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Recap of Year's Biggest Political Stories; Pop Artist George Michael Dies; Investigation into Russian Military Plane Crash Continues; Iraq Christian Town Celebrates Christmas Free from ISIS. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired December 26, 2016 - 13:30   ET

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


(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[13:30:00] BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If you succeed, then the country succeeds.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Number eight --

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: I beat everybody. I beat the hell out of them.

TAPPER: Donald Trump won the Republican nomination but struggled to win over the party. Republican leaders distanced themselves.

(on camera): Will you support him?

PAUL RYAN, (R-WI), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: I'm just not ready to do that.

TAPPER: Will the party now unify around President Trump?

PAUL: We're going to hit the ground running.

TAPPER (voice-over): Number seven, Trump's unvarnished campaign attracted extremist support.

TRUMP: I don't know anything about what you're even talking about with white supremacy.

TAPPER: He was slow to denounce white supremacists.

TRUMP: David Duke endorsed me? OK. I disavow. OK?

TAPPER: And controversial rhetoric on race continued.

TRUMP: This judge is of Mexican heritage, I'm building a wall.

TAPPER: Even targeting the judge in his university fraud case.

(on camera): If you are saying he can't do his job because of his race, is that not the definition of racism?

TRUMP: No. I don't think so at all.

TAPPER (voice-over): Number six, the conventions.

HILLARY CLINTON, (D), FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE & FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The first time that a major party has nominated a woman for president.

TAPPER: Hillary Clinton made history in Philadelphia, and a Gold Star family made Trump an offer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you even read the United States constitution? I will gladly lend you my copy.

(CHEERING)

TAPPER: In Cleveland, Melania Trump's speech was -- familiar.

MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: You work hard for what you want in life.

MELANIA TRUMP, INCOMING FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: That you work hard for what you want in life.

TAPPER: And Senator Ted Cruz refused to endorse the nominee.

SEN. TED CRUZ, (R), TEXAS & FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIATE: Vote your conscience.

TAPPER: Number five, Trump's past went public. There was a former Miss Universe feud.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He called her Miss Piggy.

TAPPER: He responded with a link to her past.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR, A.C. 360: You sent out a series tweet, including one to check out a sex tape.

TAPPER: Then a crude video of Trump.

TRUMP: You grab them by the (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

TAPPER: He brushed it aside.

TRUMP: This was locker room talk.

TAPPER: But nearly a dozen assault accusers said it went further than words.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: His hands started going towards my knee and up my skirt.

TAPPER: Trump denied the allegations and said he would sue.

Number four, Senator Bernie Sanders built a huge movement.

SEN. BERIE SANDERS, (I), VERMONT & FORMER DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTAIL CANDIDATE: We are actually listening to the American people, not the 1 percent.

(CHEERING)

TAPPER: But was the system rigged against outsiders?

SANDERS: Secretary Clinton received about 450 super delegates before anybody else was in the race.

TAPPER: "Bernie or bust" protestors crowded the convention --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're being ridiculous.

TAPPER: -- and refused to vote for Clinton.

Number three, Democrats were hacked.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: They're under attack.

TAPPER: Stolen e-mails from the DNC revealed bias against Sanders forcing the party chair to resign.

SANDERS: There's no question to my mind the DNC was at opposition to our campaign.

TAPPER: U.S. intelligence points to Russian cyberattacks.

OBAMA: Our goal continues to be to send a clear message to Russia or others not to do this to us, because we can do stuff to you.

TAPPER: Number two --

JIM COMEY, FBI DIRECTOR: There is evidence they were extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive highly classified information.

TAPPER: -- the FBI recommended no charges for Clinton's use of a private e-mail server. Still, the issue was gold for Republicans.

TRUMP: She's guilty as hell.

(CHANTING)

TAPPER: She tried to quell concerns.

CLINTON: My e-mails are so boring.

TAPPER: But the FBI announced they discovered new ones just before Election Day.

CLINTON: It's imperative the bureau explain this issue.

TAPPER: The trove contained nothing new but the damage was done.

Number one --

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hillary Clinton has called Donald Trump to concede the race.

TAPPER: Donald Trump won the White House.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: The campaign, unlike anything we've seen in our lifetime.

TRUMP: I love this country.

(CHANTING)

TAPPER: As protestors took to the streets, Secretary Clinton bowed out.

CLINTON: We have seen that our nation is more deeply divided than we thought.

TAPPER: Now, a cabinet of billionaires, outsiders and military men will join Trump for an era of, who knows what.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TAPPER: Let's bring back our panel to get their views on the top political stories of 2016. With us still, Molly Hemingway, senior editor for "The Federalist"; CNN political commentator, Ryan Lizza, who is also a correspondent for "The New Yorker"; and CNN chief political correspondent, Dana Bash.

Molly, start with you.

I confess, others, I want to go back and take that out, put this one in. Hit me with your best shot.

MOLLY HEMINGWAY, SENIOR EDITOR, THE FEDERALIST: I agree with some of yours. Scalia's death, huge for people. Galvanized to get behind Trump, thought the stakes were so high. Launched an anti-Merritt Garland strategy, working to keep Republicans together along the ticket. Hillary Clinton's e-mail scandal is number two. Not just because she did a bad job answering questions but it confirmed suspicions about her bad judgment, her proximity in the scandal, but also because it wasn't replaced by anything else. This was an issue where people cared about policy. You don't remember her talking what she would do in terms of foreign, economic policy. It dominated her entire campaign.

Of course, Trump winning is definitely the big one, and not just winning but reshaping the Republican Party as he did it. He really brought in total different views on foreign and trade policy, reshaping conservatism. It remains to be seen how much he'll reshape the Republican Party but there's been some realignment. That's a huge story.

[13:35:26] TAPPER: That's fascinating.

Ryan?

RYAN LIZZA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Mine all have a theme. That is that political norms that were violated and broken in 2016, that's the big story really of this year. A lot of rules went out of the window. That's why I put the Supreme Court vacancy at the top of the list. It's unprecedented for the Republican Party to say, sorry, we're waiting until after election and not going to fill that spot. No doubt, once a norm is broken, the other side pockets it, and will do the same in position. Watch for Democrats to push it further when they're in charge of the Senate.

Number two, Trump's conflicts of interest. An issue I think didn't get enough attention during the campaign. Frankly, a lot of people felt Trump wouldn't win and we in the media didn't focus on it as much. The fact you have a billionaire businessman who hasn't yet decided, less than a month before sworn into office, what he's going to do with his for-profit business empire, is an enormous, very important story.

And finally, the Russian hacking and the meddling in our election, frankly, Trump's own lack of outrage about it. And a lot of Republicans see it as a partisan issue and not condemned Putin or been on the side of Democrats in a united front against what Russia did. I think it's a big mistake, and another norm violated. And there used to be a saying, politics stopped at the water's edge, hasn't always been true. This is a situation it should have been true.

TAPPER: Absolutely.

Dana, your top three?

BASH: Number three, Bill Clinton for boarding Loretta Lynch's plane.

TAPPER: Absolutely.

BASH: Because it just -- a symbol of so much. Number one, of Bill Clinton either not getting it, or maybe more accurately getting it, but thinking that, because he's Bill Clinton, he can put his charm on and get on her plane and have a conversation, maybe about nothing pertaining to the investigation, but still -- you know.

TAPPER: That's what we're told, anyway.

BASH: That's what we're told. Still, it reminded people who remember the '90s that the Clintons sometimes think they're above it and they're separate from what you're supposed to do. Never mind the fact that moment also meant she had to separate herself from the investigation.

TAPPER: Loretta Lynch, the attorney general.

BASH: Loretta Lynch. Jim Comey, FBI director, much more in charge. That's number three.

Number two, the debates. Not just because they were must-see TV, also because, looking back with hindsight, Hillary Clinton did so well. She seemed at the time to play him, to bait him on so many issues. She was so prepared. But she was focusing on the wrong thing. We now know. She was focusing on his temperament. And his character and his policies.

BASH: And on his character, not his policies.

And number one, you and I talked about this in the break, for sure, Hillary Clinton's deplorables comment.

TAPPER: The basket of deplorables, yeah.

BASH: The basket of deplorables. Where she said - she wasn't caught on tape. She was saying it with a camera at a fund-raiser, talking about Donald Trump supporters accusing them of, at least half of them, they said, being --

(CROSSTALK)

TAPPER: Irredeemable.

BASH: And she sorts of apologized, but not really properly, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it was -- your interview with Robby Mook, campaign manager, he said that was sort of the under- reported thing that really changed their polling internally and made them realize, you know what, it wasn't necessarily just Comey. It was that issue. It made the traditional Democratic base, the people who ended up going to Donald Trump, think she really doesn't get us.

TAPPER: I don't think there's any story that demonstrates the divide between the people who report on politicians and the voters than that story. Because a lot of us, our reaction was, ok, she got the number right. A lot of deplorable, racist and what a lot --

(CROSSTALK)

LIZZA: Wrong.

TAPPER: -- where she landed it. Got the number wrong, not the fact they're deplorable. And a lot of voters, you're talking about my husband. You're talking about my brother.

BASH: Exactly.

TAPPER: You're talking about where I might vote. And a woman who worked for the Clinton campaign, her entire job just talk to undecided voters in swing states, the entire election, she published something in the "Boston Globe" after the election saying that was the moment they all started moving away from Hillary Clinton. Fascinating.

LIZZA: Lessons, attack your opponent, the politician, don't attack the voters, no matter what.

(CROSSTALK)

TAPPER: Attacking voters, bad idea. A general rule of thumb.

LIZZA: Yeah.

TAPPER: All right.

LIZZA: Shamed for supporting someone, no matter how bad they are.

TAPPER: Happy new year to one and all.

(CROSSTALK)

TAPPER: I know we're still only day two of the 12 days of Christmas. Big issue for you, Molly.

(LAUGHTER)

TAPPER: Merry Christmas to you.

HEMINGWAY: And day three of Hanukkah.

TAPPER: And day three of Hanukkah.

And, Ryan, whatever you are.

(LAUGHTER)

[13:40:00] TAPPER: Dana Bash --

(CROSSTALK)

TAPPER: -- Ryan Lizza, Molly Hemingway, thanks. Appreciate it.

He helped define a decade, and that was both a musical and cultural icon. Up next.

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(SINGING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SINGING)

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TAPPER: Millions of fans around the world are mourning the death of a pop music icon. George Michael died in his home yesterday near London. The manager says the suspected cause of death was heart failure. George Michael's career spanned more than 30 years. He had a number of huge hits. He also had a number of personal highs and lows, many of them playing out in front of the public.

CNN's Ian Lee is in London for us today.

Ian, start with the fans. George Michael sold tens of millions of records. How is he being remembered by fans today? IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, when I was out there talking

to them, a lot of them just had love in their hearts, and also deeply shocked that he died at a young age of 53.

He was gearing up for another album. Fans were looking forward to that. And so, when you talk to them, you saw them come here, a lot of them bringing flowers, candles, personal notes. And when you read those notes, you could get a sense for what he meant to these people. You know, spanning a few decades, and coming out with a number of hits. Winning two Grammys. This is somewhat who lift his mark on society, on his fans.

I talked to three sisters who had this to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[13:45:13] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was just shock.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's like losing our brother.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's like losing a family member.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But he meant everything to us.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We connected.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEE: And, Jake when I was talking to people there, some of them actually knew him from the community, and said he was approachable, you could go up, talk to him. He was just like an average guy on the street, and that's what a lot of people are remembering, too, right now.

TAPPER: Ian Lee, in london, thank you so much.

Russia declares a national day of mourning after one of its military planes crashed into the Black Sea with dozens of passenger and crew onboard, all believed to have been lost. When we come back, why Moscow is ruling out terrorism as the cause.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: A Russian military plane crashed into the Black Seas killing all 92 onboard. Aviation officials in Russia say pilot error or a technical issue may be to blame. They are ruling out terrorism as a possible cause. A country is observing a national day of mourning today to remember those lost in the accident.

Meanwhile, Russia's official news agency says divers have been able to locate a large piece of the plane's hull, roughly 90 feet deep in the Black Sea.

CNN senior international correspondent, Matthew Chance, is live in Moscow.

Matthew, how were officials able to quickly rule our terrorism, given they just found parts of the plane?

[13:49:48] MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I know. That's a great question. In fact, they were ruling out terrorism in the hours after the plane was lost before they found any wreckage at all. They've been saying from the outset, and the Kremlin emphasized it again, this is probably not terrorism, they're saying most likely not terrorism, saying it's pilot error, mechanical failure. These are the assessments they've made so far. But they haven't even found the black box recorders yet. Divers are looking for that. They have a huge search under way for human remains and the fuselage. It's very deep at the bottom of the Black Sea.

You get the impression they don't want to confront the idea this could have been terrorism because this was a military plane. It was operated by the Russian defense ministry. It left from a military base and was en route to Syria.

It was carrying on board not just ordinary Russian soldiers but members of the Russian choir. They were meant to give a new year's performance, a concert to Russian troops. Of course, there are no survivors.

This is a huge embarrassment to the Russians as well as a huge tragedy nationally. It's been a day of mourning today. We're still not at a point where we can say with any confidence what the outcome of this crash investigation is going to be. Russian officials saying it's likely to be pilot error or mechanical failure, but I don't think we can rule out terrorism at this point.

TAPPER: Matthew, you just mentioned a choir. They were flying to Syria. Why? They were going to perform for Russian soldiers there?

CHANCE: That's right. They were en route to Latakia, the town where there's a big Russian military base. They've been carrying out air strikes from that military base. There were lots of Russian troops there, lots of pilots, support staff that are based there. This is one of those "make the troops feel good. New year is a huge celebration across Russia. They celebrate new year." It's a big celebration. This was meant to be a huge, perhaps, celebration of the Russian victory in Syria. Remember, it's only been a few days ago, the Russians announced an end to their operation inside Aleppo and brought that back under control of Bashar al Assad. So, this was meant to be a time of celebration for the military inside Syria. The loss of this aircraft with 64 performers on board, members of the choir, members of the orchestra as well, it's a huge blow.

TAPPER: But that's also, Matthew, one of the reasons it's so curious they would rule out terrorism so quickly because among the many groups the Russians and Bashar al Assad's forces were fighting in Aleppo, along with moderate rebels and innocent civilians and the like, are some groups allied with terrorists, like al Nusra and the like. That's why the discounting of terrorism seems so curious.

CHANCE: No, I agree with that. Funny enough, this has happened before. Just over a year ago, there was a Russian civilian airliner shot down on the Sinai Peninsula. At first, the Russians said there's no way this is terrorism. A few days later, it emerged that terrorism was responsible for that.

TAPPER: Matthew Chance, in Moscow, thank you so much.

One Christian town in Iraq celebrating Christmas for the first time in years. We'll show you how they're marking this holiday after being liberated from ISIS control, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:56:39] TAPPER: An illustration now of the dangers of fake news, these fictitious concocted news accounts on strange websites. Pakistan's defense minister fired off a threatening tweet aimed at Israel over the weekend, quote, "Israeli defense minister threatens nuclear retaliation, presuming Pakistan role in Syria against Daesh, or ISIS. Israel forgets Pakistan is a nuclear state, too," unquote. A nuclear reminder. He was responding to a supposed quote from a former Israeli defense minister saying Israel would destroy Pakistan with a nuclear attack if Pakistan sent troops to Syria. A standoff, it seems, with cataclysmically high stakes, except the Israeli part of the story was fake. It never happened. The former defense minister never issued that nuclear threat. But, another example of how this fake news phenomenon is no joke. Israel pointed this out to Pakistan, which led the Pakistan defense minister changed his message to one of peace, "Happy holidays."

Iraq's joint military command says Iraqi security and coalition forces have killed 97 ISIS terrorists in areas around Mosul. The militants were killed in three separate incidents. Iraqi forces have been trying to retake Mosul from ISIS control since early November.

And in the nearby Christian town of Bartella, residents are celebrating Christmas for the first time in years. The town was liberated from ISIS control in October.

CNN's Muhammad Lila was more on the celebrations.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(SINGING)

MUHAMMAD LILA, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a moment that many at this historic church thought they'd never see.

(SINGING)

LILA: Celebrating the birth of Christ in a place once desecrated by ISIS.

TIMTHAWES AL-SHAMANI, ARCHBISHOP (through translation): Even if it's is, the lord taught us to love and forgive our enemies and to pray for them. The most important thing is for us to live in harmony and peace.

LILA: ISIS overran this town more than two years ago. Everyone fled. Look closely. Bullet holes on the walls are scars that remain. ISIS broke the church's glass but not its heart.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): Happiness and sadness at the same time. This town used to be full of life, but now look at it, such a desolate place. We can't live here now.

LILA: The town was recaptured by Iraqi forces in October this year. Thousands of ISIS fighters are just a few kilometers away. This is now a place of razor wire, broken buildings, and the reality of war.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): I could never imagine this has happened. We have lived here for more than 1,000 years. We never thought we would be displaced. Our Houses are destroyed. We won't be able to come back.

LILA: In town, the green of a single plastic Christmas tree breaks up the misery surrounding it. This is a place guarded by the army now. Just holding this mass requires armed soldiers at the door.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): We need to get international protection. There is no southeast, we cannot live in this area. Today we have no dignity. We are displaced in our own country.

(BELL TOLLS)

LILA: Displaced but not disheartened.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): We have to have hope in this life. If we don't have hope, then we are finished.

(SINGING)

LILA: The ancient hymns of one of the world's oldest Christian communities are being sung here once again, a small act of life in a country that's seen so much death.

Muhammad Lila, CNN.

(SINGING)

(END VIDEOTAPE)