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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson
Trump Administration Begins Immigration Crackdown In New Orleans; Trump Ramps Up Attacks On Minnesota Somali Community; CNN Investigates The Fate Of Gaza's Missing Aid Seekers; Variety's "ACTORS ON ACTORS" Premiers on CNN; L.A. Clippers Part Ways with Veteran Guard Chris Paul. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired December 04, 2025 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:00]
ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: Los Angeles, the zoo is celebrating what park officials call a Baby Boom. The L.A. Zoo welcomed its fifth great ape baby this year, a gorilla. It's the first gorilla born at the zoo since 2020. Officials haven't said if it's a male or female, and they're still waiting to give the baby gorilla a name.
Thanks for watching this hour of The Story Hours -- Story Is. The next hour starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: That beautiful state, it's a hellhole right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: The story is immigration.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To just go after a whole community indiscriminately. It's unconstitutional. It's flat out un-American.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: President Trump attacks Somali immigrants while the federal government cracks down in Minnesota and New Orleans. With us live, CNN's Scott Jennings.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Essentially the idea was to shove the body with a bunch of dirt, clearing the road and push it to the sides.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And that was it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That was it. Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP) MICHAELSON: The story is bulldoze corpses. What happened to many Palestinians still missing in Gaza. CNN's Jeremy Diamond has an exclusive investigation.
The story is actors on actors. CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister catches up with Ariana Grande, Adam Sandler, plus Jonathan Bailey and Superman himself, David Cornswith.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Los Angeles. The Story Is with Elex Michaelson.
MICHAELSON: And welcome to The Story Is. I'm Elex Michelson. Scott Jennings is standing by. We'll talk to him in a moment. We start with the story in New Orleans, where the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration is officially underway.
Department of Homeland Security says they plan to make at least 5,000 arrests in this operation. Top Border Patrol official Greg Bovino and masked agents were seen in the New Orleans suburbs on Wednesday. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem says they are going after, quote, the worst of the worst criminal offenders.
The local officials say they are concerned that black and brown communities are being profiled and targeted. Authorities are already making arrests. Federal agents wearing Border Patrol vests detained at least one person in a residential area and witnesses say two people outside a Home Depot before eventually letting one of them go.
Meanwhile, President Trump is doubling down on attacking Somali immigrants as federal raids sweep through Minnesota. He's also specifically calling out Minnesota's Somali member Ilhan Omar, who, of course is a vocal critic of President Trump.
Congressmember Omar sat down with Jake Tapper today on CNN and reacted.
All right. Clearly we're having some video problems. We should mention this. President Trump is also criticizing the city of Minneapolis, calling a, quote, hellhole, blaming the Somali community and calling the city's mayor a fool. Mayor Jacob Frey has invited President Trump to visit to see how The Somali community is a proud part of the city.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JACOB FREY, MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA MAYOR: Come out to Minneapolis. What you won't find is a hellhole, but a beautiful city. It is a city in a park. You won't find a community that is tearing down Minneapolis and are Somali Americans.
You will find a group of people that is uplifting Minneapolis and is proud to be here. They are proud to call this extraordinary place home. If they're just indiscriminately going after people, due process is violated. Habeas corpus is violated. The entire constitution is in and of itself being thrown into garbage. So you want to use the term garbage? That's exactly what Donald Trump is doing right now to the Constitution of the United States. (END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: More now on all of this, from CNN's Omar Jimenez.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TRUMP: When they come from hell and they complain and do nothing but bitch, we don't want them in our country. Let them go back to where they came from and fix it. Thank you very much.
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Trump now making a point of targeting Somali migrants as a new ICE operation from the Trump administration is underway in the Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota area. A federal official tells CNN.
Targeting the largest population of Somali immigrants in the country. Minnesota's Governor Tim Walz wrote in part on X, pulling a P.R. stunt and indiscriminately targeting immigrants is not a real solution to a problem.
Trump is also going after the highest profile Somali American elected to Congress, Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar, who represents the Minneapolis area.
TRUMP: She shouldn't be allowed to be a congresswoman, and I'm sure people are looking at that, and she should be thrown the hell out of our country.
REP. ILHAN OMAR (D-MN): I would say the president's obsession with me and the Somali community is really unhealthy. It's creepy, and I hope that he gets the help that he needs.
JIMENEZ (voice-over): But President Trump's rhetoric is translating to policy.
[01:05:02]
Somalia is one of 19 countries included in President Trump's latest travel restrictions implemented over the summer. Now his administration will reexamine all green cards issued to people from certain countries, which includes Somalia, after the recent National Guard shooting allegedly carried out by an Afghan national.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do the Somalians have to do with this Afghan guy who shot the National Guard?
TRUMP: Nothing. But Somalians have caused a lot of trouble. They're ripping us off for a lot of money.
JIMENEZ (voice-over): President Trump appeared to be alluding to allegations of large scale fraud in Minnesota as his Treasury Department and Small Business Administration launched new investigations. One into various allegations that fraudulently secured funds are being funneled from immigrant communities to terrorists overseas and another into alleged networks of small business fraud. Aspects of the latter were already proven in court, including in
what's been dubbed the largest COVID-19 fraud scheme in the country to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars and more than 75 people charged going back to 2022, centered on a nonprofit and a pandemic program meant to provide free meals to kids in need.
The convicted mastermind, Amy Bach instead used the money to fund lavish lifestyles. But the majority of the defendants in the case are Somali. Wednesday, the governor seemed prepared for any coming investigations.
GOV. TIM WALZ (D) MINNESOTA: If they want to help us, I welcome them. I think they do an investigation, find out. But I don't think anybody in here really believes their motive and their timing is about actually doing something about this.
JIMENEZ: There are also two other sets of fraud charges that have come down in recent months, one tied to alleged fraud of an autism program, another tied to alleged fraud of a housing services program. And for his part, Governor Tim Walz reiterated Wednesday that anyone who commits fraud in his state will go to prison, regardless of color or religion.
Now, for the Somali migrants, there are tens of thousands that live in the Minneapolis area and they've been there for decades at this point. And it's part of why we heard from not just the mayor of Minneapolis, but also the police chief acknowledge the real fear in many of these migrant communities and reiterate that the Minneapolis police will not work with federal immigration enforcement operations.
And it's a dynamic and a type of feeling fear that has become increasingly familiar in immigrant communities across the United States this year. Omar Jimenez, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: Our thanks to Omar. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is under growing bipartisan pressure for a pair of controversies. Republican Senator Rand Paul says Hegseth's explanation for a military strike on the survivors of an attack on an alleged drug boat is, quote, ridiculous. Democrat Richard Blumenthal insists Hegseth must be held responsible and he wants to subpoena all records related to the strike.
President Trump is standing by Hegseth, although he says he supports releasing video of the second strike.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If it is found that survivors were actually killed while clinging onto that boat, should Secretary Hegseth, Admiral Bradley, or others be punished?
TRUMP: I think you're going to find that this is war, that these people were killing our people by the millions, actually.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Meanwhile, a Pentagon watchdog report is critical of Hegseth's use of the Signal messaging app. According to four sources, the inspector general concluded that Hegseth risked compromising sensitive war plans which could have endangered American troops when he used the app for a group chat before an attack on Houthi rebels. Hegseth says he did not share classified information. The report is a total exoneration.
My next guest is the author of "A Revolution of Common: How Donald Trump Stormed Washington and Fought for Western Civilization." He's pretty familiar for CNN viewers. He's CNN's political commentator Scott Jennings, who is live with us on set in Los Angeles for the first time. Welcome to The Story Is.
SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good evening and welcome to CNN. You're doing great.
MICHAELSON: Thank you. Congrats on the book. It's right here. I want to talk a lot about the book.
JENNINGS: Yes.
MICHAELSON: But let's get you first on the news of the day because you don't have anybody to scream at today.
JENNINGS: It's going to be difficult for me. It's just us. There are four people.
MICHAELSON: This is the time to get you get your perspective. Pete Hegseth, is he in real danger? Does he have the president's confidence?
JENNINGS: I believe that he does. Obviously, this Signal issue is a, you know, rehash of something we dealt with earlier this year. And at the time, you know, the president said of the signal issue, he said something like, I think they learned a lesson from this. So even the president sort of acknowledged it at the time, but it feels like old news.
The current news is what they're doing with Venezuela in these narco terrorist boats. I mean, the president wants these boats sunk. And in fact, he may be doing it on land, you know, sooner rather than later. And he ordered Hegseth to do this, and Hegseth enabled the military operators to do it. And I think the president likes that they've sunk these boats. He likes that there's been a 91 percent reduction in drugs coming in by sea.
And so, yes, I think Hegseth has the pleasure of the president right now for sure.
MICHAELSON: Does sometimes criticism from others actually make Donald Trump dig in more?
[01:10:00] JENNINGS: Well, yes, and especially on this issue, because this comes on the heels of these Democrats releasing that video about the illegal orders, which it's now clear they were trying to set up conversation about what's going on with Venezuela.
And so the President feels like he's in a righteous political position as it relates to stopping the flow of drugs into the country. And the fact that you've got Democrats out there now rushing to attack him on this and claim that these are illegal orders, that will clearly cause them to dig in on this, that'll inure to Hegseth's benefit as he carries out the President's wishes.
MICHAELSON: So immigration typically has been the president's strongest issue with the American public, and it's still pretty strong with his base. There's a YouGov poll we want to put up on the screen that shows just the unbelievable difference in the parties.
Do you approve of how ICE is handling its job? 12 percent of Democrats, 79 percent of Republicans. But the independents right now seem to be moving more towards the Democrats on this issue. Are you concerned about the independence, or is basically the base enough on this thing?
JENNINGS: Well, I still think it's his best issue generally. I think it's the biggest promise that he has fulfilled. I mean, we've basically had no border crossings for six months. I mean, it's remarkable what they've done. And, you know, we haven't passed any new immigration laws. We're only enforcing the laws that were on the books when he took office. I do think --
MICHAELSON: There's a lot of people who think that he's gone too far, though, and feel like you promised to go after criminals, and my friend at the car wash is not necessarily the criminal.
JENNINGS: I know some people may feel that way, but I think if you've been following Donald Trump and what's animated his political rise over the last 10 years, it's immigration. It's illegal immigration. It's the idea that we keep letting people in and looking the other way.
It's simple enforcement of federal immigration law. I mean, ICE agents have been mandated to go out and enforce the laws that are on the books. I don't know what's terribly controversial about that, truthfully. I also happen to believe there's a massive propaganda campaign going on around this. I heard people say just tonight, you know, we're arresting scores of Americans. That's just simply not true. It is true that they are going after illegal populations, and it is true that not all of them are violent.
But I still think on this issue, the American people perceive that were in a crisis on the border, that we had let too many people in, that we didn't know who they were, why they were here and what they were doing. And the President had a mandate to do something about it.
MICHAELSON: We do know that there have been some Americans who have been arrested or detained in mix ups when they're part of a group, but we do not know of any of those people actually been deported.
JENNINGS: Right.
MICHAELSON: Usually it's figured out what happened and then they're released.
Let's talk about the book, "A Revolution of Common Sense," which is a take of President Trump's comments at the inauguration.
JENNINGS: Yes.
MICHAELSON: What does common sense mean to you?
JENNINGS: Well, I called the book "A Revolution of Common Sense" directly from the phrasing of the inaugural address, because I thought Trump was basically encapsulating how he has defined his own political movement. And I asked him once, you know, do you consider yourself to be more of a conservative or more of a common sense person? And he said, well, most of the time conservative is common sense. He left himself a little wiggle room. But --
MICHAELSON: Look how great Mamdani is.
JENNINGS: That's how he would describe what he's doing. And, you know, the book sort of goes through the first hundred points plus days of the administration and he picks out these issues that he would say are 80, 20 issues. And he knows if he gets on the 80, his political opposition is going to get on the 20. And these 80, 20 issues in his mind, I'm just doing the common sense thing.
MICHAELSON: It's interesting because you start the book by talking about the fact that you had never met him --
JENNINGS: Yes.
MICHAELSON: -- before he was elected this second time.
JENNINGS: Right.
MICHAELSON: And you're brought into the Oval Office and you watch him work.
JENNINGS: Yes.
MICHAELSON: What do you think when you see him in person? And especially compared, because you had worked in the Bush administration and seen George W. Bush work.
JENNINGS: Well, that first meeting I had with him back in February, after observing him for a couple of hours with his cabinet and senior staff, my thought was, I don't know who was running the country the last four years, but I know who's running it right now.
MICHAELSON: The country meeting Biden was not as decisive and commanding a leader. Certainly not on camera. JENNINGS: Yes. And the hands on nature of what Trump was doing. I
mean, he's having six meetings at the same time. I'm talking to Bessent and Lutnick about tariffs and I'm talking to Witkoff and Rubio about, you know, what's going on in Gaza. And I'm, you know, I mean, he's really doing multiple things and it's extremely hands on. You go do this and come back and tell me how it turned out.
I asked one Cabinet secretary, what's it like to work for President Trump, and he said, well, you can tell him we're working on it one time, but you don't get a second bite at that apple. He expects when he gives orders that they will then come back immediately and say, here's how we carried them out.
When were talking about Hegseth a moment ago, you know, he didn't tell Pete Hegseth, you know, wouldn't it be nice if we dealt with the narco terrorists? He said, deal with the narco terrorists. That's how he deals with all these cabinet officers.
And so it's an extremely hands on and detail oriented management style. I think it's a big departure from Biden and there's a lot of free flowing conversation in the Oval.
[01:15:01]
MICHAELSON: And you say it's different also than George W. Bush.
JENNINGS: Yes.
MICHAELSON: Compare and contrast the two of them.
JENNINGS: Well, my role in the Bush administration did take me into the Oval for some meetings. It felt more scripted, you know, a little more rigid in there. Not that's necessarily wrong. My observations of Trump in the Oval, it's very free flowing. There's a lot of people coming and going. He's asking a lot of questions. He's actually a good listener and he listens to people debate. He takes in a lot of information. He asks good questions, but it's just not quite as scripted.
But that's kind of a metaphor for his larger political image. It's not really scripted. It's very much authentic and in the moment.
MICHAELSON: You know, there are some folks that you worked with during the Bush time who are not as big of fans as what you're doing. They've called you like a sellout. Tim Miller from The Bulwark is one of them and has criticized you. Here's some of what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TIM MILLER, HOST, "THE BULWARK PODCAST": There are a lot of things I believed in that I didn't think were up for debate. Right. I thought that this was a country that welcomed immigrants. This was a country where if you lost an election, you concede it. I thought that this was a country where you didn't, you know, send direct messages to your attorney general telling them that you wanted them to target your political foes. Thought this was a country where we had basic due process.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: What do you say? I mean, obviously he's now supporting Democrats and he left the party.
JENNINGS: Yes.
MICHAELSON: What do you say to people who say that it's actually not conservative to support?
JENNINGS: Yes. I've never quite understood this argument that in order to support conservatives or save conservatism or save the Republican Party, you have to vote for Kamala Harris or you have to vote for every Democrat in every election up and down the ballot.
These folks are not anti-Trump. They're anti Republican. They're anti conservative. I've been a Republican my entire life. I have voted for every Republican presidential candidate in my adult life. And most of what Donald Trump does is right out of a Republican playbook. He cuts taxes and he puts conservative judges on the court. He's not orthodox on tariffs. That's absolutely true.
But their anti-Trump position evolved into just let's destroy the Republican Party. I don't want to destroy the Republican Party because I think the liberals and the Democrats are trying to destroy Western civilization and Tim's helping them.
MICHAELSON: What's the thought process for you in terms of running for Kentucky senator?
JENNINGS: Have gotten a lot of encouragement about it. Haven't made any announcements about it. Have a lot to say grace over in life right now with my job here, the book, I've got four kids in various states of schooling. I've got a lot going on at the moment. I don't have any announcements to make, but I'm grateful for the encouragement. And honestly, politics is a team sport. It would matter to me what the president's opinion was.
MICHAELSON: OK, so it sounds like if he endorses you're in. But that's how I read that. But we'll see.
This is rapid fire 32nd game to know your cultural favorites. First thing that comes to mind, some fun stuff that we don't see on the other shows. What's your favorite TV show?
JENNINGS: Oh, of all time, "The Office." If it's on, I will watch it. And I watched an episode today actually.
MICHAELSON: Favorite book?
JENNINGS: Favorite book?
MICHAELSON: Other than your own.
JENNINGS: Oh, my gosh. You know, most of the books I've read in the last 16 years have been children's books to my children. My favorite book to read to my children has been "Charlotte's Web." I've read it to all of them multiple times.
MICHAELSON: And last really quickly, favorite musical act?
JENNINGS: Tony Bennett.
MICHAELSON: Good one. And what is your favorite quote or motto?
JENNINGS: My favorite political quote is the man in the arena quotation from Teddy Roosevelt. So I love it. Think about it often. And when I'm sitting at the table with four people yelling at me, I think, well, here I am, Teddy, I'm in The Arena.
MICHAELSON: Maybe in the Senate, who knows? Scott Jennings, thanks. Congrats on the book.
JENNINGS: Thank you.
MICHAELSON: Really interesting. Even if you're on the left, it's interesting to read it and get some great insight into how folks on the right think.
Coming up after the break, Elizabeth Wagmeister joins us for a preview of actors on Actors Coming to CNN. Plus, missing in Gaza, a CNN investigation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anything happens to me, whoever finds my phone, please tell my family that I love them so much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: A final message and a heartbroken family. Our investigation team finds evidence about what may have happened to several missing aid seekers.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:23:25]
MICHAELSON: A CNN investigation based on video, satellite imagery and eyewitness accounts points to the Israeli military bulldozing bodies of some Palestinians killed near an aid crossing in northern Gaza. IDF whistleblowers who spoke to CNN also point to a broader pattern of the Israeli military mishandling bodies in ways that could amount to war crimes.
The result? Families in Gaza left searching for answers about loved ones who went missing while seeking aid.
CNN's Jeremy Diamond reports from Jerusalem. And a warning. You may find some of this video disturbing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My brother is missing. Anyone who saw --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My cousin went missing yesterday in Zikim.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ehab Adel Mansour, 16 years old, went missing in the Zikim area.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My son went missing while going to the aid area in Zikim on Sunday.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Messages from desperate families all searching for loved ones who went out to seek aid and never came back. 23-year-old Amar Wadi was one of them, last seen in June going to the Zikim crossing in northern Gaza where United Nations food trucks entered.
His mother is still desperate for answers.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just want peace of mind, to know what his face is. Even if he is a martyr, praise be to God. I just want to know what happened to him.
DIAMOND (voice-over): Wadi's fate is still unknown, but a CNN investigation based on video, satellite imagery and eyewitness accounts points to the Israeli military bulldozing the bodies of some of those killed near the Zikim crossing.
[01:25:00]
IDF whistleblowers who spoke to CNN also point to a broader pattern of the Israeli military mishandling bodies in ways that could amount to war crimes.
Collecting humanitarian aid became a deadly reality in Gaza over the summer before the ceasefire took effect. More than 2,000 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire while trying to get aid, according to the World Health Organization.
The Israeli military has acknowledged firing toward these crowds, but said it does not intentionally fire at civilians. Hundreds, some dead, others still clinging on to life, were hauled away amid the mayhem, including here near the Zikim crossing.
But amid the clattering of gunfire, others were left behind. Six aid truck drivers told CNN they saw dozens of bodies near the Zikim crossing. One shared these photos showing partially buried remains surrounded by aid boxes.
Some said they witnessed Israeli military bulldozers burying bodies. They've asked us to conceal their identities, fearing retribution from Israeli authorities. There are bodies everywhere, decomposed, skeletal remains, one truck driver told CNN. Some are covered with dirt because the army cannot tolerate the smell of decomposing bodies, said another. I watched Israeli bulldozers bury the dead, said a third.
This video appears to show the aftermath of Israel's bulldozing. Alongside a crushed overturned truck, partially covered bodies of several Palestinians jut out from the earth. A paramedic at the scene said rescue workers managed to haul away 15 dead Palestinians. If the ambulance full, some bodies had to be left behind.
CNN geolocated the video to this location near the Zikim crossing. You can see the overturned truck here alongside bulldozed roads and track marks left by heavy machinery or armored vehicles.
These are the roads where crowds of starving Palestinians swarmed aid trucks on a near daily basis where they were fired upon and at times killed by Israeli gunfire. We geolocated multiple videos of people being shot and killed to these bulldozed areas, the same areas where Palestinians said some bodies were left behind in the chaos.
On August 9th, 31 hours after crowds are seen here, evidence of fresh bulldozing appears in the exact same location. This video shows just how close Israeli forces, including this D9 bulldozer, were to those crowds.
The soldiers came in front of us eyeing to eyes and the quadcopter was 10 meters away from us. They were shot in front of us and there was a martyr that stayed over there and no one could get close to him. We begged the soldiers to carry him back, but they didn't allow us.
We provided the Israeli military with GPS coordinates for the locations where bodies were likely bulldozed. In a detailed list of questions, the military said bulldozers positioned in the Zikim area are used for operational purposes to deal with IED threats and for routine engineering needs. It denied they were used to remove bodies, but did not address questions about burying them.
The military also declined to describe its protocol for dealing with bodies in Gaza. The Israeli military's apparent improper disposal of bodies of Palestinians stretched far beyond Zikim. We spoke with two Israeli soldiers on condition of anonymity due to fears of retribution. Both described bodies of Palestinians being buried in shallow, unmarked graves in different parts of Gaza.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Essentially, the idea was to shove the body with a bunch of dirt, clearing the road, and push it to the sides.
DIAMOND: And that was it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That was it, yeah.
DIAMOND: The grave was not marked?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
DIAMOND: There was no identification process or notification process to any international or Palestinian organization.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not that I was aware of. Not in my unit. So essentially, were never given any protocol or any order of how to handle any bodies. There was never once that anyone told us, if you have a body, this is what should be done. DIAMOND (voice-over): By allowing the dead to become the missing, international law experts say bulldozing bodies into unmarked graves can violate international law. And if those bodies are mutilated or desecrated, the practice can rise to the level of outrages upon personal dignity, a war crime under the Geneva Convention.
[01:30:03]
As for Ammar Wadi, about a month after he went missing in late June, his phone was returned to his family. A message had been left on the home screen. "Forgive me, mom, if anything happens to me. Whoever finds my phone, please tell my family that I love them so much."
A message that reads like a young man's final words. Words that are impossible for a mother to accept without a body to bury.
Jeremy Diamond, CNN -- Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: Our thanks to Jeremy.
More news ahead on THE STORY IS.
[01:30:39]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MICHAELSON: Welcome back to THE STORY IS.
I'm Elex Michaelson.
Now to your headlines.
President Trump says special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner had a quote, very good meeting in Moscow. Trump believes Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to make a deal on Ukraine. CNN has learned a Ukrainian delegation will meet with Witkoff and Kushner in Miami on Thursday.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro confirms that he spoke with President Trump as the U.S. continues its massive show of force in the Caribbean. He described the conversation as respectful and cordial.
The doctor, who pleaded guilty to selling actor Matthew Perry ketamine in the weeks before his death, has now been sentenced to two and a half years in prison.
The "Friends" star overdosed on the drug in 2023 after struggling with addiction for years. Four other defendants have also pled guilty in connection with his death.
Well, this is exciting. Coming to CNN, candid conversations between Hollywood's hottest actors on craft, process and the work driving the award season. New episodes of "VARIETY'S ACTORS ON ACTORS" premiere exclusively on
the CNN app starting December 5th. And the person leading this effort for CNN is Elizabeth Wagmeister, our entertainment correspondent.
ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: I don't know about that.
MICHAELSON: Congratulations --
(CROSSTALKING)
WAGMEISTER: But I'm excited to be part of that --
MICHAELSON: -- take all the credit.
WAGMEISTER: No, no, no. I'm excited to be a very small part of this massive team effort.
MICHAELSON: Yes. So "ACTORS ON ACTORS", something that's been happening for a while on Variety and now teaming with CNN for the first time. And the basic concept is the actors talk to each other.
WAGMEISTER: It's the only place that you will see an actor interviewing their fellow peer, another actor. They just happen to be incredibly famous, some of the most famous people in the world.
Everyone this season from Jennifer Lawrence and Leonardo DiCaprio to Gwyneth Paltrow and Jacob Elordi. So great candid conversations you really will see nowhere else.
MICHAELSON: And so you can watch their conversation. Then afterwards they talk with you for conversations as well.
In our last hour, we showed you talking to Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Brendan Fraser. This hour, we start things off with Adam Sandler and Ariana Grande.
WAGMEISTER: Let's take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WAGMEISTER: Ariana, you are clearly such a fan of Adam's.
ADAM SANDLER, ACTOR: Vice versa.
ARIANA GRANDE, ACTOR: I mean lifelong --
WAGMEISTER: Vice versa.
SANDLER: Lifelong too.
(CROSSTALKING)
WAGMEISTER: How much fun was this, just to be able to sit down and have this conversation together?
GRANDE: It was beautiful.
SANDLER: It turned out perfect.
GRANDE: Yes.
SANDLER: Very happy. At ease, right?
GRANDE: Yes. I forgot that we were doing something professional.
SANDLER: Yes.
GRANDE: I thought we were just hanging out and having dinner. But I've loved his work my whole life, and it was an honor when they told me that I was paired with him. I almost had a heart attack.
SANDLER: Oh.
GRANDE: And.
SANDLER: Same here, Ariana. She's been in -- Ariana's been in every car ride our whole kids' existence. You know, we love them. And they can get filthy at times, by the way and the children learn --
No.
GRANDE: It's been -- it's not like that anymore.
SANDLER: No, no, at times of our life and we -- I've had the similar times. And let me tell you, the children have learned stuff that I'm glad they know.
GRANDE: I'm grateful to have been a teacher.
WAGMEISTER: Do you think maybe you can work together?
SANDLER: Yes.
GRANDE: I'm sure.
I was thinking about that while I was listening to you talk about your process. I was like, God, he seems like such an amazing person to work with.
SANDRLER: We have to do that. We will do that.
GRANDE: We will. We should.
SANDLER: We will -- 100 percent do that.
GRANDE: I would love to do that.
WAGMEISTER: You heard it here first.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Look at you. Bring -- Bringing people together. WAGMEISTER: You know, This is what "ACTORS ON ACTORS" is all about.
Ariana Grande is a huge fan of Adam Sandler.
MICHAELSON: Who isn't.
WAGMEISTER: I mean, we all are. She is obsessed with "The Waterboy". She talks about that in their conversation. I won't give too much away.
And of course, she also loves "Billy Madison", so she was really fangirling over him. And as you heard, Adam Sandler's daughters are huge fans of Ariana.
MICHAELSON: So that's interesting.
And then you also have a pair together who are widely thought of as some of the sexiest men on the planet. Jonathan Bailey, who just won that title with "People Magazine" --
WAGMEISTER: Yes.
MICHAELSON: -- and David Corenswet, who is the new Superman.
WAGMEISTER: Yes. So I got to stand with Superman himself and the Sexiest Man Alive himself. So it was a really rough day at work.
Let's look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WAGMEISTER: I'm standing with Superman.
DAVID CORENSWET, ACTOR: Yes.
WAGMEISTER: And the Sexiest Man Alive.
JONATHAN BAILEY, ACTOR: Right?
WAGMEISTER: Are these two titles that you ever thought that you would have?
BAILEY: Absolutely.
CORENSWET: Did you?
BAILEY: No.
CORENSWET: I actually -- I mean, Superman is even more absurd. Probably.
BAILEY: It is? Yes -- because it -- because it, lasts longer. I mean, this is you have to keep it up for longer.
CORENSWET: Sexiest Man Alive is just this year.
BAILEY: Yes. That's true. CORENSWET: So next year, pressure is off.
WAGMEISTER: How well did you two know each other before today?
BAILEY: We didn't know -- we hadn't met before.
CORENSWET: Yes.
[01:39:50]
WAGMEISTER: This is the first day.
CORENSWET: Yes, and we'd never watched any of each other's movies.
BAILEY: That's true.
CORENSWET: And we didn't care to speak to each other, actually.
WAGMEISTER: It seems like you guys had been, like, best friends forever. This was so much fun --
(CROSSTALKING)
CORENSWET: We've been best friends for the last hour and a half.
BAILEY: Yes.
WAGMEISTER: Yes. That counts for something.
BAILEY: And onwards I say.
WAGMEISTER: Yes.
You spoke a lot about musicals and musicality. And I learned about you, David, that you were in high school musicals.
CORENSWET: Yes.
WAGMEISTER: If you two were going to start.
BAILEY: High society.
WAGMEISTER: Yes.
CORENSWET: (SINGING)
BAILEY: Well, did you ever.
CORENSWET: (SINGING)
BAILEY: Oh, man, that's a great Afua Hirsch.
(SINGING)
CORENSWET: Oh. Bless you.
BAILEY: Oh, yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Wow.
(CROSSTALKING)
MICHAELSON: As an old theater geek, I got to love that.
WAGMEISTER: I got serenaded by two of the biggest stars in the world. And really, though, I have to tell you, like this created a friendship for them. "ACTORS ON ACTORS", you could just see it on set.
MICHAELSON: Yes. It was interesting. Every time you ask them a question, they turned and looked at each other, both groups did.
WAGMEISTER: Yes.
MICHAELSON: It's because they're having this connection.
WAGMEISTER: You really see the mutual admiration that these actors have for each other. And some -- most of them have met before at some industry event, but some of them meet for the first time on set.
MICHAELSON: So December 5th, this is all debuting first on the brand- new CNN app. You can also check it out on the CNN YouTube page as well.
Elizabeth, congratulations. This looks like a lot of fun.
Thanks everybody who's been watching us around the world, our international viewers. WORLDSPORT is next.
I'll be back, though, on North America for more of THE STORY IS right after this.
[01:41:28]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MICHAELSON: THE STORY IS sports and real surprising news in the NBA. If you're up in the middle of the night last night, like I was.
The Clippers unceremoniously parted ways with one of the best point guards of all time, Chris Paul. ESPN is reporting that the perennial all-star clashed with head coach Tyronn Lue. The two had not been on speaking terms for weeks.
The team had lost five straight games until a win tonight in Atlanta without Chris Paul on the roster.
Joining me now is Lawrence Murray. He's an NBA reporter for "The Athletic". You wrote up this great article on "The Athletic" that sort of explains what happened here.
LAWRENCE MURRAY, NBA REPORTER, "THE ATHLETIC": Yes. First of all, it's good to be on here with you, Elex.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
MURRAY: And I was up in the middle of the night. I was getting ready to write because I'm always up late.
And I have this notification. And we all see it now. Chris Paul explaining that he has been told to go home. They are in Atlanta.
MICHAELSON: Yes. They put he puts out this Instagram post.
MURRAY: Right.
MICHAELSON: Which basically says I'm being told to go home. Peace, essentially. There it is.
MURRAY: There it is. And mind you, that's at 2:40 a.m. local time in Atlanta, where they were set to play a game Wednesday night.
Now they won that game. But we're not going to talk about the game. We're going to talk about the departure.
So you're thinking what does this mean. Is this temporary? Is this something where he's going to not be allowed to be with the team? Is this disciplinary?
And then the statement comes to me from the president of basketball operations, Lawrence Frank, saying that they are parting ways. And this is complicated as well, because they are not waiving him immediately. They're not trading him.
He's basically being sent home until they can work something out to relocate.
MICHAELSON: He's being paid to do nothing.
MURRAY: Yes.
MICHAELSON: Essentially.
MURRAY: People have heard that before.
MICHAELSON: So for people that may not be big sports fans, Chris Paul is one of the great point guards of all time.
MURRAY: He's a point guard.
MICHAELSON: He had a great run with the Clippers in the past.
MURRAY: Right.
MICHAELSON: They thought he might be the one guy that they ever retire his jersey. He came back to the Clippers. He said he's retiring. That this was going to be his final stop.
He's not as good as he used to be as happens when you're older. He hasn't been playing particularly great this season.
But for people that know him in the past, when he was really great, he had quite a personality.
MURRAY: Right.
MICHAELSON: Clashed with people. Does that hit differently when you're not as good a player?
MURRAY: I think it's even tougher because you know that you've done great things. You've experienced great things. You have a high standard for yourself.
But when you can't quite be that player and you start losing playing time, then the next thing is, well, is it worth it?
It's worth it if you're winning games. It's worth it if you're on -- you're in a situation where the expectations are being met or exceeded. And that was not the case with this L.A. Clippers team.
MICHAELSON: Yes. So this was the press conference where he was celebrated. It was going to be so great that Chris Paul was coming back.
MURRAY: Right.
MICHAELSON: So like what was happening behind the scenes? What are we talking about here in terms of those clashes?
MURRAY: We're talking about, first of all, this team, their first game of the season, they were down 37 points in Salt Lake City. The Utah Jazz were the worst team in basketball.
So you knew right away. Maybe this is not going to be as good as we thought it would be. Let's get some time.
Bradley Beal was the player that they brought in to be a starter. Actually, Bradley made it so that Chris would have his number three, right.
Well, before Bradley Beal suffered a season ending hip injury, Chris started to get phased out of the rotation. And that's where you start to go, ok, you're losing. You're starting to lose players. Guys aren't healthy. And I'm sure Chris was always going to be himself.
MICHAELSON: So where -- does Chris Paul end up somewhere else? Some have speculated maybe Oklahoma City, a team that he played for in the past. He's very close with Shea Gilgeous Alexander, the MVP of the NBA. Could that be a place?
We know that he's good friends with Lebron James. Used to play with JJ Redick, the head coach of the Lakers. Is there a place or is Chris Paul basically just done? Is this how it ends?
MURRAY: This is going to be fascinating to see play out and how long it takes to play out. The Clippers can't even trade him for at least another two weeks. They don't want to waive him because they don't have the cap space to replace him.
So when you look at Oklahoma City, first of all, they're not thinking about anything happening except that draft pick that they're going to get from the Clippers. They are 21 and 1. They don't have an open roster spot. They would have to get creative just to get Chris on the team.
And Chris can't help them on the floor. So it -- that might sound familiar, right?
[01:49:44]
MICHAELSON: Right. If you can't help him on the floor, you're supposed to be the great guy who's basically coached off the floor and make yourself valuable in the -- in the locker room.
It sounds like the opposite was happening with the Clippers. Not only was he not helping, he was hurting. And that's why they decided to say we're done.
It's interesting.
Real quickly, yes or no. Is Giannis Antetokounmpo going to be traded to the Milwaukee Bucks?
MURRAY: I just hope Giannis is healthy. That injury that he suffered was very difficult to see. And if he's healthy then I think we can prepare for him to possibly not wear that uniform again.
MICHAELSON: That's crazy to think. One of another of the best players in the -- in his prime, Giannis is, at this point.
Thanks so much for coming in. Check out his work. Lawrence Murray is at the athletic.com.
More of THE STORY IS after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:54:47]
MICHAELSON: THE STORY IS weather. Another blast of arctic air moving across the U.S. right now, with the coldest spots shown in blue and purple on this map. Look at that. More than half the country's population will wake up to temperatures below freezing this week. Some northern states will hit single digits or go below zero. Meteorologists warn it might be a preview of an even cooler snap later this month.
Thankfully, those of us on the West Coast looking pretty good at this late hour.
Opera star Andrea Bocelli is launching a tour in North America on Thursday. It begins in Dallas.
Well, talking about that tour, I also spoke to him about his recent visit to the White House and meeting President Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDREA BOCELLI, TENOR: He gave me his plane for my first tour in the United States, you know. And yes, he came also to listen to my concert.
I remember, for example, when I did the concert in Central Park, he was there in the first row. So yes, with Bill Clinton also.
And for me, it's an incredible honor because in America, I received always a, an incredible affection by my audience. Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Bocelli has now met three U.S. Presidents -- Bill Clinton, Joe Biden and Donald Trump -- all of them big fans of his singing.
To get tickets to his tour, go to AndreaBocelli.com.
Thanks so much for joining me on THE STORY IS. I'm Elex Michaelson.
I'll be back same time tomorrow. With us, political panelists Melanie Mason and Peter Hamby, plus the director of "K-Pop Demons", which is getting a whole lot of buzz.
We'll see you tomorrow. Thanks for watching.
[01:56:27]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
