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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson
Fed Cuts Rates A Quarter Point, Signals Short-Term Hold; Variety & CNN Partner For New Season Of Interview Series; Interview with Adam Mockler; Catastrophic Flooding Expected and Heavy Rain in Washington; Indiana Senate to Vote on Redrawing Congressional Maps; Some Visitors to U.S. May Have to Give Social Media History. Aired 1- 2a ET
Aired December 11, 2025 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:08]
ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: A harrowing moment caught on a driver's dash cam in Florida when a small plane made an emergency landing on a highway. Take a look.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have chops, I swear. Oh. Oh my goodness. Oh, my goodness. Oh my goodness.
Oh my goodness.
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MICHAELSON: That's amazing. You can see the small twin engine plane come swooping down, crash on top of a car in central Florida on Monday. Authorities say the driver only had minor injuries and was taken to a nearby hospital. The plane's pilot and passenger were not hurt. That is a miracle.
Thanks for joining us for this hour of The Story Is. Another hour starts right now.
The Story Is seized tanker. CNN's Stefano Pozzebon speaks to Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro as the U.S. steps up military action in the region.
Story Is affordability, how AI technology is changing, how much you pay for your groceries based off how much you spend.
The Story Is viral sensation.
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ADAM MOCKLER, ONLINE CONTENT CREATOR: Hey, everybody, Adam Mockler here.
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MICHAELSON: Adam Mockler talks politics to millions online every day and he's only 23 years old. He joins me live on set.
The Story Is "Actors on Actors", New conversations between Cynthia Erivo and Hugh Jackman, Sydney Sweeney and Ethan Hawke.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Los Angeles The Story Is with Elex Michelson.
MICHAELSON: And welcome to The Story Is. I'm Elex Michaelson. The Story Is new information about that Venezuelan oil tanker seized by the U.S. Satellite imagery reviewed by CNN shows that the ship had been hiding its true whereabouts. Its transponder put it at a location off the Guyana coast last month when it was actually docked at his Venezuelan oil terminal. Analysts say oil tankers sometimes spoof their location in an effort to conceal illegal activities.
Guyana's maritime authority says the vessel had also been sailing under a false Guyana flag. Meanwhile, Venezuela is condemning the capture, calling it an act of international piracy. The U.S. attorney general, Pam Bondi, says the tanker was being used to transport sanctioned oil between Venezuela and Iran that was being used to support terror groups. A senior U.S. official says the ship was seized international waters, adding that there were no casualties and that more seizures are possible in the coming weeks. President Trump also addressed it.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As you probably know, we've just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela, large tanker, very large. Largest one ever seized actually. And other things are happening. So you'll be seeing that later and you'll be talking about that later with some other people.
It was seized for a very good reason.
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MICHAELSON: CNN Stefano Pozzebon is in Caracas, Venezuela for us. You heard from Venezuela's president, what he say to you about this oil tanker being seized?
STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, Elex. Well, our conversation with Maduro happened just minutes before CNN was able to confirm that the U.S. had indeed seize the tanker. However, we did ask Maduro if he had a message for the people of the United States and for Donald Trump, the U.S. President in particular. And, Elex, this is what Maduro told me just a few hours ago on Wednesday afternoon.
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NICOLAS MADURO, VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Our message to the people of the United States remains the same, peace. Peace above all else. No to crazy war. No to bloodshed for oil. No to war for oil, the recipe for eternal wars.
(END VIDEO CLIP) POZZEBON: No to wars for oil. You can understand, Elex, how important these resources for the economy of this country and for Maduro in particular. Think, Elex, that more than 90 percent of the foreign income of Venezuela comes from oil. A big chunk of that comes directly from the United States because one particular U.S. major, Chevron, is allowed to operate here in Venezuela using a special license. However, another big chunk comes from oil that is sold to black market traders and then traded to Iranian, Chinese or Russian enterprises.
And we understand that tanker seized by the United States was one such a black market tanker. So you can understand how Maduro might be now preoccupied and really worried that the White House is escalating and going after his purse, frankly. Elex.
MICHAELSON: Yes. So much money at stake here. In the last few hours, we also heard from opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who made an appearance in Oslo after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize. What's she saying?
[01:05:09]
POZZEBON: Yes, indeed, that was frankly a very emotional moment. I think that it was the first time we saw Maria Corina Machado out in public since the beginning of January, since the beginning of this year, almost 11 months in hiding here in Venezuela. And then a really worrisome and an escape worthy of a Tom Clancy novel, frankly, to arrive to the Venezuela -- to the Norwegian capital, Oslo, to pick up her award. She wasn't able to participate in person to the award ceremony. Her daughter, Ana Corina Sosa, picked up the prize on her behalf.
And then we saw the images later on Wednesday night where the two were finally reunited. They had not seen each other, Elex, since more than two years. And of course, those hacks, those images that we received late on Wednesday from Oslo, clearly giving a lot of hope to the entire Venezuelan opposition movement, Maria Corina Machado, is yet to speak. We understand that early on Thursday she will deliver a press conference in the Norwegian capital and then she will take a few days of rest.
She had been spending the last several months in hiding here in Venezuela because of course she's prosecuted and wanted by the security forces of Nicolas Maduro. But of course, they -- having her out and especially being able perhaps to speak in person with the U.S. President Donald Trump, who is putting so much pressure on Maduro himself, is giving indeed very much hope to the Venezuelan opposition movement as a whole, Elex.
MICHAELSON: I can only imagine how emotional that was for them to see each other after two years. Stefano Pozzebon reporting for us from Caracas, thank you so much.
Back here in the U.S., the National Weather Service predicts potentially catastrophic flooding in the Pacific Northwest, a result of a strong atmospheric river over the region. At least 100,000 people are being advised to evacuate their homes as a precaution. You can see how far the water has risen in this family's home. Washington's governor who joined us live last hour here on The Story Is has declared a state of emergency ahead of the worst of the floods, hoping to secure federal assistance for recovery efforts. So far, he says the Trump administration has not said yes to that, but he hopes they will soon.
Story is the U.S. economy and the Federal Reserve's decision to cut interest rates by a quarter point. Fed Chair Jerome Powell says this might be the last cut for the next few months. Cut could mean lower rates for things like car loans and credit cards. President Trump says it didn't go far enough. He wanted a half point cut.
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TRUMP: I think we can do much better than traditional numbers. And you see that. You see that with what we're doing. We're leading in everything. And now, and remember this, as far as prices are concerned, and they talk about affordability, I inherited the worst inflation in the history of our country.
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MICHAELSON: Inflation under President Biden peaked during COVID in 2022 at 9.1 percent. By the time President Trump's second term began, inflation had come down to about 3 percent.
A short time ago, I sat down with the chair of the Democratic Party, Ken Martin. He's in L.A. this week for national meetings. My full interview with him will be tomorrow night. But tonight, I want to show you his response to President Trump's comments about the affordability crisis.
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KEN MARTIN, CHAIR, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE: So there's lots of policies that Democrats have championed all over the country, including in my home state of Minnesota, that will actually address this affordability issue, right. You know, the high cost of utilities right now is a good example. Look at what Mikey Sherrill is doing in New Jersey on day one. She's going to actually freeze utility prices, right? We can do things like that in this country, again, to actually help reduce the cost.
So there are real tangible solutions of Democrats are actually putting out there. The Republicans, they keep saying they have a plan on everything. We have yet to see it. Donald Trump says it's a hoax. I mean, the reality is, if you can't even acknowledge there's a problem, how are you going to actually come up with solutions?
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MICHAELSON: Joining me now to talk about the economy live in studio is Ben Bergman, senior correspondent for Business Insider.
Ben, welcome to The Story Is for the first time.
BEN BERGMAN, SENIOR CORRESPONDENT, BUSINESS INSIDER: Thanks for having me.
MICHAELSON: So let's talk about this issue of affordability and how people feel about it. Want to put a poll up on the screen right now that shows some of the consumer sentiment. So compared to last year, are you spending more money on groceries, 71 percent say more, utilities, 59 percent say more, health care, 43 percent say more. Almost nobody saying less. That gives you a sense of where people are.
And that's not just Democrats that are feeling that way.
[01:10:03]
BERGMAN: For sure. And, you know, talk about the number one issue that President Trump was elected for, it was to solve this issue of affordability and bring down inflation. And if you've been to the supermarket recently, if you've gone out to eat, I don't think it feels that he's really done anything to make that better.
MICHAELSON: To that point, and that is what he promised. But usually prices, once they go up for most things don't usually come down, right?
BERGMAN: That's true. So we're stuck with the prices, but the problem is that they have keep inching up. The Fed wants inflation to be around 2 percent. It's still at around 3 percent. So prices are still going up.
MICHAELSON: So there's a really interesting Consumer reports -- report that I want to ask you about when it comes to AI and the way that it potentially changes what we pay for. So let's put this up on the screen. This is eggs in different places in Washington. So this is a look at a dozen eggs sold on Instacart at a Safeway in Washington. And these are all prices for the same dozen eggs, depending on your spending habits. So essentially, Instacart looked at how much you spend on other things via AI.
And people that are the big spenders, they charged more. People that spend less, they charged you less.
BERGMAN: Hopefully. Hopefully it wasn't the reverse.
MICHAELSON: I know, but that's an interesting thing for the exact same eggs.
BERGMAN: It is, yes. So this is what -- you know, consumer reports sent a bunch of shoppers out to Albertsons and Costco to buy all these items, and they found that the prices varied by as much as 20 percent. And for a household, you know, that's a couple dollars here and there, but it could be over $1,000 per year. And I think most people assume they're getting the same prices. This showed that they are not.
And the companies really haven't admitted to this at all.
MICHAELSON: Yes. And so basically, and it's crazy to use AI this because the prices are different for people when you go to the store, obviously this isn't a thing. The price is the price. But when you're on your app, the price can fluctuate and it makes real money for folks. We've got another graphic to show how much money we're talking about, about $1,200. Shoppers dependent on Instacart could see a cost swing of about $1200 per year because of this AI powered technology.
And my guess is Instacart can't be the only company that's doing this.
BERGMAN: Certainly not. Well, think about how we've become very used to paying different prices for airline tickets. You could be paying $800 for a ticket to New York. The person next to you could be paying $300. We accept that.
Uber rides are different all the times. And I think that the days of static prices where you just go in and see one price are very much over. Every company, every restaurant, every supermarket wants to do this, to have dynamic pricing.
MICHAELSON: And -- well, some call it surveillance pricing, right? The idea that it's analyzing your data on your phone and then making decisions about you based off of that to potentially charge you more. I mean, for a lot of people, that feels very intrusive.
BERGMAN: Yes. So Instacart was very emphatic along with the companies that this happened with Target saying they are not targeting personal information or demographic information. They're looking at the sites you've been to and where else you visited and maybe some of your other purchases. But I think some people are a little bit skeptical about those claims.
MICHAELSON: Right. So I guess is the thing to like do go to a lot of thrift stores online or something and try to show them that you don't spend very much money or what? I mean, geez.
BERGMAN: Well, I think you can either go two ways. You can go totally IRL and say no more online shopping. Just --
MICHAELSON: Real life. Yes.
BERGMAN: -- go -- yes. Go into the store, buy it yourself or you go the opposite. You beat the AI with the AI. So like when I was doing my Black Friday shopping and by the way, the sales I thought were great. But on Amazon I use their AI to see all the price comparisons of what I was buying over the past 90 days. Chat GPT also just recently used a shopping tool.
So you want to be able to use AI to outsmart the company's AI if you can.
MICHAELSON: Smart advice. Ben Bergman, thanks so much for coming in. Really appreciate it.
BERGMAN: Anytime. Thank you so much.
MICHAELSON: Check out for him in Business Insider.
Other news now, President Zelenskyy is expecting to join a virtual meeting of Ukraine's allies in the coming hour, the so called Coalition of the Willing, will discuss how to move forward with peace talks according to Finland. Ukraine delivered an updated version of the U.S. drafted peace plan to the Trump administration on Wednesday. The new details were hammered out during Ukraine's talks with European allies earlier this week. Still not clear what changes, if any, Kyiv is now demanding.
The Story Is food as cultural heritage. Italian food has become the first gastronomic style to be recognized by UNESCO, the U.N.'s cultural body. Pizza, pasta, prosecco and everything in between has been designated an intangible cultural heritage. CNN's Barbie Latza Nadeau explains what that means.
[01:15:22]
BARBIE LATZA NADEAU, CNN REPORTER: We're here at a quintessential Roman Christmas market where you've got stalls of Italian food being sold all across this area. Now these are stalls of regional cuisine. This one particularly is from Sardinia. And this is part of what the UNESCO World Heritage designation for intangible cultural heritage of the Italian cuisine is celebrating. It's celebrating their traditions, the biodiversity of this country, the sustainability, the seasonability and the production and the tradition of Italian cuisine.
Now this is something the Italian government has fought for for the last three years trying to get this designation because they believe it will help in prohibiting people from producing fake Italian food. We saw a couple of weeks ago at the European Parliament the sale of jars of prepared carbonara sauce. That was something that really raised the ire officials here, especially the AG Ministry. You know, Italian cuisine is something that is the recipes are handed down. They're very much a no waste recipe. It's simple food, it's elegant food, it's delicious food and the Italians are very proud of it.
And this designation will help protect it.
Barbie Latza Nadeau, CNN, Rome.
MICHAELSON: I'm so hungry now. Thank you.
Still to come, CNN and Variety teaming up for the latest season of the celebrity interview series "Actors on Actors." We've got a preview of a conversation between Cynthia Erivo and Hugh Jackman when we come back.
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[01:21:06]
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HUGH JACKMAN, AUSTRALIAN ACTOR: Do you have any ritual like -- so the movie comes out --
CYNTHIA ERIVO, ENGLISH ACTRESS: Yes.
JACKMAN: -- obviously it's with you for the rest of your life. ERIVO: Yes.
JACKMAN: You don't -- you may not know that yet, but I can tell you after eight years after "The Greater Showman," it will -- and it -- and you will have more and more gratitude for it.
ERIVO: Yes.
JACKMAN: And it will mean different things to you as it goes on.
ERIVO: Yes.
JACKMAN: Do you have any rituals at the end of either a performance or movie or on November 22, is there a way you --
ERIVO: Sleep.
JACKMAN: -- reset? Sleep.
ERIVO: Sleep. Sleep and then a therapy session. Yes. Yes. That's what happens usually.
JACKMAN: OK.
ERIVO: Yes. Through the process, I'm often holding on to emotions I find. And I think once I'm able to get past all of the things, once the thing is released or once something is finished, I really allow myself to just let it all go.
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MICHAELSON: Hugh Jackman there interviewing Cynthia Erivo on her rituals after the release of "Wicked Part 2." This is a clip from the latest episode of Varieties, "Actors on Actors," the series streaming on the CNN app and variety.com. I'm joined by two of the people behind this series, CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister and Ramin Setoodeh, the co- editor in chief of Variety.
Welcome to you both. Congratulations. By the way, I can totally relate to Cynthia on both needing sleep and therapy.
RAMIN SETOODEH, CO-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, VARIETY: Two really important things.
MICHAELSON: Two really important things and we need more of in this world.
Ramin, "Actors on Actors" is such a special series for people that haven't really paid attention to it over the years, you know what is it and what makes it so special?
SETOODEH: So this is our biggest franchise at Variety. We've been doing it for 10 years. This is the first year that we're partnering with CNN, which is really, really exciting. Elizabeth and I are working together on it. And this is kind of like the "Barbara Walters Oscar Special" for Gen Z. This is a series that's huge on social media.
It's been huge on TikTok. I pair together every single actor in our portfolio. And so around Oscar season, we go through the best performances of the year, and we decide to pair up the actors for really frank, candid conversations. And it's really like you're sitting in and listening in. These two actors are having a conversation. The cameras kind of fade away, and you really get a real sense of who they are behind the scenes when they're not talking at a press junket or doing a very stilted stiff interview.
This is really actors in their natural habitat.
MICHAELSON: Yes. And of course, Ramin brings up Barbara Walters because he wrote the great book about "The View." So, it's nice.
(CROSSTALK)
ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Near (inaudible) right here on the sell-out (ph). OK?
MICHAELSON: Yes. So it makes sense to bring that call back, yes. But, Elizabeth, you know, how are they as interviewers?
WAGMEISTER: Well, it's interesting, and I think Ramin would agree, some are actually really nervous, and that's interesting to see, because to people at home, these are some of the most famous stars in the world. You wouldn't think they get nervous for much of anything, but you have to remember that they're actors and they have scripts, and suddenly they're being put into the hot seat, either as the interviewer or interviewee. And some of them show up with notes like they really study and they really prepare. They all watch their films and their T.V. shows, and they really want to be an expert on who they're interviewing. But it is interesting to see them in that role.
MICHAELSON: Who do you think is the best interviewer of all the actors that have been over the years?
SETOODEH: So I think Nicole Kidman has done it the most number of times, and she's really wonderful, and she's a very active listener, which is why I think she's also a great actress. Hugh Jackman was also really great. He said he studied journalism. And watching him, I thought maybe he could work at Variety or at CNN. He's a natural good --
MICHAELSON: He'd take a giant, giant pay cut.
SETOODEH: He's naturally good at asking questions. He would probably have to do that. Yes.
MICHAELSON: Yes, yes. Maybe he can work for Netflix under their budget. But let's talk about part of this series they talk to each other, and then they talk to the professional interviewer you. And so all of these interviews are on the CNN app. We want to show one of them, which was after Hugh Jackman and Cynthia Erivo talked with each other, here's some of what they talked with you about.
[01:25:05]
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ERIVO: I feel like you have a career that I would love to keep doing where it's full of, like, physical work, but it's also full of music and then full of --
JACKMAN: Yes.
ERIVO: -- like, deep, deep characters as well. Like a wonderful collection of different beings in his life that I would like to keep.
JACKMAN: And then we just have to work together.
ERIVO: I would love to.
JACKMAN: Same.
ERIVO: I would love to.
WAGMEISTER: Set it here first. We'll manifest that.
JACKMAN: It's on tape. I got it.
WAGMEISTER: Cynthia and Hugh are going to work together.
ERIVO: In a heartbeat.
WAGMEISTER: Hugh, you so clearly are a huge fan of "Wicked," as is everyone.
JACKMAN: I am.
WAGMEISTER: Your work is incredible in it.
ERIVO: Thank you. What is your favorite song in "Wicked?"
JACKMAN: "Defying Gravity." Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: He didn't do the part though, did he?
WAGMEISTER: I asked him. I said, do you want to take a stab at it? And then Hugh Jackman said 100 percent no, not in front of Cynthia Erivo, which I can't blame him.
SETOODEH: But there was -- but there was some singing in another clip that you had.
WAGMEISTER: Yes. There -- well, why don't you talk about that? I think it's so far the most viral moment maybe from "Actors on Actors."
SETOODEH: It's with Jonathan Bailey and David Corenswet, who are both musical theater geeks and they --
WAGMEISTER: Yes.
SETOODEH: -- serenade Elizabeth. It's really incredible. Please go and watch it.
MICHAELSON: Were they serenading Elizabeth or were they serenading each other?
SETOODEH: Each other and Elizabeth, all at once.
WAGMEISTER: I think -- no, I think they were serenading each other and I was lucky to be a final. But I do want to say these interviews that we're doing "Off the Set" and we actually have a new YouTube series here at CNN called "Off the Set,"--
SETOODEH: Yes.
WAGMEISTER: -- this is something new that we're doing for the first time now that "Actors on Actors" is at CNN. And it was Ramin's idea. So --
SETOODEH: Yes.
WAGMEISTER: -- it was a lot of fun to be with Ramin and the whole Variety team and be doing these interviews on set. And the actors had fun with it too.
MICHAELSON: And of course, for many years before you came to CNN, you worked at Variety with Ramin. So it's cool to see the two of you back together again.
WAGMEISTER: This is my former boss, Elex.
MICHAELSON: Yes, yes, yes.
SETOODEH: We got the band back together.
WAGMEISTER: Yes.
SETOODEH: And we're very excited about that.
MICHAELSON: Which is fun. So coming up on the series, we have Sydney Sweeny and Ethan Hawke. Here's a preview of that.
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ETHAN HAWKE, AMERICAN ACTOR: What was "Euphoria" like?
SYDNEY SWEENEY, AMERICAN ACTRESS: I think "Euphoria" was the beginning of everything for me. Cassie is a very emotional and heart driven character. And so I had to be very free with every choice that I made. I had to not question myself. I had to just like dive in, make crazy decisions and not judge what I was doing.
And the more and more I did it, I just wrapped season three. I am so thankful for it because I'm so free in all my choices.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: So you're the one who picks who sits together. That's not a typical duo you would think about. How do you make these choices?
SETOODEH: There was a lot of conversation on social media about this pairing and I think people are going to be very, very surprised. It starts with Ethan Hawke telling Sydney Sweeney that he went and saw her movie "Christy" with his daughter and how blown away they were. She's obviously a huge fan of his. This is going to be a really good conversation. People should tune in.
MICHAELSON: Yes. And of course, Ethan Hawke having a big moment right now himself.
SETOODEH: Yes.
MICHAELSON: So what else do we got coming up? More to come, right?
SETOODEH: We have conversations coming for the next few days and our season finale is next Wednesday. It's with Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence. It's the first time Leo has done "Actors on Actors". It's really the first time he's done a conversation this long. And people are going to love it.
It's one of our best episodes ever. So you should tune in for that.
MICHAELSON: What's the biggest thing you learned about him?
SETOODEH: Some -- there's some interesting stuff about "Titanic." That's what I'll say.
MICHAELSON: OK.
WAGMEISTER: Very interesting stuff.
MICHAELSON: Can't wait to see that. Ramin, Elizabeth, great to see you two back together. Congratulations on the success. And a reminder, you can check out "Actors on Actors," on the CNN app on variety.com and also on CNN's YouTube page as well. We'll be right back. More of The Story Is after this.
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[01:33:26]
ADAM MOCKLER, HOST, "THE ADAM MOCKLER SHOW": The United States is on the -- on the cusp of yet another war for regime change and oil.
No matter how much the Trump administration wants to claim that they are different from prior Republican administrations, that they are pro-worker, that they are antiwar, that they're the pro-peace tickets. They are basically the same as prior administrations in a few ways.
Republicans get into power. They cut taxes.
(END VIDEO CLIP) ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: Reporting on the road after learning the U.S. had seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela. Mockler is the host of "The Adam Mockler Show" on MeidasTouch Network with 1.7 million followers on YouTube and nearly 350,000 on Instagram. And he's just 23 years old.
Adam Mockler live here on set for the first time on THE STORY IS. Adam, welcome. Congratulations on the success.
MOCKLER: Thank you for having me on. Congrats on your show. Look at this.
MICHAELSON: Thank you very much. It's fun to have you to be a part of it.
So let's talk about Venezuela. Big story breaking tonight.
MOCKLER: Yes. I was flying to L.A. And while I was waiting for my Uber, I decided to hop on and make a video because the United States had seized an oil tanker right outside of Venezuela.
And as I was saying, as much as the Trump admin tries to act like it's different from prior Republican administrations, they're doing the same thing.
They cut taxes for the richest, they cut benefits for the poorest, and then they go to war for either regime change or for oil.
And listen --
[01:34:47]
MICHAELSON: Well, they haven't gone to war yet.
MOCKLER: Well, they haven't gone to war yet, but they are right now posturing towards other countries, posturing towards Venezuela in a few really, really key ways.
For example, there was a no-fly zone a few weeks ago that was put over Venezuela that was clear escalation on behalf of the Trump admin.
Since then, we have seen strikes in the Caribbean, which are questionable legally at best, due process wise. And then from there, we now see an oil tanker being snagged off of their coast.
So it seems like the admin is intentionally trying to get Maduro to flee to force regime change, which isn't inherently bad, but it's just interesting that they claim to be the pro peace ticket.
MICHAELSON: Yes, and we'll see, because so far they have -- they've certainly had those -- they've not done the ground war --
MOCKLER: No.
MICHAELSON: -- at least not yet. Another big topic, affordability. That seems to be dominating the
national conversation. For the last few years -- put up on the screen. This is in terms of prices, people were asked in this poll from "Washington Post"/ABC News, are your prices going up? Groceries, 71 percent. Utilities, 59 percent. Health care, 43 percent.
That's real people that don't necessarily follow all the politics that closely. It is impacting them every single day.
MOCKLER: Yes. The way that this administration speaks about the economy feels incongruent with how average Americans experience things on a day-to-day basis.
I can speak from the lens of a young person who's growing up in an America where housing is just out of reach. It feels like student debt or medical debt ends up creating a negative capital situation for a lot of young people. Young people are negative in capital.
So when you can't accumulate capital in the form of housing or in the form of investing, people don't feel loyal to a system.
Now, I think the United States is a great country. I think it's the best country on earth. But I think when people look at Zohran Mamdani winning, for example, and they look at young socialist kids voting Zohran in, I think it's a myopic view of a broader issue, which is a system that isn't working for young people at this point.
MICHAELSON: And people don't feel loyalty to political parties --
MOCKLER: Yes.
MICHAELSON: -- because of it because they represent them as a system. And so we see these big swings. Every time somebody gets into office, people seem to vote for the other party --
MOCKLER: Yes.
MICHAELSON: -- just because they want something to change. And then the system is so screwed up that it's not set up for them to work together. So you end up with this continuous dysfunction and continuous anger.
MOCKLER: Yes, it's literally a pendulum going back and forth. And I think a lot of it is spiked by algorithms.
I mean, there used to be two-term presidents, like there would be four years, four years back-to-back. But now it feels like one term, one term, one term because people are so inherently anti-status quo --
MICHAELSON: Right.
MOCKLER: -- in this current environment. And it could be due to algorithms boosting things, making people just happy, or the actual current state of the economy of the country. People aren't happy with it.
MICHAELSON: I'm pretty sure, though, President Biden is not coming back for another term, at least at this point.
MOCKLER: No. Well, maybe.
MICHAELSON: All right. So let's talk about you because you have millions of followers, have developed an incredible range of people at a very young age.
But you started at a really young age, nine years old, playing video games. Tell us a little bit about your story.
MOCKLER: Yes. So the YouTube channel that I currently run with a million and a half followers, I created this when I was nine years old. And I used to create Minecraft videos, Call of Duty videos after school.
But unknowingly in the process, I was picking up these editing skills that 15 years later, 14 years later, I am now using to help spread what I think is the truth online.
So when I was nine years old, I used to make these Minecraft videos after school. And I remember when I was in fifth grade, I got kicked out of class for debating my teacher on gay marriage back in Indiana.
It was -- the Supreme Court was right about to legalize it, and we were debating. I was probably being a little bit of a nuisance. I was in fifth grade, right.
And then after I got into high school, I stopped doing YouTube, stopped doing Minecraft videos. I graduated and realized I had these skills in video editing. I can talk to people decently, and I was in Indiana at the time.
The Iowa caucuses were going on two states over, so I emailed a bunch of cameramen. I said, does anybody able to film with me this weekend?
One guy responded and said, this is his only free weekend for the next few weeks. Now he's my main cameraman a few years later.
So just a random email years ago has now turned into me sitting in front of an amazing human being.
MICHAELSON: Thank you.
So let's talk about how you talk to Gen Z who get information in a different way. How do you cut through all the BS, all the noise, and get attention in an attention economy?
MOCKLER: Yes. So there's a few different ways I communicate. When I'm talking to Trump supporters at his rallies, for example, a lot of times I try to wrap my views in more conservative rhetoric.
So I'm very pro Ukraine. I think supporting Ukraine is very important. But if I say that Russia is bad, Ukraine is good, that doesn't click in the same way as when I frame it like this.
I'm like, listen, putting America first means funding Ukraine. Funding Ukraine is the same as putting America first because it's helping our economy. It's helping protect our ally Ukraine. It's stopping Russia in its tracks, and it's stopping authoritarianism.
[01:39:52]
MOCKLER: So when you wrap it in the economic lens and the America First lens that helps reach and breakthrough. And you can use that same framework to young people. I mean, when you're talking to young people, I won't communicate in the same way that I would like a 55- year-old Trump supporter.
I generally try to wrap things in our lived experiences. Young people during our formative years have seen Trump over and over say the craziest, wildest stuff imaginable. So I try to frame it through that political framework.
And I think overall, it's just understanding that Gen Z-ers, a lot of young people feel nihilistic. It's breaking through that both sides ism that you were talking about, where people think both sides are bad. You got to cut through the nihilism.
And that's my main advice.
MICHAELSON: And have some fun too, right.
MOCKLER: Have some fun.
MICHAELSON: So much stuff is boring.
MOCKLER: Yes.
MICHAELSON: And part of the reason you're able to do this is try to make it fun.
MOCKLER: Yes, there's a few -- there's a few key things that I try to bring when I'm speaking to people, and it's either being fun, attention-grabby or not so finger-waggy. I'm telling you, young people do not like a Democratic Party that wags the finger, that tells you not to behave this way, that tries to get all up.
MICHAELSON: Because Trump sometimes seems more fun than a lot of Democrats.
MOCKLER: And that's not a good thing. Yes, Trump does not want to be the fun guy. He should not be the fun guy. Yes, yes.
MICHAELSON: But that's been part of his appeal over the years. And so we'll see.
Do you think -- is there a favorite Gen Z candidate you think?
MOCKLER: A favorite Gen Z candidate, like a candidate?
MICHAELSON: No, no. That Gen Z likes of maybe the 2028 crew?
MOCKLER: I mean, we're in the great state of California right now. I believe Newsom is the frontrunner according to every single poll. Yes.
MICHAELSON: For you, too?
MOCKLER: Yes. For Gen Z-ers, of course. He's out there dominating attention.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
MOCKLER: He's out there dominating the media environment and understanding how to break through in a time when people feel nihilistic. And that's important.
MICHAELSON: Adam Mockler, thank you so much. Hopefully first of many appearances here.
MOCKLER: First of many.
MICHAELSON: Really appreciate it.
You're watching THE STORY IS.
International viewers, "WORLDSPORT" is next. To our viewers here in North America, I'll be right back.
[01:41:44]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MICHAELSON: More now on the severe flooding in Washington state. The U.S. National Weather Service predicts potentially catastrophic flooding as a result of a strong atmospheric river over the region.
Earlier, I spoke live with Washington Governor Bob Ferguson about what to expect overnight. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. BOB FERGUSON, WASHINGTON STATE: It's a critical, critical situation and truly historic in the more than 100 years we've been tracking our river systems.
MICHAELSON: So, Governor, what should we expect in terms of timing when this is going to be at its worst? What to expect overnight?
FERGUSON: Well, it's an evolving situation. So it depends on which part of the state you look at. And by the way, this is a true statewide issue.
But what we're especially focused at in the next handful of hours is the Skagit River. That's about -- I'm in north Seattle right now talking to you -- the Skagit River is about an hour north of me.
If you were to drive along the Skagit River, what we're going to see around 4 a.m. is that river reaching its peak. And again, this is going to be six feet at least above the historic high mark for that river. So this is something no local resident has ever experienced, or their
ancestors may have been on the river for many years. So folks need to be aware that this is coming up right away in a handful of hours. Many folks have evacuated. We appreciate that.
But if they haven't and they're along that Skagit River, the time to do that is right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Our thanks to Governor Ferguson.
The Indiana state senate is potentially less than 24 hours away from deciding whether to approve a new congressional map.
On Wednesday, state Republicans voted down a handful of Democratic amendments on the redistricting measure backed by President Trump. It's not clear whether enough Republicans support the new map, though they do control the state senate with a 40 to 10 super majority.
If it passes, the new map would position Republicans to sweep all nine of Indiana's U.S. House seats in next year's midterm elections, a pickup of two seats.
Critics say the map amounts to gerrymandering for a Republican power grab. Final vote is expected later Thursday, possibly on Friday.
Miami's mayor-elect is speaking out about her priorities for her city one day after her historic win. We'll hear from her next.
[01:47:45]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MICHAELSON: Miami's mayor-elect, Eileen Higgins, says residents decided to embark on a different direction after she became the first Democrat to win the seat in nearly 30 years. She will also be the first woman to lead the city.
She held her first news conference after the win, and spoke with CNN about some of the issues she'll address once in office.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EILEEN HIGGINS (D), MIAMI MAYOR-ELECT: If you do what you say you're going to do, focus on what the people really need.
In the case of Miami, they want a Miami that's more affordable and in this day and age, they need a local government that talks about people respectfully, because we do have the politics of trickle-down hatred from Washington on this anti-immigrant fervor that is really cruel, inhumane, and making people afraid to live here in their own community.
(END VIDEO CLIP) MICHAELSON: Some visitors to the U.S. may soon have to provide their social media history from the past five years to enter the country without a visa. Tourists from the U.K., Japan, Australia and dozens of other countries would be impacted.
The Trump administration proposal not yet final, but if it goes through, it would have big implications ahead of next year's World Cup.
CNN's Priscilla Alvarez has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Trump administration announced a new proposal that would mark an escalation in traveler vetting. This time expanding the type of information they're looking for for people visiting the United States.
Now, those affected by this are those that are enrolled in the electronic system for travel authorization, which is part of a visa waiver program for citizens from 42 countries. That includes, for example, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, as well as other European countries.
Now, this is for people that are traveling to the U.S. for under 90 days without a visa. And to apply, they would typically include information about their passport, their birth date, as well as any other past criminal record.
Now, the social media option used to be that, just an option. But now with this proposal, that would be mandatory. Five years' worth of social media history as well as other data. For example with phone numbers and email addresses of the last several years, as well as information about close family members.
Taken together, this is yet another example of how the administration is changing or tightening the legal immigration system. This time again, targeting those who are visiting the United States and scrutinizing their social media in ways that we've seen the administration do for those who are applying for visas abroad, as well as for those who may already have visas here in the United States.
[01:54:45]
ALVAREZ: Now again, this is a proposal by U.S. Customs and border protection, and it still has to go through a 60-day notice and request for comment so it will not take effect immediately. But it would be a remarkable development for people traveling from certain countries to the United States.
Priscilla Alvarez, CNN -- Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: A strange sight in Mexico City -- watch this. That is a skydiver landing in a street. Authorities say the man jumped from an ultralight airplane, tried to find a landing spot in downtown Mexico City.
You can see his parachute snagged on a traffic light before he could reach the ground. People stopped to help free the guy. No injuries or damage was reported.
A brown-haired poodle back home after being taken from its owner in San Mateo, California. Police say a masked man approached a woman who was walking this little fella on Monday and snatched the pooch away. Look at that face.
The suspect then took off in a car, but officers managed to track him down and pull him over. 33-year-old David Frankhauser was arrested on suspicion of second-degree robbery. Police called the episode a targeted incident involving known parties.
Big thank you to the L.A. Business Federation for inviting me to moderate their annual political forecast from Fox Studios in west Los Angeles earlier today.
I'm grateful for everyone who came out to support. It was great to meet so many STORY IS viewers there at the event.
And a big thank you for watching THE STORY IS. We really appreciate it.
I'm Elex Michaelson. I'll see you again tomorrow night. With me will be the chair of the Democratic Party, Ken Martin, here in southern California.
We'll be back tomorrow. Have a great night. Thanks again for watching.
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