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Iraqi Military Claims Control of Key Ramadi Compound; Storms and Tornadoes Hit Texas; Europe Experiencing Weird Weather; New Chinese Anti-Terror Law Criticized; Travel to Cuba Highlighted; Examining Rising Water Levels in Bangkok; Using Motion Capture Technology to Help the Physically Impaired. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired December 28, 2015 - 01:00   ET

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


[01:00:11] ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. ISIS takes to its heels in Ramadi as Iraqi forces say they've retaken a key district in the city.

Flooding has submerged northern England and the British Army has been called in to help.

Plus if a trip to Cuba is on your bucket list, we'll run through the must dos before you light your first cigar there.

Hello, and welcome to our viewers all around the world. I am Isha Sesay. NEWSROOM L.A. starts right now.

We begin in Iraq where military leaders are declaring a big step forward in the fight against ISIS. Security forces assist they now have full control over a government compound in the city of Ramadi. The compound was previously held by ISIS fighters.

Iraq's army has been waging an intense fight to win back the city of Ramadi from ISIS. The terrorists have held the area for seven months but the military now expects to have full control of Ramadi in just a few days.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (Through Translator): We will declare the victory soon by the golden brigade and the special forces, god willing. We will announce happy news to the people of Anbar. Those who were displaced from their own town and lived in tents. God willing, they will be able to return to their place soon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Lieutenant General Mark Hertling joins us now from Orland, Florida.

General Hertling, back in the spring when Ramadi fell to ISIS, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter questioned whether Iraqi forces had the will to fight. Now they appear to be on the verge of reclaiming that city. What's your view of the gains made by Iraqi forces?

LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: I think over the last several months, first of all, they have revamped their leadership of these organizations and they have retrained their forces. It's been an extremely difficult battle, Isha. Ramadi is, as you know, a very large city, about 400,000, when the population is there. And ISIS was able to overtake this primarily because the central government in Baghdad was not paying much attention to what was going on into the Sunni -- in the Sunni province of Anbar and specifically their capital of Ramadi.

So the forces have been retrained with a new government headed by Mr. al-Abadi. They have actually put some attention on taking care of all the Iraqi people. And when you have the support of both the government and the people for the army and you start training the army and leading it well, you'll see these kinds of victories in the future.

SESAY: What does a victory in Ramadi say about coordination between U.S. and Iraqi forces in your view?

HERTLING: Well, certainly the coalition air power has contributed significantly to this as well as the training of the fire brigades that are now fighting along with the golden division, which is a special operations division out of the Iraqi Security Forces. You also have seen -- this has not received much publicity, but artillery from U.S. forces have fired on it from the training bases into Ramadi based on targets that they've received from the Iraqi Security Forces. So all of these things certainly have contributed. A little bit more training of the leaders at the tactical and the operational level have all contributed to this.

So you're seeing the beginnings of the success of at least one element of the strategy to retrain the Iraqi forces and have them fight ISIS and regain territory in Iraq.

SESAY: A major question being considered by many right now is how big a blow is losing Ramadi for ISIS?

HERTLING: Well, yes, I think this is a significant victory and I'll put a caveat on that, so far. There's still much to be done in Ramadi. You not only have to defeat ISIS militarily, but then you have to replace the government that was, in fact, scattered when ISIS took over. So you're going to see a requirement for a renewing of the police force, the regeneration of facilities, governmental facilities. The regeneration of support for the civilians in this area.

The so-called clear, hold and build strategy that was used during the surge is now going to take place. So yes, there is a military victory, but now can the government in Anbar Province and in the city of Ramadi regain the strength that they once had and, most importantly, will they get support from the central government in Baghdad?

SESAY: And with that in mind, let's say they are able to do all of those things, does claiming Ramadi, does it help that broader effort to contain ISIS? I mean, what does this victory mean as when it comes? [01:05:14] HERTLING: Yes. Yes, I think it does because what you're

primarily talking about, the population of Anbar Province and Ramadi specifically is Sunni based. ISIS is also an extreme version of Islamists who are Sunni. Once you take back and get the support for the same religious background that ISIS is, you're going to see them understand that this is not a government of ISIS, the caliphate, is not something that the majority of the people of Iraq and specifically of Anbar Province want.

Now when it was a fight against the Islamist ISIS, a variant of Sunnism, against the rest of the government, which was sectarian by nature and were supported by Shia, you had the potential for that kind of civil and sectarian violence. Now when you're seeing a Sunni province coming back to the central government, that gives a political victory as well as a military one.

SESAY: Very interesting and important days lie ahead.

General Hertling, it's always great to have you on the program. Thanks so much for the insight and perspective.

HERTLING: Thank you, Isha.

SESAY: Well, the Syrian government and some rebel groups have agreed to an evacuation plan. Some militants and families under siege. According to Reuters, the International Red Cross will oversee the travels of militants trapped in one town on Syria's border with Lebanon. They'll be allowed to head to Beirut airport and fly to Turkey. 300 other families in Idlib Province will also evacuate.

A vicious report. A suicide car bomb was detonated near the airport in the Afghan capital of Kabul. An Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman said one civilian was killed and four were wounded. And a Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the attack. We'll bring you more details on this as they emerge.

In the U.S. many people in Texas have been dealing with dangerous tornadoes, and the staff at one restaurant took no chances when they heard the siren on Sunday. They hustled customers into a walk-in freezer where they waited out the emergency warning.

This video is from a customer who was eating at the restaurant. The spokesperson for Chili's Grill and Bar tells us everyone is safe and that the company is proud of its team for protecting the customers.

Well, that storm system in Texas has been deadly, killing at least 11 people over the weekend in the suburbs of Dallas. And now the area is expecting freezing weather and snow. That will mark -- that will make it harder for emergency crews who are still sifting through rubble making sure no victims were overlooked. Hundreds of buildings and homes are damaged and as Nic Valencia reports the state's governor had declared a disaster in four countries.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my gosh, big, big, big tornado, big strong tornado.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Residents in Texas are picking up the pieces today after a terrifying night of deadly storms.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I actually looked at the twister. UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: And so you were -- OK. Describe it for me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a dark funnel. It was just a big roar. It was really scary. It scared me. I mean, I don't scare that easy. But I was scared.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have our lives and I thank God for that.

VALENCIA: Sirens warn residents to take cover, as an estimated half a dozen twisters ravaged the Dallas area, killing at least 11 and leaving hundreds more homeless.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The car was in the kitchen.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Your daughter's car?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Her car is in the garage.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: It's in the kitchen here?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's in the kitchen right there.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: In the back of your --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it is.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right now. And my husband's car was in the driveway. It's out and around into the alley. But her car is in the kitchen. It was in the garage.

VALENCIA: The towns of Garland and Roulette took the brunt of the storms.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I see it, it's crossing the highway right there. I can see it.

VALENCIA: Lafayette Griffin huddled with his family under a mattress and prayed as the tornado hit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was terrified. I was terrified. They were terrified. You know, they didn't know if they were going to make it.

VALENCIA: Eight people died when a tornado hit the area around Interstate 30. And in some neighborhoods, storms ripped facades off of houses, leaving gaping holes, and in other cases houses were just gone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's the grace of God I was at work, man. I'm really grateful. You know, my wife works not that far from here. If I didn't call her, she'd be here right now and my kids will be here, too, so, you know, a lot of things. VALENCIA: Nick Valencia, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: Well, meteorologist Pedram Javaheri joins us with more on the deadly storms around the U.S.

And Pedram, some really distressing images there. So much damage.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely. And you know, this is a pattern you typically would see, Isha, in the spring season with not only the number of severe storms we saw but also the intensity of these storms.

[01:10:05] And of course we know the weather pattern across that region of the United States has felt much like spring in the month of December. And that was the pattern that really set the disaster zone across this region.

(WEATHER REPORT)

SESAY: Yes. Bad weather in so many places.

Want to bring our viewers up to speed with some of the other parts of the world dealing with this crazy weather and come back to you, Pedram.

In South America more than 150,000 people have been displaced by flooding. Paraguay was hit the hardest. That's where most of the evacuations were. Days of torrential rain blame on El Nino caused the flooding. In Argentina 20,000 were forced from their homes. Brazil and Uruguay were also affected.

And bad or good, the strange weather isn't just happening in the U.S. and South America. Parts of Europe are also reporting unusual temperatures. And once again, El Nino is to blame.

Michael Holmes has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): People in Madrid, enjoying coffee in an outdoor cafe, many without jackets. In Valencia, at 19 degrees Celsius, it's nearly beach weather.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (Through Translator): It's marvelous. At this time of year, with this fabulous sun, to enjoy the beach.

HOLMES: Moscow's Red Square without snow. The Christmas there was anything but white. Green slopes in Germany's ski resorts forced would-be skiers into more year-round attractions, like the Alpine sled run.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (Through Translator): There are, of course, people who come mainly to go skiing; so some are saying this is not ideal weather wise, but a lot of people are familiar with our surroundings here and they always find alternative activities.

HOLMES: But why is this happening? Meteorologists are chalking it up to El Nino. El Nino occurs when ocean temperatures are in the equatorial Pacific are unusually high. The pooled, warm water changes weather patterns all over the world. It happens every two to seven years, and this year's is expected to be one of the worst on record.

El Nino also being blamed, at least in part, for disastrous flooding in the United Kingdom and parts of South America.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, it's a big tornado; big, big, strong tornado.

HOLMES: And severe weather events in the United States as well.

Michael Holmes, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: Let's go back now to Pedram at the International Weather Center.

And Pedram, as we say it's happening everywhere and Europe is taking quite the beating.

JAVAHERI: Absolutely. You know, and they're used to rainfall, especially in the winter season. But the amount of rain that are coming down and in recent weeks, too, Isha, have been disastrous.

(WEATHER REPORT)

[01:15:44] SESAY: Wow. We're keeping you busy tonight, Pedram.

JAVAHERI: Just a little bit.

SESAY: With --

(LAUGHTER)

SESAY: We'll check in with you again later. Thanks so much for the update.

JAVAHERI: Thanks, Isha.

SESAY: Now to the race for the White House, and increasingly bitter feud between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. This time Trump is calling out Clinton's husband, former president Bill Clinton. Trump tweeted Saturday, "Hillary Clinton has announced that she's letting her husband out to campaign but he's demonstrated a penchant for sexism. So inappropriate," seemingly referring to Bill Clinton's extramarital affairs.

When asked about it on "FOX News Sunday," Trump added this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: She's playing the women's card, and it's like give me a break. And I've had so many women come up to me and say, you've got to keep her, she is just terrible. She's playing the women's card left and right and women are more upset about it than anybody else including most men.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Well, Trump was referring to a recent interview in which Clinton attacked him for using this slang term to describe her 2008 presidential loss.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: She was going to beat Obama. I don't know who would be worse. I don't know. How does it get worse? But she was going to beat. She was favored to win. And she got schlonged. She lost.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Just not the first time he's demonstrated a penchant for sexism, and so I'm not sure, again, anybody's surprised that he just keeps pushing the envelope.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Well, Donald Trump has had a long relationship with both Hillary and Bill Clinton. They attended Trump's third wedding in 2005. And the billionaire is a donor to the Clinton Foundation.

Time for a quick break. Chinese lawmakers are taking aim at terrorism that Western critics say they're going too far. Details ahead.

Plus, firefighters get the upper hand on a Bush fire in Australia, but it could be weeks before all the flames are out. Details are next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(SPORTS)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:21:47] SESAY: Hello, everyone. Chinese lawmakers are tightening up national security loss. They unanimously approved a controversial measure that requires tech firms to give the government encryption keys it can then use for surveillance. It also creates a central authority on counterterrorism and authorizes the army to conduct counterterrorism operations outside the country.

Critics including the Obama administration say the law threatens intellectual property rights and freedom of speech.

Well, joining us now to talk more about this is James Leibold. He is a senior lecturer in Chinese politics at La Trobe University in Melbourne University -- university in Melbourne, Australia.

Thank you so much for joining us. And as we all know terrorism is a global concern right now, but when it comes to China, where do Chinese authorities perceive the threat to be coming from? JAMES LEIBOLD, SENIOR LECTURER OF CHINESE POLITICS: Well, the threat

is perceived to be both domestic and international, but chiefly domestically particularly in the far west region of Xinjiang, where it has to be admitted China recently is confronting a degree of radicalization amongst the ethnic Uighur population, that's indigenous to Xinjiang. And have traditionally practice a moderate form of Islam. But to contacts with radical groups overseas we have seen a sort of rise in jihadist style attacks in Xinjiang and also occurred in other cities such as Beijing and even in far south such as Kunming train station attack in March of 2013.

SESAY: But you say China picks and chooses when to apply the term "terrorism"?

LEIBOLD: That's correct. I mean, one of the big concerns I have with this draft counterterrorism bill is that the definition of terrorism is quite vague and open ended. And if we look at how Chinese officials as well as the media used the terrorism tag in the past, it's chiefly applied to the Uighurs as well as the Tibetans. It's applied to people who disagree with the policy of the Chinese Communist Party.

In the case of the French journalist Ursula Gutierrez who wrote an article that was quite critical of Chinese policies in Xinjiang, she is now labeled as a sympathizer of terrorism because she disagreed and was willing to criticize Chinese policy. So we see that across the board, whether it'd be a recent accusation that the dalai lama himself is a sympathizer of terrorism. So the way that China uses the terrorism tag is out of step with international uses of that term.

SESAY: Why this move to pass this measure now in your view? How do you read the timing of all of this?

LEIBOLD: Well, I think since Xi Jinping has come to power, we've seen an increasing tightening of the kind of security screws in Chinese society. As I said before there's no doubt that China is increasingly seen as a target of radical groups, but nowhere on the scale of European countries or the United States.

[01:25:12] But I think in my opinion they're using the pretext of what is occurring globally as efforts to increase their control over their domestic population. I think the real concern for the regime is staying in power. And we've seen just this year the passing of the national security law, a new draft, cyber security law, and now a counterterrorism law. And each of these, you know, will be used to monitor and keep its own populous under increasingly strict control.

SESAY: James Leibold, we appreciate you joining us there. It's very, very much appreciated.

James Leibold, senior lecturer in Chinese politics at the La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia. Thank you for your time.

LEIBOLD: You're welcome.

SESAY: Now major fires are consuming lands on opposite sides of the globe. In Southern California firefighters continue to battle the so- called Soloma wildfire. And they're making good progress with officials reporting more than 75 percent containment. They expect to have the fire under control by Tuesday. Dry conditions helped fuel the blaze that was started by downed power lines and burned some 500 hectares through Sunday morning.

Meanwhile in Australia, firefighters are still working to contain a bush fire in the state of Victoria near the famous Great Ocean Road. Many people are returning to their neighborhoods to find burned out cars and homes, fallen trees and downed power lines. The Christmas Day bush fire destroyed more than 100 properties and so far the damage is assessed at $38 billion. Officials say the worst of the fire season is coming in the next two months.

Next on CNN NEWSROOM, some travel tips for Americans anxious to explore the island of Cuba.

Plus, hear the dire warning from government officials in Thailand as rising sea levels swallow more land in the country's capital.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:30:41] ISHA SESAY, CNN NEWSROOM ANCHOR: You are watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I am Isha Sesay. The headlines at this hour.

Iraq's community leaders say an ISIS withdrawal from the city of Ramadi maybe imminent. Government forces now control the key compound in the heart of the city. Different dates (ph) fighting to push the terrorist out ISIS took over Ramadi in May.

Police in Vienna, Austria say there is intelligence pointing to possible terror attack in Europe between now and New Year's Eve. Vienna and other European police forces applies (ph) in their security. But so far there's been no further confirmation from other security forces over a terror threat.

In Northern England hundreds of people having forced from their home as the region deals with -- where it's flooding in 70 years. The government issued 24 severe flood warnings on Sunday. The prime minister called it an incredibly serious situation and he's sending war troupes to help.

And 20 States across the U.S. are dealing with weather emergencies right now. Three tornadoes ripped apart homes in Dallas, Texas. At least 11 people we're killed. And now that area is expecting freezing weather and snow will just as people are trying to clean up the tornado damage.

Well American can now legally travel to Cuba for the first time in more than 50 years and many are eager to visit the Caribbean Island nation before it becomes too commercialized with new tourist business. Will Ripley tells us what to expect.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: After years of isolation, Cuba's crumbling infrastructure isn't exactly ready to handle a surge of tourists. But soon there'll be coming with more flights expected from places like the U.S. and China and more cruise ships sailing here in Havana's only commercial port, and already a huge hotel room shortage finding the last minute room here in Havana, nearly impossible.

Your best bet may be renting a private room in someone's home not around here as a Casa Particular. Within prior look on at Airbnb.

Cubans only had internet access and a few dozen WiFi hotspot like this. The lack of WiFi and mobile data that means your smartphone or tablet is what really worked here aside from these particular places.

Another thing it may not work, your credit card, Make sure to check your bank before traveling. And bring Euros or Canadian dollars to avoid paying the high taxes sloth (ph) on U.S. dollars.

And don't expect to pay in local Cuban pesos. Foreigners have to use these convertible pesos which are valued like the U.S. dollar.

(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

RIPLEY: OK you can to expect to pay more while using this. If you have a U.S. bank account, don't access it online from Cuba. Your assets might end up frozen.

Also, you may want to stick to bottled water and be sure to peel your fruits and veggies where you might end up sick.

Beware of driving here. It's easier and safer to hire a taxi like this. And classic cars can get you around town in style and on it cheap but make sure you negotiate your price ahead of time.

You wanted to take home the legally allowed $400 in souvenirs. Cuba wants just 100 of that of these cigars and run so you can make your mojitos (ph) at home.

And one more thing, embrace the slower pace of life here. Things do take a while in Cuba but in an oasis like this, that's a good thing.

Will Ripley CNN, Havana.

SESAY: Now Australian authorities are all working to clean up a train derailment in a remote area of Milton, Queensland.

The train was carrying about 200,000 liters of sulfuric acid. Police say there's minor leakage of the highly corrosive acid and of some diesel fuel. Officials have declared an emergency and a two kilometer exclusion zone has been established around the scene.

It's unclear what caused the derailment but that it's flooding in the area.

In South Africa, this is what's left of a passenger train that caught fire at the Cape Town railway station. Five cars were destroyed Sunday afternoon. Five officials say no one was hurt and the cause of the fire is under investigation.

Two similar incidents have been reported in three months.

Now Monday marks one year since the crash of AirAsia Flight 8501. The plane was flying from Indonesia and to Singapore when it went down in the Java Sea. All 162 people aboard died.

[01:35:00] The final report on the investigation found the aircraft had a series of technical malfunction but it was the pilot's response to the problems that led to the crash.

A government report out of Thailand warns Bangkok could be underwater in just 15 years. That means right at sea levels and sinking land could jeopardize the homes of millions of people.

Our Saima Mohsin takes a closer look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAIMA MOHSIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The land (ph) where the city's Chao Phraya River meets the sea on the Coast of the Gulf of Thailand.

And hey on the outskirts of Bangkok, there is no question about the rising sea levels.

I'm having to take this boat out to what was once a thriving village and temple 0.5 kilometer inland that is now under the sea.

A distinction between land and sea is blurred here. The sea takes no time in claiming its territory, but the water sweeps further and further in. Locals like Sai (ph) had been chased inland.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE, RESIDENT, THROUGH AN INTERPRETER: Now I've moved so many times. This is my fourth home. I feel like it's a cliff under the sea in a land that keeps on sinking into it.

MOHSIN: He hasn't heard of climate change that can see what nature is doing, he tells me. This is where Sai (ph) used to live. A village, hundreds of homes, now completely underwater where only electricity pile on remains. The mark where people once lived, now lurked (ph) into the sea.

This temple was built in 1952 to be in the heart of the community that used to live here. Names of the lords of the sea, little that they know then that today, it would be surrounded by water.

Each day as the tide comes in, the temple becomes an island. The floors being raised repeatedly to avoid the rising sea.

A giant new statue of Buddha has been built in to keep the sea at bay and tried a divine intervention. So this is more than just a coastal problem. Soon it's nothing done to stop it. This water will be making its way into the city.

Bangkok is built on soft clay-like soil with increasingly heavy giant building weighing down on it and to that soil erosion and sea levels rising one to two centimeters a year and as the cock tell (ph) the flooding disaster.

SEREE SUPHARATID, RANGUIT UNIVERSITY: Bangkok is now as above sea level 0.5 (ph) meter above sea level. The next 15 years, we're already in the same scenario. The next 100 years we are under water about 50s then.

MOHSIN: All through detailed investigation, Thailand's National Reform Council concluded the risk of Bangkok sinking is murderous.

More analysis and research coming to you there in the pipeline. It did say, action needs to be taken but not one. Experts say, that's not enough. If the government doesn't act now, and the construction multibillion dollar sea will soon the city of Bangkok won't just be sinking but a sunken city under the sea.

Saima Mohsin, CNN Bangkok, Thailand.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: There is outrage and frustration in Chicago, after police say they accidentally shot and killed a woman while responding to a domestic disturbance support. We'll tell you what the mayor is calling for now.

Plus it was the image that caused shock and outrage around the world. The lifeless body of a 3-year-old Syrian refugee. Now the boy's family is finding refuge in the new country.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, METEOROLOGIST AND WEATHER ANCHOR: It is about time. It's back to our Ski Watch. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri here with you and we'll start throughout around the Western United States where the storm door is wide open.

The temperature is plummeting across parts of the Western U.S. with an orderly flow in places and certainly plenty of wet weather go around with 3 million people underneath winter weather advisory or the storm warnings if you're across the South. If you're at the Beirut, the Siskiyou, (INAUDIBLE), the Cascades, the Rockies, you name it.

Snow showers traveling across this region and certainly going to be great news if you have holiday plans to make it up to this ski resorts across this part of the world as well.

So this will be expected over the next 36 hours. Mt Baker up to 7 inches. It could be at least that around on Crystal Mountain up to 18 inches. Forty-nine degrees north, you could see a couple of inches and not good and not too bad a little over a fresh (ph) amount of foot there coming down well.

Where is it worth your way across the north of the borders stay around that Sun Peaks Resort, Whistler Blackcomb.

Also healthy amounts of snow depth at least in place and it takes here up to about 90 percent of Traildino. You can ride around with Whistler well in advance (ph). Ninety-three percent of the trails open. You have about a first dodge (ph) of trails that are still unopen and generally speaking just about ago across parts of Sun Peaks as well and Aspen much the same with impressive numbers. No additional news now we just see at across this part of Colorado but we think it on through over the next coming couple of days but most of the trails are a go across Colorado's Steamboat Springs also looking impressed.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SESAY: Hello everyone the Mayor of Chicago is calling for changes in the way its police are trained. Often officer shot and killed two people the day after Christmas.

Authority says they also shot 19-year-old Quintonio LeGrier while responding to a domestic disturbance call.

Fifty-five year old Bettie Jones, a neighbor was also killed. Police say Jones was shot accidentally. Family members and activists blame bad leadership and asked why police didn't use non-lethal force such as stun gun.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACQUELINE WALKER, FRIEND OF SHOOTING VICTIM: We are therefore warning. It hurts my heart to see that. It hurts me all over to see that the family is supposed to -- it's a tragic day to say as one of the police shooting without asking (ph).

Why you guys did shoot her. Just ask question later? It's ridiculous. You ought somebody that needs to do something about this. This is ridiculous. What about the taser? Taser them down. Don't decide shooting people -- innocent people.

SESAY: Well the officer has been placed on the administrative leave. The incident comes of mere the series of deadly police shootings in Chicago.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SESAY: Now the CNN's Freedom project and the fight against modern day slavery in America. As a teenager, Rachel Lloyd has been exploited on the streets of Germany. Now, she heads an organization designed to support and empower other survivors of human trafficking.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RACHEL LLOYD, FOUNDER AND CEO OF GEMS: Hi my name is Rachel Lloyd. I'm the founder and CEO of GEMS, Girls Educational and Mentoring Services. I founded GEMS in 1998 and we're now the largest service provider to domestically trafficked and commercially sexual exploited girl for any woman in the country.

We serve girls and young women ages 12 up to 24 who have had some involvement in the commercial sex industry probably 90 plus percent of the young women we serve has been or under control of (INAUDIBLE) at one point.

And we provide housing and counseling in groups and employment and education and really a holistic range of services designed to empower girls. Mostly the commercial sex industry and escape trafficking and really to develop this beautiful young women that they want to be.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have peace in mind.

UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKERS: I have peace in mind.

LLOYD: Not everybody wants to sit down in the kind of one-on-one therapy session. The therapeutic groups like creative writing. The advantage of memo writing group (ph), poetry, singing.

UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKERS: I've go happiness in my soul.

[01:44:57] LLOYD: And then ways that young people continues to being young people and work through some of the healing and enjoyed themselves and kind of have fun creating things.

I think we've always had a very clear idea of the types of services that we wanted to do and as a survivor and starters (ph) program of the survivor, I'm always really committed for the endeavor of rape survivor leadership. We did the heart of everything. That moved it.

Well it's so healthy and important for young people to see great both for those who made out and made that out successfully and that there was a life after the life and then, it doesn't have to define you and the things getting better, so we can say to help (INAUDIBLE) a lot better.

I'm very conscious of, you know, I'm just the education having on paper but -- right the power of education that kind of transform you personally and how you see the world and your confident, and those for me, college didn't seem like a reality, right? I'm involved with people who's going to college and so I was like, I need to get my GP (ph) and then I'm kind of to fit and then I went to college it was like, oh this is still terrible.

And so for young people with a normal life, education and achievement and so for getting you just a typical in the world just like a big deal but now people like, yeah, couple of (INAUDIBLE) into more of sending off to college like it -- it's kind of see as like a normal given thing now, which is really exciting

I'm very, very lucky to do this work and build upon me like we have a lot of fun. I think people like, oh my gosh you heard that kind of things and it's so sad, I mean, obviously that's some really painful poignant moments that kind of everyday. And yeah, right, surrounded by teenagers and young people like, it's fun.

I mean there's a lot of joy here. And I think we worked really hard to do that, and so I'm proud of creating that and giving girls that space and then I'm proud of empowering young people to see themselves as leaders of this confident, strong, of this young people whose been kind of they come to the world (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We'll raise your question more to it to the discussions that examined the battle on the frontlines of main street America. What is being done to put at end to the strain in human lives? Then what about dismantling the international network that run this global criminal enterprise? This Thursday at 9 P.M. in London at 10pm Central European time. It is only here on CNN.

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SESAY: Now it was the picture that brought the shear desperation of the Syrian refugee crisis to the light. The image of 3-year-old Alan Kurdi washed ashore on a Turkish beach inside this sympathy and outrage around the world.

Now his family has found the refuge the toddler will never know. Several of other relatives are said to arrive in Canada Monday where they'll begin resettlement as refugees. The U.N estimates 7 million people having displaced by the Syrian civil war.

Time for a quick break. Hollywood magic as a potential medical miracle. You'll see the story of a girl whose life could be changing, thanks to motion capture technology.

And this is "Star Wars" smashes another record and way it's opening. Next could be in even more record breaking success.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am a Harvard grad and I did my undergraduate thesis for ELC on racial conflict because I wanted to get to the bottom of why people treat other as things.

The shock for me with human trafficking is there's actually no reason based on a bias that people are abused if the profit motive, so around the world because it is profitable, people take other human beings and make the modern-day slaves so they can make money off of them and it's sort of shock to your system because you can't say, "Oh well because they're that religion or that gender, or that ethnicity." It is simply the love of money.

So if it fit in with what I had been doing academically earlier, but it took it to a whole new level of -- this is not explained the way by history. This is a persistent problem with human beings and we have to fight with every tooth and nail that we have.

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[01:50:00] PEDRAM JAVAHERI: Today it's Pedram Javaheri here in the world weather center, talking weather across the Americas. Here as a disturbance that's really had major problems across the Central and Southern United States begins to migrate off to the East that it does the wet weather pattern.

This severe weather threat continues to be pushed off out that towards part of the State of Louisiana and Mississippi and in Alabama as well.

Notice the Northern fringe of it. The warm weather that was in place, it is all but gone. Temperatures dropping up significantly from about zero to five.

In Dallas now ahead of it into the 20s and this is the sort of change or beginning to really see big shape over the next couple of days as by midweek the cold air drops out of the plain states.

And at a latter portion of the week, any hints of the green then, say the orange and the yellows that we had with the mild weather is all but gone as we had some of the cooler weather pushing in as we bring in 2016.

But there's a temperature forecast for your Monday afternoon. It should be in the lower 20s around Atlanta behind it where they were in the lower 20s and around 30 degrees in spots dropping up significantly.

And notice some freezing rain possible in and around Chicago. Some of those accumulations really could be crippling if you have road plans -- travel plans across the road reaching that region.

But here we go to the South, NASA on the Bahamas looking at the upper 20s. Havana around 32 degrees of partly cloudy skies and the Southern fringe of this frontal boundary could pick up some winds across portions of the Gulf Coast into the Caribbean as well. Take care.

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SESAY: Hello everyone. The force is definitely with the new Star Wars movie. It became the fastest movie of all time to hit the $1 billion mark at the box office this weekend.

It took just 12 days to pass in Jurassic World which hit the mark in 13 days earlier this year. And also to the top spot for Christmas day earning at $153.5 million and it's already the fifth biggest film in U.S. history.

Well, the movie hasn't even officially opened in China yet, but some lucky fans got a sneak preview Sunday. The cast walked the red carpet in Shanghai and the film Chinese premiere greeting fan and filing autographs.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE, THROUGH AN INTERPRETER: I can't wait to see how wonderful it would be. Because I know it won't be a bad film. I'm expecting it to be amazing. I hope it will bring back the same feeling I had when I watched Star Wars as a child.

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SESAY: Well most Chinese fans still have to wait a little bit longer for the movie. It officially opens in China on January 9th.

Well so much with all the magic in Hollywood from raptors in Jurassic World to aliens Star Wars spanks the motion capture technology.

And now it's gaining traction elsewhere to CNN's Anna Stewart with many young girls suffering from cerebral palsy, who hopes that technology can help her walk.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you lift his leg up in the air for me? Like that.

ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rachelle is 8 years old. She suffers from cerebral palsy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And again big lift.

STEWART: A disorder which affects muscle control making it increasingly hard to walk.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Very good.

ALISON DEWDNEY, MOTHER: We are here to assess her walking session and to see if her current splints are doing the job that they should be doing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you ready, steady, and go.

STEWART: These small sticky balls will help measure exactly how Rachelle is walking using cutting-edge motion capture technology.

DEWDNEY: They come out on the computer screen. They showed the pattern of where her bones for and she's walking.

STEWART: Motion capture actually started here in life sciences. But it wasn't long before their movie is record on. Driving the development, making it cheaper and more accessible to healthcare and many other industries.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Does it look like just apes to you?

STEWART: They all look very real and that's because behind every monster there's a real life actor.

Today that's me.

Nick, I'm all fitted up. I'm ready to go. I don't look how it goes that went for my first Hollywood performance. What's going on?

[01:55:02] NICK BOLTON, CEO OXFORD METRICS MOTION GROUP: Well I'm sorry about that but first of all but -- so what you got on a series of reflected markers, you have all around your body from and back, heads and feet. And we're filming those movements of those markers from multiple angles.

As you can see on the screen here, here's your character (ph) when you move your left arm. It moves, maybe your right arm that moves and so forth.

STEWART: This is an exactly blockbuster stuff. The next step is to match the motion capture to a graphic character. Be at beast or maybe a warrior princess.

BOLTON: Well motion captures only in people's living realms. They connect sensor from marked off from the x box (ph). Right, that's the motion capture system. We see motion capture automatically, you know, exploring into market base. But actually almost creepy into our lives, you know, in much more soulful (ph) way

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Steady and go.

STEWART: And as it finds more uses, the technology will get better and cheaper perfect for life science virtual will begin. So hopefully more kids like Rachelle will reap the benefit.

Anna Stewart CNN, Oxford.

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SESAY: Let's hope so. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I am Isha Sesay.

The news continues with Rosemary Church at CNN Center right after this.

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