Return to Transcripts main page
The Story Is with Elex Michaelson
Recovery Coach: How To Maintain Sobriety During The Holidays; Reflecting on LeBron James' NBA Legacy with L.A. Lakers; Record Number of Air Travelers As Holiday Rush Begins; Holiday Trends & Traditions By the Numbers. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired December 23, 2025 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:00]
ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: So with a look at where everything's headed, we go to Atlanta, where CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam has our report.
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: A major weather event will unfold across Southern California this week. Unfortunately, just in time for Christmas Eve, the Weather Prediction Center has issued a very rare high risk of excessive rain that could lead to flash flooding. Let's zoom in to the impacted areas. And keep in mind, this is for Wednesday. Look at the dark shading of purple here.
This is basically following along that east, west trajectory of the Transverse mountain ranges. And it's all about how these mountains will kind of wring out the available moisture of this narrow plume of an atmospheric river that will slam into the region later this week. And that is going to allow for heavy rain to fall in the mountains and along the coastal areas. But of course, the mountains just exacerbate things. The water has to go somewhere and it filters down into the valleys and unfortunately the communities that you and I live in.
So why is this such a big deal? Well, high risks are rarely issued, only about 4 percent of the time, but they account for roughly a third of all flood related fatalities and up to about 80 percent of flood related damages as well. So we need to take them seriously. Take for instance the flooding that we experienced within the past 24 hours or so in Redding, California. This is Northern California associated with our atmospheric river.
And this area was not under a high risk. So taking consideration that we've got a high risk for a large population density, over 5 million people, we need to take this very seriously in and around the greater Los Angeles region. There's the atmospheric river funneling the moisture into California. These weather alerts, the flood alerts really paint a picture here. It goes as far south as the U.S. Mexico border and as far east as Las Vegas and Western Arizona.
So a lot of moisture will stream in as it taps into the moisture here across the eastern Pacific. And again, it's because of the mountain ranges here that it will help wring out the extra heavy rainfall into Southern California right around the greater Los Angeles area. This is for Wednesday, starting really Tuesday night and lasting into Wednesday. And then another round of moisture pumps in for the day on Thursday, that being Christmas Day. Not to mention the heavy snow that will impact travel across the Sierra Nevada mountain ranges.
This could pile up over six to 10ft in some locations, especially those higher elevations. So mountain overpasses will be nearly impossible to travel through once the storm passes. And there's our forecast. Rain and snow accumulation. This is a significant or potentially a significant event.
Again, for much of the state of California, but really focusing in on the southern portions of the state. Back to you.
MICHAELSON: Derek Van Dam, thank you so much.
Last hour I spoke live with Ariel Cohen with the National Weather Service and I asked him for his advice for folks living here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARIEL COHEN, NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE METEOROLOGIST: 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. 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: It's tough for a lot of people to do on Christmas week, though. U.S. 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 U.S. service members were hurt in the mission. That brings the number to 105 people killed in what the Pentagon calls Operation Southern Sphere. The mission started in early September to curtail the shipment of narcotics which the administration says are coming from Venezuela.
President Donald Trump says the U.S. is still actively pursuing an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela. And He says the US will be keeping any oil and seized ships. The U.S. boarded the first of two seized tankers on December 10th amid a massive naval buildup in the Caribbean. 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 voluntarily step down.
The administration is unveiling a new fleet of what they call Trump class battleships. President making an announcement alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. He says they will replace the, quote, "old and tired and obsolete U.S. fleet, revive the shipbuilding industry and inspire fear in America's enemies."
[01:05:02]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: 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 U.S. 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. As you know, he is a fan of gold. He wants them to all be very, quote, "AI controlled."
Over less than a year into President Trump's second term, many Americans are already looking ahead to the 2028 election. According to a new CNN poll, half of Americans say they've given some thought to the race. While most say they don't have a specific candidate in mind, a third say that they do. Among Republicans and right leaning respondents, 22 percent say they want to see the vice president of The United States, J.D. Vance, run. Vance hasn't formally launched a bid and President Trump hasn't endorsed him. But in a major signal to Republicans, Erika Kirk, Charlie Kirk's widow and the new CEO of Turning Points USA, is fully backing the VP.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ERIKA KIRK, CEO, TURNING POINT USA: We are going to get my husband's friend J.D. Vance elected for 48 and the most resounding way possible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: U.S. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are threatening to hold the Justice Department in contempt for its complete release -- its incomplete release of the Epstein files. The debate 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 explanation. 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 what they call extreme caution to protect victims. But one survivor who identifies herself as Jane Doe tells CNN she was shocked to find her name appearing multiple times in the release files. Earlier, I spoke with Democratic House Representative James Walkinshaw and I asked him about the possibility of holding Attorney General Pam Bondi in contempt.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JAMES WALKINSHAW (D-VA): If they continue to violate the law. And when Congress returns in January, I think that's something we absolutely have to pursue. And it's important to note that in the House of Representatives, both inherent contempt and impeachment are privileged motions, which means Speaker Johnson would not be able to prevent a vote on the floor for either of those measures. So if I were a Republican member of Congress close to the White House, which I'm not, but if I were, I would be calling the White House, urging them to ensure the Department of Justice comes into compliance with the law. Otherwise they'll be facing a very uncomfortable vote in January.
MICHAELSON: I mean, speaking to your Republican colleagues, are there the votes for either of those things, contempt or impeachment, which is even higher level?
WALKINSHAW: Well, look, the legislation to release the files passed essentially unanimously in the House of Representatives. I would expect that once again, Republican members of Congress won't want to put Donald Trump's cover up ahead and above the survivors that we're hearing from who are frustrated and outraged by the Department of Justice's failure to comply with the law. So I think there would be bipartisan support for that. I think Republicans will want to avoid having to take that vote and I hope they'll avoid it by coming out publicly and urging the White House to come into compliance with the law as quickly as possible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Our thanks to him for joining us right now. By the way, that interview aired during a special 8:00 p.m. 11:00 p.m. Eastern hour of The Story Is. We'll be back at that time tomorrow as Laura Coates enjoys the night off.
Still to come during this third hour of The Story Is tonight, CNN goes inside the Trump administration's immigration crackdown. Next we'll hear why so many Latinos are joining the Border Patrol. A special look inside. Plus my interview with Pej, a former addict who's now helping others find sobriety as an interventionist and recovery coast. He'll be sharing advice on how those new sobriety can better navigate the holiday triggers.
[01:09:34]
Will join us live. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MICHAELSON: The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is offering $3,000 and a free flight to undocumented migrants who self deport before the end of the year. That's triple the usual cash payment. Trump administration is promising a harsher crackdown on immigration in the New Year. A surge of new recruits attending the U.S. Border Patrol Agency training to join that controversial push. And CNN's David Culver takes us there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID CULVER, CNN SENIOR U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So this is the morning inspection and there's about 1,100 recruits.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You all are a tremendous part of national security. And we sincerely appreciate that you've taken the first step and that you signed up.
CULVER (voice-over): After months of request, we're granted rare access inside the U.S. Border Patrol Academy where under President Donald Trump, the curriculum has changed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the fastest I've ever seen government move.
CULVER (voice-over): One of the biggest changes, a new pursuit policy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our last pursuit policy, we would let them go. So they knew that the Border Patrol would not pursue them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Execute.
CULVER (voice-over): That's no longer the case.
CULVER: Oh, feel that. Oh, yes.
CULVER (voice-over): They're also rolling out new firearms technology for better aim.
AGENT JEREMY DAVID, FIREARMS INSTRUCTOR, U.S. BORDER PATROL ACADEMY: The new implementation is the MRDS, which is a miniature red dot site.
CULVER: Is it a game changer, though, for you?
DAVID: One hundred percent.
CULVER: Really?
DAVID: Yes.
[01:15:00]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What you guys got going on this afternoon?
CULVER (voice-over): Many of the changes paid for, they say, by President Trump's Big Beautiful Bill, which also allocates funding for 3,000 new border patrol agents on top of the more than 19,000 already on the job.
JARED ASHBY, U.S. BORDER PATROL: We'll grow this year to about 17, 1,800 students at any given time here. CULVER: And that's going to be a record high.
ASHBY: That will be a record high.
CULVER (voice-over): Keeping those numbers up requires a major recruiting push.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have an incentive right now that if you graduate the academy, you get $10,000.
CULVER (voice-over): Customs and Border Protection says applications are up nearly 70 percent from a year ago.
CULVER: How old are you now?
JUAN PERALTA, BORDER PATROL RECRUIT: I'm 20.
CULVER: You're 20?
PERALTA: Yes.
CULVER: Wouldn't you tell your friends back home, like, I'm joining Border Patrol? Are some, like, surprised?
PERALTA: Yes. They're kind of like, wow, you're starting pretty young. Or, how do you feel about arresting your own kind?
CULVER: How do you answer that when you hear that?
PERALTA: They didn't come in the right way, so they aren't my kind.
CULVER (voice-over): Juan's story may surprise you. Latino, the son of an immigrant raised in a border town. But here we find that's more common than you might think.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How many of you are fluent in Spanish right now?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nativos. Good. Most.
CULVER (voice-over): CBP says more than half of their agents serving along the southern border are Hispanic.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who was born and raised along the border? Yes. Good. Good group.
CULVER (voice-over): To better understand what motivates them to join, we go to El Paso, Texas.
ZIPPORAH RIOS, EL PASO RESIDENT: We have friends who, like older siblings who are in Border Patrol. They're going into Border Patrol. I have a cousin, actually, that's in Georgia doing the training to do Border Patrol and then come back here.
CULVER (voice-over): Increasingly, Border Patrol agents are being pulled into ICE operations far from the border controversial and at times violent. CULVER: Is that the Border Patrol you know? Is that what you're accustomed to here?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: From what I have seen on social media, that definitely doesn't look like something our Border Patrol would be doing or how they would behaving.
CULVER: And do you think most of them are motivated by it being a good career opportunity?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think so.
RIOS: For sure. For sure.
CULVER (voice-over): And just as they can see why some here sign up for Border Patrol, they also sympathize with migrants trying to do it the right way, legally.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And then you see people that are getting arrested --
RIOS: Who are going to the process --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- at court because they're, like, going through their --
RIOS: They're trying to go to the process of trying to get their citizenship and doing it the right way (inaudible), you know?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And they still get detained.
CULVER: Don't -- no.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sorry. I get emotional.
CULVER (voice-over): We see that in the halls just outside of El Paso's immigration courtrooms where volunteers prepare folks for their hearings.
CULVER: So we're going to go see somebody just stepped out of court here and might be detained by the federal agents, which is an ICE initiative. But we're told Border Patrol agents are supporting this.
CULVER (voice-over): You can hear one of the volunteers praying aloud.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hail Mary, full of grace.
Blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus --
CULVER (voice-over): They took the son into custody and then step back out, realizing his mother was also on their list.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think this is violent. Them just standing right here is violent.
CULVER: You really wonder why are they doing this.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. I do get upset and I just tell them this mom, this family, they're not criminals.
CLAUDIO HERRERA, U.S. BORDER PATROL AGENT: I'm not going after my own kind, because my own kind will do it legally.
CULVER (voice-over): Born in Mexico, agent Claudio Herrera first came to the U.S. as a student. He says it took him 11 years to become a citizen. And six years ago, he joined the Border Patrol.
HERRERA: I've been asked sometimes before in my past, aren't you ashamed of being apprehending your own blood?
CULVER: What do you say to that? How do you answer that?
HERRERA: I say of course not, because I'm protecting my community. My deepest advice to anybody that is coming from Mexico, we know that you want a better future for you and your family. But if you decide to do it illegally, you will only find jail or you will only find death.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CULVER (on camera): We found that even with all the debate and tension right now around deporting migrants, interest in joining the agency has not necessarily dropped off. But most of the potential candidates we spoke with stressed that deportations are not what's attracting them to Border Patrol. Instead, they pointed to the new financial incentives, efforts to stop drugs from getting into the U.S. and what one candidate described as a job that means both enforcing the law and, as he sees it, helping migrants navigate legal pathways into the U.S.
David Culver, CNN.
MICHAELSON: Thanks to David for fantastic reporting there. Wow.
Tonight, we are hearing from a man whose addiction took him to the lowest of lows. By age 35, Pej Alaghamandan was homeless, living out of his car, showering at public pools. Even then, he says he didn't realize how bad it had gotten. Today, Pej is a professional interventionist, going directly into homeless encampments, talking to people in active addiction and trying to reach them where they are.
[01:20:20]
Pej is now more than 18 years sober. During the holidays, when relapse and overdose risks spike, his work feels especially urgent.
Interventionist and recovery coach Pej is here now with me in the studio. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you for the work that you do.
For people that may not be that familiar with your story, can you give us sort of the brief version of it? PEJMAN "PEJ" ALAGHAMANDAN, INTERVENTIONIST & RECOVERY COACH: Yes. I mean, I was in active addiction. I carried a lot of trauma, as do most addicts and alcoholics. Eighteen years I was in active addiction, and now I'm 18 plus years sober. You know, it was really rough. I grew up in a very abusive home.
Also abused here by various people as a person that was from a different country. I'm Iranian, I'm Persian, but born in Germany and raised in the States since the time I was five. And it was kind of rough for a while, but, you know, I made it through and I came out alive.
MICHAELSON: And in some ways, you felt like you weren't -- didn't have it as bad as some of the people you met on skid row, though, right?
ALAGHAMANDAN: I mean, I was homeless, too. I guess I had a car, so that was my little house.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
ALAGHAMANDAN: But, yes, I mean, I never want to forget where I came from.
MICHAELSON: And you go back there?
ALAGHAMANDAN: I go back there a lot. I'm in skid row.
MICHAELSON: I mean, what's it like when you're there now, having lived that experience, being on the other side?
ALAGHAMANDAN: I mean, it's like a third world country. People are zombified. Nobody's well, you know, it's either mental health and addiction or one or the other or both together coupled.
MICHAELSON: How do you think we get out of that?
ALAGHAMANDAN: Oh, man. I mean, I wish we could get out of it. I do see that there are a lot of organizations that are building down there and trying to help. But, you know, my job is to try to find certain individuals because there are family members who have a loved one that ends up down there and many -- in many different parts of metropolitan cities throughout the country. But not just in those types of places, even within their homes.
MICHAELSON: Sometimes it's hard for them to find their own family members or they know that they're out there and there's like nothing that they can do.
ALAGHAMANDAN: Lost.
MICHAELSON: That's (inaudible) --
ALAGHAMANDAN: Lost souls.
MICHAELSON: Meanwhile, sort of the more traditional family arrangement is it's the holiday time, people come back, you're sitting around the table, people start drinking, people are nervous about the awkwardness. And sometimes a family, it can be triggering to a lot of people.
ALAGHAMANDAN: Absolutely.
MICHAELSON: What's your advice for people about to have triggers when it comes to addiction?
ALAGHAMANDAN: Well, I mean, if you are a person that's newly sober, you always have the right to not put yourself in that environment for too long. If it's triggering, if you see people are drinking and they can't respect your recovery, then you can leave early. And then if you are a family member that is bringing somebody that's newly sober into your home, it would be nice to respect their recovery and know that they could get triggered. And just because you guys can all drink doesn't mean that they should be exposed to it for too long.
MICHAELSON: Meaning maybe don't serve alcohol or something.
ALAGHAMANDAN: Maybe just keep it out of the sight or don't even have it there at all.
ALAGHAMANDAN: I mean, what do you -- what do you typically see around the holiday time? And what most gets people triggered?
ALAGHAMANDAN: We call it squirrely. Getting squirrely. A lot of people start to feel a way of sorts because it's the holidays. Everybody seems to be festive and having a lot of fun and there are, you know, they're partaking and drinking and things like that. And so a lot of people, if they don't really -- if they're not spiritually fit, they might end up relapsing.
So we see a lot of relapse around the holidays. A lot of people that end up just throwing it all away. Especially New Year's too.
MICHAELSON: Yes, New Year's is like every trigger you could possibly have.
ALAGHAMANDAN: Come on, everyone's partying.
MICHAELSON: Everybody's drinking, everybody's partying. Plus it's really reflective and usually makes you feel bad about yourself. At least that was my New Year's experience.
ALAGHAMANDAN: Sure.
MICHAELSON: And it can be -- it'd be a lot. So you're a, like a professional interventionist. People call you all the time --
ALAGHAMANDAN: Yes.
MICHAELSON: -- to have help with an intervention. What's your advice in that space? Because so many of those don't work, right?
ALAGHAMANDAN: Well, a lot of them actually do work. I'm part of a team called Intervention on Call and we do a lot of family recovery coaching. We try to teach people the do's and the don'ts of trying to help people. There are people that contact us constantly. We put on a lot of free Zoom type classes.
And then on top of that, the people that are calling me will just try to, you know, how do you -- how do you deal with this situation? If they're at their wits end, then they hire me to actually come out. But sometimes we just teach them how to do interventions right through our classes.
MICHAELSON: Yes. Talk to us about your podcast.
ALAGHAMANDAN: My podcast is called "Primary Purpose with Pej," P-E-J, which is my name. And we get people from all walks of life, many addicts and alcoholics that are in recovery, but also a lot of professional people, a lot of addictionologists, therapists, people like that. And then people that, you know, deep thinkers, a lot of, you know, visionaries, people that are doing different things in their lives. It's a great podcast. It is in all different podcast platforms.
[01:25:06]
MICHAELSON: What's the most important thing think you've learned from going through that experience and talking to all those people?
ALAGHAMANDAN: I'm constantly learning. I remain a student. I'm always learning from the guests that I have. I'm inspired. I -- you know, they inspire me because I see the miracles that can happen in people's lives.
I've seen people that were in the throes of their addiction, that were dying from alcoholism or fentanyl addiction or in psychosis. I just had a guest on recently that was in full blown psychosis that completely transformed his life. He's got, you know, a bunch of years sober now and he's doing big things.
MICHAELSON: So it seems like one of those lessons is there's reason to be hopeful.
ALAGHAMANDAN: Always, always keep the hope.
MICHAELSON: Yes. Well, Pej, congratulations on your success and all the inspiration that you provide to so many people.
ALAGHAMANDAN: Thank you so much for having me on.
MICHAELSON: Really appreciate it. Thanks so much. And happy holidays to you.
ALAGHAMANDAN: Happy holidays to you.
MICHAELSON: All right, coming up, NBA legend LeBron James is proving he's still a star as he continues one of the longest, most impressive careers in the history of any sport, not only basketball. After the break, we examine his legacy, his future with the Lakers. There's an author who wrote a new book that gets all into the dirt. The Lakers don't want it out there, but everybody else does because there's a lot of good stuff in there. Yaron Weitzman with us next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:30:44]
ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to the -- welcome back to THE STORY IS. I'm Elex Michaelson.
Let's take a look at today's top stories.
The U.S. military has struck another alleged drug boat in the eastern Pacific. Southern Command says one person was killed. That 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.
Heavy rains, potentially life-threatening flooding in the forecast for parts of California in the coming days. The southern part of the state where I am right now has reached a rare, high-risk level for the severe weather. It comes after a weekend of rain and flooding across northern California.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a pill version of the popular weight loss drug Wegovy. Currently, patients need a weekly injection to take the drug. It's a man-made version of a hormone the body produces naturally to regulate food intake. The daily pill will be available by prescription in the U.S. in January.
And my favorite story of the night. Nobody won the Powerball again. Can you believe it? So that means the jackpot for Christmas Eve -- this is a Christmas present potentially to somebody -- is $1.7 billion. So they're still short though, of the all-time U.S. Powerball record, which was $2.4 billion. That was back in 2022.
Monday's drawing -- there's still nine different people that won the million-dollar win. So check your tickets because that would be still pretty nice. Nice Christmas present, huh?
Those winning numbers are 3, 18, 36, 41, 54 with a red Powerball of 7. But again, nobody won the big thing. So $1.7 billion, the deadline is Christmas Eve.
What would you do? What would you do with all that money? Who would think about that? That is more than a stocking stuffer. And it is crazy that we've been going on now for months when nobody's won it.
So I don't know if you're like us where you've got the group thing at work, where you keep putting $5 and $5 and $5, and you think about all the money you could have actually used that for. But it is still so much fun. Good luck everybody.
LeBron James is one of the most famous, successful, and polarizing athletes in modern history. But what's he really like behind the scenes? That's among the topics in Yaron Weitzman's new book, "A Hollywood Ending: The Dreams and Drama of the LeBron Lakers".
Yaron Weitzman joins me now from New York. Welcome to THE STORY IS for the first time and congrats on the book.
YARON WEITZMAN, AUTHOR, "A HOLLYWOOD ENDING: THE DREAMS AND DRAMA OF THE LEBRON LAKERS": Thank you. I appreciate it.
MICHAELSON: And it's very honest in a way that a lot of books aren't. Jeff Pearlman, who was just on our show last week talking about his Tupac book, who wrote multiple books on the Lakers, said, in the age of ass-kissing biography, along comes Yaron Weitzman with "A Hollywood Ending", a raw, unflinching look at the LeBron Lakers that rendered basketball fans riveted and team executives seething. This is how it should be done. Which is --
(CROSSTALKING)
WEITZMAN: Jeff's a good friend, yes. Jeff's a good friend, exactly.
MICHAELSON: Quite a review.
So LeBron James evokes powerful reactions from NBA fans. Some see him as the greatest of all time. Some see him as an incredible leader. Others see him as selfish, opportunist.
How do you see him? What's he really like as a teammate?
WEITZMAN: As a teammate. So he's really complicated. The term I've landed on as a teammate and he -- and or I should say, people around him pushed back on this, but there's a bit of a front runner aspect to him.
And what I mean by that is like when he thinks the team has a legitimate shot of winning a title, and we saw that even before the bubble in the lead up to -- in the 2019 preseason, he is as good a leader as can be.
He's, you know, organizing team activities and pregame training stuff, and going around and patting everyone on the back, and parties and all that kind of stuff.
[013449]
WEITZMAN: Why I say front runner is if he kind of doesn't feel like the team is, you know, good enough, whatever that means for him and a legitimate championship contender like we saw during his first season in L.A., he can sort of check out.
And we saw that in that first season. It caused a lot of strife, the idea that he was pushing for his teammates to be traded for Anthony Davis. And his body language, you know, has been known to not be great. And guys will see the slumped shoulders and things like that. And it's just he's really interesting and complicated like that.
MICHAELSON: Yes. And we know one teammate he didn't have an especially great relationship with was Russell Westbrook. And you explore this idea of how he joined the team. You say now a lot of the executives all point fingers at each other. It was your fault. It was your fault. It was your fault. WEITZMAN: Right.
MICHAELSON: A lot of people have blamed LeBron over the years for that as well. And you report on an incident that's gotten a lot of attention, which involved Will Smith, Russell Westbrook and LeBron James. What happened there?
WEITZMAN: It's one of my favorite -- I'm sorry as it falls out of my ear, I apologize -- it's one of my favorite book stories, right.
Russell Westbrook's second season in L.A. The Lakers had traded for him at the behest of LeBron, right. That's one of the important parts that you mentioned. You know, everyone blames each other.
The Lakers and Rob Pelinka were in on the deal. But it was at the behest of LeBron as well. And there's -- it's year two and things aren't going great. And Westbrook, there's a pregame meeting or a practice I should say.
And the Lakers, they are going to bring in Will Smith to kind of speak to the group. They do this thing called the genius series. It's very Lakers where they bring in luminaries like The Rock and Kendrick Lamar and Elon Musk before, you know, this version of Elon Musk, to come in and address the team and they're going to bring Will Smith in.
And there's a pregame session. Darvin Ham goes out and says ok I'm going to get Will Smith. And as soon as he goes out to get him, LeBron gets out and says, ok guys, I'm out of here. You got this.
I guess he was a little frustrated, wasn't really in the mood. Anthony Davis says, ok, I'm out of here as well. And Westbrook is like, ok, I guess I should go too. He ended up not going.
Darvin Ham, I still don't know how he did it. He went out the back and somehow got LeBron and Anthony Davis to come back. To me that's a failure of my reporting, right. Not knowing how he kind of convinced them to come back.
They do. And this is the part where Westbrook gets angry, right. Will Smith does this 30-minute speech. And at the end he goes does anyone have any questions. And one hand goes up again and again and again and again. And it's LeBron's.
And he's having all -- he has all these questions. And the way it was described to me is Westbrook is sitting there and teammates could see the, you know, the steam coming out of his ears. Just the anger brewing. And he's picking angrily at a bowl of fruit.
And I saw you flash it. One of the funniest parts is that the Lakers do a team picture later. And it kind of got picked up at the time, and you could see Westbrook scowling there. And it turns out that it wasn't random. It was, you know, he told a teammate afterwards he goes I hate that fake bleep.
And it was just this idea that LeBron there's a -- there's a picture, it's so good I love it. There's an aspect of, you know, some around him will say there's a bit of a phoniness to him.
Now people close to him will say you know this happens when you're in the public light for so many years, and this is just part of the deal. And, you know, it was positioned to me that like, ok, he didn't want to be there. Something to be said about being professional and, you know, raising his hand and being respectful to Will Smith. But that's just not how his teammates took it.
MICHAELSON: Yes. So we know that that the trade to get Anthony Davis worked out better than the trade to get Russell Westbrook. And then the trade of Anthony Davis has worked out better than that trade too.
Anthony Davis, LeBron's best friend on the team traded for Luka Doncic which shocks everybody in the NBA. And there's been a big debate about did LeBron really know about this. But you got access to the Lakers group chat?
WEITZMAN: Yes, I love this. For two reasons.
One, one of the big takeaways for me from the book was that this idea that LeBron is (INAUDIBLE) clutch run the Lakers. It's overblown. The Lakers were always willing to give him certain things like drafting his son, right, Bronny? That's an obvious one.
But you know, big moves, whether its hiring a coach he wants like Ty Lue or making other trades, they weren't budging. And they, you know, they weren't doing what he wanted. And this is a great example, right.
So how did LeBron find out about the -- about the AD trade. My, you know, it was explained to me is that the night that tweet went out in New York City, the Lakers were in New York City, kind of all at dinner after a game against the Knicks. And the night that tweet went out from ESPN's Shams Charania (ph) that many thought was a fake tweet, that he was hacked.
Bronny put it in the Lakers group chat and said, is this real? LeBron shared a WTF AD, said that these blank words just trade me. He left the chat. LeBron said he wasn't happy.
It's unclear, like he might have found out three minutes before via a phone call from Lakers GM Rob Pelinka, but this was within that five- minute window, and it just shows you the Lakers.
I mean, to me, it's interesting for two things, right? It shows you that the Lakers were the ones running things. And LeBron is not sort of the shadow GM there.
And also to the point that like, you know, once they were able to get a new superstar to build everything (ph) around, Luka Doncic in this case, they were ok sort of treating LeBron just like another player and not sort of as this marquee guy who everything has to be filtered through.
MICHAELSON: And he lost some of that leverage. So now we're in this situation with Luka Doncic, who's going to be the long-term star of the Lakers. LeBron is 41 years old, doing unbelievable things for somebody that age. But clearly on the backside of his career.
[01:39:51]
MICHAELSON: Do you think this is LeBron's last year with the Lakers?
WEITZMAN: With the Lakers, I'm glad you asked that because I was going to say I don't think it's his last year. My guess, and I don't know, my guess would be that we would see sort of a farewell tour from him announced before the season. The fact that he hasn't announced that yet makes me think we're going to get another year.
When I'm asked this question, I sort of hedge and I say, I'm not sure, but the reason -- I don't think he knows yet, right? I think what we're sort of seeing from him is him figuring out how to deal with this new phase of his career and really his life.
The idea that he's not the -- he's not the main guy anymore. He's never had that. He's never had that his entire professional career. And Luka is clearly that main guy.
LeBron is on an expiring contract. This is the first time in his career that he's on expiring contract. He does not have the power.
And I think we've seen -- we've seen him sort of figuring out how to deal with that from his agent, Rich Paul's strange comments in the offseason after LeBron opted in.
And then they're saying, you know, LeBron's focused on winning even though the team has Luka Doncic. I don't know how they could be more focused on winning than that.
Then he comes in and says, I'm happy, I'm 40. I love my wife. He's kind of all over the place. We're seeing him waver a little bit.
So I don't think he knows. I think the Lakers have made it pretty clear that they are ready to move on. I mean, every time Rob Pelinka, general manager, is asked about it, he sort of hedges and says, we love LeBron. I think on media day, the quote was "We'd love LeBron to finish his story with us".
MICHAELSON: Yes.
WEITZMAN: I joked that in parentheses -- and we'd love that story to end now, right, after this season.
To me it's the Lakers or Cavs and that's kind of it. So we'll see.
MICHAELSON: And well see if he's maybe willing to take a pay cut.
WEITZMAN: Correct.
MICHAELSON: Because that's what the Lakers would need him to do. And he hasn't necessarily done that in his career so far. But we'll see. His son's also playing for the team.
Congratulations again. The book "A Hollywood Ending: The Dreams and Drama of the LeBron Lakers" Yaron Weitzman -- great, great job. Thanks so much.
WEITZMAN: Thank you. I appreciate it.
MICHAELSON: That's it for us. For our international viewers, WORLDSPORT is next. For our viewers here in North America, I'll be back with more of THE STORY IS.
[01:41:45]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MICHAELSON: A live picture at LAX where you see the traffic starting to dissipate. Usually it's really bad from about 9:00 to 10:30. Now, some of the people arriving for the red eye flights happening right now.
You know, this is going to be more complicated because heavy rains and potentially life-threatening flooding in the forecast for parts of southern California over the next few days.
Evacuation warnings have been issued in parts of L.A. County near burn scars. Amid the rising threat, worries that the ground isn't going to be able to hold all the water. And so all that could impact the travel picture.
Meanwhile, a live picture from the Bay Area. This is the Bay Bridge in San Francisco. They were hit with severe weather over the weekend. Right now not raining currently in San Francisco or Los Angeles at 10:46 at night.
As we know, the holiday travel rush well underway. So far travelers flying out of Reagan in D.C. say things there are better than expected.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was pretty easy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was easy. All things.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 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. 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.
Airlines are offering more seats per day than last year. There have also been changes to security procedures like integration of real ID.
A new family-only lines at certain airports and a promotion for the TSA precheck program, which of course is the way to go.
Up ahead, we will look at some age-old holiday trends and traditions, see how they've changed over the years. Nobody to me, more is the face of Christmas than Harry Enten known as Hanukkah Harry Enten. We'll have his story when we come back.
[01:47:49]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MICHAELSON: Well, on the East Coast, it's already Christmas Eve eve, and there are so many holiday debates, like is "Die Hard" a Christmas movie? What's the best Christmas song?
CNN's chief data analyst Harry Enten digs into the numbers for all of us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HARRY ENTEN, CNN's chief data analyst: When we're talking Christmas time, we got to talk about the tree. And when it comes to trees, I was interested.
Do folks actually have a real one or an artificial one? Or maybe no tree at all? And the numbers surprise me. Why do I say they surprise me? Because get this.
Yes, the majority of Americans do in fact have a Christmas tree. But the majority of Americans have an artificial tree at 55 percent. We are talking about just 22 percent who have a real Christmas tree.
I -- not one of them, but I see them all the time out there, out on 10th Avenue here in New York City. People lining up to buy them. But those who are buying them are actually outnumbered by a margin of greater than 2 to 1 who have the artificial tree.
And then you get 22 percent who don't have any tree at all.
Now, if you have a tree, you got to put gifts underneath the tree, right? So what happens, though, when you get a gift that you don't like? Look, it happens to all of us, right?
This leaves us in a bit of a dilemma. Do you a, keep it; b, return it; or c, regift it. Well, it turns out, get this, 49 percent of Americans actually keep a gift that they don't like. What are we nuts? This is nutter-butter out there. We shouldn't keep gifts that we don't like.
Then were talking 31 percent who return. I think this is the best option, right? 31 percent, though less than a third, actually do what in my opinion, is the right option. Then we get 16 percent who actually regift a gift that they get that
they don't like. Now, if I were to look on the positive side of the ledger, that is, I am spreading joy to others in my life, right, by giving them a gift. If I were to look at the negative side though, what I would say in this situation is we're giving somebody else a bad gift. We're giving them a bad gift, a gift that we know is no good.
But you know what? It's the holiday season, so I'll say we're giving. We're spreading joy. We're spreading joy.
Now beyond gifts, right? We always like to watch a good Christmas film. What are our favorites? Well, let's take a look here.
Number one, not much of a surprise, "It's A Wonderful Life" coming in at 9 percent. I mean, it's a classic, right? With Jimmy Stewart, it's a classic.
Coming in at 7 percent. "How The Grinch Stole Christmas". It's a pretty gosh darn good film. I remember seeing it in theaters with Jim Carrey.
Then tied 7 percent "A Christmas Story". I mean, you know, it repeats on cable every single year. There's no way -- there's no way you can miss it during the Christmas time of the year. I know I've seen it multiple, multiple times on cable.
Now, if you're going to watch a Christmas movie, right, one thing you absolutely need to have is something to nosh on, something to eat.
How about a good old Christmas cookie? And what are our favorite Christmas cookies?
[01:54:48]
ENTEN: Well, chocolate chip comes in at number one. I mean, that makes a lot of sense, right?
But it's not actually my favorite. My favorite, sugar cookie. That comes in at number two.
But I mean, who can forget breaking open the Pillsbury, right, then having a little cookie dough before you actually put the cookies into the oven, and then waiting for it, waiting for it, waiting for it. And then you get that nice, delicious sugar cookie.
Then finally coming in at number three, how about a fudge cookie? You know, I like chocolate, I like chocolate, so you know what I think I probably ranked sugar as number one. Chocolate chip is number two. I think fudge is pretty gosh darn in the right place at number three.
Now finally, you'll notice, you know, I'm wearing a Christmas sweater, but I'm also wearing -- also wearing the Hanukkah hat that says oy to the world, oy to the world.
And you know what? Here's an oy to the world stat for you. Google searches for Latke. You got to have a potato Latke during the Hanukkah season, right? And during Hanukkah, get this Google searches for Latke through the roof, up over 1,000 percent in a given year.
And finally, the last thing ill note I spelled Hanukkah a little interesting here. There's no right way to spell it. There's no right way to spell it. I like it with a q, because you know what? I'm a little bit different.
But all of us, those who are different from each other, can all come together during the holiday season. And I wish you and yours a very great season's greetings.
Back to you, my friend.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: Happy Hanukkah, Harry.
But there is a wrong way to spell it, and that's the wrong way to spell it. There's no right way to spell it, but that -- I've never seen that before.
Thanks to everybody who's been with us for the last three hours. Here's some of the notes that we have. We'll do it. We'll do it again tomorrow. We'll see you at 8:00 p.m. Pacific for three hours of THE STORY IS. Thanks.
[01:56:34]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
