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Search for Survivors After a Landslide in Southern China; Six U.S. Service Members Killed by Suicide Bomber in Afghanistan; Iraqis Announce Offensive to kick ISIS out of Ramadi. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired December 22, 2015 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[03:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Nima Elbagir in Nairobi, and this is CNN.
ERROL BARNETT, CNN INTERNATIONAL NEWSROOM ANCHOR: At least one person is dead and another 80 are still missing as the search for survivors continues after the landslide in Southern China.
Plus, a Texas grand jury decides not to indict anyone in the controversial death of a woman arrested in a traffic stop, but the case is not closed yet.
And a historic moment for space travel. SpaceX launches and lands a rocket.
A very big welcome to our viewers here in the States and those of you watching from all around the world. I'm Errol Barnett. Thanks for joining my second hour. This is "CNN Newsroom."
The first victim has been pulled from the rubble after a massive landslide in Shenzhen, China. The disaster struck the city's industrial park on Sunday, toppling dozens of buildings and burying others. Seventy-six people are still missing at this hour. CNN'S Matt Rivers has details.
MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We're about a kilometer or so away from where this landslide came down the hill here, and you can see how large this area is.
Officials say it's some 380,000 square meters that they are now having to search through to find any survivors that might still be buried some 2-1/2 days after this happened.
You can see there that building on the left, that is a massive concrete building that looks like it was just toppled over like a toy house. It is now on its side. Officials say it is safe. It doesn't look like it's going to fall over but, still, just seeing that building you get an idea of how difficult rescue operations here are.
As you mentioned, Errol, there are thousands of people here. There are dozens of excavators. There are search and rescue dogs. We've seen drones in flight, but as time goes on, the odds of finding people alive inside this rubble obviously start to go down.
That's a reality that is now being faced by many people that we saw over at an evacuation shelter not far from where we are now. One little boy that we met really struck us.
We met him and his 16-year-old older brother, both of them now being looked after by their aunt because both of their parents were working, were making a delivery here.
They don't actually work in any of these factories, they just happened to be making a delivery at the time that this landslide occurred. They are among the people unaccounted for. We spoke to the boys' aunt about what they went through when they actually came back to the scene here on Monday.
LIU HUIZHEN, VICTIM'S FAMILY MEMBER (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): The rescue is simply too hard. There is too much mud. All we want is to find our relatives as soon as possible.
The little one found a large pack of bread on the sight and he said that he wants to share it with his mom when she's back. These two boys will have no one to depend on in the future.
RIVERS: And as the rescue operations continue here in Shenzhen, that kind of story moving forward will likely not be unique as time goes on and the odds of finding people alive in the rubble goes down. Errol.
BARNETT: Matt Rivers reporting to us there. State media report that the slide was caused when a mound of construction waste collapsed under its own weight. We'll keep you updated on the rescue efforts.
A suicide bomber on a motor bike has killed six U.S. service members in Afghanistan. The attack (inaudible) joint Afghan-NATO patrol at the U.S. Base at Bagram Airfield.
Three other Americans, two service members and a civilian contractor were wounded. Now, this attack took place in the northern part of the country. It's an area where the Taliban had previously been reined in.
CNN military analyst and retired Lieutenant General Mark Hertling says the attack there is an embarrassment for Afghanistan's government.
LIEUTENANT GENERAL MARK HERTLING (RETIRED), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: If the government of Afghanistan is building their security forces, they have been successful in some areas of the country. Bagram was one place where they had been successful and they're returning to normalcy.
So, this suicide attack in the northeast, in Bagram, actually embarrasses the, certainly, the Afghan government. But what's been going on in the south is a true continued insurgency by the Taliban.
They are growing in support down there. There had been messages by the local politicians and security forces that they don't have enough to handle this insurgency. [03:05:00] And, in fact, what you're seeing is different parts of the country being able to handle the Taliban in different ways. More security in the northeast in the bigger towns, less security in the rural areas and what is considered a Taliban stronghold has been historically and continues to be a place that it's very difficult to counter the Taliban.
BARNETT: Now one of the Americans killed in this latest attack was a member of the Air National Guard, a detective of the New York City Police Department and a beloved family man. You see him there.
A local New York TV station did a story on Staff Sergeant Joseph Lemm when he surprised his family returning home from Iraq back in 2013.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTINE LEMM, VICTIM'S WIFE: I'm shaking right now. I can't even believe that Daddy's home and I have my family back and I'm speechless. I'm sorry, I'm just speechless.
JOSEPH LEMM, U.S. STAFF SERGEANT: I'll spend time with family, of course. My little guy, he got a little bigger. (Inaudible). I can't wait for a pizza and a nice burger. American burger, can't go wrong with that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: Lemm had deployed twice to Afghanistan and once to Iraq. Police Commissioner William Bratton said Lemm, a 15-year police veteran "epitomized the selflessness we can only strive for."
Now, for the story we're following. A top Iraqi general has announced an offensive to kick ISIS out of the city of Ramadi. The terror group has held the city since May, prompting questions about the United States' role in the region and the resolve of the U.S. President. CNN's Barbara Starr has more.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: All eyes are now on Ramadi. Iraqi officials say their troops are launching a major offensive to retake the city center.
Residents have been warned to leave in advance of expected heavy fighting. Ten thousand Iraqi troops surround the city and are already fighting in outer neighborhoods, but now they are moving towards the center where officials believe up to 500 ISIS fighters are dug in.
HERTLING: It's going to be very difficult because ISIS has defended that city, placed roadside bombs, house born explosives. So it's going to be booby trapped.
STARR: Defense Secretary Ash Carter questioned the Iraqi military's will to fight in an exclusive CNN interview after Ramadi fell. This time he's offering Iraq Apache helicopters and U.S. advisers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ASH CARTER, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: We do want to help you build on your success in Ramadi.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: But so far the Prime Minister Abadi has turned him down. There is real doubt Iraqi forces will be able to hold on to Ramadi even if they get it back.
COLONEL CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RETIRED), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: The military person in me says that their ability to take and hold Ramadi is questionable at best.
STARR: Ramadi is a badly needed success for the U.S. effort. A senior military official tells CNN the Pentagon has been told by the White House to better communicate to the public about the war against ISIS. The President hinting in an interview with NPR.
BARACK OBAMA, U.S. PRESIDENT: We haven't, you know, on a regular basis, I think, described all the work that we've been doing for more than a year now to defeat ISIL.
STARR: But also taking a swipe.
OBAMA: But if you've been watching television for the last month, all you've been seeing, all you've been hearing about is these guys with masks or black flags who are potentially coming to get you.
STARR: So has the ISIS war not been reported accurately?
OBAMA: look, the media is pursuing ratings.
STARR: Or does there need to be more success?
LEIGHTON: The White House always touts the amount of territory that has been retaken by anti-ISIS forces. That's good, but it needs to be even better.
STARR: So what are we talking about? Some U.S. officials say there has to be a better message being offered by the administration about the war against ISIS, but others will tell you very adamantly, if you want a better message, you have to have better substance, and that means more success in the war if need. Barbara Starr, CNN, The Pentagon.
BARNETT: Now you saw military analyst, Mark Hertling, in Barbara's report. Earlier, I asked him, what's in store in the fight for Ramadi?
HERTLING: It's been interesting to watch from a military perspective, and I would suggest what has happened over the last several weeks is the commanders of the Iraqi security forces and what would be considered relatively green troops are capturing smaller towns to conduct a siege around Ramadi, to prepare the forces in smaller battles to counter ISIS when they get to the larger city of Ramadi.
[03:10:00] Now, remember, Ramadi is a city when it's totally populated of about 400,000 people. It is a large city, so it is going to be very difficult for the still relatively green troops under new leaders to go into that city and conduct house-to-house fighting in an area where ISIS has, over the last year, prepared houses with IEDs, prepared roads with IEDs, they have built tunnels, sniper positions.
So even though there's a small number of ISIS fighters in the city, some estimates are between 300 and 600 and there's close to 10,000 Iraqi security forces going against them, I would suggest, Errol, it's still going to be a very difficult fight even putting that large number of Iraqi security forces against a relatively small number of ISIS.
What you also have to consider, too, is ISIS has been broadcasting on the various mosque speakers where you normally hear the calls to prayer, they have been telling the citizens of Ramadi, do not leave under threat of death. They want to use those citizens of Ramadi who don't want any part of ISIS as human shields.
BARNETT: Lieutenant General Mark Hertling speaking with me earlier.
Now, a grand jury in Texas has decided not to indict anyone for the death of Sandra Bland after what officials say, was an exhaustive investigation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DARRELL JORDAN, SPECIAL PROSECUTOR: We have left no rock unturned in the grand jury. Anything that they've asked for, we've done our best to give it to them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: You may remember the 28-year-old was found dead in her jail cell three days after she was arrested for a driving infraction in July. The case comes amid racial tensions in the U.S. involving excessive use of force by police and a widely viewed video of Bland's arrest.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to yank you out of here.
SANDRA BLAND, ARRESTED WOMAN: Okay, you going to yank me out of my car? Okay.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get out.
BLAND: All right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Twenty-five (inaudible) ...
BLAND: Let's do this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're going to.
BLAND: Don't touch me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get out of the car!
BLAND: Don't touch me. I'm not under arrest. You don't have the right to take me ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are under arrest.
BLAND: I'm under arrest for what? For what?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Twenty-five (inaudible) ... 10-98.
BLAND: For what?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Send me another unit. Get out of the car!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Through radio).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get out of the car. Now!
BLAND: Why am I being apprehended? You're trying to give me a ticket ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I said get out of the car.
BLAND: Why am I being apprehended? You have opened my car door ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm giving you an order.
BLAND: Open my car door ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to drag you out of here.
BLAND: So, you going to drag me out of my own car?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get out of the car! I will light you up! Get out!
Bland: Wow.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now!
BLAND: Wow.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get out of the car!
BLAND: For a failure to signal. You doing all of this for a failure to signal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get over there!
BLAND: Right. Yeah. Yeah, let's take this to court. Just ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go ahead.
BLAND: ... for a failure to signal. Yup. For a failure to signal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: Jail officials say Bland hanged herself with a plastic bag. Her family disputes that claim. A U.S. Democratic presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders, weighed in on Bland's death. He said, "there's no doubt in my mind that she, like too many African-Americans who die in police custody, would be alive today if she were a white woman.
Now, we have new details about the woman who ran over dozens of people on the Vegas Strip. Police say 24-year-old Lakeisha Holloway deliberately veered off the road several times to plow into pedestrians on the sidewalk. CNN's Ryan Young has more from Las Vegas.
RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Just after 6:30 p.m., the first 911 calls came in, reports of a vehicle on the Las Vegas Strip that drove on to a sidewalk hitting several pedestrians.
It seemed at first to be an accident but soon it would become clear this was much worse.
JUSTIN COCHRANE, WITNESS: It was bustling through people. They were just thudding. The sound was, so I'd say 30, maybe, and I thought it might a little faster but it seemed like it was going pretty fast.
People were flying. But this child I saw literally hit, and the sound I'll never forget. It's horrible, and it just never stopped, those people. It wasn't hitting cars, it was hitting people.
YOUNG: According to police, this was an intentional act. The driver, ramming her car into the crowds in at least three or four different spots along the sidewalk between Planet Hollywood and the Paris Resort and Casino, repeatedly driving over pedestrians.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE, WITNESS: It looked like she wasn't even trying to stop the car. She had both of her hands on the wheel, almost 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.
YOUNG: Police say 24-year-old Lakeisha Holloway was behind the wheel during the attack. She was driving a 1996 Oldsmobile Sedan with Oregon plates. Her 3-year-old daughter was in the back seat the entire time.
ANTONIO NASSAR, WITNESS: She rode the sidewalk. She came to a stop right here at the Paris intersection and then she like -- people were punching the window trying to get apparently the child out of the back seat. She accelerated again and just kept mowing everyone down.
[03:15:00] YOUNG: After the attack, Holloway fled the scene driving to another casino before abandoning her car with her daughter still inside. She asked the security officer there to call police because she had just hit several people. She is now in custody. Her daughter is unharmed.
Authorities at first were quick to rule out terrorism as a motive. But now said they needed to complete their investigation before making a final conclusion.
SHERIFF JOE LOMBARDO, LAS VEGAS METROPOLITAN POLICE: She is believed to be from the Oregon area and we are going to do the best we can throughout the day to determine her background. In light of that, and not having those unknowns, we're not 100 percent ruling out the possibility of terrorism.
YOUNG: So if not an act of terror, what could have been the motivation behind this attack? Police say she made a statement when they took her into custody but wouldn't disclose the details.
LOMBARDO: We believe that she -- she had some disassociation with the father of her child and then events prior to the event, her being what we believe to be in Las Vegas approximately a week and homeless and residing within her vehicle. We don't know the exact percipient event that caused her to snap and/or whether it was planned previously.
YOUNG: So far, Holloway's charged with a single count of murder with a deadly weapon. The first of what authorities say are any charges to come. Ryan Young, CNN, Las Vegas.
BARNETT: Now, we've just received new information as it relates to the suspect. It's video of Lakeisha Holloway from an organization in Portland, Oregon that works with at-risk youth. Holloway was one of several teens whose success stories were featured in a promotional video for the Portland Opportunities Industrialization Center. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAKEISHA HOLLOWAY, AT-RISK YOUTH: Needles to say, I beat the odd and was the first in my immediate family circle to graduate high school. Not only did I graduate, I left with a 3.40 and $17,000 of scholarships. Once I graduated high school, POIC stepped in and greatly helped me get my life back on track.
Little did I know ...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: Holloway was in the Portland program until 2012. The staff at the center released a statement saying they were shocked and deeply saddened by the incident Sunday night.
Now the rocket company, SpaceX, successfully launched an unmanned spacecraft Monday evening.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Five, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0. Liftoff.
BARNETT: That part was cool, but what came back down has scientists even more excited. That's next here on "CNN Newsroom."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:20:00] DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: I'm Don Riddell with your CNN World Sport headlines. Football's two most powerful men have been banned from the sport but Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini are not going quietly.
On Monday morning in Zurich, the announcement came that FIFA's longstanding president, Blatter and his UEFA counterpart, Platini, had both been found guilty of abusive execution of their positions and banned for eight years.
It means Blatter's reign as one of sports most powerful man is likely to end in humiliation and Platini's chances of succeeding Blatter as the president have sunk even further. Both deny any wrongdoing and intend to appeal to the court of arbitration for sport.
Arsenal and Man City went into the last game before Christmas in the English Premier League knowing they'd still be trailing, surprised leaders less no matter what happened at the Emirates.
And what happened was a 2-1 win for the homicide in a match that contained three great goals. Mesut Azil made both for Arsenal and (inaudible) raise spectacular strike was only a consolation for Man City.
Now, the NFL is taking action against the New York Giants' Odell Beckham, Jr. for the flagrant hit on Carolina Panthers' Josh Norman. The league suspended the Giants' wide receiver for a game for his personal fouls including launching himself into a helmet-to-helmet collision with Norman. He has the right to appeal.
And that is a quick look at your sport headlines. I'm Don Riddell.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible) has landed. (Inaudible) during the procedure. Landed off at 100. (Inaudible) recover that. Repeat. Recover.
BARNETT: Space enthusiasts rejoice. A major achievement there for SpaceX. The rocket company successfully guided a rocket booster back to land after using it to deploy 11 small communication satellites into orbit.
The booster's safe return marks a major step towards making space travel cheaper because the rocket can now be reused for a future launch.
Now Chinese State media say a court has handed a high profile human rights lawyer a three-year suspended sentence. Pu Zhiqiang had been found guilty of picking corals and inciting racial hatred and comments posted on China's version of Twitter where he'd criticized government policy. The report says Pu accepted the ruling and will not appeal.
U.S. Democratic presidential front-runner, Hillary Clinton, won't say she's sorry for targeting Republican rival Donald Trump during Saturday's debate. You see Clinton slammed Trump saying his comments about Muslims were being used by ISIS to recruit terrorists. But there's no evidence to support her claim and now Donald Trump is demanding an apology. The Clinton camp responded saying, "hell no."
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: No. It is ridiculous for Donald Trump to expect an apology from Hillary Clinton for rightfully calling him out on the effect his hateful rhetoric is having across the Middle East and potentially even here at home among Muslim Americans who are vulnerable to radicalization messages and propaganda that is being put out there on the internet by ISIS.
It is a confirmed fact, Wolf, that the footage of Donald Trump making those hateful comments earlier this month was played all across the Middle East on Arabic-speaking news networks.
It is a fact that ISIS sympathizers on Twitter and social media have been pointing to those same comments and it is a fact that expert after expert has told us that Trump's hateful comments only play into the hands of a terrorist narrative that tries to suggest that the United States is at war with Muslims who are at large.
BARNETT: Trump fired back at Clinton during a campaign stop at Michigan calling her a liar. Ross Douthat joins us now from Ridgefield, Connecticut. He's a CNN political commentator.
Ross, thanks for your time today. Look, Donald Trump's bombast by now is part of his appeal among disaffected Republicans, but what's good for the T.V. may not be good for the big decisions of the oval office.
Let me show you this clip of Trump discussing his mutual and public admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: (Inaudible) you know it's Russia, after all. Somebody said, are you at all offended that he said nice things about you? I said, no. No. and they said, oh, Trump should have been much nastier. That's terrible.
[03:25:00] And then they said, you know, he's killed reporters. And I don't like that. I'm totally against it. By the way, I hate some of these people but I'd never kill them.
I hate them. No, I face... no, these people, honestly, I'll be honest. I'll be honest. I would never kill them. I would never do that. Let's think, no, I wouldn't. I would never kill them, but I do hate them. And some of them are such lying, disgusting people. It's true.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: Okay. So even if we grant him that, okay, he's saying this in a tongue-in-cheek kind of way, will all of these comments cumulatively catch up with Trump? I mean, the killing of journalists itself, that's a real and frightening thing.
ROSS DOUTHAT, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: A little bit. I mean, they'll catch up with him in the sense that he's not going to be president of the United States, yes, but his whole campaign to date is premised on the idea that you say whatever it is -- you say whatever the thing is that will get the most media attention and so in the case of Vladimir Putin, if Trump had said -- and somehow disavowed Putin's praise for him and had said, you know, well, he's a terrible dictator and so on, the media would have shrugged and moved on. But instead by first embracing the praise and then going on that risk where here basically implied that, you know, you and I and most of the people in our profession belong in detention camps, even if he isn't going to put us there, he guarantees that we'll be on television talking about it.
BARNETT: Now, correct me if I'm wrong here, but would Senator Lindsey Graham, dropping out of the race, says now no republican candidate left who supports the path to citizenship for those already in the U.S. illegally. Can Republicans win Hispanics coming (ph), win the general election without that as part of any immigration reform?
DOUTHAT: Well, first of all, I don't think it's clear that there isn't -- there isn't that candidate who supports the path to citizenship. As far as I can tell, candidates like Marco Rubio, who still has a very good chance at the nomination, and Jeb Bush have sort of danced around that issue, tried to avoid being pinned down necessarily, but in the last Republican presidential debate, Rubio explicitly said he would support some kind of path to citizenship after certain enforcement measures had been met.
Now that's quite different from the bill that he supported several years ago which had much weaker enforcement mechanisms, but he is still holding that possibility out there.
So I don't think it's disappeared entirely. I also would say that I think Republicans can't win Hispanic votes if they sound like Donald Trump, there's no question about that.
But I don't think that most Hispanic voters in the U.S. aren't single- issue voters. They don't vote on immigration alone and they're -- the idea that you have to be kind of open borders candidate, that you have to support a sweeping immigration reform to get 30 to 35 percent of the Hispanic vote, which is what Republicans need seems false.
BARNETT: Great to get your views on all of this. Ross Douthat joining us from Ridgefield, Connecticut, our CNN political commentator.
Now it's a Christmas tradition dating back to 1812. Showing you live pictures here coming to us from Spain for the draw for El Gordo. That's Spanish for the "fat one." It's already started. Some kids there helping out. I think they're singing along as well. This is the world's largest lottery based on total prize payout.
The annual event takes hours to complete. This runs somewhat like a raffle and will have thousands of winners. The top prize is capped at $4.3 million. Millions of folks around the world buy tickets at $218 a pop. We'll keep you posted on who wins.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter has been banned from football by his own organization. We'll take you to the -- we'll actually tell you what he's doing to fight back after this short break. Stay with us.
[03:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARNETT: Welcome back to those of you watching here in the U.S. and folks tuned in all around the world. This is "CNN Newsroom." I'm Errol Barnett. It's your last half hour with me today. Let's check the headlines.
The first victim has been pulled from the wreckage in Shenzhen, China. A massive landslide hit the city on Sunday when a pile of construction waste grew so high it collapsed.
Seventy-six people are still missing as thousands of rescue workers search through the debris for survivors.
A suicide bomber on a motor bike has killed six U.S. service members in Afghanistan. It happened near the U.S. base in the Bagram district.
Three other Americans, two service members and a civilian contractor were wounded. The Taliban have claimed responsibility.
The rocket company SpaceX has made another step in revolutionizing space travel. It successfully landed a rocket booster Monday evening after using it to deploy 11 small satellites into space.
The booster's safe return means it can now be reused which will save a lot of money for a future launch.
Now a group of Muslims are being hailed for a heroic act in Kenya. When al-Shabaab militants ambushed their bus on Monday, the Muslim passengers say they shielded the Christian passengers, kept them from being singled out and they told the gunmen they would rather die together.
The gunmen left but we're told two people were killed in this incident. David McKenzie joins us now live from Nairobi with more on this. David, pretty incredible. Just tell us exactly happened there.
DAVID MCKENZIE, SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Errol. Certainly extremely brave and unifying moments here in Kenya, right on the border of Somalia.
Now, that's what we're learning from a witness just moments ago telling us that bus had consolidated two groups of passengers. There were more than 100 people on that bus as it was traveling down that road.
They had left a police escort when bullets sprayed the bus from this al-Shabaab militants, these nine gunmen on the road, more in the bushes. It was clearly an orchestrated ambush of some kind.
Now, that witness, a paralegal, said this is in fact what happened. They told the people off the bus as they have in previous attacks. There are about a dozen Christians on board, says this witness. Some were on the roof of the bus, some hid inside the bus.
The Muslim passengers helped them hide. The women who were Christians were given hijabs, the head scarves, by the Muslim passengers.
They all alighted the bus. And when the gunmen said that they will kill the Muslims, I mean, the Christians, they all said, you know, actually, we're all Muslims. Kill us if you want. And eventually the gunmen left the scene.
[03:35:00] So it appears they kind of hid the Christians, and very brave moments in Kenya and certainly in that part of Kenya where there have been a spade of attacks like this when Muslims are separated from the Christians and the Christians have been executed by al-Shabaab militants trying to sew a division. So, extremely, a brave moment by those passengers. Errol?
BARNETT: Certainly very brave and selfless. And it's fascinating really anywhere in the world where there have been -- there are so many efforts to divide people based on faith. But talk to me more about how important this is in a country like Kenya where there have been attacks by terrorists (inaudible) people based on faith.
MCKENZIE: You know, that's right. And there have been a number of incursions into Kenya by Somali militants from al-Shabaab in recent years. Most dramatically and tragically, of course, earlier this year, at Garissa University in Kenya where they came into that university and killed scores, more than 100, I believe, students were killed in that attack.
And they also separated them out. Now the witness we said -- we spoke to said, you know, the people in that region are tired of this. They're tired of these efforts to divide them, and one Kenyan politician summed it up quite nicely with the reaction from the Kenyan people.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSEPH NKAISSERY, KENYAN INTERIOR CABINET SECRETARY: We are all Kenyans. We are not separated by religion. Everybody can profess his own religion but we still we are one country, we are one people.
That was a very good message from our brothers and sisters from the Muslim community.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCKENZIE: Well, as we head to Christmas for our Christians around the world celebrating this holiday. Certainly it is a strong message from the Muslim community in northern Kenya that at least those on that bus refused to give in to fear. Errol?
BARNETT: Unfortunate that there were deaths associated with this incident but it could have been much worse. So great to hear that there were people working together. David McKenzie, live for us in Nairobi, 11:36 in the morning there.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter has come out swinging after football's world governing body handed him an eight-year ban. Blatter denies violating FIFA'S code of ethics and it seems he's not going down without a fight. CNN'S Alex Thomas reports.
ALEX THOMAS, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: His four decades of FIFA may be heading for a shameful conclusion, but Sepp Blatter did still draw a crowd. Little more than an hour after being banned from all football for eight years, he defiantly proclaimed his innocence at a packed news conference. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you say about it?
SEPP BLATTER, FIFA PRESIDENT: None. I'm still the president. Even suspended, I am the president. The president must be relieved of his duties otherwise you cannot elect another president. I am -- I am not ashamed. I regret, but I am not ashamed.
THOMAS: But answer is buying to fight to the end despite being castigated by the ethics committee, they'd admitted there wasn't enough evidence of corruption to ban the 79-year-old for life but did find him and UEFA President Michel Platini guilty of four code breaches including conflict of interest.
The committee said Blatter did not show commitment to an ethical attitude and demonstrated an abusive execution of his position as president of FIFA.
BLATTER: I'm sorry that I am, as president of FIFA, this punching ball and I'm sorry for football, but I'm also sorry about me, how I am treated in this road (ph) of humanity -- humanitarian qualities.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
THOMAS: Both Blatter and Platini will appeal the bans. And for the latter, time is against them. There's a FIFA appeals process to go through. Then the verdict could be challenged at the court of arbitration for sport.
Blatter even mentioned going to the Swiss civil courts. But will the final list of FIFA presidential candidates be finalized a month before the next election, Platini has until January 26th effectively to clear his name.
If he doesn't, these will be the five men on the ballot paper in February and FIFA'S critics will say none of the names stand out as an inspiring choice to lead the organization out of the biggest crisis in its 111-year history. Alex Thomas, CNN.
BARNETT: Now one contender to replace Blatter as FIFA'S president is using the chaos as an opportunity for a stump speech. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOKYO SEXWALE, FIFA PRESIDENTIAL CANDIATE: Football is not broken but it is heartbroken. I think it would be taking it too far to say that FIFA should be liquidated certainly, and I can understand why people say that.
Of course, more than 50 of the FIFA leaders are have now -- at nine different stages of -- others on the run, others are at hiding, others are suspended, others arrested.
[03:40:00] One can understand why some of the people can expel (ph) those issues, but certainly we can't talk about the liquidation of FIFA. I think FIFA requires leadership by men and women who could be able to stand up to restore its image and to make sure that good governors take place.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: The election for the next president of FIFA will be held in February. Yesterday, we were telling you about fresh anger in India over a savage gang rape three years ago.
Well, just ahead, we'll take a closer look at whether women are any safer there now. More on that after this.
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BARNETT: In Sao Paolo, Brazil, officials are investigating this fire. It gutted one of South America's most popular museums. One firefighter died battling the flames at the Museum of the Portuguese Language, a more than 100-year-old museum is closed on Monday which is credited with averting more casualties. Officials say the cultural loss may be minimized, thanks to backups and archives. Sao Paolo's governor says the museum will be rebuilt.
India's top court said it has no choice but to uphold the release of the youngest man convicted of a brutal gang rape three years ago. His release on Sunday renewed the anger over the vicious attack.
The victim died of her injuries. The man was a minor at the time of the 2012 crime and served the maximum legal penalty for a juvenile. But that release is raising questions about whether India is doing enough to protect women. Sumnima Udas looks at what's changed since that attack.
SUMNIMA UDAS, INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A day after the release of the youngest of the six men involved in the most savage gang rape India has ever seen, the question on many people's minds, what's changed? Are women safer? We go on a patrol with one of Delhi's highest ranking female police officers.
MONIKA BHARADWAJ, PONDICHERRY SENIOR SUPERINTENDENT OF POLICE: People had the perception that the police have not been doing enough. To change that long years started and trusting by the people. We try to enough make police more visible so that even if the force is lesser in number, the impact is more.
[03:45:00] UDAS: Monika Bharadwaj, grew up in Delhi. Even though she's strong and independent, until a few years ago, she'd never think about going to the police.
BHARADWAJ: Nobody dared to speak about it, even though something happened with me, I will never go to the police station. But now I see, regarding this, that girls go and report such things. They don't hesitate calling hundred number. They are now more forthcoming about it, so this is a big change.
UDAS: The police were often accused of being largely corrupt, inefficient and insensitive towards women. Now they go from street to street, school to school to change that perception. A woman's help desk with female police officers 24/7 has been set up at every single police station in New Delhi, and act which anyone in trouble can press the SOS button and police could track your GPS details and be there within minutes. Just a few of the many changes that are already making a difference. Are these changes effective? Have you noticed a difference?
BHARADWAJ: This has given a confidence to the women. The first thing is reporting -- the first problem we had was reporting, nobody was reporting it.
UDAS: There is no question people are more aware, women more emboldened. The once taboo topic is now discussed at length. India now has some of the strongest anti-rape laws in the world, but many say that may not be enough.
As a woman do you still feel like there's a long way to go?
BHARADWAJ: We have a typical patriarchal society. It is going to take some time. For example, I will give you, she is a lady officer. Still she is doing so well. So there's still -- will stay for some time.
UDAS: What's needed is a change in mind set, how women are viewed, and that is not easily done. Sumnima Udas, CNN, New Delhi.
BARNETT: The man accused of providing guns to the shooters in San Bernardino, California, will stay in jail. A Federal magistrate denied bail Monday for 24-year-old Enrique Marquez.
He is suspected of buying rifles used by Syed Rizwan Farook and Farook's wife, Tashfeen Malik. Authorities say Marquez and Farook also planned terror attacks years ago but never carried one out. Farook and Malik attacked Farook's co-workers earlier this month, killing 14 people. The couple later died in a shootout with police.
Now, the U.S. is taking action just months after the killing of Cecil the lion caused international outrage, details next.
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PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN INTERNATIONAL METEOROLOGIST: Good day to you. Pedram Javaheri, CNN Weather Watch starting off across the Americas right now with the western U.S. getting plummeted by an active storm tracker of the jet stream. If you look up there, the winds exceeding 200 kilometers per hour above this weather pattern right here, so we're really forcing tremendous uplift over this region.
The Mountains, they're going to get a significant amount of snow falling (ph) just about every single state just west of the continental divide with some sort of a winter weather advisory or warning and notice the trend continues packing in the moisture over the next couple of days. Certainly good news for the skiers, the snowboarders, and it looks like this the next 24 hours.
Incredible to think this is a 24-hour perspective. Parts of California that had major deficits in the snowfall across that region could actually exceed an area where some surplus could be discussed by this time next week.
We haven't seen that in a very long time. While on the eastern side of the U.S. it's quite the opposite story there. Extreme warmth taking place into Christmas Eve and eventually Christmas Day. The warmth could actually push into parts of Quebec where the 20s -- the 20s are a possibility.
[03:50:00] We're talking temps here with "T" and say September into October across southern Canada, you can se by this -- later this week across the northeastern portion of the U.S. on into southern Canada, but (inaudible) temperature trend, Montreal about 6 degrees. Denver same story and talk about record keep, how about over 6,000 record temperatures set across the United States in the first 20 days of the month.
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BARNETT: Five months after a hunter shot and killed Cecil the lion in Zimbabwe, the U.S. is now moving to protect the animals in parts of Africa and India.
The Fish and Wildlife Service will list the lions as endangered or threatened. Special rules will push countries to regulate sport hunting and there will be restrictions on trophy body parts coming back into the States. One expert says Cecil's case was a turning point.
JEFF FLOCKEN, INTERNATIONAL FUND FOR ANIMAL WELFARE, NORTH AMERICA REGIONAL DIRECTOR: The Cecil the lion incident opened up a whole new dialogue about trophy hunting. Up to that point it's been kind of off limits. Animal protecting groups like IFAW or (inaudible) as well as other one like you made decide is born free petitioned the U.S. government to protect lions five years ago.
And at the time, no one thought it was possible because trophy hunters had so much power and sway. Any time they said they're going conservation, they would just accept it. Today's ruling, however, says that that's not going to be the status quo anymore.
If trophy hunters want to kill and peril or hunt any animals like lions or elephants, they're going to have to prove it and prove that it is not hurting the conservation of the species in the wild.
BARNETT: The U.S. agency says the drastic decline in lion populations in the wild led to the designation.
Now many places around the world may have been unseasonably warm, this Christmas they may be, in fact. Many people in the northern hemisphere expect snow this time of year, but parts of the U.S. will see record highs throughout the week.
And Europe is set to be especially warm as well. The Russian capital, Moscow, already set a new record high this week. Meteorologist, Pedram Javaheri, joins us with more on this. We've got friends in Moscow.
JAVAHERI: That's right. BARNETT: Why is it so warm there and here and the northern hemisphere?
JAVAHERI: It all goes to what's happening with El Nino. Record El Nino. So water temperatures actually in one particular part of the world, the Pacific Ocean, the equatorial region of the Pacific, are displacing the jet stream which drives the weather patterns and then it's making it anomalously warm in certain areas and certainly cold in other areas, as well. And we'll break that down here because an incredible trend.
In Moscow, as we talk about our friends there, normal temperature, they know it very well, minus 4 Celsius, about 25 degrees Fahrenheit. That is the afternoon high temperature on any given late December day. They warmed and topped out at 9 degrees Celsius, so 25 Fahrenheit is your low. They made it up to 50 about degrees Fahrenheit, doubling what is their average in Fahrenheit, or 13 degrees Celsius above the norm shattering the record.
Remains historically warm there as it's heading on to Tuesday afternoon's high temperature. In London across the U.K., this is Alexandra Palace Park. You see there the flowers beginning to blossom across parts of the world. Temperatures so warm, they're actually seeing some of the plants believe that it's spring and the temperatures begin to spark some of the growth there.
But this is what's happened the first two weeks of the month of December across the U.K. The southern tier, 3.5 degrees Celsius or 6 about degrees Fahrenheit above normal. Get into the midlands, up to 2.5 degrees above normal, even on into Scotland experiencing well above normal temperatures.
And of course, with all this said, just in the past four to five hours we know the official beginning of the winter season, it's the shortest day of the year today across the northern hemisphere. Of course, take a look at the southern hemisphere, it's the longest day of the year beginning tomorrow. In the northern hemisphere days will begin to get longer all the way until we get to the middle portion, the latter portion of June.
But talking about the southern hemisphere, take a look at this. You'd ask yourself where winter is. Certainly it's nowhere to be found and you take a look at Atlanta, Georgia, and Sydney, Australia in comparison, Friday is your Christmas Day temperature. It will be warmer in Atlanta in winter than Sydney across in the summer season. Incredible temperature swing there.
[03:55:00] Of course, Sydney begins to moderate a little bit towards the next couple of days, but here we go with temps 31 to 32 degrees above normal.
I've said this, that if you take this pattern and you put it into the month of July, you're talking about 100 Fahrenheit or 40 Celsius widespread across parts of the United States. That is how remarkably warm this pattern is.
And so warm, in fact, that in New York City it will be warmer than in Los Angeles over the next coming couple of days. It seems really people are enjoying it. We know over 6,000 record temperatures have been set in the month of December.
And then you take a look at 2015 on a global scale, 2015 is running away there being the warmest year ever observed compared to 20th century observations. You come back down. There's 2014, second place way behind 2015, then you have 2010, 2013, 2009, 2005, are some of the years observed.
So you can see where we stand and of course with the way December is shaping up and wrapping up, this will kind of emphasize this incredible warmth. And again, it is nice, Errol, in December. But if you put this into July and you talk 30 above normal ...
BARNETT: Right.
JAVAHERI: It is deadly.
BARNETT: okay.
JAVAHERI: It's something worth to notice.
BARNETT: Serious stuff. Thankfully, though, warm weather isn't dampening the Holiday spirit ...
JAVAHERI: No.
BARNETT: ... around the world. It's first time Pedram and I are seeing this video. Take a look at the situation in Tokyo. One man spreading cheer by running through the streets as a Christmas tree.
He says, he noticed that many areas of the city were decorated and some were not, so he decided to spruce things up with lights and ornaments of his own, you could say.
JAVAHERI: Oh, my goodness.
Barnett: Spreading some cheer, don't you?
JAVAHERI: That will do it. That will do it.
BARNETT: Have you ever donned an outfit like that, Pedram?
JAVAHERI: No. Ugly sweater day, you can party. You can probably pull that off. Call it a sweater.
BARNETT: Now, you've got ideas.
JAVAHERI: Yes.
BARNETT: All right, thanks for watching, everyone. I'm Errol Barnett. "Early Start" is next for those of you in the States. For everyone else, this is "CNN Newsroom." see you tomorrow.
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