[Allen:] Welcome back to our viewers in the United States and around the world. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Atlanta. I'm Natalie Allen.
[Howell:] I'm George Howell. First, to Syria. People there are holding out hope the latest ceasefire will hold. This is Aleppo. More calm now than we have seen before. Some of the worst violence of the civil war has taken place right where you see it. It was Russia and Turkey who orchestrated the new peace deal between thee Syrian regime and various rebel militias. But many were excluded from the talks. And notably, the U.S. had no part to play either.
[Allen:] Joining me via skype is analyst, CNN military analyst, Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona. Thanks for joining us, Colonel. And happy new Year to you.
[Lt. Col. Rick Francona, Cnn Miltiary Analyst:] And to you.
[Allen:] This isn't the first time that parties have agreed to peace efforts in Syria. There were several reached in Geneva, there was a U.N. resolution last year. Any chance this agreement could hold?
[Francona:] Well, this is different this time. The conditions that led up to this agreement have changed. If you look at the situation on the ground in northern Syria, the rebels have been dealt severe blows, not the least of which, the loss of Aleppo. With them willing to demonstrate whatever power it takes to subdue the rebels, I think they realize they better make whatever deal they can get. With the regime in control of Aleppo, they are in position to move south pretty much squeeze the rebels in that pocket between Hama and Aleppo. It looks grim for the rebels and I think they realize that and I think they realize maybe they need to sit down and talk to the other side. They are looking at the results of the U.S. election and know January 20th there will be a new administration. Mr. Trump has said he is not in favor of overthrowing regimes in the middle east so they are not sure what backing they will have when the new administration comes into power. They are more in a position to talk. On the other side of the equation you have a government feeling momentum. They have been successful. It is good everybody is willing to sit down and go to the table but the rebels are definitely in the lesser position here.
[Allen:] Right. You are right, Russia along with the regime, pounded Aleppo and you would think Russia may have the impetus to help make this stick. One of the challenges, though, of course, that always got in the way of earlier efforts is there are so many difference factions involved. Almost all of them are on board this time but how challenging it will be to hold the groups accountable and make sure they stick to the terms of this agreement.
[Francona:] We run into the same problem we always have. It is a definition of who falls inside and outside of the agreement. This time they are being more inclusive with people inside the agreement. However, you have ISIS completely out of the agreement and you have the former al-Qaeda affiliate who are fair game for attacks. The other groups are inside the agreement. It may be a little better for holding this time, but you are still going to see a lot of Russian attacks. The definition is a terrorist, Syrian government believes anyone who has taken up arms is a terrorist. The Russians are in the same vain, as well. They are going to continue to mound the rebels and calling them terrorists. They only strike ISIS when there is a threat to the regime. Although I have some hope it may hold better the key is they agreed to meet at the table in Kazakhstan after 30 days. That could be a breakthrough. I think the rebels are in a weak position but they are sitting down and talking, and if we can stop this bloodbath that is Syria, that's a positive.
[Allen:] We're going to appreciate very much your hopeful note. Ad we will be following it as we push into the new year. Thank you, military analyst, Colonel Rick Francona. Thanks, Rick.
[Francona:] My pleasure.
[George Howell, Cnn Anchor:] When you think of the global impact of Syria's conflict, it has been staggering. It has drawn in world powers, militias and jihadists, and triggered a massive refugee crisis. The incoming U.N. secretary-general calls it a cancer on a global scale. It is fast approaching the sixth year. That grim anniversary comes in March. United Nations envoy estimates 400,000 people lost their life and more than 11 million people forced from their homes because of the fighting there.
[Allen:] Amid the graphic images of death and destruction we have all seen, the most heart-wrenching scenes involving the most vulnerable, smallest victims. CNN's senior international correspondent, Clarissa Ward, looks at a generation of children who have known nothing but war.
[Clarissa Ward, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] You have seen so many images by now of children covered in dust, children's lifeless bodies being lifted from the rubble and occasionally even an image that gives hope, a moment of optimism, a baby rescued from deep in the rubble after a massive bombing. In March of 2011, a group of young boys in the city spray-painted anti-government graffiti on a wall. They were arrested and disappeared for two weeks. When they returned home, their families found that their bodies were scarred from torture, allegedly at the hands of regime forces. And that really provided the spark that ignited a series of protests. Not just in the city but across the entire country. About a year later, you had the Hula massacre, which was up with of the most horrific incidents in the Syrian civil war, when roughly 100 people were killed by government soldiers and half were believed to be children and those images served as a real rallying cry, not just citizens inside Syria, but to Muslims and people across the entire world. In the summer of 2012, the rebels began their siege on the city of Aleppo. That's when you saw children get being victims of war, caught in the cross fire, killed by stray bullets, snipers, rockets and rebel and government forces continued to fight on an on for weeks, sometimes over a matter of a hundred feet. But the real horrors came for children when the barrel bombs began. Conflict took an uglier turn in 2013 when the government used sarin gas. I don't think that anyone can forget seeing the images of the children's bodies wrapped in these white shrouds and since then it seems there's been no end to the depravity. We have seen children who have been starved, who have been forced to eat grass because the sieges going on across the country. We have seen a young child beheaded by a rebel group in one of the more gruesome incidents this war. We see children now being groomed to be child soldiers, to be killers, to be suicide bombers by groups like is. And we have seen millions of children, pouring across Syria's borders into neighboring countries, into Europe. And of course, we have seen the iconic image now of one boy who didn't make it, who speaks for so many other little boys and girls who have not made it. Sometimes you have a photograph that will capture the world's imagination for a moment and everybody will suddenly feel the suffering of Syria for a moment, and then it passes, and then life goes on, as it always has. I think, in many ways, children have come to symbolize the horrors of Syria, and also the impotence of the international community and the failure to stop it.
[Allen:] It's been difficult to watch. But we haven't gone through it. They have.
[Howell:] Yes.
[Allen:] Can't imagine. If you are interested in helping Syrian families that need food, shelter, medical assistance, there are several ways you can help. Go to our website CNN.comimpact. We have a lot of information there.
[Howell:] Moving onto Germany now. Prosecutors there say they have released a Tunisian man detained on suspicion of links to this person, the person suspected in the Berlin market attack, Anis Amri. They say further investigation shows the 40-year-old man could not have been his contact.
[Allen:] Officials say the truck rampage that killed 12 people could have been worse had it not been for the automatic braking system on the truck that plowed into that crowd. They say the system sensed impact and applied the brakes. The clock is ticking down on 2016, isn't it? New York is planning enhanced security measures for the traditional Time's Square New Year's Eve celebration. 7,000 officers will be deployed, multiple layers of screening. And for the first time, dozens of trucks will be posted around times square. They say there are no specific threats related to terrorism. The preparations aren't all about security checks. Check this out. The planners ran a confetti test for the moment 2017 arrives. Looks like it is going to work.
[Howell:] So Russia asked for the evidence of hacking and the United States is giving it up. How Moscow managed to allegedly meddle in the 2016 election. Stay with us.