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Raul Castro Hails Thaw in U.S. Relations; North Korea Denies Being Behind Sony Hack; Will Sony Find Partners to Help Release Movie?; Sony CEO Defends Decision to Pull Out Movie; Fallout from the Sony Hack; Largest Immigrant Detention Center Opens in U.S.; The Science Behind Feeling Young; Interview with Misty Copeland

Aired December 20, 2014 - 13:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: North Korea claiming it's being framed for a cyber terrorist threat against Sony and movie theater patrons. President Obama is promising the U.S. will respond.

Also, will winter storms impact the travel plans for the holidays? We've got your latest forecast, straight ahead.

And find out how you can feel younger and live longer. Dr. Sanjay Gupta has tips that could change your life.

Hello, again, everyone, I'm Fredricka Whitfield. We begin with new developments out of Havana today.

President Raul Castro applauding President Obama's decision to thaw relations between the two countries. In a speech to the country national assembly a short time ago, he also cautioned there is a long road ahead for the two countries.

CNN's Patrick Oppmann was at this morning's address.

So was this the tone and content that was expected from Raul Castro?

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It depends on who was watching the speech. For those of us who, on occasion, get to see Raul Castro in person, which is sometimes rare, but they obviously wanted the international media there today, it was vintage Raul Castro. He's a military man compared to Fidel Castro. He gives so much shorter speech. He really spoke for about an hour and he's very direct.

But he didn't really change his tone that much. He was conciliatory towards President Obama and the U.S. He talked about the need for resumed relations, talked about how he looked forward to their countries working out their differences. But then also pointed out that lots of differences do remain, and that at least, in his opinion, the United States doesn't have the right to meddle in Cuba's affairs. He said that Cuba would not try to change its domestic policies or foreign policies to please the United States.

And so the sense we're getting here is very much the revolution will continue, as a single party communist form of government. That there will not be many more dramatic reforms here. And that, you know, as Raul Castro said, you know, next week is going to be the anniversary, at the end of this month, I should say, is going to be the anniversary of the Cuban Revolution. Fifty seven years. And he said that he expects the revolution to last 570 years. So for many people who think this is sort of the dying throws of the Cuban revolution, to Raul Castro is obviously not with them.

He also confirmed, Fred, that he will be in Panama in April for the Summer of the Americas. President Barack Obama will be there. So we're setting up the next meeting between these two presidents -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Interesting. Now you live there. What have just, you know, ordinary Cubans been sharing with you since that announcement on Wednesday? What are they looking forward to? What are they nervous about?

OPPMANN: They've been asking me so many questions. They've heard that they can use or will be able to use very soon U.S. credit cards. Of course, many people here have family in the U.S. And they'd like to think that the family can just get them a U.S. credit card, and instead of sending money via the Cuban government, which ends up keeping about 20 percent, there are estimates that $4 billion a year come from the United States to Cubans here from the relatives. So that could be a lot more money for people.

You know, depending on how that's worked out, they've read that the U.S. will allow people to import construction materials, which is badly needed, you've seen pictures of Cuba and lots of the country, particularly, Havana, is just falling apart after all the years and lack of maintenance. But, you know, we don't know yet if the Cuban government will allow those construction materials, badly needed construction materials in.

So, you know, a lot of us are hoping for more details today in this speech. We just didn't get them. You know, right now it's going to be a slow road, as Raul Castro said, and he, at least, doesn't seem to be wanting to speed up things, already more than the historic announcement this week has sped things up.

WHITFIELD: And I wonder, Patrick, have you noticed any, you know, I guess, obvious response or reactions from people, or do they seem like they're a little bit more upbeat, even, because they may be more hopeful about what may be around the corner, even though they didn't hear any real specific changes that are happening in the immediate?

OPPMANN: Absolutely, Fred. People call this our El Regalo de Navidad, our Christmas present. They feel that, you know, after so long here of having nothing to look forward to, of the government lowering expectations, you know, basically, to nothing and things just consistently getting worse, finally some good news. And you know, as I've been saying, you know, we haven't seen the fine print. It's going to take a while to see all the ripple effects.

But at least in the sense of that Cuban people do not feel cut off, they do not feel forgotten, that there will be more exchanges between the U.S. and Cuban people. And they really do see that as a good thing. WHITFIELD: Interesting. All right. Patrick Oppmann, thanks so much,

from Havana.

All right. Now to another major story we're following this hour. North Korea's response to the cyber attack on Sony Pictures. The country issued a statement today that included a warning, several insults to the United States, and oddly enough, an offer to cooperate with Washington?

Alexandra Field joining us now from New York.

So, Alexandra, what exactly is meant from this statement?

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think this statement actually reflects what a lot of people would have anticipated hearing from North Korea. It comes from their state-run news agency, it is long, it is rambling, it's full of accusations and again that bizarre request. So they start out by saying, "Whoever is going to frame our country for a crime should present concrete evidence."

The statement then says that, "America's childish investigation result and its attempt to frame us for this crime shows their hostile tendency towards us." And then finally, "We will not tolerate the people who are willing to insult our supreme leader but even when we retaliate, we will not conduct terror against innocent moviegoers. The retaliation will target the ones who are responsible and the originators of the insults."

And now, Fred, the really bizarre part of this is that the statement finally goes on to say that North Korea and the U.S. should do a joint investigation into the -- into the hack. And then the statement says that if the U.S. refuses to cooperate in that investigation and if they continue to name North Korea as having backed this cyber attack, which breached Sony's data, that there will be consequences for the U.S.

Obviously, we will not be seeing a joint investigation proceeding, the White House has spoken very forcefully about this. Top officials in Washington have called this a brazen attack and the White House has said that a response is being planned. That it will be a proportional response, but they are not talking at this point about the details of what kind of retaliation we could see here.

WHITFIELD: And serious consequences that the North Korea threatens still very ominous.

Alexandra Field, thanks so much.

All right, "The Interview," the movie, it probably has drawn more headlines than ever for a movie that was never even officially released. And now the question is, will it ever be seen by the masses. And what company may step up to actually get that movie out.

Here now is Brian Stelter.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fred. The big question this weekend, will any company step up and help Sony release this movie? That's what I'm working on today, trying to figure out if there's any big digital distributor, like Netflix or YouTube, or any movie theater chain, that is now willing to help Sony get the movie out.

There's obviously lots of interest all of a sudden in seeing this film. You know, this was a movie that only has a $44 million budget, wasn't getting a ton of attention until the cyber attack at Sony happened. Now folks are focused on this, people want to know what all the fuss is about. There's an editorial in the "New York Daily News" this morning saying, "Patriotism demands, show the movie, and show it now."

So how might Sony do that? Well, it has a variety of options. One of my sources to the company says lots of options. For example, they could try to get into theaters, they could try to get it online, they could try to get it on to cable video on demand systems. You know, when you're sitting on the couch at home and you rent a movie via your remote control.

The concern of course is that any company that helps Sony do that might be vulnerable to the same kind of hacking that Sony fell victim to. So there are understandable concerns about that. Meanwhile, Sony is still functioning. I've got to say, they're still making movies, they're still making TV shows, even though this has been a disaster for their company.

On Friday, they released a big new movie, "Annie." It's expected to make tens of millions at the box office. It really is a glimmer of good news for an otherwise embattled film studio. And we will see if "Annie" and Sony's other movies will be joined by "The Interview" after all at the theaters or online in the coming weeks.

Fred, back to you.

WHITFIELD: Brian, thanks so much.

So President Obama criticized Sony for cancelling the movie's release, saying this could set a dangerous precedent.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I am sympathetic to the concerns that they face. Having said all that, yes, I think they made a mistake.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The CEO of Sony Pictures, who has been a supporter of the Obama White House, fired back in an interview with our Fareed Zakaria.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FAREED ZAKARIA, HOST, FAREED ZAKARIA GPS: You are well known as somebody who supported President Obama.

MICHAEL LYNTON, CEO, SONY ENTERTAINMENT: Yes.

ZAKARIA: Were you disappointed in what you heard today?

LYNTON: I would be fibbing to say I wasn't disappointed. I -- you know, the president and I haven't spoken. I don't know exactly whether he understands the sequence of events that led up to the movies not being shown in the winters. And therefore I would disagree with the notion that it was a mistake. It's a generally held view by the public and the press that that's what happened. And maybe that's how that view was held by him.

But knowing, as I do, the facts and how they've -- and how they've unfolded, you know, we stood extremely firm in terms of making certain that this movie would appear in movie theaters.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So Fareed with us now.

So what is the next step for Sony? Are they determined to make sure that film is never released for public consumption or what is the next plan?

ZAKARIA: No. Actually what was really striking about the interview was we learned that -- we learned a lot of new stuff. Sony does -- has not pulled the movie. As far as they're concerned, they want the public to see the movie. What happened, Michael Lynton said, is that the movie theaters came to Sony and said, we will not show this movie. They were worried about attacks; they were worried about the stores next door to them and the malls started coming and complaining.

And one by one, each of the big movie chains started pulling out. At that point, they were faced with the reality that there was no one who was going to show the movie, so they canceled, in his words, the December 25th release of the movie, meaning, they still seemed to hope that they can, at some later date, release the movie, or release it in another form, online, or in DVDs. And those discussions are continuing, he told me.

WHITFIELD: And then what did he say about trying to better protect them -- you know, as a company? I mean, because if there's a hack now, there's likely to be another attempt later.

ZAKARIA: Yes, I asked him, I said, that, you know, did you have holes in your cyber security? Michael Lynton, the CEO of Sony, says the FBI looked into this very thoroughly and that he was very complimentary about the FBI. He said that they told Sony that Sony had one of the best cyber security systems in place. That the problem here was you had a very sophisticated state-sponsored attack.

That those are very difficult to protect against and in their view -- this is the FBI's view -- the vast majority, I think he said to me, 90 percent of corporations, would have succumbed to this kind of an attack.

That's a very scary thought because what it tells you is that any company in America is vulnerable, if, if the hackers have the support, the resources, and mechanisms of a state like North Korea.

WHITFIELD: And you can see the complete interview with Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton tomorrow morning on "FAREED ZAKARIA, GPS" at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time.

OK, that holiday travel, guess what, it's not going to be easy next week. A big winter storm is on the horizon. But these California snowboarders, they're making the best of it. That looks kind of fun, doesn't it? Nighttime, too. And crazy. Hey, what can we expect over the holidays? That's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A blessing to some, a nightmare to others. It's already snowing in the Sierras and Northern California, creating some great snowboarding conditions. Of course, they're the ones who love it. And the Northeast and Midwest, well, guess what? They're about to take a hit of another kind. A winter storm expected to dump snow, rain, and bring heavy winds during Christmas week.

CNN meteorologist Karen Maginnis, joining me now.

It's great if you're on the slopes, but usually, for anybody else, not so great, unless you're building a snowman, but you know.

KAREN MAGINNIS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. And I think it could be pretty messy for folks across the Great Lakes. Chicago may be the area that could be hit the hardest, as far as airport delays are concerned. But pretty much from Minneapolis to Chicago to Detroit. Those are the areas that are looking at the development of what is still an evolving, significant winter storm system. But we'll watch this march its way towards the east.

Let's give you a different perspective. There's that area of low pressure, we take you into Wednesday, early morning, area of low pressure right over the Great Lakes. On the backside of this, colder air. We will see some snowfall with this. Further to the south and ahead of the system, that's where we'll see the rainfall.

So just to give you a broader view as to what's happening, that cold air dives to the south, the wind starts to pick up, and it's going to be brutal. New York City, we go from 40s to 50s. So you're in the warm sector of the system, but the rainfall will materialize. But look at Chicago, 40s to 30s. Snow showers, about a 60 percent likelihood. It begins on Christmas Eve, should taper off on Christmas Day.

A powerful winter storm system blasts the West Coast, could see snowfall measured in feet. And take a look at Kingsville. This is in the Sierra Nevada. This is just to the west of Tahoe, where they saw significant snowfall already. That storm system moves across the interior west and slow going if you're headed through some of those mountain passes in Washington state and into Oregon because you will need it. Probably chains required for Christmas.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness. All right. That's right. That will be the Christmas gift.

All right, Karen Maginnis, thank you.

All right. Sony says it didn't back down when it pulled its movie about North Korea. We'll hear from a couple of Hollywood stars who were criticizing Sony's decision.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. As we reported, Sony has canceled the release of the movie, "The Interview." It's a comedy about a plot to kill North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un. Some Hollywood stars are now expressing their frustration over the decision to pull the movie. Sony is insisting it didn't give in to the hackers to attacked the company.

Here's Paul Vercammen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LIZZY CAPLAN, ACTOR, "THE INTERVIEW": Gentlemen, you are entering into the most dangerous country on earth.

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sony Entertainment's move to pull "The Interview" from theaters has touched off fear and loathing in show business.

JON STEWART, HOST, "THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART": That's it? So Kim Jong-Un gets to decide which movies we make?

VERCAMMEN: George Clooney, son of a news anchor, is one of the most outspoken celebrities on First Amendment issues. Clooney's publicist confirms the actor wrote a petition of support for Sony that he wanted entertainment power brokers to sign.

"We know that to give in to these criminals now will open the door for any group that would threaten freedom of expression, privacy, and personal liberty."

But Deadline Hollywood reports no executive signed the Clooney letter after the Sony hack.

CHRIS ROCK, ACTOR/COMEDIAN: This whole thing is just scary, man. It's like, you know, your e-mails and it's your private stuff. And I don't know, I mean, the whole town is scared. Everybody's got to be scared.

VERCAMMEN: But in one decisive moment, Sony banned "The Interview" from theaters.

DAVID LETTERMAN, HOST, "LATE NIGHT WITH DAVID LETTERMAN": I am so disappointed. I wanted to see the movie. I think this is the wrong thing to do. I hear in the film Meryl Streep is great as Kim Jong-Un. But I said, OK, if they're not going -- if they're not going to show "The Interview," that's it, no more North Korean movies for me. VERCAMMEN: Perhaps not for anyone. Insiders predict a new chilling

effect on controversial film subjects. A Steve Carell thriller project set in North Korea also just got scrapped.

MATT BELLONI, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: You're not going to see villains that have anything to do with that region and could be perceived, as being anti-North Korean or Chinese, even Iran, people are saying is off-limits.

VERCAMMEN: In Hollywood, there's solidarity for "The Interview," Seth Rogen, a bankable showbiz triple threat, actor, writer, producer. The Franco-Rogen acting team has delivered to Sony the young male audience and big profits. "Pineapple Express" and "This is the End" cost little to make and racked in more than $100 million worldwide. But dollar signs couldn't save this sign "The Interview's" billboards being ripped down at Sunset and Vine, dead center of angry, nervous Hollywood.

Paul Vercammen, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Wow. That is one way to set the stage. So joining me right now, Howard Bragman, vice chairman of Reputation.com. And Laurie Segall, technology correspondent for "CNN MONEY."

All right. Good to see you both -- well, we see you, Laurie, and then we're going to hear from Howard, he's on the phone with us.

LAURIE SEGALL, CNN MONEY TECH CORRESPONDENT: OK.

WHITFIELD: So, Howard, let me begin with you. Is Sony's image tarnished by this hack? And now even we heard from Paul Vercammen's piece they've shelled another movie to not be misconstrued by North Korea?

HOWARD BRAGMAN, VICE CHAIRMAN, REPUTATION.COM: Sony has had a lot of reputational damage from this. Probably even more than we know. Certainly the hacked e-mails, the charges of racism. But I was talking to a very important Hollywood insider last night, who told me that a lot of people, talent agencies, big, powerful people, have thousands of e-mails that haven't been made public yet and people behind the scenes in Hollywood are actually going through them and they're seeing even more provocative and interesting stuff on there.

WHITFIELD: Oh, come on.

BRAGMAN: No, I'm telling you, this is somebody who literally went through these e-mails, looked at his own position in these e-mails, and have done a great deal of damage done. But let me say this. I think if we went through any studio's e-mails for 10 years, we'd find a parallel kind of situation. But, unfortunately, Sony's standing alone here. And that's the part that's kind of really disturbing to me that other studios wouldn't stand with them.

WHITFIELD: Wow. Yes, but, you know, Howard, those are two things you're talking about. There is the gossip that would come from e- mails being made public and people feeling like, you know, their dirty laundry is being aired. And then there is the influence of a huge movie company and it influences whether they will air something, whether they will continue with production, or whether they will no longer stand behind the merit of a production, because of hacking.

BRAGMAN: Right. Well, let's start with the gossip. First of all, it transcends gossip when it affects talent relationships and talent questions whether they might want to be in business with any particular studio. So that's certainly a financial issue. The second thing, the First Amendment issue, I'm a thousand percent with you on the page, but I also think Sony did pull the movie from theaters, but I also think that the theater owners blinked first, and without --

WHITFIELD: Wouldn't it have been better maybe for Sony, though, if Sony just went ahead and said, OK, we can't find a movie theater, you know, to air this movie, but we stand behind the production. That would have been sending a different message.

BRAGMAN: I agree. I would have just released the movie online and said, go ahead. Enjoy. And kind of one in their own way. Because the reality is, everything gets out online anyway.

WHITFIELD: Right.

BRAGMAN: This movie is going to be out online. We're all going to see it at some point when we want to. Nerves is like the threat to the First Amendment here. It's very scary and I was a little put off by what the president said yesterday that he was disappointed in Sony and a little perplexed.

WHITFIELD: That was a mistake.

BRAGMAN: Because -- because I'm thinking, wouldn't you think Sony and parts of the federal government are talking about these terrorist threats? Whether to show the movies? And if there wasn't that level of communication, I certainly would have thought there should have been.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Well, that was a response from the president, who said, you know, I wish Sony would have called me.

But, Laurie, let's bring you into this now, waiting ever so patiently here. So, you know, help us understand. Is Sony a microcosm of just how vulnerable companies of that magnitude are, as it pertains to hacking, their private information being made public without, you know, its involvement?

SEGALL: You know, what's so scary about this, Fred, is that many, many companies would not have been able to withstand this kind of cyber attack. This was a very, very sophisticated cyber attack. But let me tell you what's even more scary. If you look at the dark corners of the Web, these types of attacks, the tools and the malware needed are being sold online to different cybercriminals.

WHITFIELD: So it's easy? SEGALL: You can look at images. We've been able to pull some images

from the dark Web of these kind of hacks being sold for something like $500. I spoke to one source. He said the kind of malware needed for this type of hack, you can buy and sell -- and sell online from between $500 to $1,000. But when you take a step back, that's really scary, because this hack was very sophisticated.

But in the future, you might not even have to be that sophisticated to go buy and sell the tools needed, not build them from the ground up. And one other security source said to me is he said, it's like they had such -- they didn't even need to be so sophisticated because it's like when you come to a lot of the American companies, you're walking through a neighborhood and the doors are simply unlocked. And I think that is what we really need to take away from here -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Interesting. And then, Howard, you know, I'll let you button this up. I wonder, you know if this is unwinnable situation that you're talking about, shouldn't a big movie company be talking to the White House, when you talk about cyber terrorism, but at the same time, then you've got the sentiment of, wait a minute, wouldn't that be ultimately censorship? You've got to get approval from the White House before, you know, you release a movie?

I mean, so, how do you find some balance here in terms of sharing information and protecting information?

BRAGMAN: Well, I think it's exactly what you said. It is a balancing act. You're walking on a tightrope, and I think Sony and every other production studio out there has to have the courage of their convictions. What we can't afford to do is have anybody who's unhappy with some sort of release threaten terrorism and have companies pull the release, because some attorney told them they had to do it.

We have to have some courage in our convictions. And we have to stand for something or we stand for nothing ultimately.

WHITFIELD: OK. And then, Laurie, I'll get -- I'll let you button it up, actually. So should companies feel rather hopeful that there are some protections in place? If it's not there now, then there is something in the near future to protection them against these kinds of hacking schemes, whether it be inside country or whether it be outside.

SEGALL: I should hope so. I think this has started a nationwide conversation about security, because for the first time, we're seeing just how bad this can be.

And I'll tell you, Fredericka, from talking to folks in Hollywood, from talking to insiders at Sony, they just say they feel so helpless and violated right now. They're all using their personal e-mails. One source I just got out the phone within Hollywood said, this could 1,000 percent lead to self-censorship. And the whole area just feels paralyzed and a -- and I think this feeling, everyone in the nation is beginning to wrap their head around, and this might lead to some sort of change and investment in better security.

WHITFIELD: Interesting. All right.

Laurie Segall, Howard Bragman, glad you can both be with us. Thanks so much. And happy holidays.

BRAGMAN: Thanks, Fred.

SEGALL: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right.

All right. A brand new immigration detention center opening in Texas. It's the largest one ever and it's already being blasted by critics. Find out why in a live report.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Bottom of the hour. Welcome back, I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Here's a look at the top stories making news right now.

North Korea claims it's being framed by the United States for the cyber attack on Sony Pictures, and it warns of serious consequences if the U.S. continues to link Pyongyang to the attack, and refuses to team up with North Korea in an investigation.

Meantime, Sony is denying it caved in to the hackers' threats by not releasing the film, "The Interview." CEO Michael Lynton tells CNN the move was based on the fact that major theater companies decided not to show the movie.

And the parents of the man accused of killing 12 people at a Colorado movie theater two years ago are begging for his life to be spared. James Holmes' mother and father issued their plea in a statement. It comes just a month before jury selection in his trial is scheduled to begin.

And prosecutors have refused a plea deal that would send Holmes to prison for life. Police say the 27-year-old used tear gas and then opened fire with an AR-15 rifle, a 12-gauge shotgun and a handgun. Fixity-eight others were wounded in the attack.

And there are new developments today in Havana. Cuban President Raul Castro praising the White House's move towards normalizing relations. He also told the country's national assembly there's still, quote, "A long and difficult road ahead," unquote, before sanctions are lifted. Earlier this week, Cuba released American hostage Alan Gross from prison.

And Chrysler is expanding its recall of cars and trucks equipped with the Takata airbags to more than three million older model vehicles worldwide. The recall comes over fears the airbags can explode and send shrapnel into drivers and passengers. Chrysler had limited its recall to areas with high humidity, where the airbags are believed to be more likely to rupture.

An amazing video to show you from this accident northeast of Atlanta. And you can see an officer making a routine traffic stop there, as he's walking towards the camera, and then that happens. Wow. A FedEx truck barreling right into the police vehicle. Rescue workers needed the Jaws of Life to actually pull the Fed-Ex driver out. He was airlifted to a hospital. The officer, amazingly, was not seriously injured.

And it is just a building, but it's got a lot of people upset. It's a brand new immigration detention center. The largest one ever. The controversy, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Earlier this year, tens of thousands of children fleeing Central America and crossing into the U.S. illegally. Many of them unaccompanied minors. Others brought into the country by a guardian, usually their mom.

Well, Nick Valencia joining me now.

So, Nick, the immigrants led by guardians, some have said that the locations that they have been held, for processing, have been inhumane. There are a lot of negative, I guess, descriptions. But the flip side is, many say, you know, they're being given kind of a good fresh start.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sure, I mean, it depends on who you ask. If you ask the federal government, they're going to say, we're doing everything within our power to make sure that they are in safe facilities, that they are not exposed to inhumane treatment. But if you talked to other human rights advocates, immigration right advocates, and they do not like these facilities, these privately contracted facilities, the largest of which opened up earlier this week, announced by the secretary of Department of Homeland Security, Jeh Johnson.

Earlier I spoke with Victor Nieblas who is with the American Immigration Lawyers Association and he says that there's alternative methods to these facilities.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VICTOR NIEBLAS, PRESS-ELECT, AMERICAN IMMIGRATION LAWYERS ASSOCIATION: This expensive alternative would be the alternatives to detention. Whether it'd be churches who are in charge of these individuals, who can be responsible for them or community-based organizations or even one of our most criticized program, you know, giving these individuals electronic bracelets. At the very least, that would be an option that would not cost the taxpayer's money.

I mean, there's a lot of money being wasted in detaining children who are 3 and 4 years old, and mothers who are young mothers fleeing their country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: Just how much money is being wasted? According to Nieblas, well, the facts are, it's about $260 million cost to the taxpayer, about $200 per family unit, where facilities like the one in Dilley, and there are two others, one in Karnes, Pennsylvania, and one in Artesia, New Mexico, which is closing down.

WHITFIELD: And this latest facility that is being opened is not as a result of the influx. It is something that was already in the works.

VALENCIA: Well --

WHITFIELD: And I wonder if part of the problem is the word detention, perhaps if it had a different name of the facility.

VALENCIA: Sure.

WHITFIELD: It would be sending a different kind of message.

VALENCIA: Sure. Well, Nieblas, I talked to him about that is what is it really at the crux of your issue here? Why don't you like these facilities? They seem to be working out. There are just a lot of space for these families, 2,400 beds. He says it's the way they're treated. They're not given legal representation as well.

He believes that if they are given legal representation or at least shown that path that there's that option, that more of them would understand that they could file for asylum. And it wouldn't be these scenes and scenarios that you're looking at.

I mean, this summer, Fredericka, these images that were emerging from these detention facilities, is temporary housing facilities that they were called by DHS, really deplorable conditions. Lots of people, dozens of people --

WHITFIELD: But many of them stayed within the United States, they were not turned away.

VALENCIA: That's right and that has a lot to do with where they are coming from. Let's say you have somebody coming from Mexico or Canada, there's a very quick sort of revolving door. You can send them out, essentially, within 24 hours. That's not the policy for Central American countries, which is why so many of them got sort of caught up in the system and why you saw a lot of them now. Now detentions are up. The federal government has been successful in

detentions this year. It's figuring what to do with them afterwards, and of course, the criticism from human rights advocates and immigration rights advocates. You're never going to please everybody, of course. DHS thinks that this is the best solution. You talk to somebody like Nieblas, though, he said it's absolutely morally wrong and inhumane.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks for bringing it to us.

VALENCIA: You got. Thanks.

WHITFIELD: Nick Valencia, appreciate it.

And we'll be right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: We're now only 11 days away until the end of 2014, so we're taking a look back at the year today. What did you search for online?

Google has announced the top searches for the year, and at number five, the ALS ice bucket challenge. Number four, the missing Malaysian Airlines Flight 370. Number three, the Ebola outbreak. And number two, the World Cup tournament. And the top search for 2014, the death of Robin Williams.

At some point in your life, someone will say to you, you're only as old as you feel. Well, a new study just might be able to back up that saying.

CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, has "The Science Behind" feeling young.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, I think for a long time people have sort of guessed that there's a lot to this notion of how optimistic you are, how young you feel, and the impact that has on your overall health. But this is one of the first large studies to really put some definition around this.

They followed around 6500 people, the average age, chronological age was 65.8 years. And they tried to figure out what happen to the people who felt the youngest versus those who felt the oldest. The self-perceived age, people who had the lowest self-perceived age, they tended they were almost twice as likely to still be alive eight years later as compared to people who had the oldest self-perceived age.

So simply feeling younger did seem to have some benefit. These were people who all had very similar health backgrounds, but simply feeling younger and reporting your self-perceived age as younger did seem to have an impact.

Look, we know more than ever about how we age, but we still don't know why we age exactly. We still don't know why some people really live longer, with exactly the same health profiles. But we have found over the years, that there are things that make a difference. For example, staying social. We talk about it a lot on this program, but just simply staying social really seems to make a difference. You're engaged with other people, you're more likely to be moving. Weight resistant-exercises. Another big one. We focus a lot on aerobics in this country, but we need to do things to combat natural muscle loss as well and weight-resistant exercises can make a big difference.

And finally, simply taking care. Taking care of yourself, taking care of your loved ones, making sure you're really monitoring your health on a regular basis.

So, Fred, the question a lot of people ask is, how old do I feel? Take a look, that's how old I feel.

How old do you feel, Fred? And how about you at home? Tweet me @Dr.SanjayGupta.

And Fred, you and I, because we did that triathlon, I think we're feeling younger than ever and hopefully we'll keep that up. Back to you.

WHITFIELD: And you better believe it, we're going to keep it up. I feel younger, but the question is, how old or how young I do look. I don't actually want a response on that one but thanks, Sanjay.

(LAUGHTER)

All right. She is an unlikely ballerina who is breaking boundaries and she looks good.

Coming up, my face-to-face interview with Misty Copeland who is making leaps and bounds in the world of dance. We'll discuss her major endorsement deal and her collaboration with a music superstar.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. This holiday weekend in Brooklyn, New York, the classic ballet performance of "The Nutcracker" makes history with a new look and leading lady.

She is Misty Copeland, the American Ballet Theater's first black soloist in two decades. I met up with her face-to-face to talk about breaking boundaries in ballet and beyond.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MISTY COPELAND, BALLERINA: I'm Misty Copeland, I'm 32 years old and I'm a soloist with American Ballet Theater. I'm a ballerina.

WHITFIELD (on camera): And what does it feel like to be able to say that?

COPELAND: It's pretty cool. You know, I think it took me a while, well, to be a soloist, that's huge for any dancer. To go beyond that, I think takes an extra something in somebody.

WHITFIELD (voice-over): And Misty Copeland, indeed has that extra something.

COPELAND: Not necessarily to be more talented but you have to be ready to push yourself to the limits and then to be a principal dancer even more so.

WHITFIELD: She is unique in so many ways. She's the first African- American soloist of the American Ballet Theater in two decades. Her New York performance in "The Nutcracker" this week is groundbreaking as is her transformation from the delicate Odette into manipulative Odile in ABT's "Swan Lake ." All of it giant leaps into the historically monochromatic classics.

COPELAND: I never saw this happening with my life but I'm just on this ride and I'm just trying to take it one day at a time.

WHITFIELD (on camera): And how are you handling it? Because it's quite the ride. I mean, we're going to be seeing you in "The Nutcracker." You are in the lead of that, the lead of "Swan Lake." I mean, you are changing the face of ballet, dance, and a culture in America if not the world. I mean that is pretty heavy.

COPELAND: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Or did I just make it heavy?

(LAUGHTER)

I'm sorry.

COPELAND: It's always been what I wanted. I wanted to bring it to Americans the way Europeans experience ballet and for people to appreciate it. And for me to share the stories of those who have come before me. That don't always get the recognition as African-American ballerinas. Those are my goals and I have so much more to do.

WHITFIELD (voice-over): Including next summer, a turn as Juliet, as in "Romeo and Juliet" at the Met.

COPELAND: I try not to kind of get ahead of myself and just dive into each project as I'm working on them individually and not get overwhelmed by the bigger picture. But it's -- I mean, it's hard to describe and I'm just happy that I have these opportunities, you know, even with "Firebird" that the audience that was there that night was kind of changing, seeing a more diverse audience to come and support me. It's a big deal.

WHITFIELD: It is a big deal. And seemed farfetched 20 years ago when as one of six children Copeland would step up to a ballet bar at 13 years old in a Los Angeles neighborhood boys and girls club.

(On camera): It was uncomfortable. This wasn't the place that you naturally wanted to be.

COPELAND: Right. It was unfamiliar and scary and as a shy introverted girl, trying anything that was new was terrifying to me. So yes, it was terrifying at first. This thing that is like, this is my life.

(LAUGHTER)

WHITFIELD (voice-over): But Copeland write in her memoir "Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina," her ballet instructor saw in her gifts.

COPELAND: My body was agile and just capable of doing everything she asked and I understood how to retain it.

WHITFIELD: She felt alive and suddenly far away from what she describes as a chaotic and nomadic family life. Her mother moving the kids from home to home. COPELAND: An escape from my everyday life. I was in this beautiful

world with beautiful music.

WHITFIELD: By 17, Copeland headed for New York. Her athleticism in dance standing out, gaining special notoriety in this Under Armour ad going viral with nearly seven million views on YouTube. She caught the eye of the artist known as Prince who incorporated her dance on his music tour in 2010.

(On camera): Is it true that you felt like you -- you had really arrived as a dancer once Prince said, I want you involved in my music.

COPELAND: Something definitely happened during that experience. As dancers, we're told what to do from the moment we step into that first ballet class. You don't speak, to be given the opportunity, you know it was just me on a plane going to meet Prince in France. And I got there and I said, what am I doing, what do you want me to do. And he said whatever you want.

And it was like scary at first that freedom, that was kind of the start of like pushing myself as an individual and understanding the responsibilities it takes to be an artist.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Misty Copeland.

WHITFIELD (voice-over): Like using her celebrity to teach lessons.

COPELAND: I came from humble beginnings. I wasn't supposed to be a ballerina. I'm African-American. I went through a period of, you know, being fat in their eyes and look at me now. And that's just the message that I want to continue to promote to kids.

WHITFIELD: On this day to young girls and women at historically black all female College of Spellman.

(On camera): What's the advice or encouragement that you give them in their journey?

COPELAND: To keep people in your life who are going to support whatever it is that you want to do. To not compare themselves to other people. Just know that they are beautiful.

WHITFIELD (voice-over): An unlikely ballerina finding her footing and in the process forever changing the world of ballet.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And tomorrow is Misty Copeland's finale performance of the American Ballet Theater's "Nutcracker." Next she will make her American debut in "Swan Lake" with the Washington Ballet in April.