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CNN NEWSROOM

President Obama Reassures Americans Safe from Terrorism; Disney Parks Add Metal Detectors; New Arrest in San Bernardino Attacks; Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump Exchange Compliments; Controversial Pharmaceutical CEO Arrested; Visiting a Russian War Ship; "Star Wars" Expected to Break Box Office Records; The Most Habitable Planet Found. Aired 1-2a Et

Aired December 18, 2015 - 01:00   ET

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


[01:00:11] JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: This is CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles.

ISHA SESAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Ahead this hour, terrorism fears are leading to heightened security across the United States, even at the happiest place on earth.

VAUSE: Donald Trump pays compliments with Vladimir Putin. We look at what could be motivating all this goodwill.

SESAY: And fans pack move theaters across North America for the premier of "Star Wars."

VAUSE: Hello, everybody. Great to have you with us. We'd like to welcome our viewers in the United States and all around the world. I'm John Vause.

SESAY: And I'm Isha Sesay. NEWSROOM L.A. starts right now.

VAUSE: The U.S. president Barack Obama is trying to reassure Americans they are safe in their own country. Mr. Obama visited the National Counterterrorism Center in Virginia on Thursday.

SESAY: The president says there is no specific and credible threat to the U.S. this holiday season.

CNN's senior White House correspondent reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was one more attempted show of strength from President Obama as he vowed to keep the nation safe from ISIS terrorists and their so-called lone- wolf followers during the holidays.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Of course, when terrorists pull off a despicable act like what happened in San Bernardino, it tears at our hearts, but it also stiffens our resolve.

ACOSTA: After a rare briefing at the National Counterterrorism Center, the president said there is no current specific or credible threat to the U.S. homeland. With that intelligence in hand, he urged Americans to remain calm.

OBAMA: So anyone trying to harm Americans need to know, they need to know that we're strong and that we're resilient, that we will not be terrorized.

ACOSTA: Under discussion at the president's meeting, the growing high-tech menace of terrorists concealing their intentions through social media and encrypted messaging on smartphones.

JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We are concerned about the way that some terrorists are using encryption technology to make their plots harder to detect and disrupt.

ACOSTA: To calm a jittery public after the terror attack in San Bernardino, the White House has amped up the president's use of the bully pulpit, from an Oval Office address to a stop at the Pentagon.

The administration has unveiled changes to the terror alert system and a review of travel visas to spouses entering the U.S. from abroad, the same opening apparently exploited by the California terrorists.

But the president is still facing major doubts. A new "Washington Post"-ABC News poll shows only 22 percent of Americans are confident the government can prevent a lone-wolf attack, while a "Wall Street Journal"-NBC News poll finds Paris and the San Bernardino terror attacks are viewed as the top events of the year. And 71 percent of Americans see mass shootings in the U.S. as a permanent part of American life.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: We saw too many dark days in 2015. It didn't have to be this way.

ACOSTA: Republican Senator John McCain argued the president won't be able to stamp out the ISIS threat without taking out the terror army's capital of Raqqa in Syria.

MCCAIN: There is no plan by this administration to retake Raqqa. There is no strategy. And that is, indeed, shameful.

ACOSTA (on camera): President Obama will pay a visit to the families of the victims of the terrorist attack in San Bernardino tomorrow en route to his family vacation in Hawaii, an annual trip that has been interrupted by threats to the homeland before.

Jim Acosta, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: Well, for more on this we're joined by Steve Moore. He's a retired supervisory special agent for the FBI.

Steve, always good to have you with us. You heard Jim cite in that report there that an ABC-"Washington Post" poll says only 22 percent of Americans are confident that the government can keep them safe from a lone wolf attack. With that in mind, what do you make of the president's attempts to reassure the American public? STEVE MOORE, RETIRED SUPERVISORY SPECIAL AGENT, FBI: I don't think

they're very successful. This is the third one in a month and right after the last one, we had the attack on San Bernardino. I think people are seeing his statements, "you're safe and you're fine," and then a week later, you have an attack as really undermining everything he's saying.

VAUSE: I mean, if you look at what the president has been saying is that, you know, there's no intelligence that an attack is imminent and that is essentially true because what we're looking at is the intelligence of any kind of wide scale attack like a, you know, 9/11 or that sort.

MOORE: That's right.

VAUSE: What they don't have intelligence on and what is really impossible to try and pin down are these lone wolf attacks like what we saw in San Bernardino. Really it was a couple but still a lone wolf attack operating independently.

MOORE: Right, and that's what we were afraid of since 9/12/2001.

VAUSE: Yes.

MOORE: These small unit attacks, there are just -- the lone wolf, it's defined by somebody who tells no one.

[01:05:06] I'm just going to do that because I know that ISIS would love this. How do you -- there's no footprint for that.

SESAY: When we were talking about this a little bit earlier, you made a point that the only way to get a leg up, to get step up over these people is to get Silicon Valley to get involved in the fight.

MOORE: They need to figure out what side they're going to be on. I mean, you are either going to encrypt your stuff so that the FBI can't even look at it for the sake of libertarian values. I understand that. But then you're also giving it to the terrorists. So where do you want to come down?

VAUSE: And the president addressed that. He said they need to talk to the technology sector to strengthen those ties.

Steve, stay with us because some of those popular family attractions in the U.S. are ramping security as well.

SESAY: Busy parks here in California and Florida announced Wednesday they're adding metal detectors to their security protocols.

CNN's Alina Machado has more on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Disney isn't the only one doing this. We know Universal Studios and SeaWorld are also using metal detectors to screen people who visit their theme parks. A spokesperson for Disney released a statement on the changes. It

reads, "We continually review our comprehensive approach to security and are implementing additional security measures as appropriate."

Disney will be randomly selecting people for a secondary screening using these new metal detectors. They've also added what they're calling, quote, "visible and non-visible" security measures at all of their parks. These measures include the use of specially trained dogs to patrol key areas.

Some of the other changes you might notice if you head to a Disney park? They are discontinuing the sale of toy guns on Disney property and they're no longer allowing people to bring a toy gun to the theme parks. And if you're 14 and older, you also won't be able to wear any costumes at any of the parks.

Now the new toy gun policy, they say, is being done to make sure a toy gun doesn't cause a distraction or create confusion for their cast members and security personnel in these parks. They note that very few people actually bring these items so they anticipate the impact will be minor. The costume policy they say is to allow security to better screen people at their parks.

Alina Machado, CNN, Miami.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: I got to turn to Steve Moore, former special agent with the FBI, for a little bit more on this.

Look, if you look at the way the security of these parks have been up until this point, it's been sort of this subtle, behind the scenes, not very visible security.

MOORE: Sure. Right.

VAUSE: So now they've got this very visible security metal detectors and increased police presence. I guess is this now an admission that the previous arrangements just didn't go far enough to prevent possible attacks?

MOORE: I think it's an indicator that they're trying to be as measured as they can. Until you get to a point where you feel that you cannot adequately secure the park due to this kind of small unit attacks I thought -- I think it's appropriate that they didn't have the metal detectors but now I think it is appropriate.

SESAY: Are these the best measures to put in place for these so- called soft targets?

MOORE: We're learning as we go along. They're good measures. I like the fact that it's random. That it's not every single person. Terrorists are risk averse. If it's a 1 in 10 chance that they get caught, that it may dissuade them.

VAUSE: Yes, This isn't just about terrorism, though, isn't it? Because this kind of security is also aimed at preventing mass shootings as well.

MOORE: Absolutely.

VAUSE: A soft target for a terrorist attack.

SESAY: Yes.

VAUSE: Is a soft target for mass shooting. We've seen it happening in movie theaters.

MOORE: You're absolutely correct, and then you have to wonder how far are we going to go down that road. Are we going to have to walk through a metal detector to go to a movie? And the answer is maybe.

SESAY: Yes. Yes. Absolutely. I mean, the reality of the way people live their lives in this brand new environment with this level of threat. People have to come to terms with that is going to change.

MOORE: Life is going to change. We saw what happened at the airports after 9/11. That's a good model for what we may see in the rest of society.

VAUSE: But then it comes back to the issue of the policing and, you know, what we're talking about with the tech sector to try and find out the chatter online and where the intelligence is coming from. If they don't -- if there's no way of strengthening these ties that the president talked about, with the technology sector, how much of a hole is there in the intelligence gathering?

MOORE: There's a huge hole in the intelligence gathering if you cannot see the day-to-day communications of suspected terrorists. I understand the libertarian concerns about this. You don't want a police state.

VAUSE: Yes.

MOORE: But at the same time you don't want to have to be picking up bodies from Christmas parties.

VAUSE: OK.

SESAY: Steve More laying it out there in stark terms for us. Steve, appreciate it. Thank you.

MOORE: Thank you very much.

VAUSE: Thanks, Steve.

SESAY: Well, police here in California have arrested the friend of San Bernardino terrorist, Syed Rizwan Farook. Investigators believe Enrique Marquez bought two assault rifles used in the December 2nd attack.

[01:10:03] VAUSE: Marquez made his first court appearance just a few hours ago. His lawyer declined to comment, leaving the court house.

CNN's Kyung Lah has details.

KYUNG LAH, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, John and Isha, Enrique Marquez, up until now, has been known as the gun buyer, the friend to Syed Rizwan Farook. But a federal complaint paints a much more detailed picture. As recently at four years ago, he plotted with Farook, according to the complaint, some terrifying attacks in Southern California.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAH (voice-over): Just hours after the terror attack in San Bernardino, Enrique Marquez called 911. According to a federal complaint, he told the operator he was the shooter, talking about Syed Rizwan Farook. Marquez said, "The expletive used my gun in the shooting." Those AR-15 rifles were purchased by Marquez in late 2011 and early 2012.

Why? Farook and Marquez were childhood friends. Court documents say Farook first introduced Marquez to Islam. Marquez would convert in 2007.

The complaint says, in 2010, Farook also introduced Marquez to radical Islamic ideas, like the lectures of al Qaeda recruiter, Anwar al- Awlaki. In 2011, the men began discussing attacks, using homemade pipe bombs and their newly purchased rifles. First, on nearby Riverside City College, and on an Orange County, California, freeway, deploying their pipe bombs during rush hour, then gunning down drivers who tried to flee.

Investigators say Marquez also purchased explosives. A bottle of smokeless powder when he bought the guns. That explosive powder was found in the undetonated bombs in the San Bernardino attack, and also traced back to Farook's apartment.

TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: At this point in the investigation, Marquez can supply a lot of information. That's a critical thing is that he can fill in a lot of blanks about a time period that electronically the FBI may not be able to recover at this point.

LAH: The terror plots stunned Marquez's family, who remain out of public view, telling reporters only that he was, quote, "a good boy."

JERRY MORGAN, MORGAN'S TAVERN: He couldn't find his way out of a wet paper bag.

LAH: Morgan says Marquez worked at a bar for three years. Marquez never mentioned his sham marriage to Farook's relative. He never talked about the hobby he would tell investigators, building pipe bombs with Farook, or the guns he bought that would murder and terrorize his community.

MORGAN: That's what makes him so spooky is because he is just a normal everyday Joe Blow that you don't give the time of day to. And the next thing you know.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAH: Marquez made an initial court appearance. It was very brief. Only about five to seven minutes. He did not enter a plea. He will be held in custody and there is another court hearing next week -- John, Isha.

VAUSE: Kyung, thank you.

Now the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump is showing a little mutual admiration. Putin is calling Trump outstanding and talented. Trump says he thinks he could get along with Mr. Putin.

SESAY: However, Trump isn't doing well getting along with members of his own party or U.S. allies.

Our chief political correspondent Dana Bash explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Russia's Vladimir Putin is all about projecting strength. That's what his shirtless horseback riding is all about. So it should probably come as no surprise that Putin admires the GOP candidate obsessed with winning, saying this about Donald Trump.

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (Through Translator): He is a very flamboyant man, very talented. No doubt about that.

BASH: Warm words no doubt, prompted by the fact that while other GOP candidates slam Russia's leader for things like intervening in Syria, Trump praises him and he welcomed Putin's statement saying, "It is always a great honor to be so nicely complimented by a man so highly respected within his own country and beyond."

But outside of Russia, most world leaders are more concerned about Trump than complementary, especially after his call to temporarily ban Muslims from coming into America.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have to stop the Muslims until we find out what's going on. Does that make sense, by the way? Until we find out --

BASH: Britain's prime minister took the unusual step of slamming Trump from the floor of parliament.

DAVID CAMERON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I think his remarks are divisive, stupid and wrong, and I think if he came to visit our country, I think he'd unite us all against him.

BASH: And Trump achieved a difficult feat, uniting leaders in the Arab world and Israel in condemning him.

Saudi Prince al-Walid bin Talal tweeted last week, "@realdonaldtrump, you are a disgrace not only to the GOP but to all of America. Withdraw from the U.S. presidential race as you will never win." That criticism is not likely to matter much to conservative primary

voters who like Trump's talk on the trail to late-night TV.

JIMMY KIMMEL, HOST, "JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE": Do you think Jeb Bush is scared of you or just scared in general?

TRUMP: I think he's scared. I defined him. I gave him this term low energy. I said he's a low energy individual.

[01:15:04] BASH: But earning an endorsement of sorts from the calculating Russian leader may not go over so well with Republicans. Perhaps Trump can send everyone, including Putin, a mock Trump children's book by Jimmy Kimmel.

KIMMEL: Winners do deals. And winners get rich. While sad little losers just sit there and bitch.

BASH: Dana Bash, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Donald Trump actually did admit earlier tonight in an interview on ABC if he did not win the election, he will in fact be a loser. So that is a big admission from the Republican frontrunner.

A short break here. When we come back, a drug executive slammed for his extreme prices now facing prison. Prosecutors have charged Martin Shkreli with fraud. We'll explain and be joined by an attorney next.

SESAY: Plus the special one no more. Chelsea man Jose Mourinho is sacked. Up next, find out what went wrong for one of the most successful coaches in football.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(SPORTS)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SESAY: Hello, everyone. Apparently the special one just wasn't special enough. Chelsea football club has sacked its manager Jose Mourinho. It comes just seven months after he led the team to the English Premier League title but Chelsea is struggling this season.

[01:20:08] VAUSE: The team has lost nine of the past 16 games and is currently sitting at 16th in the Premier League. A statement on the club's Web site says they parted company by mutual consent.

SESAY: Now a U.S. pharmaceutical executive who outraged the nation for drug pricing gouging is facing fraud charges. U.S. federal authorities arrested Martin Shkreli Thursday. Prosecutors say the 32- year-old bilked millions of dollars from a biotech firm before it forced him out as CEO last year.

VAUSE: Shkreli caused an uproar earlier this year. As an executive of his current company he jacked up the price of a anti-parasitic drug also used by AIDS patients by more than 5,000 percent.

SESAY: Well, attorney and legal affairs commentator Areva Martin joins us now.

Areva, always good to have you with us. Break down what this Shkreli individual was doing. I mean, how much skill did it take to pull off these activities?

AREVA MARTIN, ATTORNEY AND LEGAL AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: Well, they're taking about a basic Ponzi scheme. He was taking money, assets and stock from his current company and using it to pay off debts from hedge funds and other companies that he had been involved in, and that's what has landed him in a lot of trouble.

We're talking about serious charges. Securities fraud and other charges that could, you know, cause him to go to jail for a pretty long time. We're talking about 20 years if he is convicted of everything that he's been charged with today.

VAUSE: When he's found guilty, he'll have plenty of time to listen to that Wu-Tang album that he paid $2 million for. But the U.S. attorney was actually asked, so I guess this is why he is so known out there because of jacking up the price of the medication and they asked the U.S. attorneys specifically if Shkreli jacked up the price to cover his debts. The U.S. attorney replied by saying that is not part of the investigation but the investigation is ongoing.

If it turns out that that was in fact sort of part of all of this, is that a criminal act? Can he face charges because of that in any way?

MARTIN: I think from what we're hearing from the U.S. attorney, there's a lot more that we don't know about this case and there are likely to be additional charges. Now you're correct in stating that the $750 pill for very serious AIDS patients is not part of this current indictment. But that act, the act of jacking up that medication, 5,000 percent, is under investigation by the U.S. attorney and may result in additional charges.

Right now this is about the biotech company that he was currently working for, he was fired from and there's a $65 million lawsuit.

VAUSE: Lawsuit, yes.

MARTIN: By that company saying that he misused assets and money from that company.

SESAY: So let me ask you this, when a state attorney brings a case like this, in this manner, so publicly and lays out all these charges, is that because or by this stage could we say for certain that they feel they've got a pretty good case and it's a slam dunk case?

MARTIN: Absolutely. We're talking about federal charges brought by the U.S. attorney in Brooklyn. So we're talking months and months of investigation. And these charges aren't brought unless there is evidence. Unless there's going to be substantial documentary evidence and witnesses who are going to testify to allow the prosecution hopefully in this case to get an indictment. To get an actual conviction.

SESAY: Yes.

MARTIN: He's already been indicted to get a conviction. I think what's so troubling about this defendant is his attitude.

SESAY: Yes.

VAUSE: Sure.

MARTIN: He's been so arrogant and so flippant and when we talk about these Ponzi schemes, and people involved in securities fraud, they're taking the investments, they're taking life savings from individuals and some of them will never recover. So these are people's lives that we're talking about.

VAUSE: If this guys, Shkreli, hadn't been so notorious in doing what he did with the medication prices, firstly, would he have been arrested? Because, you know, security fraud happens all the time on Wall Street. I mean, you know, there's $11 million or something involved here, which is a lot of money but not huge for Wall Street.

SESAY: Not Madoff.

VAUSE: It's not Bernie Madoff. I mean, did he -- I mean, did he in some way bring this on to himself by being such a notorious person?

MARTIN: Clearly he invited unwarranted attention. To go on, you know, social media, to use the news media in the way that he did and to make such bold and arrogant statements, again involving people's lives. People have -- are trying to get access to this very important medication and he was asked over and over again to reduce the pricing and he just laughed it off. So yes, probably --

VAUSE: He literally laughed it off. He tweeted out "LOL" to Hillary Clinton. Yes.

MARTIN: He literally laughed it off. U.S. attorneys are people. And they're sensitive and their family and friends are sensitive. So if you're going to be engaged in crime, don't go around tweeting about it, don't draw unnecessary attention to yourself, because you might find yourself in a federal indictments the way that he has.

SESAY: Indicted now. How quickly do you expect this to move?

MARTIN: Well, these cases take a long time.

SESAY: OK.

MARTIN: So we'll be watching this for a while. It could take a year before he actually goes to trial, could even take up to two years. As we know the investigation is ongoing. So there may be some additional charges filed even beyond what was announced today.

[01:25:06] SESAY: Areva Martin, always good to have you with us. Thank you. MARTIN: Thanks.

VAUSE: Thanks, Areva.

SESAY: And federal authorities want everyone to know they do not have Shkreli's copy of a $2 million Wu-Tang album.

VAUSE: Shkreli bought the only known copy of the hip-hop group's "Once Upon a Time in Shaolin" who, in his words, he wanted to keep it away from everybody. The FBI tweeted that they do not have a seizure warrant and therefore did not grab the album.

SESAY: At least they made that clear.

Still to come on CNN NEWSROOM, the new "Star Wars" movie is finally playing on screens in North America.

CNN's Paul Vercammen is getting feedback from fans lucky enough to be among the first to see it.

Paul, thumbs up or thumbs down? What are folks saying?

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Isha, they love the movie and now we're in between showings here at the Chinese Theaters. Deep in tradition where they show the first one. We're going to tell you more about the second. But real quick, look at this fan.

What's your feeling right going into this? Look at your dress.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm just so excited. You know. We waited 30 years for this and so this is going to be a fantastic night. I think everybody is really pumped up and just really excited to see the movie.

VERCAMMEN: Well put. Enjoy the film. There you have it. Isha, you can the sense of the anticipation there at the China Theater in Hollywood. Fans are just absolutely fired up, to say the least.

We'll have more on all this just a little while here. Back to you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:30:00] SESAY: You are watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm Isha Sesay.

VAUSE: And I'm John Vause. Just got 10:30 here on the West Coast. Time to check the headlines this hour.

(HEADLINES)

SESAY: Russia continues to intervene in Syria at the military level on Assad's behalf.

VAUSE: Senior international correspondent, Matthew Chance, is embedded with its military at a base in Latakia. And on Thursday, he visited a Russian war ship to witness the fight first hand. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Off the Syrian coast, a rare glimpse at the naval power behind the Kremlin's air war who were off shore by the Russian military.

(on camera): This is extraordinary access we're getting to the military operations in and around Syria. We've been brought off the coast of Syria. We're in the eastern Mediterranean. And we're just about to go on board that ship there. It's called the Moskva. It's a missile cruiser and one the most important Russian vessels in this entire region.

(voice-over): On board, we were shown why the Moskva is such a formidable symbol of Russian power. After the shoot down of a Russian war plane by Turkish interceptors last month, the Kremlin vowed to destroy anything that threatens its aircraft in Syria.

The captain of the Moskva told me his ship, brisling with antiaircraft missiles, was sent as a warning on the direct orders of a furious Russian president, Vladimir Putin.

UNIDENTIFIED MOSKVA CAPTAIN (through translation): The Moskva itself is a threatening weapon. And with its arrival in the region, we have noticed a significant decrease in activity over the skies of Syria.

CHANCE: Other countries bombing Syria, in other words, have taken notice.

(on camera): Well, this is an extremely impressive bit of military hardware out here in the eastern Mediterranean. It has these enormous missile launching tubes that can carry a nuclear missile, although we're told there are none are on board at the moment. It's got this big gun as well to defend itself. But most importantly, this ship, the Moskva, has very sophisticated surface-to-air missiles and that's why it's been deployed here off the coast of Syria to provide air defenses for the Russian war planes to carry out their air strikes back in Syria.

(voice-over): Already Russian has used its naval power to strike targets across Syria, firing cruise missiles from the Caspian Sea.

So far, the Moskva has yet to fire a shot in anger. But its mere presence off Syria is delivering a powerful message.

Matthew Chance CNN, on board the Moskva missile cruiser.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Still to come here on CNN NEWSROOM, the new "Star Wars" movie could break box office records for a weekend opener, but for Disney, that's just the start.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:37:20] VAUSE: Well, fans in some parts of the world have been streaming into the new "Star Wars" movie. It's been playing on screens in North America. Some have been camping out for days.

SESAY: Don't sound like you don't understand why.

VAUSE: Don't understand why.

SESAY: Online ticket seller, Fandango, says the film has shattered the record for advanced ticket sales. "The Force Awakens" could bring in $220 million in North America this weekend alone.

VAUSE: But I wouldn't camp out.

SESAY: The movie opens Friday in wide release in the United States but it trickled into theaters this Thursday.

VAUSE: And our Paul Vercammen is outside one Los Angeles theater to get reaction from the lucky fans who saw it.

And, Paul, I have a question, if "Star Trek" fans are "Trekkies," what are "Star Wars" fans?

(LAUGHTER)

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Isha, this is the Mann's Chinese theater in Hollywood where they showed the premiere in '77. It's steeped in tradition.

They came here. They bought tickets online. It's breaking records at this theater. And people from all over the world.

Look at this family that's come from Singapore. Brothers and sisters, they were among the first to see it in the world.

What was it like for you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was so crazy. Mind blowing. Being in there, the atmosphere, the excitement that was going on, all the fans in one roof, it was crazy.

VERCAMMEN: And what was it like for you?

UNIDENTIFIED BOY: Kind of scary.

VERCAMMEN: Kind of scary. Are you going to be OK now?

UNIDENTIFIED BOY: Yeah.

VERCAMMEN: And you're dressed nicely as well.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I thought it was very good. I thought everything was enjoyable, everything was exciting. It was definitely worth coming down.

VERCAMMEN: Thank you so much for your insight.

This is truly a global phenomenon, especially when you come to the Chinese theater, because so many people like to come down and visit. This movie, in 1977, the first "Star Wars" played here for 62 weeks and you a get a sense that this is going to be the blockbuster that everyone is predicting.

And they're hoping not only everyone enjoys it, but don't forget, our leading export in America is entertainment. And they're hoping it reenergizes the film business -- John, Isha?

VAUSE: Paul, why did the angry Jedi cross the road? To get to the dark side.

(LAUGHTER)

What did they tell Luke when he had trouble eating Chinese food? Use the forks, Luke.

(LAUGHTER)

(CROSSTALK)

[01:40:02] VERCAMMEN: Is there any chance you would leave your set, since we're a few miles away, and run down here?

VAUSE: I would be there in a heart beat. I would. I really would. I just don't want to sleep on pavement for a week and not shower or anything.

(CROSSTALK)

VERCAMMEN: Well, I'm sure we could find an outfit for you as well.

(LAUGHTER)

VAUSE: I'm sure you could.

Thank you, Paul.

SESAY: Thank you, Paul. I appreciate it.

I give up on you.

VAUSE: OK.

(LAUGHTER)

Holidays after this.

(CROSSTALK)

SESAY: You have not treated Episode 7 with the respect it deserves.

"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" is already proving to be a cash cow for Disney.

VAUSE: Our senior media correspondent, Brian Stelter, looks at how the franchise is bringing in the billions.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT & CNN HOST, RELIABLE SOURCES (voice-over): It might be the biggest premier in movie history. "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" is expected to rake in more than $200 million just in the United States this opening weekend.

It's the first new "Star Wars" movie since Disney bought Lucas Film in 2012 but the media giant didn't need wait for opening night to start cashing in.

"Star Wars" toys, movies, comic books, video games, Disney has been launching them for months, starting with slashing merchandise launch party back in September called Force Friday.

(SHOUTING)

STELTER: Some are hailing the decision to buy Lucas Film for $4 billion as the deal of the century.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're seeing interest in this film unlike any movie that's been made. We'll see. We think it's going to do well but we don't know how well.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The investment that Disney did in Lucas Film is perhaps going to return many multiples of that over time.

STELTER: "Star Wars" will be franchised, merchandized, sequeled, prequeled, video gamed, theme parked and digitized and serialized.

It's a strategy Disney has used before, buying Pixar in 2006 for $7 billion and Marvel for $3 billion three years later. In each case, the play book is the same, buy a company with great characters --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARACTER: This is no time to be hysterical.

CHARACTER: It's the perfect time to be hysterical

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STELTER: -- and use the Disney merchandise machine to profit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't bet against Disney when it comes to franchises. They've done a marvelous job with lot of the acquisitions they've done, as well as some of the internally generated films that they've made. So the company is on a roll. I'd be surprised if "Star Wars" is not a hit and if the franchise just keeps rolling forward.

STELTER: Wall Street already believes Disney can do it all again with "Star Wars." The company shares have more than doubled since the buy.

With two additional "Star Wars" movies in the pipeline, plus two spin offs and a huge theme park expansion, the force will be with Disney for years.

And they haven't even tapped into that other Lucas franchise, "Indiana Jones."

Brian Stelter, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: I love Indy.

VAUSE: Yeah. It's good stuff.

SESAY: Shifting to your speed now.

VAUSE: The 1970s.

SESAY: The '70s. This is your era.

VAUSE: Well, "Star Wars" was kind of '70s.

SESAY: Yeah, no, but it went completely past you.

If you're into songs of the '70s, you're going to love next year's inductees to the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame.

VAUSE: Who knew Chicago was from the '70s. It was 40 years ago.

You may remember "Saturday in the Park" or "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is."

SESAY: Joining them, another blast from the past, the heavy metal band, Deep Purple.

VAUSE: Guitarist Steve Miller of the Steve Miller Band.

SESAY: Cheap Trick, the rockers behind "I Want You to Want Me."

VAUSE: And rap icons, NWA. Them, I don't know. The only group formed after the 1970s among this year's inductees. All five acts will be officially welcomed into the hall in a ceremony come April.

[01:44:00] SESAY: Could life on other planets really be possible? Astronomists say they may be closer to finding out. Details on the exciting new discovery coming up.

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(WEATHER REPORT)

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[01:48:04] SESAY: Hello everyone.

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VAUSE: Life on another planet is stumping astronomers around the world who are desperately trying to find out, because there's no intelligence life here. Now scientists at the University of New South Wales have discovered the closest most habitable planet to the earth outside our own solar system.

VAUSE: Wolf 1061C is four times as big as earth and a mere 14 light years away. It's the middle planet in this animation on your screen. And it orbits within the so-called Goldilocks zone. That is the distance from a star that's not too hot or cold for water, which is considered essential to life as we know it.

For more, we're joined by exo-planet expert, Charles Fleishman.

Thank you so much for joining us.

Everyone is excited about 1061C in the scientific community. What makes it so special?

[01:50:03] CHARLES FLEISHMAN, EXO-PLANET EXPERT: We have a statistical idea that planets are very common. NASA's found almost 2,000 planets. We have a statistical idea they should be common and now we have a technology to look at our nearest neighbors and start identifying which nearby stars have planets and those are going to be the easiest ones to look for signs of life possibly and get a more detailed understanding of their properties.

VAUSE: This gives you a place to look?

FLEISHMAN: Gives us a place to look.

VAUSE: So, if there's life on this planet, what does it look like?

FLEISHMAN: The simplest thing, it's going to be pond scum. Primitive life is all we can say with any certainty. You have water, common elements. You have a source of energy. You're in the habitable zone. It's pretty inevitable that's going to produce basic life. What goes beyond that, anybody's guess.

SESAY: Here's the thing --

VAUSE: I'm very disappointed it's pond scum.

FLEISHMAN: That's a start.

VAUSE: I was hoping for a little more.

FLEISHMAN: You build up from there.

VAUSE: OK.

SESAY: You have to start somewhere.

But you said now that they have this address, almost, now they can start to look. And you made it sound almost easy but it isn't.

FLEISHMAN: It's very challenging. We'll be using telescopes on the ground and particularly in space, the Hubble telescope, the successor to Hubble, the James Webb telescope. If you can get a planet that goes in front of the face of the star, you can break down the life of the planet and look for water, carbon dioxide, eventually even oxygen. By the time we get to the late '20s, 2020s, we hope to be able to have a telescope that the can image those planets directly, get a spectrum, and maybe some time be able to say that planet there, maybe not 1061, but another star has a planet that's earth 2.0.

VAUSE: When we talk about the planet closest to us that looks hospitable. We're talking 14 light years, 82 trillion miles.

FLEISHMAN: A hop, skip and a jump on the Millennium Falcon.

(LAUGHTER)

VAUSE: It's not real.

(LAUGHTER)

FLEISHMAN: No jet pack, no Millennium Falcon, but we're working on it.

SESAY: What does this change in terms of what we know about exo- planets?

FLEISHMAN: It says the statistics are being born out and if we concentrate on our local stars, we will start to find ones close enough to us that we can look for signs of life.

VAUSE: The guys that found this planet, they're saying in the next 20 years, they'll learn a lot more to know about intelligent species on our planet. Do you agree with that? And what would happen in that time frame?

FLEISHMAN: I agree, in 20 years, we'll have telescopes on the ground or in space where we can find evidence of habitable and indeed habited planets. Whether they have intelligent life, that means they would have had to develop radio or lasers or something like that to communicate and that's a much more rare prospect. We have no idea how to estimate those numbers.

SESAY: It's fascinating.

Charles Fleishman, we very much appreciate it.

FLEISHMAN: Lots of fun.

VAUSE: Yeah, appreciate the talk.

Thank you.

SESAY: Thank you.

We're getting a look at an unusual piece of furniture, an earthquake- proof bed.

VAUSE: And as Jeanne Moos reports, it may be even scarier than an earthquake.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If the idea of an earthquake keeps you up at night, maybe you'd like to sink into an earthquake-proof bed, and we do mean sink. A building could come crashing down and you'd be snug in your --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Coffin bed.

MOOS: Coffin bed? As one commenter joked, "Quake provides free burial."

Seismic activity would activate the beds, seen here in animations created by a Russian company. Details are sketchy. It also contains supplies but it's unclear how you would get to them.

"If this is an earthquake bed, I'd rather take my chances," pooh- poohed one headline.

But an expert on earthquake preparedness kept an open mind.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you're able to be in a steel enclosure with supplies, that's not a bad thing. It looks very expensive.

MOOS: Someone asked, "Does it come with tourniquet for those of us who tend to dangle limbs over the side of bed."

(on camera): Some wondered if shaking triggers the thing. But you have to worry about the second-most common thing in bed.

(voice-over): Babe, did you feel the earth move?

(MUSIC)

MOOS: Seismic activity was sensed by this Chinese-made bed made in 2012, and when the man whistles, the rescuers can find him.

(WHISTLE)

[01:55:15] MOOS: His companion can't keep a straight face.

To simulate a building collapse, they dropped almost three tons of concrete on the bed. It remained in tact.

Some say the latest version could become an oven if an earthquake caused a fire. "Quake and bake," wrote one commenter.

But at least there's a fire extinguisher underneath.

(on camera): So what do you say, thumbs up, thumbs down?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thumbs up if you can afford it.

MOOS (voice-over): Just keep those thumbs out of the way.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE) SESAY: That terrifies me.

VAUSE: It's like a coffin.

SESAY: It's exactly like a coffin.

VAUSE: Did you see that movie where they buried that girl in a coffin and held her for weeks and weeks and weeks until they paid the ransom?

(CROSSTALK)

SESAY: No, I did not see that.

(CROSSTALK)

VAUSE: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause and I'll see you next year.

SESAY: I'm Isha Sesay. I'll be here so do tune in next week.

The news continues with George Howell right after this.

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[02:00:11] GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR: A man accused of helping terrorists in the San Bernardino --