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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson

Washington's World Cup Draw Full of Funfare; FIFA Gives Donald Trump Its New Peace Prize; Supreme Court Agrees To Hear Birthright Citizenship Case; Major Antitrust questions Loom Over Warner Bros. Sale; Sammy Hagar Announces New 2026 Las Vegas Residency; A Crazy Week In NBA Basketball; Andrea Bocelli Performs At The White House; Meta Revamps High-Tech Eyewear With AI Glasses; Baby Seal Walks Into a New Zealand Bar; Alligator Blocks Traffic, Trips Alarm, Gets Police Escort. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired December 06, 2025 - 01:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN HOST: -- 1985 they still have shards of glass in them. Online bidding closes December 11th.

By the way, on Monday, we will be talking to Eagles star Joe Walsh about his stuff, which is going up for auction. Watch that Monday on "The Story Is." But now the next hour of "The Story Is" begins right now.

"The Story Is" World Cup fever. The draws are set with us to break it down. World Cup Champion Brandi Chastain and Sports Journalist Mark Medina and Arash Markazi. "The Story Is" Rock Star of giving Sammy Hagar is with us live to talk about his extraordinary efforts to fight hunger. "The Story Is" presidential performance, Andrea Bocelli joins me to talk about why he has become close to three U.S. Presidents.

Live from Los Angeles. "The Story Is" with Elex Michaelson.

MICHAELSON: Nobody else in cable news has Andrea Bocelli and Sammy Hagar in the same show. Welcome to "The Story Is," I'm Elex Michaelson. We begin, though with a unique event mixing sports entertainment and politics, the long awaited draw for next year's FIFA World Cup in a ceremony televised around the world. 48 teams found out who they will play in the tournament next year, co-hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico. But it all started with the FIFA President giving the U.S. President the newly created FIFA Peace Prize.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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: And I wear it right now.

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: FIFA created the President -- credited the President, I should say, for brokering peace in multiple areas of the world. It's not clear how future winners will be decided. The activist group Human Rights Watch criticized the award for a lack of transparency and for being presented amid a U.S. immigration crackdown.

Prior to receiving the prize are Kaitlan Collins asked President Trump about the message that it sends.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: As for the World Cup itself, the opener between Mexico and Brazil is set for June 11th in Mexico city. The U.S. will face Paraguay, Australia and a winner of the European playoffs in their first group. The first match in the U.S. will take place right here in LA SoFi stadium on June 12th. I'm already putting in my credential request, CNN. This is how some U.S. fans saw all this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love the U.S. group. I think it's going to take four points to come out of that group, so they got a really good chance finishing that top two spot.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's not the best, it's not the worst. We're going to have some good challenges. I think we're going to make it out. And I think we're going to have a good path to get to the final.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm feeling really good about the group. It's different group for -- I mean, different teams play differently, and so it's going to be a good challenge.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: That was World Sport Anchor, Andy Scholes in Atlanta. CNN World Sport Co-Anchor Don Riddell was in Washington for the big event.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT CO-ANCHOR: What a day it has been at the Kennedy Center here in Washington, D.C., where the draw was made for the 2026 FIFA World Cup tournament.

It was bigger than ever before, 48 teams instead of 32, 12 groups instead of eight. And it was a real collision of the worlds of football, sports in general, entertainment and politics. U.S. President, Donald Trump was lauded by FIFA's President, Gianni Infantino with its inaugural Peace Prize. We were Sen aided by the operatic legend Andrea Bocelli, and we listened to the village people who played YMCA. And the sports legends Tom Brady, Shaquille O'Neal, Wayne Gretzky, and Aaron Judge all helped draw the teams out at random.

And of course, that's really what this was all about. The host nations, USA, Canada and Mexico all received arguably favorable draws with pundits debating who had been drawn into a so-called group of death. Perhaps it's Group I with France, Senegal, and Norway with an unnamed playoff team yet to come. It's a draw that pits two of the game's biggest young stars Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland against each other. Or the group of death might be L with England and Croatia a repeat of the 2018 semifinal, Panama and Ghana, who are arguably the toughest of the so-called weakest teams.

But arguably there is no group of death this time, because most of the third place teams eight of the 12 will also progress to the knockouts phase. So really the group stage will determine the more favorable roots through the knockout rounds.

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On Saturday, FIFA will reveal the venues and the dates for all of the games, and in March, the last six playoff teams will be determined to fill out the groups, but the starting gun was fired in Washington, D.C. today, the next World Cup is starting to feel very real. Back to you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: Yes, it is. Thank you so much. Last hour on "The Story Is" I spoke live to Brandi Chastain, she's a Former Member of the U.S. Women's National Team, winner of the 1991 World Cup and the 1999 World Cup known for that iconic moment when she scored the game winning goal and took off her shirt. It's like one of the great sports pictures of all time. This was Brandi's take on how things look for the U.S. men in the group stage.

BRANDI CHASTAIN, FORMER MEMBER, U.S. WOMEN'S NATIONAL TEAM: 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've 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: Thanks to Brandi Chastain. Pretty cool to be able to talk with her. A U.S., Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether President Trump's executive order ending birth right citizenship is constitutional. Remember, the 14th Amendment pretty clear on this, 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 earlier this year, so they're going to actually decide on the merits of this issue. They will hear arguments next year and likely hand down a decision by the end of June.

A live look from outside our window right now, that is the iconic Warner Bros. tower. And streaming powerhouse Netflix is making a $72 billion bid to buy Warner Bros. Discovery's film studios and streaming divisions. They really want that tower. Really, really want it. It comes as Warner Bros. Discovery moves ahead with plans to split into two companies next year.

Netflix would make the acquisition after that split takes effect. The deal would give Netflix control of Warner Bros. vast film and TV library, including HBO. So think about things like Batman, Superman those sorts of things. It still needs approval from regulators in the U.S., Europe and beyond, a process that could take years. Warner Bros. Discovery is by the way the parent company of CNN. But CNN is not part of the deal with Netflix CNN would be part of the deal to split into a separate company.

Now to California politics and the crowded field of candidates running for Governor of the Golden State. The mayor of San Jose, Matt Mahan organized an impromptu summit of a bunch of those candidates at a tiny home village for homeless people. Mahan says he's looking for his dream candidate for Governor who will focus on state funding for homelessness and addiction treatment. Politico says Mahan's dream candidate could end up being Matt Mahan.

Matt Mahan is the Mayor of San Jose. He joins us live now from San Jose. Mr. Mayor, welcome back to the show.

MATT MAHAN, MAYOR OF SAN JOSE: Thanks, Elex. Great to be on with you. How are you?

MICHAELSON: I'm doing well, and I'm curious what it was like you have all these big personalities who are all competing against each other. What was the dynamic light of all of them together with you? And was there anybody who really stood out from the crowd?

MAHAN: Well, it was great to have them out to a site that's working. We took them to one of our more emblematic tiny home communities. We've actually built 23 interim housing communities, and I wanted to show them something that's working, that's cost effective, that's scalable, that gets people connected to supportive services faster and provides a real dignified alternative to the streets. And I appreciated that they were really engaged. They asked great questions. They wanted to know what it cost, and what we were doing before that wasn't working as well.

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San Jose has reduced unsheltered homelessness by nearly a third in the last three years. That's a faster rate than anywhere else in the state that I'm aware of, and we're proud of what we're doing, but it only works with support from the state.

A third of the funding for these solutions has come from California and a program called HAP in Sacramento that was just cut to zero in this year's budget. So I was making the case to them that without partnership from the state. We can't solve these problems at the local level.

MICHAELSON: Yeah, so we're looking at video right now of a forum that happened in San Jose with a bunch of the candidates. That's why they were all in town. And so you basically said, while you're here, why don't you come check this out? And they came and saw it. What was the most important lesson you want them to take away from this homelessness, as we know, one of the most vexing problems in California. It's a problem all over the country, but worse here than anywhere else. What do you want them to take away from this?

MAHAN: Well, I want them to see that we can end unsheltered homelessness if we're pragmatic, you can't do it at a million dollars a door or by ignoring the reality of addiction or the need for job treatment. But when we empower cities and counties to build sites like these that work, that are immediate alternatives, that are cost effective, that connect people to case management and create accountability for coming in from our streets, it works. And so I want them to believe that we can solve the problem, but only through partnership, through bold solutions.

I think they should be paying attention to what's happening at the local level. We're accountable, as we've talked about before. We get blamed for everything at the local level. So I want them to see that with urgency, we can embrace more innovative, scalable solutions to get people indoors, connected to services, and really bring safety and order back to our streets and dignity to our neighbors who lack housing today.

What we have been doing was not working, and I think they saw that there is another alternative path that is more scalable and more cost effective.

MICHAELSON: So we've been talking for years. You've always said that you don't want to run for Governor, in part because you've got young kids and you like the job that you're in. I was struck by the headline in Politico today, which suggested maybe if you can't find somebody that that is a good candidate, you might do it. The field seems wide open right now. Are you rethinking that? Are you thinking about running for Governor?

MAHAN: It's not what I want to do. I ran for the job I want. I've got my dream job, as you mentioned, I've got little kids. I want to run the ideas. I want to get out ideas that are working. We need sole living environments. We need interim housing. We need law -- our local Quality of Life law, as you can hear, I've lost my voice from sharing all these ideas with our gubernatorial candidates.

I just want the idea to be adopted. I want us to be focused on solutions and accountable for better outcomes. That's my goal is to put out the ideas. It doesn't need to be me on the ballot.

MICHAELSON: It doesn't need to be you, but it might be you, if you feel like a lot of these guys aren't adopting your idea. Is that what you're saying?

MAHAN: I guess I'd say that's the worst case scenario.

MICHAELSON: Okay, we have seen politicians say that before and get in and even win in that scenario. Mayor, Matt Mahan, thanks for being with us. I hope you have some water nearby. I feel for you. Thanks for getting through that interview.

MAHAN: Thanks for your time off.

MICHAELSON: Cheers for you. Have a great weekend. We appreciate it.

After the break, we will be joined by Sammy Hagar, Rock & Roll, Hall of Famer, former Frontman of Van Halen. There he is joining us live. Hey, Sammy, we'll hear about his upcoming tour, his Las Vegas residency, his charitable organizations, bringing relief to families across the country. He's joining us live from Hawaii and so we can't wait to talk with him. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAELSON: Rock & Roll, Hall of Famer, former Van Halen Frontman, Sammy Hagar returns to Las Vegas next year for a new residency. He's also taking his show on the road with his -- the best of all worlds tour in the U.K. next year. Rock Legend Sammy Hagar joins us live right now from Maui. Sammy Hagar, Aloha, welcome to "The Story Is" for the first time.

SAMMY HAGAR, FORMER FRONTMAN, VAN HALEN: Yeah. Thank you. It is Aloha over here, it's almost Maui midnight. We always joke about it at 9 o'clock. It's kind of like midnight on the Mainland, and people go to bed early here. I have a hard time with that, but I'm working on staying up as late as I can New Year's Eve coming up.

MICHAELSON: Yes, exactly. So talk to us about going back to Vegas for a residency that's pretty exciting.

HAGAR: Yeah, Elex, it's a dream come true for an elderly rock star that still wants to perform. Because the hardest part of doing a tour and playing shows is not the show itself. It's the packing up and moving into hotels. Travel, travel, travel. Running around, you get to the show late. Some days you don't even have time to have a good meal, you don't. But with the residency, you get a good night's sleep. They give you the best rooms on the planet, great food. Vegas has got best restaurants in the world. They're all in Las Vegas now. And it just so much easier. You get to rehearse. You get a -- I don't know it to me, it's a dream come true. It's extending my touring life. Otherwise, I don't know if I'd go on tour again and do a major tour.

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I mean, I could go out and do a few shows here, but anyway, Vegas, yes, residency. Thank you.

MICHAELSON: We love that. And Sammy, I think so many people obviously know your music and your products and everything else, but maybe they don't know your back story of how you grew up here in Southern California, struggled with poverty, and how that sort of shaped your world view about hunger and about giving. Tell us a little bit about your back story.

HAGAR: Well, my mother, we -- I had an alcoholic father, abusive to my mother, and we would always have to leave and sleep in the car. I mean, we were basically homeless because my mom didn't have a job, she didn't have an education, and then finally she left my dad for good when we were little, she raised four kids single handedly, and we'd go out together into the grape feeders, and we'd pick grapes when it was apricot season up in Hemet, which is close where we'd go up there and camp and pick apricots. With the whole family, the kids, we'd pick berries. It was just, it was a struggle, but my mom made it so much fun.

We were always camping. All my friends were going -- we want to come stay with you for a couple days. You guys are out camp and having a good time, but it was struggle. But anyway, food banks really played a big role in my mom being able to survive and feed four kids, and especially on a holiday, when the holidays coming up. That's why we're talking about this. It's like the food banks are so important. And you give $1 and it feeds a couple families. I mean, it's like, it's really bang for the buck, so it's my favorite way of giving back is because the -- it's -- I remember waiting in line with my mom, all four of his kids, and it mattered so.

MICHAELSON: And you've done something remarkable for many, many years. Every city that you've toured in, you have visited the local food bank and made a donation there, and you've also taken and you've got these great restaurants in so many different airports around the country. You've got Cabo Wabo in Cabo. You've got a great spot in Orange County, and all of them have a charitable component.

HAGAR: Yeah. I mean, it's like people always keep telling me every time I open a new restaurant, I was just about to open one. I was making a deal to open one in Kona, the Kona Wabo in here in Hawaii on the Big Island. And I just said, man, let's put it off for a year. I'm going back to my music bowl career, which is where it all comes from. Without my music, without my success there, I wouldn't be able to do any of this. So anyway, I'm not going to finish that project till next year. But the thing is, is that I just people say, how many -- how much money do you need? How many? You open up all these red man, how much money you need? I'm going, I sell my money. I give this money away. I create jobs. If I had my way, I would have a restaurant in every airport, in every city in America, in the whole world. I mean, I could employ all these people. I could give millions a week to food banks and to children's hospitals, which is my two favorite things to do.

But as it is, we do pretty good. We give a lot, and on tour, it's so much fun because I get the food banks. If it's on a day when I'm working, I get them to come down, collect a check and give some of their people that donate their time to give away food and to work at the food banks. Because this should be all donation. I give them free tickets. I give them front row seats and it's a give, give, give, give everybody. Win, win, win. I've been doing it for 13 years. It's been millions and millions of dollars, and it's it feels so good. It makes me proud, it makes me happy.

MICHAELSON: It's so awesome. What you do? So we're now in the holiday season. What's a party for the holidays with Sammy Hagar like?

HAGAR: Well, it's hard to predict the Sammy Hagar part, because I don't plan them. I just put them on because I'm in Hawaii. I'm going to go to Chef Gordon's house, because he feels the best party in the world. I learned from the best. I learned from him. But we'll be playing New Year's Eve. It'll involve music, it'll involve good food. It'll involve some cocktails, which this is my first cocktail of the evening. That's what they call a POW. And it's my Margarita with three different Hawaiian salts.

I'm a real gourmet when it comes to my cocktails, my food. And this is to you, a toast to you, Elex, for your new job. Congratulations.

MICHAELSON: Thank you very much.

HAGAR: I'm not going to change the subject by anything. But I need a sip of this cocktail is what I'm trying to do.

MICHAELSON: Well, I'm in favor of you celebrating me, and I'm certainly in favor of you drinking on the air. So there we go. They do it. Anderson and Andy do it all New Year's Eve. So we might as well, we might as well start it here. And of course, you can buy Sammy said tequila as well. While you're at it, I appreciate always be promoting. It always helps people. You are the man. We're so grateful for you. Sammy, Aloha to everybody in Hawaii and look forward to hopefully catching up with you when you come back in Southern California. I know we're going to do some stuff to help the kids at Children's Hospital Orange County, which would be really great as well. Thanks, Sammy.

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HAGAR: Good partners are the best part of what I do. I just want to say I can't leave out HMS hosts and my partners in Cabo Wabo and all, partners are really important, because I can't run anything. I'm a singer, I'm a guitar player, I'm a song writer. So I show up and do all that. Those guys run the businesses, and we make everyone happy. Thank you, Elex.

MICHAELSON: Thank you, Sammy. For our international viewers Tech for Good is next for our viewers in North America. I'll be back with the Sports panel. Stay with us.

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MICHAELSON: "The Story Is" sports. We've been all over the draw for the opening round of next year's world cup. Huge event. This year increased to 48 teams, with more going through to the knockout stage than past years. A big deal for LA the U.S. North America, not to mention the whole world. Canada and Mexico co-host with the U.S. next summer, the opening match of the tournament will be Mexico against Brazil in Mexico City. Then the first match in the U.S. will be played right here in Los Angeles, which we're very excited about.

For the take on that and more, I'm joined now by sports reporters Mark Medina from EssentiallySports and Arash Markazi, Founder and CEO of The Sporting Tribune. Welcome to you both. Mark, welcome the show for the first time. Arash, welcome back.

MARK MEDINA, NBA REPORTER, ESSENTIALLYSPORTS: Thanks for having me upon.

MICHAELSON: So Arash, big picture, this world cup, the biggest event in the whole world. Pretty exciting to have it back in North America.

ARASH MARKAZI, FOUNDER AND CEO, THE SPORTING TRIBUNE: Exactly. When they built SoFi stadium, it was really about like all these big events are finally going to come back to Los Angeles. We remember growing up the Olympics were here back in the 80s. World Cup in '94 but when they built SoFi stadium, we knew we were going to get the super bowl back here. But really 2026 World Cup. World cup is here. 2028 Summer Olympics are here. So what a great time to be a sports fan.

MICHAELSON: And in between The Super Bowl is coming back.

MARKAZI: The Super Bowl is coming back. Exactly.

MICHAELSON: It's quite a three year run that we have here, but for U.S. soccer a big day, and some optimism for the U.S. soccer.

MEDINA: And it's huge, they got into a favorable group, and that's usually what happens when you're a host country. There tends to be favorable matchups. But when you're looking at that opener against Paraguay, the U.S. has already beaten that team, and historically, they've had some good success. They got out of group play in the last World Cup, so I think there's some optimism that they'll be able to do that again.

MICHAELSON: It was quite a moment today, with President Trump picking USA.

MARKAZI: What a show. MICHAELSON: It seems like quite a show. I was the production value was, was a lot. I know you were frustrated. Maybe they didn't get to the pixel little faster.

MARKAZI: We want to know the draw, then we have to wait another day for the schedule. But I'm really excited again for USA, their first ever game. As you mentioned, it's going to be here in Los Angeles, if you want to travel go up to Seattle for game two, and then they're back here again for their third game.

MICHAELSON: Yeah. So there's going to be a lot of action, a lot of focus here, and it'll be fun throughout North America too. Might be fun to go to Canada, and go to Mexico to check them out as well. Mark, let's talk about a team you cover closely, the Los Angeles Clippers. What a week for them. Chris Paul is still technically a member of the team, but he is not with the team. He was sent home because of all this sort of drama. Chris Paul people they don't follow this that closely, one of the great point guards of all time, who is older in his last year. He's got a big personality. What do you know in terms of your reporting of like, what really happened here?

MEDINA: Yeah, well, Lawrence Frank made it clear the Clippers, Vice President Basketball Operations that they're not looking to make Chris Paul a scapegoat here, because he's played a very marginal role this season because of where he's at in his career. So the Clippers, failure struggles have very little to do with him, but just knowing how Chris Paul is with every step that he's been in his career, he someone who's very demanding of his teammates, and that can be very well received with a young team or a team that's contending for a championship with him as the primary player. But when you're having a marginal role, I think that the voice and those kind of very direct criticisms don't really land with the same kind of fun.

MICHAELSON: And because of that Arash, where does he potentially go? Is there a market for Chris Paul, or does his career, his story career end with an Instagram post in the middle of the night?

MARKAZI: I really hope not again. I really hope that he finds the playoff container again. That is not the Clippers, obviously, this season. So if there is a silver lining here for Chris Paul, maybe he finds himself on a roster at some point this season where he can contend for a championship, but what an embarrassing moment for the Clippers. Can I just say to send home Chris Paul in the middle of at night, 3 o'clock in the morning in Atlanta, like you can't figure this out, like you can't have like again, this is one of the -- this is probably the greatest player in franchise history, a franchise that has now retired a jersey. This was supposed to be the first one, and you send them home, there's no adults in the room to say, hey, let's wait till we get back home. Let's do this gracefully. This was such an embarrassing moment for the Clippers. I'm so sorry that Chris Paul had to go through this.

MICHAELSON: Can you imagine if they actually do try to retire his jersey, how awkward that would be?

MARKAZI: Time heals all wounds, but for him and Blake Griffin to kind of lot they were smiling and laughing on face time like, can you believe this happened?

[01:35:00]

MICHAELSON: A picture of them on FaceTime. Butch is basically not so subtle way of slamming the franchise. Meanwhile, Giannis Antetokounmpo, another one of the best players in the NBA and all-time great player is apparently considering the possibility of maybe requesting a trade. He loves Milwaukee, but it's clear Milwaukee probably isn't going to get him there in terms of a title. What are you hearing? And is there a realistic way to trade somebody like that?

MEDINA: Well, for what it's worth right now, Bucks coach Doc Rivers emphatically stated that Giannis Antetokounmpo and his representatives have never asked directly for a trade. And so I think the bucks are out of the mind until they ever get that direct request, they're going to proceed as if that he's content with being with the Bucks. Now talk with Marcus Johnson before the season started. He's been one of their longtime Bucks analyst. He was adamant that when you're reading the tea leaves with Giannis, that his messaging has more to do with just trying to put pressure on the front office to continue to upgrade the roster before the trade deadline.

He and others in the organization, I still think, are clinging to this belief that Giannis Antetokounmpo, he's very loyal. He has a lot of gratitude for the Bucks drafting him, the fact that they want a championship in 2021 a lot of people in the organization feel very hard pressed that he would actually make that request and want to leave. But look, things can always change quickly in the NBA, especially when you're a losing team and no longer in that contending match.

MICHAELSON: Is there a team, you can see that could put together the assets and actually make that happen.

MEDINA: Elex, what I'm going to say, it's going to be Los Angeles and the Lakers. But listen probably not a trade, but it does seem like if Giannis does move. And again, he has talked about maybe New York, but if you're thinking about New York, maybe Los Angeles. And again, if people are saying that that is unlikely, that would never happen, what are you talking about? No one thought Luka Doncic was going to get traded to the Los Angeles Lakers.

MICHAELSON: How do the Lakers do it? How do they actually pull that off?

MEDINA: Listen, I mean, if it's a trade, it would have to be a big like you would -- it would have to be Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, and Dalton Knecht and first round picks and whatever. Or you could wait for the summer of '26 and say, or sorry, the summer of '27 and say, okay, like, let's wait until Giannis is a free agent. But listen, it does seem like he wants to either be in Milwaukee, or if he leaves, he wants to go to a big city, either New York or Los Angeles.

MICHAELSON: Speaking of Los Angeles, LeBron James, his streak ended this week, his streak of 10 point games, which he had had since 2007 it's over. Is that significant? Does that matter? And does that say maybe LeBron, finally, father time is catching up with?

MARKAZI: I'll go first. I mean, here's the thing, I love the play he could have continued the streak, but the fact that he passed through really hard to --

MICHAELSON: Continue the streak, if he shot better in the game.

MARKAZI: Well, there we go. Elex with a hot take, I do like that, but I like this role for LeBron, if he wants to be on a championship contending team, being that sort of third option. As crazy as that is for LeBron to be a third option, Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, but if LeBron could be the facilitator now and pass to the open man, Rui Hachimura, I like this role for LeBron James.

MICHAELSON: More magic Johnson, then Michael Jordon.

MARKAZI: There we go.

MICHAELSON: But LeBron is used to being the man, the man, since he was like the chosen one at like, 14-years-old.

MEDINA: Yeah. What's interesting, I was asking LeBron before his return, given his multi-skilled resume, what does he expect his role to be compared to last season? The thing that he said to me was, I'm a basketball player. I can do everything on the floor. He's always willing to sacrifice, adjust his role, make the right play. That's true, but I think the constant tug and pull throughout LeBron James' career, he's content with not make -- taking the majority of the shots, but he still wants to have his little finger prints on the offense.

But here is where, there's some optimism that this could work, because it's Luka Doncic. You saw in other seasons with the Lakers that eventually he wanted to control the offense, because he would get frustrated with Russell Westbrook or D'Angelo Russell. Luka Doncic, it's a much different stratosphere, because he's one of the best players in the NBA, generational star. So there to be clear, a lot of questions on how this is going to play out long-term for people outside of the Lakers organizations, but internally, they do feel optimistic that LeBron will adjust his role just seamlessly.

MICHAELSON: And past this season. If LeBron wants to stay, he essentially would have to swap salaries with Austin Reaves or to keep him there. And that was unclear whether LeBron would be willing to do that.

MARKAZI: Yeah, I think the Lakers are hoping at some point they get this retirement announcement from LeBron and it handles itself. Because, listen, I think everyone wants him to retire with the Lakers. Even the Lakers want that to happen. I don't know Mark how that works cap wise, if LeBron wants to continue playing.

MICHAELSON: Yeah, well, maybe he'll take a pay cut. Who knows? They will win the title. Then he can't do it.

MARKAZI: That's really. MICHAELSON: Arash, Mark thanks so much for coming in. We appreciate it.

MEDINA: Okay.

MICHAELSON: Up next, the inspiring sound of Andrea Bocelli filled the Kennedy Center on Friday Night.

[01:40:00]

What the tenor had to say to me about how political rivals have found unity listening to him. Stay ahead.

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MICHAELSON: Big day in Washington for singer Andrea Bocelli, the Italian tenor, performed in the East Room of the White House Friday in a concert attended by President Trump and the First Lady. Before the event, Bocelli and his wife were in the Oval Office earlier, Bocelli performed at the Kennedy Center during the FIFA World Cup drawing, singing nessun dorma from Puccini's opera Turandot.

Bocelli just started a U.S. tour this week. Tickets available at andreabocelli.com it includes stop at Madison Square Garden. As part of his promotion he spoke with me earlier this week, of course, his song Time to Say Goodbye, is frequently played at President Trump's campaign events, but he told me that's also loved by former President Joe Biden. Take a listen.

ANDREA BOCELLI, ITALIAN TENOR: Well, honestly this song has been very famous everywhere and also President Biden listen to this every -- very often. I remember I met him in Italy, and he was listening, trying to say goodbye.

[01:45:00]

So is a magic song. I don't know the reason, but it's really a very special song.

MICHAELSON: What else did the President talk with you about? What was it like being in the Oval Office with him?

BOCELLI: President Trump follow me since many years ago. He -- a day he gave me his plane for my first tour in the United States. And, yeah, 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 floor with Bill Clinton also. And for me, it's an incredible honor. In America, I received always an incredible affection by my audience, yes.

MICHAELSON: I mean, that's pretty amazing, if you think about it. You have three different American Presidents Bill Clinton, Joe Biden, and Donald Trump all expressing their love for you. This might be the only thing they all agree on, is you?

BOCELLI: Probably, yes. No, I really hope that they have in common also the love for their country of course.

MICHAELSON: Yes, yes, of course. It is now the holiday season. We're past Thanksgiving. And there's a lot of people when they think of Christmas, they think of you singing Christmas songs. Do you have a favorite Christmas song? What song to you really reminds you of the holidays?

BOCELLI: Christmas has a lots of beautiful, beautiful songs. I love, for example, there is a beautiful song in French Cantique de Noel. And also some very traditional piece like, what Christmas, for example.

MICHAELSON: Why Christmas.

BOCELLI: And also, there is a very -- there is also a very old song in Italian that I recorded in my first Christmas album. It's called Tu Scendi Dalle Stelle. I love it very much because it remember -- it remind me my -- when I was a child and I went in the church for Christmas, everyone was singing this song.

MICHAELSON: Thank you so much for all the joy you brought us. Anybody that's interested in tickets for your concerts can go to andreabocelli.com where they can find all the dates and all the info there. And we want to go to break with music. And this is you singing Amazing Grace which was a really beautiful moment at the height of the pandemic, when you gave us all a sense of hope. So Andrea Bocelli, thank you. Take it away.

BOCELLI: Thank you very much.

(SONG PLAYING)

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[01:50:00]

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MICHAELSON: Smart glasses are back. Sales of high-tech eyewear have tripled in the U.S. since this time last year. Those numbers especially get a big boost from this holiday season. Hadas Gold has more on the new glasses and why some shoppers are still holding out.

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HADAS GOLD, MEDIA CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Tech fans this holiday season are being offered a new twist on a product you might have seen before smart glasses, this time powered by Meta AI.

ILIAK CASTRO, SHOPPER: I think that probably the advantage to have the hands free. It's amazing. It's very interesting. And the concept of wearables in a regular day, I think it has a huge potential at the end of the day.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tap the touch pad to wake up glass.

GOLD: If you're getting a bit of digital deja vu, you may be thinking of 2013s ill-fated Google Glass. This latest take on high-tech eyewear is less clunky. It's also more advanced. With Meta, you can read live translations, schedule reminders, and chat with AI. Meta is also collaborating with brands like Oakley and Ray-Ban, known for their fashionable sunglasses. Despite how tech glasses have advanced over the last decade, Consumer Tech Analyst Avi Greengart says the product is still in its early adopter era. Privacy, comfort and worries over how the glasses look on are still concerns.

AVI GREENGART, PRESIDENT & LEAD ANALYST, TECHSPOTENTIAL: So having the camera on the glasses is a little less creepy than it was 10 years ago. I mean, it's still just as creepy. We've just come to accept it.

GOLD: Some window shoppers used to ever updating iPhones are still holding out for the next version of the glasses.

JEAN PAUL STEWART, SHOPPER: I'm going to try them all, but I feel like I'm just going to wait for like one more generation.

GOLD: Greengart says you might have to wait.

GREENGART: They've already sold out. You can't even get an appointment for the next month at any of the handful of retail locations. The better question isn't how the Meta Ray-Ban displays are going to perform for holiday 2025, it'd be holiday 2026.

GOLD: The sales numbers will soon reveal whether a Meta's glasses are a hit or a miss among tech savvy fashionistas. Hadas Gold, CNN, New York.

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MICHAELSON: Still is creepy. We just chosen to accept it. It's best line of that. Okay, a horse walks into a bar. We've got a better one than that. This is not a joke. This is the moment that a baby fur seal walked into a New Zealand bar, surprising customers and staff.

[01:55:00]

The seal was mistaken for a puppy at first, but then the waddle quickly gave him away. Customers tried to guide the seal out of the pub, but he stayed for 30 minutes and was only lured out with some salmon pizza. Baby seal was safely returned to the wild, but only after happy hour ended.

In Florida the intruding animal was not so cute. A 14-foot alligator was found lounging in the middle of a residential street. Deputies rushed in alongside a licensed trapper, eventually wrangling the massive reptile and lifting it into a truck. The gator, reportedly was transported safely to an animal preserve.

Thank you so much for watching us tonight. The variety was crazy, everybody from Brandi Chastain to Andrea Bocelli to Sammy Hagar to Chris Matthews to Phil Rosenthal, all in two hours. We'll see what happens next week when we're back for more of "The Story Is." In the meantime, I'm Elex Michaelson, live in Los Angeles. Thanks for watching. Have a great weekend, and we go to break with a live picture from Kilauea. Look at that in Hawaii, where Sammy Hagar is probably drunk by now.

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