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Tel Aviv Shooter Remains at Large; Photographer Recalls Escape from Burning Hotel; Mississippi Rising, Several States On High Alert As Flooding Threatens Region; Natalie Cole Dies at 65. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired January 02, 2016 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): The hunt is on; authorities in Tel Aviv are going house to house, looking for the man who killed two people outside a pub.
Plus: Watching the Mississippi; Midwest states in the U.S. brace as the river threatens to breach another levee.
Also ahead, the music industry is mourning the loss of an unforgettable voice.
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KINKADE: Hello, I'm Lynda Kinkade and welcome to CNN NEWSROOM.
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KINKADE: It's 7:00 am in Israel right now where police are searching for a gunman who killed two people and wounded seven others. The shooting happened on Friday outside a pub on a popular street in the Mediterranean city of Tel Aviv. Officials say it could have been much worse but the rain and cold have kept many visitors away.
Police say the gunman used an automatic weapon, firing more than 15 rounds. Ian Lee has more on the shooting, including a look at surveillance video that appears to show the gunman as he opened fire.
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IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Police are combing Tel Aviv, as one spokesman puts it, flooding the city, looking for the gunman who carried out the attack. The security camera footage captured the moments before and during the deadly shooting.
The gunman initially appears to be shopping at a supermarket; as he's leaving, he places his bag on shopping carts near the entrance, pulls out a gun and sprays the neighboring pub and sidewalk, killing at least two people.
He then runs off, leaving behind his bag and clip from the gun. These are crucial pieces of evidence investigators hope will bring them some answers. Authorities are searching street by street house by house and they're also scouring videos, surveillance videos to determine where the gunman fled and if he had any help.
The two big questions right now are obviously who and where is the shooter?
But also was this criminal or a terrorist attack?
Now police spokesmen said they're leaning towards a terrorist attack but they're not ruling out criminal. The minister of public security says they still don't know and that the investigation is developing.
A police spokesman also told CNN there wasn't any intelligence leading up to the shooting. And despite all of that and a gunman at large, police are telling Tel Aviv residents to go about their normal lives but to be on alert -- Ian Lee, CNN, Jerusalem.
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KINKADE: In India's northwest, security forces have stopped an attack at an airbase near the border with Pakistan. India defense officials say their forces fought off four suspected militants.
Two attackers were killed and the other two gunmen are holed up inside a building. We are just getting video from the scene. At this stage, no group has claimed responsibility and the attack comes as India and Pakistan try to revive political talks.
Clouds of smog continue to well from a 63-floor luxury hotel in Dubai that was engulfed in flames on New Year's Eve. At least 16 people were injured in that blaze. The cause of the fire has not yet been confirmed but a source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN that it started when some curtains caught fire on the 20th floor.
And as the flames spread, a photographer was trapped on a balcony on the 48th floor. CNN's Jon Jensen has his story.
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DENNIS MAILARI (PH), PHOTOGRAPHER: And this stay where my locations.
JON JENSEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: New Year's Eve is one night Dennis Mailari (ph) will never forget. The 37-year-old photographer was on assignment to take pictures of Dubai's fireworks display at the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa.
But at 9:30 pm his vantage point inside the nearby Address Hotel went up in flames. And Mailari (ph), trapped, scared and alone, had to fight to make it out alive.
MAILARI: I'm on the side of the building. I need help.
I got there inside to try to go exit. I'm not going to die because of the fire, because of the smoke. JENSEN (voice-over): He was stuck on a balcony on the 48th floor.
Great for photos but smoke quickly filled the building and escape wasn't an option.
MAILARI (PH): This is my view at the 14th floor.
JENSEN (voice-over): The Filipino expat first panicked, then sent desperate pleas for help to friends and family on Facebook.
MAILARI (PH): I need help.
Yes, already posted that I'm here at 48th floors, help.
JENSEN (voice-over): He also kept filming, stayed calm, especially when things looked the worse.
MAILARI (PH): We were at the 48th floor, Address Hotel, happening right now.
I can hear it and I saw some debris falling down from the building.
JENSEN (voice-over): After almost two hours, Mailari (ph) came up with a last-ditch plan.
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He'd rappelled down the building on a window washer's cable even though it wasn't quite long enough to make it.
MAILARI (PH): I prayed that, if this is my last chance, then so be it.
JENSEN (voice-over): As he started going over the edge, firefighters found him and saved his life.
MAILARI (PH): You have to pull me back. I have a belt.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
MAILARI (PH): I have support belt.
JENSEN (voice-over): After walking down all 48 floors, Mailari (ph) was treated were --
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JENSEN (voice-over): -- smoke inhalation. He let his friends know he was safe, posting this picture. Then he continued with work, capturing Dubai's fireworks just meters away from the building that nearly killed him -- Jon Jensen, CNN, Dubai.
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KINKADE: In Kabul, Afghanistan, a 12-year-old boy was killed after a suicide bomber attacked a French restaurant. The restaurant is popular among French expats. The Taliban has claimed responsibility and this attack comes as Afghanistan tries to jumpstart peace talks.
Russian president Vladimir Putin says NATO has become a threat to his country. Mr. Putin signed an executive order on Thursday formalizing his country's stance toward the alliance. Tension between Russian and NATO has increased since 2014 following the annexation of Crimea. Mr. Putin's order says NATO's expansion near Russia's borders is illegal.
Fears over New Year's Eve terror attacks began to fizzle after the Times Square ball dropped. But U.S. authorities claim they stopped one man who had planned an attack in New York State. Boris Sanchez has the details.
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BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A homegrown terror plot to attack people celebrating the New Year thwarted by the Feds. Twenty-five- year-old Emanuel Lutchman now facing charges of attempting to provide material support to ISIS.
His alleged plan?
Police say he was looking to attack a bar and restaurant while revelers partied overnight in Rochester, New York.
MARK CHIARENZA, BAR OWNER, ROCHESTER, NEW YORK: I was nervous, owning some establishments downtown, you know, it's a little scary. But then I sat back and thought, you know, we have very good security staff, there's great police presence on the East Avenue and, you know, they're really just trying to put the fear into us and we're not going to let that happen.
SANCHEZ: Talking to an FBI informant, Lutchman allegedly discussed using a pressure cooker bomb and kidnapping people.
According to a criminal complaint, he told the informant, quote, "I will take a life. I don't have a problem with that."
The Feds say that on Tuesday Lutchman went to an area Walmart with the informant to stock up for the attack, buying black ski masks, zip ties, knives, a machete, duct tape, ammonia and latex gloves. And the complaint says he planned to release a video after the attack.
GOV. ANDREW CUOMO, NEW YORK: There's also a new normal when it comes to terrorism.
SANCHEZ: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo talking about the suspect's alleged path to radicalization.
CUOMO: He served time in Attica, became a Muslim, went out, became radicalized on the Internet and became the proponent of one of these terrorist groups, the ISIL groups, and pledged allegiance to the ISIL group and had a specific plan to assassinate people.
SANCHEZ: But Lutchman's neighbor say that's not the man they knew.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's a street kid. He's not a hardcore terrorist, you know. He just jumped on a bandwagon, being a little stupid.
SANCHEZ: If convicted, Lutchman could face up to 20 years in prison and a quarter million-dollar fine -- Boris Sanchez, CNN, New York.
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KINKADE: Still to come, authorities in the U.S. state of Illinois are on edge as the death toll and the floodwaters keep rising. We'll have the latest.
Plus U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to announce new executive action on gun control. We'll tell you about his plan when we come back. Stay with us. Stay with us.
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KINKADE: Welcome back. More rain is on the way for parts of the United Kingdom, already dealing with unprecedented flooding. Warnings remain in place across the country. The threat of ice and smoke would hamper cleanup efforts. In some areas what would normally be a month's worth of rain fell in just one day.
The U.K.'s environment agency said more than 7,000 homes have been flooded in just the last week.
In the U.S. the death toll is rising from severe flooding in the Midwest. In the state of Illinois, nine people have been killed while, in Missouri, at least 15 people have lost their lives. People in the southernmost tip of Illinois are watching the levees closely as authorities go door to door, asking people to evacuate.
One levee has already been breached; 12 counties have been declared disaster areas, with the governor calling in the National Guard. While in St. Louis, Missouri, conditions are starting to improve with two major highways reopening. The state of emergency there has also been lifted.
For more, meteorologist Karen Maginnis is standing by the International Weather Center.
And, Karen, I understand that the rain has stopped.
Can people can expect any relief?
KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: The relief is only going to be temporary. For the St. Louis area, the river has crest. But already, the damage has been done.
We look back on 1993 as kind of the benchmark; that's when the records were set. That was a springtime event, when they had snow on the ground; it melts very quickly and the rivers rise.
Now St. Louis is just about in this position. This is the length of the Mississippi River, so downstream from where we saw those record crests, those rivers are going to be rising to the tributaries that fill into the Mississippi River as well as the Mississippi itself.
So for St. Louis, it's pretty much over. They're not looking at additional rainfall. But further downstream we're looking at places like Greenville, Natchez and, for New Orleans, still the potential for more flooding.
Some places are looking at record flooding, historic flooding. This is wintertime. This is not a time when we typically see the potential for such widespread and severe flooding.
Already, still 17 states with flood warnings out, all the way from the Lower Great Lakes Region down toward the Gulf Coast, over toward the mid-Atlantic region but definitely the most severe is across that central and southern sections of the Mississippi.
Now are they looking at any more rainfall?
No, at least in the short term, they are not. But still these rivers, the Arkansas River, Missouri, the Mississippi and the Ohio still running very high. We've already increased the number of fatalities right along the border with Missouri where the death toll has gone up there because they continue to find bodies in the floodwaters.
But for St. Louis and then along the Merrimac River, Merrimac notorious for flooding very quickly. But as I mention, you go downhill -- or downstream and it looks like we could see some significant flooding for Cape Girardeau. This is an area that typically would see the springtime flooding.
Now the levee has overtopped in this area and you may think, well, the water is just going over the levee. But, in fact, this a prelude to what could typically be a collapsed levee and that would be especially dangerous.
Now a lot of these towns are not particularly large. Cape Girardeau only has about 40,000 people. But 40,000 people with a town that potentially could see catastrophic flooding, it's going to be really devastating to watch.
And, Lynda, this is going to take place over the next two weeks, so it's not over if not another drop of rain falls, there's still the potential for severe flooding there.
KINKADE: All right. Still on edge --
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KINKADE: -- for another two weeks. Not looking good.
Karen Maginnis, thanks so much for that update.
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KINKADE: Well, New Year's fireworks are barely over. But the 2016 campaign fireworks are already well underway, some of the presidential candidates took a break over the holiday while others like Donald Trump kept up political attacks on social media. CNN's Chris Frates has a look at what's ahead for these presidential hopefuls as the race gets serious.
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DONALD TRUMP, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're going to have a great time next year. It's going to be an amazing year. We're going to make America great again and we're going to do everything in our power to make sure that happens.
CHRIS FRATES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Donald Trump has been off the campaign trail the last few days but that hasn't stopped him from going after his rivals on Twitter.
"I would feel sorry for Jeb Bush in how badly he is doing with his campaign other than for the fact, he took millions of dollars of hit ads on me."
Hoping to regain some mojo in the New Year, Jeb Bush changed things up this week, cancelling ad buys in Iowa and South Carolina and moving dozens of staffers to key early states to try to cut into Trumpmentum.
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JEB BUSH, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He's not a serious candidate. He has a broad appeal but it may not be as deep as people imagine. So, we're going to put together a ground game, if you will, in Iowa and New Hampshire and here in South Carolina that I think will be second to none. And that's how we will do -- we'll win and we're going to do well, so I'm excited about it.
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FRATES (voice-over): Trump leads by wide margins in national polls, but his lead in Iowa is more disputed. With the Iowa caucuses less than a month away, Ted Cruz is gaining on the billionaire.
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FRATES (voice-over): The Republican senator is up with an ad there, selling his conservative credentials and he starts a six-day Iowa bus tour on Monday. To help blunt Cruz's rise and stay on top, Trump says he'll soon start spending at least $2 million a week on his own advertising.
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TRUMP: Well, I'm going to be doing big ads in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and they're going to be very substantial. And I think they're very well done. I've seen the first two or three of them. We're very proud of them. And we're going to be talking about a lot of things, including the
border, including trade, including ISIS and security for the country.
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FRATES (voice-over): And Ben Carson rang in the New Year with a new cast of cast of advisers, as the three top aides resigned on New Year's Eve. The struggling contender promised to reinvigorate his campaign ahead of Iowa's February 1st caucuses.
FRATES: Democrats are also getting back on the campaign trail. Bernie Sanders is in Massachusetts today. And over the next two days, New Hampshire gets a double dose of Clinton.
On Sunday, Hillary Clinton makes several stops in the Granite State. And, on Monday, former President Bill Clinton makes his first solo appearance of the campaign on his wife's behalf -- Chris Frates, CNN, Washington.
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KINKADE: Let's take a look at some key dates coming up in the U.S. presidential race. Now after months and months of campaigning, voting finally kicks off with the Iowa caucuses on February 1st; a little more than a week later, it's the New Hampshire primary because they come first.
Those contests could have a major impact on the race. March 1st is Super Tuesday and potentially make-or-break day with the candidates with primaries and caucuses held in 15 states and territories across the U.S.
Campaigning continues through the spring into summer, culminating in the national party conventions. Republicans meet in Cleveland on July 18th, where they will officially name their presidential candidate.
The Democrats choose their candidate the following week in Philadelphia. And then it's on to the general election in November.
As one of his last major moves, U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to announce new executive action to expand gun control in the coming days. Sources at the White House say his plans will increase background checks on people purchasing guns. CNN's Jim Acosta has more.
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JIM ACOSTA, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For President Obama the final round is about to begin.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In 2016, I'm going to leave it out all on the field.
ACOSTA (voice-over): Up first in the president's eighth and last year in office, Mr. Obama's long-promised response to mass shootings in the U.S. Sources familiar with the plan say it will be a package of executive
actions on gun control, expected before the January 12th State of the Union and aimed at the gun show loophole, which allows some firearms sellers to avoid conducting background checks on their customers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And so the beginning of this year?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it'll be fair, yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
ACOSTA (voice-over): The White House --
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ACOSTA (voice-over): -- argues the president's actions will be within his executive authority and in line with polls that show broad support for tightening background checks.
ERIC SCHULTZ, WHITE HOUSE DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY: Unfortunately, Congress hasn't shown the courage to do so. So that's why the president asked his team to look at what we can do administratively.
ACOSTA (voice-over): Vowing to fight the move, the nation's biggest gun lobby, the NRA, says the president is doing what he always does when he doesn't get his way, defying the will of the people and using executive action.
Another controversial proposal coming in the new year, the president will ask Congress to shut down the terror detention center at Guantanamo, a facility Mr. Obama may close on his own, if lawmakers balk at the White House plan.
OBAMA: It'll be an uphill battle.
ACOSTA (voice-over): The president also hopes to travel to Cuba and perhaps more than a dozen other countries in what's shaping up to be a global farewell tour.
But the President's agenda could be upended by setbacks in the war on ISIS, a foreign policy crisis that could complicate White House plans to have the president campaign heavily with the 2016 Democratic nominee, a prospect that may well put him and Hillary Clinton on the trail together again.
OBAMA: I think we will have a strong Democratic nominee. I think that Democratic nominee will win. I think I will have a Democratic successor.
ACOSTA: But, first, the president will lay out his plans for his final year in office at the fast-approaching State of the Union address, which is less than two weeks away. White House officials say don't expect a long laundry list of proposals, in part because the president is almost out of time -- Jim Acosta, CNN, traveling with the president in Honolulu.
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KINKADE: Not a bad spot for an assignment.
Still to come, singer Natalie Cole has passed away. She was often mentioned in the same breath with other greats like Aretha Franklin.
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KINKADE (voice-over): Tributes to the Grammy award-winning singer when we come back.
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KINKADE: Welcome back. One of Iraq's most famous conductors has armed himself with an unlikely weapon in the fight to weed out terror in the country: music. Karim Wasfi visits parts of Baghdad that have been bombed and he comes equipped only with his cello.
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KARIM WASFI, IRAQI CONDUCTOR: I'm out there helping people, empowering their self-confidence, empowering their commitment to life, not to death.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking foreign language).
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking foreign language).
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WASFI: It's my choice to feel human, to feel alive. But they were thinking three years, somehow, they were less aggressive. They were less malicious against each other or against the situation.
I will not stop at this stage. We have a certain obligation when things are abnormal. Our obligation is to turn life normal and worth living for.
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KINKADE: Well, American singer and songwriter Natalie Cole has passed away at the age of 65. She died late Thursday in Los Angeles, due to complications from ongoing health issues.
The daughter of the legendary Nat King Cole rose to make her own mark in the music world. And while Cole's songs were indeed beautiful, her life, as she conceded, was, at times, very dark as she battled substance abuse. Here is Jeremy Roth.
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JEREMY ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): She was the daughter of a singing legend who found her own musical success. As the child of Nat King Cole and orchestra singer Maria Hawkins Ellington, Natalie Cole was exposed to a rich performing tradition from a young age.
Her 1991 version of her late father's standard, "Unforgettable," a virtual duet alongside his voice, helped the album sell millions of copies and win six Grammys in 1992.
Cole was open about a year's long struggle with drug abuse. She was diagnosed in 2008 with hepatitis C and went on a public search for a kidney transplant. Here's Cole on CNN's "Larry King Live" in 2009.
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NATALIE COLE, AMERICAN SINGER, SONGWRITER: It's like a virus, you know, and they treat it very aggressively. But I've had it forever and I had it from drug use.
ROTH (voice-over): A nurse at the hospital where Cole was being treated was so moved by the star's struggle that, when her niece suddenly died, she arranged for Cole to receive her kidney.
Meanwhile, her family says, in her absence, they're now left with, quote, "heavy hearts," but add that she died how she lived, with dignity, strength and honor. Natalie Cole was 65 years old.
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KINKADE: Well, thanks for joining us tonight. I'm Lynda Kinkade. I'll be back with the headlines after a short break. You're watching CNN.
