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Relations with Cuba; North Korea Framed for Sony Hack by US; DA Claims Ferguson Witnesses Lied to Grand Jury; Sony Insists It Didn't Back Down Over Movie; Obama Highlights 2014 Victories; Obama Not Acting Like Lame Duck; Obama Take Final Questions Of 2014; Immigrant Detention Center Is Largest Ever; Face to Face With Misty Copeland

Aired December 20, 2014 - 11:00   ET

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

VICTOR BLACKWELL: All right. That will do it for this hour of the CNN NEWSROOM. Stay with us. We'll continue right now. .

North Korea claiming it's being framed for cyber terror threats against Sony and movie theater patrons. President Obama is promising the U.S. will respond. And the head of Sony Pictures reacts to the President's remark that Sony made a mistake by canceling the Christmas day release of "The Interview".

Fareed Zakaria will tell us what else he learned from that exclusive television interview.

And will winter storms impact the travel plans for the holidays. We've got your latest forecast just ahead.

Thanks for staying here in the CNN NEWSROOM. We have new developments out of Havana this morning where Cuban President Raul Castro is addressing the countries lawmakers. It's the first timing he's addressed Cuba's assembly since the major developments with the U.S. earlier this week. Rosa Flores has been monitoring the speech in Havana. What has Castro been saying?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know one of the highlights Victor for sure is that Raul Castro alluded to the fact that the U.S. and Cuba have shared intelligence. Now, this came about when he was talking about terrorism. And he was actually asking for Cuba to be removed from the terrorist list. I'll get to that in just a moment.

Here are some of the highlights. He started off with asking and sending messages to different groups and people. First of all, to President Obama -- he's asking him to use all of the powers of the executive office to normalize relations between Cuba and the United States.

When it comes to Congress, he was very direct, saying lift the embargo. That is what needs to happen in this particular case.

He talked, of course, about the economy here in Cuba and how it is strapped because of the embargo. Now, the other thing -- the other thing that was very interesting here is that he had a message for el pueblo, or the people. He said, and I'm going quote here (inaudible) which translates to "It is going to be a long and tough fight". Now back to the terrorism portion, he made it very clear that he would like for Cuba to be removed from the terrorist list. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAUL CASTRO, PRESIDENT OF CUBA: -- financed nor executed any terrorist act against any person or any interest or any territory of the United States. And this will never be allowed either. Every time that we have found out about any information in relation to terrorist plans against the United States, we tell the U.S. government. And for many years --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FLORES: And you just heard that. So he mentioned that every single time that Cuba has learned of a terrorist attack against the United States, Cuba has shared that intelligence with the states.

Now here in Cuba, in Havana, from talking to people on the streets, one of the things that they were hoping to hear that we haven't heard yet are specifics -- about how the new relationship with the United States, or the proposed relationship, would impact their lives, Victor. And that is what people here are wanting to hear. They want to know how is my life going to be different with U.S. and Cuba relations getting normalized -- Victor.

BLACKWELL: Still many questions to be answered Rosa. Rosa Flores there reporting in Havana for us. Thank you so much.

And I want to bring up my colleague Fredericka Whitfield now on the other story that's breaking this morning. North Korea in relation to the Sony cyber attack says it's been framed.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: That's right. And a lot is being said by North Korea. Even another ultimatum being imposed asking -- it's now demanding the U.S. be involved in a joint investigation. So in a detailed statement, Victor, reported by the country's state-run news agency, North Korea now claims it is being framed by the United States for the hacking. And also threatens, saying this, quote "serious consequences" if the U.S. continues to link Pyongyang to the attack and refusing to team up with North Korea in an investigation.

CNN's Kyung Lah has more on what this new North Korean statement could mean. She's reporting from Seoul, South Korea.

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They rarely have anything to back up these fiery statements. This is in line in lock step with what we've seen before from North Korea -- this one coming very quickly after the President's year-end news conference. This one takes all the liberties that North Korea does with their facts and it is at times illogical and insulting itself.

But there are a few things that are quite interesting about it is how determined they are, and earnest they are to try to let America know that they honestly feel that they are being, quote, "framed". They are asking the President to show them the evidence, that they want to prove that they're not a part of this and want to work as a mutual team in a mutual investigation with the United States which is, of course, ridiculous since the United States and North Korea have no relations whatsoever diplomatically.

WHITFIELD: Kyung Lah thank you so much.

And right now the White House is deciding how to respond to the cyber attack on Sony. U.S. officials briefed on the matter say federal agencies have presented the White House with a list of options which including economic and banking sanctions. Here is what President Obama said during his end of the year news conference on Friday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They caused a lot of damage. And we will respond. We will respond proportionally and we'll respond in a place and time and manner that we choose.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. Joining us from New York, Charles Armstrong, professor of Korean studies at Columbia University -- good to see you, Professor.

CHARLES ARMSTRONG, PROFESSOR AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: Nice to be with you.

WHITFIELD: What is your reaction to today's statement by North Korea that it wants to be part of a joint investigation with the U.S. and that it is the U.S. that is framing North Korea?

ARMSTRONG: Well, it's remarkably swift and detailed response which I think took a lot of us by surprise. It seems to me the U.S. should respond to this. I don't know how serious they are. We should test that. Either they are not serious, the North Koreans are just bluffing which we'll find soon enough or they feel they can get away with an investigation that proves that they are not responsible, which is very hard to believe. But any case I feel it's worth talking further about this.

WHITFIELD: So here is a portion of North Korea's statement saying quote, "We will not tolerate the people who are willing to insult our Supreme Leader. But even when we retaliate we will not conduct terror innocent movie goers."

Now, when you say you do believe the U.S. should respond, in what way should they respond to statements like that or even the latest acquisition that it's being framed by the U.S.?

ARMSTRONG: Well, we have to distinguish between North Korea's bluster and serious threat. It's very unusual if not unprecedented for them to actually threaten the lives of civilian Americans in the U.S. So this threat to the movie theaters is a little bit out of character for them which doesn't mean they aren't behind it. But it adds a complication to this whole story. On the one hand I think the U.S. should certainly protect its interests and make sure that we're all secure in every area of our cyber security and also see what sort of North Korean interests can be targeted for retaliation. But while we're doing this it might be worth exploring further with North Korea through a dialogue.

If we're talking to Cuba and we're talking to a Iran, it seems we should be able to talk to North Korea at the same time protecting our interests.

WHITFIELD: When you say North Korean interests, you mean like bank accounts?

ARMSTRONG: It's possible. It's very difficult to see what specifically we can do to harm North Korea. You know, we can't really retaliate in kind because there is so little infrastructure within North Korea. But there are interests outside of North Korea -- financial interests, bank accounts which can be subject to American actions.

WHITFIELD: And North Korea just marked the third anniversary of the death of Kim Jong-Un's father and former leader Kim Jong-Il. Is there a correlation in any way to all that?

ARMSTRONG: Well, it's an interesting coincidence that Sony had made the announcement to pull "The Interview" on the day of the third anniversary of Kim Jong-Il's death which is the end of the traditional Korean period of mourning. In other words that this shows that Kim Jong-Un is really in charge. Whether this war somehow orchestrated by North Korea -- I don't know. But it is an interesting coincidence.

The point is that Kim Jong-Un is very much in charge of North Korea as far as everyone can see. And North Korea, whether or not they are behind these attacks certainly has quite a bit of cyber attack capability that should be taken seriously.

WHITFIELD: All right. Professor Charles Armstrong -- thanks so much from Columbia University. Appreciate it.

ARMSTRONG: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Meantime President Obama did criticize Sony for canceling the movie's release, saying this could set a dangerous precedent.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: I am sympathetic to the concerns that they faced. 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, CNN HOST: You are well known as somebody who supported President Obama.

MICHAEL LYNTON, CEO, SONY PICTURES: 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 movie theaters. And therefore I would disagree with the notion that it was a mistake. It is a generally held view by the public and 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 have unfolded, you know, we stood extremely firm in terms of making certain that this movie would appear in movie theaters.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Lynton told CNN that he still hopes anyone who wants to see the movie will have the opportunity to do so. But he says that no major on demand distributor has been willing to distribute the film.

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

All right, we'll see more of Karen Maginnis straight ahead. Also ahead we're hearing more about what went on behind closed doors during the Michael Brown grand jury proceedings and the prosecutor saying he doesn't think some witnesses were telling the truth. So what happens now?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Remember the airports looked during Thanksgiving week. Well guess what, it could be even worse next week. A big winter storm is expected to bring strong wind, snow and rain to several states. CNN meteorologist Karen Maginnis here with a very early warning -- yikes.

KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, I know. As far as the nearly 99 million people that are going to be traveling on the highways it could be fairly treacherous. We'll take you in the short-term -- a lot of people traveling this weekend before Christmas. We've got some moisture that is going to filter in across the southeast mostly into Florida.

But here is going to be the next storm maker. This area of low pressure moves across the Great Lakes and that promises to gather a little bit of strength. Now the computer models are still trying to sort all this out. But on the backside of the area of the low pressure they actually were looking at snow. For Chicago, Christmas eve, that could be a big problem as people are trying to get out town. This is going to be a rainmaker primarily for people who are trying to get into or out of Washington D.C., New York City, and then later on Boston.

It is a rain event there but for the Great Lakes it's primarily a snow event. As we look into Thursday, most of that slips through but on the backside of this -- it is going to be windy and it's going to be quite cold.

But we've got big problems on the West Coast. This long stretch of moisture is aimed at Washington, Oregon, and northern California. Want to show you some picture out of Kingvale California. Here it's quite a different story. This is in the Northern Sierra. It's just to the west of the Tahoe area, you can see just how slow going it was.

The impact could be some areas in the mountains could see between one and three feet of snowfall. Now the snowfall levels are going to be rising because this is deep Pacific moisture that's aimed at the West Coast. And for some of these coastal areas between 5-10 inches of rain. Don't be surprised if you see some isolated amounts of as much as a foot of rainfall expected. But significant snowfall here that pushes across the northern Rockies so it's like around Boies, the saw tooth, the bitter root, the big horn, (inaudible).

And it looks like as we go through time that wet weather begins to diminish. But that is not until after Monday, Fred. So, a lot of areas going to be impacted as we go into the holiday.

WHITFIELD: Oh my gosh.

MAGINNIS: I know.

WHITFIELD: Just in time. Doesn't it always happen that way?

MAGINNIS: Yes, it seems like.

WHITFIELD: Look at that -- ok. All right. Thanks so much Karen. We'll check back with you later on.

And then there is this new shocker this morning in the shooting death of the shooting death of the Ferguson teenager Michael Brown in this first extensive interview since the grand jury cleared former officer Darren Wilson last month in Brown's death.

The district attorney who prosecuted the case says some of the witnesses obviously lied under oath but he let them testify anyway. St. Louis prosecutor, Robert McCulloch said during a radio interview with KCRS yesterday that he had no regrets about letting the grand jury hear from non credible witnesses. McCulloch says those eyewitnesses they will not face perjury charges.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

ROBERT MCCULLOCH, PROSECUTOR, ST. LOUIS COUNTY: UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There were people who came in and yes absolutely lied under oath. Some lied to the FBI, even though they are not under oath that is another potential offense a federal offense. But I thought it was much more important to present the entire picture and say listen, this is what this witness says he saw. Even though there is a building between where the witness says he was and where the events occurred. And so they couldn't have seen that.

Or the physical evidence did not support what the witness was saying. And it was on -- you know, it went both directions. I thought it was much more important that the grand jury hear everything people have to say. And they are in a perfect position to assess the credibility which is what jurors do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And as for the timing of when the decision McCulloch says he has no regrets about that either. The late night announcement of the grand jury's decision triggered riots, violent protests in the streets of Ferguson and also sparked nationwide peaceful demonstrations.

Sony says it didn't back down when it pulled its movie out of the states but next, the shock waves it has sent through Hollywood and the celebrities who are criticizing Sony's decision.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

Paul Vercammen has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 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: It did. So Kim Jong-Un gets to decide what 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 power brokers to sign.

"We know that 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 executives signed the Clooney letter after the Sony hack. CHRIS ROCK, COMEDIAN: This whole thing is just scary, man. Your e- mails and it's your private stuff -- and I don't know. The whole town is scared. Everybody's got to be scared.

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

DAVID LETTERMAN, TALK SHOW HOST: 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. And I said ok 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 subject. A Steve Carell thriller projects at North Korea also just got scrapped.

MATT BELLONI, THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: You are 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.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have to open the escape plan.

VERCAMMEN: In Hollywood, their 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. But dollar signs couldn't save this sign, "The Interview's" billboard being ripped down at sunset in vine dead center of angry nervous Hollywood.

Paul Vercammen, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. So how much will Hollywood change the way it does business after this attack? Let me bring in Matt Atchity, he's the editor in chief of the movie Web site Rotten Tomatoes and he's joining us from Los Angeles -- good to see you.

MATT ATCHITY, ROTTEN TOMATOES: Thanks. Thanks for having me.

COSTELLO: yes, we just heard Chris Rock saying, you know, the whole town is scared. Can you give me a sense of just what these shock waves are doing in Hollywood right now?

ATCHITY: Well, you know, it's funny that Chris Rock says the whole town is scared. I think that's kind of the way Hollywood normally works. Business decisions get made out of fear all the time.

WHITFIELD: What?

ATCHITY: You're afraid somebody else is going to buy up some property before you do. So on a certain level you could argue that this is par for the course. But yes there is a lot of fear about what's happening with North Korea. However, what I will say is I don't think that we're in a position that we're never ever going to see this movie.

Sony's already announced that they are, you know, considering different video on demand services or possible streaming services as an alternate distribution method. I think we are not out of the woods yet. I think that there is a strong possibility we may actually see this movie in the next three months.

WHITFIELD: Which really makes it even that more interesting because if that is the case then, the initial cancellation of its premier on Christmas day, wouldn't that move kind of undermine the statements that Sony was making?

ATCHITY: Well, you know, I think that the statement that their CEO made in the wake of what Obama said the other day in that Sony wasn't really responsible, that the theater owners, I think that is a little bit disingenuous. Before the Obama statement --

WHITFIELD: Why? Why do you think that?

ATCHITY: Because Sony went to the press and said we're going to let the theater owners decide whether or not they're going to show this movie.--

WHITFIELD: And you are saying they should not have done that. That is unprecedented. That is something that is unusual for a major picture group to do?

ATCHITY: That is very unusual. And I think that if Sony really wanted to enforce their agreements that were in place with the theater distributors -- or I'm sorry, with the exhibitors they could have enforced those agreement and say, you know what, we want you to show this movie anyway. We'll figure a way to help you with security but they didn't. And they abdicated kind of their role in this.

And so for the CEO to now say well we let the theater owners decide -- I feel like that's a little disingenuous.

WHITFIELD: And George Clooney -- he's not your ordinary actor if there is such a thing. But you know, he really is a real power mover and shaker in film and outside of with the many tentacles of his reach but even a huge star like him couldn't be very influential in trying to get insiders in the business to sign this petition against Sony's decision well before Sony, you know, made it so vocal.

So what does that say? Or does this speak to what you talked about earlier is the fear that really permeates throughout Hollywood or what does this say that George Clooney was willing to take a stab at it but nobody was willing to follow his lead.

ATCHITY: I think that is part of it. This is a situation that nobody in Hollywood has really ever seen before. So I think that the way a lot of executives in Hollywood who have this very conservative mind set from a business standpoint, when presented with something like this, they are not going to do anything.

So when George Clooney does a very noble and admirable act of trying to get everyone in Hollywood to come together and support Sony, I think the gut reaction on behalf of everybody who's a decision maker says oh we don't know how this is going to play out. The safest thing to do is not do anything at all.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: Before I let you go real quick the President says this sets a dangerous precedent. Do you think it is likely that other film companies would buckle or respond to the same kind of pressure or respond to any other potential hacking that could happen?

ATCHITY: I do think that's a possibility. And I hate to think that we're in a world where creative decisions are going to be changed because of threats that may or may not actually ever happen. So that is a dangerous place to be for Hollywood -- Hollywood's never acted that way or very rarely -- and I hate to think that is going to be the future.

WHITFIELD: All right. Matt Atchity -- always good to see you, happy holidays.

ATCHITY: Thank you, you too.

WHITFIELD: All right. Meantime President Obama right now is in Hawaii for the holidays but fired off a list of the accomplishments before leaving Washington. He says he is no lame duck.

And in New York history is made on the American ballet stage. My face to face conversation with this young woman right here, Misty Copeland, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: President Obama and the first family are now in Hawaii. They landed in Honolulu overnight to begin their holiday vacation, but before he left Washington, the president reeled off a list of accomplishments.

Erin McPike is at the White House to tell us about this victory lap so to speak for the president.

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, mostly it was about foreign policy because as you and I talk every weekend there always seems to be a new global crisis that the White House has to weigh in on and respond to.

So most of the press conference was about that, but he did begin by talking about a couple of domestic issues, economic growth, and job creation. You know that in the fourth quarter, the unemployment rate fell to 5.8 percent.

And he talked about how just yesterday the U.S. rescue of the auto industry officially ended because they have now repaid taxpayers for every dime of that. But he did talk a lot about foreign policy and the role of U.S. leadership in all of these crises. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Meanwhile, around the world, America is leading. We're leading the coalition to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIL, a coalition that includes Arab partners.

We're leading the international community to check Russian aggression in Ukraine. We are leading the global fight to combat Ebola in West Africa and we are preventing an outbreak from taking place here at home.

We're leading efforts to address climate change, including last month's joint announcement with China that is jump starting new progress in other countries.

We are writing a new chapter in our leadership here in the Americas by turning a new page on our relationship with the Cuban people. And in less than two weeks, after more than 13 years, our combat mission in Afghanistan will be over.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCPIKE: Now, a lot of people are talking about how energized the president seems. He also talked about how he's going into the fourth quarter of his presidency. And in the fourth quarter interesting stuff happens, but that he gets to take a timeout before.

So of course, he headed off to Hawaii last night, and one of our intrepid photo journalists got his video of him putting in the iPhone or the iPad or whatever he has. But putting some ear buds in and jamming out to some music. And he said he seems ready for vacation -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Interesting. I thought he was a Blackberry guy. So maybe he's still toting along the blackberry there. That's been his PDA of choice. All right, thank you so much, Erin McPike. Appreciate it.

OK, so this so called lame duck presidency. It doesn't look like it's happening does it from opening up diplomatic relations with Cuba to executive action on immigration. The White House says the president is on a mission to get stuff done, especially since he has to no longer worry about anymore elections.

Ron Brownstein is CNN's senior political analyst and editorial director of the "National Journal." Good to see you. And Chris Moody is CNN's senior correspondent at cnnpolitics.com. Good to see you as well, Chris.

All right, so before we get to this fourth quarter and the interesting stuff that happens, let's talk about right now with Cuba, Raul Castro, speaking from Havana and the promise from the president that there will be an opening of the diplomatic relations between the two countries.

So Ron to you first, I mean, he's starting this fourth quarter quite vigorously. What is behind this more liberated seemingly, more at ease president that he says, you know what, I'm just going to get this stuff done, the interesting stuff done in this fourth quarter?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Right. Starting the fourth quarter with a bang, you can trace back going back several months the EPA climate regulations, the deal with China, the broader climate deal in Peru, the executive action on immigration, and the White House statement on net neutrality and now the opening with Cuba.

I think he feels much more freedom of maneuver, more flexibility. He doesn't have to look over his shoulder at congressional Democrats, particularly those from the red states. The seven red state Democratic senators, the seats they were worried about that were a constraint on his ability to move.

They lost all of those seats. The Democrats are in a low ebb in Congress and now I think he feels much more freedom to set his own course. But this will also have a big impact on 2016 the decisions he's making today.

WHITFIELD: And then Chris, I wonder with Raul Castro in Cuba today saying there are still some steps that need to be taken. He just said that just moments ago and the president saying, you know, what, this is just the beginning.

What could potentially be next? We're looking at the picture of the two of them, you know, shaking hands during the Nelson Mandela moment in South Africa. So what could be next between these two leaders?

CHRIS MOODY, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT, CNNPOLITICS.COM: Well, President Obama is certainly started this off with a bang, but there is much to be done in form of normalization. There is only so much he can do with the realm of his power. The next step is up to the United States Congress not just to set an embassy in the other country, but also to open up economic relations.

But it doesn't look like that is going to happen, at least in the near term. First of all, you have senators saying already this week they are going to do everything in their power to block funds for a U.S. embassy in Havana.

And then they are also saying that they are going block anything that would continue to open up economic relations with the country. So this is not the end of the story. It might be the fourth quarter for President Obama and his administration. But it is really for normalization with Cuba just the beginning.

WHITFIELD: OK. And Ron, there are other things on that list. I mean, the president during that end of the year address, threatening veto power, and certainly saying in a matter of words that he is still very much relevant.

You talk about 2016 and how influential he'll be with that potentially. But before that, I mean, what are some of the other things that you think he is hoping his legacy will be defined by?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, I this I he gave us one clear hint yesterday at the very end in his final answer when we talked about criminal justice reform. And they are already, you know, what we're seeing essentially over the past year certainly is the president pushing the envelope on the use of unilateral executive power on a broad away of areas where it is a priority for him and his coalition.

But the Republican Congress isn't likely to go along. That's what we're seeing on climate, immigration and Cuba, and some of these other foreign policy things. The next logical area it would seem to me is criminal justice reform and the police relations with minority communities.

Areas that he already has initiatives in movement, but which are unlikely to be endorsed by the full Republican Congress, although, it's worth noting, Fred, that in many of these areas where the president is also doing is dividing Republicans.

On criminal justice, Rand Paul is with him. Rand Paul is with him on Cuba as opposed to Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush. So I think part of what you're seeing here is a political strategy of acting unilaterally in a way that he hopes will divide Republicans and create some fissures for 2016.

WHITFIELD: Chris, we know, at the White House things are planned, very little happens coincidentally, and this president yesterday called on all female reporters. And there are many who are taking note of that.

We heard our own, Suzanne Malveaux, early this morning, who worked at the White House for ten years say, you know, there was, I guess, a ritual that many female reporters went through wearing red so they could be noticed to stick out from all the dudes in the White House press corp.

What was there president so deliberate in calling all on women? What is the message being set?

MOODY: Well, people in Washington, especially reporters, was definitely noticed yesterday when that happened. But you are right, very few things happen coincidentally. I think he was trying to undue possibly the wrongs that have happened for many, many decades of presidential and press relations.

But I think he made a point and it was also not just women reporters, but he also did not just call on television reporters as well. And they had an opportunity to ask questions earlier. And, you know, so this is a way he can make a statement and get people talking about issues they might not otherwise be talking about.

WHITFIELD: Right. And he showed a little humor at the start talking about the naughty and the nice list and they were all on the nice list. Ron Brownstein, Chris Moody, good to see both of you, Gentlemen. Thanks so much. Happy holidays.

All right, on to Texas now, a brand new immigration detention center now open, the largest ever and already drawing some Texas sized criticism. Find out why in a live report.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: We all remember the surge of young immigrants into the United States this past summer, tens of thousands fleeing Central America and crossing into the U.S. many unaccompanied minors. Others accompanied by a guardian, usually their moms.

Well, that distinction is apparently having a huge impact on how they are treated by the U.S. government. Nick Valencia is joining me now. The so-called family units, those traveling with a guardian, some have criticized them being treated very harshly. What has come from that?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: If you ask if federal government they say they are not treated any differently. But if you talk to the immigrant rights groups and human rights advocates they say it's unnecessary. They are prison like conditions and the majority in these immigrant family detention centers qualify for asylum. That's why they are here.

Earlier I caught up with Victor Niebles, who is part of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and he voiced to me exactly what exactly his opposition is to these facilities.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VICTOR D. NIEBLES, PRESIDENT-ELECT, AMERICAN IMMIGRATION LAWYERS ASSOCIATION: It is just morally wrong. It's the wrong side of history. When I see these pictures many say it reminds us of the Japanese internment camps that we had in our history.

Certainly we don't want to repeat that. We're glad that Artezia in New Mexico was closed, but now we need to do the same with Clarence and Dilly and we are going to continue our efforts to help these individuals.

Because certainly now with this larger space there is going to be more families and more difficult to provide representation for all these families.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: So those cities that he was talking about at least three facilities that the U.S. government has right now privately contracted and they also cost a lot of money about $260 million to the taxpayer, about $200 per family unit. So they are very expensive and they want to see alternative methods.

WHITFIELD: And what are those alternatives? Because He made the comparisons the Japanese internment camps, but that's quite different. I mean, many will argue that was an issue of rounding up people who are already in states. We're talking about somebody or people who are crossing a border into the states, what do you do with, so what are the alternatives?

VALENCIA: Well, they want to start with legal representation. They say a lot of these undocumented immigrants, family units they don't realize they have the opportunity for legal representation. He wants to see them given bonds and reunited with their family groups.

The problem with that though is, Fred, that when they are released to their family groups statistically a lot of them don't show up to their court dates. He is saying, though, that if they have legal representation that that is an opportunity for them to go through the system.

Also he says that there are church groups and other volunteer organizations who are willing to house them that they don't have to be --

WHITFIELD: We are talking about thousands of people.

VALENCIA: We are talking about like about 90,000 people just this year that crossed the border. So this is an influx, a surge that they say the federal government wasn't been prepared for, but we want to be clear.

This is something that's going on for at least two years. It came up very -- you know, it was in this news cycle this year, but this has gone on for a while.

WHITFIELD: What are the responses to whether that realistic?

VALENCIA: Well, DHS says that they are doing all they can and I asked them specifically to comment about these concerns and they didn't release a specific statement to those concerns, to those allegations, but they pointed to Jeh Johnson's comments that he made during the opening of this week.

I want to read part of that, said, "The facility promotes and highlights the border security aspects of the executive actions by President Obama.

It says we will continue to work with the governments of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras to address with them the conditions in those three countries that are the "push" factors for illegal migration from there to here, and to repatriate those of their citizens who came here illegally."

This is a problem that really is continuing and like I said, earlier this week, it opened very quietly. A lot of people don't realize that these centers are still out there. So you know, this is a story that proves they are still open and ongoing.

WHITFIELD: All right, Nick Valencia, thank you so much.

VALENCIA: You got it.

WHITFIELD: All right, take a leap with me now into something very different. This is unlikely ballerina who is now breaking barriers. Coming up, my face to face interview with Misty Copeland, you heard of her?

VALENCIA: Yes, she's great. WHITFIELD: She is amazing. She is really taking the whole dancing world by a storm. We'll discuss her major endorsement deal and her collaboration with music superstar, Prince.

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WHITFIELD: This holiday weekend in New York, the classic ballet performance of "The Nutcracker" makes history with a new look and a leading lady. She is Misty Copeland, the ABT'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 the American Ballet Theater. I'm a ballerina.

WHITFIELD: 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 into 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 principled 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: 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 the lead of that, the lead of "Swan Lake." I mean, you are changing the face of ballet, dance, and in a culture in America, if not the world, that is pretty heavy.

COPELAND: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Or did I just make it heavy. 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 support me. It's a big deal.

WHITFIELD: It is a big deal and seemed far fetched 20 years ago, when one as 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?

COPELAND: Yes.

WHITFIELD: This wasn't the place that you naturally wanted to be?

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

WHITFIELD (voice-over): But Copeland writes 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 live, 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 and dance standing out, gaining a special notoriety in this Under Armour ad, going viral with nearly 7 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 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 were told what to do from the moment we step into that first ballet class, you don't speak. To be given the opportunity, 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 the historically black all-female college of Spellman.

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

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

WHITFIELD: 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" and next she will make her American debut in "Swan Lake" with the Washington Ballet in April.

Much more to come in the NEWSROOM, your top stories when we come right back.

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