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CNN NEWSROOM

Warn of Terror Threat in European Cities; Southern California Fire Forces Road Closures; Death Toll in Southern Storms Climbs to 17; Iran Hostages to be Compensated 40 Years Later; Hillary Clinton's Not- So-Secret Weapon; Iraqi Forces Battling ISIS for Ramadi; "Concussion" Spotlights Traumatic Brain Disease in NFL; Top 10 Campaign Moments of 2015; The Flu Nearly Kills 4-Year-Old Girl. Aired 1-2p ET

Aired December 26, 2015 - 13:00   ET

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


[13:00:01] DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN ANCHOR: And they're looking forward to their second semester. Terry will major in early education. Kyriq is leaning towards a psychology major.

And the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM begins right now.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

FEYERICK: Hello, everyone. And thanks for joining me on this holiday weekend. I'm Deborah Feyerick in for Fredricka Whitfield. We begin this hour with breaking news.

Police in Vienna, Austria say they've been warned by an unnamed intelligence service of a possible terror attack on some European cities between Christmas and New Year's.

CNN law enforcement analyst Tom Fuentes joins me now.

And Tom, this was apparently fairly nonspecific threat, except to say that it could involve guns or explosives. What does it tell you that police are making this public, and even saying names of possible attackers, who were included in the warning?

TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, first of all, you know, they don't know that the names are real. So in looking into this, they've not confirmed that the names provided actually are people that they can locate and stop from attacking. So they don't know if that part's fiction.

Also the warnings were issued, apparently, before Christmas, saying that an attack would occur not just in Vienna, but in cities beyond Vienna, other capitals in Europe, which the authorities have not named saying that the attack would occur between Christmas and New Year's. So you have unspecified locations, really not a specific time, other than saying that it would involve guns or explosives.

And, you know, to me, this is almost a worthless threat, because European cities are already on alert for that type of attack, ever since the -- you know, the attacks of the past year in Paris and Brussels. So I think that, you know, to me, it's so unspecific, but, you know, the authorities want to cover themselves and they can put this warning out.

FEYERICK: Yes, and you know, you call it a worthless threat. On some levels, let's say it is sort of a verified threat. Do you think that it's ISIS' way of just making sure that people really don't forget, and make sure that they're in the public consciousness at all times?

FUENTES: Well, that could be. But I want to clarify. I don't want to say that the threat is worthless because it could happen. There could be an attack some place. Even unrelated to the threat warning. It could just already be in progress, that individuals intend to do something over the next week. But what I meant by worthless is that, what do you do about it? If you're a citizen and you're visiting one of the capitals of Europe, you know, the see-something, say-something.

You know, major capitals in all cities, including here in Washington, D.C., have a diversity of people. They have diplomats, they have tourists, visitors, vacationers, or students, business people that aren't going to look like you. They're not going to look like people that are normally local residents. And in some cases, they may be local residents because of the diversity in these cities.

So I just think that in a way it's saying, you know, watch out for people and, you know, they may have guns. Well, in the winter time, you may not see the guns until the last minute, because they'll be under a coat. The explosives may be a vest or some device that's also hidden by a coat, a winter coat.

So, you know, in a way, this is really difficult. It's the authorities that need to be on alert. I think that the people, you know, aren't going to see something until the shots start being fired or the bombs go off.

FEYERICK: Yes, the FBI director, Jim Comey, said recently, he said you've got to have a little faith that law enforcement continues to do its job to keep everyone safe. It doesn't mean that people need to let their guard down.

Tom Fuentes, thank you. We appreciate your insights, as always.

FUENTES: You're welcome, Deb.

FEYERICK: And 15 million people across the U.S. are facing severe weather threats. The south is still reeling from tornadoes and widespread flooding. The death toll rising once again to 17 known deaths. In Alabama, residents are bracing really just for the worse. You can see the water there. The river swells just inches away from topping a levee, protecting the town of Elba.

In the western U.S., both fire and ice with an arctic cold front set to swoop down on west Texas. And this fresh blanket of snow covering parts of northern California.

In the southern part of California, well, there are fires, raging wildfires, fueled by fierce winds. That fire has burned roughly 1200 acres so far. Officials have closed parts of two major highways, the 101 and the Pacific Coast Highway. We're expecting a news conference any minute on those fires and of

course we will bring that to you live.

But with us now, Sara Sidner who's been following the story. The blaze has grown now from 200 acres to 1200 in just hours. Is that normal?

SARA SIDNER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is with the winds that they're dealing with. I mean, in talking and looking at where it is and seeing -- you can even see the flames blowing.

FEYERICK: Yes.

SIDNER: You can see where the wind is going because it is so strong. So for it to pick up -- even that sounds actually small compared to what you're seeing with the winds. It doesn't seem like a whole lot of acreage. It looks a hundred extra acres.

FEYERICK: Yes.

[13:05:05] SIDNER: But it goes to show you they haven't gotten it contained. And what they usually try to do is kind of get a ring around the fire, to stop it. That doesn't mean that they've stopped it. That means they kept it from growing bigger and bigger. They have not been able to do that yet. We're talking 600 firefighters. They've got air tankers over dropping water. But this is one of those scenarios. A spark, it catches on and it just goes wild because it's so incredibly dry because of the drought.

FEYERICK: And the captain that we spoke to earlier basically said, all they need is two to three inches of rain and that could equalize, you know, what is just tinder, you know, waiting to ignite, basically.

SIDNER: Yes, it's true. But in California, this is an El Nino year. So everybody has been expecting this will be a very wet time. Unfortunately, when this happens and then the rain comes, and if it comes too quickly and too much, then, guess what? We get landslides, mud slides, it's never-ending.

It is a beautiful place to live, I kid you not, but it is a place that constantly is dealing with natural disasters because of the topography, but mostly right now because of the drought.

FEYERICK: All right. But we're going to be keeping an eye on this press conference coming up, and we'll see how the firefighters are doing in this battle.

Sara Sidner, thanks so much, as always.

And widespread flooding is hitting parts of the south. Regions still reeling from tornadoes and heavy rain this week. The death toll from this week's severe weather is now at 17.

CNN's Nick Valencia following the latest weather system and the damage that it has done.

Nick, what are you learning?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, some sad news to report. My producer Devon Sayers just got off the phone with the Mississippi Office of Emergency Management. They tell CNN that two bodies, one of a man and the other of a woman, have been recovered. As you mentioned, that brings up the death toll to 17 from the severe weather system that swept through the southeastern United States.

The issue right now -- I'm sorry, I thought we had a report ready for you here. The issue right now, of course, is the potential for flash flooding in these areas. Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, all hit hard in varying degrees.

Here in Atlanta, some very severe weather during Christmas Eve. Things brightened up, became very sunny on Christmas Day, but the brunt of the damage happening overnight in Birmingham, Alabama. That town there, suffering from a potential tornado there in downtown Birmingham. A lot of people displaced. Many people having to spend Christmas in shelters.

We mentioned the death toll, 17. We were concerned all morning long that that death toll could rise because we had those two people still unaccounted for. The Red Cross is helping out. Shelters, as I mentioned, have been put in place there in these areas. And as our meteorologist Alison Chinchar can probably tell you, the threat is not over just yet.

Southeastern United States is bracing for more severe weather, but this is also spreading west, Deb. So places like Dallas, places like Amarillo, Texas, could be in the eye of some more severe weather to come this winter -- Deb.

FEYERICK: And Nick, are you finding out where some of the people who are being affected, are they being put up in schools or public places? What are you hearing?

VALENCIA: Yes, usually in situations like this, you know as well as I do, they open up high schools for facilities, so people can shelter there. Those who have been displaced by this. These were really terrible storms. We've been talking about this all morning long and this afternoon.

FEYERICK: Yes.

VALENCIA: These types of severe weather systems, this type of damage, more typical for the springtime when, you know, tornadoes are really active, especially in the middle part of America. But we have a tornado -- a potential tornado happening in Alabama, as I mentioned, on Christmas Day, and really just not a very good Christmas, a memorable Christmas for all the wrong reasons for those that have been affected by this -- Deb.

FEYERICK: Yes. All right. Nick Valencia, thanks so much. We appreciate it, and we know you'll stay on this for us.

VALENCIA: You got it. FEYERICK: And Mother Nature is not done yet. The central plains

could see more severe weather and there could be snow and ice causing a travel nightmare in another part of the country.

CNN meteorologist Karen Maginnis joins us now.

Karen, what's in store for the rest of today and tomorrow?

(WEATHER REPORT)

[13:10:51] FEYERICK: Yes. A lot of people are going to have to show a lot of patience when they're going home from the holidays.

Karen Maginnis, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

And still ahead, nearly four decades later, 53 Americans held hostage in Iran in 1979 will be compensated for their time in captivity. The details on a bill passed by Congress to pay back the victims and their families coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: Nearly four decades after their capture, Americans taken hostage at the U.S. embassy in Iran will be compensated for their 444 days in captivity. That's because of a spending deal passed by Congress that will repay each of the 53 hostages or their families, the estates, 38 of those former hostages are still alive. They or their families will receive $10,000 for each day they were held captive. Spouses and children could also receive a one-time lump sum payment of $600,000.

Joining me on the phone is Thomas Lankford. He's a lawyer that's been working with the former hostages and their families for more than 16 years.

And Thomas, first of all, you've spoken to some of them. How are the victims reacting to news that they'll receive $4 million, more than $4 million?

THOMAS LANKFORD, LAWYER: They are, first of all, gratified and joyous. I think they are, as well, emotionally spent. It's been a long, hard road for them, from November 4, 1979, when they were taken captive until today. So it's a great holiday season.

[13:15:04] FEYERICK: You know, the families, they were banned from suing the Iranian government. That was a condition of their release. And therefore they were never able to go to court, never able to get a judgment, so that they could get assets belonging to Iran, assets that might be frozen in other countries. How frustrating was that to them?

LANKFORD: Well, that's absolutely right, Deb. And you couldn't -- you picked the right adjective. It was extremely frustrating that they were barred and precluded. They were the only 150-odd Americans who were barred and precluded from being able to go to court and to obtain a judgment and to exercise on that judgment against Iran because of the Algiers Accords. And so, it was -- it was something that made them generous and we fought that in the courts, that battle in the courts for a number of years and now have a legislative victory, which is -- so perseverance pays off.

FEYERICK: You know, it's so interesting. This provision sets aside $1 billion. And that comes from money that actually was paid by a bank, who violated U.S. sanctions and supported Iran.

LANKFORD: Yes.

FEYERICK: So now they have to pay. That was put into sort of a pool. It's not just the Iranian hostages and the other people. You mentioned 150. It's not just the hostages, but all those who were affected. It's not just them, but it's also victims of other overseas terrorist attacks. So we're talking about the U.S. embassy bombing back in 1988. We're talking about the Khobar Tower bombings and the Marine barracks bombing in 1984.

This is far-reaching. The money that could be paid to people whose lives have been changed because of these acts.

LANKFORD: Yes. It is more than just us, you're completely right, and there is about $1 billion from a judgment against the Bank Paribas for having dealt illegally with Iran is the beginning of the fund. We have identified that as a potential source of money, significant time ago, and because we were prevented by the accords from holding Iran accountable for what they had done, we wanted to find a source of funding that was as close to Iran as could be. So an Iranian surrogate.

And we have found that in those banks, institutions, and individuals who have criminally in violation of the law or civilly in violation of the law violated that law. And so as time goes on, if it's necessary to replenish the fund, that will come from 100 percent from anyone who criminally violates those laws against sanctioned countries and 50 percent from those who civilly violate the law.

FEYERICK: Which is so interesting. It's not just the country, it's been those who are supporting and helping them. I know a number of lawyers working on this, a number of families from victims of all kinds of attacks, against U.S. citizens, really happy for this outcome.

Thomas Lankford, we thank you very much and we do know that a special master will be appointed to hand out money to those who have been affected.

And coming up next, what Hillary Clinton calls her not-so-secret weapon will soon be shaking things up on the campaign trail.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:21:27] FEYERICK: A big name is about to hit the presidential campaign trail. It's not a current candidate.

Here's CNN's senior Washington correspondent, Joe Johns, on the return of Bill Clinton. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Sorry. In January, I will have my not-so-secret weapon.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When Bill Clinton was a candidate running for the White House, he told voters, "You get two for the price of one." Now the only former president to have a spouse running for office is getting ready to join her as she makes her second run.

BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have noticed, and in my studies of history, I noticed that most successful presidents are those who get elected at a time that they're suited governor, and she's the best qualified person for the time.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She sure is.

B. CLINTON: Thank you very much.

JOHNS: But the last time the former president stumped for his wife, the results were mixed.

B. CLINTON: I highly recommend it.

JOHNS: In 2008 amid a tight race with Barack Obama, Bill Clinton played a prominent role, campaigning for Hillary in key early primary states, but along with the large and enthusiastic crowds came a series of verbal miscues, including a harsh assessment of Obama.

B. CLINTON: Give me a break. This whole thing is the biggest fairy tale I've ever seen.

JOHNS: And days later an off-the-cuff comment in South Carolina, suggesting that skin color was a key factor in winning the primary there.

B. CLINTON: Jesse Jackson won in South Carolina twice in '84 and '88.

JOHNS: Questions quickly arouse whether Mr. Clinton was doing more harm than good, and though he remained on the trail through the later primaries --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President?

JOHNS: -- he was tightly guarded, kept on script and away from the media. But how do you say no to the man who was revered among Democrats, popular among all Americans and whose penchant for delivering a memorable line cannot be understated?

B. CLINTON: What new ideas do we bring to Washington? I always give a one-word answer. Arithmetic.

JOHNS: A lot has changed since Bill Clinton's successful run more than two decades ago, when Hillary was credited for standing by her man as charges of infidelity dogged him. This time Hillary is the candidate, Bill is the spouse, and Chelsea is a mom.

H. CLINTON: Now it's a little bit more complicated with him because people still call former presidents Mr. President.

JIMMY KIMMEL, HOST, ABC'S "JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE!": Right.

H. CLINTON: So I have to really work on this.

KIMMEL: I know what to call you. The first president lady would be a nice thing to be called.

(LAUGHTER)

KIMMEL: The first lady, doesn't the first --

H. CLINTON: First dude, first mate, first gentleman. I'm just not sure about it.

KIMMEL: Does the first lady typically pick out a new China pattern in the --

H. CLINTON: Typically, yes.

KIMMEL: So would Bill do that while you're actually in China? Will he be selecting it?

JOHNS (on camera): Bill Clinton has not been invisible during his wife's run. He's attended a handful of campaign events and been quietly raising money for the campaign. But now, as we enter the final stretch to Iowa and the primaries, you can expect to see the former president back in the spotlight.

Joe Johns, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: Coming up, Iraqi soldiers are trying to take back the city of Ramadi from ISIS militants. We'll hear why this fight is so important and how U.S. forces are involved. Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:28:29] FEYERICK: And happening today, there's new video of the fierce battle to retake Ramadi's city center from ISIS fighters. And video of the constant bombing that has left the city in ruins. Iraqi officials say progress is slow because ISIS fighters have left behind booby traps and IEDs, improvised explosive devices. They predict Iraqi troops are very close to re-taking the city completely.

So how crucial is the fight for Ramadi? Earlier I spoke with Lt. General Mark Hertling. He's a CNN military analyst and a former U.S. Army commanding general. I also spoke with CNN military analyst, Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona. He's also a former Defense intelligence officer.

I began by asking General Hertling why retaking Ramadi is so crucial. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Many more reasons than Robyn just stated, Deb. I think what you're also talking about is a resurgence of the Iraqi Security Forces. It has shed itself of some very poor leaders that it had had during the final days of the Maliki regime. And it is also showing that the Baghdad government is supporting those other than the Shia militias. So that's very important in Ramadi. So it is somewhat of an operational victory, as it will be once they finish going through this particular town.

FEYERICK: And also interesting is sort of the makeup of this, because you do have the Iraqi forces. You also have the Sunni tribesmen, who are going to maintain control of the land that they get. But the Shia militias are nowhere, and that's important because that's a fundamental shift to allow the Sunnis to feel OK, we're back in the game.

[13:30:06] How do you see it, Lieutenant Colonel?

LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, that's exactly right. It's important that the Sunnis are seen as involved in this. And this is very reminiscent of the Anbar awakening back in 2007, where the tide of battle was turned by those Sunnis joining forces with the Americans at the time, and now you see the Sunnis joining with the Iraqi forces.

This is critical. And this is going to -- this will spell a really good omen for the future. Once they take Ramadi, they've got to hold Ramadi, and you have to have the Sunnis to do that. The Shia can't do this. What we're seeing now is, I think, a dress rehearsal for what's going to happen in Mosul.

FEYERICK: Which is where they're going to move to next. A very interesting thing, also, is there are a lot of citizens that are in Ramadi, and those citizens are really being used by ISIS as fodder. And that's one of the reasons that, I guess, the troops have been sort of slow to move. How did they play a role in all of this, General?

HERTLING: This is very tough, Deb. I saw this when I was in Iraq in 2008, where al Qaeda would come in and actually repress the local populous, use them as shields, kill them off, use them to bargain. And this is exactly the same thing ISIS is doing.

The new soldiers -- you've got to remember, too, these -- the majority of the forces going into Ramadi right now are relatively Green troops. These are folks who have just come together in those new brigades. Even though they do have the golden division with them, most of the forces have recently been trained by the coalition.

So these are Green troops going against an enemy that is using their fellow citizens as shields. That's extremely difficult to face as a soldier, when you see perhaps neighbors and friends and fellow tribesmen being held hostage or being put up in front of you as shields.

FEYERICK: Right, ironically --

HERTLING: A tough decision call for some of those soldiers.

FEYERICK: Yes, and ironically, ISIS using the very citizens that technically they are trying to recruit to their caliphate.

Colonel, the coalition and Iraqi forces have been working to disrupt ISIS supply lines. Today we're hearing that one of the major roots into Raqqa, Syria, is being disrupted. How effective do you think that will -- will be effectively this strategy?

FRANCONA: Well that is effective, and we are seeing this. This is a long-term strategy, and this goes through the retaking of Mosul which we know is the key to Iraq getting rid of ISIS. So they are trying to isolate Mosul. They are going to cut those supply lines.

The fighting at Sinjar earlier, Tal Afar, just a few weeks ago, and now cutting the supply line between Raqqa and Mosul, that is critical to isolating that, because once you isolate Mosul, then you can surround it and go in and take it. Very much -- let's remember, Mosul is a huge city, a scale of magnitude much larger than Ramadi and we've got long supply lines. So this isn't going to happen in the next few weeks but we are starting the process, and cutting the supply lines is crucial to that.

FEYERICK: Do you think, just very quickly, gentlemen, that this sort of chokes ISIS in a way, at least here in Ramadi, and then perhaps even in Mosul, or do those who leave Ramadi go to Mosul to defend it there? I'll start with you, General.

HERTLING: Yes, it certainly does, Deb. And this has been the strategy all along. When many people were saying there wasn't a strategy, this was part of it, to cut the supply lines, cut the logistics, take out and destroy the leadership, make the population -- give the population a chance to rise, and at the same time, provide time for the Iraqi Security Forces to build up.

Mosul is key, as Rick just said, but there are going to be a lot of other fights before Mosul. They have to take -- the Iraqi Security Forces have to take a city called Shirkat, another one called Hawija on the way to Mosul, all to establish the base for resupply. So I agree completely with what Rick said. This is not going to take days or weeks. This is probably going to continue to take months before Iraqi Security Forces can get to the north and take this final city.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: And the war on ISIS has dominated international stories this year. The rapid spread of the jihadist group and the attacks in Paris are changing the way the U.S. and other countries are fighting ISIS.

Some of CNN's top foreign correspondents gathered for a look at the war on ISIS and what we can expect in the year ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CLARISSA WARD, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Paris has been such a game changer because as closely as I've been following the sort of reach of militant groups like ISIS in Europe and in the West, I had never expected them to be able to pull off something this organized, something that's well orchestrated.

(CROSSTALK)

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Did you think it was that organized and that well orchestrated? No, I don't think it was.

WARD: The main thing that didn't go as well as they were hoping were the vests, the suicide vests.

(CROSSTALK)

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They accomplished their goal.

ELBAGIR: But they accomplished their goal --

DAMON: It has us talking about it. Yes.

ELBAGIR: Yes. But there's a difference between extraordinarily complex, well-organized attacks that need an infrastructure and eight guys with some vests --

(CROSSTALK)

[13:35:07] DAMON: Oh, no, I think they had an infrastructure.

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What surprises me a little bit about this is I think the lack of a short-term memory. I mean, it was a decade ago that we were looking at al Qaeda carrying out massive attacks, which killed scores of people.

WARD: Yes.

WATSON: And we kind of forget the fear and panic of those days.

WARD: Well, also, the whole nature of recruitment was different.

WATSON: Yes.

WARD: Like al Qaeda was recruiting in the (INAUDIBLE), in the mosques.

WATSON: In the mosques.

WARD: And it was an entirely different prospect. Jihad was very abstract concept.

WATSON: And now these are Facebook jihad.

WARD: Now these are like your own friends. WATSON: Who are doing it in their bedroom, yes.

(CROSSTALK)

WARD: -- each other in their bedrooms. So it's a completely -- I think for intelligence authorities, it's a very frightening prospect.

ELBAGIR: But this kind of, I know he grew a beard, he started going to the mosques, these are the telltale signs of radicalism, that entire landscape --

(CROSSTALK)

WATSON: He started drinking.

WARD: Yes. Changed.

ELBAGIR: -- has changed now.

DAMON: But that also -- all that goes to the greater underlying issues that we have in society and what ISIS has now done for people that are even slightly so inclined is give them that sense of purpose.

(CROSSTALK)

ELBAGIR: And the question is --

DAMON: So the next question is, it's not just in terms of intelligence, how do we fight this, but how do you actually fight that ideology? How do you revamp society where these kids have a different sense of purpose?

WATSON: All of these kids, their parents came to Europe for a better life. And the sad irony is that their offspring grow up into people who attack Europe.

WARD: And we have this misconception that ISIS is all about radical Islam. ISIS is a product of like a bunch of very complex geopolitical historical trends that have been brewing for years.

(CROSSTALK)

WARD: It's not just about Islam.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's also terrifying that some guys who clearly aren't particularly mentally well configured, in San Bernardino, can go and shoot some coworkers with a lot of assault weapons and put something on Facebook and that somehow joins a global movement.

ELBAGIR: And there's almost like a wave of hysteria, you know, that's building on each other. You know you saw Paris happened and then you saw San Bernardino kind of crest off it and then crest -- it's like a contagion in a way.

DAMON: But I there needs to be not hysteria, but, like, let's not underestimate the threat, either.

WARD: Yes.

DAMON: I mean, it is huge.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: And coming up, the science behind the NFL's biggest problem.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:40:26] FEYERICK: And it's a film that could be shaking up the NFL, a film about the trauma of hard hits in football is now playing in theaters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILL SMITH, ACTOR: I found a disease that no one has ever seen. Repetitive head trauma chokes the brain.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The NFL does not want to talk to you. You've turned on the lights and gave their biggest bogeyman a name.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're going to war with a corporation that owns a day of the week.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: The movie "Concussion" stars Will Smith as the doctor who discovered a brain disease suffered by many NFL players.

Our Sanjay Gupta took an in-depth look at the science behind the NFL's biggest problem.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The new movie "Concussion" places the NFL and player safety right back in the spotlight.

SMITH: I found a disease that no one has ever seen.

GUPTA: Will Smith plays Dr. Bennett Omalu and the disease he is talking about is chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE. It is an Alzheimer's-like disease with symptoms of memory loss and mood swings.

Researchers like Kevin Guskiewicz believes it occurs from repeated blows to the head.

KEVIN GUSKIEWICZ, RESEARCHER: You're going to withstand an impact, 157Gs.

GUPTA (on camera): That's similar to a car accident.

GUSKIEWICZ: That's right. GUPTA (voice-over): And what happens is our brains slosh around

inside our skulls absorbing the force of the hit no matter how strong the helmet. Humans simply didn't evolve to take hits like that. Yet there are animals that routinely take that kind of force and repeatedly.

Think of the woodpecker. They hit their heads about 85 million times over their lifetime and can endure up to 1500 Gs of force with each hit. That's 10 times the force of a car accident. So how do they do that?

Well, for woodpeckers, it's partly due to their tongues which actually wrap around the backs of their skulls, acting like a shock absorber with each hit. And every time their heads hit, the tongue presses down on the jugular vein slowing down blood flow out of the brain creating an additional cushion of blood to reduce brain sloshing.

Consider the big horn sheep. They charge at each other at speeds as high as 40 miles an hour. Big horn sheep are able to raise carbon dioxide levels in their blood which increases the size of their brains. In effect, making a tighter fit inside the skull.

DR. GREG MYER, CINCINNATI CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: This is similar to what we see when humans go to altitude -- when we have reduced oxygen, we tend to have more blood rush to our head.

GUPTA: Which again creates that tighter fit. In fact, when Myer and his team evaluated a number of concussions among high school and professional football players who played at higher altitudes versus lower altitudes, they found a 30 percent reduction in concussions among those athletes at higher altitudes.

Now we can't all play football games in Denver. But Myer does believe we can mimic finding that altitude by looking to the big horn sheep and the woodpecker for some guidance.

(On camera): All right. So let's take a look at this. So this is the device.

MYER: And what you see is that there -- this is a C-shaped device.

GUPTA: Tell me if I'm doing this right. I put it on like this, right.

MYER: You should start feeling a little bit more blood sensation in your forehead and kind of your sinus.

GUPTA: I do.

MYER: It's very similar to describe it to what you feel when you hang upside down. When you feel that blood rush, but it's not to that extent.

GUPTA: This is pushing on my jugular veins.

MYER: Correct. GUPTA: The veins that drew up -- that take blood away from the brain.

MYER: There is supposed to be a slight pressure, a safe pressure on the neck that will slow the blood coming out of the head. And you're going to have the blood pushing up and filling up that extra space. What we're trying to do is replicate the same amount of blood volume you have when you lie down.

GUPTA (voice-over): It is still experimental. Myer and his team are currently doing studies with high school hockey and football players to test safety and efficacy.

Guskiewicz and others say that ultimate safety isn't going to come from devices, but rather from technique and rule changes.

Bennett Omalu is even more stride. He wrote an op-ed for "The New York Times" titled "Don't Let Kids Play Football." And that is the message millions are going to hear when they watch "Concussion."

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: And still ahead, it has been a whirlwind year in politics, as the nation gears up for next year's presidential election. We're taking a look at 2015's most memorable moments in politics. Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:47:54] FEYERICK: It's been an interesting year in politics, to say the least. In our "Top 10 of 2015" series, CNN's chief political correspondent, Dana Bash, looks back at some of the most memorable campaign moments this political year.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In politics 2015 was the year of one-liners, insults, interruptions and controversy.

(Voice-over) It was the escalator ride that changed the Republican race. Donald Trump kicked his campaign off full on Trump style. Upending the field and pretty much all traditional political rules.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime, they are rapists and some, I assume, are good people.

BASH: Those comments caused a huge backlash, especially in the Latino community, but rocketed Trump to the top of the GOP field.

(On camera): And the provocative statements continued on the campaign trail. At an early event in Iowa, Trump sparked another wave of criticism after saying this about former POW John McCain.

TRUMP: He's not a war hero. GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC NEWS: He's a war hero.

TRUMP: He is a war hero --

STEPHANOPOULOS: Five and a half years in captivity.

TRUMP: He's a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren't captured, OK?

BASH (on camera): Many thought those remarks would mean Trump's campaign was finished. But it turns out, they were the first of many so-called blunders that failed to knock him from his perch at the top of the polls.

On the Democratic side, questions about e-mails and the Benghazi attack plagued frontrunner Hillary Clinton's early campaign, culminating in a contentious 11-hour congressional hearing that backfired on Republicans and gave Clinton a boost.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who else was at your home? Were you alone?

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I was alone, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The whole night?

CLINTON: Well, yes, the whole night.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know why that's funny. I mean, did you have any in-person briefings? I don't find it funny at all.

CLINTON: I'm sorry. A little note of levity at 7:15.

BASH: And after months of fielding questions about her e-mails, Clinton got an unexpected assist from her opponent Senator Bernie Sanders at CNN's Democratic debate.

[13:50:08] BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: That the American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn e-mails.

CLINTON: Thank you. Me, too. Me, too.

BASH: That moment may have hurt Sanders' campaign, but it was great material for "Saturday Night Live".

LARRY DAVID, ACTOR: The American people are sick and tired about hearing about your damn e-mails.

BASH: The Black Lives Matter movement was an important campaign story line shaping the national conversation and even shutting down a Sanders' campaign event in Seattle.

(On camera): The most defining moment on the Democratic side may be one that never happened.

(Voice-over) After months of speculation, Vice President Joe Biden decided not to run for president, solidifying Clinton's spot as the suspected Democratic nominee.

JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: But while I will not be a candidate, I will not be silent. I intend to speak out clearly and forcefully.

In the Republican race friends turned rivals on display as Jeb Bush looking to finally find some campaign mojo took on his former protege Marco Rubio.

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Marco, when you signed up for this, this was a six-year term. And you should be showing up for work. I mean, literally the Senate, what is it like the French work week?

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're running for the same position and someone has convinced you that attacking me is going to help you.

BASH: Rubio vested his old mentor and Bush is ending the year with poll numbers stuck in the single digits.

While some GOP candidates shied away from taking on Trump, former HP CEO Carly Fiorina called him out during CNN's Reagan Library debate for controversial comments he made about her face.

CARLY FIORINA (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think women all over this country heard very clearly what Mr. Trump said.

BASH (on camera): From Fiorina to Trump to neurosurgeon Ben Carson, 2015 was the year of the outsider candidate.

(Voice-over): Carson who has no experience briefly topped the Republican polls this fall. But his inspiring personal narrative of a violent past and spiritual redemption was called into question by a CNN investigation.

DR. BEN CARSON (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know, when I was 14 another youngster angered me and I had a large camping knife, and I tried to stab him in the abdomen with it. Fortunately, he had a large metal belt buckle under his clothing. The knife blade struck with such force that it broke and he fled in terror.

BASH: Making great campaign material for Trump.

TRUMP: Somebody hits me with a belt, it's going in because the belt moves this way. It moves this way.

BASH: And the year ends back at the beginning with a Donald Trump shocker. After terror attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, Trump gave this policy prescription.

TRUMP: Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.

BASH (on camera): Once again those controversial comments did nothing to stop Trump's rise, but the real test for Trump is going to be on February 1st in 2016 when voters first go to the polls.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: And just ahead a 4-year-old Florida girl spends her Christmas in a hospital fighting for her life. The extremely common illness that nearly killed her next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:56:14] FEYERICK: And it's every parent's nightmare. A 4-year-old girl in Florida spent her Christmas fighting for her life. Her family spent their Christmas at her bedside after the flu nearly took her life.

Here's CNN senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Deb, the flu season is upon us, and a Florida family spent Christmas Day here, at the intensive care unit at this hospital. Their 4-year-old was perfectly healthy until the flu attacked her heart.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN (voice-over): Gemma Botelho was a completely healthy 4-year-old little girl. And now she's fighting for her life in this intensive care unit because of the flu.

ALEXANDER BOTELHO, FATHER: I really thought that was the end.

COHEN (on camera): You thought she was not going to make it?

BOTELHO: No.

LEJLA SZABO, MOTHER: No.

COHEN (voice-over): On Sunday, December 13th, Gemma had a slight fever.

SZABO: She wasn't extremely sick at all.

COHEN: On Monday Gemma felt better. She even danced in her school's Christmas play. But then, three days later --

SZABO: She was pale, she had cold hands, cold feet.

BOTELHO: The way she spoke to us, how she was trying to say something's wrong. I could tell because she never spoke to me with that tone before. It's like asking for help.

COHEN: Her parents, Lejla Szabo and Alex Botehlo, took Gemma to the emergency room, just in the nick of time. She arrived and went into cardiac arrest.

SZABO: The feeling of losing your child right in front of you.

COHEN (on camera): You thought you were going to lose her? SZABO: Yes.

BOTEHLO: Yes.

COHEN: Her heart wasn't doing anything?

SZABO: No.

BOTEHLO: No.

COHEN (voice-over): Doctors performed CPR on Gemma for 45 minutes.

SZABO: He told me then, you know, you just have to look back and you just have to appreciate these four and a half years that we had with her.

COHEN: Doctors couldn't get Gemma's heart working again. They put her on life support and sent her in a helicopter to a transplant center, thinking she'd need a new heart.

SZABO: Thursday, Friday, Saturday, her heart wasn't doing anything. So --

COHEN (on camera): Doing no activity?

SZABO: Nothing, absolutely no. No activity, no pulse.

COHEN (voice-over): The Sunday before Christmas her parents asked friends around the world to say prayers for their daughter at mass.

BOTELHO: One in Argentina, in Brazil, in Italy, and one in Miami, 11:00.

COHEN (on camera): Everyone did a mass at the same time?

BOTELHO: Yes, yes, for her.

SZABO: Everyone was praying.

COHEN (voice-over): And that's when Lejla and Alex say they got their Christmas miracle.

BOTELHO: She start to bounce back on Sunday.

COHEN (on camera): All of a sudden on Sunday, Gemma's heart started to beat again. Can you explain it?

DR. JEFFREY JACOBS, ALL CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: Sometimes we don't understand everything that happens in medicine.

COHEN: What's Gemma's prognosis? How's she going to do?

JACOBS: I think she's going to make a great recovery. A month from now this is going to be just a little bump in the road for her life, and she should be back to doing the things she's always done.

COHEN (voice-over): No one can explain why some healthy children like Gemma get so desperately ill from the flu.

(On camera): Did Gemma ever get a flu shot?

SZABO: Never.

BOTELHO: Never.

COHEN: Because?

SZABO: Because I didn't think of the flu as a serious illness.

COHEN (voice-over): But now they do, and the parents of this little girl who dreams of being a doctor when she grows up, have a message to other parents. Get your child vaccinated for the flu.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN: Gemma is doing better, but she's still not out of the woods yet. Now unfortunately children do die of the flu every year. It's not too late to get a flu shot for this season -- Deb.

FEYERICK: Elizabeth Cohen, thanks so much there.

And we have much more just ahead in the news room and it all starts right now.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

FEYERICK: Hello, and thanks for joining me. I'm Deborah Feyerick, in for Fredricka Whitfield. And we begin this hour with breaking news.

Police in Vienna, Austria say they've been warned by an unnamed intelligence service of a possible terror attack on some European cities. The threat warned that the attack was set to take place between Christmas and New Year's Eve.