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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson
Putin, U.S. Envoy Meeting Ends With No Compromise Plan For Ukraine; Republican Matt Van Epps Wins U.S. House Special Election In Tennessee; Trump Says U.S. Military Will Soon Launch Strikes On Venezuela; U.S. Asks Venezuela To Accept Deportation Flights Amid Tensions; Trump Administration Halts Immigration Applications From 19 Countries; Trump Pardons Ex-Honduran President Despite Drug Conviction; Pope Leo on U.S.-Venezuela Tensions, Middle East Peace; IKEA to Open First Store in New Zealand Thursday; TSA to Charge Fee for Air Travelers without Real ID. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired December 03, 2025 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: Check out these unique palm trees that are blooming in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The palms take anywhere from 30 to 80 years to produce a single bloom and then die naturally about a year later. But their seedlings will keep the cycle going. The palms can grow as tall as 65 feet.
That's it for this hour of The Story Is. The next hour of The Story Is starts right now.
The story is no deal. Vladimir Putin meets a U.S. delegation for five hours without any real change for peace. Jill Doherty with us to break down the negotiations.
The story is the next verse. Tony Robbins joins me to invite you to team up with pop stars to fight hunger around the world.
The story is immigration. What we're learning about where the federal government is headed to next.
And the story is a new day for IKEA. We're live with the company's CEO as they open their first ever store in New Zealand.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Los Angeles, The Story Is with Elex Michelson.
MICHAELSON: And welcome to The Story Is. I'm Elex Michaelson. Tonight, the top story is still no deal to end Russia's war in Ukraine. U.S. Special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son in law Jared Kushner sat with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a meeting that lasted for nearly five hours.
Top Kremlin aide says those talks were, quote, constructive and highly substantive. But there are other points that, quote, do not suit us. Putin appears to be accusing Europe of altering the Trump administration's original 28-point peace plan. That proposal had been criticized for appearing to favor Russia. Putin also said this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We are not planning to go to war with Europe. I have already spoken about this a hundred times. But if Europe suddenly wants to go to war with us and starts, we are ready right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Shortly after the meeting ended, a top Russian official posted a single word on social media, productive, punctuated by a dove and an olive branch emoji. Want to bring in now CNN contributor Jill Dougherty who is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and the go to person on all this stuff. Jill, welcome to The Story Is for the first time.
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Thank you very much, Elex. I appreciate that.
MICHAELSON: Great to have you be part of this show. So this was as they described, not a five-minute meeting, a five-hour meeting. What do we read into that and what do we know about what happened during those five hours?
DOUGHERTY: Well, number one, I think we should note that it started late. And I've heard anywhere from one hour to two and a half hours late, which is vintage Putin. Mr. Putin always shows up late. It's a way of kind of, you know, showing that he's the guy in charge. And so the -- I think what you'd say is, for the meeting and what they were trying to do.
I wouldn't really call it a negotiation, per se. I mean, this was, you know, the Kremlin's attempt to show that, you know, Moscow is a beautiful place and this is a very nice place where you can eat caviar, they went to a lovely restaurant, things like that. And there is a message which is actually very serious.
In addition to ending the war in Ukraine, what the Russians want to do is entice the Americans with the idea that they can reestablish relations with the U.S. and people can invest and companies will come back and we can all make money.
MICHAELSON: And, of course, we know Kushner and Witkoff both can talk business as well. So that. That makes a lot of sense. So where are we at now? I mean, because it doesn't seem like we're a whole lot closer to actually being getting a deal done.
DOUGHERTY: If you boil it down right now, there are -- there are several issues that are really, really important territory would be one. Does Ukraine give up territory in that critical area of Donbas? Also would be the size of the Ukrainian military after, you know, peace or the cessation of fighting. And then also it would be recognition, and this is really important
recognition of any of those areas that Russia gets. And it wouldn't -- wouldn't just be de facto recognition. Russia wants legal, you know, de jure, as it's called, legal recognition of those areas. And that is a very big deal. And many people in the west believe it should not happen.
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MICHAELSON: So if you had to put it succinctly how close we are to a deal, would you say very close? Not close at all? Far apart? How would you describe it?
DOUGHERTY: I think we're probably where were a few days ago or a few weeks ago. I don't think we're very close. Putin is showing no sign of caving on anything and maybe not even using the word caving, but actually agreeing to something.
So I would say we are apparently not close at this point again.
MICHAELSON: And then you think about all the people who are potentially suffering on the ground because of that.
DOUGHERTY: Yes.
MICHAELSON: Jill Dougherty, adjunct professor at Georgetown, one of CNN's finest. Thanks so much for joining us. Appreciate your perspective.
DOUGHERTY: Thanks.
MICHAELSON: Now to Ukraine's perspective. The President there praising the U.S. for, quote, taking serious steps to end the war one way or another. Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he has expressed optimism about a potential peace deal because the U.S. is pursuing it. But Zelenskyy says it appears that Russia does not want peace.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: It's very difficult to comment the words of leader of Russia because he really doesn't want finish this war because he didn't get all the goals what he wanted at the very beginning of this aggression. He wanted to destroy us totally, our freedom, our people. But he really been very surprised.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: The story is politics. Republicans breathing a sigh of relief after a special election in Tennessee gave him a bit of a scare for a few days. CNN projects that Republican Matt Van Epps will be the next congressmember for the seventh district.
Right now he's up about nine points, which is a lot closer than a year ago when President Trump scored a 22-point victory in that same district. Van Epps is a former army helicopter pilot who got strong backing from President Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATT VAN EPPS, U.S. HOUSE REPUBLICAN-ELECT: What a night. We did it. Thank you. Thank you all. This is just an incredible win. An incredible win. Tonight you've sent a message loud and clear. The people of Middle Tennessee stand with President Donald J. Trump and stood firmly behind our campaign. I am humbled beyond belief to stand before you tonight as your next representative. Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Epps' victory means Republicans will at least now hold on to a narrow majority in the House. 220-213, two seats still open right now.
President Trump says the U.S. will begin striking targets inside Venezuela, quote, very soon. If that's true, it would mark a big escalation in the U.S. crackdown on Caribbean drug trafficking. Since September, the U.S. has conducted at least 21 known strikes on alleged drug boats, killing more than 80 people.
At a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday the president suggested the strikes could go beyond Venezuela.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: We're going to start doing those strikes on land too. You know, the land is much easier. It's much easier and we know the routes they take or if we think they're building mills for whether it's fentanyl or cocaine, anybody that's doing that and selling it into our country is subject to attack.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So not necessarily just Venezuela?
TRUMP: No, not just Venezuela. I hear Colombia, the country of Colombia is making cocaine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: So this comes as the administration faces intense scrutiny over a double tap strike in early September which reportedly killed survivors of one of the boats.
On Monday, the White House acknowledged that the follow up attack did occur and shifted the responsibility to the head of U.S. Special Operations Command. On Tuesday, both President Trump and Defense Secretary Hegseth continued to distance themselves from that incident, insisting they were not aware of that second strike order.
Despite the president's threats against Venezuela and declaring the country's airspace closed, the Trump administration still wants Venezuela to accept more deportation flights this week. CNN's Stefano Pozzebon has more on the conflicting messages and the latest reactions from Caracas.
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STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: One piece of news we're tracking here in Caracas as of Tuesday is that the New Zealand government has told us that they've received two authorization requests to fly deportation flights directly from the United States into Venezuela for this week.
One is scheduled to arrive here in Caracas on Wednesday and another by the end of the week or on Friday. This authorization request appears to have been made, of course, after the U.S. President Donald Trump posted in a post on Truth Social that all airmen, pilots and narcotraffickers alike should consider the airspace over Venezuela and I'm quoting him, completely closed.
It's interesting to point out these contradictions. And of course, the Maduro government here in Caracas is all too happy to point out that these contradictions between what Donald Trump said on True Social on Saturday.
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So if you fly into Venezuela, you fly there on your own risk, and what his government is doing less than two days later, which is requesting authorization to fly government run planes directly into Caracas.
We did ask for comment to the White House. We haven't heard from back from them directly. However, these signals two things I think that are important to point out. The number one is that despite the confrontational rhetoric that is going on between Caracas and Washington, despite all of that, there is still some level of communication, at least from state to state, from members of the Trump administration to members of the Maduro government in order to coordinate these flights.
And the second one is that, of course, even though Donald Trump is adamant that the U.S. start conducting strikes on Venezuelan soil very, very soon, he said that once again on Tuesday. Well, it's unlikely that he would do that as U.S. government planes are indeed in Venezuelan territory. So probably not before this upcoming Friday. For CNN, this is Stefano Pozzebon, Caracas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: The story is immigration. The U.S. is pausing immigration applications for people from 19 countries that the Trump administration calls nations of concern. Those include Afghanistan, Iran, Venezuela and Somalia. Immigration officials say requests for those countries will undergo a comprehensive review.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem says that list needs to be even longer, with about a dozen countries added, according to one source.
Minnesota's Twin Cities are bracing for new federal immigration raids targeting undocumented Somali immigrants. The new operation comes as the US President ramps up his attacks against the Somali community in Minneapolis and St. Paul.
On Tuesday, Donald Trump called them garbage, specifically calling out Somali American Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. And he said he doesn't want Somalis in the US. Meanwhile, Minnesota's Democratic Governor Tim Walz called the federal operation a PR stunt that indiscriminately targets immigrants.
The mayors of the Twin Cities emphasize their citizens have rights and legal resources and offer their support to the Somali community.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MELVIN CARTER, MAYOR OF ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA: The last thing that we need is federal agents coming here, pretending that we should be afraid of somebody just based on the color of their skin, just based on what they look like, just based on what country their ancestors claim as honor as a motherland.
JACOB FREY, MAYOR OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA: To our Somali community. We love you and we stand with you.
(ED VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: The Trump administration is also sending federal immigration agents to Louisiana with a goal of arresting 5,000 people there. That's according to a federal law enforcement official. Louisiana operation expected to begin this week. It could span the entire state.
The mayor elect of New Orleans says residents fear being separated from family members and worry that the federal raids appear to be more about racially profiling than going after violent criminals.
Up next, we change the tone. Do something we can all agree on with us best selling author Tony Robbins trying to fight global hunger by channeling We Are the World and writing the next verse. Tony Robbins joins us next on how you can get involved. Stay with us.
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MICHAELSON: It's been more than 40 years since the World's biggest recording artists came together to create "We Are the World" and asked listeners to come together as one and start giving. That anthem became the fastest selling U.S. pop single ever and raised more than $80 million for humanitarian aid in Africa and the US.
Tony Robbins is part of a supergroup trying to write what they call the "Next Verse." Tony Robbins joins us now to talk about how you can get involved. Tony Robbins, welcome to the Story is for the first time.
TONY ROBBINS, BUSINESS AND LIFE STRATEGIST: Thank you so much and congratulations on your new show.
MICHAELSON: Thank you so much and congratulations on the "Next Verse." So what is the next verse?
ROBBINS: Well, there's a problem that most people in the world are unaware of and that is in the last five years, we've gone from 80 million people on the verge of starvation in the world to 385 million. And the last time it was this brutal, it was not quite this bad, was 40 years ago when Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones and that group came together to get the world to unify.
Because music goes past politics, right? It unified people, it raised money and it fed people. So I fed a billion people here, a billion meals in the United States over a 10-year period. Actually 8 year period. I was fed when I was 11 years old. We had no food. And so I started with two people, four people grew.
But then after I did a billion people in the U.S. the problem is so much bigger. So I partnered together with Governor Beasley, who was the head of the World Food Programme. He won the Nobel Prize. And I said, how many meals would it take to actually fill the blanks for the next 10 years while we get sustainability? And he said, Tony, 50, 60 billion meals.
I said, why don't we do 100 billion meal challenge? And it sounded crazy in the beginning, but we've already delivered 62 billion meals in some of the roughest areas in the world, Gaza, when no one else could get it in. We airdrop food and we've done the same thing to give you an idea in places like the areas of Al Fasha when they were destroying people.
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And so now what we're doing is Jimmy Jam who is one of and Terry Lewis, two of the greatest producers of all time. They have more number one and number top ten hits in the United States ever Grammy winners, they're producing it. And we have people like, you know, Dr. Dre, Bruno Mars, Usher, Janet Jackson, Stevie Wonder from the original group, John Legend, Jon Bon Jovi, Andrea Bocelli, Pitbull.
I mean it's an incredible group. And we're getting together on December 16th and we're going to record this new song and it's coming out on Christmas day worldwide.
MICHAELSON: And who wouldn't put together Andrea Bocelli and Pitbull? I mean it's a natural combo, right when you hear them. And the cool thing about this and obviously --
ROBBINS: So many more.
MICHAELSON: Yes, obviously you think about the last song was written by Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson. And the cool thing about this next song is it's kind of written by everybody because now we've got social media which we didn't have 40 years ago. And people can upload their own verses. How's that?
ROBBINS: Well, if you go to 100billion meals.org, 100billion meals.org, you can find out four ways you can play. One way you can participate is you can write your own lyrics and submit them or you can do your own song. We've got the beginning chorus that you can do. You can use AI and create it. And then we're taking all those in and the artists who are writing us, which are all, you know, Grammy winning songwriters are going to pull from those and build this song as the next verse beyond what "We Are The World" originally inspired.
But then also some people want it on the 16th. They want to witness this history as it's happening. And Zoom is going to sponsor that. You can go for free, but if you put $10 in, you'll feed 44 people.
And you also get to have the live Zoom and you get to interact. You even have a button where you can take picture yourself with these superstars of music on screen. And then some people join what we call our, you know, basically our LifeSavers Club. It's 19.95 a month, it saves a thousand people in a year.
But also you get a chance to be in the actual music video because we have a giant wall. So some of the people, for example are overseas. Like an Elton John would be in London. Well, he can't be there. He's going to be there live. Anybody that's live from another country and you'll be in the chorus, actually in the music video. And you also get a chance to be invited to the iHeart Theater on December 16th for the actual live event.
So you can write a verse, you can create a video, you can use AI to do it if you want, and submit it. And you can get all the information about this at 100billionmeals.org or again, you can make a donation and save some lives with us.
It's important to understand a dial -- a child dies today every 10 seconds. It's insane. And here in America, there are 42 million people in the richest country in the world that don't have enough food. So 80 percent goes overseas to places like Gaza and to Sudan, and then 20 percent goes here domestically as well, through Feeding America and other organizations locally.
So this can really make a difference. You can have some fun. You can be part of history. And we hope people will join us at 100billionmeals.org and decide how they want to play.
MICHAELSON: And then on December 25, the whole thing comes out, and it's going to be wherever you get your -- your music. You're going to be able to stream or buy or all the rest of it with the song as well. I'm just curious for you. Go ahead.
ROBBINS: I'm sorry, I didn't mean to step on you, but iHeart is sponsoring this. So nine out of ten Americans listen to an iHeart station. So they're going to be the first launch, but then they have a partner overseas. So on Christmas Day, it'll literally be worldwide.
MICHAELSON: It is brilliant the way you've brought all these different people together. It's amazing. And I'm just -- it's also amazing the amount of meals that you've done already. Billions of meals. And I'm curious, like, what's the most important lesson you've learned in that process of feeding all of these people that maybe you didn't know once you've gone through this? ROBBINS: It's actually -- I had to train myself not to expect people
to all want to help this way. You know, you think of a starving child, you're like, why would somebody not help? But one thing I've learned is people do things for different reasons, and I don't make that wrong. Some people will give because they want their name on the door and the wall, you know, on the side of the hospital. Some people give because they feel guilty, because they've been had a lot of money. Some people give because they really care. Some people give because it's fun.
So instead of making everybody expecting they should do things for the reasons I want to do it. It's like that's why I try to make it. You can do this for fun. You can do this to be part of history. You do it because you want to save lives, maybe do it for all the combination above.
But I think it's really important to understand everybody does things for different reasons. And if you limit it to everybody having to do it for one reason, you limit who can participate. I think that's why we've gotten so many individuals, countries, organizations that have stepped up to do this.
But also you got to lead by example, by my doing a billion meals personally first over -- I did it literally in eight years. It was a 10-year goal. It makes it easier for me to say, you know, step up because I've done it myself first.
MICHAELSON: And lastly, during this holiday time, and there's a lot of people that are feeling good, there's a lot of people that are not that are feeling hopelessness right now. You are sort of one of the great motivators in the history of the world. What is your message about hope during this holiday season?
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ROBBINS: I think everybody has to create a compelling future. You got to have something you're looking forward to. But the easiest way to do that when you're down is twofold. You have to change your body. You know, most people try to do it with antidepressant or a drug and, you know, sometimes they may be necessary.
But what that usually does, alcohol or antidepressant, all it does is depress your system. But if you exercise, if you work, if you do something with movement or music, your state changes. In your state, you start to evaluate things differently. But the number one thing above anything else is find somebody worse off than you are and help them.
When I was in the worst stages of my life, when I was in a place, I was sleeping in my car and I was trying to figure out how to survive, I felt some people that had next to nothing. I had $20 in my pocket and I gave them 10. It sounds like nothing, but it was half of everything I had. And it changed my entire mood. It took me from scarcity to abundance. I just felt, you know, pulled to this woman and her child is like, they need this more than I do. Maybe it's going to, you know, a food shelter and feeding some people. You cannot help other people without you being the beneficiary on a
larger scale than you can imagine, we're wired as human beings to be givers. And as long as we live inside of ourselves and our fears, nothing changes.
But we reach out to help somebody worse off than we are. And there's always somebody worse off. No matter how bad you think it is, it will change your state. It'll remind you things you've been grateful for. And gratitude gets you out of fear. Gratitude gets you out of anger. Fear and anger what keep people from changing their lives.
If you can cultivate that attitude of gratitude and you can add some action to it of serving others, I think you'll find your life really opens up in a whole new way.
MICHAELSON: Well, I feel better. You are the man. Thank you very much for all that you've done to help so many people and the billions of meals from this and again, 100billionmeals.org if you want to be a part of the song. Can't wait to hear what everybody gives. Tony Robbins. Thank you. More of The Story Is right after this.
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ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to THE STORY IS. I'm Elex Michaelson.
Take a look at today's top stories.
Retail giant Costco is suing the U.S. government over potential tariff refunds. It becomes one of the latest and largest companies seeking financial assurances should the Supreme Court reject President Trump's authority to impose sweeping international tariffs.
In a complaint filed on Friday, Costco argues that it should be entitled to a refund if the tariffs are found unconstitutional.
The United Nations is calling on Israel to withdraw from the occupied Golan Heights. The U.N. General Assembly passed the resolution on Tuesday, with 123 members voting in favor. The U.S. and Israel were among the seven members voting against it. Israel's ambassador to the U.N. condemned the vote and accused the assembly of being quote, "disconnected" from reality.
A Colombian family has filed the first known formal complaint over the deadly U.S. strikes in the Caribbean. The petition filed on Tuesday alleges Colombian fisherman Alejandro Carranza was killed when the U.S. struck his boat on September 15th. A U.S. human rights attorney representing the family says they're seeking compensation and an end to the killings.
President Trump has officially pardoned the former president of Honduras. Juan Orlando Hernandez was convicted in the U.S. last year and sentenced to 45 years to prison for conspiring to move 400 tons of cocaine into the country. President Trump says Hernandez was set up by the Biden administration,
but offered no evidence to back up that claim.
And despite President Trump's intense campaign to fight drug trafficking, that's what he's doing in Venezuela, Hernandez's wife says she does not see any contradiction with her husband's pardon.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANA GARCIA DE HERNANDEZ, WIFE OF FORMER HONDURAN PRESIDENT JUAN ORLANDO HERNANDEZ: I don't think there is any contradiction in the decision of President Trump. On the contrary, I think that what he's doing is that he's making -- is doing justice.
And in a case that is clearly like my husband, a case of lawfare, political persecution, also a case where they didn't have any proof at all. They didn't have anything against my husband, just the word of narco traffickers who wanted to get revenge against my husband, and to that they wanted to go out of jail.
Pope Leo has returned to Rome after his first overseas trip of his papacy. The pontiff spent nearly a week in the Middle East. He said his visit to Turkey and Lebanon underlined that, quote, "dialog and friendship between Muslims and Christians is possible".
CNN's Christopher Lamb has been traveling with the Pope.
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CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Pope Leo for the first time has shared his thoughts on what it was like to be elected pope in the conclave earlier this year.
Speaking on board the plane taking him from Beirut to Rome, he said that when he realized that he was going to be elected, he took a deep breath, turned to God, and said, "you're in charge, you lead the way".
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LAMB: Leo even joked that, just a year or two earlier, he'd been thinking about retirement.
Now, Leo was speaking after his first international trip to Turkey and Lebanon, where he had focused on peace and building harmony between different faiths.
Leo saying that he was considering further trips to Algeria, where he would continue to build relations with the Muslim world and to Latin America. Of course, Leo was a missionary in Peru for many years.
Leo also talking about tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela, urging against any kind of military incursion by the U.S. and saying that dialog was the way to handle the problems.
He also said that Western countries needed to be less fearful of immigrants from different religions. He held up Lebanon as an example of where Christians and Muslims live together harmoniously.
Leo said he is also struck by the faith of the young people in Lebanon. He said it was awe-inspiring to see. Leo clearly relishing and enjoying his first trip abroad.
Now the Pope is back in Rome. He's going to have some rest, but it seems it won't be too long before Leo is back on the road.
Christopher Lamb, CNN -- Rome.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: A Faberge egg sold for more than $30 million at auction on Tuesday, a new record for the famous Russian jewelry house. The winter egg, commissioned by Czar Nicholas II of Russia as a gift for his mother in 1913, was one of the last Faberge eggs in private hands.
It is also seen as one of the most distinctive and unusual of the 50 eggs. The piece sold after a three-minute bidding battle at Christie's auction house in London.
Is Serena Williams preparing for a comeback? The 23-time Grand Slam singles champ just took a step that would be necessary if she were to return to professional tennis.
She has been reinstated into the anti-doping test pool. That doesn't necessarily mean she'll be back, but does give her the option to return. Though on social media Williams said she's not coming back.
She last played in 2022. At the time, she said she was evolving away from tennis. She was pretty clear on social media she's not coming back.
Well, in the coming 24 hours, 24-year-old Ray Ushikubo will play a 284-year-old violin at a free concert in downtown L.A. He was selected to get an indefinite loan of the Playfair violin, an instrument that's older than the U.S.
A little earlier, he joined me live right here on our set, and I began by asking him how it all started.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAY USHIKUBO, VIOLINIST: When I was about five, my parents were watching a Japanese TV series and the deuteragonist was a pianist and violinist. And I thought, oh my gosh, I want to be just like him.
And so for my sixth birthday, my parents got me a $20 quarter-size violin, and the rest is history.
MICHAELSON: And talk to us about the big performance tomorrow that's open -- and open to the public, right?
USHIKUBO: Yes. Tomorrow I will be performing on this violin in Zipper Hall at the Colburn School in downtown Los Angeles tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. MICHAELSON: But you're going to give us a little preview now.
USHIKUBO: Yes, I will.
MICHAELSON: Everybody watching CNN around the world. So what are you going to play for us?
USHIKUBO: This is the concertmaster solo from the "Meditation from Thais" by Jules Massenet.
MICHAELSON: This is a little -- this is an older piece, right. Ok. Take it away.
[01:38:35]
(MUSIC)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Pretty amazing.
Three elderly nuns in Austria who became Instagram-famous months ago, are vowing they will not be shut up, after the diocese in charge asked them to stop posting on social media. The Sisters had apparently left the convent to seek medical attention, were sent to a retirement care facility and sent back to the convent.
They recently managed to return to their convent, but were told they could only stay if they gave up Instagram, but they are not giving it up.
Here's what Sister Rita had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SISTER RITA, AUSTRIAN NUN (through translator): I'm quite relaxed about that. Why? They can't shut us up. That's how I would put it in my own words.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: So that is all for THE STORY IS. For our international viewers, WORLDSPORT is next. For our viewers in North America, we are not done. We will be back and take you live to the first-ever IKEA in New Zealand. We've got an exclusive sneak peek. We're talking about the future of IKEA as well, so stay with us.
And tomorrow here on THE STORY IS, Scott Jennings will be live in studio. That should be interesting.
Plus, we'll be talking with Andrea Bocelli.
More of THE STORY IS in North America when we come back.
We go to break with a live picture though, and you can see our window here, the Warner Brothers lot in Burbank. [01:41:32]
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MICHAELSON: THE STORY IS business.
Swedish furniture chain IKEA is set to open their first store in New Zealand this week. The shop in Auckland comes six years after IKEA announced its intent to expand into that region.
Beyond the physical store, IKEA is offering home delivery and additional pickup locations across New Zealand.
Joining me now from Auckland live is Mirja Viinanen, CEO and chief sustainability officer for IKEA Australia and New Zealand.
Thank you so much for joining me.
And please pronounce your name correctly because I clearly just did not.
MIRJA VIINANEN, CEO/CHIEF SUSTAINABILITY OFFICER, IKEA AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND: Mirja Viinanen.
And good evening from Auckland. Thanks for having me.
MICHAELSON: Thank you very much.
Talk to us about the new store. We're getting our first look, about to open up to customers, right?
VIINANEN: Absolutely. We are so, so, so looking forward tomorrow, open the large format store. And at the same time, we are opening the online and remote as well.
So in a couple of hours, actually online is on and live in New Zealand and in Auckland.
MICHAELSON: So this is the furthest store from Sweden that you have. You're literally in another part of the world.
VIINANEN: Yes, it is.
MICHAELSON: What is it about this region? What's your plan for the larger region?
VIINANEN: So overall, of course, Asia-Pacific is a growing region, as you know. And we have a quite intensive plans when it comes to expansion.
And then, of course, it is depending in New Zealand. Let's start to look, first of all, when we open the big size store we open, 29 pickup points across the country, which means, of course, that the accessibility to the range is enormous across the country.
And then we will see how we perform and how the customers are actually loving our range and the solutions as well. We are sure about that. This is going to be the case.
And then we will see further on in New Zealand as well, if there's an opportunity, open perhaps a small format.
MICHAELSON: So we were looking at some of this video of the stores, and we think of some of these just enormous spaces. Here, not too far from our studios in Burbank, California, it looks like a city inside the IKEA.
But there's a new plan for some of these IKEAs in more rural areas called LADA -- L-A-D-A. What's that about?
VIINANEN: It is a small format, actually, exactly the same experience when it comes to the offering (ph) the range. But it is indeed that we want to increase the accessibility, the range and the small plants (ph) are absolutely the right key. We believe being close to the many people we want to serve with our lovely, affordable, good quality home furnishings.
MICHAELSON: And so that's a plan to go into some other regions. And like in Texas here in America and, and go to some rural areas that may not have the big IKEA that may now be served by what you do.
Ok, so I love IKEA. I have so much IKEA stuff, especially like in college, everything was IKEA.
So talk to me, be honest. Can you actually put together the IKEA products yourself? Can you figure out the instructions?
VIINANEN: Oh yes I can. Oh yes I can. Absolutely I can.
You just follow -- you need to follow the assembly guideline. We have heard actually that the men are not really doing that, but the female are doing that much better.
MICHAELSON: So the women are better at putting the stuff together because they're better at following directions. And men think they know better and they end up screwing it up. Is that what you're saying?
VIINANEN: Yes, yes, yes. But, you know, we have a spare parts as well. You can you can order the spare parts in online for free. So if you mess up, you can do it.
MICHAELSON: And finally, in New Zealand, do you have the meatballs?
VIINANEN: Of course we have the meatballs. We have tons of meatballs.
MICHAELSON: Ok. You get the full experience there. Thank you so much for joining us.
VIINANEN: Pleasure.
MICHAELSON: Good evening to you. It is the next day and evening. It's so wild to be talking across the world like this. Best of luck with the opening. VIINANEN: Yes. Thank you very much
[01:49:45]
MICHAELSON: Back here in the United States, the U.S. Transportation Security Administration announced a new $45 fee for travelers who do not have the enhanced Real I.D.
Starting in February, they will have to confirm their identity using an online verification system. It will temporarily serve as an official I.D. for a ten-day period.
That move is aimed at encouraging travelers to comply with the stricter federal standards that went into effect in May.
TSA is working to allow passengers to pay the fee online prior to their arrival at the airport. Currently, more than 94 percent of passengers already use the Real I.D. or other acceptable documents.
We'll be right back to wrap things up right after this.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three, two. One. There you go.
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[01:54:50]
MICHAELSON: In between the partisan squabbles, some Christmas cheer on Capitol Hill with the annual tree lighting ceremony, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson hosting the event. This year's tree is a 53-foot red fir from Nevada, nicknamed Silver Bell. That same ceremony has been held every year since 1964.
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GEORGE BANKS, USPS LOS ANGELES PROCESSING AND DISTRIBUTION CENTER: This is our Super Bowl. We gear up for this each and every year. In fact, once we get through with this peak season, we'll be right back planning for the next one.
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MICHAELSON: Of course, the real presents come from the North Pole, but the U.S. Postal Service plays an important role too.
One of the busiest facilities is right here in Los Angeles. Santa's helpers process about 30,000 packages an hour during the peak holiday season.
If you're sending gifts through the mail, they say it's important to pack properly and ship early. And heads up the Powerball jackpot for Wednesday's drawing has surged to $775 million, the eighth largest prize in the history of the multi- state lottery.
If there is a single winner, they'll have to choose between taking an annuity or a lump sum of about $362 million. The jackpot has been building since early September, when two players split the top prize of about $1.7 billion.
We like the big jackpots these days. I don't know, it seems like we have more and more of those.
Thanks so much for watching. I'm Elex Michaelson.
I will see you again tomorrow. With us tomorrow night, Scott Jennings. And we've also got Andrea Bocelli and more. A very special surprise from Elizabeth Wagmeister.
We'll see you tomorrow. Thanks so much for watching.
[01:56:26]
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