Combs's attorneys told CNN. Mr. Combs categorically denies as false and defamatory all claims that he sexually abused anyone. In July, Hay filed a civil suit against Combs and Wallace, Biggie's son. Wallace is now suing for defamation, claiming Hay became irate at the decision to not release the remainder of the songs that Hay had produced and retaliated.
[01:15:09]
His attorney, adding the allegations will be shown to be complete fantasy.
HAY: C.J. knows what's happened. He was there.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Combs is now serving four years in federal prison. Hay hopes that his case will add to that.
HAY: Biggie was like his supposedly his best friend to just do that in his shirt and to attack me like he had. He doesn't need to be out on the streets.
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MICHAELSON: So, Elizabeth, what happens next?
WAGMEISTER: Look, we don't know the scope of this investigation. Of course, we don't know whether or not this will lead to charges at all. But Jonathan Hay told me that just this week, two days ago, that a detective from the Special Victims Bureau with the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department did reach out to them, told him that she's been assigned to the case and that he plans to meet with her soon.
MICHAELSON: And so ultimately up to LA County District Attorney Nathan Hockman to decide whether to go forward with charges or not.
WAGMEISTER: That's right.
MICHAELSON: Elizabeth, thank you so much.
WAGMEISTER: Thanks, Alex.
MICHAELSON: Democrats are accusing President Trump of inciting violence after he suggested that some lawmakers should be arrested, potentially face the death penalty. What's that all about?
Plus, California trying to lure more than a dozen new film and TV projects back to the state. The executive director of California's film commission joins me in studio next to talk about Baywatch. Coming back.
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MICHAELSON: President Trump is facing major backlash after accusing some Democrats of what he calls, quote, seditious behavior punishable by death. Those are his own words from his Truth Social post. He's attacking a group of Democratic lawmakers for releasing a video urging military members and intelligence officials to disobey illegal orders.
He says those lawmakers should be arrested and put on trial. But the White House now trying to walk those comments back a little bit, take a listen.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just to be clear, does the president want to execute members of Congress?
KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: No. Let's be clear about what the president is responding to because many in this room want to talk about the president's response, but not what brought the president to responding in this way.
You have sitting members of the United States Congress who conspired together to orchestrate a video message to members of the United States military, to active duty service members, to members of the national security apparatus, encouraging them to defy the president's lawful orders.
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MICHAELSON: Despite what the press secretary said there. The lawmakers specifically spoke about illegal orders, and that's important because members of the military are actually required to refuse illegal, unlawful orders. So these are the six Democratic lawmakers in that video. They have all served in the military or the intelligence community.
They are vowing that they will not be intimidated. And they're urging people to condemn President Trump's remarks. One of those condemning those remarks is the top Democrat in the Senate, Chuck Schumer.
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SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-CA) SENATE MINORITY LEADER: I have asked the Capitol Police to give special protection and keep an eye on Slotkin and Kelly as well, because you got to worry after the president says these things.
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MICHAELSON: Of course, that is Baywatch, which was once one of the most popular TV series in the world, and it was filmed right here in California on California beaches. Well, now a new Baywatch series is coming to TV and will also be filmed in California. That's thanks in part to this moment back in June when California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill to expand California's tax credit to $750 million for filming here.
Today, the state released the next round of film and TV tax credits. And joining me now on set for her first TV interview since that announcement is Colleen Bell. She's the executive director of the California Film Commission. Welcome to the story is for the first time.
COLLEEN BELL, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CALIFORNIA FILM COMMISSION: Thank you so much. Happy to be here with you.
MICHAELSON: So is the Hoff coming back? We really want to know.
BELL: We just announced this morning that Baywatch was coming back to California. And the questions that are coming in, I mean, it's such an iconic, amazing television show.
MICHAELSON: And it's such a California show, right? It's a show about the California beaches. And it would be so weird to think of it being filmed as somewhere else, but it's sort of part of a broader trend of what's happening right now.
BELL: Yes. Well, we're very happy to have Baywatch back here and shooting here. I mean, taking advantage of the vibrancy of California and our beautiful locations and our beaches and particularly the coastal, you know, area which was so devastated, parts of it from the wildfires, we're going to have that iconic show back here, which is is great.
And yes, I mean, you bring up something very important. There's a lot of competition out there vying for production in various states in the United States and destinations globally. So we want the production here in California. And we're doing everything that we possibly can to keep that production here, keep people working, doing the work that they love to do and generating economic activity here for our state.
MICHAELSON: Because there has been a story in recent years of Hollywood sort of moving out of Hollywood itself. We've seen Georgia with a giant tax credit, unlimited tax credit, New York with a big tax credits in Canada, Vancouver, other countries as well, trying to move production there.
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So California brought in this. Let's expand our tax credit here to try to bring production back. And one of those just announced today is the "Night Agent" from Netflix, which is actually now moving to California after filming another place before.
BELL: Yes, absolutely. We have three relocating series that are coming to California. "Baywatch", "Night Agent," and "Mr. And Mrs. Smith," which is -- which is super exciting.
MICHAELSON: Yes. BELL: 17 projects in total. And this is the second round since we
launched 4.0 with the expanded tax credit program. In our first round, we had 22 new projects, and now here we've got 17. So it's looking good. I mean, we're rebounding.
MICHAELSON: Yes. And some other projects want to put up on the screen. "Fallout" Season 3, "Blood Ties" Season 2, "Lot Patrol" Season 2, "Forever" Season 2 as well. So let's talk about how this program works so people can apply for this. Right. And then how do you pick which show, which movie gets filmed here?
BELL: Well, it's a competitive process. I mean, our program really is an economic development tool. And when projects apply to our program, we rank them. They're based on a jobs ratio and qualified spend. So how many jobs are you going to be creating? How much economic activity are you going to be generating with your project?
So our analysts analyze all these submissions, and then they rank them and put them into order, and then we go through, and we hope we can take as many projects as we possibly can. But even with the expansion from 330 million to 750 million, we still have a capped program.
MICHAELSON: Right. And Georgia does not have a capped program. So what do you say to people who say we can't be competitive with them if they've got an uncapped program and this whole thing is too little, too late?
BELL: I say it absolutely not true. I think we have the best value here in California. The depth of our crews, the talent of our crews, our infrastructure, our equipment. We're a continent's worth of landscapes right here in California. And now we've done exactly what we needed to do. We needed to improve our competitiveness.
And so now, with this increase in funding, we also made programmatic changes to make ourselves more competitive. So we're looking really good. We're in a very, very competitive position right now. And, you know, we're not looking to just curb runaway production. We're looking to grow production here in the state. And I think that these last couple of rounds are really signaling that we made the necessary investment in order to do so.
MICHAELSON: And more announcements to come in the coming weeks as well.
BELL: Yes.
MICHAELSON: Colleen, thank you so much. Congratulations. And hopefully you'll take me to the set of "Baywatch."
BELL: Yes, absolutely. Would love to.
MICHAELSON: All right, thanks so much.
BELL: Thank you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chamber of Commerce, we are honored and humbled to present the 2,828 star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame to Chadwick Boseman.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Speaking of Hollywood, the iconic Walk of Fame honored the late actor Chadwick Boseman on Thursday. Family and friends celebrating the "Black Panther" star at the event. Boseman died from colon cancer in 2020 at the age of just 43.
The Trump administration's aid cuts are having a devastating impact in Mozambique. Still to come, Nic Payton Walsh takes us there and he shows us that lack of funding may be leaving a void for ISIS to play a bigger.
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ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back.
Welcome back to THE STORY IS. I'm Elex Michaelson.
Let's take a look at today's top stories.
President Trump will host New York City Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani at the White House in the day ahead. The self-declared Democratic Socialist and his progressive policies have been a frequent target of the president.
Mamdani says he hopes to talk about the affordability crisis for residents of New York, which is, of course, the most expensive city in the country.
Many Palestinians are growing increasingly nervous in the West Bank as Israeli settlers launch a new round of violence. Witnesses say settlers set a fire to a vehicle scrapyard Thursday, destroying dozens of cars.
That violence came as Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, held a security meeting to talk about the recent surge in settler violence, which he blames on what he calls a small extremist group.
CNN has obtained a draft of U.S. peace proposal for Ukraine, which the Trump administration has not yet revealed publicly. Among other things, it calls for major territorial concessions to Russia, and Kyiv staying out of NATO.
In return, Ukraine would receive security guarantees but would have to limit the size of its military. Ukraine and its allies have rejected similar proposals in the past.
Last year, the United States Agency for International Development, known as USAID, gave $586 million to Mozambique. That money paid for humanitarian aid and projects to curb ISIS recruitment.
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MICHAELSON: But earlier this year, USAID was dismantled by the Trump administration. That has left the southern African nation reeling just as ISIS is resurging there.
CNN's Nick Paton Walsh has this exclusive report from Mozambique. And we should warn you, some of the footage is disturbing.
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NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: It looks like a place where nothing should go wrong, but ISIS are seeing a resurgence across Africa, home to two-thirds of their global violence this year, rising fast here in northern Mozambique.
We land in the flashpoint of Mocimboa de Praia, seven weeks after ISIS started their worst offensive since they occupied the town in 2021.
The government's grip is so shaky, they've let Rwandan forces in to be the real muscle on streets where ISIS seem to rule the night.
So, USAID's contribution to Mozambique amounted to about 3 percent of its GDP. And that USAID money helped the economy here, development, schools, really enabled the government to try and promote its hold on the place.
And so, now that money has suddenly vanished, well, they're reeling here. And ISIS are back.
The little video we have of ISIS' recent onslaught is terrifying. Outgunning Mozambican forces, slaughtering captives.
But in October, they tried something new, less savage and confident. They walked unopposed, armed, in stolen uniforms, straight into this mosque in Mocimboa's coastal fishing community to deliver a manifesto.
The crowd didn't flee, but instead filmed. When ISIS arrived, asked for the keys and walked in wearing their boots, the imam had presumed they were soldiers.
What did you think on that night when these guys came in?
SUMAIL ISSA, IMAM (through translator): They ordered the old man, asking for the microphone to broadcast their voices. When they displayed their banner like this, I was surprised that they are Al- Shabab.
WALSH: It is extraordinary, after all these years of ISIS spread across the Middle East, to stand in -- startling to stand in a place where they had freedom of movement just a couple of days ago.
93,000 people around this area fled in just six weeks after ISIS' attacks began on September 7th.
Rafael takes us directly to the home of his brother-in-law, now abandoned. They were not rich and also took U.S. aid.
RAFAEL NDINENGO (through translator): He was tied up, they took a stick and beat him. They cut off his head and put it on his bottom.
This place you see here is where we laid my son's spilled blood. You are going to make me cry because of my son. My son, I lost him.
My feelings for my son, you're going to make me cry. I didn't want to come here. He was calling me "papa, papa".
WALSH: Eight men killed by ISIS, seven of them beheaded, some in front of their families. And you just -- we're looking around, I mean, there's nobody here. It's startling. This used to be a vibrant area, Christian area.
The money USAID spent here urgently tried to curb the spread of ISIS. They gave $50,000 here to help motorcycle taxi drivers vulnerable to recruitment by ISIS improve their working conditions with paperwork, vests, helmets.
Their anger about that help suddenly disappearing and then us asking questions clear.
Emotions are incredibly high here. I mean, it's all about people's livelihoods, really, and a lot of anger.
The man who ran the project describes how it is the only way to stop ISIS.
KHAMISSA FABIAO, PROJECT COORDINATOR (through translator): If they have an opportunity to earn money, I don't think they will go into the jungle, because nobody wants to die.
When we started this project, I personally recruited many young people to keep them integrated into society. President Trump should have a heart.
Fishermen, the main workforce here, but also a source of ISIS recruits. We visit a USAID project aimed too at giving them a better livelihood, now shut.
10,000 new arrivals in this camp alone were met with a steep drop in food aid.
SAVIANA NDIWICA, VILLAGER (through translator): They come and immediately start shooting. There is war. Beheaded. You flee with nothing. They come and cut your throat.
[01:39:46]
NDIWICA: When you see someone else being killed, you flee along to a safe place. Since we arrived here, we sleep on the floor.
WALSH: But Mozambique could be rich. Around the town of Parma, shielded by these fortifications, it's clear that while the Trump administration is stripping away aid here, it's also investing fast and hard, a $4.7 billion loan in March, in vast liquid natural gas facilities.
A contradiction where wealth is held up by a wave of ISIS savagery which surged after the USAID meant to calm it vanished.
A State Department spokesperson said the U.S. had continued to provide assistance this year in Mozambique, a majority of which was life- saving food and nutrition assistance.
They added that worldwide aid was constantly under review to ensure it meets the needs of the receiving country and the priorities of the United States.
The State Department did not respond to our questions about the resurgence of ISIS following the withdrawal of U.S. aid. Their statement added, the United States continues to be the most generous nation in the world. This administration is significantly enhancing the efficiency and strategic impact of foreign assistance programs around the world. We call on other nations to increase in burden- sharing globally.
Nick Paton Walsh, CNN -- Mocimboa da Praia, Mozambique.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: Our thanks to Nick.
A fire at the COP30 Climate Summit in Brazil forced attendees to evacuate part of the venue for a short time. The blaze broke out in the Blue Zone section of the conference site in Belem. That's part of this venue dedicated to summit negotiations between countries.
Some presentations were cut short, attendees fled the scene. 13 people were treated for smoke inhalation. The fire was quickly contained, but the cause, still under investigation.
For our international viewers, WORLDSPORT is next. For our viewers in North America, I'll be back with Grae Drake's review of "Wicked".
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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Does that do what I think it does?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. No way. I'm (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The wand really --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: One of Hollywood's most anticipated movies this holiday season is off to kind of a rough start after some negative reviews. So is it "Wicked" good or "Wicked" bad?
Joining us now is our film critic, Grae Drake. Grae, what do you think?
GRAE DRAKE, FILM CRITIC: All right. I'm going to have to tell you whether I think it's good or bad using one of the songs from the first film.
MICHAELSON: Ok.
DRAKE: Popular. This film will be popular. It doesn't matter what I say, you'll see it anyway. Even though this one's all right.
You already have your tickets, so go ahead and have a nice night.
MICHAELSON: Ok. Very nice.
So, it's not defying gravity. We're sort of -- we're sort of taking a dive based off of what you're saying.
DRAKE: If you like the other one, you're going to like this one. I would say that the two of them singing to each other and stressing their friendship is the strongest thing these movies have going for them. That's amazing.
It's surrounded by a bunch of other stuff that I'm not wild about and I think really ruins the momentum of a movie in general. So it's like, ho-hum.
And the musical has this same issue. So if these two movies had been put together, we'd be singing a different tune. But because they're separate, this movie just feels like molasses, and glitter and bubbles.
MICHAELSON: Why do you think that the reviews for the first one were so good, and the reviews for this one are not?
DRAKE: We hadn't seen it yet. I think it was the first movie and we were all like, oh, my God, the sets and the costumes. And we love these people. And it was exciting.
But now we've seen it. So it's sort of just sophomore slump.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
DRAKE: So I do think it's going to make a ton of money. I think fans will be happy. But if you didn't have a favorable opinion of the first one, it will not change this time around. So proceed with caution.
MICHAELSON: By the way, nice job with the green and the pink, a nod to Glinda and Elphaba.
DRAKE: Thank you.
I'm an equal opportunity person when it comes to outfits.
MICHAELSON: Yes. What is "Rental Family"?
DRAKE: So this one is a completely original story, so already I'm lobbying for it.
Now in Japan, a real business that exists has people fill in for anyone in your family that you're missing. So it's like if you need a dad, if you need a groom, a lover, if you need a journalist -- all kinds of things -- you can hire someone.
And in the movie that person is Brendan Fraser. And he realizes that when he does this stuff, he's getting really emotionally entangled in these people's real lives. So it's super sappy.
He's a great actor. He has a great cast in this film around him. And so it actually was really compelling and sweet. I really liked it. It's memorable.
MICHAELSON: "One Shot with Ed Sheeran" on Netflix.
DRAKE: Yes, it's exactly what it sounds like. It's Ed Sheeran wandering around Netflix. I mean, New York -- the movie streaming on Netflix, and the whole thing is just one shot of him jumping on to tour busses, helping a couple propose marriage.
He's performing everywhere he goes and just wandering into pubs. It's obviously highly-produced, but it's so energetic. The camerawork is amazing and you just get to listen to Ed Sheeran sing over and over again all these different great songs. It's shockingly good.
MICHAELSON: I mean, was there an actual edit or was it literally just an hour and a half of him?
DRAKE: It's an hour and a half of --
MICHAELSON: Whatever --
DRKAE: -- incredibly talented camera team passing off the camera, drones taking it. It's unbelievable.
And to top it off, he's such a fun pop star. I really like watching him just walk around New York and people are literally like, oh, my God, Ed Sheeran.
MICHAELSON: Sounds interesting.
DRAKE: It's fun.
MICHAELSON: All right, Grae. That sounds better, I guess, than "Wicked".
DRAKE: Yes.
[01:49:48]
MICHAELSON: That review may not be popular.
DRAKE: Sorry, "Wicked".
MICHAELSON: Stick around, more of THE STORY IS coming up, including how our show is making some national news.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), SPEAKER EMERITA: He's just a vile creature. The worst thing on the face of the earth. But anyway --
MICHAELSON: You think he's the worst thing on the face of the earth?
PELOSI: I do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: That's former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking to me earlier this month about President Donald Trump. While Anderson Cooper sat down with her this week and asked her about those comments.
It is Pelosi's first interview since announcing her retirement.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: One of the things you said recently in an interview, you said -- you said that President Trump was a vile creature, the worst thing on the face of the earth.
[01:54:47]
COOPER: Do you think he's different now than he was in his first term in terms of his abilities, his leadership?
PELOSI: By the way, I said that as a euphemism. I could have done much worse.
COOPER: You could have done worse? You could have said worse?
PELOSI: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: THE STORY IS also making news on this. Reactions pouring in after former President Joe Biden's senior adviser, Mike Donilon, slammed the Democratic Party for pushing Biden out.
This is what he told me at USC this week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE DONILON, SENIOR ADVISER TO FORMER PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: I thought the Democratic Party lost its mind. That's what I thought.
MICHAELSON: Democratic Party lost its mind.
DONILON: Yes.
MICHAELSON: What do you mean by that? DONILON: Yes. What I mean by that is I thought that Joe Biden was the
best candidate.
I thought what happened in the party was -- I thought it was -- I thought it's disloyal. I thought it was an act of betrayal against the president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: That comment getting millions of views online.
CNN chief political analyst David Axelrod says Donilon's comments are what he calls "detached from reality and are doing the former president no favors."
Josh Barro wrote, quote, "Dear Mike Donilon, I hate you and everyone else also hates you."
While the host of The Bulwark Podcast, Tim Miller, shared a shaking SpongeBob gif captioned "Screaming internally."
I don't know what's getting worse reviews -- Mike Donilon's comments or the latest "Wicked" movie.
Thanks for watching. I'm Elex Michaelson. Hopefully we'll get good reviews when we're back tomorrow for more of THE STORY IS.
The news continues here on CNN right after the break.
[01:56:27]
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