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Trump, Clinton Spar over "Sexism"; Grandmother, Student Shot to Death in Chicago; Top 10 International Stories of 2015. Aired 10:30- 11a ET

Aired December 28, 2015 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:29:44] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN HOST: Clinton ripping Trump for what she says is his penchant for sexism. And now Trump is firing back not just at the Democratic front-runner but also at her husband who Trump claims has his own issues with sexism.

Here's what he told Fox News yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think he is fair game because his presidency was really considered to be very troubled, to put it mildly, because of all of the things that she's talking to me about. I mean she's mentioning sexism.

I actually turned her exact words -- I don't know if you saw the following tweet -- but I turned her exact words against her from that standpoint.

She's got to be careful. You know, it's got to fair. And we all have to fight fairly. And we have to fight, you know, for the good of the country, for the good of the people, for the good of everybody. But we have to fight fairly and she's playing the woman's card and it's like give me a break.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Here now Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics and Nia-Malika Henderson, CNN senior political reporter.

Nia-Malika, Trump says the last person Hillary Clinton wants to run against is him. He hasn't really gone after her yet. How will this rhetoric play out for a man who has a 61 percent unfavorable rating among women voters?

NIA MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: I don't think it's going to do him any good in terms of that gap and that problem that he has with attracting women voters. It will certainly stir up the base and that's what he wants to do here. Of course, he's looking at this Republican primary where he is in the lead in a lot at the national polls but also others are catching up to him.

I also think he is trying to give us a preview of what a Trump/Hillary Clinton matchup would be like. He has unloaded really on a lot of his fellow candidates in this race from Jeb Bush to Kasich to Rubio. And now, he's essentially saying if you like what I've done in the Republican primary to some of his opponents then look at what I would do in terms of running against Hillary Rodham Clinton in a general election.

The problem with this is that these lines have never worked against Hillary Clinton and always has back fired against people who have tried. And some of her best poll approval ratings actually came during the Monica Lewinsky scandal back in the 90s.

So I mean it's very much a throwback to that era. And I thin in some ways it's a trial balloon that Donald Trump is floating here. I'm not sure it's going to work for him long term.

ROMANS: You know, Larry, the Clintons and Trumps have history. I mean you know, we've all seen that photo from Trump's 2005 wedding to his current wife -- there you go. They're friendly. They're friendly, happy, their daughters are friends.

So I'm wondering Larry -- I mean maybe Trump's remarks are more out of his fear of Bill Clinton's abilities on the campaign trail.

LARRY SABATO, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: Well, all is fair in love and war and this is war. Politics is war. Look, this is classic Trump. He looks at any opponent, whether Democrat or Republican, and tries to figure out what the Achilles' heel is and then he grabs it.

The woman card charge -- look, think of it this way. Suppose Carly Fiorina somehow got the Republican nomination for president don't you think she might use the fact that she would be the first woman president after 44 men or 43, if you don't count Grover Cleveland twice? Of course she would. That's what Hillary Clinton is going to do if she's the Democratic nominee.

ROMANS: Both of them just clearly battling, acting like they're the front-runners for their party, acting like they have their nominations.

But while they battle, Bernie Sanders says his economic message should be the one that's resonating with Trump supporters. Listen to what Sanders told CBS yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is a guy who does not want to raise the minimum wage. In fact, he has said that he thinks wages in America are too high. But he does want to give hundreds of billions of dollars in tax breaks to the top three- tenths of 1 percent.

So I think for his working class and middle class support, I think we can make the case that if we really want to address the issues that people are concerned about, why the middle class is disappearing, massive income and wealth inequality in this country. We need policies that bring us together that take on the greed of Wall Street, the greed of corporate America, and create a middle class that works for all of us, rather than an economy that works just for a few.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: And Nia, Sanders has built his campaign around those very issues. But a recent CNN/ORC poll shows that among Democrats he trails Hillary Clinton by eight points on who's best able to handle the economy. Could he make up ground by peeling off some of those Trump voters? Is it smart for him to be going for Trump voters?

HENDERSON: You know, at this point, he can certainly try. I don't think he's going to meet with much success. He's thinking about what happened to him in Vermont. He did do very well among Republican voters in Vermont -- something like 25 percent of Republicans backed him. And it is true that some Republican voters, actually a majority of Republican voters, agree with him that corporations have too big a role to play in American society and American politics.

[10:34:52] So, I think there are some strands of his message that could resonate with these Republican voters. But I think he's got a much bigger problem in terms of this contest with Hillary Clinton because he hasn't been able to get southern -- southern Democrats, African-Americans and Latinos to back his candidacy just yet. He's obviously trying to look for other voters to make up that ground.

ROMANS: You know, Larry -- Trump and Sanders have both been sort of labeled populist. I mean in the Venn diagram that is the little sliver between the two, is there overlap?

SABATO: It just shows you how useful the word "populist" is. I'm not going to say they're disjoint sets, tat is Trump voters and Sanders voters but the intersection is tiny.

Those supporting Bernie Sanders now and those who will support Bernie Sanders are liberal Democrats. Those supporting Donald Trump now and later are conservative Republicans who care about immigration and national security more than they do income equality. So Bernie is drilling a dry well here, believe me.

ROMANS: All right. Nia Malika-Henderson, Larry Sabato -- thanks so much for joining me this morning. Nice to see you.

All right. Still to come: a call to 911 ends in tragedy and controversy after a police officer opens fire and kills a 55-year-old grand mother, a mother of five; also killing a 19-year-old college student.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: The police department, the mayor and other top city officials in Chicago under growing scrutiny after two more deadly police shootings that left a grandmother and a college student dead. Yesterday, the teen's mother spoke out about his death.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JANET COOKSEY, MOTHER OF QUINTONIO LEGRIER: No mother should have to bury her child and especially under these circumstances. We called for help. The police are supposed to serve and protect us. It's a badge to kill. I mean where do we get our help? When is the mayor going to step up?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[10:40:06] ROMANS: CNN's Rosa Flores is live in Chicago with the very latest -- Rosa.

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christine, IPRA -- the Independent Police Review Authority is investigating this shooting. It investigates all officer-involved shootings in Chicago. Until they finalize their report, here is what we know about what happened.

It all starts very early on Saturday morning with a call into dispatch -- a disturbance call. Police say that they responded to the scene and they were confronted by, quote, "a combative individual", resulting in the shooting and killing of two people. First of all: this 19-year-old that you mentioned, Quintonio LeGrier, and also 55- year-old Bettie Jones.

Now here's what Bettie Jones' family is saying. They're saying that all this woman did was open the doors to her house before she was shot by police. Police later releasing a statement saying that, quote, "She was accidentally struck and tragically killed."

Now as for LeGrier's family, his mother is saying that it was his father who called the police. That her son was shot seven timings and that he is not a combative person.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COOKSEY: Seven times my son was shot -- one in the buttocks. That shows that he was turning away. He was turning away. I got to turn today for him, and I have to be there. This needs to stop. No mother should have to bury her child.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FLORES: The police officer is on a 30-day administrative duty. Now in recent weeks, Mayor Rahm Emanuel has replaced the heads of two different departments in the city.

First of all IPRA -- the Independent Police Review Authority -- and also the Chicago police department will now after the shooting he is asking both groups to come together and review crisis intervention training. In a statement saying in part, quote, "I have asked if they determined deficiencies in the current training and determine what steps can be taken immediately to address them."

Now Christine, the family members of these two people are saying that some of those deficiencies, for example, is why not have tasers, stun guns -- something else other than lethal force, in cases like these -- Christine.

ROMANS: Rosa, we've been told by police sort of early on, that they've been treating this as a mental health issue, a domestic disturbance, a mental health issue. What is the family saying about the status of the 19-year-old?

FLORES: You know this, is a tough topic for this family. They are not confirming that he was indeed having a mental episode. They are not going there, Christine. What they are saying is, regardless, if this 19-year-old was having a mental episode or not, he was not armed with a gun and that that police officer should not have fired his weapon -- Christine.

ROMANS: Yes. They say it doesn't matter either way. It's sort of irrelevant, either way that he should not have been shot. That's the view of the family.

Rosa Flores -- thank you so much for that in Chicago for us this morning.

Checking top stories: a suburban Louisville, Kentucky mall is back open for business after 2,000 teenagers forced it to close over the weekend. Dozens of police officers responded Saturday night to reports of disorderly conduct at the mall during the post Christmas rush. The teens were fighting each other. They were harassing shoppers. They were harassing store employees. No arrests were made.

A Houston mosque catches fire after prayers on Friday and federal investigators say it looks suspicious. According to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and explosives, the fire started in several places. Mosque was mostly empty when it happened. 80 firefighters responded to put it out with no injuries reported.

Still to come, the force is strong with the latest "Star Wars" film. It breaks box office records.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:47:27] ROMANS: Well, procrastinating paid off this holiday season, for Amazon at least. Amazon sold three million prime memberships during the week before Christmas. Customers were rushing to get free two-day shipping for their last minute gifts. Prime members get access to free shipping, streaming videos and other perks.

Stocks are lower, kicking off the last week of the year. Today's move puts the S&P 500 once again down for 2015. A major drag on stocks is oil. Oil prices are tumbling again - this morning, down more than 3 percent, below $37 a barrel.

That's because of Iran's promise to increase its oil production. The national average for a gallon of gas: just under $2 today.

"The Force Awakens" made $1 billion at light speed. The new "Star Wars: movie passed the billion dollar mark just 12 days after its global release. That's a full day faster than the previous record holder, "Jurassic World". The film just had the best Christmas day box office ever, it led the box office again this weekend bringing in another $153.5 million. And its reign is far from over. The film hasn't even opened yet in China, the second biggest market. This has been a year of amazing stories across the globe.

Anderson Cooper counts down some of the biggest international stories of the year.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Our top ten starts with the shocking prison escape inside the Mexican jail cell of Joaquin El Chapo Guzman. The drug kingpin walks into a shower and vanishes fleeing through this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's very difficult to breathe down here. A lot of dirt, dust. Here's the bike that Chapo used to ride out of the prison.

COOPER: Chapo remains at large and the question still lingers, who helped him escape.

Number nine, a moment for the history books. Cuba and America back on speaking terms. Americans boarding planes bound for Havana thanks to a momentous thawing of icy diplomatic relations between the two countries.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: A years ago it might have seemed impossible that the United States would once again be raising our flag, the stars and stripes, over an embassy in Havana.

COOPER: Number eight, a massive quake shifted Nepal's capital Kathmandu, 10 feet in ten seconds triggering an avalanche at Mt. Everest. Days of aftershocks; more than 8,000 people died.

Very few stories were more divisive than number seven on our list.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Relations between the United States and Iran are poised to enter a new era after decades of hostility.

COOPER: And an historic victory to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons -- Some hailing it as a major victory for diplomacy.

Obama: There's a reason why 99 percent of the world thinks this is a good deal. It's because it's a good deal.

[10:50:01] BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: This deal doesn't make peace more likely, it makes war more likely.

COOPER: Powerful words from the leader of Israel. Even more powerful, this moment on the floor of the United Nations --

NETANYAHU: Nothing.

COOPER: 44 seconds of silence signifying what he says is the deafening silence towards Iran from the rest.

At number 6, the bloody war rages in Syria and Iraq -- a sprawling mess in a dangerous proxy war. U.S.-led coalition air strikes pound ISIS targets in Syria. Russia says it's bombing ISIS targets as well.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Russians are not attacking ISIS. They are conducting strikes in areas where there are anti-regime militias. Those strikes will bolster Bashar al Assad.

COOPER: On the sidelines, Turkey fiercely protecting its borders.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: Turkey shooting down a Russian warplane --

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: An SU-24 Russian warplane crashed in the mountains of Syria near the Turkish border.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Russian are, understandably absolutely furious.

MICHAELA PEREIRRA: President Putin speaking out calling the incident, a quote, stab in the back.

COOPER: This year, the world watched the biggest escalation of the American military campaign against ISIS to date.

OBAMA: I will not put American boots on the ground in Syria.

BLITZER: U.S. stepping up its presence on the ground.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: President Obama putting combat boots on the ground in Iraq and Syria. The first time officially sending Special Forces into Syria to fight ISIS.

COOPER: Rounding out the top 5, a rock star welcome for Pope Francis as he toured the United States and Cuba. The masses before millions

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This man is playing extraordinarily well on the New York stage.

BLITZER: Reverend I want to listen in a little bit -- the crowd's are so excited.

COOPER: Off the cuff moments and tiny glimpses into the life of the capital -- so many you've come to love.

He then went to a war zone in the Central African republic part of the Pontiff's historic visit to Africa.

Number four, a city understand siege.

PEREIRA: A manhunt is under way for the gunman that perpetrated this heinous attack on the (inaudible) of Charlie Hebdo.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The editor of the newspaper is among the dead, as well as one the cartoonists who was responsible for the very famous Muhammad cartoon that got the newspaper and (inaudible) back in 2011. COOPER: Two Islamist terrorists forced their ways into the

offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. Opening fire and killing 12.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He walked in and it was obviously a very disturbing scene to see. A couple of bodies on the floor, some people were crying out for help.

COOPER: Chaos spilling into the streets. A police officer executed on camera. The manhunt for the killer intensifies. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula claims responsibility.

Meantime shoppers at a Jewish grocery store held hostage not by the brothers but a man working apparently in concert with them -- up to three intense days. 17 innocent people are dead. Two terrorists killed.

Number 3, a Germanwings plane crashes, killing everyone on board. The co-pilot on Germanwings flight 9525 now considered the culprit. Andrea Lubitz locks the captain out of the cockpit, steers the airbus A320 into the ground. A chilling revelation as prosecutors hear the horror unfold on the black box voice recorder. The screams are in the last instance. And I'd remind you the death was instantaneous. Lubitz flying his plane into the side of a mountain, obliterating it and everyone on board.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: CNN learning Lubitz reprogrammed the plane's auto-pilot in flight changing the setting from cruising altitude from 38,000 feet to just 100 feet -- a pre-meditated plan condemning everyone on board.

COOPER: Senseless killings sparking a question that struck fear that around the world, can you trust the person piloting your plane?

Number two, two million Syrians run for their lives, the refugee crisis, on a scale not seen since World War II.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Running for their lives. Syrian refugees crossing the border by the thousands trying to escape both war and violence.

COSTELLO: In Syria, President Bashar al Assad dropped bombs on his own people and ISIS terrorist carve a bloody calf through the country. Terrified Syrians flee.

WEDEMAN: They fired more tear gas so people are sort of panicking.

COOPER: At borders across Europe -- men, women and children are pushed back; tens of thousands more with nothing but the clothes on their back desperately crammed on to boats, destined for unknown shores. Some would never make it.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Still so very disturbing. Two-year-old was found face down on a Turkish beach. He drowned at sea while crossing the Mediterranean with his family. COOPER: This picture of a toddler's lifeless body seen across

the globe becoming a symbolic image of the human suffering. But still in many countries fear of the unknown prevails.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have some breaking news for you out of Paris, France.

COOPER: And Number 1, ISIS terrorizes the world spreading their brutality beyond the borders of Iraq and Syria.

[10:55:03] An explosion rings outside a soccer stadium in Paris -- the first of three suicide bombers to detonate outside of the stadium marking a start of a series in terror attacks the likes of which that Paris has never seen.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Those words saved my life because the people who were shot.

COOPER: People flee for their lives. A pregnant woman so terrified she hangs from the side of a building to escape the gunfire. At several restaurants innocent diners are slain as terrorists unload round after round.

FRANCOIS HOLLANDE, PRESIDENT OF FRANCE (through translator): We are at war against terrorism.

COOPER: The unimaginable slaughter of 130 people in Paris happening just 24 hours after this. In Beirut, Lebanon a pair of suicide bombs with blast so powerful, as the smoke clears 43 people left dead. ISIS' ability to incite terror and fear across the world made clear when they do the unimaginable.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: New U.S. intelligence suggests the plane was most likely brought down by a bomb.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ISIS is holding this photo up as proof that it downed Metrojet 9268.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ISIS says they detonated it in midair and as you know 224 people were killed.

COOPER: Then an attack on U.S. soil.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN HOST: A disturbed husband and wife, drop off their little baby, drives to a holiday party and kill 14 people.

COOPER: The pair radicalized and at least party inspired by ISIS to carry out the deadliest terror attack in the United States since 9/11. Leaving many to wonder and worry where ISIS could strike next.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: Thanks for that, Anderson.

Thanks for joining me today. I'm Christine Romans in for Carol Costello. "@THIS HOUR WITH BERMAN AND BALDWIN" starts after a break. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:59:58] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Twisters, floods, blizzards, four soldiers among those who have died in massive and dangerous storms across America. See where the extreme weather is heading next.

Is ISIS getting weaker? Breaking now, Iraqi forces raising their flag over one of the terror groups Stronghold --