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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson
CIA Conducted Drone Strike On Port In Venezuela; U.S. President Meets With Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu; China Military Drills To Disrupt International Flights To, From Taiwan; Anthony Joshua Hurt In Car Crash That Killed 2 In Nigeria; FBI, DHS Escalate Fraud Crackdown Into Minnesota; 2025 Was the Year of the Sitcom Reboot; Scotland Celebrates the New Year with Hogmanay; Second Pilot Dies after Helicopters Collide over New Jersey; Missing Texas Teen Believed to be in Imminent Danger; New Documentary Follows Life and Career of Comedy Legend Chevy Chase. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired December 30, 2025 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The first person to enter your house on January 1st might influence your year. Traditionally, it should be a tall, dark haired man coming with gifts including a coin, some shortbread, coal and whiskey for good fortune, superstitions, traditions, celebrations, however you want to mark the new year, we'll leave it to you.
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ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: Preparations are underway right now in Pasadena for the 137th Tournament of Roses Parade. You can spend New Year's Day with CNN as well. Coy Wire and I will be hosting the Rose Parade coverage, the first time it has ever been on CNN.
Coverage begins January 1, 11:00 a.m. in New York, 8:00 a.m. here in Southern California. We hope you'll join us for that. Thanks for watching this hour of The Story Is. The next hour starts right now.
The story is a CNN exclusive, a drone strike carried out by the CIA in Venezuela with U.S. retired Marine Lt. Col. Hal Kempfer.
The story is deadly crash, boxing champ Anthony Joshua injured his friends killed in a horrific incident in Nigeria. Larry Madowo reports from Africa. And
The story is Avatar soaring, Segun Oduolowu, the box office smash and what's ahead for the movies in 2026.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Los Angeles, The Story Is with Elex Michaelson.
MICHAELSON: And welcome to The Story Is. I'm Elex Michaelson. The top story is a CNN exclusive. Sources telling CNN exclusively that earlier this month the CIA carried out a drone strike on a port facility on the coast of Venezuela. This comes as President Donald Trump told reporters on Monday that the U.S. took out a big facility tied to suspected drug boats.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: There was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs. They load the boats up with drugs. So we hit all the boats and now we hit the area. It's the implementation area. That's where they implement and that is no longer around.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: If true, that marks the first known U.S. operation to target inside the country and it could dramatically escalate tensions. U.S. Special Operations forces denied involvement after sources said they provided intelligence to support the strike on the remote dock.
So far, Venezuela has not confirmed any major facility being destroyed. CNN is currently reaching out to the White House and Southern Command for clarity after the CIA declined to comment.
The U.S. military also carried out yet another deadly strike on an alleged drug boat international waters on Monday, this time in the Eastern Pacific, according to U.S. Southern Command, which reports that two men were killed in that attack as the U.S. continues to ramp up pressure on alleged narco trafficking, the total death toll under Operation Southern Spear now rises to at least 107.
So many live now for perspective, retired U.S. marine intelligence officer Lieutenant Colonel Hal Kempfer. Hal, welcome back to The Story Is.
LT. COL. HAL KEMPFER, U.S. MATINE INTELLIGENCE OFFICER (RET.): Great to be here, Elex.
MICHAELSON: Talk to us about what's different about this strike in Venezuela. Why is it so significant?
KEMPFER: Well, Elex, as you've seen, the strikes have always been international waters, which means they're not in the territorial waters of Venezuela, nor are they on the territory of Venezuela. We've been hitting boats, we've had what's called go fast boats, those open boats with lots of outboard engines. And we've been hitting the semi submersibles which kind of look like a submarine but they don't completely submerge.
That's what we've been hitting. But we've been waiting until they get into international waters. Avoiding a strike on the sovereign territory or sovereign lands and waters of Venezuela. This is a first strike that we've actually done on Venezuelan soil. And as such, the blockade itself that we have could be construed as an act of war. But when you do a military strike on foreign soil, that's almost always considered an act of war.
MICHAELSON: So does that mean are we at war right now with Venezuela? KEMPFER: Well, Venezuela hasn't said anything about it. They've been
saying very quiet fact, strangely staying extremely quiet. I would have expected that when they got hit they would have said something. I think Maduro is very concerned that this could cause a great deal of uncertainty with the cartels, also maybe stir up the Venezuelan people. They may say, hey, the time is nigh, you know, that it's time to go out to the streets or something like that.
So they're staying very, very quiet about this. Of course, the odd thing is that we all kind of pointed out when back when President Trump said he'd authorize the CIA to do covert operations in Venezuela is we don't usually broadcast that we're doing covert operations in another country, hence the definition of the term.
[01:05:06]
But he did, and now he's talked about this strike, which was done using CIA covert operational capabilities. It's a little bit different, but it does have a psychological aspect to it, and it's part of the campaign to pressure Maduro to leave office.
MICHAELSON: Yes. So why is the CIA doing this and not the Navy?
KEMPFER: Well, it could be for a variety of reasons. Number one is when you use CIA operations, depending on how they structure it, if something goes wrong, they tend to be a little bit more easily denied. And that's the nature of covert operations. And the CIA can do stuff like that.
When you have Navy platforms going to do strikes, it's a Navy platform. There's nothing denying that it's a U.S. military platform. So that could be one reason.
There's also been a number of other activities down there which have been alleged to be by the CIA. I always take that a great deal of skepticism if you've ever spent time in Latin America, due to our history in that part of the world. A lot of times they see CIA behind every American presence doing everything, and it's not.
But there has been some stuff to indicate there's a lot of activities that are going on besides this one. So it could be that. And it also could be that there's just an opportunistic capability, maybe a clandestine airfield where they launch drones, recover drones nearby. That just made a lot easier to do a strike mission like this.
MICHAELSON: And finally, real concisely, what's next? Where do we go from here?
KEMPFER: Well, the next thing. Are we going to continue? We'll be doing more strikes on land. Will we be hitting more facilities? We've kind of crossed the threshold. Even though this came out a little bit later. You know, it's -- they were just admitting this took place, but it took place earlier in the month.
The question is, are we going to start hitting more of these cartel facilities? And could it be production facilities? Could it be supply chain facilities further in, could it be facilities tied in close to the Maduro regime? That's the next question. We're going to find out how.
MICHAELSON: Hal Kempfer, thanks so much. Appreciate your perspective. Thanks so much. Appreciate your perspective.
KEMPFER: Thank you, Elex.
MICHAELSON: Our other big story is President Trump's meeting with the prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu. The two leaders holding a private lunch. President Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort on Monday, where Netanyahu announced that Trump would receive the Israel Prize for Peace, which is the first time that the country's highest civilian excellence honor will be awarded to a non-Israeli citizen. President Trump called Netanyahu a strong leader.
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TRUMP: The relationship's been extraordinary. And Bibi is a strong man. He can be very difficult on occasion, but you need a strong man. If you had a weak man, you wouldn't have Israel right now. Israel would have been, you know, Israel, with most other leaders, would not exist today.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: I think Israel is very blessed to have President Trump leading the United States and I'll say leading the free world at this time. I think it's not merely Israel's great fortune. I think it's the world's great fortune.
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MICHAELSON: President Trump downplayed the lack of progress with the Gaza ceasefire agreement, saying the plan's success hinges on Hamas agreeing to disarm.
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TRUMP: If they don't disarm as they agreed to do, they agreed to it, and then they'll be held to pay for them.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you don't see Hamas disarm in that short amount of time they're giving them, can you tell us what the next steps?
TRUMP: It would be horrible for them. Horrible. Going to be really, really bad for them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: President Trump did, however, acknowledge ongoing disagreements between the U.S. and Israel over the occupied West Bank.
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TRUMP: Yes? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, did you have a message for the prime minister about the West Bank? And are you at all concerned that settler violence, Israeli settler violence, could be undermining the peace plan that you've made?
TRUMP: Well, we have had a discussion, big discussion for a long time on the West Bank, and I wouldn't say we agree on the West Bank 100 percent, but we will come to a conclusion on the West Bank.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If I could ask, what is the disagreement?
TRUMP: Well, I don't want to do that. It'll be announced at an appropriate time. But he will do the right thing. I know that. I know him very well. He will do the right thing. Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: That meeting on the same day, President Trump held what he described as a, quote, productive call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The two spoke by phone after Mr. Trump's Mar-a-lago meeting on Sunday with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy.
President of the United States said there is still a few thorny issues that must be resolved in order to secure a peace deal in Ukraine. He also said Putin told him that a Ukrainian drone attack had targeted one of his residences, a claim Kyiv immediately denied. Here's what President Trump said.
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TRUMP: I don't like it. It's not good. I heard about it this morning. You know who told me about it? President Putin told me about it early in the morning. He said he was attacked. That's no good. It's no good. It's one thing to be offensive because they were offensive. It's another thing to attack his house. It's not the right time to do any of that and can't do it. And I learned about it from President Putin today. I was very angry about it.
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MICHAELSON: Meantime, we're now hearing from President Zelenskyy about the support his country is getting from the U.S. and just how crucial it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: Can we win without American support? No, because we can't. First, we will think about all the soldiers, will think only about their families. And without American support, we can't defend the sky. Even now it's very difficult. But American support with missiles for air defense, really helpful.
(END VIDEO CLIP) MICHAELSON: Zelenskyy talking with Bret Baier there on Fox. Taiwan says that China has deployed the second largest number of fighter jets around the island. Beijing launched the military drills called Justice Missions 2025, 11 days after the U.S. announced a landmark multibillion dollar arms package for Taiwan. President Trump, however, downplaying the issue.
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TRUMP: Well, I have a great relationship with President Xi and he hasn't told me anything about it. I certainly have seen it, but he hasn't told me anything about it. And I don't believe he's going to be doing it. He's been doing naval exercises for 20 years in that area. Now people take it a little bit differently, but in fact larger than they're doing right now.
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MICHAELSON: Meanwhile, China says live fire activities will take place around Taiwan. Those drills have caused major flight disruptions in Taiwan. CNN's Will Ripley has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, obviously their concern and trying to sound the alarm globally that exercises today could be real military action tomorrow. These are as of the latest count from the Taiwan Defense Ministry, the second largest that we've seen that they've reported to date. The largest was back in October 2024 when there were 153 aircraft that were spotted near Taiwan in a 24 hour period. We've got 130 military planes spotted along with 22 ships as of the latest update a few hours ago from Taiwan's Defense Ministry.
So it wouldn't shock me if these do become the largest. You've already seen the video. The really disruptive thing is going to be these live fire exercises today where they're actually going to be using live ammunition out in the open sea, but they've actually had to shut down some airspace and shipping routes.
In fact, some of the flights, about a thousand flights could be affected. So if we had tried to fly in here today from Taiwan, there's a chance we wouldn't have made it in. So certainly disruptive, not believed to be leading to an actual military conflict at this stage. But of course the big fear is that these drills keep pushing the line closer and closer to that red line.
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MICHAELSON: Will Ripley in Bangkok, thank you for that. The story is the weather. Powerful winter storm is tearing through the US. It is bringing blizzard conditions, damaging winds, icy rain and even tornadoes to some areas. Strong winds and ice knocked out power to thousands of customers in the Great Lakes area.
The system is causing temperatures to plummet sharply with some parts of the country seeing drops of up to 55 degrees in just 24 hours. Whiteout conditions have shut down roads and caused major pile ups on some highways. The extreme weather comes during one of the busiest travel weeks of the year.
More than 100 million Americans are expected to be on roads. We heard from some of those drivers as they try to navigate the dangerous conditions.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're trying to beat it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't want to be driving through that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Drive slower. Pay attention when there's a bridge coming. So slow down because those may get icy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Trust it's all going to be good. And if it's not, you pull over.
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MICHAELSON: An avalanche has killed three people in Spain's Pyrenees Mountains. Authorities say they were part of a group of six who were cross country skiing when the snow collapsed down the western face of the mountain, burying them. Two men, one woman were killed. Another woman was injured while two others managed to escape and then call for help.
British boxer Anthony Joshua is recuperating from minor injuries after being in a car crash in Nigeria that killed two of his good friends. That accident came more than a week after Joshua scored a knockout win against Jake Paul in a heavyweight bout that was on Netflix. That fight seen by more than 33 million people live. Many of them had not heard about this British boxer before then, but now know him well. Larry Madowo has more from Africa.
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LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anthony Joshua has called Ibadan one of his favorite cities to go to Nigeria because his granddad lives there. And now there's a painful memory to go with it. The British boxer of Nigerian descent involved in a tragic accident while driving on the Lagos Ibadan Expressway.
Joshua was in the back of this Lexus SUV that authorities say was speeding on that highway and lost control while overtaking, crashed into a stationary truck that was well parked on the side of the highway. Two people were killed in this accident. The driver of the car Anthony Joshua was in and a passenger.
Joshua survived with minor injuries and one of the passengers survived as well. Social media video shows Anthony Joshua getting pulled out of the wreckage of his car, which is in a bad state. He appears to be in pain, in a daze, is walked across the road and into the passenger seat of a police vehicle and driven away for treatment.
It's an accident that has shocked Nigeria and the world, especially as Anthony Joshua has recently been in the news after having knocked out Jake Paul in this well publicized Netflix bout. Just a week ago, hours before this accident, he had posted a video playing ping pong with one of his team members. And then this accident, people paying attention to it because Anthony Joshua is much beloved in that country, here in the U.K. and around the world, one of the most famous boxers out there.
But a lot of people sending support, including President Bola Tinubu of Nigeria, sending sympathies, many leaders, many in the country praying for him and sending condolences to those who were killed in this accident. Larry Madowo, CNN, London.
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MICHAELSON: Our thanks to Larry. Shortly after that crash, Jake Paul sent condolences on X, writing, quote, life is much more important than boxing. I am praying for the lost lives, AJ and anyone impacted by today's unfortunate accident.
Coming up, the Trump administration sends more federal law enforcement to Minnesota after a viral YouTube video by a MAGA activist accuses Somalis of committing childcare fraud.
Plus, the third Avatar film tops the U.S. Box Office for a second week. We'll discuss the top entertainment news of the week. Our man Shagun is here, next.
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[01:21:07]
MICHAELSON: The Trump administration is responding forcefully to a viral video accusing Somalis in Minnesota of committing fraud. It comes after a MAGA activist posted a YouTube video of himself trying to enter several childcare centers. He claims they're Somali run and they are taking government money without actually caring for kids.
Experts are skeptical about the so called fact finding, saying it's not unusual for daycare centers to keep doors locked or to require a key card for entry to protect the children inside. CNN's Whitney Wild has our story.
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WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: The FBI says it is surging more resources into Minneapolis to combat fraud. This is just the latest chapter in a sprawling fraud investigation that goes back several years, all the way back to 2022.
Director Kash Patel, the head of the FBI, has seemed to be reacting to a YouTube video from a man named Nick Shirley. That video has now received more than 115 million views and is continuing to grow. In this video, Shirley says that he's uncovering more fraudulent businesses in the Somali community. That 42-minute video was also retweeted by Vice President J.D. Vance and Elon Musk.
In the video, Shirley confronts people at several daycare centers and confronts lawmakers over fraud schemes. The FBI director saying his agents have been all over this case since the very beginning.
Saying this, even before public conversation escalated online, the FBI had surged personnel and investigative resources to Minnesota to dismantle large scale fraud schemes, exploiting federal programs. In touting the arrests, Patel said that the FBI believes this is just the tip of a very large iceberg.
The FBI also says that there were dozens of arrests there'd be more than 75 defendants in this case. Again, that goes back years. Many of those defendants are concentrated in the Minneapolis area's Somali American community.
DHS is also weighing in here. The secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem tweeting this. DHS is on the ground in Minneapolis going door to door at suspected fraud sites. The American people deserve answers on how their taxpayer money is being used and arrests when abuse is found. The fraud cases have really become a major political flashpoint for Republicans.
We reached out to Governor Tim Walz's office to ask more questions. Walz's office said this, the governor has worked for years to crack down on fraud and asked the state legislature for more authority aggressive action. He has strengthened oversight including launching investigations into these specific facilities, one of which was already closed.
He hired an outside firm to audit payments to high risk programs and shut down the Housing Stabilization Services program entirely and announced a new statewide program Integrity director and supported criminal prosecutions. Whitney Wild, CNN, Chicago.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: The story is what to watch the weekend after Christmas is always big at the box office and this year, no except.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: World goes much deeper than you imagine.
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MICHAELSON: "Avatar, Fire and Ash" claimed the top spot at the U.S. Box Office once again. The third film in James Cameron's science fiction franchise brought in $64 million, which is more than "Zootopia 2," which felt for a while at 20 million. And "Marty Supreme," which is getting some Oscar buzz at 17.5 million total worldwide for "Avatar," about $760 million. Variety reports, though the film's performance still not enough to
save the 2025 box office with less ticket sales than expected for the year overall.
Joining me now is entertainment journalist Segun Oduolowu. Welcome back to the show.
[01:25:00]
SEGUN ODUOLOWU, ENTERTAINMENT JOURNALIST: Thank you for having me.
MICHAELSON: Thank you for dressing so well.
ODUOLOWU: I can't show up at your, you know, I can't show up half dressed. Come on. This is The Story Is. The story is you got to look your best.
MICHAELSON: The story is you're looking fly. "Avatar." Did you see it?
ODUOLOWU: Yes, I have. It is the biggest bully on the block. It is worldwide breaking records. It is the top grossing film right now India. It is breaking numbers in China. As you mentioned, the world box office is 760 million and counting. It will probably reach a billion by the time we finish talking.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
ODUOLOWU: And it's good. The first part is it's good. James Cameron rarely misses. Look, I love James Cameron going all the way back to "Terminator" through "Titanic." And he has not missed with this "Avatar" trilogy thus far. And there's not a lot out there.
Variety's absolutely right. It's a lot of retreads, a lot of reruns. That's why the box office is so down. The worst box office that we've had in October a couple months ago that it's been in 30 years.
So maybe "Avatar" will take us into the new year with some fanfare. But it's been dismal other than that.
MICHAELSON: But "Avatar" is obviously something we've seen before. It's not totally new. The original movies don't do as well. Almost all the movies that are popular are retreads in some way. It's just the retreads aren't as good.
ODUOLOWU: Yes. Because we've been conditioned to go after retreads. We -- "Zootopia 2" is over a billion dollars. That's "Zootopia 1." "Zootopia 2." "Wicked" for mid as we know as I labeled it here, another retread but did really well at the box office.
But again, those are movies that people were kind of anticipating even. And they were the only things in November at the time. No other competition but remakes of the "Running Man," the "Snow White" movie that Disney tried to thrust upon us with an absolute, you know, fiasco.
The internet intellectual property that Hollywood is churning out, they don't make the good movies that we grew up on. You're not going to see a "Boomerang" or "Coming to America." You're not going to see a "Friday." You're not going to see a "Hangover." Like you're not going to see funny move like real comedies.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
ODUOLOWU: Those aren't there. And that's why you go to the film movies. You go to escape. And there's not much to escape to.
MICHAELSON: "Sinners" was the only original movie in the top 10 highest grossing movies of the year. We'll see if it wins the Oscar.
ODUOLOWU: You know, you know how I feel. If it doesn't -- it it doesn't, we march at dawn.
MICHAELSON: Yes. So next year though, you say there's hope for the box office because of a retread.
ODUOLOWU: Well, because --
MICHAELSON: Robert Downey Jr. is coming back.
ODUOLOWU: Look, RDJ, Robert Downey Jr.
MICHAELSON: The original Avenger.
ODUOLOWU: Original Avenger, but original saver of Marvel, right? His Iron Man really saved Marvel the first time around and showed what happens when you put really good Oscar worthy actors into comic book movies.
He left after "The Avengers." "Iron Man" was dead. And then they basically realized we need that guy.
MICHAELSON: In a different character. Right?
ODUOLOWU: In a different character. And we've seen that before. Look, Ryan Reynolds was once "Green Lantern," now he's "Deadpool." We've seen them mix and match actors before, but not one as big and all- consuming as Robert Downey Jr. It kind of tells you where they are with their comic book movies and how important 2026 and this whole new Marvel universe is going to be and.
MICHAELSON: How important he specifically is --
ODUOLOWU: Yes.
MICHAELSON: -- because he had that great deal years ago right where he got back end on a lot of these movies and he was the biggest earning guy in Hollywood because of that.
ODUOLOWU: He's the straw that stirs this whole comic book drink.
MICHAELSON: Meanwhile, speaking of things coming back from the past, "Malcolm in the Middle" is apparently coming back. There was a trailer today for the new movie or new TV show which is going to be on Disney plus and Hulu. Frankie Muniz, Bryan Cranston, Jane Kacmerk, the whole cast coming back. Here's a preview.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All I had to do is stay away from my family.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Malcolm has been intentionally hiding himself from this family for years.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: By comparison, Rhys (ph) looks pretty good.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: So it's -- it's coming back. I don't know if there's a hunger for this, but maybe.
ODUOLOWU: They don't know if there's a hunger because you're only getting four episodes.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
ODUOLOWU: You're only getting four episodes. So I feel like they're dipping their toe in the water. Not everyone is coming back. Little brother Dewey, by the way, who's getting his master's at Harvard, has retired from acting. So there's --
MICHAELSON: You can do the show without doing it.
ODUOLOWU: Don't tell him that. But yes.
MICHAELSON: He felt that.
ODUOLOWU: They did.
MICHAELSON: Do the show probably without Bryan Cranston, who's the biggest star coming out of the show. Who knew that when he was doing that show in his underwear as the dad that would be in his underwear doing "Breaking Bad" and become one of the biggest stars on the planet.
ODUOLOWU: Yes, one of the most talented actors that we have. And you saw that in "Malcolm in the Middle," doing a sitcom and then "Breaking Bad" as a drama. But this is following in the movie footsteps. What TV show is out there not made by Taylor Sheridan or, you know, that people really want to see? If it's not Shonda Rhimes or Taylor Sheridan, we're not going. you know, TV isn't really, getting watched. They dominate this.
So bringing back something that is familiar. It's been done before. They've remade "Will and Grace." Right?
They've remade "Roseanne." In fact, they remade "Roseanne," got rid of "Roseanne" and then called it "The Conners." And then that ran for seven years.
[01:29:42]
MICHAELSON: Well, that's part of it. So, yes, this, this -- that ran for seven -- that was actually one of the most popular of these.
ODUOLOWU: Yes.
MICHAELSON: Because oftentimes -- it's one thing to do a remake, which is to just sort of bring back the concept. It's another thing to bring back the cast.
ODUOLOWU: Yes.
MICHAELSON: "Roseanne", they brought back the cast. And then they ditched Roseanne when she got too controversial for them.
ODUOLOWU: Well, you know, Ambien will do that to you. You know, Ambien-fueled racist rants.
MICHAELSON: Yes. But it did well. But that was kind of the exception. Most of these don't do that well. "Will and Grace" sort of, you know.
(CROSSTALKING)
ODUOLOWU: Three seasons.
Got three seasons on the comeback on NBC.
MICHAELSON: On the comeback on NBC.
ODUOLOWU: What about "Star Trek"? Because that's your jam.
MICHAELSON: My favorite show "Star Trek Picard", which tried to bring back the show without the rest of the "Next Generation" cast for the first two seasons. Brought them back a little bit.
(CROSSTALKING)
ODUOLOWU: Right.
MICHAELSON: And then in the third season, they just said, screw it, let's give everybody what they really want, which was a "Star Trek Next Generation" reunion --
ODUOLOWU: Absolutely.
MICHAELSON: -- which was way better, which did way better, which everybody wanted, which we hope that they bring back is "Star Trek Legacy", which they have now made that decision to do so.
ODUOLOWU: So you are -- you are the Trekkie. Live long and prosper. I used to be able to do this and then I got arthritis.
But they bring back -- they bring back reboots. We saw that with the "Fresh Prince of Bel Air". They'll reimagine it. Take a sitcom.
MICHAELSON: Yes. That was without Will Smith.
ODUOLOWU: Without Will Smith make it a drama? Like you said, configure it. We've seen them do it with "90210" in different incarnations. It's because there's nostalgia there. It's easy. It's got a name.
"Malcolm in the Middle". They're dipping their foot in the water to see if it's going to work. And if it does, maybe we'll get some more.
Look, that show was great when it was -- when it was on. It launched Bryan Cranston's career and, you know, Frankie Muniz, he became like everybody loved him. He was like a little cool little kid.
It's going to be interesting to see him as an adult.
MICHAELSON: And for the rest of the cast, it's a real big deal to come back. Bryan Cranston may not need this as much, but for the rest of them --
ODUOLOWU: Yes. The rest could be --
MICHAELSON: -- going to be working, right. Yes.
(CROSSTALKING)
ODUOLOWU: No one ever turns down a meal. It's like it's nice. It's Hollywood.
MICHAELSON: That's like Backstreet Boys. It was easy for them to get back together. Justin Timberlake didn't need to do NSYNC again, so.
ODUOLOWU: No, but that and that's the thing. One -- there's one star there, luminous and hopefully their star power can make you come to the TV to see some of the other actors and actresses.
MICHAELSON: Probably doesn't need the One Direction reunion.
ODUOLOWU: Yes.
MICHAELSON: No, no. Not anymore. No.
Segun, thank you so much. Good to talk with you.
ODUOLOWU: Always a pleasure.
MICHAELSON: Coming up, people around the world getting set to ring in the New Year. In Scotland, the celebrations have already begun. We'll show you how, next.
[01:32:28]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello? Hey, Kristie.
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Will. I need your help for CNN New Year's Eve, live in Asia. Fly out and do the show together live from Bangkok. RIPLEY: Bang - what?
STOUT: Bangkok. We'll have a CNN fan zone, live games.
RIPLEY: Who knows my name?
STOUT: Will, we are on. I'll see you in Bangkok and bring (INAUDIBLE) to you. It's happening.
RIPLEY: -- what I think she said.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Join Kristie Lu Stout and Will Ripley live from Bangkok with celebrations in every city at midnight. New Year's Eve on CNN.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Interesting that Bangkok was the word they chose to emphasize.
All right.
Welcome back to THE STORY IS. I'm Elex Michaelson.
Let's take a look at today's top stories.
CNN has exclusive reporting that the CIA carried out a drone strike on a port facility on the coast of Venezuela earlier this month. It marks the first known U.S. attack on a target inside the country.
According to sources, the U.S. government believed the remote dock was being used by Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua to store drugs and load them onto boats.
Israeli prime minister announced Monday that the U.S. President Trump will receive the Israel prize for peace, and marks the first time Israel's highest civilian excellence honor will be awarded to a non- Israeli citizen. A source tells CNN President Trump is considering attending the ceremony, which is held on Israel's independence day.
A powerful winter storm is hitting central and eastern U.S., bringing blizzard conditions. The arctic air moving in behind the storm is driving a sharp drop in temperatures, ending a period of unseasonable warmth. Some parts of the country are seeing drops of 55 degrees within 24 hours.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three, two, one -- Happy New Year. Oh my golly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: The countdown is on to 2026 where apparently, "oh my golly" is going to be a thing. While the team here at CNN is getting ready for our New Year's party, the folks in Times Square making sure confetti is ready for midnight. More than 3'000 tons of it will be dumped on crowds there.
So how do they celebrate New Years in the rest of the world? In Scotland, they're already celebrating.
CNN's Max Foster shows us how.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MAX FOSTER, CNN LONDON CORRESPONDENT: At Edinburgh Castle Hogmanay, as they call New Year here, has just kicked off several days of it. They don't hang about on this one. They do several days of celebrations right up until New Year's day.
And of course, the bagpipers are out. Let's go and speak to Mike, who's the drum leader. Hi, Mike.
MIKE LINDSAY, DRUM MAJOR: Happy New Year. How are you?
FOSTER: Very good.
LINDSAY: Pleased to meet you.
FOSTER: I followed you through the streets of Edinburgh tonight with a load of Vikings. Just explain what was happening there.
LINDSAY: Well, terrific. The Vikings have come down from Shetland (ph) and they've joined the (INAUDIBLE) parade for at least 20 years that I can remember.
FOSTER: Yes. These are real Vikings, right? People don't believe me when I say that.
LINDSAY: No. What they are the locally in the Shetlands, they're called the Yarrow Squad.
FOSTER: Yes.
LINDSAY: And they celebrate the Viking traditions every year they have an Up Helly Aa, which is a burning of the boat in recognition of the year's gone by.
[01:39:50]
LINDSAY: And they're fantastic. They're great. And they add something to the Edinburgh festivities. I mean, obviously the pipe bands are the --
FOSTER: Yes.
Mike -- the Scottish part of it.
FOSTER: And I've heard a few people argue that this is the capital of New Year celebrations for the whole planet. Would you agree?
LINDSAY: Of course it is. This is Edinburgh.
FOSTER: This is where it starts.
LINDSAY: Absolutely. This is what Hogmanay means. Hogmanay means "come to Edinburgh".
FOSTER: And what's your favorite tradition?
LINDSAY: My favorite tradition. My favorite tradition is a drum of whiskey, a bit of black bun, and a piece of coal to go and welcome the New Year in with your neighbor.
FOSTER: Yes. So this is taking coal on the New Year's day, bringing warmth.
LINDSAY: Yes.
FOSTER: Wonderful.
LINDSAY: First thing (INAUDIBLE), it's called, The first -- the first person to set foot inside your neighbor's house.
FOSTER: Gets a lump of coal.
M1: Absolutely.
They don't get coal fire anymore, but they still get the lump of coal.
FOSTER: Have a wonderful few days. I'll be here throughout and you'll be able to watch on CNN because we'll be having a special New Year's show coming from all parts of the world. But this is going to be the best.
LINDSAY: Great. I'm sure it will be. And thank you very much indeed.
FOSTER: Max and Mike, CNN -- Edinburgh.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: That guy is so Scottish.
And the party doesn't stop at midnight. You can spend New Year's day with CNN as well.
Coy wire and myself honored to be hosting live coverage of the 137th Rose Parade in Pasadena. The finishing touches, as you can see, being put on elaborate floats like the one you see there. There will be 38 floats, by the way.
Coverage of the Rose Parade begins January 1st at 8:00 a.m. here in southern California. We hope you'll join us.
It's also going to be streaming on the CNN app, and we can't wait to do that for the first time in CNN's history. The parade's been happening for 137 years.
Thanks for watching THE STORY IS. For our international viewers, WORLDSPORT is next. For our viewers in North America, I'll be right back.
Happy New Year to everybody.
[01:41:47]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MICHAELSON: Police say a second pilot has died after two helicopters collided in the air over southern New Jersey. It happened Sunday morning shortly after they took off from an airport outside of Philadelphia.
Police say the two pilots were the only people on board when they collided and crashed in a field not far from that airport.
Video shows one of the helicopters spinning out of control and then plummeting to the ground. The owner of a cafe at the airport saw the two men shortly before they took off.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SAL SILLIPINO, OWNER, APRON CAFE AT HAMMONTON AIRPORT: -- at our cafe, having breakfast. They're regulars, they come in every week or every other week.
I don't know them personally. Just that they seem to come in all the time together. They fly in together and they seem to be close, you know. They sit together and they seem to be good friends or relatives.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Federal investigators are at the scene trying to figure out what caused that collision.
Police in Texas say a teenager who went missing on Christmas Eve could be in imminent danger. 19-year-old Camila Mendoza Olmos was seen on a neighbor's surveillance video just before 7:00 last Wednesday outside her home in San Antonio.
Authorities also released this dash cam video from a driver heading to work that day around the same time. It's believed to be the last confirmed sighting of Olmos.
She was wearing a baby blue and black hoodie, baby blue pajama bottoms and white shoes.
According to our affiliate KNES, the teen's mother says they were asleep together that morning and she felt her daughter had gotten up. When she woke up later, she couldn't find her.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROSARIO OLMOS, MOTHER OF MISSING TEENAGER (through translator): I called her cell phone, but the cell phone was there on the bed and it was turned off. So I put it to charge and I went out to look for her.
I thought I would find her like other times, walking and we would come home together.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Family members and friends gathered over the weekend to hold a prayer vigil for her return. Authorities do not believe Olmos left voluntarily, and they are investigating this as a possible abduction, urging anyone with information to contact police.
On a lighter note, THE STORY IS sports and the NFL's final Monday night football game of the season turned into a real thriller.
The Falcons taking on the L.A. Rams. Look at this. Look at this run. Bijan Robertson taking it to the house 93 yards. This was in the second quarter.
Atlanta was up 21 to nothing At that point. It looked like the game was over, right. Well, L.A. fought back big in the second half eventually tying the game 24 all.
But the Falcons finish things off with this 51-year-old (ph) field goal by Zane Gonzalez. Not a great game for Matthew Stafford in his MVP campaign. Atlanta wins 27 to 24. Atlanta already out of the playoffs, the Rams sort of slumping into it.
Up next, a new film on the life and legacy of Chevy Chase. Get a preview of the documentary about the comedy legend. Hear from Chevy himself and what he says is surprising.
[01:48:50]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MICHAELSON: CNN Films is set to kick off the New Year with a revealing new documentary about comedy legend Chevy Chase. It features candid interviews with his friends, family and costars, and Chevy himself.
CNN's Stephanie Elam has a preview warning that there is some language that's not suitable for all ages.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: From "Fletch" in 1985 and --
MEN: "The Three Amigos".
ELAM: To "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation".
CHEVY CHASE, ACTOR: Hallelujah. Holy (EXPLETIVE DELETED). Where's the Tylenol?
ELAM: Chevy Chase, the charismatic comedian, ruled the box in the 80s.
MARTIN SHORT, ACTOR: He was the one that people went nuts over. Two years after premiere of a show where no one knows him; now co-starring Goldie Hawn. GOLDIE HAWN, ACTRESS; They opened the door and there comes this six-
foot-four guy. He's got presence. I mean, aside from being funny, but I mean, he really was kind of adorable.
ELAM: "Saturday Night Live" was the perfect showcase for Chase's talent.
CHASE: Live from New York. It's Saturday night.
ELAM: Chase's signature weekend update intro --
CHASE: I'm Chevy Chase and you're not.
ELAM: -- is also the name of a new documentary debuting on CNN about Chase's life and career.
But while cracking up crowds, Chase gained a reputation for being --
CHASE: Basically an asshole, if you'll pardon the expression.
MARINA ZENOVICH, DIRECTOR: There's his -- his family and his friends who adore him and are so protective of him.
Then there's Hollywood that I would say just doesn't really like him.
And then you have his fans. They just adore him.
CHASE: Thank you.
ELAM: An improv master who knows how to use his stature to his comedic advantage, Chase is always after the laugh.
CHASE: It's the laugh that means everything to them and to me because it's as if I'm being told I'm loved, you know, as a child.
[01:54:48]
ELAM: This from a man who had a less than loving childhood.
ZENOVICH: Chevy had a lot of pain, and he still carries around a lot of trauma to this day. His way of dealing with it was being funny.
ELAM: His wife of more than four decades says it was time to set the record straight for Chevy and their three daughters.
JAYNI CHASE, WIFE OF CHEVY CHASE: It's been very hard and hurtful. We've been in love and we've been through some rough stuff.
ELAM: The rough stuff includes addiction and depression. The 82-year- old's more recent health battles also spurred the desire to open up.
J. CHASE: We almost lost him to heart failure in February of '21. He was in the hospital for six weeks. He was on life support.
ELAM: Zenovich hopes the film gives both his fans and haters perspective. ZENOVICH: I think people will walk away from this and go like, you
know, wow, he's been through a lot. Maybe he's a bit of an asshole, but I understand why.
ELAM: But Jayni Chase believes her husband is chronically misunderstood.
J. CHASE: If Chevy says something and you feel offended, it's a little more on you than him. He takes risks. You can't get where he got without being a risk taker. So dial it back. Get a sense of humor. He's not an asshole and neither are you.
ELAM: Stephanie Elam, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: "I'M CHEVY CHASE AND YOU'RE NOT" debuts right here on CNN on New Year's Day, followed by our show.
Thanks so much for watching. I'm Elex Michaelson. We'll see you tomorrow.
[01:56:26]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
