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Black Lives Matter Protests; Battle Against ISIS; Deadly Storms. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired December 24, 2015 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:00]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): His lungs were underdeveloped, his kidneys shut down. Emanuel had surgeries on his heart and his eyes before he was three weeks old. Two days after giving birth, his mother died, leaving him in the care of his grandmother, Nani (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was told that he would have chronic lung disease all his life. He wouldn't be able to walk. He wouldn't be able to talk. So I dismissed anything negative and I worked with Emanuel around the clock. I literally have poured myself in him.

GUPTA: At age 8, he can only say 10 words. Now 11 years old, he can express himself and tries to prevent the type of violence that killed his mom. With Nani's help, he wrote a comic book starring himself as a super hero who fights bullies.

EMMANUEL HAWKINS, "SUPER LOVE BOY": My voice is being heard.

GUPTA: The free comic book is going to be turned into an anti- bullying public service announcement.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Life happens, but you can turn it around for the good.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: At the top of the hour, now 3:00 here in the East.

And we have to start with some breaking news out of North Carolina, folks, police responding to reports of gunfire inside of a shopping mall in Charlotte, North Carolina. We don't have a lot of details right now.

The little details that we have coming in, let's get to Victor Blackwell. He's following all of this.

A lot of that we don't know, Victor, of course with a lot of breaking news when it's developing. Tell us what we know so far.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kate, a collection of accounts from local police and employees there in the mall and eyewitnesses.

What we know is this happened at the North Lake Mall there in Charlotte, North Carolina, just after 2:00 today. We're told there was a confrontation outside of the Journeys store, which is a shoe store near the Dillard's, which is a department store there.

There was a confrontation and at one point a man pulled out a gun. We know that there afterward was an officer-involved shooting. And one person was shot by an officer. Now there are conflicting reports from our affiliates there, WSOC and WBTV, on the condition of that person who was shot, but we know that one person was shot there.

We do not know about arrests. We don't know about other injuries. But we're told there were some evacuations there at the mall. We have from one of the persons who was shopping, a Lauren Malone, who heard the gunshots there, she said it was a boom, boom, boom. She thought there was scaffolding falling, but then she realized that they were gunshots.

Employees started to pull down the gates and close doors to try to protect the customers. Some people, we have seen on social media outside of the mall after some of the evacuations, but you can imagine this is Christmas Eve. Crowds of people who either just got paid and now have the option to go buy presents or procrastinated, malls traditionally are crowded at this time.

So what we know again, one person shot by an officer after a confrontation. One person pulled out a gun. Still waiting to get some clarity about the condition of the person who was shot by the officer and what really started this confrontation, Kate.

BOLDUAN: From what I hear from you, the little details that are coming in, it doesn't sound like this is ongoing, though. Is that the sense that you're getting, Victor?

BLACKWELL: That's what we're getting, that this was something that was small in scope, that this was a confrontation between either two people or a small group of people. And one person's response to either something someone did or said pulled out a gun and then an officer fired one shot.

We don't know from our affiliates there, from the accounts, if the officer indeed shot the person who pulled out that gun. One would assume, but we're waiting for confirmation and clarity. But this seems to be small in scope, not some large-scale event here.

BOLDUAN: Right. And the extent of the injuries, again, we do not know. We don't know who is in custody, if anyone is in custody. A lot of details, we don't know. We will be watching this. Victor is working on this. And we will bring you much more as we get it.

Victor, thanks so much. BLACKWELL: You got it.

BOLDUAN: Now let's turn to the devastating blow to the Southeast on Christmas Eve. Deadly storms have killed at least 10 people in the last 24 hours, dozens more injured.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TERESA MCKAY, SURVIVOR: Yes. And we was well-blessed. We heard the -- like a train. And when we made it to the door, all we could see, it was just black. And behind that, it was just red. And we managed to get out of the house.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: One of the states hardest-hit is Mississippi. You are going to see here in slow motion how the storm even turned over this tractor-trailer. Just amazing, the power that this storm can punch.

One analysis estimates that at least 14 tornadoes actually hit that state. Most of the damage appears to have come from a single twister. It may have been on the ground for 150 miles, traveling all the way to Tennessee. Later this afternoon, Mississippi's governor, he plans to survey the damage himself in Holly Springs. Says he is on the way.

I spoke with him by phone earlier today.

[15:05:05]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. PHIL BRYANT (R), MISSISSIPPI: Yes, unfortunately, this has been a tough holiday season. The storm system came in shortly after 4:00 yesterday afternoon, 14 tornadoes.

The largest one, we think, was about 150 miles across the state of Mississippi, virtually from the Mississippi River across the delta into Northeast Mississippi. And we have got a 35-person search and rescue system that is in effect now going through those counties, damaged areas, house by house.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Now, tornadoes are unusual in December. This is normally what we think of something that happens in spring, though one hit Mississippi almost exactly a year ago.

Yesterday, storm chasers from LiveStormsNow.com captured video of a twister in Mississippi as it churned toward traffic and knocked one tractor-trailer on its side. Reportedly, the driver of that rig was OK.

Let me turn now to Brett Adair from LiveStormsNow.com.

Brett, you were with your colleagues as you shot that video. Give me a sense of what you saw as the storm ripped through. BRETT ADAIR, LIVESTORMSNOW.COM: It was incredible.

We were fairly close to the tornado as it got out of the river delta. We were on Ballentine Road just southwest of Sardis, Mississippi, and watched this thing develop into a big monster as it moved in our direction. And we knew that it showed no signs of stopping when we were filming it.

BOLDUAN: How do you know that when you're filming it? Because the report that we have seen that there was one twister could have been on the ground for 150 miles is just amazing. How did that look different from maybe a different -- other tornadoes you have seen?

ADAIR: Right.

Well, I'm a meteorologist, and we had been monitoring the setup for days. And we knew the potential was there. All of the dynamics were there for a springtime-type tornado event. And when those storms started blowing up and we knew that they were going to be a long track with parameters in place and then when we got a visual on it, it was a major multi-vortex tornado that congealed.

And when they move at 50 and 60 miles per hour, they can track across a lot of real estate in a hurry.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely, 50 and 60 miles an hour. How fast are you then going to try to stay in front of it or behind it or out of its way?

ADAIR: We were prepared for that. We tried to set up to the east of the tornado. And we did.

And, luckily, the tornado passed just to the north and west of us. But you definitely have to keep up some speed to stay with those storms. But we got to some of the damage areas and tried to assist there as we could once the storm had passed.

BOLDUAN: The governor has said in Mississippi the death toll there is six. Over the three states, right now, the death toll stands at 10. As you said, you're a meteorologist. I want to get your take on this.

Our meteorologist Chad Myers, he had said when you look at how strong the storm was, how long this twister could have been on the ground, how fast it was moving, there was the potential for there to be far more people killed, not to say this is not devastating in and of itself. But do you think that the damage could even have been worse?

ADAIR: Oh, absolutely.

If I'm not mistaken, the core of the tornado came very close to the Wal-Mart in Holly Springs.

BOLDUAN: Wow.

ADAIR: They took a hit, but not a direct hit. If those shopping plazas had been hit directly, you would see the casualty count go up tremendously. But I know Chad very well. And he's going to agree with me on this.

The National Weather Service offices of Jackson, Memphis and the Storm Prediction Center did an excellent job of getting those warnings out there so that these people could be prepared for what was coming.

BOLDUAN: Yes. I keep saying it. Even though meteorologists keep correcting me that, yes, Kate, there are tornadoes in December, it's still quite unusual. What's the source of it?

ADAIR: This particular setup was very unusual.

Everybody is talking about an El Nino, and El Nino may have a little bit of a factor in there, but this was just a very broad trough that came into the country, and honestly we had abundant moisture, which we usually get here in the South, but maybe not this late in December. Those dynamics coupled with the moisture set the stage for a deadly event, unfortunately.

BOLDUAN: I'm looking down, Brett, because, unfortunately, we just got an alert. The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency is reporting now seven people have been killed in that state. That brings the total death toll at this moment to 11 in that region. I do recall when the governor was talking to me, he said two people were still missing. And that was there their biggest concern is, is right now.

ADAIR: Yes. It's just terrible.

Unfortunately, we encountered the young child on Highway 7 just north of County Road 4 in Holly Springs yesterday on that fatality and while we were assisting rescue. It's hitting me hard. I have young children. Today, I'm just hugging them a little bit tighter and thankful to be here with them on Christmas Eve.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely.

And what Brett is talking about is there was a 7-year-old boy who was among the dead in Mississippi.

[15:10:02]

Brett, thank you very much for coming on to speak with us. We appreciate it. Merry Christmas, man.

ADAIR: Merry Christmas to you guys.

BOLDUAN: Thanks so much.

So, where is this severe weather system headed next?

(WEATHER UPDATE)

BOLDUAN: Also happening right now, protesters in Chicago trying to shut down the city's shopping district this Christmas Eve. They are calling for -- they are trying to call attention to this. They want Mayor Emanuel out. They want him to resign in the wake of high- profile police shootings. We are going to take you there live. Plus, Iraqi security forces are locked in a fierce battle with ISIS.

They are now going house to house trying to clear thousands of IEDs in their path. Video from the ground, that's ahead.

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[15:16:15]

BOLDUAN: Scores of activists are spending Christmas Eve -- you see right there -- trying to shut down Chicago's main shopping district.

Protesters with the Black Lives Matter are marching along the Magnificent Mile. They want to draw attention to what they call a nationwide racial bias within police departments mainly against African-Americans. Today's rally also comes as we are hearing for the first time the dispatch audiotapes in the deadly police shooting of Laquan McDonald.

The recording reveals police made repeated calls for a Taser before one officer shot and killed McDonald. Listen.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

911 OPERATOR: So, I got to hold air, so I can help with (INAUDIBLE) asking for a Taser for an offender with a knife. Anybody close?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're about two blocks away.

911 OPERATOR: Let me know when he's in custody, guys.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shots fired by police. Shots fired by police.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get an ambulance over here.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: All right, let's focus more on the protests that are happening right now, activists on the Magnificent Mile.

Our Ryan Young is walking among the protesters. Also joining me right now is the civil rights attorney Charles Coleman Jr. and Illinois State Representative La Shawn Ford.

Ryan, let's get to you.

I think we have the video racked up. I want to play it for our viewers. You can tell me what happened. You said when we last came to you it was pretty peaceful. It was very peaceful. There were some tense moments ago though among protesters and police. Tell me what happened.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right here in front of the H&M store, you can see everybody actually rush toward that door. They were going to block it off like they blocked off the Apple Store.

There were some people were trying to get in. Some people were trying to get out. And at that point, the officers moved in to make sure the people that wanted to get in and out could. There was a little bit of pushing and shoving, but besides that they were able to herd everyone out of the way.

Now, just as you started this live shot, everyone started walking. So we're going to try to catch up with the rest of the protests, but we wanted to show you the front of the store. What certain groups of the protesters are doing is they are just blocking random stores as they are walking down.

They blocked the H&M store. Now they are blocking the Columbia store. They're going to move down to the Topshop. But this protest in number has decreased in size every half-hour since the last time we talked to you. I think the group now is 35 to 40 people. And then sometimes it swells depending on what intersection that it gets to, because some people just get off the sidewalk and join the protest and then two blocks down they get out of the protest and they go on about their business.

It's kind of interesting.

BOLDUAN: Yes, it is interesting.

YOUNG: The energy from this crowd is -- go ahead.

BOLDUAN: Go ahead. Go ahead. Go ahead, Ryan.

YOUNG: No, I was going to say the energy is different here because there have been some people who are saying, look, this is not the normal Black Lives Matter group that usually comes out in Chicago and protests.

We have actually seen some of the energy that we normally notice from the crowd is not here, because some of the vocal leaders, the ones who kind of take control of the crowd, have the plans, those folks haven't been here. Some of them have started to show up and now you can start hearing the coordinated chants that we have grown accustomed to, the ones you can tell that have been practicing and have come out and they get the crowd going and they make sure that the crowd stays together, especially going from each intersection when they say 16 shots, 16 shots.

That refocus has happened probably in the last five or six minutes, but the crowd is tremendously smaller than what it has been before. In fact, you see this group right here? And I want to turn this for you. Look here. Now look down Michigan Avenue. The other half of the protesters walked off.

Like, they are not even listening to the people with the bullhorns who are saying -- giving the chants. And you can tell this is a fragmented protest.

BOLDUAN: Ryan, stick with us.

I want to bring in -- as we continue to look at these live images, because we really want to keep an eye on it. Let me bring in Charles Coleman, as well as La Shawn Ford.

[15:20:03]

So, Charles, let me bring you in to this.

Your background, you're a civil rights attorney. Talk to me what you think the impact of protests like this -- they want a big impact. They want to get eyeballs for a good reason, for reasons that they truly believe. They take to this -- what they want is an economic boycott. They want to impact commerce on the Magnificent Mile. What's the impact of it?

CHARLES COLEMAN JR., CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: I think the thing that we have to understand is that we have been seeing over and over again that America begins to pay attention when you hit people in the pocketbook.

That's something that's been age-old and time-tested. It really became obvious when you look at the University of Missouri and what happened there with Jonathan Butler and the football team there. As soon as the football team got involved and commerce was affected, that's when actions started to happen.

That's when change began to occur. So the economic boycott is intended to really not only boost awareness, but also serve as a catalyst to actual action. And that's why you're seeing really hard areas of commerce being hit, because that's what protesters want.

They want to draw attention to these things. They want to draw attention to areas that are economic flow points and really congest those and disrupt those, because that's the way that we are seeing people are going to act.

BOLDUAN: Do you think, Charles, that this protest that has had varying numbers, as Ryan Young on the ground has been watching it, they have grown and they have swelled and also shrank in size -- do you think it is going to have the impact that they want?

COLEMAN: I think you have to understand the importance of what protest is.

Protest is space making. Protest is intended to essentially create space to have conversation and dialogue and action that's not already existing. And so it's hard to determine right now whether the protests that are taking place in Chicago will have an immediate impact, but I do think that if you're talking about economic impact and sort of disrupting and constricting the flow of commerce, they are going to be effective in that way.

And I do think that that is going to ultimately in the long-term push those conversations and use that space to create change. So, while the impact -- while the extent of the impact remains to be seen, I do think it's very possible that this protest, in combination with all of the others, will definitely be effective.

BOLDUAN: And, state Representative Ford, as Charles is talking about pushing the conversation, that's also something that you want to do. You are one of the state lawmakers that is trying to push for legislation that would allow for the recall of Mayor Emanuel, as these protesters are calling for.

Last time we spoke, you had just introduced that legislation. Where do things stand now with that?

LA SHAWN FORD (D), ILLINOIS STATE REPRESENTATIVE: Well, merry Christmas, Ms. Bolduan.

BOLDUAN: Thank you.

FORD: I think that the people are really coming together in Chicago. And anything that's going to be worthwhile will take time. This is the holiday season.

And I want to thank the protesters for coming out today to stand up and protest for what they believe in. People are at home with their families, but these people out here are protesting because they believe that change must come.

It's Christmas. And what better Christmas present than life, liberty and the ability to pursue happiness in this country? That's what they are fighting for.

BOLDUAN: When you really talk about what folks want, when they want to bring about change, and one of the changes that obviously they are looking for here, as you and I have discussed, is getting the mayor out.

I mean, Mayor Emanuel, he has made absolutely no suggestion that he was going to step down. Short of your legislation passing and there being what would necessarily be a long recall effort, what is going to change that?

FORD: I think that the recall is a mechanism that we use and will be using to mobilize people to show the disenfranchisement of blacks and people, Latinos and different people in the city and show that we are together around a policy agenda.

And I think that the more we come together around an issue that will not require you to be out in the streets all the time shutting down businesses, we will be able to show the world that we are not happy with the mayor of the city of Chicago. And he will feel the pressure, because with the sit-ins and the legislation, that's what great democracy is all about.

So, what we're going to see, the business community, they're losing money, and you're going to see that they are going to turn on the mayor as well. And so now you're going to have the working-class people, the unemployed and the business community saying enough is enough. We have to get our city back in order.

BOLDUAN: Let's end this conversation and let's get back down to the street where all the action is.

Let's get back to Ryan.

Ryan, you're following these protests. I think you're walking with them again. It changes every moment. What's the plan? Where are they headed now?

YOUNG: Well, you know what? We thought they were going to try to make a move to Lake Shore Drive, but the police officers were not having any part of that. They have that area blocked off. That was the north end.

[15:25:00]

Now we're going back south back down toward Michigan Avenue. It's funny that I heard you guys talking about the mayor because some people have been talking about that idea. One of the things they have said -- and I have heard a couple protesters say this -- look, they are not looking for the mayor to resign actually. Some people are holding signs.

Some are saying, look, we want Anita Alvarez gone. And they would like to keep the pressure on the mayor to make significant changes throughout the city, because they understand someone has to be left behind to kind of fix their issues. It's kind of interesting. You talk to different people in the crowd, they have different ideas about how this goes.

That's what people have different opinions. Right? But one of the things they wanted to make sure is, you understand that this crowd is different. It's black, it's white, it's Hispanic. And you see people who are literally shopping and they just stop shopping and they get off the -- and they come on the street and they start marching with people for two, three blocks.

Then they get out and they go back to shopping. So it's kind of interesting to see how this crowd has changed in the last few hours. We have even seen almost like a shuffle of some people handing signs to others and they give up their sign and someone else takes over. It's kind of been interesting to watch.

As we turn this way so you can see us going south on Michigan now, down the Magnificent Mile, we're right in front of the Banana Republic store and the Ralph Lauren store. But no one is going to those doors. It's very -- you don't know why they are picking the certain stores they do to block every now and then.

But we're headed back toward the Apple Store. I can only imagine maybe they're going to block that store again when they get that way.

BOLDUAN: Can be just the natural, kind of organic way that protests develop. We're watching that and a lot of different opinions and a lot of different voices being heard there in that protest Chicago.

Ryan Young is in it.

Ryan, thank you so much.

Charles Coleman Jr., state Representative Ford, we appreciate your time. Thank you, gentlemen.

COLEMAN: Thank you.

FORD: Thank you. Have a merry Christmas.

BOLDUAN: Thank you. You, too. Thanks so much.

Coming up next for us, the Iraqi army making gains against ISIS in Ramadi, but hundreds of foreign fighters are reportedly holed up still in the city ready to fight to the death. The latest from the battlefield there, that's ahead.

Plus, rumors of a shakeup in the Ben Carson campaign as he takes a big hit in the polls, details on what's happening behind the scenes and the mixed messages coming from that man, Ben Carson.

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