♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ in the stable in bethlehem a baby is born ♪ >> oh, what a voice. thank you so much for making us part of your christmas morning. we are privileged to be part of it and so grateful to have you with us. merry christmas to you. happy holidays. i'm christi paul. >> i'm victor blackwell.

merry christmas to you. you are listening to the spelman college glee club here in atlanta. you're going to love what they have for you. >> their voices. we also have the very latest news for you, of course, and a look at some of the biggest stories of 2016. want to start with alison kosik with today's top stories. >> good morning, christi and victor. developing news overnight. debris from a crashed russian military plane has been found in the black sea. the plane disappeared from radar shortly after taking off from sochi. russia's defense ministry says 92 people including 8 crew members were aboard. it's unclear what caused the crash but one russian official is ruling out terrorism. let's go to matthew chance who's joining us live from moscow. good morning. >> reporter: alison, this aircraft is a 154 model aircraft, old airliner, used to

be the workhorse of the soviet fleet, but it's used by the russian defense ministry for v.i.p. flights. it stopped in sochi on the black sea for refueling but it was carrying, interestingly, the red army choir. the alexandrof ensemble, as it's called, which is the official choir and dance artists of the russian military. they were en route to syria to stage a performance for the russian troops stationed there. we understand from the defense ministry that 64 of the people on board, 92 that were killed, were members of the choir and/or were dancers with the choir. so complete tragedy for them. already vladimir putin the russian president has sent his condolences. let's take a listen to what the russian defense ministry spokesman had to say. >> translator: now at a distance

of 1.5 kilometers off the sochi coast at the depth of about 70 meters parts of a tu-154 aircraft body have been discovered. a search operation is underway. four boats and five helicopters are currently operating in the plane search area as well as drones. reinforcement has been dispatched to the area. >> reporter: well, the russian officials at the moment are sort of ruling out any possibility of this being a terrorist attack. they're doing that before the investigation has been completed. they're ruling out the possibility of mechanical or pilot error. they're trying to determine why this plunged into the sea off the russian coast. >> a devastating event happening on christmas. thank you so much. president-elect donald trump's controversial foundation is going away. trump says he's doing away with the charity to avoid potential

conflicts of interest once he enters office, but shutting it down may not be so simple. the foundation is under investigation in new york state for alleged misuse of donations and can't be dissolved until the investigation is over. dnc deputy communications director eric walker said the move was a wilted fig leaf to cover up his, quote, pitiful report of charitable giving. it has no employees and $1 million in assets. the man who was going to be communications director in the trump white house has changed his mind. jason miller who was named to the post just days ago says he's declining the job to spend more time with his family. miller's wife is due to have the couple's second child next month. miller's joined the trump campaign in june. president-elect donald trump and his wife melania celebrating christmas in palm beach, florida. they're celebrating today but last night as you see the trump's attended a midnight church service. they were greeted by a standing

ovation for the congregation. buckingham palace says a bad cold will keep queen elizabeth from attending a church service. she's staying home to help her recovery but will still take part in the royal family christmas celebrations during the day. her grandson prince william went to church on sunday morning with his wife katherine and their children george and charlotte. at the vatican pope francis delivered his annual christmas blessing before the crowd at st. peter's square. the pope offered his thoughts and prayers to victims of terrorism around the world. he also urged an end to fighting in syria saying far too much blood has been spilled. christmas has returned to one iraqi town after years of isis domination. the terror group seized bartella in 2014 but was driven out in october. muhammad lila has more now on how christians there are celebrating. >> reporter: it's a moment that many at this historic church

thought they would never see. celebrating the birth of christ in a place once desecrated by isis. >> translator: even if it's isis, the lord taught us to love and forgive our enemies and tow pray for them. the most important thing is for us to live in harmony and peace. >> reporter: isis overran this town more than two years ago. everyone fled. look closely. bullet holes on the walls are scars that remain. isis broke the church's glass but not its heart. >> translator: happiness and sadness at the same time. this town used to be full of life but now look at it. such a desolate place. we can't live here now. >> reporter: the town was recaptured by iraqi forces in october this year. thousands of isis fighters are just a few kilometers away. this is now a place of razor

wire, broken buildings, and the reality of war. >> translator: i could never imagine this would happen. we have lived here for more than a dozen years. we never thought we would be displaced. our houses are destroyed. will it be able to come back? >> reporter: in town the green of a single plastic christmas tree breaks up the misery surrounding it. this is a place guarded by the army now. just holding this mass requires armed soldiers at the door. >> translator: we need the guarantee of international protection. if there is no safety, we cannot live in this area. today we have no dignity. we are displaced in our own country. >> reporter: displaced but not disheartened. >> translator: we have to have hope in this life. if we don't have hope, then we are finished. >> reporter: the ancient himalahymns

are being sung here again. a small act of life in a country that's seen so much death. muhammad lila, cnn. all right, muhammad, thanks very much. let's check in on the christmas forecast and the super typhoon bearing down on the philippines. karen mcginnis is live in the weather center. >> good morning. merry christmas. we have quite a bit of weather to tell you about. a white christmas can be found. a good portion of the united states is looking at some exceptionally warm temperatures, 15 to 20 degrees above where it should be this time of year. the snowfall from the four corners region, arizona, colorado, new mexico is up from the central provinces of dan and into the dakotas. there's quite a bit of fog. also some ice. that's going to be very problematic from folks who are going to try to get some plans for christmas day. it is going to be slow going on some of the secondary roads and certainly the interstates where

you might see some whiteout conditions, especially all the way from grand forks to bismarck to rapid city. wind gusts could be as high as 55 miles an hour. just to give you some indications just how varied these temperatures are across the u.s., we've got teens in billings, montana. we've got 30s and 20s across the northern tier. look at this, 70s across the deep south and if you think that's exceptionally warm, it certainly is. some areas will come close or even beat their record high. huntsville, alabama, could make it to 75 degrees. tallahassee, florida, 82 degrees on christmas day. the old record goes back to just last year. they were 81 degrees last year. here comes some of that wet weather even in places you would normally expect some snowfall. we're looking at rain in the forecast from boston, new york, washington, d.c., all the way down towards memphis. now for the typhoon. it is super typhoon intensity. it has already made landfall.

winds associated with this put it at just near category five intensity. let's go ahead and show you some of the statistics associated with this. it has made landfall around the region. it is moving towards the west. as it does it is going to weaken a little bit but not before plowing across the region and over the past 70 years there have been about seven christmas day super typhoons that have made landfall. right now the winds associated with it at 155 miles per hour with higher gusts. back to you, allison. >> karen mcginnis, that is one monster storm. thank you very much. merry christmas to you all. back to victor and christi. so in today's fast-paced, modern world it takes a lot more than enthusiastic reindeer to get all of the gifts to the right people in the right places. >> when we come back a look at all that it takes to get your presents where they need to be on time. sometimes when brushing my gums bleed.

no big deal. but my hygienist said, it is a big deal. go pro with crest pro health gum protection. it helps prevent gum bleeding by targeting harmful bacteria on your gums. left untreated, these symptoms could lead to more serious problems including tooth loss. gum crisis averted.

therthere is nothing typical about making movies. i'm victoria alonso and i'm an executive producer... ...at marvel studios. we are very much hands-on producers. if my office... ...becomes a plane or an airport the surface pro's perfect. fast and portable but also light. you don't do this 14 hours a day, 7 days a week for... ...decades if you don't feel it in your heart. listen, i know my super power is to not ever sleep. that's it. that's the only super power i have.

millions of packages to sort. thousands of trucks lined up. drivers across the country. it's a big job. somebody's got to do it. >> our richard quest goes inside

one of fed ex's new york sorting facilities to show us how one of the biggest shipping companies in the world gets those gifts delivered on time. >> reporter: so all the ingredients are here. everything is ready. now, where are the packages? and so the containers arrive from the airport and enter the sorting system where, remember, everything is designed to be accurate and fast. within fed ex system this is new york. this is big stuff. >> yes, it is. yes, it is. we handle over 100,000 packages a day. it starts with black friday and cyber monday. those are -- that will be our

heaviest four mondays before peak. >> reporter: at christmas time or holiday time versus a normal day, how much does your volume increase? >> 12 million packages in the network. we're looking at over 25 million packages in the network for peak. >> reporter: if you're going to be carrying a lot of parcels over large parts of new york, you'd better be fit and ready for the battle ahead. after all, what they are carrying is the economy in motion. the packages are now making their way down the final sorting line. the drivers are identifying the yellow stickers that tell them which packages go on their truck. tell me where are you going to put everything? just throw it all in? >> no, we don't throw it all in.

we don't throw first of all. first thing we do, we have everything labeled up by streets and avenues. >> reporter: right. >> we set it up going high and low. >> reporter: and also what about in terms of time of delivery? >> we put our priority packages in the middle here so that we can get them all done. when we empty out these shelves we start hitting our standard services. >> reporter: you've got packages? >> yes. >> reporter: is this one of yours? >> it is not. >> reporter: that's yours. that's yours. to say it is impressive is an understatement. the ability to double the number of packages being handled during the holiday period is outstanding. but as you can see, they've all gone, that is until tomorrow when they'll do it all over again.

richard quest, cnn, at fedex in the bronx, new york. and next, a conversation with some extraordinary young people who are being honored for their efforts to save the planet. stay close. take one.

directv now. stream all your entertainment! anywhere!

anytime! can we lose the 'all'. there's no cbs and we don't have a ton of sports. anywhere, any... let's lose the 'anywhere, anytime' too. you can't download on-the-go, there's no dvr, yada yada yada. stream some stuff! somewhere! sometimes! you totally nailed that buddy. simple. don't let directv now limit your entertainment. only xfinity gives you more to stream to any screen.

2016 has just flown by. >> oh, my gosh. >> it's over already. we talked a lot about the election, of course, but some people did some really good work this year, especially when it comes to the topic of climate change. >> yeah, not only are there resources all over the world that people are working on, they're working to get the younger generation involved in the whole process. take a look. >> as human beings we have a great amount of power to affect the world around us. therefore, we have a responsibility to the care takers of our land, of our earth. >> reporter: wise words coming from a 16-year-old, an indigenous climate activist and hip-hop artist leading the way for youth to get involved in environmental sustainability. >> we live in a world with so many problems that we need to rise up and meet them with just as many if not more solutions.

>> reporter: he was awarded by the captain planet organization. it was sparked by ted turner's animated series and carried on by his daughter, laura turner seidel. >> reporter: what do you think your dad would say? do you think he really absorbs what he has birthed here in captain planet and the movement itself? >> this for him was one of his passions, making sure that children were part of the -- they were educated and got it so that they would be part of the solution and not part of the problem. >> reporter: this is the youth director of earth guardians, a movement of more than 1500 global members working to combat climate change. he's starting a petition for the rights of the protestors at standing rock. >> not only do we have to cut our energy consumption but change the way we use it. when we look at a pipeline, it's not like let's stop this pipeline. we have to look at the other end, where are we going to go? if we get rid of the other pipe

lines, we have to have another system to turn towards. in the united states we do not need fossil fuels to sustain our economy. we can do and create just as many solutions by transferring to a renewable energy infrastructure. >> reporter: his message was received by a star-studded crowd and echoed by other honor res including ian summerhalder and prince charles. accepting the award on behalf of prince charles was his sustainability advisor, tony juniper. >> reporter: the causes when it comes to the environment right now that you really want to see changed. >> one is the energy we're using in our homes and the energy we're using that's been used to make products. another big heading is transportation and getting on airplanes and using vehicles and the other really big heading is food. >> reporter: a message to and from the future generation, failure is not an option for this front line activist. >> because each and every one of

us is helping write the legacy that our generation is going to be remembered for. i say be aware of your contribution to this legacy. up next, dr. sanjay gupta counts down the top ten health stories of 2016. >> it includes antibiotic resistance. one of the biggest health threats facing us today. hi, i'm paul

and i used to ask if you could hear me now with verizon. not anymore. i switched to sprint because their network reliability is now within 1% of verizon. and they save you 50% on most current at&t, t-mobile, and verizon rates.

why is this one twice as much? this one right here has 1% more needles. why pay twice as much for only a 1% difference? we'll take this one. can you hear that? (vo) don't let a 1% difference cost you twice as much. happy holidays to you and your family. for people with hearing loss, switch to sprint today. visit sprintrelay.com starts with a crust made from marie'sscratch.pot pie because when it's cold outside, good food and good company keep you warm inside. marie callender's ♪ over the hills and everywhere ♪ ♪ go tell it on the mountain ♪ that jesus christ is born you know it is a christmas edition -- special edition of "new day" when you hear voices like that. >> yes, it is.

>> it is pretty spectacular. i'm christi paul and thank you to spelman college glee club in atlanta sharing their lovely voices with us. >> very talented. i'm victor blackwell. they are with us throughout the morning. we have a lot of news to get to this half hour. let's go right to alison kosik. good morning. >> good morning, victor and christi and merry christmas to all of you. let's get a check on the top stories. russian military officials say no survivors were found at the scene of a military plane crash near sochi. 92 people were aboard the plane. some wreckage was found in the black sea. it was carrying a military music group on its way to perform at a russian airbase in syria. president vladimir putin declaring tomorrow a day of mourning. trump says he's doing away with his charity to avoid potential conflicts of interest once he's in office. shutting it down may not be so

easy. it's under investigation and can't be dissolved until the investigation is over. dnc deputy communications director eric walker said the move was what he calls a wilted fig leaf to cover up his, quote, pitiful report of charitable giving. it has no employees and has been $1 million in assets. israel says it is now re-evaluating its relationship with the united nations after the u.n. security council passed a resolution condemning israeli settlements in the west bank and east jerusalem. prime minister benjamin netanyahu said israel is canceling millions of dollars of contributions to u.n. organizations. this morning pope francis delivers his annual christmas blessing before the crowds at st. peter's square. the pope offering his thoughts and prayers to victims of terrorism around the world. he also called for urgent assistance in aleppo and an end to fighting in syria saying far too much blood has been spilled. christmas has returned to one iraqi town after years of

isis domination. the terror group seized bartella in 2014 but was driven out in october. members of the city's displaced christian community returned saturday to celebrate mass inside their war torn church. the priest's message to worshippers, christians are an inherent part of the country and we are staying. buckingham palace says a bad cold will keep queen elizabeth from attending a christmas day service. our ian lee is in london right now. ian, good morning. what else are you hearing from the palace? >> reporter: good morning, alison. we learned about this cold several days ago when the queen postponed her trip where she has her traditional annual christmas vacation with other members of the royal family. we heard that it was not only her but also her husband, prince philip. we were expecting to see them today. this is their first public appearance since that cold was announced, but buckingham palace

did release this statement saying that her majesty, the queen, will not attend church service this morning. the queen continues to recover from a heavy cold. she will participate in royal family christmas celebrations during the day. so she isn't going to be attending church but she still is going to be attending family functions. >> do you have anymore details, ian, about what other members of the family are doing? have they canceled plans to be with her? >> reporter: well, so far it seems like it's business as usual. prince william is with his in-laws there in berkshire up there celebrating christmas and other members of the royal family went to church as well, but we need to remember, the queen is 90. prince philip is 95. so people are watching her health quite closely. >> we are wishing her well. ian lee reporting from london. thanks very much. 15-month-old twins jayden

and anais mcdonald are capturing the world's hearts. they were born conjoined at the head and cnn's chief medical correspondent sanjay gupta has been following their story from surgery through separation and rehab. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: jayden and anais. jayden means god has heard, anais, god has answered. and for mom and dad, nicole and christian mcdonald, their prayers have been heard and answered. >> i never doubt that they are a miracle, not just that they were miraculously separated, it's been the miracles that took place every step of the way. >> reporter: miracles like jayden's first taste of peas. >> are you excited for peas? say, hey, we're learning. there we go. >> reporter: or first words.

>> da, da, da. >> da, da, da. >> reporter: and the simple miracle of the entire mcdonald family, mom, dad, 3-year-old aza and his two little brothers jayden and anais being able to spend time together as a family. conjoined at the head, jayden and anais were born sharing 1 1/2 sent meters of brain tissue fused together. they've defied the odds. they've endourd four different operations, the most recent lasting 27 hours to separate the two of them. i came to visit them one last time at their hospital before they moved to a children's rehappen facility. >> dr. gupta. >> good to see you. >> for sure. >> reporter: you guys have changed a lot already. just a few weeks. so jayden was starting to talk,

babble before the operation. i remember you mentioning anais used to like to look at the read books and things. >> yes. >> reporter: do you think they're sort of back at that level from before the operation? >> yeah. i mean, anais has become my talker. he talks all day. >> reporter: it is two months to the day. >> yes. >> reporter: they've been separated. does that surprise you? did you -- christian, did you have any expectations to how long that part was going to take? >> i -- i didn't have any expectations. you know, i knew it was just going to kind of depend on them and depend on god. dr. goodrich have, you know, came back from this quicker than any set of twins. >> reporter: i heard that. >> they've defied all the textbooks. he said thankfully they didn't read the book so, you know, they are doing -- they're flying. you know, they're doing really well. >> reporter: are you nervous to leave? >> yes.

>> excited. >> i'm excited. there are different things. there's different things, you know? a new set of people to teach all their nuances, you know? i know that they're going to take care of them but i just have to reinforce the trust with a whole new group of people. >> reporter: and now this. >> now this. >> reporter: separated, doing well, breathing, interacting. >> yeah, poking each other in the eyeballs. >> poking each other. >> reporter: they're going to be true brothers. i love how jayden smiles after he gives his brother a little poke. >> yes. can i pick you up? >> don't taease me, mommy. >> reporter: when the boys were first born nicole and christian was take them for rides around the hospital in a red wagon and now they're leaving side by side in another red wagon. >> all right! >> reporter: for the mcdonald's,

good-bye is bitter sweet. >> thanks for everything. i'm sure we're going to see you again. it's been great. y'all have been doing a great job. >> reporter: the whole world is watching you guys. the whole world. i know that for a fact. >> hi. hi, little jayden. >> reporter: and now it is time to say good-bye to their adopted family and adopted home. >> are you ready to go for a ride? >> reporter: but it's also hello to a new home. >> do you see your new home? >> reporter: and hopefully to some more miracles. >> what's in here? look. your eyes are everywhere. >> reporter: dr. sanjay gupta, cnn, new york. >> it's okay. brandishing a scraper, nail polish remover and a can of red spray paint. a 70-year-old grandmother in germany is out on the streets of berlin vowing to stamp out hateful graffiti. we have her story next.

to me the acidity of foods and what they can do to your teeth. thinning of the teeth and leading to being extremely yellow would probably gross me out! my dentist recommended pronamel. it can help protect enamel from acid erosion. my mouth feels really fresh and clean and i stuck with it. i really like it. it gives me a lot of confidence. pronamel is all about your enamel. helping to protect your enamel. my lineage was the vecchios and zuccolis. through ancestry, through dna i found out that i was only 16% italian. he was 34% eastern european. so i went onto ancestry, soon learned that one of our ancestors we thought was italian was eastern european. this is my ancestor who i didn't know about. he looks a little bit like me, yes. ancestry has many paths to discovering your story. get started for free at ancestry.com

♪ ♪ a 70-year-old grandmother in germany has made it her mission

to fight hateful graffiti. she is doing this one at a time. >> cnn's atika shubert went to meet her on the streets of berlin. >> reporter: 70-year-old woman scours the streets of berlin armed with a scrape escraper, c spray paint and nail polish remover. >> reporter: a nazi swastika amid the graffiti, she gets to work. she calls herself a political cleaner of neonazi and racist graffiti and every week she spends up to 17 hours scraping off racist stickers and painting over swastikas with hearts. >> translator: i could look at that swastika and say, oh, that's awful and walk by, she says, but no one would dare to do anything. i don't want to wait for someone else to do something about it, she says. >> reporter: at home shram shows us her catalog of work. it started 30 years ago when she spotted a flyer supporting

rudolph hess plastered to her bus stop. disgusted she took her house keys and scratched the flyer off. >> translator: i just scrubbed it away until it was all gone, she said. it was a fantastic feeling she said. >> reporter: it has become a personal mission and has taken her across germany and six other countries. she says she has cleaned more than 130,000 neonazi symbols and racist graffitis. and the amount she sees on the street is increasing, she says, especially against refugees. >> translator: people tell me i am intolerant, that i don't respect the far right's freedom of speech. i say it ends where contempt for humanity begins. >> neonazi groups have sent her

death threats. her work is too provocative. she could face thousands of dollars in fines for defacing public property. on a day we tagged along a berlin cleaning crew was annoyed. >> i like what you're doing says the cleaner but not the way you're doing it. she dismisses the cleaners with a laugh as she does with most of her critics. as she's about to call it a day, a big one across the street. she whips out her can of red spray paint and gets to work. this graffiti war is a never ending battle, but shram seems happy to continue the fight one heart at a time. atika shubert, cnn, berlin. ♪ ♪ taking a holiday in britain, are ya doll?

well, the only place you need go... london's got the best of everything. cornwall's got the best of everything. sport sport nightlife nightlife (both) fashion adventure i'm tellin' ya, britain is the only place you really need go. expedia. everything you need to travel britain better.

♪ ♪ ♪ jesus, jesus secret santa, let's talk about it. tradition for a lot of people and actually something our team is embracing this year. although we're having some trouble deciding how to interpret the rules. is the secret santa supposed to reveal him or herself? when they hand over the present or is it always a secret? >> let's take this to the next level here. imagine opening a box and finding out, h'm, bill gates is

your secret santa. >> good christmas. >> i was thinking that, too. it is a very, merry christmas though, for this lucky lady. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> extreme christmas lights

never works because they're always burning out. like there's a whole string that's out and then a whole string that's not. >> and then they never really match string to string. i was given 200 lights, two strings, make the most of it. really wasn't that extreme. >> good luck with that. yeah. but this time in england, want to take you here. two brothers, they covered their mother's house with thousands of lights every year. they do it for a good cause. >> yes. >> they give her some money. >> take a look. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> christmas in bristol, we decorate every year. our mum's house. she lends it to us. >> we started back in 1994. we brought our first little -- it's like the christmas tree. >> yes. what do you call, a silhouette. >> silhouette of a christmas

tree. >> christmas, we wanted the tradition. >> we have had americans visit in bristol. >> we got into the australian newspaper. >> we did. i think that was last year we got into the australian newspaper. >> some people travel a good few miles to come see a decent set of christmas lights. >> we just had a little bit of an easier task. >> a couple of hours. >> we do get problems with the wind. stuff up on the roof blowing like reindeers off the roof. >> you see what you can do to fasten it down. >> yes. >> my favorite, everybody asks us are we renting? >> the nativity is my favorite. >> that's our number one question. the electric. >> how much does it cost? >> we used to do a big turn on ceremony of the lights. just a few neighbors come out. family. it got so big we've done a main event. >> whew!

>> we have burgers, hot dogs. >> we've been raising money for some children's hospital for about, what, eight, nine years now? >> yes. >> able to do what we can do. this is our hobby. it's like our hobby is raising money for children's hospital. >> we stand by their side and some people don't necessarily know the display. the lights. >> you know? it's like really warm now when you see it. it's not just for kids, it's for all ages, you know? next we have more music from spillman college glee club and moorehouse college glee club. >> great music as we go to break. stay with us. ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ that really entertains us.thing i'm gonna use this picture on sketchbook, and i'm going to draw mustaches on you all. using the pen instead of fingers, it just feels more comfortable for me. be like, boop! it's gone. i like that only i can get into it and that it recognizes my fingerprint. our old tablet couldn't do that. it kind of makes you feel like you're your own person, which is a rare opportunity in my family. (laughter)

tadirectv now. stream all your entertainment! anywhere! anytime! can we lose the 'all'. there's no cbs and we don't have a ton of sports. anywhere, any... let's lose the 'anywhere, anytime' too. you can't download on-the-go, there's no dvr, yada yada yada. stream some stuff! somewhere! sometimes! you totally nailed that buddy. simple. don't let directv now limit your entertainment. only xfinity gives you more to stream to any screen.

the boys pulled through. and we're going to follow their story as they enter rehab and continue on their remarkable road to recovery. >> and lift-off, the year in space starts now. >> march 27th, 2015, astronaut scott kelly blasts off for his historic mission aboard the international space station. >> station, this is cnn, how do you hear me? >> i hear you loud and clear, welcome aboard the space station. >> along with his brother mark

back on earth, the kelly brothers are subjects of nasa's twin study. the goal? measure the impact for long space flight on the human body. physically and mentally, in anticipation of years-long missions to mars and beyond. >> scott kelly landed back on earth in 2016 after spending a record-setting 340 days in space. in july, i traveled to palo alto, california, for an exclusive interview with ceo elizabeth holmes who had been laying low for months following damning reporting by "the wall street journal" and ultimately federal investigation, sanctions and multiple lawsuits revolving around its mini lab, a proprietary blood testing device, in 2014 forbes had valued the company at $9 billion. >> does it work? >> yes.

>> you're confident in that? >> i am confident in that. >> as 2016 comes to a close, theranos is valued at zero, it's vaken up its operations and board of directors. for years we've been reporting on the country's opioid epidemic, but it wasn't until this april 21st that the crisis grabbed everyone's attention. >> cnn has confirmed that the artist, prince, is dead. >> prince died of a fentanyl overdose, a synthetic painkiller 50 times more powerful than heroin. overdose are now the most common cause of unintentional death in america. >> we're here to talk about an epidemic that kills 78 americans every single day. one death every 19 minutes from an opioid overdose. >> we hosted a town hall to bring to light this epidemic quietly killing people. we need solutions, doctors cutting back on excessive painkiller prescriptions.

in january, i travelled to flint, michigan, a town still reeling from a 2014 decision to switch its water supply to the highly contaminated flint river, levels of lead in the water were testing off the charts? >> 5,000 parts per billion is associated with toxic waste. this home, 13,000 parts per billion. in october 16, 2016, flint switched back to the detroit's water supply, but the damage was done. many residents still need to boil their water before drinking it and pipe infrastructure needs to be replaced. at an estimated cost of $55 million. 2016 was the first time most americans heard of the zika virus. an outbreak began last year in brazil, and saw the heartbreaking pictures of babies born with microcephaly, abnormally small heads and brains, it wasn't long until the virus invaded the united states. anyone exposed needs to practice safe sex for a full six months.

2016 presidential campaign was truly unprecedented. from a health perspective, neither hillary clinton or donald trump released as much medical information as past candidates for commander-in-chief. but the single document that invited the most scrutiny was a bizarre letter written by dr. bornstein, mr. trump's physician. it was riddled with typos, trumpian language and medical terminology no doctor i know would ever use. one of the cornerstone's of donald trump's successful presidential campaign was his promise to repeal and replace obamacare. supporters were shocked when after he was elected. >> let me ask you about obamacare. are you going to make sure that people with preconditions are still -- >> yes. because it happens to be one of the strongest assets. >> you're going to keep that? >> also for their children

living with their parents for extended is we're going to very much try to keep that. >> will what change with your health care once trump takes office? we'll be watchinging in 2017. ♪ ♪ what a voice. thank you so much for making us part of your christmas morning. we are privileged to be part of it and so grateful to have you with us, merry christmas to you, happy holidays to you, i'm christi paul. >> i'm victor blackwell, merry christmas to you, you're listening to the spelman college glee club right here in atlanta. you're going to love what they have for you a little later.