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Missouri Flooding with Major Interstates Shut Down; Campaign Fundraising; Extra Security for College Football Playoff; Top 10 Campaign Moments of 2015. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired December 31, 2015 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:03] DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN ANCHOR: As I speak, rivers are cresting many, many feet above all-time record levels, making today the benchmark for future flooding events. The death toll rising to 14 overnight. Major interstates shut down this morning, including a 24 mile stretch of I-44. Twelve million people are under flood warnings, this across 19 states. Just look at how big this is. There are harrowing rescues. This man and his dog clinging to a roof until help arrived. But look at that, the man loses his footing, plunging into the frigid waters.

Well, we're going to have a forecast in just a moment, but first we want to go to our Martin Savidge, who is alongside the Meramec River this morning in the city of Arnold.

And, Martin, describe for us just what you are seeing and how you're getting around for that matter.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Getting around is the most difficult part of all of this, Deborah. Good morning to you.

You mentioned that you have that problem there on 44. You've also had a shutdown now of I-55. That is a major artery here. A nightmare for commuters. Which means they are struggling to try to keep this open. This is a bridge over the Meramec River. It's in Arnold. It is Highway 61. This is one of the last ways to get across that river in this region. And even though now the river has clearly begun to infringe upon the roadways here and people are driving through the water, it's the only way and they have to try to keep it open because here in Arnold they're getting cutoff both from the north and from the south. Twenty-two thousand people live here and there are hundreds of homes that are now threatened.

Let's show you Valley Fort. This is a -- or Valley Park, rather. This is another community under water. And their problem there is sewage. The water treatment plant there, completely surrounded and inundated. And, of course, that's going to cause a pollution problem on top of the problems they've already had. That community yesterday morning was rushing to evacuate. A very frightening time. Here's some of the residents.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KELLY NORTHCUTT, RESIDENT OF VALLEY PARK, MISSOURI: We're just kind of getting everything out of here. My son's already gone. The kids are gone. The pets are gone. Just trying to get the rest of the stuff, you know, that we can get out of here that's important to us. I live on the second floor there, so I'm -- I'm not quite as worried as most of the residents are, but it's pretty scary. It's pretty -- I mean a scary thing. You just can't imagine all the water just taking this whole town over.

JAMES HARRIS, RESIDENT OF VALLEY PARK, MISSOURI: It wears you out and, like now, this is the last time I want to have to do this. If it does flood, I probably won't move back here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: 1993, as you know, Deborah, is the benchmark everybody seems to talk about. They call that the great flood. That is looking like it will be the past because this flood is coming close to shattering all those records.

And it's very different too. The flood that usually happens here is a springtime thaw. This is the middle of winter. And this is a flash flood. The other floods are usually events they know are coming, they can prepare. In many communities, they've had only hours to get people out of way. The water still rising in this community here.

Deborah.

FEYERICK: And, Martin, just quickly, are you hearing any reports about sort of critical infrastructures, whether it be hospitals or nursing homes or any facilities, are they OK? Are they working on back-up generators? Does it seem OK?

SAVIDGE: Most of those kind of facilities are OK because in this area they have figured out over the decades where the low-lying areas are, which areas are in danger. So that's been a long time effort to make sure that those areas are either secured or on higher ground. The problem is going to be power supplies and there are certain areas where they've had to redirect power. So that kind of infrastructure's OK.

The real problem, though, roadways, as we're looking at here. You know, the water's going to go away, but there are hundreds of roads and bridges that have been inundated in ways they haven't before. This is not a traditional flood. And so even after the water's gone, there's going to be a long time those roads are going to have to be inspected, the bridges are going to have to be looked at. You're going to feel the traffic problems especially for some time to come.

FEYERICK: So, potential damage to the infrastructure. Martin Savidge for us there in Missouri. Thank you so much and stay safe.

And for the latest on the forecast, we're now going to turn to meteorologist Karen Maginnis in Atlanta.

And, Karen, I understand the rain is over for now, but really it's the temperatures that are adding insult to injury. KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It is miserable. Those temperatures

are running a little bit below average for this time of year. We've got readings pretty much in the upper 30s. It may bump up by the weekend, then go back down again, and then bump back up, but it's going to take weeks for this, for the water to recede. After just a couple of days you'll start to see the water go down, but it's not going to be anywhere near normal.

And before we get too ahead of ourselves, here is the Meramec River. This is notorious for flooding as it winds through Valley Park, also Fenton. Valley Park also reporting now historic flooding. We also are anticipating later on today that right around Arnold we will see historic records of the Meramec River. Very notorious, as I mentioned, for flooding.

[09:35:09] Now, in St. Louis, it probably is going to be the third highest crest that we see since that benchmark of 1993. The National Weather Service out of St. Louis said this morning, to put it in perspective, Interstate 70, portions of Interstate 70 close, 55 and 44. That's to the west and to the south of St. Louis. That did not happen in 1993.

Let's go ahead and bring up KTVI, that's our affiliate that's streaming live pictures now coming out of the St. Louis area. Probably this is in the Meramec area. You have your homes that are under water, your cars under water, your memories, your children's toys, everything that you have come to know as your memory, as your life is under water. And this goes on for miles and miles and miles. It affects the infrastructure. It affects your life. It affects your livelihood, your way of life. Just hour by hour, Deborah, this is historic. And this is going to remain on the minds of people around the St. Louis area for many, many generations to come.

Back to you.

FEYERICK: Yes, and you've got to keep thinking about how people are getting provisions and food and taking care of those who might be unwell.

MAGINNIS: Oh, yes.

FEYERICK: All right, Karen Maginnis, we thank you for that report.

And for ways on how you can help victims of the flooding in Missouri and the ongoing recovery from tornadoes in Texas and Mississippi, visit us at cnn.com/impact.

And still to come, Jerry Seinfeld's coffee chat with President Obama. How Obama describes life inside the White House to the comedian.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:40:12] FEYERICK: Jerry Seinfeld made a visit to the Oval Office, sneaking up on the president and taking him to coffee as part of his online series "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee." Here we go. How'd he get there is what the president's asking. Well, the two joked about life inside the White House, as well as politics in the nation's capital.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JERRY SEINFELD, COMEDIAN: People you spend most of your time with, are they really smart? Are they mostly headstrong, agenda-laden idiots?

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You know, when you're dealing with Congress, it varies. You know, there are going to be some folks there that are foolish.

SEINFELD: What sport is politics? Is it chess? Is it liar's poker?

OBAMA: That's interesting. That's a -- that was good question. It's probably most like football.

SEINFELD: Football.

OBAMA: Yes. Because a lot of players, a lot of specialization, a lot of --

SEINFELD: Right.

OBAMA: A lot of hitting.

SEINFELD: A lot of attrition.

OBAMA: A lot of attrition. But then every once in a while you'll see an opening.

SEINFELD: How many world leaders do you think are just completely out of their mind?

OBAMA: A pretty sizable percentage.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: And he got a laugh out of the comedian. So while he did get some chuckles out of Seinfeld, it is Ted Cruz who's laughing all the way to the bank in the race for the White House. We're just 31 days from the Iowa caucuses and the Cruz campaigns say they've got some pretty strong fundraising numbers for the fourth quarter. Chris Frates is following this story from Washington.

Chris.

CHRIS FRATES, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Deb.

So you're right, Ted Cruz did end very strongly in 2015, bringing in nearly $20 million in this last quarter. That's according to his campaign. And that haul's expected to put him near the top of the GOP fundraising race. Cruz got out early with this good news. So we're still waiting to see how much money all his rivals raised.

But the fundraising, you know, put all this fundraising in perspective. Think of it this way. Cruz raised a total of about $45 million this year. So almost half of it came in just these last three month. And that money momentum, it matches Cruz's rise in the poll. In the latest CNN poll, Cruz was in second place behind Donald Trump. So he's enjoying positive momentum in both his campaign cash and polling in these crucial last weeks before the Iowa caucus. And that's a state that's really crucial for Cruz to win.

Now, Cruz is not without competition in the fundraising department, Deb, but Ben Carson's campaign also announced its fundraising numbers last night. They say they raised $23 million. That's about $3 million more than Cruz. And those strong fundraising numbers are really good news for Carson. He's had a pretty tough month. He's slid from second to third place in the polls and he's had to push back against reports that his campaign was considering what is really a major staff shake up. So bringing in more cash this quarter than Cruz, that's really some welcome news for Carson, Deb.

FEYERICK: Yes, it definitely helps define the strategy. But the money game hasn't been so kind to Jeb Bush. He's moving around resources in Iowa and has decided to shift money away from TV ad buys and more towards staffing, getting them into the field to communicate with those crucial voters. Is that a dire prediction from the campaign or is that good course correction?

FRATES: Well, you know, it's certainly not great news for Bush, but I don't think it's fatal, Deb. And, you know, as the Bush campaign itself was quick to point out yesterday, the plan was always to beef up staffing on the ground in these final weeks before Iowa and New Hampshire to make sure that they do get people out to vote. But Bush's campaign did cancel, you know, $3 million in advertising in Iowa and in South Carolina and they're spending that money instead sending dozens of staffers to the early voting states, Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Nevada.

And while it's not unusual for campaigns to strengthen the ground game ahead of the voting, you know, pulling his ads in Iowa is really raising questions of how hard Bush plans to compete there. Though as one senior advisor to Bush explained yesterday, you know, the TV ads just weren't breaking through so they felt like maybe there wasn't a lot of value there for the money. But it's also important to note that Bush's super PAC, the super PAC supporting Bush, still plans on spending about $3.5 million on advertising in Iowa.

And, you know, that was a fact not lost on Donald Trump. You know, he tweeted early this morning. He said, quote, "people ask, why do you tweet and re-tweet to millions about Jeb Bush when he's so low in the polls? Because of his big money hit ads on me." So Bush still obviously enough of a factor here, Deb, to get the frontrunner's attention.

FEYERICK: Yes, and he is certainly doing that. But it's also investing that he's now investing in a much more sort of hands on person to person approach than just these sort of television ads that one can possibly mute if you're in a hotel or something.

FRATES: Yes.

FEYERICK: All right, Chris Frates, happy New Year to you. Thank you.

FRATES: Happy New Year.

[09:45:02] FEYERICK: And still to come, tightening security is greeting sports fans. The college football playoffs kick off this afternoon.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: College football semi-final playoff games are on tap today. Top-ranked Clemson is facing off against Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl. As No.2 Alabama takes on Michigan State in the Cotton Bowl. Both sites and several other stadiums are expected to ramp up security.

CNN's Andy Scholes is live in Arlington, Texas, home of the Cotton Bowl. And Andy, what you are you seeing? What precautions are being taken?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Well Deb, in light of the new terror warnings in New York, L.A. and Washington D.C., officials are beefing up the security for these big college football games over the next 48 hours.

At the Rose Bowl event in Pasadena, California, tomorrow more than two dozen federal agencies are joining forces with police. At the big parade they're going to have surveillance cameras, bomb sniffing dogs, even radiation detecting devices.

And meanwhile here in Arlington, Texas, the Dallas Cowboys official I talked to say they are treating tonight's Cotton Bowl just like they do every big Cowboys game they host. They will have bomb sniffing dogs checking all the buses and trucks that enter the stadium. Fans will be screened when they enter as well. And they will also have the clear bag policy in place.

Now a big storyline for the actual football game that's going to be taking place here tonight at the Cotton Bowl is -- features Alabama head coach Nick Saban taking on Michigan State head coach Mike [SIC] Dantonio. Now these two coaches go way back. Saban once coached Michigan State back - he was doing 1995 and 1999. And during that time, he hired Dantonio as one of his assistants, as a defensive back coach. Of course Saban would eventually move on to LSU and Alabama and be very successful, winning four national titles. Dantonio, meanwhile, has turned the Spartans into a national powerhouse and these two coaches, they continue to have the utmost admiration for one another.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[09:50:05] NICK SABAN, ALABAMA HEAD COACH: He's obviously blossomed into a fantastic job in terms of what he's done at Michigan State right now and I think the world should recognize what a great job he has done.

MARK DANTONIO, MICHIGAN STATE HEAD COACH: Coach Saban has had great success and, quite frankly, a lot of the things that we do are patterned after the things that I learned from him. (END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Now over the years, Nick Saban has faced many of his former assistants, including Dantonio once. In all of those games, Deb, Saban is 8-0. He's never lost, so we will have to see what happens here tonight. Alabama and Michigan State kickoff set for 8:00 Eastern. Should be a good one.

FEYERICK: And I know a lot of people are getting ready and hunkering down. Andy Scholes, thank you. Happy New Year. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: And nothing sums up politics in 2015 more than one word: Trump. CNN's chief political correspondent Dana Bash counts down 2015's top campaign moments.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: In politics 2015 was the year of one-liners, insults, interruptions and controversy.

(voice-over): It was the escalator ride that changed the Republican race. Donald Trump kicked his campaign off full-on Trump style of ending the field and pretty much all traditional political rule.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime, their rapists and some, I assume, are good people.

BASH: Those comments caused a huge backlash, especially in the Latino community, but rocketed Trump to the top of the GOP field.

[09:54:58] And the provocative statements continued on the campaign trial. At an early event in Iowa, Trump sparked another wave of criticism after saying this about former P.O.W, John McCain.

TRUMP: He's not a war hero.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's a war hero.

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: He's a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren't captured, OK?

BASH (on camera): Many thought those remarks would mean Trump's campaign was finished, but it turns out they were the first of many so-called blunders that failed to knock him from his perch at the top of the polls.

(voice-over): On the Democratic side, questions about e-mails and the Benghazi attack plagued front-runner Hillary Clinton's early campaign, culminating in a contentious 11-hour congressional hearing that backfired on Republicans and gave Clinton a boost.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who else was at your home? Were you alone?

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I was alone, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The whole night?

CLINTON: Well, yes, the whole night.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well I don't know why that's funny. I mean, did you have any in-person briefings? I don't find it funny at all.

CLINTON: I'm sorry. A little note of levity at 7:15.

BASH: And after months of fielding questions about her e-mails, Clinton got an unexpected assist from her opponent, Senator Bernie Sanders, at CNN's Democratic debate.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The fact is that the American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn e- mails.

CLINTON: Thank you. Me, too. Me, too.

BASH: That moment may have hurt Sanders' campaign, but it was great material for "Saturday Night Live."

LARRY DAVID, "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE": The American people are sick and tired about hearing about your damn e-mails!

BASH: The Black Lives Matter movement was an important campaign storyline, shaping the national conversation and even shutting down a Sanders campaign event in Seattle.

(on camera): The most defining moment on the Democratic side may be one that never happened.

(voice-over): After months of speculation, Vice President Joe Biden decided not to run for president, solidifying Clinton's spot as at the expected Democratic nominee.

VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: But while I will not be a candidate, I will not be silent. I intend to speak out clearly and forcefully.

BASH: In the Republican race, friends turned rivals on display as Jeb Bush looking to finally find some campaign mojo took on his former protege, Marco Rubio.

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Marco, when you signed up for this, this was a six-year term. And you should be showing up to work. I mean, literally, the Senate, what is it, like a French workweek?

MARCO RUBIO (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're running for the same position and someone has convinced you that attacking me is going to help you.

BASH: Rubio bested his old mentor and Bush is ending the year with whole numbers stuck in the single digits.

While some GOP candidates shied away from taking on Trump, former HP CEO Carly Fiorina called him out during CNN's Reagan Library debate for controversial comments he made about her face.

CARLY FIORINA (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think women all over this country heard very clearly what Mr. Trump said.

BASH (on camera): From Fiorina to Trump to neurosurgeon Ben Carson, 2015 was the year of the outsider candidate.

(voice-over): Carson, who has no political experience, briefly topped the Republican polls this fall, but his inspiring personal narrative of a violent past and spiritual redemption was called into question by a CNN investigation.

BEN CARSON (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know, when I was 14 another youngster angered me and I had a large camping knife and I tried to stab him in the abdomen with it. Fortunately, he had a large metal belt buckle under his clothing and the knife blade struck with such force that it broke and he fled in terror.

BASH: Making great campaign material for Trump.

TRUMP: Somebody hits me with a belt, it's going in because the belt moves this way. It moves this way.

BASH: And the year ends back at the beginning with a Donald Trump shocker. After terror attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, Trump gave this policy prescription.

TRUMP: Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.

BASH (on camera): Once again, those controversial comments did nothing to stop Trump's rise, but the real test for Trump is going to be on February 1st in 2016 when voters first go to the polls.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: Dana Bash for us. The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM begins right now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

FEYERICK (voice-over) Happening now in the NEWSROOM, criminal charges for comedian Bill Cosby.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Cosby, anything to say?

FEYERICK: He may not have a lot to say, but his accusers do. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'd like him to own up.

FEYERICK: Why bring charges now?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because it's the right thing to do.

FEYERICK: This morning I'll talk to one of those accusers.

Also, it's already 2016 in parts of the world. As we count down, police ramp up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: New Year's Eve in New York City will be the safest place in the world to be.

FEYERICK: Metal detectors, sealed manhole covers, what's being done to keep your celebration safe?

Plus the "affluenza" teen's mom back in the U.S. Her son? Still fighting to stay in Mexico. But what's his end game?

Let's talk in the CNN NEWSROOM.