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Some Encouraging News From The Isis Frat; The Iraqi Army Is Saying, A Key City Will Soon Be Completely Liberated From ISIS; More Than 5,000 People Are Helping Search For Victims Who Could Be Trapped In This Landslide In China; Pope Francis Gives Us Message About Christmas And He Says, "It Is Not All About The Gifts Under The Tree"; Parts Of The U.S. Has Been A Messy And Dangerous And Deadly Christmas Eve Due To The Weather; A Wave Of Storms And Tornadoes Have Been Moving Across The Country, And They May Not Be Over Yet; This Month, Nasa Released The Latest Picture Of Our Planet From A Series Of Shots Taken By Nasa's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Back In October; Christmas Celebrations From All Parts Of The World; The North American Air Defense Center Has Tracked Santa Claus's Route Around The World. Aired 2-2:30a ET

Aired December 25, 2015 - 02:00   ET

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

[02:30:00] NATALIE ALLEN, CNN HOST OF "NEWSROOM" PROGRAM: Some encouraging news from the ISIS frat. The Iraqi army is saying, a key city will soon be completely liberated from ISIS. More than 5,000 people are helping search for victims who could be trapped in this landslide in China.

We will hear from a man who was pulled from that. And, later Pope Francis gives us message about Christmas and he says, "It is not all about the gifts under the tree."

And, welcome to our viewers around the world and merry Christmas to you. I am Natalie Allen and this is CNN Newsroom.

And, we begin in Iraq, where there is encouraging news on the fight against ISIS. The army says, it now controls 70 percent of the city of Ramadi, and that there is close to a crucial government compound held by ISIS. CNN has exclusive video from inside Ramadi.

You can see Iraqi Security Forces in areas they say they liberated. And, one Iraqi soldier there says he is confident they will force ISIS our soon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE IRAQI SOLDIER (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): The corpses are still under the rubble and no one of them are still in this district. That's it. We retook it, and it's over for them. A couple more days and all Ramadi will be clear, and there will be not one of them left in this city.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: An Iraqui official estimates up to 500 ISIS militants are still in Ramadi. The Officials says, they will face a tough battle to liberate the city. Here is more now from CNN's Barbara Star.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Iraqi forces moving through areas of eastern Ramadi, where they have pushed back ISIS militants. What is left is a city in rubble. The remains of a tough fight for U.S.-trained Iraqi units, with more to come. Watching it all unfold in real time, U.S. commanders from their operations center.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COL. STEVE WARREN, SPOKEMAN, ANTI-ISIS COALITON IN IRAQ: This enemy has set up defensive belts. So, they use IEDs, the very same IEDs that we faced here in Iraq years ago, but now they use them in clusters, as if they were mine fields. They will rig entire houses to be, to explode.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR (voice-over): U.S. war planes are launching dozens of air strikes to back up Iraqi ground forces. Picking out ISIS fighting positions from the air and not inadvertently killing civilians remains a huge challenge. Administration officials are talking about how to possibly loosen up the rules restricting their strikes, so they can turn up the pressure on ISIS.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WARREN: What is being talked about out there is whether -- is how much tolerance we should have for civilian casualties. And, that is part of our American values, right? We, we say that we bring our values to war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR (voice-over): Senator Ted Cruz continuing to advocate massive bombing, answering Wolf Blitzer's question this way at the CNN Republican Debate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN REPUBLICAN DEBATE MODERATOR: Would you carpet bomb Raqqa, the ISIS capital, where there are a lot of civilians? Yes or no?

SEN. TED CRUZ, (R-TX) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You would carpet bomb where ISIS is, not a city, but the location of the troops.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR (voice-over): U.S. military officials say indiscriminate bombing is not productive, and large groups of ISIS soldiers without civilians nearby rarely happens.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) WARREN: ISIS are living in towns and cities amidst, in the same blocks, as the citizens. So, when you are talking about expanding the rules of engagement, I do not see how you do that without raising the risk that women and children will die.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR (voice-over): The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs warns the rules will stretch for a big target.

(BEGINV IDEO CLIP)

GEN. JOSEPH DUNFORD, CHAIRMAN, U.S. JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: I can assure you, if we are going after Baghdadi's command and control network or some other critical node, then, then we will go after it as aggressively as necessary.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: And, in Afghanistan, government forces had apparently killed a number of Taliban fighters and their commander in the Sangin district. That is according to the country's interior ministry. Alexandra Field reports now that Taliban has control of much of this district.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Afghan Security Forces are making another push to move Taliban fighters out of Sangin district after days of heavy fighting there. Locals on the grounds had said that the Taliban had taken over almost all of Sangin district, except for a police chief's office and another building used by an army battalion. But more operations have been launched now by the Afghan army.

And, officials there say that a number of Taliban fighters have been killed, including a local commander with ties to the Taliban leader. The Afghan National Army is getting some support from the U.S. in the form of two air strikes. There is also a NATO team in southern Helmand province, which includes a small number of British troops, who are acting in an advisory capacity, as the Afghan National Army takes on the Taliban.

Those on the ground say that the fighting has remained fierce, and that it continues. People who are inside that police chief's office, which has been under attack for days from the Taliban, have said that they were running out of food, ammunition, and supplies. But, the central government says that it is moving resources into the area and more reinforcements as they continue their battle with the Taliban.

In Seoul, Alexandra Field, CNN.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

ALLEN: Russia is now turning to the Taliban in the fight against ISIS. President Vladimir Putin says only intelligence will be shared, no weapons. Brian Todd has the details and what analysts think is behind Putin's move.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): One of America's chief antagonists tonight again reaching out to a top American enemy. Vladimir Putin's government is in contact with the Taliban in Afghanistan over the sharing of intelligence.

That is according to a Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, who tells CNN "Putin's doing this to help the Taliban fight their common enemy, ISIS." The official says the Kremlin will not be giving weapons to the Taliban. But, why would Putin, who's been a chief enemy of the Taliban, want to help them now?

U.S. commanders say ISIS has gained strength in Afghanistan in recent months, with up to 3,000 fighters there. Putin's long been worried about thousands of jihadists from Russia's Caucasus region and the former Soviet Republic, who he says are inside Syria. And, he may be trying to cut off that pipe line closer to home in Afghanistan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OLGA OLIKER, SENIOR ADVISER AND DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: The fact that there are people from the Caucasus fighting in Syria, maybe not as many as the Russian government says, but certainly a good number including in leadership roles, means that Russia does see ISIS and some -- and, you know, a lot of the other Islamist groups as a particular threat in a way that maybe the Taliban is not. So, the Russians may think that they are the lesser of the available evils.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD (voice-over): But it is another risk for a Russian President who has been boldly extending his reach from his escalations in Syria to aggressive moves in Europe and North Korea. Recently Putin's military advisers were in Pyongyang for a secretive meeting with Kim Jong-Un's top generals.

Putin's announced he will construct a missile, which could pierce the U.S.-led missile shield in Europe. Analysts say this is all about Vladimir Putin projecting his relevance and strength.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATTHEW ROJANSKY, DIRECTOR, KENNAN INSTITUTE, WOODROW WILSON CENTER: He wants to go back to the 1970s when the Soviet Union and the United States were equals as geopolitical leaders, as Cold War rivals, but they still sat down and they did deals.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD (voice-over): Experts say by working with the Taliban, Putin's likely not risking a repeat of the Soviet's grinding, bloody occupation of Afghanistan in the '80s. But, there is concern about one possibility if he keeps ramping up his campaign in Syria.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN JUDAH, AUTHOR, FRAGILE EMPIRE: If I was Vladimir Putin, which frankly I am not, I would be very worried about footage coming from Syria of Russian pilots potentially being kidnapped or burnt, such has happened to a Jordanian pilot not that long ago.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD (voice-over): One key question, how is Washington responding to Russia and the Taliban sharing intelligence?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (on camera): A U.S. official tells CNN, they do not see this as undermining the stability they are working with the Afghan government to achieve. What would be destabilizing this official says is any contact with the Taliban that would legitimize that group with international recognition. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: Some western countries are warning their citizens in Beijing this holiday to be on guard about a possible security threat. Those nations told citizens to be vigilant while doing shopping in one particular area. CNN's Matt Rivers has more for us from Beijing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATT RIVERS CNN INTERNATIONAL, CORRESPONDENT: Several foreign embassies issued alerts on Thursday, including the American, French, British, and Australian embassies, warning their citizens about potential threats to Westerners in a neighborhood called Sanlitun, here in Beijing, a very popular neighborhood with Westerners.

Now, as to the exact details of those threats, the exact nature of the warning, officials are keeping that information very close to the vest. None of the embassies would go into further details about them. CNN did speak with an official from the United States State Department.

And that official would also not go into details, saying only that they information that they received was credible enough to issue this alert, and that they did pass on relevant information to their Chinese counterparts.

Now here in China, the government issued what is called a yellow alert. That would be the second lowest level on China's state security alert system. Now, it is unclear at this point if this yellow alert had anything to do with the information that the U.S. says it passed on to the Chinese government.

Specifically the Chinese say that this alert that they issued is in reference to large and medium-sized shopping malls, where they will be beefing up security patrols, as well as increasing security outside of diplomatic compounds. Now, we have seen armed patrols outside of malls across the city. And, we actually have a bureau here inside one of the diplomatic compounds, and we saw increased security patrols as well.

Now, the Sanlitun neighborhood that was specifically mentioned by these foreign embassies is a very popular neighborhood for Westerners and today, during the day on Christmas, it is expected to be very crowded, with people going out, perhaps going shopping, going out to get something to eat. And so, amidst all of the holiday spirit, you can expect there will be a heightened state of alert as well. Matt Rivers, CNN, Beijing.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

ALLEN: China says it will provide more than $6 million in humanitarian aid in Syria, the country's foreign minister made the announcement in Beijing, Thursday, when he met with his Syrian counterpart to discuss the growing crisis. The meeting follows at unanimous U.N. Security Council vote last week endorsing a Syrian peace process.

In Southern China hundreds of doctors, nurses, and psychologists are offering to help families of dozens of people still missing in a landslide. More than 5,000 workers are searching the industrial park in Shenzhen five days later.

Now, we are hearing from one who survived. He was pulled out. A 19- year-old Tian Zeming was buried for more than 60 hours before he was finally rescued Wednesday. He told China State Media about the collapse and how he was rescued.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIAN ZEMING, 19-YEAR-OLD LANDSLIDE SURVIVOR (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): The five-story building collapsed suddenly when the landslide rushed down, and I was trapped in an office room. As one of my hands can move, I found a bottle of water and some snacks and melon seeds around me.

When I was in the trap I heard someone drilling above me. I knocked the board and shouted loudly. The finally found me when they drilled through the board. They encouraged me and I stretched one of my hands out. I finally felt I would likely be saved, as I was found.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: He is so fortunate. Seventy-five people are still missing. Four people are confirmed dead from the landslide.

In Southeastern Turkey, four towns, mainly Turkish towns are under curfew because of days of heavy fighting between PKK rebels and Turkish forces. Three rebels were killed, Thursday, during a funeral procession for two other rebels in the city of Diyarbakir.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ALLEN (voice-over): Turkish police fired tear gas and sprayed water cannon on hundreds of people there. Turkey's mostly Kurdish southeast has seen a rise in violence since the two-year cease fire between the Kurdistan Workers' Party and the capital of Turkey, Ankara, fell apart back in the summer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN (on camera): The Red Cross says at least four people are dead after a gas tanker exploded in southern Nigeria on Christmas Eve. Residents in the area were gathering to buy cooking gas when the explosion occurred.

It is unclear what triggered, but it seems proper procedures were not followed. The Red Cross says some victims were severely burned. The local media are reporting a higher death toll.

When parts of the U.S., it has been a messy and dangerous and deadly Christmas Eve due to the weather. A wave of storms and tornadoes have been moving across the country, and they may not be over yet. We will have that story for you in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALLEN: It has been a very rainy Christmas in parts of the U.S. and it is not stopping. It is certainly was not the Christmas Eve anyone wanted on parts of the Southeast. Look at this, powerful storms and tornadoes slammed the south on Wednesday. This video coming to us from Tennessee. You can see the destruction left behind from a tornado there.

And, in nearby Mississippi, forecaster say this tornado stayed on the ground for up 240 km. Fourteen people in three states were killed. But, years ago when my son was a little boy, he was so worried Santa could not make it through the storms. I said, "You do not have to worry about that."

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I do not know if Santa can make it through one of those tornadoes.

(LAUGHING)

ALLEN: Santa is magic.

VAN DAM: OK. All right. We will give him that. There were 30 --

ALLEN: It has been tough.

VAN DAM: It has been tough. There were 31 tornadoes in the eastern U.S. on Wednesday alone when the entire month of December, we typically only see 24 across the entire United States.

ALLEN: I know.

VAN DAM: So, we got El Nino to blame. There is also some first as well in Michigan, my home state, Natalie. They had their first recorded December Tornado. And, there was also two reported tornadoes on Thursday.

ALLEN: And, in California too.

VAN DAM: And, in California. That is right.

ALLEN: That is unusual.

VAN DAM: So, we are going to show you some of that footage in just one second. As I mentioned already, 24 tornadoes, that is the average for the month of December. And, just in one day alone, we saw 31 tornadoes. That was across the gulf states. But, now we are going to focus our attention on California, where two tornadoes occurred on Christmas Eve, that been on Thursday, just outside of Sacramento. Y

You can cut to the virtual and you will see some of the cell phone video of the twister. The moment it reached the ground. Remember, it is a fontal clog when it is not connected with the surface of the Earth, but once it reaches the ground technically, it becomes a tornado. There was scary moment, but firefighters and fire agencies across this region not recording any casualties or fatalities or injuries from this particular storm system.

But nonetheless a very wild setup, they saw two tornadoes that is typically what they experienced in the entire month of December and they saw it just in one day. Now, we are shuttering record highs across Eastern half in the United States, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday being Christmas day, another round of record-breaking territory for many U.S. cities.

Here is the look at some of the records that had been longstanding as well as the nation's capital. Look at this, back to 1933, that was the old record. We match that on Thursday afternoon with the daytime high of 21. Now, we often associate Los Angeles with sunshine, beautiful weather and typically warm temperatures. Their average this time of year 20 degrees, there will only be 16 on Christmas day.

And believe it or not, the east coast, where we would typically associate this time of the year with at least some snow and cold weather, they will be warmer than Los Angeles in the big apple. So, go figure, right? We can blame El Nino.

Look at the weather pattern setting up across the United States. We have another storm system that is going to develop across the central areas bringing the potential of a Blizzard to the Texas panhandle and to Oklahoma as well as New Mexico. On top of that floody rains to the east of Memphis to Dallas, Houston as well as parts of Arkansas and Missouri.

Now, that is not the only area getting wild weather, we are going to take you to -- because this is CNN International, we would like to cover all parts of the world. This is the northern parts of China near the border of Mongolia and Kazakhstan. They saw 50 cm of snow.

And, if we can roll some of the footage, you will see this was blizzard whiteout conditions. They had a blue level alert for this city, that is in northern China. Get in on some of that winter action as well.

ALLEN: All right. Got some storm, storm, storms.

VAN DAM: Across the winter.

ALLEN: Ho, ho, ho.

(LAUGHING)

VAN DAM: That is right.

ALLEN: All right. We got a prettier picture of Earth that does not look so stormy for you.

VAN DAM: OK.

ALLEN: In fact, there is a new photo of Earth we want to show. This month, NASA released this picture of our planet. It composed from a series of shots taken by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter back in October. It reminds us that the iconic blue marble image taken during the Apollo 17 mission in 1972 is stunning right there.

But, blue marble was not the first picture of the Earth taken from space, did you know, Derek. It was 1968 when astronaut William Anders took this on the Apollo 8th mission. This photo known as "Earth Rise." It was the first time we were able to see our planet in color with this picture.

And, get this, the mission that he was on where he took this picture, it was not even supposed to happen. Earlier, my colleague, Amara Walker spoke with a space historian about the story behind this incredible photo.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT ZIMMERMAN, SPACE HISTORIAN: Because of rearrangement of missions and the delay in building the lunar marginal. This mission did not have a mission. They were supposed to test the lunar marginal. It was not ready.

So, NASA, very -- just only six months before made the decision that -- you know, instead of just going around the Earth, why do not we send it to the moon. And, they estimated the chances for success were 50/50. And, they thought that was good odds. So, they launch this mission with a 50/50 expectation of success.

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: 50/50 are good odds.

ZIMMERMAN: They thought they --

WALKER: That is incredible. I am sorry to cut you off there, because I was reading that. The wife of the commander of Apollo VIII was actually relieved when she heard the chances of her husband returning safely is 50/50. Those are good odds back then.

(LAUGHING) ZIMMERMAN: Yes. That is exactly right. They were willing to take a risk. They felt they had to win the cold war and this was an opportunity to do it. And, Susan Borman thought her husband was in a dying orbit around the moon. And, they reassure her by telling her, "Well, we think the odds are as good as 50/50."

And, that did not really reassure her. She ended up writing a letter prepared to deal with that fact to the public, but 50/50. That just gives you that idea. This was how important to the nation to get to the moon before the soviets did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: All of that brought us that beautiful photograph of our planet. Well, it is now Christmas across most to the world, so Merry Christmas to you wherever you are. And, coming up, we will look at how different countries celebrate Christmas.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN (voice-over): Well, on this Christmas, we are starting to see Christmas celebrations from all parts of the world. This is Philippines, where people gathered in Manila for a Christmas Eve mass. The nation has very large Roman Catholic population. CNN Philippines reports that the country's president delivered a message to his citizens saying in part, "The season is about the life and teachings of Jesus."

And, Santa Claus is a big roly-poly guy as you know, but these Santas are even bigger. Elephants dressed up as Saint Nick handing out presents to Children in Thailand. Would you love Elephants? They also sang to Christmas tunes and then there is an elephant camp along with the school that organizes this annual event.

In the coming hours Pope Francis will deliver his annual Christmas message to Rome and the world. This follows his Christmas Eve mass, where the pope urge Christians to enjoy life's simpler things. Here is more from CNN's John Allen in Rome.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN ALLEN, CNN SENIOR VATICAN ANALYST (voice-over): Pope Francis tonight celebrated the Vatican's annual Christmas Eve mass, the vigil mass for the great feast of Christmas tomorrow. And, characteristically in his brief remarks during the mass, his thoughts turned to the poor.

He said that, according to the Biblical story of the birth of Jesus Christ, he was born to a poor, obscure family. So, poor, in fact, that they could not afford lodgings in Bethlehem, and so Christ was born in a stable among animals.

And on the basis of that, the Pope told Christians not to be seduced by a world that often celebrates wealth and consumerism and extravagance. Instead, he said, Christians are to embrace a life of what he called sobriety. A humbler, simpler way of life marked by the concern for the least among us.

Now, this was just the beginning of a very busy holiday season for the Pope. On Christmas Day, he will deliver his traditional Urbi et Orbi message to the city, meaning Rome, and to the world. The next day, he will celebrate the feast of St. Stephen, recalled by the Church as its first martyr. He will deliver a noontime Angelus address.

And, then on the 27th, on Sunday, he will celebrate an important mass for the Holy Family, meaning Jesus, Mary and Joseph. All of that as prelude to his traditional New Year's Eve vesper service. And, then on New Year's Day, going to St. Mary Maggiore here in Rome to say a mass in honor of the Virgin Mary, and also to release his message for the day the Catholic Church marks as the World Day of Peace.

So, this indefatigable pontiff, who earlier this month turned 79, just keeps going. Tonight, as has so often been the case during his papacy, his thoughts were with the poor. And, this message to Christians to always be concerned for the poor. For CNN, this is John Allen from Rome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: Well, right now, I think you know, who has the busiest job in the world. Yes, the guy in the slay. Did you know, though, for 60 years that NORAD, the North American Air Defense Center has tracked Santa Claus's route around the world? You can follow Santa on NORADSanta.org. This is live that you are seeing here on the screen.

And, it is interesting how the traditions started with NORAD tracking Santa. It began when a store in Colorado ran a dial Santa advertisement, but the telephone number had a typo and, instead, the calls went to NORAD. Our affiliate KKTV talked with a volunteer.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTFIED FEMALE NORAD VOLUNTEER: Well, I have had calls from all around the world, as far away as Europe, but mostly across the United States and Canada. Everybody wants to know if Santa is coming. And, yes, he is coming, but only if you are asleep will he leave some presents.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE KKTV JOURNALIST: So, what are the kids saying? Hey, my sister is still awake. What do I do?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE NORAD VOLUNTEER: Oh, that is a very big deal, yes, yes. It is a very big deal, but all the kids have to be asleep. Also, everyone wants to know if they should leave cookies. And, they should. And, also they are asking for carrots and celery for the reindeer.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: NORAD, the command control center for Santa Claus. Have a very Merry Christmas and thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM.