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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson
California Braces For More Storms, Flooding Threat; The Epstein Files; Russia's War On Ukraine; 'General Hospital' Star Reveals Bipolar Disorder Diagnosis; Many Survivors of Eaton Fire Still Facing Major Challenges; Winter Magic Takes Center Stage with 'The Nutcracker' in Norway. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired December 23, 2025 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Elex Michaelson live in Los Angeles. This hour of THE STORY IS starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: THE STORY IS atmospheric river massive rainfall expected on the West Coast this Christmas week. We're live at the National Weather Service.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It started right up there. THE STORY IS rebuilding.
JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This whole room is going to be gutted because there's so much ash.
MICHAELSON: CNN's Julia Vargas Jones takes us to Altadena to document the struggles nearly one year after the Eaton fire.
THE STORY IS mental health. Talk to the "General Hospital" star who just revealed his bipolar diagnosis to another "General Hospital" star who also is bipolar. How they are overcoming the stigma together.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Los Angeles, THE STORY IS WITH ELEX MICHAELSON.
MICHAELSON: And welcome to THE STORY IS. I'm Elex Michaelson. Millions of people across California are preparing for more heavy rain and the threat of flooding in the coming days, especially here in the southern part of the state where that threat is forecast to reach a rare high risk level.
Evacuation warnings have been issued in parts of LA County near burn scars amid that rising threat. This comes after Northern California was hit with severe weather over the weekend. In Shasta County, nearly one month's worth of rain fell over two days, flooding multiple roadways and stranding a number of motorists. Heavy rain also causing rivers to swell in other parts of the state, and there were reports of mudslides.
Those risks remain the same for the coming storms, including high winds that could knock out power. Much of California under a Flood Watch until Friday.
Joining me now is Ariel Cohen, the meteorologist in charge for the National Weather Service in Oxnard, California. Thanks so much for being with us. I know it's a busy night for you. Walk us through what we should expect in the next few days.
ARIEL COHEN, METEOROLOGIST IN CHARGE, NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN OXNARD, CALIFORNIA: Exactly. We are going to be having the onset of a seriously dangerous weather event, really as early as tomorrow, Tuesday. Tuesday night is going to be when the rains are picking up across Southern California.
The first wave of the storm system will be bringing at least a few inches of rain to most locations Tuesday night into Christmas Eve on Wednesday, with the rain continuing on and off throughout much the remainder of the week. We're looking at totals to exceed potentially upwards of 10 inches or more, maybe a foot of rain in the higher elevations of the Southern California mountains, lesser amounts but still impactful in the order of two to four inches throughout a large part of the LA Basin, four to eight inches across many of the mountains and foothills from the Santa Monica Mountains, San Fernando Valley, San Gabriel Mountains and Valley.
All in all, this is the type of weather situation that we've seen in the past to create significant impact, life threatening floods, damaging floods, rock slides and mudslides that are particularly damaging as well over a pretty widespread area. And when we combine that with potential impacts regarding all of the travel that's planned around the Christmas holiday, we're setting up for a very volatile situation from mid to late week.
MICHAELSON: So we know that in the past, the time that we've gotten the most damage is when we have like a half an inch to an inch of rain in an hour, when it sort of dumps down in one time and our system just cannot handle that. Are you forecasting that? If sort of, when and where should we be focused for that?
COHEN: This is going to be somewhat of a unique system in that the rainfall rates are not going to be particularly high. We certainly will have localized pockets of half inch to an inch an hour, maybe even some spots over an inch an hour. But it's the long duration nature of the moderate to occasionally heavy rain that is going to accumulative effect as we go through mid to late week.
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So while initially with the onset of the heavier rain Tuesday night into Christmas Eve, we'll be getting some minor impacts, it's going to take less and less rain as we go later in the week for more and more impacts. In other words, even if the rain is getting on the lighter side, that could really exacerbate ongoing flooding concerns as the ground becomes very saturated and not able to really contain much water at all. So it all runs off.
And so, you know, it's a situation that even if those particular rates don't get that high and they're not expected to reach the types of values that we would see associate with a catastrophic debris flow, we are still expecting widespread flooding, rains, rock slides, landslides as well.
And I also want to mention a lot of trees could be coming down and power lines too, as strong gusty winds are expected. We also do have a marginal risk for severe thunderstorms as well.
MICHAELSON: Right at the time when people are trying to travel for Christmas as well, which makes it even more complicated. So the most important advice you have for people.
COHEN: Stay off the roads, turn around, don't drown, never drive through flooded waters, flooded roadways with water over the roadways. Do not drive through any areas of water over the roadways.
We want to really encourage folks to stay indoors if the winds pick up or a severe weather warning issued for your area. Get inside lowest part of your home or business, sturdy structure. Stay away from windows and have multiple ways to receive reliable information from National Weather Service Emergency Management officials and law enforcement because it's going to be very important as we go through this critical time period to take those directions to save your lives and those of your loved ones.
And if you do have travel plans, please consider changing those plans so that you are not on the roads.
MICHAELSON: Ariel Cohen, thank you for that. We will be passing along those messages in the days ahead right here on CNN. We appreciate you joining us live and the work that you do which is really important this week. Thank you.
COHEN: Stay safe, everyone. Thanks for having me.
MICHAELSON: Let's talk overseas. US Southern Command says at least one person has been killed in the latest military strike on an alleged drug boat in the Eastern Pacific. SOUTHCOM says no US service members were hurt in the mission. That brings the number to 105 people killed in what the Pentagon calls Operation Southern Spear.
Mission started in early September to curtail the shipment of narcotics which the administration says are coming from Venezuela. President Donald Trump says the US is still actively pursuing an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela. And he says the US will be keeping any oil and sea ships.
The US boarded the first of two seized tankers on December 10th amid a massive naval buildup in the Caribbean. The Trump administration says the ships are part of a shadow fleet moving oil from sanctioned countries.
President Trump also says he thinks it would be smart for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to step down. Excuse me.
The administration is unveiling a new fleet of Trump class battleships. The President made that announcement alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday. He says they will replace the "old and tired, and obsolete" US fleet, revive the shipbuilding industry, and inspire fear in America's enemies.
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DONALD TRUMP, UNITED STATES PRESIDENT: So the battleships are going to be armed just in terms of guns and missiles at the highest level. They'll also have hypersonic weapons, many hypersonic weapons, state of the art electric rail guns, and even the high-powered lasers that you've been starting to read about.
We have lasers where you aim the laser at a target, it just wipes it out. The US Navy will lead the design of these ships along with me because I'm a very aesthetic person.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: The President says he envisions building 20 to 25 of the new vessels as part of what he calls the Navy's golden fleet. And he wants them to all be "very AI-controlled."
US lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are threatening to hold the Justice Department in contempt for its incomplete release of the Epstein files. The department is still holding back thousands of those files in violation of a law ordering their full release. More than a dozen survivors of Jeffrey Epstein's sexual abuse have slammed what they call the department's "abnormal and extreme redactions with no explanations."
Over the weekend, the Justice Department removed then restored a photo that included an image of Donald Trump. The Justice Department says it withheld information out of an extreme caution to protect victims.
One survivor, who identifies herself as Jane Doe tells CNN that she was shocked to find her name appearing multiple times in the release files. Last hour, I spoke with fame attorney Gloria Allred, who represents over 20 Epstein survivors.
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GLORIA ALLRED, ATTORNEY: I'm, of course, mostly concerned about the survivors. And we know that, you know, they have been harmed. They have, you know, by Jeffrey Epstein. And some of their names have been put out there without being redacted. That was wrong. It's not compliance with the law.
And a lot of the survivors feel very frustrated. I myself, I'm on the list to be notified by the Department of Justice and I was notified. We provided the names of our clients who wanted to be redacted. We expected them to be redacted. And then, I found out on Saturday the names were in the published files.
MICHAELSON: Yeah. So this --
ALLRED: But I immediately contacted the Department of Justice. They went into action. They have a special team that deals with correcting this. And so, I would suggest any victim, first of all, or survivor who is represented by an attorney should have her attorney contact them immediately without waiting for an invitation to, you know, be asked, do you want anything redacted and bring to their attention.
I think they will deal with it. I like to be fair. I'm not here for politics. I'm here for justice for my clients.
MICHAELSON: Well, sometimes you're here for politics.
ALLRED: Well, yes, but not tonight.
MICHAELSON: So let's be honest.
ALLRED: Right.
MICHAELSON: But the DOJ, when you reached out to them, you felt like they were responsive and they took care of it pretty quickly?
ALLRED: They were. And then they informed me that they had removed the names.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Our thanks to Gloria Allred for joining me. A quick programming note, tomorrow we'll once again have three hours of THE STORY IS as Laura Coates enjoys vacation this week. Join us from 8:00 to 11:00PM Pacific Time or 11:00PM to 2:00AM Eastern Time.
Still ahead this hour, as we approach one year since the devastating Eaton Fire, CNN checks in with displaced survivors in Southern California. And rare moments of hope and resilience in the midst of devastation and misery, look at how Gaza's Christians are celebrating Christmas.
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MICHAELSON: The ceasefire in Gaza has largely been holding, but hundreds of thousands of Palestinians continue to suffer severe daily hardships. But in one corner of the enclave, Gaza's small Christian community still determined to mark Christmas. CNN's Paula Hancocks explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Christmas mass in Gaza this year had many messages. Hope, resilience and a direct response to the US President's early plans for a post-war Gaza. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I remember that during the war, especially at the
beginning, there were plans he transformed near Gaza into a resort. But we are here, we will not build resorts. We will rebuild our lives as we want.
HANCOCKS: The most senior Catholic cleric in the Holy Land traveled to Gaza to support the tiny Christian population, just 1,000 people before the war started in 2023 living among a population of more than 2 million. He states, we are still here, highlighting the fight for survival after two years of war.
CARDINAL PIERBATTISTA PIZZABALLA, LATIN PATRIARCH OF JERUSALEM: Housing, schools, hospitals, the condition of life and poverty are catastrophic.
HANCOCKS: Bells rang out for the baptism of a new baby Mario, marking new life and new hope, the patriarch said. But memories are still fresh of a strike last July on the only Catholic Church in Gaza by the Israeli military, killing at least three people sheltering in the building.
Israel's Prime Minister's Office said at the time that it deeply regretted that stray ammunition hit the church. I was in there, this 11-year-old says, and I was hit by a glass shard in my foot. My wish for the New Year is to get out of here and meet my family outside Gaza and for us all to be at peace.
We're trying to make this prayer more than just a celebration, this woman says. We decorated the tree and did simple decorations. We're trying to make it a spiritual joy.
A rare moment of hope so desperately needed after more than two years of misery. Paula Hancocks, CNN, Abu Dhabi.
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MICHAELSON: Now to Ukraine where President Zelenskyy expressed optimism over negotiations to end the war writing on X, "We are very close to a real outcome. We are also developing the first draft of the agreement on Ukraine's recovery economic strategy."
He also said there are certain points that Ukraine is not prepared to accept and he is sure the same is true for Russia. To that point, a Kremlin spokesperson told a Russian newspaper that the weekend talks in Miami cannot be considered a breakthrough as the war rages on. CNN's Clarissa Ward shows us the dangers and lengths that some Ukrainian men are taking to escape fighting those Russian forces.
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CLARISSA WARD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Dan Benga knows how dangerous these mountains can be. He and his team have rescued hundreds of Ukrainians who try to cross them.
DAN BENGA, DIRECTOR, SALVAMONT MARAMURES MOUNTAIN RESCUE: They don't have knowledge, they don't have experience and they don't have professional equipment because on these mountains you need professional equipment to be alive.
WARD: To survive.
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The Carpathian Mountains that cut along Romania's 400 mile border with Ukraine have become a deadly magnet for Ukrainian men fleeing conscription at home and seeking freedom in the EU.
You can see how steep these mountains are. It is frankly astonishing that up to 100 Ukrainians are making this crossing built every single week.
The risks are huge. Since Russia's invasion in 2022, the Salvamont Mountain Rescue Service has carried out countless perilous missions that have saved 377 Ukrainian lives. The longest operation lasted nearly six days. Not everyone makes it. The Romanian Border police say 29 Ukrainians have died crossing the mountains and the Tisza River that separates the two countries.
BENGA: This is a job were prepared. We are training every day, and this is a job we are doing. Not about being Ukrainian or Russian or American. It's about being human.
WARD: A human being?
BENGA: Yes.
WARD: So if you could deliver a message to the men of Ukraine, would you tell them, stop trying to cross through these mountains, it's too dangerous?
BENGA: I really can't say don't cross the mountains. I can say, take care of you.
WARD: It's a lesson that Dima (sp?), who asked us not to reveal his identity, learned the hard way. He made the crossing shortly after receiving his draft papers early on in the war. Things quickly went wrong when his group got lost.
(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
WARD: No water, no food.
(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
WARD: Just the snow.
(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
WARD: And then did they have to remove all the toes?
(FOREIGN LANGUAGE) WARD: Stories like Dima's (sp?) have done little to stop the flow. According to the Romanian border police, more than 30,000 Ukrainians have entered the country illegally since the war began. Martial law prohibits eligible men between the ages of 23 and 60 from leaving Ukraine. Many see crossing these mountains as their only option.
Numbers are down from their peak in 2024 when the mobilization age was lowered to 25. But even now, as winter sets in, the crossings continue.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Friends this is the place for a proven, safe, reliable and fast way out abroad for men.
WARD: For those who can afford it, some smugglers openly sell their services on TikTok and Telegram. 9,000 Euro to get to Moldova, 12,000 euro, or around $14,000 to Romania. Artem, as he calls himself, says helps facilitate these escapes.
ARTEM, BORDER-CROSSING FACILITATOR: We rescued, I think, more than in this moment, more than 600 people.
WARD: I find it really interesting that you use the word rescue.
ARTEM: of course, because I see the situation like that and I think we rescue people who just want to leave to build their future.
WARD: And what do you say to people who view you and who view those who are trying to leave as traitors?
ARTEM: I don't take care about them, to be honest. I help people. I save people.
WARD: Ukrainian authorities see it differently. Faced with a manpower crisis as the war heads towards its fifth year, men caught trying to leave the country illegally are rounded up. Some have reported being mobilized shortly afterwards.
Hi, Viktor. How are you?
34-year-old Kyiv taxi driver Viktor Pinckasov has just crossed into Romania.
I'm glad you're OK. You survived. How long did it take you?
VIKTOR PINKHASOV, TAXI DRIVER: Five days, four nights.
WARD: Five days, four nights walking through the mountains?
PINCKASOV: Yeah, yeah. Three big mountains.
WARD: He says the journey was tough, but the decision to leave was easy. His five month old daughter Eva is in Switzerland and he has little faith in ongoing negotiations to end the war.
Do you believe that there is going to be peace?
PINKHASOV: No.
WARD: No.
PINKHASOV: I want to believe, but I see nobody wants peace.
WARD: What's the most important reason you left?
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PINKHASOV: My daughter, freedom. I want to leave and understand that I'm free. I can go -- I can't live in prison, I'm freemen
WARD: It is a bleak outlook shared by many Ukrainian men willing to leave their homeland behind to take their futures into their own hands. Clarissa Ward, CNN, Maramures, Romania.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: Our thanks to Carissa for her continued excellent reporting. Still ahead, my interview with "General Hospital" stars Maurice Bernard and Chris McKenna on Life after being diagnosed with bipolar disorder and what they want to do to end the stigma. Stay with me.
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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.
[00:30:13]
The U.S. military has struck another alleged drug boat in the Eastern Pacific. Southern Command says one person was killed. It brings the death toll now to 105 in what the Pentagon calls Operation Southern Spear.
The mission is aimed at stopping the shipment of narcotics, mostly from Venezuela.
At least five people, including a 2-year-old child, were killed when a Mexican naval plane crashed in Texas. The plane was transporting burn victims and went down in the waters of Galveston Bay on Monday afternoon, according to officials.
Search-and-rescue crews recovered two people alive, but one person is still unaccounted for.
Barry Manilow says he will be having surgery after doctors found a cancerous spot on his lung. The 82-year-old singer says he will not be getting chemotherapy or radiation, and doctors don't think that the cancer has spread. Manilow is rescheduling his January concert dates.
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CHRIS MCKENNA, ACTOR: So, I went to two mental institutions, which was really fascinating, and I had a really positive experience. MAURICE BENARD, ACTOR: Oh, you did?
MCKENNA: I did.
BENARD: Wow.
MCKENNA: See, but it's a very different --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Longtime "General Hospital" star Chris McKenna just revealed his own bipolar diagnosis for the first time on the "State of Mind" podcast with fellow General Hospital star Maurice Benard.
Maurice and Chris, both with us. Maurice here in studio. Chris joining us across the country.
Chris, tell us about your diagnosis and why the decision to go public about it?
MCKENNA: Well, I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in my early 40s. At the end of the -- the COVID pandemic, I had an acute episode, which led to finally getting the diagnosis for the disorder I've been living with my whole life, unbeknownst to me.
I've been dealing -- I've been navigating this disorder for decades.
And the episode led to the diagnosis, which led to me finally getting clarity and understanding about what I've always been dealing with.
And I knew once I got my head around what I had been dealing with, that I wanted to tell my story. I knew that it would help people. I knew that my story might not be common, but it's not unique.
And, as soon as I joined "General Hospital" and learned Maurice Benard's story -- I was very aware of Maurice Benard. But I didn't know about his mental health struggles and his platform. And once I discovered that, I knew that I had to have this conversation with him. I knew it would be important.
MICHAELSON: What did it mean for you to have him open up to you?
BENARD: Well, just with what he said, you know it just -- I'm moved. I'm just moved by it. I mean, that -- that he chose "State of Mind" to come out with it.
And it was great, because it was -- I've never talked to another person who's been in a mental institution. And when you got two people that have been in one, it's a great conversation, you know?
MICHAELSON: What -- what's -- Chris, talk to us about the reaction, because it's been a few days now, and I'm sure it must be pretty overwhelming.
MCKENNA: Yes. It's been overwhelmingly positive, but yes, just in the last 36 hours, whatever it's been, it's been so humbling. The amount of love and support I've received, as well as, really importantly, the amount of people who my story resonated with, and the people who say they're inspired by it, and how it helped them understand their loved ones better, who suffer.
It's been, you know -- it was so great. It's been so gratifying. And I'm really proud to have done this, and I'm really grateful to Maurice for providing this. This has been really important.
And it's also the -- the amount of the effect it's having on people is illustrative of how we have to do better in making these conversations happen. Talk about this. Make it feel safe. It shouldn't be an act of bravery to just tell your truth.
MICHAELSON: Well, and Chris, let's talk about sort of the stigma that's around this and what you see as the -- the misconceptions, what people -- you want people to know about people who -- who do have bipolar.
BENARD: Well, I knew very little. Oh, go ahead. Sorry.
MICHAELSON: No. Go ahead, Maurice.
BENARD: Look, the stigma -- I was on "Oprah" about 30 years ago. Oprah Winfrey. And I thought that after that, things would change with being mentally ill, bipolar, whatever. And it kind of didn't.
The only thing that has changed that I see is the pandemic. That opened people's eyes to be -- you know, there are a lot of people who think that anxiety is like, just go take a nap. You'll feel better.
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And a lot of people in the -- in the pandemic felt for the first time what that feeling is like.
And if you look at TV, there's commercials everywhere, you know. "If you have bipolar."
MICHAELSON: Right.
BENARD: "If you have anxiety, depression." And you didn't see that five years ago. So, things are changing. But there's still a lot of work to do.
And I will say this. The work needs to be done with suicide. Right?
MICHAELSON: Yes. And -- and you talked about you'd never talked to somebody in a mental institution before. Chris, what was that like for you, being in a mental institution?
MCKENNA: Yes, I was in two different ones. And I had -- like I told Maurice, I had, overall, a really positive experience. Because once I accepted the diagnosis and realized -- because I knew nothing about bipolar, absolutely nothing. And if I hadn't had that episode, I never would have sought treatment. I never would have believed I had it. I wouldn't have accepted it. So, once I did, and once I started to understand what it is and how,
you know, my symptoms that I thought were just parts of my personality, not a chemical imbalance. Once I understood them, I was a really enthusiastic patient. I wanted to learn everything I could. I wanted to -- you know, there were so many people, some -- who have this.
And, you know, and our experiences are different. Our symptoms are different. Maurice and I are not the same. We're not a monolith. Everyone experiences it a different way.
But I think that there's a lot of people out there who could use help, don't realize they need it, are scared to admit it, are scared of a diagnosis, that it will be a scarlet letter. And it doesn't have to be. So, I do want people to know that.
And yes, the -- when I got out of the mental institution, it was important to me that I wasn't going to live in shame and live in silence. And I was going to share my story, because I knew it would be helpful.
MICHAELSON: And lastly, Maurice, to you, sort of the big takeaway you want people to learn from -- from your podcast, not only this episode, but the concept of it as a whole.
BENARD: Well, I created my podcast right before the pandemic, and I was in the car on Instagram story, just doing eight minutes. And you don't do that. But I saw a following, and I said, OK, this is working.
Then the pandemic hit, but I still did it. Then I went to YouTube, and I started interviewing people in all walks of life. Police officers, UFC fighters.
And the main thing is I want people to -- like. in the interview I had with -- with Chris, I want people to be able to watch that and say to themselves, if he can talk about it, then I can talk about. It. And it's not -- you know, they know me from TV or whatever. And -- and that's what's happened with "State of Mind." It's 99 percent love.
MICHAELSON: We love that. We won't get into the 1 percent. We don't need that. We're trying to keep this positive.
Maurice, thank you so much for what you do.
Chris, thank you for being so open.
You can check out the podcast, "The State of Mind," right now.
And for people that may be struggling with suicide, we want to put this up on the screen. A reminder that the National Suicide Hotline is out there for anybody who needs it.
Thank you so much. We'll be right back.
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MICHAELSON: It's been nearly one year since the Eaton Fire killed 19 people and destroyed thousands of structures in the Pasadena and Altadena neighborhoods, displaced so many families, families that are still fighting with insurance companies. Because while their homes may not have been fully destroyed, they're not safe to live in.
CNN's Julia Vargas Jones joins me now with more on this battle -- Julia.
JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks for having me. Elex.
It's interesting, because these families are saying, basically, we wish our homes had burned down, because that's so much easier to prove for insurance. They're saying, since the beginning of this year, they've been on this long, drawn-out battle.
And now they're also weighing these settlement offers from Southern California Edison. So, we went inside those homes to see how these families are living now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JONES (voice-over): A house frozen in time.
ANDREW WESSELS, EATON FIRE SURVIVOR: The first thing I see every time I have to walk into this house is -- is this Christmas tree and all the ornaments that my kids selected on here, and then the toys that they had just opened up. Nothing like a time capsule. Nothing, basically, has been touched. The only --
JONES (voice-over): Andrew Wessels and his family fled the Eaton Fire nearly a year ago. Their home looks eerily normal, but he says it's poisoned.
WESSELS: Someone tested and found 25 percent ash and soot behind that wall. And so, everything in here, this whole room, is going to be gutted, because there's so much ash.
JONES (voice-over): Among those toxins, he says, are lead at up to 20 times EPA limits in some areas, as well as arsenic, nickel, and other heavy metals. Contamination, Wessels says, makes the house unsafe for his two young children.
WESSELS: Lead and asbestos are not visible, and they're odorless. And so, if I let my baby play on this, they have lead poisoning. And that's --
JONES (voice-over): Wessel says he has moved his family through 12 different homes this year, all while fighting his insurance company to pay for testing, specialized cleanup, and ripping out contaminated material. It's the kind of damage you can't always see, and that's what makes it so hard to prove.
[00:45:07]
WESSELS: If everything had burned down to ash, there'd be no argument.
JONES: The cause of the Eaton Fire is still under investigation, but video from that night shows sparks near Southern California Edison Tower.
After initially denying involvement, Edison now is saying its equipment may have been responsible for the ignition, but the company continues to deny any negligence.
In October, the utility company rolled out a voluntary compensation program, offering a $10,000 flat fee for smoke, ash, infiltration, or soot damage. And for families like the Wessels, $10,000 per adult and $5,000 per child for things like emotional distress.
But to receive payment, survivors must sign a full release, waiving all past and future claims against Edison related to the fire.
JOY CHEN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, EATON FIRE SURVIVORS NETWORK: We are hearing from families jumping at that Edison offer. They're saying, well, I need money, and this is something that I can use to pay my rent for the next two or three months.
JONES (voice-over): Chen represents more than 10,000 fire survivors, many faced with an impossible choice. Take the money and waive their rights or shoulder massive out-of-pocket costs alone.
CHEN: Eighty percent of us are still displaced, and most of us are running out of housing funds. Families without stable housing cannot make free or informed legal decisions.
JONES (voice-over): That is why survivors are now pressing Edison for more generous payments, which the state would reimburse out of a disaster fund.
CHEN: Edison should front up to $200,000 per displaced household in urgent housing relief, based on verified costs. We're not asking Edison to pay for our housing. California created the Wildfire Fund to protect utilities from the fires they caused. There are $19 billion in that fund today.
JONES (voice-over): Edison can only access that money if California Wildfire Fund administrators find them to have acted prudently in relation to the fire.
From Rosanna Valverde's front yard, you can see where the fire began.
ROSANA VALVERDE, EATON FIRE SURVIVOR: It started right up there, right?
JONES: That second tower over there.
JONES (voice-over): When her house was spared, she counted her blessings.
VALVERDE: We thought at first we were so incredibly lucky that our house is saved. And then we found out. Yes, it's saved, but it's a huge task to get all of these heavy metals out of the house.
JONES (voice-over): She says nearly everything inside has to go, including floors that will be ripped out, walls sealed, and an HVAC system that may need to be replaced.
VALVERDE: It would have been easier if it burned down. We had a lot of people that we know who their houses did burn down. And they said, yes, it's easier. And what they're going through is not easy. But they said there -- there isn't as much of a fight, because it's gone completely. Whereas this, they for a long, long time did not want to recognize smoke damage.
JONES: But there's another battle, which is the battle with Southern California Edison. Now, they're offering a settlement, basically. You've decided to not take that.
VALVERDE: That is correct.
JONES: Why is that?
VALVERDE: The offer is $10,000 for the remediation of the house. This is close to 350,000 for all of this. So, $10,000 is not going to do anything.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: Wow. And you've reached out to Southern California Edison to get their side, right?
JONES: We did. And a spokesperson for Edison did say that they continue to encourage those survivors to apply through their system to file a claim. They said they've received, so far, 1,500 claims, and the first payment has already gone out, Elex.
But for Andrew, that was clearly not worth it. He said that he's just now getting contractors to look at his house, and he's hopeful that he'll be able to move back by the spring.
MICHAELSON: Wow. Twelve different homes that he's been in.
And we hear that same thing in the Palisades fire zone, as well. Folks that are dealing with smoke damage saying, I wish my home burned down. It would be simpler. Which is such a horrible thing to have to say.
Julia, thanks for that reporting. Of course, the one-year anniversary of those fires is January 7.
We'll be right back. More of THE STORY IS right after this.
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[00:53:41]
MICHAELSON: Breaking news. The Powerball jackpot will grow to an estimated $1.7 billion for Wednesday's drawing on Christmas Eve, after no one won the grand prize on Monday. Still short of the all-time U.S. Powerball record of $2.4 billion in 2022.
Monday's drawing still produced nine million-dollar winners, so still worth checking out your ticket for this. Winning numbers 3-18-36-41-54 with a red Powerball of 7.
But again, somebody's Christmas present could be $1.7 billion.
Holiday travel rush well underway across the U.S. So far, travelers flying out of Reagan National Airport say things are moving faster than expected.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Easy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was easy?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All things -- Yes, all things considered, I mean, pretty fast. Pretty easy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No one ever says that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I think everybody is in a joyful spirit, and traveling is going smoothly. They really are doing the rearrangements to make sure everything transpired very smoothly. So, I think it went well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: According to Airlines for America, about 52.6 million people are expected to travel this holiday season; 1.5 percent increase from last year.
But airlines are offering more seats per day than last year.
[00:55:03]
There's also been changes to security procedures, like the integration of RealID, the new family-only lines at certain airports, and a promotion for TSA's pre-check program.
"The Nutcracker," it's a Christmas tradition on stages across the world, a winter fantasy filled with magic movement and imbued with childhood wonder.
CNN's Richard quest takes us backstage with Norway's National Ballet in Oslo.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICHARD QUEST, CNN ANCHOR/CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the world of ballet, it doesn't get more Christmas than "The Nutcracker."
The ballet tells the story of a magical world in where toys come to life, fall in love, all while engaging in battles and daring adventures.
The Norwegian National Ballet's interpretation of this famous story is an essential part of Christmas in Oslo.
Before watching the performance, I was invited backstage to meet the company's artistic director. A former dancer, she made sure I stretched properly before the show started. And I'm only in the audience.
QUEST: Oh!
This is the big one. "Nutcracker" at Christmas. How important is it?
INGRID LORENTZEN, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, NORWEGIAN NATIONAL BALLET: It is important in so many ways, because it gathers people, kids, adults, even older ones. And really, it's the moment for everyone to come together.
It is more than a ballet. It's a Christmas tradition.
Of course you have the frame. You have Tchaikovsky. You have everything that people want to see, and then you give them something they didn't expect, which is our little way of Christmas offering.
QUEST: What do you think is a particularly Norwegian way of interpreting it?
LORENTZEN: First of all, we are the national ballet, but we are an international ballet, and I'm so proud of that, that because we carry history, each one of us -- and we are 75 dancers, full orchestra. And then, what is our identity? What is our DNA? And I think that is to give the not suspected. It's to say some hints back to our own history, but also -- maybe also daring to reflect history in our very special way that can't be told, but has to be danced.
QUEST (voice-over): "The Nutcracker" is, in so many ways, the perfect Christmas ballet. And if I hadn't injured myself stretching, I probably could have danced all night.
Richard quest, CNN, in Norway.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: No one says "Nutcracker" quite like Richard Quest. That was something else. Thank you, Richard.
The next hour of THE STORY IS starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON (voice-over): THE STORY IS weather emergency. The latest on the atmospheric river headed to Southern California.
THE STORY IS inside the Border Patrol.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes. MICHAELSON (voice-over): David Culver takes us to the training
academy.
THE STORY IS, what's LeBron James really like? Yaron Weitzman just wrote a book about it, and he's with us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: Live from Los Angeles, THE STORY IS with Elex Michaelson
MICHAELSON: Here in Los Angeles, THE STORY IS the weather. I'm Elex Michaelson.
California facing more heavy rain and threat of flooding in the coming days, especially here in the Southern part of the state. That threat is forecast to reach a rare, high-risk level.
Evacuation warnings have been issued in parts of L.A. County near burn scars amid the rising threat. This comes after Northern California was hit with severe weather over the weekend.
In Shasta County, nearly one month's worth of rain fell over just two days, flooding multiple roadways, stranding motorists -- motorists. You see it there.
Those risks remain the same for the coming storms, including high winds that could knock out power. So, with a look at where everything is headed, we go to Atlanta, where CNN meteorologist Derek van Dam has our report.
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DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: A major weather event will unfold --
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