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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson
White House, Pete Hegseth Shift Responsibility for Double-Tap Strike; Witkoff, Kushner to Meet with Putin in Moscow; Death Toll Rises to 151, At Least 30 People Still Missing; Pope Leo Brings Message of Peace and Coexistence to Lebanon; Trump's Approval Rating Dips to Second-Term Low; California Representative Considering Moving to Texas to Run There; DOJ to Open First-Ever Second Amendment Rights Division; Oxford Dictionary's Word of the Year: 'Rage Bait'. Aired 12- 1a ET
Aired December 02, 2025 - 00:00 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: It's the word of the year. What would you say is the word of the year?
COATES: 6-7. See, following that same thing. I don't know. That's going to (INAUDIBLE).
MICHAELSON: Yes.
COATES: Wait. But that's the same thing in my house is rage baiting. Thank you very much. I know three words I like. "THE STORY IS," it's coming up next. Have a great one.
MICHAELSON: Have a great night, Laura.
THE STORY IS starts right now.
ANNOUNCER: Live from Los Angeles, THE STORY IS with Elex Michaelson.
MICHAELSON: And welcome to THE STORY IS. I'm Elex Michaelson.
And THE STORY IS in Venezuela. President Trump is weighing his next steps there following a meeting with the top national security officials in the Oval Office. This comes as the administration is now facing intense scrutiny over a double tap strike on an alleged drug trafficking boat in the Caribbean, one in which the president initially claimed he didn't know anything about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We'll look into it. But, no, I wouldn't have wanted that. Not a second strike. The first strike was very lethal. It was fine. And if there were two people around. But Pete said that didn't happen. I have great confidence.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Do you say there's no second strike?
TRUMP: I don't know. I'm going to find out about it. But Pete said he did not order the death of those two men.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: So on Monday, though, the White House acknowledged that the second strike did happen and that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth authorized it. But now they're shifting responsibility to the head of U.S. Special Operations Command. Hegseth says that he stands by Admiral Frank Mitch Bradley's decision, echoing the White House press secretary who claims that Bradley worked well within his authority and the law.
Some U.S. lawmakers fear the follow-up attack on September 2nd could amount to a war crime.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. DON BACON (R-NE): If it was as if the article said that is a violation of the law of war. When people want to surrender, you don't kill them.
REP. MIKE TURNER (R-OH): Obviously if that occurred, that would be very serious. And I agree that that that would be an illegal act.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Top U.S. Military officials, as well as the Senate Armed Services and Intelligence Committees, expect to be briefed by Admiral Bradley in the coming days.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MARK KELLY (D-AZ): They're tying themselves into knots trying to explain why this is legal. They should release it to the American people. Why is -- why is a document that is explaining why we are moving a battle group halfway around the world that at huge expense, and putting American service members at risk every single day by operating in the Caribbean against these boats? Why is the justification for that classified? It should not be.
SEN. MARK WARNER (D-VA): We've got to get to the bottom of this. We also need to find out why the administration has not released the unedited version of the video. That would pretty much demonstrate to at least Congress whether these individuals were in the water, on the boat, still combatants or not. Now, I trust our military leadership. I can't say the same in terms of any level of trust for Secretary Hegseth for some of those cabal at DOD.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Alejandro Velasco is a professor at NYU. He has written extensively about Venezuela, multiple books. He joins us live now from New York.
Welcome back to THE STORY IS, Professor.
ALEJANDRO VELASCO, ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR FACULTY AND ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, NYU: Thanks so much for having me.
MICHAELSON: So what do you think is really going on here?
VELASCO: I mean, these are conflating stories, right, that have tremendously high stakes attached to them. On the one hand, of course, you have the continuing escalation around Venezuela. Continuing build- up of arms and personnel outside of Venezuelan borders. But at the same time, you have this mounting scandal that might be used as a way to deflect attention to what the intent is for some of those operations happening in the Caribbean. So what we're seeing right now is just, you know, very high stakes game of who's going to blink first.
MICHAELSON: Well, and this other big thing of, well, I didn't do it, I didn't do it, I didn't do it, seems to be almost an acknowledgment that maybe there was something wrong here. And I don't want to be the one -- for an administration that likes to be the buck stops here, I'm the decider, I'm the leader, it's like, I don't know, what was that?
VELASCO: Yes. I think that the cavalierness with which the operations that we've seen over the past month and a half in the Caribbean have taken place, they've really come to a head. One of the things that have been mounting, as these escalations around first the boats and now more explicitly regime change possibilities are on Venezuela, is the idea that the law doesn't really apply to us, right?
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And part of that is kind of a discursive game to figure out, well, what is -- what's going to stick if we talk about drugs? Is that the thing that's going to mobilize support. If we talk about terrorism, is that the thing that's going to mobilize support? And right now they've gotten themselves into a situation where people, including Republicans, are asking questions about accountability.
MICHAELSON: So President Trump likes to talk about who has the cards. He's used that phrase often with Zelenskyy in Ukraine saying, you don't have the cards. Right now, what cards does Nicolas Maduro have in order of staying in power and stopping what could be a military attack from the United States?
VELASCO: Ironically, the major card that Maduro has in his deck is uncertainty, right? Trump does not want or certainly needs a military intervention whose outcome is unclear. And that's basically what Marco Rubio and Hegseth and others have been promising. We can go in there, we can take out Maduro, we can impose a regime that's going to be favorable to our interests. But what Maduro has been saying is, this is not Panama 1989. This is not other interventions that you might have imagined.
This is going to be a long and difficult haul. And so to some extent, Maduro is really, what he has in terms of his favorability for staying in power is the uncertainty that a quick transition could, in fact, happen.
MICHAELSON: President Trump has sort of fashioned himself as the person who stops wars, not starts wars. He has railed against President Bush and others for their military interventions in the past. Based off everything you know, from the region, from him, do you get the sense that he actually wants to do this, that there will be some sort of conflict with Venezuela? Or is this a lot of bluster?
VELASCO: Yes. My sense is that he does not want to do this. I think he, given the first administration where there were also very similar voices, Rubio in particular, but others as well, pushing for regime change in Venezuela, it was remarkable that Trump at that stage did not actually move more muscularly to try to enact those plans. Right now, of course, you know, he has all this force arrayed around Venezuela.
And to some extent, what is surprising is that each day that goes by the sense of why has not something happened increases, and there's a sense that perhaps it's a lot of bluster. And so I think Trump is really weighing what could be a really devastating and potentially catastrophic for his political image certainly for his ambitions for Nobel Peace Prize, but also just domestically, what an intervention, whose outcome is unclear might actually mean.
MICHAELSON: Yes. In my favorite show, the "West Wing," there's a whole debate about whether to do war. And they ask the question, how does this end? And they say, we don't always know how this ends. And sometimes the president doesn't like to hear that answer.
Alejandro Velasco, thank you so much for your insight and a shout-out to the "West Wing" team as well. We appreciate it.
VELASCO: Thank you.
MICHAELSON: The other big developing story, the Russia-Ukraine war, we just talked about it a bit. In the coming hours, the Russian president will host President Trump's top negotiators. We're talking about Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, are trying to sell Vladimir Putin on the new terms of the U.S. backed deal to end the war in Ukraine.
Now, the original proposal started off looking a whole lot like Putin's own war goals, but it has been amended after negotiations with Ukrainian diplomats. President Putin hopes to come into the meeting from a position of battlefield advantage. Russian military officials say they are gaining ground in Ukraine, claiming to have taken a key strategic city in the Donetsk region.
You notice there Putin in military fatigues. Meanwhile, Ukraine's president is working with European allies to ensure that his country's needs are represented in those peace talks.
CNN's Nick Paton Walsh reports from Kyiv.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: There's been a dizzying day of diplomatic choreography ahead of Tuesday's high stakes meeting between Trump's envoy to the Ukraine conflict, Steve Witkoff, and indeed his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been in Paris during the day talking to French President Emmanuel Macron and on the phone with Witkoff and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, clearly briefing European allies as to the nature of the deal that Witkoff will be taking with him.
That is the product of hours, days of negotiations with the Ukraine team in Florida and the U.S. side as well, including a late Monday morning sudden meeting, a second one between Witkoff and the Ukrainian negotiators clearly hammering out key details down to the last minute.
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The precise nature of the offer Witkoff is taking with him has not been made public, but Zelenskyy, during a public appearance in Paris, laid out the fact that the key sticking point revolves around territorial concessions, also around security guarantees for Ukraine. It does appear likely at this point that Witkoff will be taking with him some sort of packaging for some kind of territorial swap, potentially with the Ukrainians.
It's unclear if that will be enough for Putin, who's been very maximalist in his desire to take back or to take -- occupy all of the Donetsk region that is currently held by the Ukrainians and Ukraine proper. But certainly Witkoff, I think it's fair to say, wouldn't bother going to the Kremlin unless he was bringing with him something he felt potentially might appeal to Vladimir Putin.
So unclear how successful that meeting will indeed go and Macron clear that they feel this is the beginning part of a U.S. offer to the Russians to try and get the peace process further underway. But no mistake about the timing today of Moscow's claim to have taken the strategic military hub of Pokrovsk. Still Ukraine yet to comment on that. And it is, of course, deeply convenient that they claim this victory in the hours ahead of Tuesday's high stakes meeting, releasing video of their troops in the center of that particular town.
It's clear over the last weeks that Russia has been increasingly moving forward through that particular urban area, and that would claim result in them claiming a significant victory ahead of Tuesday's meeting. But all pressure really on Zelenskyy building here because of Russia's increased frontline momentum because two of the domestic pressure he's been under recently Friday, his top negotiator and chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, resigning after anti-corruption investigators raided his home on Friday morning.
And that pressure potentially some analysts here saying adding perhaps to Zelenskyy's need to entertain a broader scope of ideas to find some kind of peace proposal here. But the biggest fear amongst Ukrainians enduring nightly barrages is whether or not any deal with the Russians will in fact hold. We've seen them falter in the past. The Russians not stick to promises made, and I think that's why security guarantees are so important to the Ukrainians here as part of any particular package.
Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Kyiv, Ukraine. (END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: Our thanks to Nick.
Attorneys for Luigi Mangione are trying to get key evidence, like his diary entries tossed from his state murder case. The 27-year-old in a New York courtroom on Monday nearly one year after he was accused of gunning down a health care CEO on a Manhattan sidewalk. Mangione's team argues they were illegally obtained from his backpack without a warrant during his arrest. The hearing over that disputed evidence expected to last for several days.
THE STORY IS the weather. Snow and ice causing major traffic problems in parts of the U.S. One child hospitalized with minor injuries from a school bus crash in Illinois. Police in St. Louis, Missouri, said they have responded to numerous calls for crashes alongside major highways. A school bus there slid off the icy roads, but there were no injuries reported. Police are asking drivers to avoid going out, but if you have to, they want you to slow down, give yourself plenty of room on the road. Icy roads also caused two Kansas school busses to get stuck on a highway off ramp.
CNN affiliate WIBW reports a third bus was called to pick up the students stranded on the buses, but all the vehicles eventually moved out safely after crews treated the roads.
Here's a live look at airport delays across the country. Flights were temporarily grounded out of Chicago's airport on Monday, which is shown near the middle of your screen as ORD. Nearly half of all the scheduled flights at Chicago O'Hare were delayed as well due to snow and ice. Airports across the country looking fairly good right now.
Here's CNN's meteorologist Chris Warren with the forecast for tomorrow.
CHRIS WARREN, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Tuesday is the day that the Northeast is going to see the majority of the snow from this winter storm, that we're going to be watching. And you can see the winter weather alerts covering a lot of the Ohio Valley all the way up to Maine. And this is how things are going to play out. First thing in the morning at sunrise, the snow is going to be falling here, where it's purple, Pennsylvania, a lot of New York and northern New England, while it is going to be a wet, sloppy mess with rain heavy at times throughout parts of the southeast.
And then what we're going to be watching is this right here. It's the rain or snow line. The farther you get away from the water, the more snow you're going to see. So that means the big cities here in the Northeast most likely are going to stay rain. Now, you might see a few snowflakes mixed in, but generally speaking, nothing on the ground, just wet roads.
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And this is also the time when the storm is going to be bombing out or rapidly strengthening. So the winds are going to be increasing, too. You can kind of see where that little bit of that kind of curl to it. That's the wrapping nature of this storm. Also going to be watching for the heaviest snowfall, especially in the mountains, could see more than six inches of snow. And at the same time, some of the cold pockets in the mountains and around the mountains here, we are going to see some ice, possibly accumulating ice.
If that happens, then there could be some power outages and some very dangerous conditions. The weather pattern that we're in keeps it cold for most of the week for most of the country here. Just seeing that cold air dropping down from the north, well below average in Minneapolis. High temperatures only in the teens on Wednesday and Thursday. Also well below average in Boston. Same story all the way down to D.C. and in St. Louis with a high on Thursday in St. Louis, 27 degrees.
MICHAELSON: Well, Tim the Brown Bear at Brookfield Zoo in Chicago, he's enjoying the winter weather. It's a pain for a lot of people, clearly not for Tim. The zoo says playing in the snow is a natural enrichment activity for animals.
Tim, better enjoy the snow while it last. Forecast there say it won't be any more than a week in the city. Won't be any more. That snow won't be there anymore until later this week.
Up ahead, we take you to Lebanon and check in on the final leg of Pope Leo's first trip overseas. We could see him live during this newscast, and we'll go live to Hong Kong, where we just got an update on that deadly apartment fire.
Stay with us. You're watching THE STORY IS.
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MICHAELSON: In Hong Kong, the death toll has risen to 151 after that massive fire that tore through the high rise residential complex last week. It is the city's deadliest fire in decades. Officials say at least 30 people are still missing. Some of them may never be found. Police have made 14 arrests. Most of them are consultants, contractors, subcontractors connected to that construction and renovation of the high rise.
CNN's Kristie Lu Stout joins us live now from Hong Kong.
Kristie, what are you seeing on the ground?
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Elex, the scale of this tragedy has deeply shaken people here in Hong Kong and around the world. At least 151 people are dead, 30 people are missing. Thousands of people have turned out to these community driven memorial sites that have popped up around the site of the Tai Po Fire.
I see people leaving flowers, notes of condolence, folding white paper cranes. I see people openly praying, openly weeping. A new memorial site was just set up in honor of the pets, the dogs and cats and companion animals who perished in the blaze. I mean, these are deeply moving scenes around me, and today is a very significant day.
Today is the seventh day, seven days after the fire broke out, and according to local tradition, this is the day when the souls of the dead return home for the last time. So you have family members who are here to pay their last respects to their loved ones.
Meanwhile, the police investigation continues and on Monday we heard a very moving press conference involving a senior commander who broke down in tears. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAREN TSANG SHUK-YIN, CHIEF SUPERINTENDENT, HONG KONG POLICE CASUALLY INJURY UNIT (through translator): Since some of the bodies have been reduced to ashes, we don't rule out that we may not be able to bring all the missing people out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STOUT: Now, authorities here have blamed substandard renovation material for fueling the blaze. They say that the contractors intentionally used substandard green mesh and put it out of the way in hard-to-reach areas to avoid inspection. Over a dozen arrests have been made in connection to these fires.
We're also learning more about the victims. The victims include local Hong Kong residents, firefighters, the elderly, as well as migrant workers, domestic migrant workers from the Philippines and Indonesia. And I spoke with the sister of an Indonesian domestic worker who perished in these blazes. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
YAYUK SETYOWATI, SISTER KILLED IN TAI PO FIRE: All the above. All the people, all the body, all are friends like my sister. So many friends, my sister because like that.
STOUT: Your sister made people smile.
SETYOWATI: Yes.
STOUT: And your sister like you, she worked as a caregiver in Hong Kong.
SETYOWATI: Yes.
STOUT: Who did she look after?
SETYOWATI: My sister is take care of elderly.
STOUT: She looked after the elderly.
SETYOWATI: Yes, yes.
STOUT: Yes. And she looked after an elderly woman?
SETYOWATI: Yes, yes. And sit in the -- in the chair well.
STOUT: In a wheelchair?
SETYOWATI: Yes. Wheelchair.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STOUT: Yayuk is devastated. She says that her sister cared for this elderly woman until the very end. She also says that she is determined to return to Indonesia with her sister, but she doesn't know when or even whether she'll be able to get hold of her remains.
Back to you, Elex.
MICHAELSON: Yes, Kristie. So sad to think about all the loss of life and also how traumatic it must have been for all the survivors, the people that were able to get out. Just thinking about that as well. So we're thinking about them and we appreciate your reporting, Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong.
In the next hour, we are expecting to see Pope Leo XIV in Lebanon. He'll be closing out his first trip abroad as pontiff with a visit to a local hospital, plus prayer at the Beirut Port explosion site and a public mass at the city's waterfront. He has been emphasizing interfaith cooperation and peace throughout his Middle East tour.
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CNN's Christopher Lamb has been traveling with the pontiff.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A warm welcome on the streets of Beirut for Pope Leo. In Lebanon during his first overseas trip, the first American Pope in the heart of the Middle East with a message of peace.
POPE LEO XIV, CATHOLIC CHURCH LEADER: In an age when coexistence can seem like a distant dream, the people of Lebanon, while embracing different religions, stand as a powerful reminder that fear, distrust and prejudice do not have the final word, and that unity, reconciliation and peace are possible.
LAMB: For a country which has been through so much, Leo's visit, lifting their spirits. But people here want more than nice words.
MARC BEYROUTHY, PROFESSOR: We need the, if you want practical things that the Pope will ask, maybe to the church or to the maybe international community. We know the Pope that he's not a political figure and he doesn't have arms, but he has, you know, he's the Pope. People would listen to him.
LAMB: The Pope in a country with a sizable Christian community, one as old as Christianity itself, excited to meet Leo, as were young people. But like thousands of Lebanese Christians, many have been leaving. Leo urging them to stay. The Pope's visit to Lebanon won't be able to resolve the country's
problems, but it is offering a glimmer of hope.
Christopher Lamb, CNN, Beirut.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: Our thanks to Christopher.
Up next, we talk politics. President Trump hits a new polling low. Our panel gets into that and more. On the right Jon Fleischman, on the left, Brian Tyler Cohen. Things are about to get spicy.
Stay with us. You're watching THE STORY IS.
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MICHAELSON: Welcome back to THE STORY IS. I'm Elex Michaelson. Let's take a look at today's top stories.
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More than 1,100 people have been killed by flooding and landslides throughout parts of Asia. Cyclone-fueled downpours battered areas of Indonesia, Thailand, and Malayasia. And Sri Lanka was hit by a separate storm.
Millions of people are dealing with the consequences of that severe weather of the past week.
The Trump administration has been dealt another legal setback. A federal appeals court found Alina Habba, President Trump's former personal attorney, is not qualified to serve as U.S. attorney for New Jersey.
The judges uphelding [SIC] a lower court ruling which said the administration unlawfully installed Habba in the position after failing to win Senate support. The decision could have far-reaching consequences on other appointments across the country.
A drug that helps people lose weight now has a slimmer price tag. Eli Lilai [SIC] -- Eli Lilly says Zepbound will cost less for those who buy the medication straight from the drugmaker. The cuts range from 50 to 100 bucks.
A company official says this move will help fight, quote, "cost and coverage barriers." It comes a couple of weeks after a rival, Novo, said that it would drop its direct-to-consumer prices for its weight loss drugs, Wegovy and Ozempic.
Well, the latest Gallup poll numbers are in, and they do not bode well for President Trump. The president's job approval rating has fallen to 36 percent, the lowest of his second term.
Meanwhile, his disapproval rating rose to 60 percent.
For comparison, Trump's all-time low was 34 percent at the end of his first term, following the January 6th attack on the Capitol.
Gallup's latest numbers are from a poll conducted during what became the longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history.
Here to break that down for us and more is our political panel. Brian Tyler Cohen is the host of the "No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen" podcast, which is seen by hundreds of millions of people on his YouTube channel.
And Republican strategist Jon Fleischman is here. You can read his work at SoDoesItMatter.com. Great, great writing there. Also, the publisher of "The Flash Report."
Brian, welcome back. Jon, to have you -- good to have you here for the first time.
JON FLEISCHMAN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Thank you sir. Great to be here.
BRIAN TYLER COHEN, PODCAST HOST: Thanks for having us.
MICHAELSON: So, let's start with President Trump's approval rating. What do you make of that, Brian?
COHEN: I think that people are recognizing the con that they've been sold.
This guy swept into office amid a fury of populist promises that he would lower the cost of groceries, of eggs, of housing, of rent.
And then he got into office, engaged in a trade war that sent the cost of everything surging, cut everybody's health coverage -- Medicaid, ACA subsidies -- food assistance.
And on top of all of that, had the audacity to actually focus his attention on encrusting his Oval Office in gold, building a $350 million ballroom, buying a couple of Gulfstream jets, getting his own Qatari jet that he retrofitted to the tune of $1 billion, paid for by American taxpayers. And so, I mean, it's just --
MICHAELSON: He says that one won't be. But -- but we'll see. Your point taken. You're not a fan.
What -- what do you think? I mean, and -- and do you agree? Do you think the president's doing a good job?
FLEISCHMAN: Well, I guess the short answer is I think the president is doing an infinitely better job than Harris would have done. Not surprising from your conservative panelist.
But I think that these polling numbers all need to be taken in context, because if you go back and look all the way back, Reagan, Clinton, Obama, both Bushes, Carter, Ford, Johnson, Truman, all at some point during their presidencies had polling numbers in the mid- 30s, just like Trump does. It goes up, and it goes down. I will say the economy is a problem for the president. And I think
that becomes the biggest issue. I think, while a lot of the stuff that my panelist here has brought up are sensational, I don't think the approval numbers for the president rise or drop based on whether or not he's putting an addition on the White House.
But when people's prices -- when they're buying groceries, when people are buying gas, and those prices go up, that's a problem. And when the president decided to go out and start -- he definitely said, we're going to end the Biden economy, and we're starting the Trump economy. And he imposed all of these tariffs. Taxes, right? I think that's not had a good effect on the price of goods.
And we've now seen him now scrambling and actually un-tariffing a bunch of things, which is a challenge.
But the polling numbers don't really bother me. They may bother him, because I think he's very concerned about what his polling numbers are. This stuff goes up, and it goes down. It's the nature of things.
MICHAELSON: You pointed out that Ronald Reagan had lower poll numbers and then went and won 49 states.
FLEISCHMAN: Right. In 1982, there was a recession. Again, it's economy-related. And so, I think that President Trump over the next year, if he's able to turn the economy around, he will save the midterm elections.
But if the economy stays where it is right now, it's not going to be a positive night for Republicans next November.
MICHAELSON: And it's interesting. You're saying the way to turn the economy around is to get rid of the tariffs that he implemented?
FLEISCHMAN: That would be one helpful thing. I also think when all the great economic policies in the One Big Beautiful Bill get implemented, that's going to have an overcharging effect on driving the economy, as my colleague will tell you.
COHEN: I'm sure that cutting Medicaid from 17 million Americans and cutting food assistance to the tune of $186 billion, is going to just send the economy surging.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
FLEISCHMAN: Well, again I would remind you, especially like we're talking about the medic -- the Medicare subsidies right now. These were a COVID-era policy that were passed on the idea that during COVID, these would go up and then, on a completely partisan budget rescission bill, Democrats extended the temporary cuts for another two years. And now everybody wants to extend them again.
So, the idea is that, on the political left, we don't care about the budget deficit. What we care about is growing the welfare state; growing the welfare state and giving more and more subsidies. COHEN: I would ask -- you know, you're -- you're a conservative. Is it
conservative to blow up the deficit to the extent that they have: $4 trillion over ten years?
FLEISCHMAN: Of course not. Of course not.
COHEN: Well, that's what this -- that's what the One Big Beautiful Bill does. It was the biggest --
FLEISCHMAN: Well, because the One Big Beautiful Bill did not have enough cuts in it. There needs to -- if we're going to get rid of the deficit, we need to true up federal spending.
COHEN: But it's not -- it's not about eliminating the deficit.
FLEISCHMAN: Sure, it is.
COHEN: It was never about eliminating the deficit. Donald Trump, in his first term, added 25 percent of all debt that we have. His second term now, adding another $4 trillion. These Republicans --
FLEISCHMAN: If you're -- if you're asking me to confirm for you that deficit spending is a bipartisan problem that is done by presidents of both parties. Absolutely.
But it's not good policy for America, because it is -- to -- to say to our grandchildren, we have a $48 trillion debt.
I watched some congressman say, I think from Northern California, say, hey, I got money for a fire engine for my district. And I'm thinking, really? You actually just borrowed money from our grandchildren to buy a fire engine. And so, everything's turned around in Washington.
MICHAELSON: Well, speaking of Congresspeople from California, there's a -- last time you were on, we were fighting about redistricting. Right?
COHEN: Right.
MICHAELSON: And this -- and Proposition 50, which passed here in California --
COHEN: Yes.
MICHAELSON: -- which is redrawing district lines to help Democrats and to hurt Republicans after Texas redrew their lines to help Republicans.
Well, now, Darrell Issa, who has longtime been a congressman in California, according to "Punchbowl News" and "The Texas Tribune," is at least thinking about the concept of moving from California to Texas to run there as a congressman, even though he's currently a congressman from California.
Issa's team, we reached out to him and asked him about it. They said, We don't have any news tonight, but stay tuned. That was the comment, which was not exactly a denial.
You've known Darrell Issa for probably decades.
FLEISCHMAN: Oh, sure.
MICHAELSON: What do you make of this?
FLEISCHMAN: I think that, you know, this very -- admit -- on both sides, admittedly partisan gerrymandering in California has caused him to now be in a district that is very, very hard to win. On purpose. It was gerrymandered to become a Democrat seat. And I think he's looking at all of his options.
But I think that right now, this is more like, I think, trying to figure out what's going on.
You've got Texas lines that are currently being litigated in federal court. You've got California lines that are being litigated in California court.
But I think that if those lines, I could see -- stay, I could see him doing some focus groups and some polling and seeing whether or not he can get away with it.
Remember, Darrell Issa has national name I.D. Because he, of course, was the chairman of the House Oversight Committee during almost all of the Obama administration.
Som he could make the leap. And of course, he's one of the wealthiest members of Congress, so he would certainly be able to communicate to the voters.
[00:40:05]
And I can tell you one thing. If he were to make that leap, there's not a single voter in that district who wouldn't know what they were doing. And if they chose to say, hey, you know, we want to elect him, that -- that would be interesting.
But I will say, it's kind of interesting because somebody told me, don't you have to live in the state that you're in? And so, I did a little bit of research.
And what I found out is the Constitution says you have to live in the district at the moment you are elected. So, he can be in Congress, represent a district in California. And then literally, if he wins his primary, then at his leisure, in that very -- I mean, that's a seat that was double digits for Harris.
COHEN: Yes.
FLEISCHMAN: And now the new seat is double digits for Trump.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
FLEISCHMAN: He could literally run. And if he won, then he could move. But he would have to move.
MICHAELSON: How does this feel to you?
COHEN: I mean, look, nothing says that somebody is going to have their finger on the pulse of what the people in that district in Texas need than a Californian who may or may not move there at some untold point in the future, just because, you know, he's wealthy enough and desperate to, you know, retain his proximity to power.
MICHAELSON: You know who did this? Dr. Oz did this, didn't he? He was, like, a resident of New Jersey.
COHEN: Dr. Oz --
MICHAELSON: He didn't win.
COHEN: Dr. Oz did it.
FLEISCHMAN: There's no saying that Darrell Issa will win.
MICHAELSON: Hillary Clinton did it. Bobby Kennedy did it.
FLEISCHMAN: Right. This is very popular.
MICHAELSON: There certainly -- it certainly has happened in the past.
FLEISCHMAN: It's very popular.
MICHAELSON: But --
FLEISCHMAN: But Issa's a very shrewd political person. He will look at this. And who knows? You know, he made a couple of phone calls is what I'm guessing. And that caused a little fear. And we'll just see what happens.
MICHAELSON: Well, one thing that you wrote about today, which was interesting, is this concept that the Trump DOJ in the civil rights division is now opening up a Second Amendment avenue where they're defending. Can you tell us a little more, just briefly, what this is?
FLEISCHMAN: Sure. So, since especially here in Donald Trump's term, the Department of Justice in the civil rights division has gotten a lot more aggressive and active in Second Amendment defense cases, more so than they have before.
In fact, they're currently litigating against the sheriff's department in Los Angeles, where we're filming right now, because the sheriff's department there is spending eons reviewing legal carry permits that --
MICHAELSON: Do you think this is a good thing?
FLEISCHMAN: This new --
MICHAELSON: Yes. FLEISCHMAN: Sure. Because I think what's happening is it's almost like an administrative thing that you're getting credit for. They're doing so much of this work that they got to put it somewhere.
So, they're creating this kind of civil rights division inside of it. And what they're basically saying is we're expanding civil rights to not only be civil rights relative to groups, but also civil liberties and people's individual liberties.
MICHAELSON: Good idea?
COHEN: I mean, let me just say, thank God somebody is looking out for -- for the gun owners out there as -- as, you know, kids are getting killed in schools, as people don't know across this country whether they can go to the movies safely, bowling safely, concerts, church, temple, wherever it may be. At least you have the Trump administration out here, making sure that the -- that the real victims, the real victims, are taken care of.
FLEISCHMAN: I think the Trump administration is going after all those victims. But the point being, we have a bunch of rights guaranteed in the Constitution, and the government's responsibility is to protect all of them, not just some of them.
COHEN: We have -- we have seen -- we have seen no action on behalf of the Trump administration at the hands of -- at the hands of this gun violence that continues to plague this country.
And the fact that they -- that they have the audacity, then, to go forward and say what we really need here is to open up an entirely new division to focus on the rights of gun owners. While there has been no legislation to protect kids in schools, no legislation to protect all -- gun violence is the No. 1 killer of children in this country.
FLEISCHMAN: Sure.
COHEN: And the fact that we now have a division of the DOJ, the same DOJ, that, by the way, is ignoring everything that's happening with the Epstein files.
FLEISCHMAN: Right. But understand what's going on here. This is to defend --
MICHAELSON: Last word.
FLEISCHMAN: This is to defend legal gun owners. These people that are shooting up schools are not legal gun owners. These are people that are getting guns illegally and -- and -- and taking lives.
MICHAELSON: Not always the case. But -- but to your point.
Jon, Brian, we've got to leave it there, because we're out of time. But really appreciate both of you coming in.
FLEISCHMAN: Of course.
MICHAELSON: Thanks for the insights.
COHEN: Thanks for having us.
MICHAELSON: We'll be back. More news right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:48:49]
MICHAELSON: Louisiana State University has officially introduced its new head football coach. Lane Kiffin joins the Tigers after stepping down at rival Ole Miss.
In a news conference Monday, Kiffin said leaving Mississippi was difficult, but that coaching at LSU is, quote, "the best job in football."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LANE KIFFIN, INCOMING LSU FOOTBALL HEAD COACH: Our program here at LSU will be designed top to bottom to be the No. 1 destination for elite players in all of America. That's why we're here.
Our immediate priority is assembling the best staff in the country and securing top talent. The mission is simple: bring the best players in the country to LSU, and it starts right here in the state of Louisiana.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Kiffin coached at Ole Miss for six seasons. He guided the Rebels to an 11 and 1 record this year, their best season in more than six decades and most likely the school's first ever college football playoff spot.
Next hour, we'll delve into the messy controversy over this whole thing.
But for now, the controversy over a word or two. Oxford dictionary announced its word of the year after it opened, voting to the public and Harry Enten, the king of data, the person who makes us feel good, never angry, joins us now with a look at what that word is.
Harry, what is the word of the year?
HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Can I get a drum roll, please? Very nice, my dear friend out on the West Coast. And the word of the year is rage bait. Rage bait is the year -- is the word of the year.
And what's so interesting is it only became a word back in 2002.
Now, what is an example of rage bait? It might be -- I'll offer this sentence for you: "I hate Santa." That is that I am putting out something into the public sphere with the idea of capturing engagement through anger. Therefore, I say something that is provocative with the mere idea that
it's going to generate rage and therefore bring me engagement, my friend.
MICHAELSON: Is that "I hate Santa" because you're Jewish, like me, and -- and you felt not included as a kid? And are we working through your therapy issues right now, or what do you mean by you hate Santa?
ENTEN: I am saying that that is an example of it. Now do I hate Santa? I'm not necessarily sure, but I will say that I'm more of a fan of my namesake, Hanukkah Harry.
MICHAELSON: Hanukkah Harry. It brings us together. So -- so this is two words. It's not one word. I thought it was supposed to be one word. "Rage bait's" two words.
ENTEN: Apparently, one word was not enough for the Oxford English dictionary. Apparently, they had to expand their horizons. And now we're doing phrases.
I mean, I don't know what the heck they do over there in England. The bottom line is I like to be on this side of the Atlantic Ocean.
But I looked it up, my dear friend. I looked it up, and it turns out that four of the six last words of the year have at least two words in them, at least two words. So, it's no longer the word of the year. It's the, I guess, the words of the year.
I mean, last year, for example, I have this little nugget for me down here. It was "brain rot" back in 2024.
So, you know, maybe after watching this segment, there might be a little bit of rage baiting, as well as a little bit of brain rotting going on.
MICHAELSON: Well, clearly, they've got some brain rot, because you would think that the Oxford Dictionary would know what the word "word" means.
ENTEN: Yes! Yes!
MICHAELSON: They apparently do not. So --
ENTEN: I guess all I'd say is, I guess it's when they're taking in new words, they forget what the old ones mean.
MICHAELSON: Right. So, how long have they been doing this word of the year thing?
ENTEN: OK, so I looked this up, and it turns out that Oxford is not the first one that actually came up with this. The American Dialect Society's word of the year back in 1990 was "Bushlips." "Bushlips." Do you have any idea what "Bushlips" means?
MICHAELSON: Well, that's when President Bush was in charge and he said, "Read my lips," in terms of the no new taxes. Is that what it is?
ENTEN: That's exactly what it is: "Read my lips. No new taxes." He said that during the 1988 campaign. And then, of course, he signed into law tax hikes.
And therefore, the "Bushlips" was essentially the idea you can't trust anything coming out of the lips of George Herbert Walker Bush. Very good history, my dear friend.
We may be on different coasts, but on history, and when it comes to the holidays, the celebratory ones in December, we are simpatico.
MICHAELSON: Yes. Yes, we're in line on Hanukkah Harry. By the way, "Bushlips" sounds like it could be something very different in this era.
ENTEN: It does. It does.
MICHAELSON: Yes, you could get -- you could get in trouble by -- by going off on that.
ENTEN: I leave that to other people after dark.
MICHAELSON: Yes. "Read my lips. No new taxes" that were talking about.
By the way, the last time we talked, your Buffalo Bills were struggling. Congrats on a big win for you on the Buffalo Bills --
ENTEN: Let me --
MICHAELSON: -- against the Steelers.
ENTEN: Absolutely fantastic. They had me fooled at halftime. They had me fooled at the half. But in that second half, they took over.
And I will note, I will be going up to Western New York on Friday, watching the Bills take on the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday afternoon. It's, of course, their final season in the current stadium that they've been in, which they've been in, of course, since the early 1970s.
I am very much looking forward. I think -- I think this could be the year in which we go all the way. Of course, I think that every year, anyway. Hope springs eternal.
MICHAELSON: I don't think that, but enjoy the game.
ENTEN: Come on, come on. I need a little bit here. Josh Allen, James Cook. I mean, come on, baby. Let's go.
MICHAELSON: Good luck.
ENEN: I'll take it.
MICHAELSON: All right. Harry Enten, thank you. And I'm no longer rage baiting after having a conversation with you. We'll be back with more of THE STORY IS. And I'm never saying
"Bushlips" again.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:59:21]
MICHAELSON: Who says you can't celebrate Christmas with a little fun in the sun? Visitors at a beach in Rio de Janeiro gathered for the lighting of a floating Christmas tree on Sunday.
The structure is more than 260 feet, or 80 meters tall, with around 2 million LED lights. That's pretty spectacular, huh?
Speaking of spectacular, first lady Melania Trump has unveiled this year's White House Christmas decorations. More than 150 volunteers helped to decorate each room, following the theme of "Home is Where the Heart Is."
The decorations feature a nod to Americas 250th birthday next year. There are traditional elements, including twinkling lights and velvet bows, as well as more fun surprises like a 6,000-piece LEGO portrait of President Trump in the Green Room.
In the Blue Room, the official White House Christmas tree honors Gold Star families.
