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Embassies in China Warn of Threat; Protest Closes Checkpoints; New Film on Head Trauma; Bombshells, Breakups and Box Office Gold. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired December 24, 2015 - 09:30   ET

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

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[09:31:45] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: On this Christmas Eve, Americans and other westerners in China are being urged to be extra vigilance. The U.S., British, French and Australian embassies in Beijing say they've received information about possible safety threats against foreigners in a popular shopping district. Beijing has put more police on the streets at all shopping malls. CNN's Matt Rivers has more for you.

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MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A heightened state of alert here in Beijing after several foreign embassies issued alerts to their citizens urging them to be on guard when traveling in a neighborhood here in the city very popular with westerners. The American, British, French and Australian embassies all sent out notifications on Thursday online and via e-mail to their citizens urging them to be aware of specific threats to westerners in the neighborhood of Sanlitun. Now, none of those embassies would elaborate further on the exact nature of those threats.

Now, Sanlitun is a very popular neighborhood here with westerners. As I mentioned, it is a shopping district, an entertainment district and it is usually very safe.

Now, the Chinese government also issued what's called a yellow alert. That would be the second lowest level on the Chinese government's security alert system. Now, the specific alerts we're referring to large and medium-sized shopping malls here in the city. The government said that there would be added security patrols ahead of the Christmas shopping days here in Beijing.

Now, we did see armed guards outside of the mall in Sanlitun. That would be the mall right in the neighborhood referred to by those foreign embassies in their notifications. And we have also seen an added security presence outside the diplomatic compounds here in the city. Our bureau is actually in a diplomatic compound. And we saw some of those added security measures firsthand.

Now, all of this is relatively unusual for Beijing, although it does see its fair share of security incidents. It was back in 2013 that a car rammed a security barricade in Beijing's famed Tiananmen Square killing five people. That attack, according to the government, was perpetrated by separatists from the country's western province. Now, it is unclear if the yellow alert issued by the Chinese government had anything to do with the alerts issued by the several foreign embassies on Thursday, but what is clear is that there is a heightened sense of awareness here in the city.

Matt Rivers, CNN, Beijing.

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COSTELLO: Chicago police have just released dispatch sound from the night Laquan McDonald was shot to death by a police officer. In it, you will hear the dispatch officer call for someone with a Taser to respond. Then you will hear the moment the dispatch officer learns that shots were fired.

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DISPATCH: So I got to hold air, so I can help with (INAUDIBLE) asking for a Taser for an offender with a knife. Anybody close? (INAUDIBLE).

RESPONDING OFFICER: (INAUDIBLE). We're about two blocks away.

DISPATCH: Let me know when he's in custody, guys.

RESPONDING OFFICER: Shots fired by the police. Shots fired by the police. Get an ambulance over here.

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[09:35:00] COSTELLO: As you know, McDonald died. His death sparking outrage citywide. In just hours, protesters are planning to rally on Chicago's magnificent mile. Many of them are calling for Mayor Rahm Emanuel to step down. Residents angered by the way city officials have handled McDonald's case and others.

Major protests in the Minneapolis area last night. Black Lives Matter activists taking their message inside the country's largest shopping center. Police in riot gear lining the halls of the Mall of America as protesters entered, ultimately dispersing the crowd and pushing the protesters outside the mall. Five people were taken into custody.

But the protest at the mall turned out to be a decoy action meant to distract police from paying full attention to the Minneapolis Airport and the light rail station. The tactic worked. Protesters forced TSA agents to shut down two security checkpoints at the Minneapolis Airport. Eight more arrested here. Some flights were delayed by hours.

Black Lives Matter organizer Asha Long is with me now. She was at the airport protest last night.

Welcome.

ASHA LONG, ORGANIZER, BLACK LIVES MATTER MINNEAPOLIS: Thank you. It's great to be here.

COSTELLO: Thank you for being with me. Asha, Pastor Danny Gibbons from your movement told "The Minneapolis

Star," quote, "we raised the bar. We let the nation and the world know that black lives matter." Still, the nation is on a heightened terror alert. People are anxious. Your protests made them more anxious. So how does that help your cause?

LONG: Well, our action yesterday was a means toward a number of things, including justice for Jamar Clark, which we have been working on for over six weeks. It's important that we disrupt business as usual to highlight the fact that black lives are at - in a state of emergency and that we are being murdered and prosecuted at astronomical rates.

COSTELLO: I think that many people are sympathetic to your cause, but, still, the governor was pleading with you not to mess with the airport, yet protesters did. Again, how do people who missed their flight home for Christmas be sympathetic to the cause?

LONG: I think it's important that we realize people who are upset about missing their air - their flight, that many black lives are disrupted every day. Every day a black community is dealing with over policing, a constant police harassment, black students are being suspended at an astronomical rate, black folks are unable to live their lives autonomously and it's important that we focus on what's important, focus on getting justice and fixing the disparities in the black community.

COSTELLO: But what would you say, Asha, to people who say, what's important right now is Americans remain safe at a very sensitive time in our nation, when people are flying home for Christmas, right? And the nation's on a heightened terror alert, yet protesters force TSA agents to take their eye off the ball to handle protesters?

LONG: Safety for black lives is an illusion, especially at the airports. The airport is actually under investigation for the practices that they're doing. As you know, and as you've reported, islamophobia is rampant and especially in the airport. So many people are taken off their flights and harassed and it's - it's important that -

COSTELLO: There's no evidence that a lot - I mean I'm sure it goes on, but there's no evidence that - that many, many people are taken off their flights and harassed.

LONG: I think there is. I mean you can see it when a person of color -

COSTELLO: Well, give me stats.

LONG: What was that?

COSTELLO: Give me stats.

LONG: I don't have statistics for you. I don't have statistics. What I do have is experience as a black person. I see my Muslim counterparts being harassed on the daily, whether at that airport or not. Black lives, in general, are harassed every day. I do not have statistics, but I do have experience, which is just as valid.

COSTELLO: I understand that, but I just want to ask you one more time, at a time when our nation is on heightened alert, is it really the best idea to disrupt things at the nation's airports?

LONG: Yes, I do think it's a good idea. People that are going to the airport are trying to get home for Christmas, especially during this time. And it's important to note that Jamar Clark will not have a Christmas. There will be a place setting that will not be used for Jamar Clark. So we can't just go on living our lives when black lives are in a state of emergency, when black lives are actually being harassed with terrorism. We can call terrorism on the police department. We can call terrorism - and we have to call out the terroristic tactics of the police at the airport.

COSTELLO: All right, I have to leave it there. Asha Long, thank you so much for being with me.

[09:40:02] Still to come in the NEWSROOM, the new film "Concussion" is about to open. How will football fans and players react to seeing the devastation health consequences of the sport?

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COSTELLO: The new Will Smith movie "Concussion" opens tomorrow across the country. It tells the story of an immigrant doctor from Nigeria who discovered one of the biggest health hazards in football, repetitive brain trauma.

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

UNIDENTIFIED MALE, ACTOR, "CONCUSSION": The NFL does not want to talk to you. You've turned on the lights and gave their biggest boogeyman a name. you're going to war with a corporation that owns a day of the week.

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COSTELLO: It's an important film about a very important issue. Pittsburgh wide receiver Antonio Brown took a group of high school players to see the movie so they would be aware of the risks.

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ANTONIO BROWN, PITTSBURGH STEELERS WIDE RECEIVER: As high school kids, they've got to be aware of their future and to raise some awareness.

AARON MATHEWS, CLAIRTON HIGH SCHOOL WIDE RECEIVER: I won't hit my head as much after watching that movie because I definitely wouldn't want to have any of those crazy injuries that were - that I seen in that movie.

(END VIDEO CLIP) COSTELLO: Joining me now is Jeanne Marie Laskas. She wrote the book "Concussion." The movie is based on that book. Also with me is CNN sports correspondent Andy Scholes.

Thanks to both of you for being with me.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Jeanne, Antonio Brown took high school students to see the movie. How does that make you feel?

JEANNE MARIE LASKAS, AUTHOR, "CONCUSSION": Well, I think that's great. You know, we're starting to really have this conversation seriously about what's going on for football players' brains.

[09:45:04] COSTELLO: And, Andy, I don't know, I was just so impressed by that because some football players sort of ignore the warnings out there because they want to play ball.

SCHOLES: You know, they do care. Actually, I spoke with many players about this during last year's Super Bowl, and I asked them, would they let their own kids play football? The overwhelming answer I got from all the football players was, yes, they would let their kids play football, because you learn a lot of life lessons in the game of football. And they think the risk or the rewards, you know, outweigh the risk.

And when I was talking to Vincent Wilfork, he gave me a long answer when I asked him about concussions. And he said basically right now, Carol, that there's so much information out there, that the players playing out there know what they are signing up for and they are very well-aware of the risks and choose to play anyways. I have a byte from Vince Wilfork if you could take a listen.

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VINCE WILFORK, NFL DEFENSIVE TACKLE: When we sign up for the sport, we understand what we're signing up for. So -- should there ever be a point where a ballplayer put everything and point all the fingers at the concussions, because I think it's bull crap. I think when you sign up, this is a violent sport. You have to understand what you really want. And if concussions is something you really don't want to be part of, don't put your kids in any sport.

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SCHOLES: So, Carol, that's obviously one side of the argument.

But there are other players that feel completely different, like Chris Borland, who is a linebacker for the 49ers who completely walked away from the game of football at the height of his career. I mean, he had millions of dollars at stake he could have made but walked away because of the fear of concussions.

So, obviously, there are players with that belief. But the overwhelming view I get from NFL players when I speak to them is that they know the risk and choose to play anyway.

COSTELLO: That's just -- so, Jeanne, in your mind, is the NFL addressing this in a way to make players completely understand what they are getting themselves into?

LASKAS: Absolutely not. And that's really the point of this book and this movie. The NFL has done everything they can to suppress really what's happening.

So, my question is, do these players really know what's happening? Because it's not just a big concussion that you see so broadly, so obviously that obviously somebody is getting her hurt. It's the sub- concussive hits that are happening play after play to the lineman that are causing this -- that scientists believe are causing this hideous disease to cause dementia.

And we see people like Junior Seau, Dave Duerson killing themselves. This is a serious health issue, a really serious one. And we as fans are now complicit in it as we're watching the game.

You know, I love football. I want to do anything to save this game. I'm a Steelers fan.

But we have to know the truth, the players have to know the truth and the NFL needs to just get out of the picture with the truth business because they are not giving it to us. It's as bad as the tobacco industry in the '90s. It is that bad, it really is.

COSTELLO: There was some study that the NFL was supposed to fund on the pervasiveness of this problem, Andy. Is the NFL still going to do that?

SCHOLES: Well, no. And this story was a little confusing, Carol. I'll give you a little background information.

In 2012, the NFL gave the National Institutes of Health $30 million with really no strings attached to fund whatever you want. ESPN's "Outside the Lines" is reporting the NIH was going to use $16 million of that money to fund a study on CTE to detect it while people are still alive because right now, of course, we can only detect CTE once somebody has passed away.

ESPN reporting the NFL polled that funding or did not want the money to be used for that study because they didn't like the people heading up that study specifically, Dr. Robert Stern, because he's very critical of the league. The NFL came out to say that was untrue. Brian McCarthy tweeted the ESPN story was inaccurate. The NFL did not pull any funding. NIH makes its own decision. The NIH pretty much backed up the NFL, Carol, saying that the NFL is still funding many other projects.

So, this is basically, we have two sides of the story. ESPN is reporting one thing. The two parties involved are saying something completely different. But obviously the NIH with $30 million coming from the NFL is really not going to go out there and bash them to say they decided not to fund the study. COSTELLO: True. True enough. I have to leave it there.

Jeanne Marie Laskas, Andy Scholes, thanks to both of you.

I'll be right back.

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[09:52:38] COSTELLO: Bombshell revelations, Hollywood couples calling it quits.

Nischelle Turner counts down 2015's top entertainment stories.

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NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Two words made TV fans tune in and turn up in 2015 -- Cookie and Lyon.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Me and my boys were Lyons. We're strong.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Lucious Lyon is "Empire".

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He like me but he ain't no Cookie.

TURNER: Yes, we're talking about the hip-hop family "Empire" starring Taraji P. Henson and all of her animal friends. You know, it really changed the game for television. It broke ratings records week after week. The season finale garnered 17 million viewers for Fox.

Now, "Empire" took on a lot of social issues, took, like homophobia, and racism and don't forget that soaring soundtrack. You know, it is number one on Billboard's top 200.

And it was a really rough year for reality TV stars, the Duggars. Their hit show was canceled after a very dark secret was revealed about their oldest son, Josh.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He had just turned 14 and he said he had actually improperly touched some of our daughters.

TURNER: Then Josh's name came up of the hack of the infidelity website, Ashley Madison. The married 27-year-old saying, quote, "I have been the biggest hypocrite ever."

2015 was also hard on celebrity romances. High-profile marriages went up in flames. Oh, yes, there was the first couple of country music, Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton split up after four years. Fans are all in their feelings about that one for days.

Reba McIntyre called it quits did her husband of 27 years as well.

And Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner, they split up a day after their tenth anniversary.

By the way, remember this one, even Kermit and Miss Piggy broke up.

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TURNER: Well, after seven Grammy Nominations the only blank space Taylor Swift needs to worry about is space on her mantel. Her "1989" world tour generated more than $240 million in ticket sales as celebrity after celebrity joined her girl squad on stage.

Fans of Charlie Sheen rallied around him after this stunning health announcement.

[09:55:01] CHARLIE SHEEN, ACTOR: I'm here to admit that I am, in fact, HIV positive.

TURNER: The actor went public after paying millions of dollars in blackmail hush money. Sheen said he got the diagnosis four years ago, the same year he was fired from "Two and a Half Men."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "Star Wars" awakens to the biggest box office opening in history.

TURNER: Hans Solo and Chewbacca whisked fans to a galaxy far, far away with light-speed ticket sales and gave us adults a reason to add light sabres to our Facebook profile pic.

There was another bombshell from Bill Cosby.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Cosby is quiet after shocking revelations.

TURNER: A previously sealed court record revealed Cosby admitted to getting prescription Quaaludes to try to drug women he wanted to have sex with. But the comedian didn't admit to actually drugging his accusers. That list of women got quite a bit longer this year. More than 40 women now accuse Cosby of sexual misbehavior.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The daughter of the late Whitney Houston.

WHITNEW HOUSTON: She has something to say.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bobbi Kristina Brown has died.

TURNER: In a terrible twist of fate, the 22-year-old was found face- down in a bathtub full of water just like her mother.

Bobbi Kristina passed away after being in a medically-induced coma for months. Her father, Bobby Brown, filed a $10 million lawsuit, claiming her boyfriend beat her after a an all-night cocaine and drinking binge.

Oh, Adele, you made us reach for our tissues as she reached for the stars. Her album "25" sold more than 23 million copies in the first week in the U.S. that's never been done before. And, boy, did we have fun joking about how "Hello" made our pets sad and inspired one of the best "SNL" spoofs ever.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello, it's me --

TURNER: With these three words, "Call Me Caitlyn," and this stunning "Vanity Fair" cover, Bruce Jenner revealed her new name and look as a transgender woman. She won the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage and gave this moving speech at ESPYs.

BRUCE JENNER: If you want to call me names, make jokes, doubt my intentions -- go ahead, because the reality is, I can take it. But for the thousands of kids out there, coming to terms with being true to who they are, they shouldn't have to take it.

TURNER: A true testament of courage that's also helping her career. Jenner's docu-series "I Am Cait" did so well, it's now been renewed for a second season.

Yes, 2015 has been a year of gutsy moves, tragedy, fresh starts and record breaking hits.

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COSTELLO: Thank you, Nischelle Turner.

The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM after a break.

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