Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Driver Mows Down 37 People on Las Vegas Strip; Youngest Attacker from 2012 Gang Rape Freed in India; Democrats Hold Final Debate of the Year; Youngest Attacker from 2012 Gang Rape Freed in India; Israel Fires into Lebanon after Rocket Fire; Tensions Rise Between Israel, Lebanon after Israel Kills Lebanese Militant; "Star Wars" Mania Taking over Consumer Marketplace. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired December 21, 2015 - 01:00   ET

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

[01:00:01] ISHA SESAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: After a car plowed into pedestrians on the sidewalk.

Plus, anger in India after the youngest man convicted in a deadly gang rape is released after serving just three years in prison.

And rescue crews are desperately searching for survivors after a landslide leaves dozens missing in China.

Hello, and thank you for joining us. I am Isha Sesay. NEWSROOM L.A. starts right now.

We begin with breaking news here in the United States. Police say a driver has run down dozens of pedestrians on the Las Vegas Strip. As of now we know 37 people were hit. At least one has been killed and seven others are in critical condition. Tourists described having to dive for cover.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I saw the car up on the sidewalk coming toward us. And there was a lady in it, an African-American lady. And it looked like she wasn't even trying to stop the car. She had both of her hands on the wheel and was looking straight forward. And there were men running after her trying to stop the vehicle. And they couldn't get to her. They were yelling stop, stop, and she just wasn't trying.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The car rolled right in front of me. By the time I looked over to the right, all you could see is her driving away and people are like bouncing off the front of the car. You can hear the windshield was smashed at this point and she rode the sidewalk. She came to the stop right here at the Paris intersection. And then she, like, people were punching the window trying to get the child out of the backseat. And she accelerated again and just kept mowing everyone down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Well, right now part of the Strip, famous for its casinos, remain closed. One witness, Eric Gomez, there on the scene. He joins me now on the line.

Eric, thank you so much for joining us this evening. You were, apparently, across the street when this incident happened. Describe for us what you saw, what you heard.

ERIC GOMEZ, EYEWITNESS: Yes. So I was at the light right in front of Planet Hollywood. There's a bar (INAUDIBLE). And I saw people on the ground and at first I thought they were street performers because I was -- I walked through there just the night before. And then I saw someone laying on the ground and security ran over to them. So I was looking. I rolled down the window because I'm from Southern California, not too far from San Bernardino, and that's the first thing that came to mind.

So I rolled down the window to see what I could hear. And they started chaos, people started to scream and yell, and I saw that the guys running down the street.

SESAY: So just to be clear, were you in a -- were you in a car?

GOMEZ: Yes, I was actually in -- I was on the side of the street where the car was driving. We were in the middle lane at a red light right before the Paris entrance. I think one of the other people I heard interviewed reference.

SESAY: And so let me ask you this. So you see people running around, obviously, you also mentioned San Bernardino that's obviously on your mind. I mean, just -- if you could just describe the scene. Were there lots of people on the ground? How quickly did it take for you to see, you know, paramedics, police come on the scene, just walk us through it as you realize something had happened.

GOMEZ: Yes. So I first saw the person on the ground. I actually thought maybe it was a shoplifter or something when I saw the security, you know, jump on the first person. That's probably one of the first people she hit actually now in retrospect.

And then as I looked forward, I saw people. I never once saw the car. But I saw people laying on the ground. So I was starting to wonder what was happening, I saw two or three men in black running northbound on Las Vegas Boulevard, so I thought they maybe were the perpetrators or whatever was happening.

So then I yell to the driver to get through the light because I didn't know what else was happening, I didn't know who else was around. I knew that they were trying to search the street pretty soon and I just want to get out of there because my family was in the car.

SESAY: Yes.

GOMEZ: We got to the light and then down the street, so I'm going the same direction as this is all happening, and there's people laying all over the street in front of Paris. We go down further, as people, you know, like I said, just scattered, just almost in a line down the street, people try to call for help waving people down. And then we got to three or four lights down the street then we start seeing police start coming the other direction.

SESAY: Absolutely terrifying.

GOMEZ: And that's when we turned -- we turned off the Strip to get away from what was going on.

SESAY: Yes. I know. Totally, totally terrifying. You're obviously still there in Vegas. I mean, what's the mood like now? I don't know if you're far away from the strip at this point.

GOMEZ: I'm actually across the street. I'm actually staying at Paris. So I'm trying to wait for the chaos to die down a little bit. But the strip is closed down. There's the police and first responders all over with it all roped off.

[01:05:04] And I'm sure just trying to make sense of what happened and gather as many facts as they can to, you know, put this together to determine if this was, you know, an accident or was intentional.

But just given -- you know, this was two or three blocks, at least, you know, in Las Vegas. And with the number of people, I would find it hard to believe that this was just a random accident.

SESAY: Well, Eric Gomez, we appreciate you taking time out to describe what you saw. It sounds absolutely terrifying and of course chaotic scene followed. Waiting for the authorities to give us their sense of what exactly happened, what caused all of this to play out.

Eric Gomez, we -- at least you're safe. Thank you so much for taking time out to speak to us.

GOMEZ: No problem. Thank you so much.

SESAY: Thanks.

All right. As I said, we are awaiting another press conference from Clark County officials there in Las Vegas to come before the cameras and give us the very latest. We know that the woman behind the wheel is in custody. We were told a short time ago that tests were being run to see whether she was under the influence of alcohol, any other substances. We have not heard from officials since that time, well over 30 minutes ago. As soon as we get more information on this, we will of course bring that to you, so stay with CNN.

Until then moving on. There is renewed anger over a notorious rape case in India to tell you about, with the youngest of six convicted rapists now free. The man was released Sunday. He was 17 at the time of the crime in 2012. The victim died of her injuries. Confronted with massive protests and international outrage, India quickly passed tougher laws against sex crimes. Now there's debate over the punishment of juvenile offenders.

Mallika Kapur joins us now from New Delhi with the very latest.

Mallika, there's a great sense, among many, that basically the victim of this horrific gang rape has basically been failed by the system. MALLIKA KAPUR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's correct. That

is the overwhelming feeling here in India by the public and definitely, definitely by the victim's parents that is what they feel.

We do have some news to update you about and just a short while ago the Supreme Court of India, the apex court, has heard a special petition by a group called the Delhi Commission for Women, which was essentially pleading the Supreme Court to prevent this young boy, this juvenile, now 21 years of age, to prevent him from walking free. But the Supreme Court just about half an hour ago has said that while we share your concerns in this case, we cannot let him -- send him back into custody because in this case the law has been followed.

The juvenile justice law says that the maximum punishment for a juvenile who's committed a crime before his 18th birthday is three years. That is the maximum amount. And once the three years is up, the juvenile goes free. And that's exactly what's happened in this case. The three years are up. The juvenile was just shy of his 18th birthday when this heinous, absolutely grisly brutal crime took place. Now that the three years are up, he has to go free.

But this decision has been met with a huge sense of dismay by the public across India, and a huge sense of disappointment and immense pain by the victim's parents.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAPUR (voice-over): It's back. The savage gang rape and murder of a young New Delhi woman in 2012 is all over the news again. One of the rapists, then 17, a minor, is now free.

Badrinath Singh can't bear to watch, but he can't tear himself away. The victim, dubbed Nirbhaya the fearless one, was his daughter. Singh tells me he feels like he's losing. Crime is winning.

Convicted of rape and murder, the minor was sentenced to three years in a reform facility. That's the maximum term possible for a juvenile in India. Now that the three years are up, the law says he must be released.

Nirbhaya's mother, visibly distraught, says it's a severe miscarriage of justice.

"Now you decide," she asks me. It's almost like she's asking society, should Nirbhaya get justice or should the culprit walk free?

Many here believe the limited time the juvenile spent in a reform home was hugely disproportionate to the heinous nature of the crime he committed.

"What kind of incident will it take? What kind of murder will it take? What kind of rape will it take," asks Asha Singh. "For India to open its eyes?"

[01:10:07] All this time later, Asha Singh still can't forget the words of her dying daughter. "She wanted them burned alive." I asked, "She said this?" "Yes," she

says. She told the visiting magistrate that the culprit should be burned alive.

(On camera): Three years ago, India rallied behind Nirbhaya in solidarity. I remember covering the protests from right here and it was so crowded I could barely move. Today, there are just a handful of protesters over here, and it seems like the only two people who are still pressing on with her fight are her parents.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAPUR: It does seem like Nirbhaya's mother has now become the main campaigner and at times feels like she's the sole campaigner fighting for justice for her daughter.

You know, we spent several hours with the parents yesterday and it was absolutely gut-wrenching because they live with the memory of this heinous crime that was committed, the brutality of what their daughter went through, each and every single day and they were really hoping that there would be some more sense of justice with this juvenile.

They simply can't believe that somebody who was involved in such a horrific act against their daughter can walk free after three years. And today's decision by the Supreme Court, that yes, he will remain free is only adding to their pain.

SESAY: Yes. A family that's already endured so much in the loss of their child, and now as you say enduring this pain.

Mallika Kapur joining us there from New Delhi. Thank you, Mallika. Appreciate the reporting.

Now at least 91 people are missing after a landslide struck the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen on Sunday.

Chinese officials say dozens of buildings in an industrial park were toppled by a cascade of mud and debris. The slide was caused when a pile of construction waste and residue grew so steep it collapsed. Hundreds of emergency response personnel are carrying out rescue efforts searching the debris for survivors. So far at least 13 people are hospitalized.

We want to take you back to Las Vegas now where authorities are talking about our top story, a vehicle running down dozens of passengers on the world famous Las Vegas Strip. Let's listen in.

BRETT ZIMMERMAN, LAS VEGAS METROPOLITAN POLICE DEPARTMENT DEPUTY CHIEF: In front of the Paris up there and along -- towards Bali's. At which time it struck numerous pedestrians who were walking on the street. Our counts, initially, that we have and these are cursory counts, we had 12 victims go to Sunrise Hospital. We had 11 victims go to UMC. And we had three victims go to Spring Valley Hospital.

Our counts right now, and this is through the Fire Department numbers and our transport numbers, is we have six victims that are critical. And we've had one victim that has succumbed to their injuries.

The two ways we're looking at this and we're looking at our investigation twofold is number one, was this an intentional act or number two was this an accident. Due to the area we're in with numerous cameras belonging to the hotels, surveillance cameras and our regional -- our RTC cameras, we will comb through that footage to get a detailed idea of what occurred.

Right now, from what we know, we're looking at it as possibly being intentional. We just received that information. So we -- that is just the initial word we've gotten, the way we're looking. But we're going to look at all angles.

Our Fatal Detail and our Homicide Detail are working together like they do on numerous investigations to make sure this is done right and we leave no stone unturned.

With me also is Lieutenant Dan McGrath, who heads up the Homicide Detail and he can brief you a little bit more on how the investigation is going to go.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right now, Lieutenant Dan McGrath approaching us to talk to him about his portion of the investigation right now.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: They were in the road?

ZIMMERMAN: Negative. They were walking as pedestrians on the sidewalk in front of the -- along the -- between the Paris and Valley's, and they were pedestrians on the sidewalk on the -- they weren't in the roadway.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: And you said the car hit them on the sidewalk and went in back to the road? They hit them on the sidewalk into the road and back on the sidewalk? Is that correct?

ZIMMERMAN: What our initial investigation shows that there were two areas where pedestrians were hit on two separate parts of the sidewalk.

[01:15:08] So it was prior to the driveway that leads into the Paris in front of Planet Hollywood and then over in front of the Paris. So we had two separate locations where the vehicle did go down into the roadway and come back up on to the sidewalk.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Are there any traffic signals at those places where pedestrians were hit?

ZIMMERMAN: Yes. There's a traffic signal that leads right into the Planet Hollywood and the Paris that controls traffic leading along the Las Vegas Boulevard, and I believe it's Paris Drive.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Was the driver of the vehicle injured?

ZIMMERMAN: The -- I don't know about the injuries to the driver. But the driver of the vehicle, we have somebody detained. We do know that there was a toddler in the vehicle with the driver who is 3 years old. And that toddler is unharmed. And that driver is being detained and like I've said, we're still conducting our investigation and trying to figure out how and why this occurred.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: A little boy or a little girl?

(CROSSTALK)

ZIMMERMAN: I don't know the genders of either.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What about the breathalyzer?

ZIMMERMAN: The way our investigation would run is we do -- we would either do -- we have a drug recognition officers that would check to see if the driver of that vehicle was under the influence, drugs or alcohol, and we also would either take, you know, blood or breath in regards to see if they were intoxicated.

(CROSSTALK)

ZIMMERMAN: That I don't know. It was definitely not a child. It was an adult.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Sir, witnesses told me that the driver went on to the sidewalk, got off the sidewalk, got back on to the sidewalk, and sped up and slammed into that second group. It does sound like you just confirmed that by saying that this happened in two separate?

ZIMMERMAN: Correct. It was in two separate locations. I do not have the info that you spoke to the witness with. But we do know it is two separate locations. And yes, the driver did go from one location into the street and then back on to the area where pedestrians was -- were in front of Paris.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Any idea --

(CROSSTALK)

ZIMMERMAN: That I don't know.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Any idea if she was -- if she was targeting a specific individual or just targeting pedestrians in general?

ZIMMERMAN: That I don't know. And I don't know if she sped up. We don't -- we have our Fatal Detail and our people out here work the speeds, so if there is any evidence, we would be able to determine it.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Is there a time frame --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lieutenant McGrath come up and speak to you guys about if you have any witnesses or anybody who might have any information.

LT. DAN MCGRATH: OK, so we know there were hundreds of people out here. We have about 20 witnesses, all the 26, 27 people that were injured. So if anybody is out here tonight that sees this, we're going to be out here most of the night, just find a police officer and we would like to talk to you and get a statement from you, if you actually were a witness to this.

If not, then tomorrow you can call the homicide extension, it's 7028283521, 7028283521, for anybody. This is tomorrow. And we will set up an interview for any other witnesses that are not --

SESAY: We're going to break away from this news conference being held in Las Vegas. Clark County officials bringing us the very latest into the investigations after a female driver used her car to mow down pedestrians on the Las Vegas Strip. Authorities saying they're still working to determine whether this was indeed an accident or intentional.

A little bit of new information coming through. When we heard from them last hour they were saying that seven individuals were in critical condition. We're now hearing that number adjusted to six. Also hearing that that female driver, the woman who was behind the wheel when the car rammed into those people on the sidewalk in Las Vegas, had a toddler, had a child in the car with her. The exact age of the child, unclear. The officials say maybe around 3 years old and not giving the gender of the child, but there was a child in the car with the woman when that woman and her car slammed into pedestrians on the sidewalk.

As of yet, they are now looking at this as something that could have been intentional, but, of course, that is yet to be absolutely confirmed, absolutely guaranteed, and they're still talking to people. The driver is in custody. They're saying that there were many witnesses in the area because, of course, it's a very crowded space.

There are a lot of cameras also there on the strip. So they'll be combing through all the images. But that is the very latest that we are getting from officials there in Vegas. They have the driver in custody. They are questioning her at this stage and looking at this as something that could have been intentional. And when that car struck those people, there was a child in the car.

[01:20:02] We will, of course, continue to monitor statements being made by those officials in Vegas. We'll bring you the very latest on that as they come into us here at CNN. So stay with us for that.

And we're going to take a very quick break. Do stay with CNN, we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(SPORT HEADLINES)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SESAY: Hello, everyone. Turning to U.S. politics now.

The Democratic candidates for the presidency squared off for their final debate of 2015. They met in New Hampshire where the campaign's first primary vote will take place early next year.

Our Athena Jones has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Democratic presidential candidates in their final debate this year. Arguing over who has the best plan to take on the terrorists, lead the nation and defeat Republicans this fall.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: On our worse day, I think we have a lot more to offer the American people than the right- wing extremists.

JONES: Hillary Clinton and Bernie Standards face-to-face for the first time since a dispute over a breach of private voter files exploded in public.

SANDERS: As soon as we learned that they looked at that information, we fired that person.

DAVID MUIR, ABC NEWS DEBATE MODERATOR: Does Secretary Clinton deserve an apology tonight?

SANDERS: Yes. I apologize.

JONES: The debate comes as the focus of the 2016 race increasingly shifts towards national security and terrorism.

[01:25:07] HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We need to be united against the threats that we face. We need to have everybody in our country focused on watching what happens and reporting it if it's suspicious, reporting what you hear.

JONES: Sanders, standing firm on his view, that the U.S. should not send troops overseas to fight ISIS.

SANDERS: Tell Saudi Arabia that instead of going to war in Yemen, they, one of the wealthiest countries on earth, are going to have to go to war against ISIS. To tell Qatar that instead of spending $200 billion on the World Cup, maybe they should pay attention to ISIS, which is at their doorstep.

JONES: And Martin O'Malley, taking on his fellow Democrats on terrorists and gun control.

MARTIN O'MALLEY (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: ISIL training videos are telling lone wolves the easiest way to buy a combat assault weapon in America is at a gun show and it's because of the flip-flopping, political approach of Washington that both of my two colleagues on this stage have represented there.

JONES: But all three candidates zeroing in on a presidential hopeful who wasn't on stage -- Donald Trump.

CLINTON: I worry greatly that the rhetoric coming from the Republicans, particularly Donald Trump.

O'MALLEY: Fascist pleas of billionaires with big mouths.

SANDERS: Somebody like a Trump comes along and says, I know the answers. The answer is that all of the Mexicans, they are criminals and rapists.

JONES (on camera): And when it comes to America's involvement in conflicts overseas, including defeating ISIS, an interesting divide emerged on stage last night, with Sanders arguing that Clinton is more of a proponent of regime change, while he says the U.S. doesn't have to be the policeman of the world.

This is very similar to the divide we've seen on the GOP side on this issue among candidates like Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and Donald Trump. Trump has even used much the same language as Sanders saying in interviews, the U.S. doesn't have to police the world.

Athena Jones, CNN, Manchester, New Hampshire.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: To discuss the latest in the U.S. presidential race I'm joined by Dave Jacobson, a Democratic campaign consultant with Shallman Communications.

Dave, thanks so much for staying with us.

DAVE JACOBSON, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Thanks for having me.

SESAY: You're so welcome. What stood out for you from Saturday night's debate?

JACOBSON: I think the fact that there really was no game changer, nothing that really altered the dynamic of the race. I think we're going to see more of the status quo of moving forward. I think, you know, Hillary Clinton sort of came off looking cool, calm and collective like a leader. Obviously any frontrunner going into any debate wants to get out unscathed and sort of to minimize any damage. And she accomplished that successfully.

I think Bernie Sanders, people were thinking there might be some sort of game-changing, you know, body blow that he delivers to Clinton to sort of shake up the race. And that really didn't happen. He was successful in the sense that he was able to pivot away from the controversial, you know, data issue that he was dealing with the day before. So I think obviously that put him in a better position. He could claim victory in that sense.

And I think Martin O'Malley, I think he did relatively well given his past performances in debate -- in the other debates, pardon me. This was sort of his most aggressive performance that we've seen to date.

SESAY: I mean, we know that, you know, on the GOP side, aggression may yield some success.

JACOBSON: True.

SESAY: And going negative.

JACOBSON: Yes.

SESAY: And we saw Martin O'Malley try and do a little bit of that on Saturday night.

JACOBSON: Yes.

SESAY: But how does that work in the Democratic space? How much traction do you gain with that?

JACOBSON: Right. I think it's a little too late for Martin. You know, unfortunately. I think he, you know, potentially could have done something a little bit different and be maybe a little bit less combative. Still be aggressive and sort of try to shake up his strategy in terms of debates. But unfortunately, like I said, too little, too late.

SESAY: Were any vulnerability revealed in terms of the candidates and their positions? I'm talking about Hillary Clinton as she may be cast an eye towards the national -- the national vote.

JACOBSON: I think she took a proactive stand, sort of attacking Donald Trump. And she looked tougher on national security and terrorism issues. I think all the Democrats, frankly, did. So I don't know that she necessarily had any damage going out of the debate. I think frankly she looked very strong coming out of this. And I think, like I said, the status quo was going to pretty much stay the same. I think she's going to continue to lead the pack and maintain that 25 sort of buffer lead that she has nationally.

SESAY: And then we saw much focus given to Donald Trump, obviously.

JACOBSON: Right.

SESAY: What did you make of the kind of attacks they launched on Donald Trump in Saturday's conversation?

JACOBSON: Right. Well, obviously he was mentioned I think nine times. He was the only Republican mentioned. Right. So they sort of like view him as the embodiment of the like the Republican GOP contender. Right? I mean, clearly he's the frontrunner, so it will be political malpractice almost at this point like not to mention him. Right? Like you can't have a conversation about the 2016 race without Donald Trump, right?

But I think all the Democrats, frankly, sort of like outlined a clear contrast between what's at stake, between what the Democrats are presenting and the Republicans/Donald Trump are presenting in this election.

[01:30:00] SESAY: Everybody had something to say about Donald Trump, including Jeb Bush, who had this to say about his opponent on Saturday. Take a listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Just one other thing. I have to get this off of my chest. Donald Trump is a jerk.

(LAUGHTER)

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Calling Donald Trump a jerk. The same man who said you can't insult your way to the presidency to Donald Trump in the CNN debate.

DAVE JACOBSON, DEMOCRATIC CAMPAIGN CONSULTANT, SHALLMAN COMMUNICATIONS: Right. He looks like a hypocrite. He sort of sold this out of the Donald Trump play book. He sort of tried everything to fix his flailing campaign. He tried the "fix it" tour, which was sort of a pivot to a more policy driven campaign, that hasn't worked. I think he's drawing things from the Trump play book to score political points.

SESAY: We'll see if he yields any success.

Dave Jacobson, a pleasure. Thank you so much.

JACOBSON: Sure, thanks for having me. Appreciate it.

SESAY: Thank you.

A beauty pageant snafu. Coming up, find out why the host of this year's Miss University pageant is pulling the results of a horrible mistake.

Plus, the new "Star Wars" is off to a hot start. We'll tell you where the movie already sits in the record books. Do stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SESAY: You're watching NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles. I'm Isha Sesay.

The headlines this hour.

(HEADLINES)

[01:35:03] SESAY: The youngest of six men convicted in a savage gang rape in India will remain free. India's top court ruled against a plea to reverse the man's release. He was a minor at the time of the 2012 attack. He served the maximum three-year sentence allowed by law and was released Sunday. The woman died of her injuries two weeks after the savage rape.

Joining us now from New Delhi is Kirti Singh. She's an India Supreme Court lawyer and women's rights activists.

Kirti Singh, thank you so much for joining us.

There's a feeling among those who have taken to the streets to protest against this man's release that justice has been denied to the victim of this horrific assault.

KIRTI SINGH, INDIAN SUPREME COURT LAWYER & WOMEN'S RIGHTS ACTIVIST: Yes. They're angry that the person will walk free after three years. And I think most people are not sure if he has been reformed at all or what kind of reformation process he went through in the special home that he stayed. There is angry -- I mean, the people are angry, they want retribution. The mother of the victim said she wanted him to be hanged for what he did for her daughter and so on.

But there is a lacuna in the law. The lacuna is that you can't keep a juvenile in a home for more than three years. And I think that requires to be changed. Even though the minister of child welfare has recommended several changes, including that all juveniles between the age of 16 and 18 are arrested, if they are found to be mature enough, they should then be sent to prison by any other adult by the criminal court. This has been opposed by child rights activists who now say that, no, we don't want that kind of assessment. We're not sure how -- who they're assess -- the assessing authority will be. We would rather that the juvenile stay in the home. So that the juvenile can be -- not be put into the normal criminal justice system and face the harshness of that system.

SESAY: Let me ask you this. The question that you highlighted is whether this young man has indeed been rehabilitated. He was in detention. What level of service do juveniles receive when they are in custody, when they are in a detention center of the sort that he was in?

SINGH: Well, that's not very transparent to any of us and we know that juvenile homes have been notoriously considered to be quite, you know, to have very bad conditions. So we are not sure, at all, of what kind of process he has gone through, and still feel that he should not really be just let loose. He should be put under supervision. He should be followed very closely. And people -- I mean, the state government should see that he doesn't sort of have the opportunity of committing any crime. We've seen a number of cases, after three years in a home, the juvenile has come out and committed another crime.

SESAY: We haven't seen the same kind of mass protests that we saw back in 2012 when word of this horrific rape emerged. Why do you think that is?

SINGH: I think that was because everybody, we had been witnessing one rape after another of young girls, Delhi was unsafe, and people were concerned, and this was the final straw in 2012 when this girl was raped so brutally and things were shoved into her body parts and then she died. This was a spill over of all the anger that had been there, brewing slowly, and people came out on the streets, particularly, young people and those were --

(CROSSTALK) SINGH: Yes.

SESAY: Finish your thought, Kirti. You were saying young people coming out.

SINGH: Yes. The young people came out, middle aged people came out. There was a huge contingent of people who said, now we've had enough, we want justice. And the law wasn't changed after that, as you know. We still need to put the machinery in place. We still need to implement that law. We need to plug in any loopholes that still remain.

[01:40:05] SESAY: Kirti Singh, Indian Supreme Court lawyer, we appreciate you joining us and sharing your insight. Thank you so much.

SINGH: Thank you.

SESAY: Stay with CNN. Much more news coming up after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SESAY: New tensions between Israel and Lebanon following the death of a notorious Lebanese militant. The Israeli military said it fired artillery into southern Lebanon Sunday in retaliation for three rockets launched into Israel from Lebanon. No casualties have been reported on either side. Hezbollah accused Israel of carrying out an airstrike in Syria which killed Lebanese militant, Samir Kantar. The Israeli military would not comment on the accusation.

Earlier, CNN spoke with a Lebanese journalist about Kantar's death.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED LEBANESE JOURNALIST: The killing was a targeted killing and it was not the surprise to many of us who have been watching it for many years. Qatar may occupy a special place of heroes and "martyrs." But he was the most notorious prisoner, he spent nearly three decades in Israel because of the way he murdered a civilian father and the way he smashed the head of his daughter. For Hezbollah, he's a hero. For many Lebanese, including myself, he's a baby killer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Kantar was released in a prison exchange between Israel and Hezbollah in 2008.

CNN is closely following the war on ISIS. Some of our international correspondents have seen the terror group's horrors firsthand. Five of them sat down to discuss what ISIS has done this year, and what dangers the group poses in the coming year.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[01:45:08] CLARISSA WARD, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Paris has been such a game changer, because as closely as I've been following the sort of reach of militant groups of ISIS in Europe and the U.S., I had never expected them for them to pull off this organized.

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Did you think it was that organized?

(CROSSTALK)

ELBAGIR: No, I don't think so.

WARD: The main thing that didn't go as well as they were hoping were the vests, the suicide vests.

(CROSSTALK)

WARD: They accomplished their goal.

ELBAGIR: They accomplished their goal.

(CROSSTALK)

ELBAGIR: There's a difference between extraordinary complex that need an infrastructure and eight guys with a vest --

(CROSSTALK)

WARD: I think they had an infrastructure.

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What surprises me a little bit about this is I think the lack of the short-term memory. It was a decade ago that we were looking at al Qaeda carrying out massive attacks which killed scores of people and we kind of forget the fear and panic of those days.

WARD: Also, the whole nature of recruitment was different. Like, al Qaeda was recruiting in the mosques.

WATSON: In the mosques.

WARD: And it was an entirely different prospect. Jihad was very abstract.

WATSON: Now these Facebook --

(CROSSTALK)

WARD: They are like your own friends.

WATSON: Who are doing it in their bedroom, yeah.

WARD: In their bedrooms. So it's a completely -- I think for intelligence authorities, it's a frightening prospect.

ELBAGIR: This kind of, I know he grew a beard, he started going to mosques, these are the telltale signs of radicalism that entire landscape --

(CROSSTALK)

ELBAGIR: -- has changed now.

WARD: But that also the greater underlying issues that we have in society, and what ISIS has now done for people that are slightly so inclined is give them that sense of purpose.

(CROSSTALK)

WARD: The next question is, it's not in terms of intelligence, how do we fight this, but how do you actually fight that etiology. How do you revamp society where these kids have a different sense of purpose?

WATSON: All of these kids, their parents came to Europe for a better life. The sign of irony, their offspring grow up to be people that attack Europe.

WARD: We have this misconception that ISIS is about radical Islam. It's a product of a bunch of very complex geo-political historical trends that have been brewing for years.

(CROSSTALK)

WARD: It's not about Islam.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's terrifying that some guys who are mentally well configured in San Bernardino can go shoot coworkers and put something on Facebook and that somehow joins global movement.

ELBAGIR: It's like a wave of hysteria that's building on each other. You saw Paris and then you saw San Bernardino crest off of it. It's like a contagion in a way.

WARD: There needs to be not hysteria, but, I mean, let's not underestimate the threat either.

ELBAGIR: Yeah. I mean, it is huge.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: Stay with CNN. Much more news coming after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:52:00] SESAY: Beauty queens from around the world descended on Las Vegas Sunday to compete in the 2015 Miss Universe Pageant. And it was Miss Columbia awarded the coveted title -- at first.

STEVE HARVEY, PAGEANT HOST: Miss Universe 2015 is -- (CHEERING)

HARVEY: Columbia.

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

SESAY: Yeah, but there was one problem. Miss Philippines was really the winner and Miss Columbia was the runner up. Host Steve Harvey had misread the card with the official results. Oops.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARVEY: OK. Folks --

(CHEERING)

HARVEY: There's -- I have to apologize. The first runner up is Columbia.

(CHEERING)

HARVEY: Miss Universe 2015 is Philippines.

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: It doesn't get any easier to watch. Talk about awkward. Miss Philippines looked shocked, but then walked across the stage and waited for Miss Columbia to give up the crown. Harvey was visibly embarrassed by the bizarre ending, calling it a horrible mistake, one that is sure for wanting for a little while longer. Oh, dear.

Well, the force is definitely with the new "Star Wars" movie. "The Force Awakens" has earned $517 million during its first weekend at the box office worldwide. And the film hasn't even opened in China, yet. That makes the new "Star Wars" the second-highest global debut of all time, second to "Jurassic World," which brought in $525 million its opening weekend, including China, earlier this year.

"Star Wars" mania is taking over. Brand names are feeling the force in just about every part of the consumer marketplace. Whether or not you're a fan of the series, you would be hard pressed to avoid all the merchandise tie-ins surrounding the new movie.

Our Anna Stewart reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The force is strong with the latest "Star Wars" movie, with record box office sales on its opening weekend. Disney is set to make $2.4 billion in ticket sales. That pales in

comparison to mega-brands cashing in on merchandise deals.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've estimated "Star Wars" can generate $5 billion in global merchandise sales for Disney this year. For Disney, in terms of revenue, 10 percent cut of that, which is kind of standard licensing film, generate $5 billion for Disney.

STEWART: Branding really is everywhere. It found its way into your cereal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: I am your --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[01:55:] STEWART: And a trip to Subway could be, well, out of this world.

(on camera): It's fairly easy for Disney to find merchandise opportunity. It's filled from light sabers, fancy dress. You can even get your own personal jewelry. Of course, for some of the other brands, finding a "Star Wars" tie is a little bit more of a challenge. This year, the ads have gotten creative.

Take Cover Girl, helping you channel a new look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: New from Cover Girl.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEWART: Or H.P., which can help the biggest "Star Wars" geek get the girl its dream.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEWART: Possibly farfetched, but all these brands hope their efforts will pay off and win over the hearts of consumers.

Anna Stewart, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: Every kind of tie-in imaginable.

You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm Isha Sesay.

The news continues on CNN with Errol Barnett, right after this. Do stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.