we're in good company. >> fascinating interview by rachel nichols.n.com see a lot more of that. >>> up next, the number comes to us from a galaxy far, far away. stay with me. >>> tonight's number, 11 million. that is how much in dollars, is $11 million is what it cost to make the original "star wars" movie back in 19. 7. an investment in a space offer that has paid off in a major, major way. ♪ it has inspired seven movies with the latest "the force awakens" released this week. two more in the pipeline, a television series, video games and theme parks, all of it adding up to billions of dollars in profits. and a love from lifelong devoted passionate fans that you just can't put a price on. the new movie "the force awakens" expected to smash box office records all of it starting with a movie made for a relative bargain price of $11 million. >>> next on cnn, what does isis want? "blindsided, how isis shook the world" fareed so carry's special report is right after this. later, the democratic debate special at 10:30. i'm pop. harlow. thank you so much fo

. >> and cnn sports anchor rachel nicholls joins us now on the phone. hey there, rachel. manning defend himself. he seemed exceptionally angry. you could hear his voice almost shaking. >> no wiggle room there. he is defending himself. the denver broncos are also standing behind their quarterback. the indianapolis colts who peyton played for in the time period voupding though allegations, they've also come out in support of him. they've called the allegations, quote, utterly ridiculous, which is notable because manning says a member of the colts medical staff was with him each time he visited that clinic. and the director of the clinic itself has also come out denying the story, calling the source of these allegations, this man, quote, an unpaid intern who worked there in 2013, which is actually two years after all of this supposedly occurred. so manning very strongly defending himself. there will be some questions, though, for him because his wife -- there's this acknowledgment that his wife was getting something from this clinic and he also defended her today to espn say

let's bring in rachel nichols, how jameis winston's life and his accuser's has changed since the releasenston into context, one of most high profile athletes ever accused of rape, heisman trophy winner, led his team to the college national championship. this year he game the nfl's number one overall draft pick. winston never was charged with a crime related to rape accusations at florida state he is facing a civil suit filed by his accuser, erica kinsman. >> i kind of want to knowing like, why me? >> reporter: erica kinsman says she repeatedly said no to jameis winston. >> i remember his roommate, whoever this other guy was, came in and he was saying, like, dude, stop, like what are you doing. she's telling you to stop. >> reporter: but winston has strongly denied the allegations going so far as to file a countersuit for defamation. in legal filings his attorney says, kinsman has been inconsistent about the details of what happened that night. one point claiming she was drugged, an allegation that is absent from the lawsuit. i test run by a toxicologist no drugs in her system other than

rachel nichols went won on one with the star, will smith. hear what he said next.el a cold sore coming on? only abreva can heal it in as few as two and a half days when used at the first sign. it penetrates deep and starts to work immediately to block the virus and protect healthy cells.. don't tough it out, knock it out, fast. abreva. announget up to 48 months interest-free financing on tempur-pedic, save $300 on beautyrest and posturepedic, or choose $300 in free gifts with stearns & foster. the triple choice sale ends sunday at sleep train. >>> controversy surrounding the new film "concussion" just days away from opening. the movie stars will smith who are plays the doctor who discovered the link between head injures on the football field and brain danger later in life. >> i found a disease no one has ever seen. preventive head trauma chokes the brain. the. >> the nfl does not want to talk to you. >> you turned on the lights and gave their biggest boogeyman a name. >> you're going to war with a corporation that owns the kay of the week. >> no proof was presented

and merrill hodge, and rachel nichols. good to have all of you.y important discussion and i can't wait to talk about it with you. the focus is on football, the holiday, the games, the playoffs. but we are talk about concussions. "concussion" comes out friday and the nfl is backing away from a brain study. >> it's a study of cte. and it has been in players that have passed away. the study is to diagnosis it in people who are alive. if you can do that you can treat it. the bad press was an espn report saying they had pulled some of the money they previously donated to nih from that study. nih came out with a middling statement. this is not the big bad wolf that is going to come for the nfl this christmas day. it is this movie, "concussion." i have to say tell you, no one is interested in studies and funding but they are interested in will smith and human emotion that comes in this story. it will be interesting. >> and i want to talk to you about that. in this movie, you are played by alec baldwin. give us a low down on how extensive the problem is a

in our next hour, rachel nicholls joins us with more. >>> and coming up, donald trump is at it again,s time going after both hillary and bill clinton. what is he saying? next. >>> and chicago police admit to what they're calling a tragic accident. an officer accidentally shot and killed a mother of five. we'll hear from her coming up next. with t-mobile and the incredible iphone 6s you can reach more people in more places than before. whether you're at home in the basement on the open road or pulling the late shift at work. you're more connected now because t-mobile doubled its lte coverage in the past year. and our extended range lte goes two times farther than before and is four times better in buildings. get iphone 6s for zero upfront and just five bucks a month. i'm mary ellen, and i quit smoking with chantix. i have smoked for thirty years and by taking chantix, i was able to quit in three months. and that was amazing. along with support, chantix (varenicline) is proven to help people quit smoking. it absolutely reduced my urge to smoke. some people had changes in behavior, think

rachel nichols sat down with will smith to discuss the movie and the controversy. >> i grew up in phillyotball. i did not want to be the guy who said to the world that, oh, guys, there might be a hidden danger that we're not seeing. but after i met dr. omalu and he told me his story and i sort of understood the science of it, as a parent, i started to feel impelled to tell the story, because i didn't know. while my son was playing, i didn't know. and i knew that if i didn't know, other parents didn't know. so it became important to me to be a part of the delivery of the information. >> now the $1 million question is, now you know what you know, you said educating parents, would you let trey play football now? if he came to you now and said, dad, i want to play high school football, what would you say? >> i think i would say, son, listen, i love you and, you know, if it were up to me, you could play, but your mother said no. >> that is an excellent strategy. >> good answer. will smith there. all right. we have so much more straight ahead in the newsroom right after this. >>> all right. he

here is will smith and rachel nichols. >> knowing what you know now and if trey came to you now and wantedball, what would you say? >> i would say, son, is will en, i love you, and fit were up to me, you could play, but your mother said no. >> that is the right exact answer. >> throw jada pinkett smith right under the bus. >> and this discussion, and this debate and this issue. >> absolutely. >> and look at will smith, right, because we were talking about his son to play football and he was not a football dad, but a football dad, and he was shooting a movie in china and he would fly back once a week for ten weeks in a row to be there every friday night. and football in this country is not just about football, but fathers and sons and what you do on thanksgiving and family tradition, and how you talk to one another, and maybe family member s ths that you don't havh to say to them. >> right. talk about football. >> and so when a movie comes along and challenges that and challenges the safety of the children, it is a big question and it is more than what are they doing after school, but it is

rachel nichols is joining me now. this is amazing.hey want to get involved in the project? >> the nba has been very outspoken that this is not politically motivate d. these psas do not advocate gun control. it's more about the awareness of what gun violence does, getting people affected by it and wanting to do something about it. whatever you choose to do about it, that's what they want. and noah has been active on the chicago streets and the unrest there. you have chris paul, who just saw his grandfather was killed. you have guys like carmelo anthony that came out after sandy hook and advocate d for tougher laws. just getting people familiar is a personal request. you can look at some of these interviews to hear their stories and why it's so important to them. >> as a parent of two little girls, any time you hear of somebody not even involved in. an altercation or a dispute getting caught in the middle, a spray bullet or what have you, that hurts. i remember this kid who used to wait outside of the united center before every game. th

our rachel nichols sat down with the superstar whose oldest son played the sport. >> reporter: now thatou know what you know, you said educating parents, would you let trey play football now? if he said, i want to play high school football, what would you say? >> i think i would say, son, listen, i love you, and if it were up to me, you could play, but your mother said no. >> the nfl says it made a number of changes to enhance player safety and that it will continue to do so. >>> now, the force, the force is definitely with the new "star wars" movie. opening in theaters around the world, "star wars: the force awakens" has already earned a record-breaking $130 million in the u.s. alone and could gross more than half a billion dollars worldwide by monday. movie might have tracking services say if that happens, the new "star wars" could break the record for a debut weekend set earlier this year by "jurassic world." a lot of money. >>> we thank you for watching this hour of "cnn newsroom." i'm george howell at the cnn center in atlanta. i'll be back after the break with another hour of news

let's talk about this with cnn sports anchor, rachel nichols. she's covering this for us.this issue. >> definitely controversial. they got some blow-back about this yesterday. the nba very clear, hey, we are not specifically advocating gun control. we're trying to address the issue of gun violence and raise awareness to it. they personalize it a little more. bring it into people's lives so they realize change needs to happen. now, of course, the man who directed these commercials, spike lee, has a very specific message about gun control. big advocate of that. some players have as well. carmelo anthony, gun control advocacy after sandy hook. lebron james came out and said after some gun violence events in cleveland, hey, people shouldn't have guns or there needs to be tougher laws on guns so he knows where he stands. the personal stories are what is affected a lot of people. you can take a listen here as to what the players said the reason they got involved. >> as a parent of two little girls, any time you hear of somebody not even involved in an altercation or somebody not

. >> there's only one person that can make sense of this, cnn's rachel nichols. it's bizarre.anning coming out strong, calling it garbage. charlie sly who was an intern an intern at the clinic, not even at the time manning was at the clinic, saying, no, he's lying, what's going on? >> look, this is so difficult to uncover. even the time at the clinic is up for debate. al jazeera said they have employment records that he did work at the clinic. we've seen versions of this before. with performance-enhancing drugs it's often someone we don't expect or this is the fifth person accused of of cheating, sometimes, you can vigorously deny it and there's no evidence uncovered. and then again, sometimes, they'll stomp their feet and vigorously deny it and call them liars. and fans feel mislead and the athlete sheepishly apologize. everyone gets painted with this. it's difficult on all sides. we have to see how this turns out. >> the insinuation here that when he was recovering from a series of neck surgeries that he was using this hgh and shipped to his wife somehow. he's furious and th

let's break down the story now with cnn's sports anchor rachel nichols. thank you. cte, right? it can only be diagnosed in people once they have their brain -- after death. >> this study would be a game changer. if you could diagnose it in people while they're alive, you could start treating it. if you don't know someone has something, you can't start treatment. >> espn says the nfl pull the funding. nfl and nih says that is not what happened. what happened? >> the nfl fired back almost immediately with a very strongly worded tweet from their public relations official. it says, espn's story is not accurate. nfl did not pull any funding. nih makes its own decisions and we can actually just go over to the nih statement. the nih statement says, the nfl funding commitment to their study remains intact. nfl is willing to contribute to this particular study. nih made the decision to fund the study in its entirety. now, i just want to break both of those statements down a little bit. the nfl coming out and saying, espn reporting isn't true. i obviously was not privy to the espn source