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Mississippi under State of Emergency after Storms; Major Delays at Atlanta, Philadelphia and NYC Airports; Stabbing in West Bank; Embassies Warn Citizens. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired December 24, 2015 - 13:00   ET

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

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[13:00:00]

DANA BASH, CNN HOST (voice-over): Hello, I'm Dana Bash, in for Wolf Blitzer. It's 1:00 pm here in Washington, 2:00 am in Beijing and 8:00 pm in Bethlehem. Wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks for joining us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is CNN breaking news.

BASH: And we begin with the dangerous weather sweeping through the South just as millions of Americans head out to celebrate the holidays. A deadly storm system killing 10 people in three states, some of the worst damage in Mississippi, where at least 14 tornadoes touched down. The governor declaring a state of emergency.

So many families are now facing scenes like this one on the day before Christmas. Roofs ripped off, trees down and debris scattered for miles. Take a look at this, a driver capturing the moment when powerful winds blew over a big rig, sending it barreling into the median.

CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar is tracking the storms but we begin with Victor Blackwell, who has a closer look at the destruction left behind -- Victor.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Dana, as you said, 10 dead across three states and a state of emergency also in Tennessee. Authorities statewide have been spending the morning flying over the hardest-hit areas, trying to get a real handle on the worst of the damage, as people on the ground, the families and the local first responders, are trying to sift through what's left and trying to salvage their holidays.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL (voice-over): This Christmas Eve, parts of the South and Midwest are destroyed after an overnight outbreak of violent tornadoes. Officials fear the death toll could rise; dozens are hurt.

Mississippi suffered the worst of the assault, the Storm Prediction Center says at least 14 tornadoes touched down across the state Wednesday. LANCE MEEKS, TORNADO SURVIVOR: Rolled right over me. Uprooting trees, cutting trees in half and I don't know why I'm still standing here, talking to you all.

BLACKWELL (voice-over): One of those killed in Mississippi, a 7-year- old boy, who was in a car with his family in Holly Springs.

This video was shot by a driver a few miles away near Como. Watch as the twister shoves a tractor-trailer off the road.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, (INAUDIBLE).

BLACKWELL (voice-over): Two people in Mississippi are still unaccounted for.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were in the house and we heard the wind picking up. We just dashed out to the storm shelter and we had 45 seconds and it just hit. We came -- we walked out of the storm shelter, everything was gone.

BLACKWELL (voice-over): In Perry County, Tennessee, the violent storms destroyed at least three homes and snatched power lines as it charged through.

State officials say a 70-year-old man and a 69-year-old woman were killed in the county, a 22-year-old man was killed in Ray County. Strong straight-line winds raced across parts of Arkansas.

NANCY ROBINS, TORNADO SURVIVOR: Everything was just moving sideways and just the sound of the wind and I just -- I jumped and I ran.

BLACKWELL (voice-over): An 18-year-old woman near Atkins was killed when a large tree fell through her roof.

Near Louisville, Kentucky, pounding rains flooded streets.

And in Southern Illinois, this mobile home was shoved off its foundation.

As officials search for the missing and families sift through what's left, some are fighting to stay hopeful.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And God's going to show us a good in this somehow, some way. Only I can't see it right now but I will, I promise.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: We know that Mississippi governor Phil Bryant is either en route or soon will be to the hardest-hit areas to assess the damage for himself and to offer some support there.

We know that at least one shelter is open in that small town of Holly Springs and, of course, there is no good time for this to happen.

But just as you start to countdown the hours into Christmas, this is about the worst -- Dana.

BASH: It sure is, Victor. Thank you for that report.

Now let's get to CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar.

Allison, we're hearing that one of the tornadoes that hit Mississippi may have been on the ground for 150 miles.

Give us the context of that, how widespread that is, compared to what a normal tornado is, if there is such a thing?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, no, definitely. The impressive thing is a lot of times you get these quick spinups, tornadoes that can come down for just a few miles at a time.

But for something to come down for 150 miles is quite impressive. And this is that storm we're talking about.

Initially they think it started somewhere down here in the very southwestern edge -- or western edge of Mississippi and would come up and come back down. Again, we often get them; they're called hoppers. They'll go up and down.

But the overall track going all the way through the Holly Springs areas over Interstate 55 and then gradually up into parts of Tennessee before they finally feel like it finished, if it does hold the case that this was the same tornado the entire time, then, yes, likely to end up being right around --

[13:05:00]

CHINCHAR: -- 150 miles. Again, here is the preliminary track. If you plot it, it goes somewhere between 135 to 145 miles long. And again, we're getting reports that the width of the storm from witnesses was anywhere from half a mile to three-quarters of a mile wide. It's really hard to escape a storm like that when it's just so big.

Again, we have a total of 28 hail reports from yesterday, 170 wind reports and 24 tornado reports. Keep in mind, a lot of those 24 are clustered around what we believe may in fact actual be the same tornado. Now a lot of people keep saying this is not a time of year when we see tornadoes, this is so rare.

It is. In fact, if you look at the scale, December has the lowest number of tornado averages of any other month, springtime definitely is where we see our peak.

But even with that said, it's not completely uncommon to see tornadoes this time of year. We average 24 tornadoes in the month of December every year.

Now the key thing to note, the majority of them end up happening in Texas, where we actually didn't necessarily get any tornado reports out of this storm. But notice, Mississippi, Alabama, also on that list. The good news, Dana, is that today's threat, much, much lower than we had yesterday.

BASH: Well, that is very good news and you're absolutely right. This time of year on Christmas Eve, we're talking about snowstorms happening all across the Northeast at least, maybe sometimes in the Midwest and close to the South, not usually talking about tornadoes. Thanks for that.

And as we mentioned at the top, the governor of Mississippi has declared a state of emergency in the wake of these storms.

Joining me now by phone is Brett Carr, the public information officer for the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.

Brett, first just give us a sense of how the recovery efforts are going.

What's the number one priority right now?

BRETT CARR, MISSISSIPPI EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY: Well, thank you for having us on. The first priority for us right now is life safety. We still had two people that are unaccounted for, one in Benton County and one in Tippah County.

So the main priority right now is to make sure that everyone is accounted for. Our next big priority is life safety for the public; people are out traveling today. They're going to visit family for the holidays.

We're telling people if you have to travel through the areas that have been damaged, try to find an alternate route. But if you can't, just use extra caution as you drive through these areas. There could be downed power lines. There could be trees and debris in the roadways. So please just use extra caution as you travel today.

BASH: Well, you talk about using extra caution.

Do you have a full picture of how bad the damage is and how widespread it is at this point?

We just saw the map, 150 miles, that's huge.

What area was particularly hit the hardest?

CARR: So most of these storms really caused a lot of damage in North Mississippi but our teams are out right now, assessing the damage, trying to put a quantity on how many homes, how many businesses have been damaged. Also the National Weather Service is out today, looking at these storms, trying to make a determination of the F scale, maybe the mile per hour of the winds.

So all those -- all that information will be coming out very soon but I know that it's really hard to put a picture of this up right now, just because there is so much damage and it's so widespread across seven counties in Mississippi.

BASH: And we learned overnight that a 7-year-old boy is among those killed in your state. He was apparently in a car with his family and a tornado blew right through where they were.

What kind of warning did people get before this storm hit to try to seek shelter and not be in a car with a 7-year-old boy?

CARR: So the Storm Prediction Center did a very good job of kind of pinpointing where these storms were going to spawn over the course of yesterday. But the National Weather Service, along with all of the state agencies here in Mississippi, we started talking about this storm several days ago, trying to get the preparedness messaging out, telling people if you're out traveling you need to use extra caution.

Unfortunately, six lives were lost in Mississippi, four in Benton County and two more in Marshall County. But we really tried to push our preparedness message very hard for these storms. We take preparedness very seriously in Mississippi because we're -- this is not something new to us.

In fact, the last four years, we've had severe storms right at Christmas time. So this is something that seems to be a reoccurring trend and we want to make sure that people are prepared all time because Mississippi has very violent weather year-round and we want to make sure that everyone is ready for that at any time of the year.

BASH: And real quick, for those who are watching at home on Christmas Eve, heartbroken, saying, what can I do, what's the short answer to that?

CARR: The short answer right now, go to msdisasterresponse.org. That's msdisasterresponse.org. You can donate, you can volunteer. That's the best way to get help to the folks that need it right now.

BASH: Thank you so much and good luck to you with everything there.

[13:10:00]

BASH: Appreciate your time.

CARR: Thank you.

BASH: Thank you.

And those nasty storms aren't the only thing that could slow down holiday travel. The TSA has new security measures in place that make those controversial body scanners mandatory for some passengers, even if they've asked to opt out and get a pat-down instead.

CNN's Sara Sidner joins us now live from New York's LaGuardia Airport.

Sara, explain these new rules.

How do they work?

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Dana, basically what it means is that, even if you opted out going through this machine, the TSA may take a look at your security profile and may decide that you do indeed have to go through the machine anyway. That is not everyone; you can still try and opt out. Not everyone will be asked to go through the machine anyway.

But it is now a consideration that people need to take into account. We're hearing from, for example, pregnant people, who are like, you know, I really do not want to go through a machine, I'm concerned about my baby, it does have some radiation, although studies have shown that it is such a minuscule amount of radiation that it shouldn't affect the human body negatively.

But still there is concern. And what the TSA is saying, you can still ask for this. You can still say I want a pat down but there will be some people, because of security concern, to try to keep the traveling public safe that will be told no and that they will still have to go through these scanners.

We asked some of the passengers if they had heard anything about this new rule and here's what they had to say. The answer really was no.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're totally in support of anything that they have to do to tighten security because there's too many crazies out there. And so I don't think of it as, you know, as invading my privacy in any way, do whatever you have to do to keep everybody safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: She was a mom of a 4-year old, traveling for first time with her husband and baby. And you can hear that sentiment echoed throughout the crowds that are. People are concerned about terrorism. People are willing to give up some of their freedoms so that they feel safer in the airport.

And so, for most part, things are going quite smoothly, although it's the weather that is causing the brunt of the problems and also the number of people traveling, Dana, the number of people traveling this year, estimates by AAA, 100 million, 5.8 million of those expected to be going through the airports -- Dana.

BASH: That is a huge number. And I was going to ask you about the fact that security is one thing but clearly as we've been reporting, the weather is not good. But you mentioned it's going to be maybe a long trek for a lot of people going home to see their family Christmas time.

Sara, thank you so much for that report.

And straight ahead, violence strikes the heart of the Holy Land as Christians gather for Christmas Eve. A live report from Bethlehem -- next.

And possible new threats to Westerners traveling overseas, the warning from one U.S. embassy it's giving to American citizens.

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[13:16:20] DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: A new wave of Israeli/Palestinian violence in making for a somber Christmas Eve in the biblical city of Bethlehem. Israeli police say a Palestinian man stabbed two security guards at this morning's settlement in - excuse me, at a settlement this morning in the West Bank and it comes just a day after two Israelis were killed in an attack outside the old city of Jerusalem.

CNN's Oren Liebermann joins us now from Bethlehem.

And, Oren, what is the mood like there in Bethlehem. Christians are obviously coming to celebrate Christmas. But in the wake of the attacks, how does that feel?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There is certainly a bit of a somber shadow over the celebrations here at Christmas, but everyone here, for a moment, is trying to put the political situation, the tension, the violence, the clashes aside to truly enjoy Christmas Eve in Bethlehem. Take a look here at Manger Square here behind me. The Church of the Nativity. Framing a beautiful Christmas tree. The crowd, not as big as it should be, but it has filled in a bit throughout the evening, getting ready for midnight mass in just under four hours now. The Latin patriarch of Jerusalem arriving a few hours ago, heading into the Church of the Nativity, the entrance behind that Christmas tree there, and getting ready for midnight mass. That's what the faithful are here waiting for.

But that political situation hangs over this. We've seen extra security up here. We've seen it around the square. And we've gone down into Manger Square quite a few times and seen that security presence. It does give a feeling of security down there. There is a safe feeling and that is very intentional here because everyone here, especially vendors, the tourists and the tour guides are well aware of that political situation and the violence in the region. In fact, it was the State Department, just last week, that issued a travel warning to the region. And the vendor here, the tourism industry says that's had a big hit here. You don't see many Americans here as a consequence. You also don't see many westerners here, many Europeans here.

But everyone who has come out tonight, the faithful, trying to make the best of this evening. There is a choir singing "Silent Night" behind me, trying to make sure that here, in Bethlehem, in one of the holiest places for Christianity, it truly is a merry Christmas here tonight.

Dana.

BASH: Well, Oren, it does look and sound beautiful there. I appreciate it.

But you did, of course, mention the security concerns and the stabbings. So let's get more on that, on the latest violence between Israelis and Palestinians. Joining me now from Jerusalem is Mark Regev, spokesman for the Israeli government and recently appointed ambassador to the U.K.

Thanks for joining me, I guess, Mr. Ambassador I should call you now.

Since September, there have been near daily stabbings around Jerusalem and the West Bank. Does the Israeli government have a set course of action to try to curb this violence?

MARK REGEV, ISRAELI GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN: Yes, we're interested in trying to get things back to normal as soon as possible to try to deescalate the situation. Obviously we've beefed up security to protect our people and tourists trying to make sure especially that this Christmas passes peacefully. But we're also calling on the Palestinians to do more to reign in their extremists. I mean we'd like to see the Palestinian Authority play a more active role against terrorism and for peace.

Ultimately, we've had, what, more than 300 terrorist attacks over the last 100 days. Different sorts of attacks, stabbings, shootings, deliberate use of automobiles to kill people. Some 25 Israelis have been killed, 300 injured. And the Palestinian Authority refuses to condemn these attacks. And so we think the obligation should be placed on them to condemn this terrorism. Unfortunately, they haven't just not condemned it, but they're often praising it and turning these terrorists into martyrs. Now that's the opposite of peace. It's the opposite of the Christmas spirit that people want to embrace today. I think it's time the Palestinian leadership really embraced peace. And if they do so, they'll find in Israel a willing partner.

[13:20:12] BASH: Now, you know, for so many years, people have watched attacks in Israel and heard things about suicide bombers or bombs or other kinds of attacks. This is so different because we're talking, as you said, mostly about stabbings and things like that. You have urged citizens to be vigilant and do their part to protect themselves. There are some pretty big differences in gun laws in the U.S. and Israel. In Israel, where you are, most people, they can carry weapons. They've been trained to do so in the military. But given the current security debate here in the U.S., I'm just curious, have you found that the tactic works there?

REGEV: It's different though in Israel, because in Israel you've got compulsory military service both for men and women.

BASH: Right.

REGEV: And though not everyone does the army, the overwhelming majority of people do. So people who are given afterwards a license to carry a handgun are people who've got military training. And I don't think most democracies have that. And so Israel's different.

But what we do face is, we face a common threat because it's the same extremist Islamists who are stabbing people on the streets of Israel who are attacking people in Paris, France, or in Britain, or in Spain, or what we saw recently in your country in the United States of America. And it must be understood, terrorism isn't Israel's problem, it isn't America's problem. Terrorism is a problem for people across this planet. And just as it's a global threat, terrorism means we've got to act together. It requires a global response.

BASH: You talked a little bit about this at the beginning. But, of course, this is Christmas Eve. Tomorrow is Christmas Day. Talk about the Israeli police plans for added security, particularly in Bethlehem, to protect the Christians there observing the holiday. REGEV: You raise a good issue about the Christians, because we've seen

across the Middle East, with the - with the explosion of extreme Islam, of this sort of radical terrorist ideology, you've seen, you know, some of the most ancient Christian communities on the planet being decimated with Christians running for their lives, fleeing violence, fleeing persecution. And we're not going to let that happen here. I'm proud to tell you that in Israel, freedom of religion is sacrosanct. I'm proud to tell you that in Israel everyone is free to openly practice their faith. And we will do our best to make sure that Christmas passes safely and peacefully as possible. We will protect all the worshippers where we can.

BASH: And given the fact that Christians are under attack in many parts of the world, even the Middle East, does the Israeli government perceive any additional threat during this Christian holiday in your country?

REGEV: We've seen - we've seen some of the Islamist extremists speak out against Christmas. We've seen that in countries across the region. And I think we've always got to be vigilant because they don't believe in diversity, they don't believe in live and let live. They believe Christians and Jews and even more moderate Muslims are their mortal enemy. They want to try to enforce a new dark age, taking us all back to the pre-Medieval period where there aren't any rights, where there is no freedom. And it's important to understand, these extremists are not just enemies of Jews or Christians, they're the enemies of all of us. And we've got to fight this extremism. We've got to fight it militarily. We've got to protect ourselves. And we've also got to fight it ideologically. We've got to expose it for what it is, and it's a - it's an evil reactionary way of thinking that is - that is anti-humanitarian and must be opposed.

BASH: Well, let's just hope that we have a reprieve from all of this as everybody can enjoy the sights of sounds of what's going on now in Bethlehem, the celebrations there today.

Mark Regev, thank you so much for your time. Appreciate it.

REGEV: Thanks for having me and Merry Christmas.

BASH: Thank you. Thank you.

And coming up, Americans traveling abroad being told to stay on alert after embassies warn of possible new threats against westerners. Next, why the location of these threats is especially concerning.

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[13:27:49] BASH: A concerning development out of Beijing on this holiday. Four embassies, the American, British, French and Australians say they have received information of possible threats to westerners. It comes as many are doing their last minute holiday shopping in the popular district of Sanlitun. Beijing police have issued a yellow security alert increasing the number of officers in shopping areas. Matt Rivers is in Beijing with more about these possible threats.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A heightened state of alert here in Beijing after several foreign embassies issued alerts to their citizens urging them to be on guard when traveling in a neighborhood here in the city very popular with westerners. The American, British, French and Australian embassies all sent out notifications on Thursday online and via e-mail to their citizens urging them to be aware of specific threats to westerners in the neighborhood of Sanlitun. Now, none of those embassies would elaborate further on the exact nature of those threats.

Now, Sanlitun is a very popular neighborhood here with westerners. As I mentioned, it is a shopping district, an entertainment district and it is usually very safe.

Now, the Chinese government also issued what's called a yellow alert. That would be the second lowest level on the Chinese government's security alert system. Now, the specific alerts we're referring to large and medium-sized shopping malls here in the city. The government said that there would be added security patrols ahead of the Christmas shopping days here in Beijing.

Now, we did see armed guards outside of the mall in Sanlitun. That would be the mall right in the neighborhood referred to by those foreign embassies in their notifications. And we have also seen an added security presence outside the diplomatic compounds here in the city. Our bureau is actually in a diplomatic compound. And we saw some of those added security measures firsthand.

[13:29:47] Now, all of this is relatively unusual for Beijing, although it does see its fair share of security incidents. It was back in 2013 that a car rammed a security barricade in Beijing's famed Tiananmen Square killing five people. That attack, according to the government, was perpetrated by separatists from the country's western province. Now, it is unclear if the yellow alert issued by the Chinese government had anything to do with the alerts issued --