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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson

FIFA World Cup; FIFA Gives Donald Trump Its New - Peace Prize; Supreme Court Agrees To Hear Birthright Citizenship Case; Netflix Offers $72B To Acquire WBD's Studios, Streaming Unit; Netflix-Warner Bros. Deal Will Not Directly Involve CNN; Legendary Architect Frank Gehry Dies At Age 96; CDC Panel Votes To End Universal Hepatitis B Shots For Newborns; Chris Matthews On New Book About Robert F. Kennedy; Matthews - Trump Engages With The Press To His Advantage; Justice Defenders - Change Inside Prison Airs Sunday. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired December 06, 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 HOST: I'm Elex Michaelson. Live in Los Angeles. "The Story Is" starts right now. "The Story Is" FIFA World Cup. The draw is set and fans are preparing for matches all over North America with us live former World Cup hero, Brandi Chastain. "The Story Is" birthright citizenship. The Supreme Court will soon decide who is an American. With us Hardball Host, Chris Matthews.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Food is the great connector. And then for me, laughs are the cement.

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MICHAELSON: "The Story Is" somebody feed Phil. The longest line in LA is for Phil Rosenthal's new diner. So I had to go check it out and share a meal with him. Live from Los Angeles. "The Story Is" with Elex Michaelson.

And the top story is the tournament that is considered the most widely viewed sports event on the planet, a major moment for LA, the United States, North America and the world, the long awaited draw for next year's FIFA World Cup. It took place with a lot of fanfare in Washington, D.C. as the 48 national teams learned who they'll play in the early group stage, the U.S., Canada, Mexico whose leaders took part in the draw will jointly host the tournament. The first to be held in North America in more than three decades.

The opener between Mexico and Brazil set for June 11 in Mexico City. One group getting a lot of attention includes Norway and France with their superstars including Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi, and defending champion Argentina will face Algeria, Austria and Jordan in Group 1, Group J I should say.

The U.S. will face Paraguay, Australia and a winner of the European playoffs in their group. And the first match in the U.S. will take place right here in LA at SoFi stadium on June 12th. Joining us now live from San Jose, is Brandi Chastain. She is a former member of the U.S. national team who won the World Cup in 1991, and of course, this iconic moment in 1999 one of the great moments in the history of sports. Brandi is also the Co-Founder of Bay FC, the new pro women soccer team representing the San Francisco Bay area and the National Women's Soccer League.

Brandi Chastain, welcome to "The Story Is" for the first time. So excited to talk to you about this.

BRANDI CHASTAIN, FORMER MEMBER, U.S. WOMEN'S NATIONAL TEAM: Well, thank you so much for having me, and I can hardly wait for this World Cup to kick off.

MICHAELSON: Yeah. So talk to us about how the Americans did. I know a lot of people are happy about it.

CHASTAIN: Well, we haven't did anything yet, but what we did get presented to us was a group that I think that we can be very confident in. But as the Coach, Mauricio Pochettino said, we cannot count out any team, we have to take every game as a one off, and we have to win all the games. The ultimate goal of group stage is to win the group.

MICHAELSON: And you've also talked about the fact that one of the big challenges is picking who's on the team from here on.

CHASTAIN: Yeah, honestly, I think this is probably the most difficult U.S. men's team to pick, and we have seen recently with some of our best play -- well, players that have been around for a while on the national team not available to the national team, and the team doing quite well in the recent matches. So I don't envy the manager at this time, but I think he's got a wonderful group of young players to choose from. And I think the hardest thing will be to decide who will make the roster.

MICHAELSON: Who do you see as the favorite to win the World Cup?

CHASTAIN: You have to look at the usual suspects in the Brazil's, France, it's hard to -- I think England may be in the conversation, but of course, you have to look at Messi in Argentina as the -- right now, as the champions, the reigning champions. And having won a World Cup in my home country, why not put USA in that conversation? Just as you know, I'm hoping, I'm very hopeful that they can make it through the -- win the group, get into the knockout rounds, and at that point it every game is unpredictable.

MICHAELSON: Well, your big moment happened here in Southern California at the Rose Bowl. The first game for team USA is going to be at SoFi stadium in Inglewood, which didn't exist back then.

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CHASTAIN: Yeah.

MICHAELSON: Talk to us about what home field advantage means, what it's like to play in front of your home country in a World Cup?

CHASTAIN: Well, I will tell you that I actually was at the 1994 World Cup final when Brazil and Italy went to penalty kicks in the Rose Bowl. And I didn't dream about standing at a penalty kick myself to win the World Cup, but it happened in that stadium, and what I'm hoping for the players on the U.S. team is that they've seen enough of the World Cups in-person, and they have played in some big games and against some of these opponents that they feel confident and that they can do this. What it's like to play in front of your home crowd is phenomenal to have your family, your friends, those you grew up with the people that have supported you, your whole life to this point is really reassuring. It's comfortable.

It allows the players maybe to take a deep breath. Honestly, I hope that all the players that are selected to play in the World Cup feel a sense of not just a pride, but also of the support that the fans will have for them. We really believe in them. I know that my former teammates are truly rooting them on in hopes that they go all the way.

MICHAELSON: Well, Brandi, I hope that we can talk to you in-person in June at SoFi stadium because I plan on being there.

CHASTAIN: I will be there.

MICHAELSON: And I'm sure, you're going to be there as well.

CHASTAIN: I will be there. Yes.

MICHAELSON: And we're going to have special coverage already getting ready for it. Brandi Chastain, thanks so much for joining us on this Friday night. We really appreciate it.

CHASTAIN: Thank you all. I appreciate it to go USA.

MICHAELSON: Yes, yes, indeed. So the draw was not the only notable thing that happened on stage.

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GIANNI INFANTINO, FIFA PRESIDENT: Mr. President, this is your price. This is your peace prize. There is also a beautiful medal for you that you can wear everywhere you want to go.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I wear right now.

INFANTINO: Okay, let me hold. Fantastic. Excellent.

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MICHAELSON: That is the President of FIFA giving the President of the United States the newly created FIFA Peace Prize at the World Cup draw. FIFA credited President Trump for brokering peace in multiple parts of the world. It's not clear how future winners will be decided. The activist group Human Rights Watch criticized the award for lack of transparency and for being presented amid a U.S. immigration crackdown. Prior to receiving it, President Trump was asked about the message that it sends.

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KAITLAN COLLINS, AMERICAN JOURNALIST, NEWS ANCHOR CNN: What would you say to people who say that prize might conflict with your pledge to strike Venezuela?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Well, I think the Peace Prize, I mean, I settled eight wars. I don't know that I'm getting it. I haven't been officially noticed. I've been hearing about a Peace Prize.

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MICHAELSON: That was Kaitlan Collins with President Trump earlier today. The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether President Trump's executive order ending birth right citizenship is constitutional. The 14th Amendment guarantees U.S. citizenship to people born in the U.S., even if their parents were not that has been considered settled law since the 19th century. But now the justices are revisiting the issue, after side stepping the issue itself earlier this year, they will hear arguments next year and likely hand down a decision by the end of June.

President Trump signed an executive order in January that said the federal government will not issue U.S. citizen job documents to any child born on American soil to parents who are in the country unlawfully or temporarily. That policy has been blocked by lower courts and has never gone into effect.

A live look from outside our building right now that is the iconic Warner Bros. tower, and there's big news when it comes to our company today. Streaming powerhouse, Netflix is making a $72 billion bid to buy Warner Bros. Discovery's film studios and streaming divisions. It comes as Warner Bros. Discovery moves ahead with plans to split into two companies next year. Netflix would make the acquisition after the split takes effect. That deal would give Netflix over control of Warner Bros. vast film and TV library, including HBO, but not CNN. That would be part of the separate company.

This whole thing still needs approval from regulators in the U.S., Europe and beyond a process that could take years. Warner Bros. Discovery is the parent company of CNN, at least for now.

CNN Chief Media Analyst, Brian Stelter joins us now from New York for the very first time here on "The story Is." Brian, welcome to the show.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Yes, it is. Thank you.

MICHAELSON: So speaking of the show. The show is about to be a lot different for Warner Bros. for Netflix.

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At break down what this actually means. How is this going to work, and sort of what it means for the average consumer of media?

STELTER: For the average consumer, nothing right away, but over time, we're going to see these treatment services probably come together. Most people who have HBO Max also have Netflix. There is some talk about HBO Max still existing in some form in the future. But most likely, if you look at how this usually goes down in media merger history, Netflix will be taking over HBO Max, bringing all that programming on to the main Netflix platform in the future, but that's only if this deal gets approved, and the regulatory process is going to be intense.

I have a feeling we're going to be talking about this for many months to come, because Netflix has some strong arguments. It's already previewed those arguments about why this is pro-consumer and pro- Hollywood, but we have heard a many Hollywood heavy weights come out against this deal.

In the past 24 hours, we have seen both Democratic and Republican lawmakers come out against this deal. We will see what the Trump administration actually says about this deal, but the opponents are already lining up against this, saying that it will be bad for consumers, saying that it will cause prices to be higher, and saying that removing a big competitor in the marketplace will have a very, very damaging effect in Hollywood and in the entertainment industry writ large.

MICHAELSON: So from our window here, where we're shooting in Los Angeles, we can actually see the Warner Bros. tower that is a movie studio and a TV studio, but it is a place that has usually made movies that are on the big screen. And there's a lot of concern for folks that like to see their movies on the big screen, right?

STELTER: That is one of the big question marks going forward. Netflix is known for one big thing. The ability to watch TV and watch movies wherever you want, whenever you want, but mostly from the comfort of your own home. Netflix denies that it's against the movie theater business, but pretty much everybody else views Netflix as being an enemy or an adversary to the good, old fashioned, traditional movie going experience.

Theater Owners are desperately trying to block this deal from getting done for that very reason. But Netflix did say on Friday that they will continue to release Warner Bros. movies in theaters if they are able to buy the studio. When companies make these comments on the very first day as a merger process just beginning, you're right to be skeptical, but Netflix is acknowledging the tension and anxiety and trying to say all the right things at least as this process begins.

MICHAELSON: And lastly, this is sort of the awkward part of this to cover, but CNNs parent company is Warner Bros. Talk about what this means for CNN and for some of the other networks that folks enjoy watching that are sister networks?

STELTER: Directly, this means nothing for CNN. Indirectly, though, down the road it might, Warner bros. Discovery is about to break itself into half, and the company reaffirmed on Friday that that is still the plan. Basically, this time next year, you'll see two different companies. One is Discovery Global, which will include CNN, TNT and other channels, and then the other half is Warner Bros. that will be the new name of the old company. Warner Bros. it will include the studio as well as HBO and HBO Max. That entertainment side is the part that Netflix wants to buy Warner Bros. They're not trying to buy Discovery Global. They're not trying to buy CNN.

But by this time next year, CNN and those other cable channel brands, they'll be off on their own as a separate publicly traded company. Will there be other bidders? Will there be buyers? Will there be suitors for Discovery Global? Well, that remains to be seen. We are definitely in the midst of a big round of media merger consolidation action. This is not the end of the story. It's only the very early, early beginning of the story.

MICHAELSON: Yeah, and we know from all the reports that Paramount Skydance was interested in all of this. So what will their next move be? We'll have to wait and see. For now, though, it is great to know Brian Stelter with us. Thank you so much. Hopefully it's the first of many appearances here on "The Story Is."

STELTER: Thanks so much.

MICHAELSON: California's Attorney General is fighting to block the continued deployment of National Guard troops in and around Los Angeles. His motion for a preliminary injunction was heard Friday in San Francisco. President, Trump initially called up some 4,000 California guard troops in response to protests over his immigration enforcement actions. About a 100 of those troops remain in the LA area. Attorney General Rob Bonta says the order would ensure that American cities are not militarized.

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ROB BONTA, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF CALIFORNIA: We very strongly believe that the National Guard is not the Royal Guard, that the National Guard is not the President's traveling private army to deploy where he wants, when he wants, for as long as he wants, for any reason he wants, or no reason at all.

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MICHAELSON: The judge who heard Friday's motion has not yet ruled. Well, few in history have mingled art and architecture quite like Frank Gehry, the legendary architect died at age 96 in Santa Monica after a brief respiratory illness.

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What a life well lived. Known for his daring and whimsical creations. Gary's Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao became a global symbol and tourist draw for its sculptural beauty. Gary designed Dancing House in Prague, nicknamed Ginger and Fred for its feminine dance like fluidity. He also designed LAs stunning Disney Concert Hall. Contemporary called him the greatest architect we have today, and by the way, Frank Gehry designed the building we are in right now. Our CNN Studios in Los Angeles designed by Frank Gehry. We have so much love for him, especially here in Southern California.

A significant change is likely coming for the guidelines about vaccinating newborns against Hepatitis B. Dr. Tanya Altmann is here live to tell you what you should know for your kids. Stay with us.

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MICHAELSON: Advisors to the CDC have voted to support a major change in the child vaccination schedule, the panel voted to abandon universal Hepatitis B vaccination for newborns. Instead, it recommended that mothers who test negative for the virus consult with a health care provider about giving their children the vaccine. Some experts are criticizing Friday's decision. President, Trump is praising the move, and he directed his Health Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and the CDC to reevaluate the U.S. vaccine schedule.

Let's get some insight on all this from Pediatrician, Dr. Tanya Altmann. Welcome to "The Story Is" for the first time. Great to see you.

DR. TANYA ALTMANN, PEDIATRICIAN: Thank you for having me.

MICHAELSON: So why was this vaccine given to babies in the first place?

ALTMANN: Thank you for asking that, because I think we've kind of forgotten the history of Hepatitis B. So in 1991, the ACIP and the CDC made a Universal Recommendation. It was not a mandate. It was just a recommendation to give a birth dose of Hepatitis B, because we were seeing so many kids and teens with Chronic Hepatitis B.

Now it's always been an option for families to talk to their individual pediatrician, like I talk to my families, and in some cases, choose to delay it by a few days, a few weeks or a few months. But what this Universal Recommendation did was it gave us a huge safety net, and it decreased the number of babies that got Hepatitis B. It dropped it by 99% so we went from 16,000 cases a year to less than 20, and when newborns catch Hepatitis B from their mom, and most cases, the moms don't know they have it, they have a 90% chance of going on to get this Chronic Hepatitis B, which is liver failure, liver cancer and even death, and there is no cure.

MICHAELSON: So we will hear that they say 99% decrease. So then, why are we doing this? What was this decision all about today? What was their rationale?

ALTMANN: So, I mean, you're right, it just -- it sounds crazy. It's nothing that we were forcing people to get before. It was always an option. It was a recommendation. And I think now that the recommendation has been reversed. We are going to, unfortunately, be rolling back the clocks, and we are going to be taking care of more kids and teens that have Chronic Hepatitis B. And when I was a resident at UCLA, I mean, we took care of these patients in the ICU, and they were very sick.

MICHAELSON: Yeah, so let's talk about the consequences, I mean, and if that's true, what does Hepatitis B look like?

ALTMANN: So Hepatitis B is a liver disease, and it's usually caught from mom during the birthing process, vertical transmission or through blood and body fluid. So as a health care provider, it's a vaccine that I got in medical school because we needed it when we were seeing patients and other people would get it when they were traveling internationally. And when babies get it, it is much worse than when you get it as an adult. 90% chance of chronic hepatitis B, which basically means liver failure, yellow, your liver doesn't work, you're very sick in the ICU, liver cancer or even death. And just the recommendation of the universal dose changed the trajectory. We went from 16,000 cases a year to less than 20. So why anyone would want to reverse this recommendation is sort of beyond most pediatricians, most health experts and vaccine experts.

MICHAELSON: Okay, so there's a lot of parents that are going to hear this. They're going to be confused. They want some advice. What's your advice as a doctor?

ALTMANN: So I think that's the hardest part. Is that parents have been confused for a while now with all the different information. So I think the first thing is, it's really important to have a conversation with your OB/GYN, your pediatrician, your individual health care provider, and really decide what is best for your family and follow their recommendations. If you're looking for accurate information now, the American Academy of Pediatrics, HealthyChildren.org, The American Medical Association, both have a lot of great information. But unfortunately, I don't know if we can really trust what's coming out at the national level, which is really supposed to be for our public health as a whole for the population.

MICHAELSON: Yeah, at this time, when we have so many different trust issues in our institutions for so many different reasons. Doctor, great to see you.

ALTMANN: Thank you so much.

MICHAELSON: Thanks. Hope to see you again soon.

Texas police have released the 911 calls from last summer's deadly floods, and they are warning that the calls are highly distressing, especially for families who are impacted. One call among hundreds reported dozens of girls were missing at a summer camp. Take a listen.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is this referencing the flooding?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, it is. We are missing a whole cabin.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You said, you're missing an entire cabin full of girls?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, I'm going to go ahead --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're missing 14 and 20 total. What does that add up to? Yes, 30, about 30.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, about 30 girls.

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MICHAELSON: The devastating flash flooding on the 4th of July killed 136 people, including 25 girls, two counselors who were swept away from camp Mystic. The community has criticized the local emergency response and allege that officials were unprepared for that disaster.

Up next, Chris Matthews is here to discuss his new book about Robert F. Kennedy and other political stories of the day that's ahead.

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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. We're getting new details about the man accused of planting pipe bombs in Washington, D.C. in 2021. According to sources, Brian Cole Jr. told investigators that he believed the 2020 election was stolen. Cole is accused of planting the bombs near the Democratic National Committee and Republican National Committee headquarters the night before the Capitol riot on January 6th. Cole did not enter a plea at his first court appearance Friday.

More Jeffrey Epstein documents could be made public soon. A federal judge in Florida has granted the Justice Department's request to unseal Grand Jury transcripts connected to the investigation into the convicted sex offender. The DOJ also asked two judges in New York to unseal documents connected to the cases of Epstein and his co- conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell. Those requests still pending.

California Governor, Gavin Newsom is pushing to secure long delayed federal recovery funds for the catastrophic Los Angeles wildfires. The Governor was on Capitol Hill on Friday urging key congressional leaders in both parties to end the delay. Newsom says it is past time for President, Trump to take good on his promise to quote, take care of survivors of the fires that ravaged the city almost a year ago.

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ROBERT KENNEDY, LAWYER AND FORMER UNITED STATES ATTORNEY GENERAL: What we need in the United States is not division. What we need in the United States is not hatred. What we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness, but is love and wisdom and compassion toward one another. (END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: That impromptu speech by Robert F. Kennedy, speaking in 1968 moments after the death of Martin Luther King Jr., is regarded as one of the most powerful and important addresses in American history. That's one of the things that Chris Matthews talks about in his new book, Lessons from Bobby 10 Reasons Robert F. Kennedy Still Matters. It is the second book that Chris has written about Bobby Kennedy. Chris, of course, is the long time host of Hardball on MSNBC, and is now the host of Hardball on Substack. Chris Matthews, welcome to "The Story Is" for the first time.

CHRIS MATTHEWS, HOST, HARDBALL ON SUBSTACK: Thank you. It's great to be on here at 9 o'clock out West and then the East Coast at midnight. I think I got a good, great time slot.

MICHAELSON: Thank you very much. That means a lot. I love the book. It's really, really good, and I want to dive into it in a moment. But let's start with the news of the day, including this decision that the Supreme Court is going to look into the idea of birth right citizenship, whether, if you were born here, you're an American, something that's laid out in the 14th Amendment. What do you make of the fact that they're even taking this case and sort of what it says about this moment in American history?

MATTHEWS: Well, it's obviously part of Trump's campaign to get rid of anchor babies, people that come here to have babies so that they can become Americans. I don't think there's a chance in the world they're going to take this out of the constitution. It takes three quarters of the states to do such a thing. They can't do it by the court review. Federal Supreme Court review is not going to erase a central part of the Constitution.

MICHAELSON: What do you make of how President Trump is doing? How do you assess?

MATTHEWS: Well, there's a couple things to look at. First of all, I think the Democrats will pick up 30 seats next year, and all this sticking around with the Texas delegation trying to improve it by five or six seats. It's not going to make a difference. This is going to be a change election, not a hold election. You can feel it in all the numbers, the President is at 37% and dropping affordability is an issue. It's going to hurt him hard.

Clearly, everything suggests all the numbers tell you the election in Tennessee this week, a 13 point pickup for the Democrats, the joyous look of Mikie Sherrill up in New Jersey and in Virginia, in Pennsylvania, where Bucks County, for the first time in more than a century, became democratic. All the row offices went that way.

There's a real trend in the country against the President's behavior. I don't think, on the other hand, there's a trend line that began back in 2016 where every two years, Trump has picked up the white rural vote, the angry, if you will, white rural vote, and that's something that's moving. So I would say in '26 it's going to be Democrat. '28 is up in the air. It's what kind of a Democrat do they come up with to probably face JD Vance.

It's -- I'm looking, I'm really thinking ahead all time, and I'm thinking, who's got it as somebody with splash like Gavin Newsom, or someone more traditionally, a politician like Josh Shapiro from Pennsylvania.

MICHAELSON: What do you think?

MATTHEWS: Well, I think people are going to look for a little splash and a little seriousness.

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They want somebody that's serious about the presidency. But the trouble is that the awful things that Trump has done, the whole thing with Hegseth and everything, it doesn't bother people enough. The people have, for some reason, just become inured to this. They said, oh my god, this is part of our life. It's part of the fireworks display of Donald Trump every day. And they don't get angry about it. They don't say, wait a minute. We're losing our rights here. We're losing what we believe would be important to us as Americans. It doesn't seem to bother people, and I worry about that, because like all of us, certainly people my age, were very aware of World War II and what it was about, and how democracy was taken away from people on a gradual basis until we had to fight the real enemy.

MICHAELSON: What do you think is Trump's key to being so successful at getting attention in terms of the media, in understanding the media, in manipulating the media. Why is he so good at that?

MATTHEWS: He talks to the media. He talks -- he -- you'll notice, he makes friends with the people who cover him in the White House, the Network Correspondents who are assigned to the White House. He uses the media. Every day he goes out before the cameras on Air Force One. He's always coming back from the President's quarters on the plane to talk to reporters. He constantly engages with the press.

Other President's, Joe Biden certainly didn't engage with the press. Most President's, a lot of the Democrats, like Barack Obama have disappeared. Ronald Reagan thought there was a limit to how much people can take of any other person. There's only so much time they get, and they say, get off the stage. I'm tired of you. But Trump his gift is spontaneity.

There are three ways to measure a smart politician, motive. Why are they there? Passion? Do they cry? Do they laugh? Is there someone inside? And spontaneity, the ability to react to events every moment. And Donald Trump always reacts to something that just happened that moment. And he keeps himself very current, very current with the people.

MICHAELSON: And if you think about it, from the moment he came down that escalator, he has been the focus of the national conversation. Even when Joe Biden was President, it was still all about Donald Trump and his trios and everything else. It's putting amazing. MATTHEWS: And to be honest he lies too. I should. I don't want to drop that, because one of the ground rules of being in this administration, which is so different from the first administration, it's like in Lawrence of Arabia, where after Lawrence Ray goes back into Arabia and he's horrific. And then, don't remember the guy that Yellen, no prisoners. No prisoners. Well, that's what he's like now.

He's a no prisoners type of leader, and it's a lot of anger and bitterness that he built because he lost the 2020 election, and he's angry about that. So he told everybody that wants to be in this new administration has to swear that he won the 2020 election. So he's surrounded by people who joined him in his lie. And that explains Hegseth and all much of these, Bobby Kennedy Jr., the whole bunch.

Every one of these guys, joined him in his lie that he won the 2020 election. Well, that's pretty much a bad sign for any administration, that they're a band of liars.

MICHAELSON: Well, let's talk about --

MATTHEWS: And I don't want to sound like a typical anti-Trump person. This is just a fact this guy's life.

MICHAELSON: Yeah. Well, let's talk about your book, where you talk about conceding and other concepts as well, but 10 Reasons Robert F. Kennedy still matters. And one of the main points you make is that his focus was on actually uniting the country, which does not seem to be the focus of many people right now. How did he do that? How was he somebody who both the elitist and the poor could get behind in such a profound way?

MATTHEWS: If you look at the funeral train as it went along the Amtrak route now the seller route, all along the trip, there were people like in Philadelphia 20,000 African Americans singing spontaneously The Battle Hymn of the Republic, or all the whites along the way, the working class whites who were standing right at the tracks, they lived near the tracks, saluting. They're like. They were enlisted men in the army. They looked like and they were saluting with their kids right next to them, all their kids in birth order.

It was very dramatic statements by the two different communities of their respect for Bobby Kennedy, because he campaigned like this. He would campaign in Gary Indiana, with Tony Zale, the former middleweight champion on one side of him, and Richard Hatcher, the first African American Mayor on the other side of him, going around displaying his support for both groups.

He really wanted the people to see the country united. He did not want it divided. And that's so much different than today, where now we have a new division. It's town versus gown. It's the non-college crowd, which is larger than the college crowd, against each other, and that's become a political division now. So our country is getting more and more subdivided between different groups, especially on higher education, where you have working people, you just walk into a crowd of working people, you go, I guess it's all for Trump here.

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I mean, it just, it becomes family discussions. You don't want to bring up the name Trump in your family, because you don't want to have people feeling bad about it. People feel bad about that argument. And it's in my family, and it's in my larger family, and except for the people who live in the bubbles, and they're the frightening ones. The ones that live surrounded by people that talk just like them, and they don't seem to understand the division that's going on in this country.

MICHAELSON: And to that point, the working folks used to be with Kennedy. Used to be democrats.

MATTHEWS: While they were the Democrats. Yeah.

MICHAELSON: And now they have lost that.

MATTHEWS: Well, you call it deplorable. They hear you. You say you're deplorable, they'll get the message.

MICHAELSON: You go into lessons from Bobby. I want to put one of them up on the screen, which was this idea of admitting your mistakes, which is something in your old book Hardball, you wrote about hang a lantern on your problem. What does that mean?

MATTHEWS: Well, it's Bobby's expression for you tell the country in the world what's wrong with you.

MICHAELSON: I want to ask you something that you used to ask your guests --

MATTHEWS: Oh my gosh.

MICHAELSON: It's a great segment, which was, tell me something I don't know, scoops and predictions from the smartest people in politics. So Chris Matthews tell me something I don't know.

MATTHEWS: Okay. I think Texas made a terrible mistake when it tried to gerrymander its districts to pick up five or six seats. I think that was small potatoes, as tip would say, small potatoes. I think it was a mistake. I don't think this election is about five or six seats. I think Gavin Newsom recounted it, and of course, we know why he did it, and other states may be doing it too. But I got to tell you, this election is going to be about change. It's not going to be about hold, it's not a hold election. Oh, we like it. The way is, let's leave it this way, like George Bush replacing Reagan after his eight years. It's not going to be a hold election. Next year, it's going to be a democratic year.

MICHAELSON: Chris, I just want to take a moment to give you your flowers. You are one of the reasons that I wanted to do this job. I watched hardball every day. I read your books. Big fan of what you have done for so many years, and to be on this show now with you as a guest on this show is a really surreal moment and meaningful moment. So thank you for everything you've done.

MATTHEWS: Well, thank you for having me on the show tonight. It's great. Thank you so much. It's great. It's a pleasure. Thank you.

MICHAELSON: We'll be back with more "The Story Is" right after this.

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[00:45:00]

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MICHAELSON: How long would you wait in line for a milk shake, fluffy eggs, a Reuben sandwich? Well, the hottest new restaurant in Southern California is a diner. Its owner, the creator of one of the most popular comedies of all time, and is also famous for enjoying meals with other people. So I had to try it out for myself and sit down for a meal.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the best milk shake I've ever tasted.

ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN HOST: Well, good. Greatest assignment of all time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's too good not to share with Phil Rosenthal and Nancy Silverton.

PHILIP ROSENTHAL, AMERICAN TELEVISION WRITER: Now we're friends.

MICHAELSON: I mean, how can we not be friends after that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Phil created Max and Helen's a 40-seat diner that's the most talked about new restaurant in LA online.

MICHAELSON: When you walk around this place, what goes through your mind.

ROSENTHAL: I'm in love.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's drawing long lines to LAs Larchmont neighborhood on opening weekend, an eight hour wait to get a table.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We loved it worth the wait.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We'll be back waiting again.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This crowd largely drawn here by food pictures in their social media feeds.

MICHAELSON: Have you seen like heard about this?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I saw. I said I need that. Yeah.

MICHAELSON: And now that you've had it, what do you think?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's everything and more.

MICHAELSON: When you see an eight hour line for your restaurant --

ROSENTHAL: I don't even know what to say.

MICHAELSON: How do you conceptualize that?

ROSENTHAL: Honestly, I've become my parents, Max and Helen? Well, it's too much. It's too much.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Phil Rosenthal named the restaurant after his late parents. Their pictures all over the walls here, their influence all over Phil's resume.

ROSENTHAL: I owe them everything.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The real life Max and Helen helped to inspire Ray's fictional parents on Everybody Loves Raymond.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My kids are willing to change things just to please me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Or maybe it's easier to change than to have to listen to you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A 15 time Emmy Award winning show created by Phil.

ROSENTHAL: My mom would say that, was a little exaggerated. Your hair looks beautiful. I was talking to dad.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Phil's parents regularly joined via Zoom on his Netflix food and travel show, Somebody Feed Phil.

ROSENTHAL: They were home runs every time you turn the camera on.

MICHAELSON: They're great TV.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because she's not a good dancer.

MICHAELSON: What does food represent to you?

ROSENTHAL: Community love, like my way of expressing love or even friendship with someone is, let's go eat. Food is the great connector. And then for me, laughs are the cement.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After Somebody Feed Phil visited the palace diner in Maine in 2022, Phil started thinking about opening his own diner in LA.

ROSENTHAL: Diners are disappearing from America, and with that you maybe lose your center of your community. Because look, these are people. They're all neighbors. And what are they doing? We hear they're all talking, and they talk to each other. So we're going to fix everything with our diner.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Phil's dad especially loved diner food.

ROSENTHAL: His one great love in his life wasn't his wife and children, it was very soft scrambled eggs.

[00:50:00]

MICHAELSON: On his tombstone, right? What does it say on his tombstone?

ROSENTHAL: Are my eggs fluffy? And so Max's fluffy eggs are on the menu.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That menu designed by Phil's longtime friend Nancy Silverton, past winner of the James Beard Award for best chef in America. Nancy first started cooking for her college classmates.

NANCY SILVERTON, EXECUTIVE CHEF, MAX AND HELEN'S: When I would bring that addition, the students would come up to me and say, oh, that is so good. That is what really, really drew me into this business was that people pleasing, making people happy, putting smiles on people faces.

ROSENTHAL: You know it feels that way. You write a joke and somebody laughs.

SILVERTON: Yeah, you like it, right? There's nothing, right.

ROSENTHAL: By the way food, laughter, music, it's what makes life worth living.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nancy, who so often focuses on fine dining is now concentrating on diner food.

SILVERTON: We're competing with memory and everybody does.

ROSENTHAL: Literally competing with memories.

MICHAELSON: Yeah.

SILVERTON: And people have that memory.

MICHAELSON: Well, every American has the memory of this food.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nancy and Phil obsessed over every ingredient.

MICHAELSON: Can we have two more straws.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They say the toughest challenge the milk shake. They found the best ice cream at Fair Oaks Pharmacy in Pasadena.

SILVERTON: I would never have known this is that to make the best shake, you do not want the finest ice cream. You got to use thrifty. Thrifty ice cream makes the best shake.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One of the biggest hits hot chocolate with a marshmallow.

MICHAELSON: It's a lot of feelings. Yeah, it's so good.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is going to Table 35.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Phil's son in law, Mason and daughter, Lily help run the family restaurant.

MASON, PHIL'S SON IN LAW: You know, this is just the most special project I've ever been a part of. To do it with one of the all-time greats, one of the other all time, greats my father in law, my wife.

LILY ROSENTHAL, DAUGHTER OF PHIL ROSENTHAL: Honestly, it's such a dream come true.

ROSENTHAL: This rut you're seeing right here. I wish this for every parent. I'm so proud.

MICHAELSON: How does that make you feel?

LILY: It's everything at the core of what he's trying to do is instill this feeling of community, right? And so to be able to be a part of that and make that happen for him, that's everything.

ROSENTHAL: Thanks for coming CNN.

MICHAELSON: There's nothing better, right?

ROSENTHAL: Just one thing better.

MICHAELSON: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: So, good. All right. Thanks to everyone at Max and Helen's, and if you're into food pictures, you can follow them on Instagram at Max and Helen's.

In our next hour, very different stars from the world of music, Sammy Hagar, rock star, and Andrea Bocelli, opera star. Stay with us, you're watching "The Story Is."

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[00:55:00]

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MICHAELSON: On the whole story this Sunday, our Anderson Cooper goes to Nairobi, Kenya with a rare look inside some of Africa's harshest prisons. These jails are often overcrowded with men and women who are waiting years before they can even have a trial. But there's a remarkable program in place that teaches these inmates about the law and their rights, and it's run by a group called justice defenders. Take a look.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just outside the cell, hundreds more men sit in rows five times a day. They gather for head count. The guards tally their numbers. By now, the men are used to this routine. They know what to expect from prison life on a daily basis. What many here and in prisons throughout Kenya don't know is how long they will be locked up. Some can't afford to pay a relatively small bail. Others aren't sure of the charges against them. They don't have access to an attorney and don't know their rights.

ANDERSON HOOPER, CNN HOST: There are inmates here who have been convicted of crimes and many others who are still waiting to see a judge. Inmates who wear the stripe uniform, that means they've had their case heard. They've been convicted by a court, but they're doing a head count now of inmates who have not been convicted of anything. There are several 100 people here. There's more in this cell as well. And very few of these hundreds of people have access to an attorney.

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MICHAELSON: You should have tune in to an all new episode of The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper, one whole hour, one whole story airs Sunday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific only here on CNN.

The Winter Sports Classic is under way at Sotheby's auction house, and it is filled with iconic sports memorabilia. Headlining the auction is two championship game balls from Kobe Bryant's 2000 and 2001 NBA Finals, which of course, the Lakers won, and a rare playoff jersey that he wore. And for baseball fans, a Shohei Ohtani jersey from his historic 50/50 season wore it on Jackie Robinson day. It's expected to fetch up to $500,000. Awesome on display, but not for sale, are a pair of shoes that Michael Jordan wore when he shattered a backboard in 1985. They still have shards of glass in them. Online bidding closes December 11th, by the way on --