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Trump, Carson Threaten Independent Runs; GOP Debate: CNN Releases Lineup for Republican Debate; Will Ferrell Mocks GOP Candidates; Growing Number of Hate Crimes Against Muslims; Maggie Doyne, 2015 CNN Hero of the Year; One Sandy Hook Mother Dedicated to Making Schools Across the Country Safer. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired December 13, 2015 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:03] FREDRICK WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Let's get back to Las Vegas where CNN's John Berman is joining me from the Venetian and oh my gosh, John, the sight of that auditorium where the debate will unfold is absolutely gorgeous, isn't it?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is a beautiful, beautiful theater. It is beautiful on the outside, too. We are sitting outside the Venetian right now. All kinds of people walking by, getting excited for this debate.

As you said, it is the last Republican primary debate of 2015. Perhaps more importantly, it is the first Republican debate since the awful attacks in Paris. The terrorist attack in San Bernardino. The focus of this debate on Tuesday will be national security. How to keep this country safe, which candidate makes the case that he or she will do the best job in the battle against terror.

So important heading into the holidays. It will solidify, perhaps, this race for several weeks. We do have lineup on that stage. Donald Trump once again will be front and center. Why? He's leading in all the national polls. Let's take a look at where everyone else will be, where the players will be. Athena Jones has a look at the stage and look behind the scenes. Athena.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Coming to you from the Venetian theater right here on the Las Vegas strip. This is where it will all go down on Tuesday night.

We are in the middle of rehearsals right now but you can see here, the main stage has been set. We now know the nine candidates who made the cut for the prime time debate they are in order, John Kasich, Carly Fiorina, Marco Rubio, Ben Carson, Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush, Chris Christie and Rand Paul.

Trump is center stage once again. He's still the front runner nationally but his front runner status is being challenged by Cruz in the state of Iowa. Three new polls now showing the Texas senator leading there. Now CNN's Wolf Blitzer and Dana Bash along with Salem Radio's Hugh

Hewitt are spending a lot of time over the next several days in the cone of silence, finalizing debate questions for this huge production. There will be 17 cameras and an invite only audience of about 1,400 people.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: Such a beautiful stage. Such a beautiful theater. Athena Jones, inside there. It's actually built for "Phantom of the Opera" to bring that show to Las Vegas. That is what it was designed for, a much bigger show than Andrew Lloyd Webber will be on that stage Tuesday night when these candidates face off.

Let's talk more about this now. I'm joined by CNN's political director David Chalian. David, I want the (INAUDIBLE) chi-chi, the three big things you think going in this debate. Number one, this is a dynamic that we are all talking about today.

Donald Trump center stage joined by a new, you know, sort of co-front- runner at the center there, Senator Ted Cruz.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: You are right. We are waiting to see this because this is a battle where we need to see how Donald Trump handles being really threatened in a pretty significant way. Yes, Ben Carson shared the top of the polls with him before but now Cruz with that dominant poll out of Iowa clearly putting something really strong together on the ground in Iowa. That is now a real threat to Trump launching the sort of electoral part of his campaign next year and how he responds, we got a preview of it when he was in Iowa on Friday.

He is clearly ready to take Cruz on. Cruz has been reluctant to do so. How that dynamic plays out in that center part of the stage, I think is one of the key -

BERMAN: It's interesting to see how Donald Trump tests ideas, right? He leaks out one line here and one line there. Try this, try that. (INAUDIBLE) We'll see what he does Tuesday night.

Now, that Ted Cruz against Donald Trump is one thing but Cruz has no clear lane here. He's got to deal with Marco Rubio also.

CHALIAN: That's right and this I think is like the marquee matchup because this is where so many people see the real divide inside the Republican party at play.

Here are these two, young senators who just have philosophically especially on the issues you were saying, these national security issues, they just come at it from completely different places and seeing that debated on the stage I think is going to be hugely informative to the Republican primary elected as they're sorting out their choices.

BERMAN: Now, finally, there is this other story here that I think will be dominant. I know you think it's also the battle for the establishment. The establishment wing of the party.

CHALIAN: Right. So if you buy the theory at some point Donald Trump sort of fades away, is not part of the mix at the very end of it. If you buy that theory. I'm not sure that many people do today. But that this is really about Cruz versus Rubio. Rubio doesn't get a clean shot at Cruz until he consolidates the support right now that is split between Jeb Bush, John Kasich, Chris Christie especially in New Hampshire. That is where the establishment side of this party right now is having its strongest performance.

Rubio needs to come out ahead in that lane sort of vanquish those opponents and then he can turn the full attention on Cruz.

BERMAN: Christie is not going anywhere before New Hampshire.

CHALIAN: Exactly. That's no easy task.

And I think you're going to see Rubio have this dual sort of battle on his hand.

[16:05:00]

BERMAN: You know, it's interesting. Julie Pace of the Associated Press. She was on this morning "Inside Politics" with John King. She was saying she was hearing that some establishment leaders might start having conversations with some of these candidates with less of a chance of winning saying "you know what? You should back out." People like Mitt Romney or Paul Ryan might have to have a conversation soon with John Kasich and say "you know, governor, it's not going to happen."

CHALIAN: John, put yourself in John Kasich's position for that conversation or in Jeb Bush's position with that conversation, this cycle being what it has been and that everything is sort of been a far more chaotic, than any one expected, do you think that's going to be a resonant argument if you are the candidate who's still low in the polls, you stayed in this the whole time? Why now? Why get out now? You think that the sun may shine on you one day and I just think that that is a hard argument for somebody.

BERMAN: Look, I also think it's a little bit antiquated like these Bob Strauss things were there - these leaders of parties who can make decisions and make things happen. I'm not sure it exists anymore.

CHALIAN: There are no back rooms. That is the whole divide that we've seen in the party. The grassroots, the activists, the people that are participating in this process, showing up for these events, they're having much more sway in the process than the folks back in Washington.

BERMAN: All right. Of course, you are getting a taste of Las Vegas. The first time we have had a taste of Vegas here behind us. We are excited as they are excited, cearly for the last debate of 2015.

David Chalian, thank you so much for being with us. That debate airs here on CNN Tuesday night at 6:00. It all begins there, that is the undercard debate. The prime time debate coverage begins at 8:30 Eastern Time and CNN is partnering with Salem Radio. If you want to find out how you can listen to the debate, go to salemmedia.com.

Back to Fredericka now in Atlanta. Hey, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Hi, John. OK. We're listening to the singing behind you. Hey, that's just testament to entertainment from all corners there in Las Vegas. That's what it's all about. Thank you so much, John.

BERMAN: Wayne Newton.

WHITFIELD: That's right. We'll check back with you.

In the meantime, we do have new details in San Bernardino and that's coming up. Officials just releasing information about the search in the lake. Plus, the female shooter reportedly posted on her social media account that she wanted to take part in jihad. That is next.

Plus, our coverage of the CNN Republican primary debate continues from Las Vegas right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:10:23]

WHITFIELD: All right. This just in, after three days of searching a murky lake in San Bernardino, California, the FBI has recovered no items linked to its investigation on that terror attack.

CNN correspondent Ana Cabrera is with me now. So Ana, have investigators given up on finding that missing hard drive?

ANA CABREBRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, Fred. They're still hoping to find the missing hard drive. That seems to be a crucial part of their investigation. However, we are told according to my colleague, Evan Perez, talking to law enforcement investigators who confirmed that they just didn't find it in the lake. They are still trying to get the data that is on that hard drive by working on internet service providers who keep records of internet activities linked to specific IP addresses that they can trace back to the killers. So that is one option in terms of trying to put together the killer's digital footprint, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. So let's now focus on the female shooter, Tashfeen Malik. "The New York Times" reported that she posted on social media that she supported jihad and wanted to take part in it and U.S. background checks, according to the "New York Times" reporting did not pick on that because the protocol doesn't include checking on social media. What more are you learning about that scenario?

CABRERA: Law enforcement officials have told CNN that Malik made it through at least three background checks or security screenings prior to getting her visa and there are simply were no red flags even as she went into the interviews with the U.S. consulate.

And so, that is why she was able to come to the U.S. without being questioned about jihadist leanings and, again, without having her social media account looked at because it just wasn't part of the process for this fiancee visa. But according to "The New York Times" now in retrospect as investigators are going back and trying to get more information about these killers and who they may have been communicating with, "The New York Times" is reporting that American law enforcement officials have found out in the open social media postings in which she says she supports jihad and that she wants to participate in it.

In fact, according to "New York Times," she made no effort to hide these views. Now, again, everything is 20/20 when you look back in hindsight. Law enforcement officials have told CNN that in the past few months they have started to look at social media as part of the screening process for people who are applying to get visas from particular countries but it just wasn't happening at the time when Malik applied for her visa and then ultimately came into the U.S. in July of 2014, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Ana Cabrera, thank you so much. Appreciate that from San Bernardino.

All right. Straight ahead, does a candidate's religious background really have an influence on voters? As we head closer to Tuesday's GOP debate, right here on CNN, many candidates are playing up religion to their advantage while others are falling behind. We'll talk about that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:17:05]

BERMAN: Donald Trump still the Republican front-runner nationally. That as we stand here in Las Vegas in front of the Venetian Las Vegas. The site of the next Republican debate, the last Republican debate of 2015. Donald Trump facing new pressure, though, from Senator Ted Cruz of Texas on the rise. Ted Cruz taking the lead in Iowa over Donald Trump. This is a new Des Moines Register/Bloomberg poll out this weekend. A Fox News poll that shows quite the same thing.

So what will Donald Trump do about this? Well, he started talking about Ted Cruz and started talking about the (debate( of Ted Cruz. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: So I think we're going to do - you know, we are doing really well with the evangelicals. By the way, and again, I do like Ted Cruz but not a lot of evangelicals come out of Cuba, in all fairness. It's true. Not a lot come out. But I like him nevertheless.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BERMAN: The father of Ted Cruz was born in Cuba. Cruz has a strong evangelical base, a lot of backing from evangelical voters especially in the key state of Iowa. He won a key endorsement from an influential Iowa evangelical, Bob Vanderflat (ph).

Joining me now to talk about this, CNN political commentator, Ross Douthat and CNN contributor, Bakari Sellers. (INAUDIBLE) is a former South Carolina state representative.

Ross, I want to start with you here. How much of a role do you think faith plays in a primary election? We always talk about Iowa, the evangelical voting base. How important is it?

ROSS DOUTHAT, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think it's very important in Iowa. Mostly because Iowa does have a distinctively large and quite conservative evangelical bloc within the republican caucuses there. And historically, it's been the place where socially conservative candidates have done the best and this goes back to Pat Robertson famously winning the caucuses in a shocking upset in 1988 but then its the place where Mike Huckabee won in 2008. It's where Rick Santorum technically won a squeaker against Mitt Romney, surprising everyone last time around (INAUDIBLE) is a Catholic but very socially conservative Catholic who appeal to evangelicals.

So it makes sense to look at it as a major factor in Iowa and I think what you have seen in Iowa first Ben Carson pulling ahead of Trump and now Ted Cruz is those evangelical voters looking at Carson, liking him at first, swinging away from and now swinging towards Cruz and it is just not an ideal fit for Trump who in spite of his claims to religiousity occasionally is mostly a candidate of a more secular segment of the Republican base. He is not winning churchgoers in large numbers and that's a problem for him in Iowa.

[16:20:00]

BERMAN: You know, Bakari, it's really interesting. Religion, you know, has been part of elections for a long, long time. But normally when candidates talk about faith, it's subtle. Very little dog whistle statements that you make, little buzz words you can use. Donald Trump this time around just comes out and says things like "I don't know if Ted Cruz is as evangelical as he says he is" or Ben Carson - remember what he said about Ben Carson being a Seventh-Day Adventists.

Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I'm Presbyterian. Boy, that's down the middle of the road, folks, in all fairness. I mean Seventh Day Adventist, I don't know about. I just don't know of them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: So the question here is, you know, is this blunt talk that people say, hey, at least he's saying it out loud or is this sort of dangerous when you start questioning someone's faith and the validity of that faith, I suppose, directly, Bakari?

BAKARI SELLERS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I was always taught that you never talked about a man's family or where his kids go to school and you definitely not a man's religion. But Donald Trump has thrown all of this on its head. You know, we've always stated that Donald Trump taken like a page six tabloid style of politics. And just made it to front runner status.

So yes, I mean, it is not just Iowa where religion is a key - but it's - and it's in all other south eastern primary states thereafter. (INAUDIBLE) running a magnificent race to say the least. I never thought I would say that. We do know that now he's going to say tomorrow but we do know that now he is playing up this religiosity card and it has proven to be effective so far. I mean, I'm not sure he went to Iowa but he definitely wins New Hampshire and he wins South Carolina, maybe Florida and this - this man is really hard to stop.

BERMAN: You know, what about Bakari is saying, Ross? What about the idea you don't question a man's or a person's faith like that? I just think it's so interesting and in some ways jarring when Donald Trump comes out and says, you know, Seventh Day Adventist, I don't know about that or when he say how many evangelicals come out of Cuba?

DOUTHAT: Well, this is my - well, first of all, yes, it's even less subtle than when Mike Huckabee made comments when he was running against Mitt Romney. Like, oh, Mormons, don't they believe that Lucifer was Jesus' brother? That kind of thing.

So, you know, Huckabee stuck the knife in a few times with Romney in a similar way but with Trump it's more, yes, it's sort f more explicit, like he's a Seventh Day Adventist and I don't know about that. I'm no sure what he was trying to say though with Cruz, because the line not that many evangelicals come out of Cuba, is it suggesting that Cruz is not a sincere evangelical? Is it some sort of vague race or ethnicity base dig? Where' he's saying all right, maybe he's an evangelical but he's not, you know, he's not a white guy regular American like me?

I bet not even Donald Trump really knows what he was trying to say with that, it's more that he's sort of reaching for whatever, whatever weapon he thinks is to hand and then saying, in all fairness - whatever that means.

BERMAN: You know, probably it's all of those things. Throwing it out there and hoping something sticks like we see so much with him. Bakari, last word here on the Republican race and religion in the Republican race?

SELLERS: Well, I have to remind my Republican friends that right now over 60 percent of the votes go to Ted Cruz, Ben Carson and Donald Trump. And that is your lot that you have to pick from right now. I look forward to this next debate because this is going to be the most important debate that they have had thus far.

These digs, whether or not it is just reminding America that, yes, Ted Cruz is Cuban or questioning his religious background and not going to stop Donald Trump. You know, if we happen to get him as a democrat, as the next Republican front-runner or nominee, then I think we'll take that any day of the week.

BERMAN: Bakari, thank you for mentioning that this will be the most important debate so far. Bakari Sellers, Ross Douthat, thanks so much for being with us today.

DOUTHAT: Thanks for having me.

BERMAN: That debate two days from now, two nights from now, right here at the Venetia, in Las Vegas. So one of the questions that people love discussing political insiders, what happens if we finish this whole primary campaign and none of the candidates has enough delegates to claim the nomination?

Well, Donald Trump, Ben Carson, they're threatening to leave the party if the insiders try to do a brokered convention. We'll discuss that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:27:38]

WHITFIELD: Hello again. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. All right. Let's get back to Las Vegas for our continuing coverage of the upcoming CNN Republican primary debate. John Berman is there live for us at the Venetian.

BERMAN: Thank you so much, Fred. So much going on here already. It's a beautiful debate stage set up in the beautiful Venetian Las Vegas behind me. All kinds of people walking by, weighing in on what they think will happen on this stage Tuesday night. You can see it right there.

Ben Carson, Donald Trump. They will both be center stage right now because Donald Trump clear front-runner still in the Republican party primaries and Ben Carson also doing well. But still both men are saying they could leave the Republican Party. They would consider running as a third party candidate if it ends up being a brokered convention.

Why did this come up? Well, there were stories last week that party insiders were discussing the possibility it may come to that. It may come to back rooms and brokering.

CNN's Tom Foreman goes into our virtual convention hall to explain what this means.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hold on tight because with this many candidates in the race it could get messy and here's how. Let's say you go into those early primaries and caucuses and nobody has a commanding lead anywhere. Maybe candidate "a" wins over here and candidate "b" over here and maybe candidate "c" over here and enough so that three or four candidates all think they still can keep playing this game and then you go state after state after state and it continues and then you wind up at the convention itself with no one in a commanding lead.

Already, you have what's called a contested convention. And then if you get through the first vote there and nobody gets more than 50 percent, now you have a brokered convention. What is a brokered convention? A brokered convention means that all the delegates who showed up are no longer bound by how their state's constituents voted.

Now they wheel and deal. Maybe they say I can give you all of my voters if you make certain concessions to me or maybe candidate C, I can give all of mine to you, candidate D or vice versa if we can strike a deal here.

Through that process, as soon as somebody reaches 50 percent plus a little bit over 50 percent then it's all over.

[16:30:00] Doesn't matter that it was brokered, it doesn't matter that it was contested. That person is now the nominee.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: Tom Foreman there with the inside look on how it could happen if it comes to that in July.

Let's discuss this more. Joining me is now, CNN senior political analyst, Ron Brownstein. He's also editorial director at the "National Journal". So, Ron ...

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes?

BERMAN: ... you know, brokered conventions. These are things that used to happen.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

BERMAN: This used to be the way that decisions were made, how candidates were chosen and ever since, it's been what we like to talk about every four years.

BROWNSTEIN: It's when dinosaurs and party bosses roamed the earth. Look, it's been a very long time, and how long, partly depends on how you define it. Nineteen seventy-six, General Ford came to the voting convention, again, sitting as Ronald Reagan, without enough delegates in his hand, a first-ballot nomination.

But in the end, he was able to secure enough to win on the first ballot, so it was first ballot. Nineteen fifty-two, Dwight Eisenhower against Robert Taft. He also went through the entire balloting on the first ballot without getting to the magic number but some -- after they had counted that first ballot tallies, one of the favorite son candidates, Harold Stassen of Minnesota, pulled back and Eisenhower's able to get on the first ballot.

So you really have to go all the way back to 1948. And Thomas Dewey, defined a candidate who uncritically had to go more than one ballot on the Republican side to win the nomination. For the Democrats, it hasn't happened since 1952. BERMAN: And again, I'd say we like to talk of it every four years because invariably, inevitably, there's a state of art (inaudible) and said it's possible, it's possible. What makes it more possible this time?

BROWNSTEIN: Right. I mean, the reason it hasn't happened, is because in both parties, but especially the Republican Parties, the primaries funnel very quickly into a two-person race.

The modern primary system for Republicans really began in 1976 and since then, there's only been one race where three candidates stayed viable for any length of time. That was in 2008 when Mitt Romney came in third behind Huckabee and McCain and even he was out by February 7th.

(CROSSTALK)

BROWNSTEIN: Exactly.

(CROSSTALK)

BROWNSTEIN: Exactly. But what's different this time, is you can imagine kind of a distinct demographic pool of support for what are seems to be emerging as the big three.

Donald Trump dominant among blue collared Republicans. Ted Cruz, very strong among evangelical Christians and to some extent, you know, the other conservatives around that. And then Marco Rubio somewhat reluctantly becoming the candidate of the center right establishment but is still competing for that with Bush and Christie.

If those three candidates can sustain candidacies for a long time, then you get to the possibility that no one gets enough delegates to get up.

BERMAN: Now you're getting me excited here. You know, 56 years ago, there were experts. There were people. There were insiders who knew how to play this game. Who knew ...

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

BERMAN: ... how to go to a convention, put together their list to win. How many people alive right now know how to win a brokered convention? Inside the convention, Jim Bakker?

BROWNSTEIN: You know -- right, right.

BERMAN: Essentially zero.

BROWNSTEIN: Right. It's very - you know, look, I mean, 1976, Ronald Reagan picked a liberal senator from Pennsylvania and said he will be his vice president in an effort to kind of move delegates on, you know, moving into the Kansas City Convention and it was that kind of that kind maneuvering we haven't seen, you know, in 40 years but again the predicate for it is this question of, can three candidates sustain viable candidacies long into the process? Because if the race -- this race follows the traditional panel, it will funnel pretty quickly into two and then someone almost certainly will get over the top.

But if you have Trump as the blue collar champion, Cruz as the evangelical tribune and maybe Rubio or someone else, as the white collar center right, more secular candidate, then you could imagine the states dividing, the votes dividing, and this getting all the way to Clinton being (ph) declared the winner.

BERMAN: Unbelievable scenario. So, Ron Brownstein, thank you for playing this game.

BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.

BERMAN: It's fun every time we talk about it.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

BERMAN: The debate airs CNN on CNN Tuesday night, that's at 6:00 pm and 8:30 pm. The undercard at 6:00. The main debate coverage begins at 8:30 pm. Do not miss it. There's so much at stake here.

CNN is partnering with the Salem Radio Network. If you're going to listen to it on the radio, go to SalemMedia.com. We have much more coming to you from Las Vegas, still to come. I'll be back at the top of the hour with more of our special coverage from Nevada leading up to the big Republican debate on CNN.

But first, comedian Will Ferrell, he took on the candidates last night, essentially all of the candidates last night. He returned to "Saturday Night Live" to perform his iconic impression of George W. Bush.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILL FERRELL, COMEDIAN: Jeb, oh boy, poor Jeb. You got to admit it's a pretty good plot twist that I turned out to be the smart one.

Of course, I wish you would have asked me about the exclamation point on the end of his name. Look, I don't like the taste of broccoli. But it doesn't get any tastier if you call it broccoli!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[16:35:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A man has been charged in connection with setting a California mosque on fire. This is just one instance in the growing number of hate crimes against Muslims this is year. CNN's Polo Sandoval is following this disturbing trend. Polo?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, it really has been a very difficult year for members of the Muslim community, from the Charlie Hebdo attacks in January to the San Bernardino attacks in California, we've seen the yearbook ended by several murderous attacks carried out in the name of Islam.

However, Muslim leaders are stepping forward. They are condemning the attacks saying it has nothing to do with their faith but still we continue to see this issue of Islamophobia and also anti-Islamic attacks on the rise.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Two thousand fifteen will likely see the most anti-Muslim incidents in the U.S. since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, according to some experts.

The cases are tracked by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR. The group's status shows mosques and Islamic centers have been targeted by vandals at least 63 times this year. That number doesn't compare to what some Muslims truly face, according to CAIR's New York chapter president.

AFAF NASHER, NEW YORK CHAPTER PRESIDENT, COUNCIL ON ISLMAIC AMERICAN RELATIONS: Not even close. I'd probably say, maybe less than 10 percent. Not even close to what's actually happening in the streets.

[16:40:00] SANDOVAL: Arson investigators believe a fire at a mosque in Coachella, California was intentionally set on Friday. Worshippers clung to their faith, left to pray on the sidewalk.

ABDULLA SALAAM, MUSLIM: Do you see the brothers over there praying on the outside? That's one of the obligations that we do, we pray. We do have prayers. Had to do it over here on the dirt, not on the road (ph), but that's what we do.

SANDOVAL: Twenty-three-year-old Carl James Dial was arrested and charged with committing the hate crime.

A separate incident investigated by the FBI was caught on camera in Philadelphia. That's a severed pig's head being thrown out of a truck at a mosque. This, too, being investigated as a hate crime. Practicing Muslims are prohibited from eating pork or pork by-products.

In Florida, a gun shop owner is using words to fuel controversy. About $25 will get you one of his signs establishing a Muslim free zone.

ANDREW HALLINAN, GUN SHOP OWNER: We don't know who their ties are, who don't know who these people are coming overseas.

SANDOVAL: Andrew Hallinan calls his signs "a novelty". Something "humorous". Afaf Nasher isn't laughing, though. She says, fear mongering has resulted in people getting hurt.

NASHER: A Bengali Muslim store owner was attacked violently. He was sent to the hospital. And we were talking about coming together as a nation. What stopped that attack was actually a customer coming in and acted as a good Samaritan. So if were not for that Samaritan, perhaps things would have been much different.

SANDOVAL: Nasher, a Muslim, a mother and an American citizen, can only hope that kind of compassion and unity spreads across the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: And we have seen similar cases of harassment and vandalism, really, in almost every region of the country, even in the nation's capital. Just last week the headquarters of CARE had to be evacuated after some hate mail was sent in with a suspicious substance that was later determined to be not harmful but still it truly does leave a community on edge, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Polo Sandoval, thank you so much.

All right, straight ahead, we'll go back to Las Vegas. Two days ahead of the Republican debate on CNN. But first, CNN's Michaela Pereira sat down with the CNN hero of the year just after she got that big award.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Ladies and gentlemen, the 2015 CNN Hero of the Year is Maggie Doyne.

END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: When you heard your name said on the stage ...

MAGGIE DOYNE, 2015 HERO OF THE YEAR: From Anderson Cooper's mouth.

PEREIRA: From Anderson Cooper's mouth, what went through your mind?

DOYNE: Just joy. Just pure joy and gratitude.

PEREIRA: What did it feel like?

DOYNE: I'm proud. I'm proud that I took that step. And I'm happy for the kids. This is really for them. They're the ones that have had the hard stories and the struggles and they've overcome so much.

PEREIRA: What do you want people to know about the children of Nepal?

DOYNE: There's hundreds of thousands of girls who are not enrolled into school. There are many orphaned children as a result of civil war and disease and starvation, and I can't do it alone. We all have to do it together.

PEREIRA: How will this money help you do that?

DOYNE: I'm building a brand new school. I'm going to take in more kids. It's gas in the tank. It's, you know, remembering what this is all about and why we do it. So I'm taking this back to Nepal and for Nepal and for my kids and I'm just going to keep going.

PEREIRA: We're terrifically proud of you, young lady.

DOYNE: Thank you.

PEREIRA: Keep on doing it, OK?

DOYNE: Thanks, Michaela.

[16:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN.

WHITFIELD: Tomorrow marks three years since Newtown, Connecticut's, Sandy Hook School massacre. Families will tell you time doesn't always heal wounds, especially with other mass shootings happened. Well, I talked exclusively to one Sandy Hook mother dedicated to making schools across the country safer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: When you walk down a school hallway, what does this feel like?

NICOLE HOCKLEY, CO-FOUNDER, SANDY HOOK PROMISE: Especially at this time of year, seeing, you know, some of the winter decorations and classroom doors and it just -- schools always have a very similar feel, look and feel, wherever you go.

WHITFIELD: That, because Nicole Hockley's 6-year-old son, Dylan, was among 26 killed in an unspeakable massacre at Connecticut's Sandy Hook Elementary School.

HOCKLEY: I can picture Dylan running through the halls. And that's -- that's hard. Seeing kids especially the age that he should be now.

WHITFIELD: He would be 9 now in the fourth grade.

Hockley says her memory of what happened on December 14th, 2012, is still incredibly vivid, as is the last time she was in Sandy Hook School.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOCKLEY: My husband and I went back and we walked the halls and I was able to spend some time where his body was found and I left behind two purple butterflies, one for him and one for Ann Marie, his special education teacher, to just try to connect with him in some way.

WHITFIELD: Today ...

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HOCKLEY: That's when you guys are going to make a difference.

WHITFIELD: ... Hockley digs deep, connecting with lots of children at dozens of schools across the country.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What can we do to help our school?

(END VIDEO CLIP) HOCKLEY: For me, wanting to provide a legacy for Dylan and honor his life and also, you know, protect the lives of those who survived including my older son, Jake, and give them something, a positive future to look forward to. That's why I've thrown myself into this issue and how do we get ahead of violence and stop it before it starts.

[16:50:00] WHITFIELD: Turning her pain into a promise that all schools should be, can be safe, not later, through legislated policy or stepped up security but now, through personal responsibility.

Hockley and other Sandy Hook families founded the group, Sandy Hook Promise to help each other heal and provide training for both adults and young people on how to protect and help prevent gun violence.

HOCKLEY: Teaching kids how to learn the signs of someone who might be at risk, such as drastic changes in behavior, drastic changes in actions, those are just all things that can be anyone who is suffering from any sort of potential crisis, and get that person help.

There's a very small nexus that leads to gun violence, but it's really about helping everyone.

WHITFIELD: Sandy Hook Promise issued a challenge to schools nationwide to come up with their own approach. Students that this Oklahoma high school were so moved they launched their own "Say Something" campaign with signs, bracelets and this.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Say something to me. I promise I won't judge.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Say something to me. I promise to understand.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Say something to me. I promise I will find you help if I can't help you myself.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Say something. I promise I can help.

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WHITFIELD: The video made a big impact.

PAIGE PETERSON, FRESHMAN, MOORE HIGH SCHOOL: We have officers here and, you know, staff members that will protect us. We have lockdown procedures, but you know, seeing the video and being in the video, it kind of made me realize, especially the statistics of how many people can cause school violence based on, you know, home life, personal life, it just really got to me.

NOAH RAMOS, SENIOR, MOORE HIGH SCHOOL: It's just simple things like, smiling in the hallways instead of just going through with a stony face. Making an effort to talk to people and sit with them if they're not with anybody else and actually actively making friends.

WHITFIELD: What do you say to that person who's by themselves? RAMOS: You don't have to say anything, really. It's just the presence. Just sit with them, "how are you today? Do you want to eat with me?" Simple things like that.

WHITFIELD: And so Hockley's group awarded Moore High School $10,000 to take it even further. For students here, their incentive has been personal.

RAMOS: We've faced a lot. We've taken a lot.

WHITFIELD: Just two years ago, the natural instinct in Moore of looking out for one another was put to the test, tragedy of a different kind struck. A killer EF-5 tornado. Noah Ramos remembers.

RAMOS: Minutes after the storm, there were already people out digging through the rubble. Friends of my family were at Plaza Towers pulling kids out of the rubble.

No matter what, we know what to do. It's not a drill for us anymore. It's not something new that's -- it's our way of life. We know what to do. Whenever the traffic lights stop, we do -- we turn into a four-way stop.

We don't need stop signs or anything or police officers. The first responders here aren't always the firemen and the policemen. They're the community, the citizens. If they can do that, then I'm sure we can do something as simple as ensuring the safety of our students.

WHITFIELD: Everyone has a process.

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WHITFIELD: Now, what about your husband and Jake, your older son.

HOCKLEY: Jake. Jake is doing well. This is the first year we're putting up a Christmas tree, so -- so tomorrow we're going to go find a tree. And we're making ornaments with our friends on Sunday because all of our old ornaments were very personal and every ornament has a memory so we're trying to create new memories now.

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WHITFIELD: New memories and a new outlook, this mother admits ...

HOCKLEY: You guys continue to just take my breath away.

WHITFIELD: ... have come in the hardest way.

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HOCKLEY: I didn't know that this was going to be the way my life went. This was not one of my original choices. I was very content just being a mom to my two boys. Losing my son at Sandy Hook -- I hope you never, ever have to understand how that feels. To lose life in that way is even -- can be even more heartbreaking because you're always consciously aware of what could have been. If you can think about every single time why you want to prevent violence, why you want to save a friend, why you want to have a safer school and a safer community, that inspiration and motivation is going to keep you going.

[16:55:00] This is one of my whys. This is my son Dylan who was 6 when he was killed. My other son, Jake, was 8 when he lost his little brother and he was also in the school at the time of the shooting. He's also my why.

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WHITFIELD: And why, she says, everyone plays a role.

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HOCKLEY: Dylan was autistic and he had some developmental delays. But one of the things that he did to show his happiness and his energy was to flap. Dylan was a flapper. And I asked him once why do you flap? And he said, because I'm a beautiful butterfly.

And it's been said that a butterfly on one side of the world flapping its wings can cause a hurricane on the other side. At Dylan's funeral, I said if that's true, then 26 butterflies flapping their wings can do more than cause a hurricane. They can change our country.

Well, you know what? I look out here. There's a heck of a lot more than 26 butterflies in this room. You're all butterflies. You're the ones who are flapping your wings and you're the ones who are going to make the change happen.

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WHITFIELD: The old Sandy Hook school has since been demolished, a new Sandy Hook is scheduled to open next year. Thanks for being with me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Much more in the NEWSROOM after this.

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