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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson

Republicans File Lawsuit Challenging Prop 50; California Post Launching In Los Angeles; San Jose Partners With Big Tech On New AI Initiative; Jimmy Kimmel Show Sets Up Food Bank Amid Government Shutdown; New Star-Studded Hulu Show "All's Fair" Under Fire; CNN's Annual "Call to Earth Day"; Colbert Plays Pelosi's Criticism of Trump from CNN Interview. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired November 06, 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: Attempted to raise the Christmas tree. It snaps in half. That Norway spruce 40ft tall. It broke as it was being set up at a historic courthouse near Atlanta. Imagine being the guy who did that. Crews are still hoping it can be ready for the lighting ceremony on Thanksgiving night. I guess they have some very, very strong glue there.

Thanks for watching this hour of The Story Is. The next hour of The Story Is begins right now.

The Story Is shutdown consequences, how Congress's inability to make a deal could impact your next flight. The Story Is Republicans second guessing after a Democratic clean sweep. With us, Joel Pollak of the California Post. The Story Is allegedly groping a president, why Mexico's leader is pressing charges for harassment. The Story Is teaching AI for free.

San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan is here to announce a new program could become a national model.

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 Story Is the U.S. government shut down now in its 37th day, the longest in U.S. history. Here's a live look from Capitol Hill where a bipartisan group of lawmakers is hoping to push a new deal that could potentially reopen the government. It would fund the government through January.

But there is still a ways off from any sort of deal, lots of over -- hurdles to overcome. Meantime, the Trump administration is planning on cutting the number of flights at 40 different U.S. airports. This could impact you in a big way. Staffing issues are continuing to increase as the shutdown goes on. They're not paying folks.

So a lot of folks are saying I'm not showing up for work if I'm not getting paid. Officials say without as many air traffic controllers as they'd like, they don't want to risk the safety of passengers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN DUFFY, U.S.TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: There is going to be a 10 percent reduction in capacity at 40 of our locations.

BRYAN BERNARD, FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION ADMINISTRATOR: When we see pressures building in these 40 markets, we just can't ignore it, you know, and we're not going to wait for a safety problem to truly manifest itself when the early indicators are telling us we can take action today to prevent, you know, things from deteriorating.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: Meanwhile, Democrats still riding high from their election victories, including the races for Virginia and New Jersey governor and New York mayor. Sources tell CNN those wins are emboldening some Democrats to push back against that bipartisan deal that we just mentioned, saying it works when we fight, not necessarily when we govern. But the U.S. House speaker is downplaying the Democrats election performance, claiming Democrats are scared.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), HOUSE SPEAKER: What happened last night was blue states and blue cities voted blue. We all saw that coming. And no one should read too much into last night's election results. Off year elections are not indicative of what's to come. The Democrats shut down the government out of fear. They have never been more afraid at any point than they are right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: Republicans in California are already working to counter Prop 50 after CNN's projection that the measure to redraw California's congressional map is going to pass. In Sacramento today, I was there as the state's Republican Party announced a federal lawsuit claiming that the proposition is unconstitutional. They say it unfairly increases the voting power of Latinos at the expense of other groups. And they are directing their frustrations at Governor Newsom.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID TANGIA, CALIFORNIA STATE ASSEMBLYMEMBER: We're calling on Newsom to focus on California. That's what this lawsuit is about. The issues that we have here in California, we're pointing at other states, Texas, everyone else, let's react. Well, it used to be, and I said this on the floor as California goes the nation, but right now it looks like as Texas goes California. And we have fallen behind.

We have fallen behind and the governor should be worried about the issues in this state.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: Ballots still being counted at this hour. Here are the latest results, yes, at nearly 64 percent, no, around 36 percent.

Joel Pollak is the opinion editor for the California Post, former senior editor at large at Breitbart News. That is a new job for Joel.

And so, Joel, I've got a new job too. So it's nice to be back together but in our new jobs. Good to see you.

Welcome to The Story Is.

JOEL POLLAK, OPINION EDITOR, CALIFORNIA POST: You too.

MICHAELSON: We really appreciate it.

POLLAK: Good to be with you.

MICHAELSON: So you've been following Republican politics for so many years, especially here in California. What do you make of a Prop 50 and the pretty bad election results for those that were hoping that it would be defeated?

POLLAK: Well, Republicans are suing, hoping to overturn the passage of Proposition 50. I don't think they'll be successful, partly because the margin was so wide. I think if it had been a closer result, you might have seen the courts take a closer look at it. But you're asking a judge to intervene in something where the electorate has spoken fairly clearly.

[01:05:07]

Now, why did the electorate do this? And I think it's because there aren't people like yourself focused on the big picture in the state. We have these local media markets which are very big. And after that, it's nothing. It's just national news or local news.

People aren't thinking about the state. Proposition 50, however, redraws the state congressional maps, it disenfranchises California voters, it reverses a referendum that voters approved not too long ago to create an independent commission. So it just takes away something that California had that was special, unique, and that people still say they want. Why do they do it? Because Governor Gavin Newsom is very successful at nationalizing state issues.

MICHAELSON: Yes. He says he believes that all politics is national. He literally said that --

POLLAK: All politics is national.

MICHAELSON: -- which is different than the way people thought about this 25, 30 years ago.

POLLAK: Well, I can tell you as a resident of Pacific Palisades, to see that the governor spent a quarter of a billion dollars of public money and then another quarter of a billion of private money coming in on top of it, rather than rebuilding Pacific Palisades after the fire is extremely frustrating.

MICHAELSON: Of course he would say yes, and he's doing both.

POLLAK: Well, he's not really, because we have a $12 billion state deficit that he addressed by cutting spending on various programs. But my neighbors can't rebuild their homes because their insurance falls short of the construction cost. And his priority is shuffling the deck in Washington so he can launch a presidential bid. And that's why we need your voice to cover these issues. We also need the California Post to present a picture of what's in the state.

MICHAELSON: So let's talk about the California Post. So people obviously are familiar with the New York Post. This is sort of the spinoff, right --

POLLAK: Right.

MICHAELSON: -- if you're talking T.V. business, this is the "Law and Order SVU." What is the California Post? How is this going to work? When do we see it? Talk to us about it.

POLLAK: The launch date is early next year and the California Post is going to bring the same hard hitting coverage that the New York Post brings to New York politics and national politics. The New York Post is one of the best breaking news outlets that there is. And I've been on the job for three days now and I've seen the team in action and it's pretty awesome to watch and to be a part of. And we're going to bring news and opinion to a state that has really lacked a mirror to hold up two state politicians to hold them accountable.

I don't think you get a Proposition 50 in a state with a strong voice from the public and a platform like the California Post that allows people to understand what's going on in the state as a whole and not to nationalize politics, not to make everything about Donald Trump, to make it about what's in the interest of Californians.

MICHAELSON: And is it, we should presume, like the New York Post, pretty spicy, sexy, confrontational, maybe a little conservative, all of the above?

POLLAK: Absolutely. The Page Six, the great front pages, the great commentary and the variety will all be there.

MICHAELSON: So one of the regions, I mean, we're friends, and one of the reasons I know that you thought about leaving your previous job, you were inspired by what happened during the fires. As a Pacific Palisades resident, that was very emotional for you. Talk about how that made you sort of reframe where you are in life.

POLLAK: My house survived, but that's because I put out the fire on my fence with buckets of water. There was no running water. There was no fire department around, even though there were a few trucks moving around. There was no water in the reservoirs. We just saw the LAPD after action report.

There was one officer on the entire west side. There was no traffic patrol to direct the evacuation.

MICHAELSON: No pre-deployment?

POLLAK: No pre-deployment of the firefighters, and no insurance for many people because unfortunately, the state's policies caused insurance companies to pull out of the state. As one of the lawyers for residents told me, it was a cascade of government failures like nothing he's ever seen. And you cannot allow a state like California to persist with that level of incompetence, bad management and residents are upset. People are coming together to rebuild. And that inspired me also.

It's not just the anger and the frustration, but also just being inspired by my neighbors and how they're pulling together in spite of what's happening at the state and local political levels.

MICHAELSON: So LA Mayor Karen Bass sat in that seat a few days ago. We talked about the fires and this new LA Times report that there were text messages on January 1st of firefighters who were concerned about this smaller fire saying that it wasn't out yet, we shouldn't leave the scene. Yet they were directed to leave the scene. And that smaller fire on January 7th erupted into the Palisades fire, the most destructive fire in LA history. Here's what Mayor Bass said about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: Why were no firefighters pre deployed to the Palisades?

KAREN BASS, LOS ANGELES MAYOR: Well, that was -- that was a key issue, a key factor that led to the change that took place. Now --

MICHAELSON: Do you bear any responsibility for that, though?

BASS: Well, yes. I mean, at the end of the day, we all know I am the mayor, and the buck stops with me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[01:10:04]

MICHAELSON: She's talking about the change that took place. She demoted the fire chief, Kristin Crowley, after that. Your reaction to what you heard from the mayor?

POLLAK: So the fire chief did decide not to pre deploy firefighters, but she made that decision because she didn't have the budget to pay the firefighters the overtime that they would need to be in position ahead of the fire. And the reason she didn't have the budget is that the mayor and the city council cut the firefighting budget. And that's also the reason for what you described in those text messages. When the firefighters came on January 1st, they put out their New Year's Day fire and then they came back the next day to try to put out any hot spots to check if the fire had gone into the roots of the plants and they were told by their battalion commander, according to these text messages reported by the LA Times, to leave. And what I learned in my reporting is that there's a little gray book that is used by the LA city firefighters to see how much it costs for all the services they're providing on state land when they're on state land, and they were on state land, Gavin Newsom's land, and they did not want to do more than they knew they could get reimbursed for because of the budget concerns.

So the battalion commander looked around and said, OK, this looks good enough. We don't want to spend too much time here because we're going to have to charge the state. The state won't be able to pay us back. Let's go. And it was because of that kind of mismanagement and poor budgeting that the Palisades fire became the absolute disaster that it did.

MICHAELSON: There are so many things that went wrong and if any one of them was different, that fire could have been so much less. And it really is sad to think about it, but that's why we need more reporting, we need more transparency and hopefully you all be able to do that at the California Post. Joel, congratulations.

POLLAK: Thank you. Thanks very much.

MICHAELSON: Great to have you on this show as well. Hopefully you'll be one of our regulars.

Coming up, we're -- speaking of devastation, we're looking at a typhoon that is strengthening in Asia and expected to make landfall in central Vietnam in the coming hours after killing at least 114 and leaving more than 100 missing in the Philippines. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has declared a state of national calamity and promised to continue relief and response operations. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center says that Kalmaegi could be the equivalent of a strong Category 3 hurricane, or even a Category 4 when it hits Vietnam. And another storm east of the Philippines expected to strengthen into a typhoon by the end of the week.

Still to come, I'll speak with the mayor of San Jose about a new collaboration set to provide education and training over the use of AI for the public. How do we regulate this? How do we learn to take advantage of it? That story just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:17:01]

MICHAELSON: A man is in custody after he appeared to grope the president of Mexico in public on Tuesday. Video of that incident has sparked outrage online and renewed a debate over harassment with the president Claudia Sheinbaum calling the incident a, quote, "assault on all women." We have more from CNN's Valeria Leon.

VALERIA LEON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum is pressing charges against a man who she said was drunk and harassed her on Tuesday. The man was arrested overnight, according to Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada, and is in custody at the Sex Crimes Investigation Unit. The incident took place when a man broke through a crowd of people greeting Sheinbaum in Mexico City and appeared to grope her, according to viral footage of the incident. Sheinbaum spoke about it earlier today. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLAUDIA SHEINBAUM, MEXICAN PRESIDENT (through translator): I experienced this episode of harassment. At the time I was actually talking to other people. I realized immediately Juan Jose, who coordinates the entire assistance team, intervened and it was only after watching the videos that I understood what had really happened because I was talking to a lot of people.

Yes, I obviously felt this person get close. He was, I repeat, completely intoxicated. I don't know if he was on drugs, but I decided to file a complaint because this is something I experienced as a woman, but it's something all women in our country experience.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEON: Tuesday incident has raised questions about Sheinbaum security. When asked whether she would consider increasing her security, given how easily the man approached her, Sheinbaum said she will continue as usual, insisting there is no risk against her. The incident on Tuesday has reignited conversation around an issue that runs deep in Mexico. Official data shows that about seven out of 10 women in the country have faced some form of violence and nearly half say they've experienced sexual violence.

Valeria Leon, CNN, Mexico City.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATT MAHAN, SAN JOSE MAYOR: Hey, guys, we just announced the AI for All initiative with Google, Anthropic, OpenAI here at the GovAI Summit in downtown San Jose.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: That is San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan announcing AI for All, a program to expand AI education in his city for free and for everyone. The mayor joins us live now for his first interview since that announcement.

Mayor Mahan, thank you so much and welcome to The Story Is for the first time.

MAHAN: Thanks, Elex. Great to be here with you.

MICHAELSON: So how does this work?

MAHAN: Well, we've brought together three of the world's leading AI companies, OpenAI, Google and Anthropic, to create one public portal through our library system that provides their tools, their AI powered tools, training curricula and even in person training in our library system that will be free and accessible to all San Jose residents. This is a first in the nation, first in the world kind of partnership and is part of our effort to ensure that San Jose is the most AI literate city in the world.

[01:20:14]

AI is here. It's transforming the way that we work and get information, make decisions, and we want to make sure our residents benefit. This could really go one of two ways. It could worsen inequality and lead to some pretty negative societal outcomes, or it can be harnessed to empower people to create wealth that needs to be shared and to help people have more productive lives and more fulfilling lives.

MICHAELSON: Of course, it makes sense that this would be happening in San Jose given your proximity to Silicon Valley and all of these companies to begin with and your own background in tech as well. So what does this training actually look like? Like, if I sat down and I took this class, what am I now going to be able to do that I couldn't do beforehand?

MAHAN: Well, that's the beauty of these new AI tools. The applications are endless. We've actually started with training our own workforce. People often get very hung up in the latest tool or gadget, when in reality, it's really about how we use it as humans to do new things. So in the city, we're bringing AI into public services to speed up bus routes, detect potholes, and fix them before they damage people's vehicles.

We're doing real time language translation in all public meetings in dozens of different languages. And as we have upskilled our workforce, our workers are finding as many applications as there are people at City Hall. They're using it to automate the aspects of their jobs that are routine and repetitive. There's a lot of paperwork and bureaucracy in government. I want to see us make government better every year, five percent, 10 percent more efficient, more responsive.

And our workers are leading the way because when we give them these tools and train them in how to apply them, they come up with the use cases. We've documented tens of thousands of hours of public sector time. That's taxpayer money saved just this year through our AI upskilling courses. I think we're going to see the same kind of impact, but at a totally different scale, orders of magnitude greater scale when we roll this for all of our residents and make sure everybody has the access they need to the best technology free of cost, with the training to figure out how to apply it in their daily lives.

MICHAELSON: And this could be a model for other cities as well. While I've got you, I got to ask you at least one politics question. Some people may know you from recent coverage in the LA Times. They wrote quite the headline about you and your relationship with the governor of California, suggesting that he's a real pain for Governor Newsom. And a rising Democratic star. Politico, wrote about you this way, suggesting, Newsom's presidential ambitions are running into a home- state hater.

You have been very public in expressing your frustration that some of Governor Newsom's memes, in your view, distract him and people from real state issues. Do you still feel that way after what happened with Prop 50 as we saw more memes coming out today?

MAHAN: I've got plenty of frustration with the White House as well, and I'm an equal opportunity in that. But I think Governor Newsom has done a lot of great things. I think he's a generational talent. I think he could be a great president if he chooses to run. I have simply argued that as we see this battle as partisan battle between the governor and the president and other partisan factions at the federal and state level, I want all elected officials to remember that where the rubber hits the road in government is at the local level, where we need help from our state leadership and from our federal leadership to end unsheltered homelessness, to tackle a crisis of addiction to fentanyl and meth.

In particular to bring down the cost of energy, to make it easier to build housing. I just want to ensure that if and when our governor runs for president, he's doing it pointing to a record of working with local leaders in cities across California to end unsheltered homelessness, build more housing, make cost of living lower. And we're leading the way in San Jose. We're reducing unsheltered homelessness, building housing, embracing AI to make government more efficient. I just want to make sure that we stay focused on solving problems.

My argument is the best resistance is delivering results. And we have to do that in partnership with Sacramento. So it's not at all personal or political. The governor and I agree on a lot of things. I just want to make sure he stays focused here at home on solving problems, on our biggest challenges, because we can't do it without him.

[01:25:07]

MICHAELSON: Matt Mahan is the mayor of San Jose, although it looks like you are the mayor of the city of Orange. It is quite a celebration of the oranges (inaudible).

MAHAN: I like my citrus. What can I say?

MICHAELSON: Painting the bottle (ph). It's really something. Thank you for inviting us in late at night, Matt Mahan. Appreciate it.

MAHAN: Thanks for having me. Good to see you.

MICHAELSON: First there was the Big Beautiful Bill. Now we have Jimmy Kimmel's big beautiful food bank late night host. Never missing a chance to poke some fun at the present. This time the jokes are intended to actually help the hungry. And look who showed up there, the LA Dodgers. That story just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:30:40]

ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to THE STORY IS. I'm Elex Michaelson.

Let's take a look at today's top stories. Authorities investigating the deadly crash of a UPS cargo plane have

recovered its so-called black boxes. But there is no word yet on what brought down Flight 2976 in Louisville, Kentucky on Tuesday. At least 12 people have been killed, and officials say that death toll is likely to rise.

An upcoming vote could eventually make Elon Musk a trillionaire. Shareholders will decide in the coming days whether to approve the Tesla CEOs new pay package.

The company warns that if it doesn't pass, he might, quote, "pursue other interests". The compensation would come in the form of additional shares of Tesla stock. Musk is already the richest man in the world.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers is working behind the scenes on a deal that could reopen the U.S. government. While many of its details have yet to be decided on, sources telling CNN it would provide funding through January and may also place safeguards on congressional spending abilities.

The shutdown and the potential loss of SNAP benefits for folks is a topic on ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live".

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY KIMMEL, TV SHOW HOST: The guy who never missed a Happy Meal in his life is deciding who gets to eat in this country. So after a federal court ordered them to do it, the Trump administration agreed to pay half the benefits, which is not enough so we are going to have to help.

We've set up a big, beautiful food bank in our parking lot. We're building an east wing of food donations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: So that's a look at the food bank. That's a real thing in Hollywood outside the studios of "Jimmy Kimmel Live" intended to help people that are struggling right now, especially people that rely on SNAP benefits.

You see right there, some of the Dodgers players were there as guests, helping to hand out some of the food.

Here to talk about that and more with our "Weekly Entertainment Report" is Elizabeth Wagmeister. Elizabeth, good to see you. Welcome back to THE STORY IS.

(CROSSTALKING)

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Elex.

Thank you.

MICHAELSON: So what's the story behind what's going on with Jimmy Kimmel?

WAGMEISTER: Well, so this is not the first time that Jimmy Kimmel has done something like this. He's really a pillar of the L.A. community. You remember back during the L.A. fires that he hosted a donation center on his studio backlot, which is down the street from your studio right here. And now, as you said, he is helping those in need. SNAP benefits are being cut.

So we saw Jimmy in true Jimmy fashion taking aim at President Trump on his show, as he does. For anyone who thought that he would come back from that brief hiatus and be kind to the president, clearly doesn't watch Jimmy Kimmel. But he's really doing this all for a good cause.

And as you said, some of the Dodger players came after their huge World Series win. Go Dodgers. Also, Flava Flav was there donating.

So this is really him stepping up for the community and the donation center opened up yesterday. Continues all throughout this week.

And I have to tell you, he's not the only celebrity who is stepping up. We have seen some prominent social media influencers who are raising money.

Also, Taylor Swift's fans, the Swifties -- there's a group called Swifties for Hope and they have posted about SNAP benefits being cut. and they are asking people to donate money and they have raised over $20,000.

And Wanda Sykes also spoke out about this.

MICHAELSON: Yes. And Jimmy Kimmel also during the writers' strike when there was no shows, paid personally --

WAGMEISTER: Yes.

MICHAELSON: -- for all of his writers during that entire period.

WAGMEISTER: Yes.

MICHAELSON: Ok. So speaking of writing, there's some criticism of the writing, the acting, the everything for a new show with a very big cast and a very familiar leading lady. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Jay say bye-bye to your future ex-wife.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bye-bye.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: See you in court, you poor discarded (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

GLENN CLOSE, ACTRESS: Let's light her on fire.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: So this is a new show starring Kim Kardashian, Sarah Paulson, Glenn Close -- big, big cast.

WAGMEISTER: Naomi Watts, Niecy Nash.

[01:34:47]

MICHAELSON: Big time on Hulu. The reviews are in, and they may be the worst reviews ever.

Let's put some of these up on the screen --

WAGMEISTER: Ok.

MICHAELSON: -- so you know what we're talking about here.

Here's one of them we're looking at from "The Guardian".

"I did not know it was possible to make television this bad. Not even Glenn Close can save this Ryan Murphy disaster."

Now to this review from "USA Today".

"The worst TV show of the year.

And finally, a look at a review here from the "Hollywood Reporter".

"Kim Kardashian is an appropriately wooden lead for Ryan Murphys empty, unforgivably dull Hulu drama."

Elizabeth, you've seen this. What is this show all about?

WAGMEISTER: By the way standing at 6 percent on Rotten Tomatoes?

MICHAELSON: Yes. 6 percent.

WAGMEISTER: 6 percent.

MICHAELSON: Which is about as close to zero as you've ever seen.

WAGMEISTER: Look, I'm really not saying this facetiously. I've never seen such bad reviews in my entire career as an entertainment reporter.

Look, I watched the show. You should watch it. See what you think for yourself. Make your own opinion.

Look, this is Ryan Murphy that we are talking about, one of the most prolific TV creators in television history. He has won every award in the world. Do not expect this show to get any Emmys love.

But here's what I do want to say. Whether you're hate-watching it or not, I will admit I actually had a lot of fun watching it. I am not saying that it is a good show. It is high camp and if you go into it expecting to maybe not see prestige TV, then I think you can have some fun.

But also I do want to point out oftentimes critics are not in lockstep with the fans. So I have been reading comments on every review out there. Believe me, there are a lot of fans who say this is the worst show they've ever seen. But there's also a lot of fans who say, this seems really harsh and I'm having fun with it.

And mark my words, this will break all sorts of records for Hulu. In fact, the trailer is the top trailer that Hulu has ever put out there. Guess what was the trailer behind that? "The Kardashians" --

MICHAELSON: "Keeping Up with the Kardashians".

WAGMEISTER: The reality show.

MICHAELSON: Or now, it's just called "the Kardashians".

WAGMEISTER: It's just called "The Kardashians". So look, whether or not you love them, you hate them, you love to hate them, you just plain hate them "The Kardashians" are good for business, so you watch it. You tell me what you think.

MICHAELSON: Yes.

WAGMEISTER: And you'll write your own review, Elex.

MICHAELSON: Yes. You watch, you decide.

All right. Thank you so much, Elizabeth.

More of THE STORY IS right after this.

[01:37:14]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAELSON: Welcome back.

Right now, CNN's annual "Call to Earth Day" is swinging into action in celebration of how people come together to help protect our planet. More than 600,000 people of all ages are taking part in a daylong event around the world -- on TV, digital and social media, in English, Spanish and Arabic. This year's theme is called "Guard Your Green Space".

And we're asking participants to show us how they are guarding their shared spaces for future generations.

CNN has a team of reporters covering "Call to Earth Day" across the globe -- Los Angeles, Atlanta, London, Nairobi, Beijing, Hong Kong and Tokyo -- to show you all the ways people around the world are protecting their green spaces.

Let's start in Beijing.

Steven Jiang joins us from there. Steven, how's it going?

Welcome to THE STORY IS for the first time.

STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: Yes, Elex. That's right, Elex.

And we are at one of Beijing's most popular urban oases, the Yangma River. Now, it may be a little difficult to see all the beautiful landscapes surrounding us because of the smog here today. Something you might be familiar with, Elex, being someone living in L.A.

But that really, in a way, speaks to the importance of sharing or raising awareness about environmental challenges facing the world with these young students here.

They're all from the British School of Beijing, Sanlitun, one of the city's leading international schools, with their campus only a stone's throw away from this place. That's why they often come here after school.

Bianca, what do you guys usually do here?

BIANCA, STUDENT: In the summer, we like to go kayaking and sometimes swimming. And in the winter we like to go ice skating on the river.

JIANG: That's a lot of things to enjoy. But you guys were saying to me, you learned this river didn't always look and smell this nice, right?

CI-WAN, STUDENT: Yes. A long time ago, horses were washed in this river. That's why this river is named Yangma River. Because in Chinese is Yangma means to wash horses.

JIANG: You're quite a historian, Ci-wan. But long after they stopped bathing horses here, it was still quite polluted here. Then what happened, Hansen (ph)?

HANSEN, STUDENT: Yes. They restored the Yangma River in 2016 by clearing the weeds, cleaning the sewage from the river, and cleaning the water.

This makes Yangma River to a tourist attraction because now the riverbank is so clean and green.

JIANG: Quite a transformation. But, Emily, you were saying you've already noticed something new.

EMILY, STUDENT: Yes. The river isn't freezing as it usually is.

JIANG: What do you think caused that?

EMILY: I think that is because of climate change and the warming of our planet.

JIANG: So climate change is already affecting this newly-transformed river. Anything you guys are doing, trying to make a difference on that front?

HANSEN: Last year I went with my girl scouts group out of Beijing to plant trees. JIANG: Really good for you. And it's really encouraging to hear

because all of these students here understand small actions, everyday actions really add up to help the long-term preservation of green spaces like this throughout the city, which of course in turn could slow down or even stop climate change, Elex.

MICHAELSON: Steven, quite an advertisement not only for fighting climate change, but for the educational system there. Those are some smart kids who delivered their lines very, very well. Thank you so much for joining us.

Let's head over to Tokyo now. Where Hanako Montgomery is standing by with some more young people, Hanako.

HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Elex.

I'm at the American School in Japan where kids are learning about the importance of their green spaces, about sustainability and climate change.

Now, I have with me my friend Marcella, who's in the fifth grade. Marcella, hi. Can you tell me what you've been gardening in this little rooftop garden that you guys have going on?

[01:44:48]

MARCELLA, STUDENT: We planted sweet potato in this area, and we're planting like radishes, carrots --

(CROSSTALKING)

MONTGOMERY: Soybeans as well.

MARCELLA: Soybeans.

MONTGOMERY: Yes. And what do you like about gardening here?

MARCELLA: It's great because there's an open space where there are many plants here.

MONTGOMERY: And do you get to keep some of the sweet potatoes that you picked up.

MARCELLA: Yes. I think last month we had these big sweet potatoes and we made something with them.

MONTGOMERY: That sounds very nice. Maybe in time for thanksgiving I think, Elex.

And then over here I have Miyuki, another friend of mine. Miyuki, can you tell me about what you've been working on at the American School in Japan and the sustainability that you've been learning about here in regards to fashion?

MIYUKI, STUDENT: Yes. So I am the president of the Sustainable Fashion Club here at ASIJ. And our mission is to spread awareness about the environmental impact and consequences about the fast fashion industry specifically.

And so last year, we launched our project in collaboration with a Japanese denim. reformation company called ECO-NAMI (ph) and we led a denim drive where we collected around five massive boxes of denim from the elementary, middle and high school.

MONTGOMERY: So you got everyone involved?

MIYAKU: Yes, yes. And we sent it off to Okayama Prefecture, where they have all these factories that break down the denim into these new fibers.

And with those fibers, they can create new things like t-shirts, bags, anything you can think of. Yes.

MONTGOMERY: And also pins. I think you're wearing one.

MIYAKU: Yes. This was actually -- we made these last November. And with some of the extra denim we had that we didn't donate to the organization, we made these pins to advocate for men's mental health, prostate cancer, and testicular cancer.

So if you walk around campus, you can see a lot of people with these blue pins made out of denim. Yes.

MONTGOMERY: That's amazing to hear how students are working together to just really emphasize how climate change is an all hands in effort, and how we can really think about our green spaces and the roles that we play in our world.

Back to you, Elex.

MICHAELSON: Thank you so much, Hanako. And that sweet potato looks pretty nice.

We head to Hong Kong now where some students are using their green spaces to promote a healthy diet as well.

Kristie Lu Stout takes us there.

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here in Hong Kong, I'm at one of hundreds of schools around the region, around the world marking "Call to Earth Day", the annual student-led day of action to better protect the environment.

This year, the theme is "Guard Your Green Space" and students here at German-Swiss International School are literally growing their own green space.

Now these are microgreens. These are tiny seedlings of edible plants. This right here, you're looking at basil. These are being planted in upcycled plastic containers. And the students they can harvest them every time that they want.

And joining me now to tell me more about this project is one of the sustainability leaders at German-Swiss. Hey, Jaden.

JADEN, STUDENT: Hi.

STOUT: You're sort of like the big brother in the group, right? And you've been working with these younger students. Tell me about this project that they're working on.

JADEN: So this project is actually trying to encourage the students to grow their own green space. So, for example, they're potting soil for the microgreens here. They're growing melon and basil seed from the plants that we've already had at the school so we don't have to buy new seeds.

And here we're repotting some young seedlings so they have more room to grow.

Yes. So we're really excited about this because this is an event we had in the secondary department. And we really wanted to spread the word among the primary students to get them to appreciate the green space around them.

STOUT: And this is one of many different sustainability initiatives that you have at your school, right?

JADEN: Yes. So, some other sustainability initiatives we have had is a newsletter that we've recently launched because we really believe that we should push for sustainability through education.

So as the three different leaders, we have three different fields of expertise. So for example, some of us are more interested in technology. We talk more about tech and how young innovators are coming up with technology to advance sustainability.

Some of us are more interested in policy, and some of us are also interested in the financial toll that climate change and everything will have.

STOUT: And when you hear things like "Guard Your Green Space", what does that mean to you?

JADEN: So especially living in a city like Hong Kong, everyone thinks that it's filled with buildings, skyscrapers. It's a concrete jungle.

But I feel that there's actually a lot of green space around us if only we took the time to appreciate it. So, for example, right off that corner there, there's a hiking trail that goes down to the Aberdeen Reservoir, et cetera.

And now were losing green space at an extraordinarily fast rate. So I feel like to protect the future generation's resilience and health, guarding our green space is something that is extremely important right now.

STOUT: Do you recognize the importance -- what's the best way of doing it? What's your advice? JADEN: I think my advice regarding your green space would really be

acknowledging that green space exists. Appreciating it and doing your best to regard it as well like as an individual.

[01:49:51]

JADEN: So, for example, when you go to the beach, if there's a piece of trash, you could clean it up. Or you could yes, like it doesn't take huge, gargantuan efforts to really guard your green space.

If everyone does their little part, all our green spaces will be well guarded, and hopefully people will engage with them and realize how precious they are, especially in Hong Kong.

STOUT: Well said. Thank you so much for everything that you do at your school for sustainability. Thank you so much for that.

And you too can guard your own green space and tell us how you're doing it. Just go online, use the #CalltoEarth. Let us know you too, can guard your green space. It doesn't matter how tiny or micro it is.

Back to you.

MICHAELSON: Inspiring stuff, Kristie. Thank you.

We'll continue our coverage of "Call to Earth Day" throughout the day here on CNN.

But we'll wrap things up on THE STORY IS after this.

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[01:54:54]

MICHAELSON: My interview this week with Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi in San Francisco has prompted reaction from millions of people across the world, including Stephen Colbert on CBS' "The Late Show".

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST, "THE LATE SHOW": Nancy Pelosi went on CNN to support it, but instead made news when she said this about Donald Trump.

NANCY PELOSI, FORMER DEMOCRATIC SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: He's just a vile creature. The worst thing on the face of the earth.

But anyway.

COLBERT: Ok. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow.

I'm not disagreeing, but that's a weird way to end that thought. The reporter couldn't quite believe what he heard.

MICHAELSON: You think he's the worst thing on the face of the earth?

PELOSI: I do, yes. I do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: Well, we thank them for watching. Donald Trump Jr. was also apparently watching, who responded to the interview by saying, quote, "Trump broke her." And the White House's rapid response account called her, quote, "Crazy Nancy".

So very different reactions to that interview.

Meanwhile, let's go to the world of sports.

Alex Ovechkin has smashed yet another pro-hockey record. The 40-year- old left-winger backhanded his 900th goal into the net as his Washington Capitals crushed the Saint Louis Blues 6 to 1.

Of course, Ovechkin broke the great one, Wayne Gretzky's career record of 895 goals. That was back in April. Congratulations to him.

Thanks so much for joining us tonight. I'm Elex Michaelson. I'll see you right back here tomorrow night. Will Rollins (ph) and Alicia Crouse (ph) join our panel then.

For now though, the news continues on CNN.

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