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Alabama voters go to the polls, 40 hours; Video was released after a jury acquitted the former officer of murder and reckless manslaughter charges sparking outrage; Record breaking dry conditions are making firefighting tougher in southern California today; Aired 4- 5p ET

Aired December 10, 2017 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:13] DAVE BRIGGS, CNN HOST: Thanks for joining me. I'm Dave Briggs for Fredricka Whitfield this afternoon. Thanks for being here on a Sunday.

Just two more days until Alabama voters go to the polls, 40 hours. Both candidates are in final sprint for vote. President Trump stumping for Republican Roy Moore and recording a robo call for Moore's campaign, this despite child molestation allegations facing Moore. Today, Moore is responding and again claiming he does not know the women making the accusations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROY MOORE (R), ALABAMA SENATE CANDIDATE: I do not know any of the women who have charged me with sexual allegations of molestation. And I did not know any of the women. When I saw these pictures on the advertisements of my opponent I did not recognize any of those people. I did not know them. I have written cards, graduation cards, I have known families and known a lot of people throughout my life. These allegations are completely false. I did not date under aged women. I did not molest anyone. And so these allegations are false.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: Right now in Alabama Moore's Democratic challenger Doug Jones urging his staff to get out the vote.

We have a team of correspondents covering this critical race in this final days. Abby Philip in West Palm Beach with the President. Kaylee Hartung covering the Roy Moore campaign. But let's begin with Alex Marquardt who is with Doug Jones supporters in Birmingham right now.

Alex, where is Doug Jones and what are we hearing?

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Dave, in this final weekend before the election this can really be boiled down to four words for Doug Jones, get out the vote. That is the focus for this weekend. And in stark contrast to the Moore campaign this campaign is firing on all cylinders holing events all weekend long. They had four yesterday to holding at least four more today. One just finished up here. I'm at the headquarters of the Jones

campaign here in Birmingham, Alabama. And this was a get out the vote rally. And it was headlined not just by Jones but by the New Jersey senator Corey Booker. Very well-attended. Very raucous rally. And now people are going out to canvas.

They want to get every single vote they can get. They want to make sure everybody in Alabama knows that this election is being held on December 12th. Remember this is a special election. In an off year in me-December so not many people are thinking about politics right now. But the Jones' campaign has repeatedly said that they are excited that their base is excited because this is the first time in about a quarter century that there is a chance for a Democrat to represent Alabama in the Senate. They really see an opening here because of these allegations against Roy Moore.

So what you are seeing here, what canvassers are going to be doing this afternoon is targeting undecided voters, targeting moderate Republicans, women, African-Americans. The campaigning here has really seized on these allegations against Roy Moore. One of the strongest arguments they have in this race is that he is not Roy Moore and that there is a unique chance to send someone, send a Democrat to the Senate. So they are really pouring it all out in these final days. If Jones is to stand a chance of winning on Tuesday he needs every single vote he can get -- Dave.

BRIGGS: He does indeed. Alex, thanks.

Let's getting out to Kaylee Hartung now covering the Roy Moore campaign. Once again no public sighting of Roy Moore. Is this part of the strategy?

KAYLEE HARTUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Dave, Alex said a stark contrast to what you are seeing here just across town in Birmingham at Moore's field office here. And as Moore tries to activate his base of conservatives and evangelicals he thinks of today like many of them do as the Lord's day. If he had it his way and members of his staff told me there would be no campaigning on a Sunday. But the closer we get to the election the more he let go of the notion.

So yes today Moore staying quiet himself but canvassers deploying from here and many other field offices across the state to go knock on doors, to activate that base of theirs.

So the door to door effort being what it is, they are not spending a lot of time today on a Sunday making phone calls. They don't see that as a priority. They will depend on that call from Donald Trump, the robo call that the White house has confirmed to us as already been recorded. That the campaign says will be released later today or tomorrow. But Roy Moore, yes, keeping it quiet.

We have asked the campaign what will the get out the vote strategy be on Monday the day before Election Day. Will it be different from really a low impact effort today? And they were unwilling to share the strategy for tomorrow with us because they don't want the Jones' campaign to know what specific areas of this state they will be targeting.

You know, all that being said, there has been a lot made of how little we have seen Moore on the trail, the last time being last Tuesday in that spirited rally with Steve Bannon, the former White House chief strategist down in Fair Hope. We know the next time we will see him publically will be tomorrow. Another event with Bannon, this one in Midland City, also in South Alabama.

But we have learned today, Dave, Moore will not out in the public. He is with friends, volunteers of this campaign in Montgomery for a Christmas party.

[16:05:21] BRIGGS: Letting the President speak for him, interesting strategy.

Kaylee Hartung, thanks so much. Alex Marquardt, thank you, as well.

Let's turn to President's big push for Roy Moore. First he held a campaign rally in Pensacola, Florida Friday just 25 miles from the Alabama border. That's also in the Mobile, Alabama television market. There he gave a big endorsement and now the President has recorded a robo call as Kaylee mentioned urging voters in Alabama to vote for Moore.

CNN White House correspondent Abby Philip with the President in West Palm Beach and joins us now.

Abby, how important is this race for President Trump?

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's incredibly important. This race is all about the President and his legacy as he is looking at the Senate and looking at the slim margin that Republicans have over Democrats there. He is saying to voters that putting aside everything about these allegations against Roy Moore, what is most important is that Roy Moore is a vote for the President's agenda on the hill. This puts him at odds with his party.

Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell and even Alabama senior senator Shelby Moore has said that he does not want to see Roy Moore in the Senate. He thinks Alabamans can do better than that.

But the President with this robo call is doubling down on this race. He is doing more than he has done for virtually any other special election thus far. Both the robo call and rally in which he specifically urged voters to go out and vote for Moore. And he also criticized Moore's accusers directly.

Now when we talk about why the president is doing this, you have to take into consideration that he does doubt some of these accusers. He said so himself publically and he said it privately. That is one of the things that has also put him at odds with his own party. Many of whom have said that they believe that these women are credible.

Come Tuesday voters are deciding about whether they think that these allegations just the existence of them is enough to say that they are not going to put Roy Moore in the Senate. The President says his entire legacy is on the line as a result of this race.

BRIGGS: Abby Phillip, on faced by numerous fire trucks coming to the area. Thanks so much for the insight there. Nice job.

PHILLIP: Yes.

BRIGGS: Joining me now, Washington bureau chief for the Chicago Sun Times Lyn Sweet and CNN presidential historian Tim Naftali.

We will all be far more thrown off if there is a fire truck around here at Time Warner center. But let's start with this. Roy Moore says that he denies all of these allegations as he doesn't know either of the women who have accused him. For a long time Alabama political strategist who did that interview with said outsiders in this race will have no impact, not Steve Bannon, not President Trump. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL BRITT, EDITOR IN-CHIEF, ALABAMA POLITICAL REPORTER: Steve Bannon is the ultimate outsider. Steve Bannon isn't going to move the needle in Alabama just like President Trump barely moved the needle in Alabama when he came down here for Luther Strange. This is an Alabama race. I have covered politics here for a long, long time. I have looked in other state and Alabama is unique. People are proud and they are going to make up their own mind.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: Outsiders will they have any impact, Tim?

TIMOTHY NAFTALI, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Well, I don't know. But I know that there are some issues that are important in this race that some outsiders forget about. Abortion is an important part of this race. Most Americans, 57 percent by recent Pew survey, most Americans believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases.

In Alabama that number is flipped around. In Alabama most people believe abortion should be illegal. Doug Jones is pro-choice. There has I don't believe ever been a pro-choice senator from Alabama.

Now for outsiders people would say, well, listen. He is against a credibly accused child molester. But for many Alabamans, the question is which moral concern are you going to let dominate your vote? And I believe some are saying we don't believe these attacks on judge Moore but we do know that Mr. Jones is pro-choice and we don't like that.

BRIGGS: Lynn, abortion is certainly a part of this race. What do you think the most important issue is as we are 40 hours away from the polls opening?

LYNN SWEET, WASHINGTON BUREAU, CHICAGO SUN-TIMES: The most important issue is it is not locally - I mean, when Bill Britt speaks always as a rule of thumb listen to the reporters on the ground who have covered Alabama politics and know the precincts. So the issue is that there are -- threshold issue is structural. Alabama has just a lot more Republicans than Democrats. So however they got there whether or not single issue voters for abortion, whether or not issue is gay rights, the structural matter is it is a Republican state. That means the Republican always will have this head start no matter what.

So one of the things you see Doug Jones doing in his week in his campaigning in African-American portions of the state because that's his only hope right now to form a coalition that so far has never existed in this state or not in recent years to spur black voter turnout. So when you ask what is important my answer more crisply is it is a very fundamental question about what it means in Alabama to be a Republican or a Democrat.

[16:11:07] BRIGGS: Cory Booker is down there, Tim. I don't know how much weight that will carry because, again, as was pointed out no outsider will impact this election. If this doesn't turn out Democrat votes what will?

NAFTALI: I don't know. But there is no doubt if you just look at the structure of the state, Doug Jones has to win Republican votes. Republicans have to stay home because they are disgusted by the choice. And he has to do better than Hillary Clinton in getting out the African-American vote in Alabama. So he has three things to hope for and to try to achieve.

BRIGGS: And then, Lynn, the next question is if Roy Moore is to win there is this good or bad news for the Republican Party in the long term? Lindsey Graham, the senator in South Carolina, said this is the gift that keeps on giving in Democratic politics if Roy Moore wins.

SWEET: It is. I do see the analysis says it is a win/win for Democrats. One, it doesn't change the makeup of the partisan break down in the Senate. It creates a rallying point for the 2018 midterms, if not beyond in the Presidential. And having Roy Moore in the Senate and he might cross paths for a few weeks if he wins with Al Franken who is leaving the Senate stepping down just with accusations that were far, far different than anything that has been said about Roy Moore. OK. That will have an impact and Democrats will use it.

Also, I believe you will have very soon if Moore is elected you will have a move to either expel him or slap him with an ethics investigation. That will happen most likely soon and probably with some Republican support.

BRIGGS: And Tim, that is a major dilemma for the Republican Party. What do you do if Roy Moore wins? Clearly this will be an issue for 2018 because as Lynn pointed out Franken is out. Conyers is out. They can draw the political line and say we have the moral high ground. And then Republicans do in the Senate? Do they have this ethics investigation and try to expel him against the will of Alabama voters?

NAFTALI: Well, the question is going to be -- and you see this already being said by Republican congressional leaders and outside Republican leaders. Is this the Republican Party or is this the Trump party? If it's the Trump party it's hard to imagine there will be an ethics investigation. If it is a Republican party a Republican pre- 2016 party of course there will be an ethics investigation. BRIGGS: Corey Gardner from Colorado, head of the NSRC has been pretty

emphatic in saying he will not tolerate Roy Moore in the Senate. But we want to ask you about what Roy Moore said this morning about why he is running for Senate. Here is part of his answer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOORE: (INAUDIBLE) to select judges that should serve on United States Supreme Court and federal district courts who are loyal to the constitution who do not put themselves above the constitution, they sworn to uphold. The way we put judges above the law in anything they rule, five members of the Supreme Court is clear, Justice Scalia is now diseased and Justice Roberts said they can change our constitution. And that's improper.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: Tim, you want to weigh in here?

NAFTALI: Well, I just want to say that the reason that judge Moore got into trouble in Alabama was he put himself above the law and it is most interesting to hear him say that. So you now, very interesting that he is willing to say that for federal judges but not for state judges.

BRIGGS: Lynn, what do you make of the argument?

SWEET: What make it the argument is that as long as Trump is the President he will have the say on who is nominated for any federal judgeships in Alabama as well as the federal marshals and magistrates. So it already will happen whether or not you have -- if there is a changeover in party for second senator. So it is a moot point if you don't need Moore. You need President Trump, not Moore, to guarantee more Republican judges in Alabama, however saying that of course Moore would have input with the White House but the White House would be a factor and not determinative because he would be junior senator, the senior Republican senator from that state.

[16:15:28] BRIGGS: Right. Shelby says he did not vote for Roy Moore. Did it right.

And real quickly, who wins -- Lynn?

SWEET: I think the trend is looking towards Moore right now.

BRIGGS: Tim?

NAFTALI: I agree.

BRIGGS: All right. Thank you both, Lynn Sweet, Tim Naftali. We appreciate it being here on a Sunday.

SWEET: Thank you.

BRIGGS: Still ahead, new mandatory evacuations underway as massive wildfires tear through southern California. Some of those who can return home finding ashes.

And disturbing new video of the moment Arizona police shoot and kill an unarmed man begging for his life. What police are saying about that shooting next?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:20:28] BRIGGS: Record breaking dry conditions are making firefighting tougher in southern California today. Twenty million residents are now under a fire threat. Nearly a million in the path of a high wind warning. The largest fire in Ventura County spreading west and north, something firefighters are desperately trying to stop. Flames across into Santa Barbara County. Heading towards another ritzy neighborhood.

California's governor says the state is literally burning up and like floods and earthquakes these kinds of wildfires don't go away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JERRY BROWN (D), CALIFORNIA: This is the new normal. And this can be something that happens every year or every few years. It happens to some degree. It's just more intense, more widespread and we are about ready to have firefighting Christmas. This is very odd and unusual but it is the way the world is with the kind of carbon pollution that we are not only living with but we are generating still. It is still increasing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: CNN senior national correspondent Kyung Lah following the latest on the Thomas fire. She joins us in Santa Barbara County.

Kyung, what do you see?

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Dave, we are just hearing of new evacuations. These are additional evacuations that we are learning of in just the last hour or so. Evacuations closer, a little further northwest of where we are standing in the town of Montecito (ph), an indication that firefighters are still unable to control this growing wildfire.

What you are seeing here is one flank of the fire. This is what they are battling, a fire that as of last report is 173,000 acres, 15,000 structures still under threat. Almost 800 homes destroyed. A fire that started in Ventura County and has only grown.

Here is what one firefighter told us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVE ZANIBONI, SANTA BARBARA COUNTY FIRE: This fire moved five miles in about three hours and, you know, destroyed, you know, several hundred homes in that time over in Ventura County. And wow we over are here in Santa Barbara County dealing with the same thing.

LAH: You have been hitting it from the air as well as working it from the ground.

ZANIBONI: Yes, correct. The helicopters have been a huge help.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAH: Forty-four hundred firefighters are fighting this wildfire. And just this one wildfire, if you consider all of the six wildfires that they have been battling throughout the week it is many more firefighters. But this is where they are drawing the line today. This is the one that they want to try to put out. This is the one they are trying to contain. There is only 15 percent contained. Conditions expected to go downhill throughout the day -- Dave.

BRIGGS: Fifteen percent contained.

All right, Kyung Lah, thanks so much.

If you want to help these impacted by the California wildfires CNN has put together a list of vetted charities assisting victims. Find it at CNN.com/impact.

Elsewhere, graphic disturbing video just released by Arizona police giving us insight into a 2016 shooting that shows an unarmed man sobbing and begging for his life moments before being shot and killed by police. The video was released after a jury acquitted the former officer of murder and reckless manslaughter charges sparking outrage.

CNN's Polo Sandoval joins us live now.

Polo, what is the back story here?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, it is very important to actually see this video even though it may be graphic, Dave. Yes, the video was shot almost two years ago but it also provides crucial clues for a jury that, as you mentioned, eventually acquitted the Arizona officer.

The background story on this at least leading up to the moment you are about to see here. This individual was at a hotel in Maze Arizona reportedly showing an air rifle with the useful works to some acquaintances. Witnesses saw that and became scared, called police. And then as you are about to see in this graphic video things took a terrible turn.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL (voice-over): Newly released body camera footage of this police shooting shows Daniel Shaver's last moments. Police were responding to reports of a man pointing rifle out of a hotel window.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hands up in the air. You do that again we are shooting you. Do you understand?

DANIEL SHAVER, SUSPECT: Do not shoot me.

SANDOVAL: Begging for his life. SHAVER: Then listen to my instructions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't talk, listen. Hands straight up in the air. Do not put your hands down for any reason. You think you going to fall you are going to fall on your face. Your hands go back on the small of your back or down, we are going to shoot you. Do you understand me?

[16:25:02] SHAVER: Yes, sir.

SANDOVAL: An officer then orders Shaver to crawl towards him. He complies but then moves his right hand behind him despite the warning.

Officer Phillip Mitchell (INAUDIBLE) for fires five rounds killing Shaver. (INAUDIBLE) was charged with second degree murder over this January 2016 shooting. In an interview with police said he thought Shaver was going for a gun saying quote "he could have easily and quickly drawn a weapon down on us and fired without aiming and he could have hit us or the citizen that we had just detained." No gun was found on Shaver. (INAUDIBLE) was acquitted last week. His defenders saying his actions were justified.

NATE GAFVERT, PRESIDENT, MESA POLICE ASSOCIATION: Pretty much every use of force subject matter expert that reviewed this case absolutely said he acted consistently with his training.

SANDOVAL: On the tape Shaver is repeatedly ordered to follow instructions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you make a mistake, another mistake there is very severe possibility you are going to get shot. Do you understand that?

SHAVER: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you move we are going to consider that a threat and we are going to deal with it and you may not survive it. Do you understand it?

SHAVER: Yes, sir.

SANDOVAL: Despite warnings in the siege, Shaver's family does not believe the shooting was justified. Attorneys saying in a statement to CNN quote "that is an execution pure and simple. Justice system miserably failed Daniel and his family." Witnesses later told police Shaver was showing them an air rifle he was used at his job exterminating pests.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: And there was a second person that was held at gun point that day. You may haven't able to see her in that shot in that body camera video. We later found out that was simply a female acquaintance who was there. She was unarmed. They questioned them and eventually released. As for officer (INAUDIBLE), today, at this hour he is no longer on the

job with the police department, though, he has, as we mentioned there, has been acquitted by a jury.

BRIGGS: Disturbing video.

Polo Sandoval, thanks so much.

Still ahead, Roy Moore brushing off child molestation allegations against him as fake. But up next, a friend of one of the accusers paints a different picture and says Leigh Corfman's claims against Moore are all true.

[016:30:00] (COMMERCIALBREAK)

DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: In just two days Alabama voters will finally answer this question. Will a candidate accused of sexually assaulting several women when they were teenagers win a seat in the U.S. Senate? The candidate, Roy Moore, says he did nothing wrong nor does he know the women, his explanation for why so many different women stepped forward, a plot of his enemies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROY MOORE, U.S. SENATE CANDIDATE: They know I've stood for moral values and so they're attacking me in that area. Ritual defamation has been around for a long time and that's what this is and they have done this. It's inconceivable to think that somebody would wait 40 years because they were embarrassed or ashamed of something and then less than 30 days before the general election come out and make allegations and then appear on political advertisement when they have waited 40 years not to be embarrassed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: The most disturbing allegation against Moore is one made by Leigh Corfman. Now Corfman says Moore molested her when she was just 14 and Moore was more than twice her age. CNN's Gary Tuchman tracked down one of Corfman's friends and asked her what she remembers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Betsy Rutenberg Davis lives in California but grew up in Gadsden, Alabama, the hometown of Judge Roy Moore.

BETSY RUTENBERG DAVIS: This is me up here and almost directly below me is Leigh, right here.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): Leigh Corfman, the woman who says Roy Moore sexually abused her when she was a 14-year-old girl, an allegation that Moore denies. Betsy Davis is one of the two friends Corfman has said she told at the time.

DAVIS: Leigh and I grew up together. I have known her since we were babies. TUCHMAN: She confided in you about something when she was 14-years-

old and you were 14-years-old.

DAVIS: Yes.

TUCHMAN: What did she tell you?

DAVIS: She told me she snuck out of her house and went on a date with Roy Moore and he had sexually assaulted her.

TUCHMAN: After she told you this, what was your understanding of who Roy Moore was in the community? What did you think he was?

DAVIS: He was like -- he was a big lawyer. He was a powerful guy. He was supposed to put criminals in jail.

TUCHMAN: And did she tell you how old he was?

DAVIS: I knew he was a lot older. I mean, I don't know that she said that he was 32 but I knew that he was like more than twice her age.

TUCHMAN: What did she tell you that he did to her?

DAVIS: I remember her saying that he made a pallet on the floor, maybe with blankets, something like that, and I remember her saying that he came out of his room in nothing but tighty whities, which is what we used to call Jockey underwear.

TUCHMAN: And what happened then?

DAVIS: They started to fool around and he guided her to -- it's like he was trying to teach her what to do. And she didn't want any part of it. And she told him so.

TUCHMAN: Is it in your memory that when she told you about it she was scared or didn't understand what was going on?

DAVIS: I wouldn't use scared but definitely creeped out.

TUCHMAN: So when she told you this, what did you say to her?

DAVIS: I said you cannot see him again. This is not good.

[16:35:00] He's too old for you. You are too young for him. You've got your life ahead of you, you know, you got to go to college. You got to, you know, live your life.

TUCHMAN: Were you mature enough at 14 to realize how debilitating psychologically, mentally this could be for a 14-year-old child to be with a man who is over 30 years old?

DAVIS: I don't think I understood that but what my mother had always said to me and drilled it into my head was, you know, in terms of sex men take what they want and it's always the woman's fault. And I knew that if she went down this path, she was going to be blamed and she was the one that was going to be left and it wasn't going to affect him at all. So I told her she was my friend, get out. This is no good.

TUCHMAN: He was asking her to go out again?

DAVIS: That is my understanding, yes.

TUCHMAN: And she was asking you for advice how she should handle him?

DAVIS: Yes. I was like just, no, absolutely not.

TUCHMAN: After she told you about this, what happened on the floor on this mattress or whatever it was? Did you discuss it all telling any adults, your parents about what happened?

DAVIS: I'm not sure that we discussed it but I know we knew that we weren't going to tell anybody.

TUCHMAN: Why is that?

DAVIS: We felt like we were equipped to handle it. We decided that it wasn't a good idea, nobody wanted to get in trouble, and we didn't know if anybody would believe us.

TUCHMAN: Betsy Davis and her husband, Charlie, live in Los Angeles and are the parents of two boys. He says he's known about this for a long time.

When did your wife first tell you about this?

CHARLIE DAVIS, BETSY DAVIS' HUSBAND: Well, shortly after I met my wife. I met Leigh Corfman on our visit to Gadsden. And from that time on I knew she had an incident, but I didn't know who Roy Moore was in the beginning, but that all came out over time.

TUCHMAN: And how many years ago was it that you first found out?

C. DAVAIS: 19 years.

TUCHMAN: Betsy Davis says she is a Democrat but --

B.DAVIS: I'm not here to tear Roy Moore down. I'm here to hold my friend up.

TUCHMAN: And regarding unproven allegations that women speaking out against Roy Moore are doing it for money.

Has anyone paid you to talk to us? Any Democrats?

B. DAVIS: God, no.

TUCHMAN: Any members of the news media?

B. DAVIS: No.

TUCHMAN: Any establishment Republicans? B. DAVIS: No, and I ran. I cannot tell you how many phone calls I've

declined, how many messages I haven't returned. TUCHMAN: So why are you talking to us now?

B. DAVIS: Because at the end of the day I need to set example for my kids and one of those examples is to stand up for the truth and to stand up for my friend.

TUCHMAN: Election day is this Tuesday. Gary Tuchman, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRIGGS: All right, thanks Gary. CNN will have complete election night coverage of the Alabama Senate race starting Tuesday at 5:00 p.m. eastern time. Still ahead, fully liberated, Iraq declares victory over ISIS but the threat of terrorist violence remains, that story just ahead.

But first, voting now underway for the CNN Hero of the Year. Here is one of this year's top 10 heroes. Meet Amy Wright.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMY WRIGHT, CNN HERO: People with disability sometimes the world just passes them by. Having a work place that makes you feel proud of yourself and gives you a sense of community is something we all want. Most of them are unemployed and we really felt like we wanted to do something about it and it was like coffee shop.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey guys, good morning. Welcome to Bitty and Beau's. It's open.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on in.

WRIGHT: Other than our two managers, everybody that works at Bitty and Beau's Coffee has an intellectual or developmental disability.

We figured out what their skill set was and we plugged them in. Now we have 40 employees.

For most of them who had never had a job before it's really exciting.

(INAUDIBLE)

We always say it's more than a cup of coffee. It's a human rights movement. It's given our employees the respect that they deserve when you just give them a chance. They can't do anything you ask them to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: Good stuff. Vote for Amy or any of your favorite top 10 heroes now at cnnheroes.com and be sure to tune in next Sunday when Anderson Cooper and Kelly Ripa host CNN Heroes, an all-star tribute. That's next Sunday 8:00 p.m. on CNN.

[16:40:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK) BRIGGS: A security guard has been stabbed at a bus station in Jerusalem in what police there are calling a terror attack. They identified the attacker as a 24-year-old Palestinian who was captured at the scene. The guard is hospitalized. Meanwhile, Lebanese security forces fired tear gas and water cannons at hundreds of angry protesters near the U.S. embassy in Beirut, Lebanon.

The crowds had gathered to demonstrate against President Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. There were also protests in other parts of the world including Pakistan and Turkey where hundreds showed up to show their anger at the decision.

Iraq is declaring victory over ISIS. A parade held today after the country announced its military has liberated all of the territory once held by ISIS and saying it's in full control of the Iraqi-Syrian border. But as Jomana Karadsheh reports, a complete defeat of ISIS is not so simple.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After more than three years of battles and bloodshed, Iraqis can finally celebrate its victory day, an end to the war on ISIS.

HAIDER AL-ABADI, PRIME MINISTER OF IRAQ (through translator): We announce to our people and to the whole world that our heroes have reached the final

[16:45:00] strongholds of Daesh and purified it, raising the Iraqi flag over areas of western Anbar, which were the last Iraqi usurp territories. The Iraqi flag flies high today over all Iraqi lands and over the remotest border areas.

KARADSHEH: Congratulations poured in from allies around the world on Saturday. The U.S.' presidential envoy for the global coalition to defeat ISIS Brett McGurk tweeted, Prime Minister Abadi announced that today for the first time in four long years, ISIS controls no significant territory in Iraq. We congratulate the prime minister and all the Iraqi people on this significant achievement, which many thought impossible.

But victory came with a heavy cost. Thousands of fighters and civilians were killed, countless others injured. Millions have been displaced from their homes and entire cities and towns now lie in ruins. While its military operations may now be over, Iraq's government faces the battle to win the hearts and minds of all Iraqis.

Their country has been through this before. Before ISIS, there was al- Qaeda and Iraq, and other extremist groups could still rise from the ashes of the so-called caliphate.

JAN KUBIS, U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR IRAQ: Daesh is down but not yet out even in Iraq. The military victory is only one component of a complex battle. Only by defeating its takfiri ideology, chocking off its external support and addressing the causes that prompted so many Iraqis to join or tolerate Daesh can this terrorist organization finally be terminated.

KARADSHEH: While it no longer controls major territory, ISIS still possesses the ability to carry out devastating attacks, something Iraqis know all too well. But for now, they take a day to celebrate, to be proud of their hard won gains. Jomans Karadsheh, CNN, Oman (ph).

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRIGGS: Jomana, thanks. This year's Nobel Prize is sending a message to the world. The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, a grass roots group started in Australia accepted the prestigious award at a ceremony in Norway. Today in the acceptance speech, the group's leaders called for an international treaty banning nuclear weapons saying one misconstrued comment or a bruised ego could lead to death of millions. Congratulations on the Nobel Peace prize. We'll be right back.

[16:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRIGGS: "Saturday Night Live" is back with a twist on the Christmas spirit. Their opening skit featured Santa's make believe work shop at a shopping mall where kids sat on Santa's lap and asked hot button questions like who is making Santa's naughty list. Tackling this week in politics, Santa played by Keenan Thompson struggled to answer children's at times pointed political questions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Could I get laser tag?

KEENAN THOMPSON, ACTOR: Well I can certainly try.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And can you tell me what did Al Franken do?

THOMPSON: OK, wow. Let's see. I think I can handle the mega blocks and the laser tag. Can you take the Al Franken thing, sugar plum?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. And in this climate can you just call me Amy?

THOMPSON: I guess you could say that Al Franken is on Santa's naughty list this year.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And what about Roy Moore? Which list is he on?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not really a list, it's more of a registry.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is President Trump on the naughty list?

THOMPSON: Well, you know, Santa tries to stay out of political matters. Our president may have said or done a few naughty things.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nineteen accusers, Google it.

THOMPSON: OK, can we not -- can we just not, Amy? Thanks. Look Jessica, I'm sure we can all learn a lesson from what's going on in the news.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We sure can. I learned that if you admit you did something wrong you get in trouble, but if you deny it they let you keep your job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: Kids and politics. And Santa Claus not the only one with a naughty or nice list. That's the subject of this week's "State of the Cartoonion" with Jake Tapper.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAKE TAPPER, HOST, STATE OF THE CARTOONION (voice-over): He's making a list and checking it twice, but for Santa Trump, determining who is naughty or nice, that's complicated. Take Alabama senate candidate Roy Moore who has been accused of sexually abusing at least two teenagers. Now that might land him on Santa Claus' naughty list, but Santa Trump.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (voice-over): He totally denies it. He says it didn't happen and you know, you have to listen to him also.

TAPPER (voice-over): OK, so Moore is denying it, but what about a man who admits to things like murder say Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte? Well he's also in Ssanta Trump's nice column.

TRUMP (voice-over): We've had a great relationship. This has been very successful.

TAPPER (voice-over): And speaking of human rights abuses, what about the big guy himself, Vladimir Putin?

TRUMP (voice-over): President Putin and I have been discussing various things and I think it's going very well.

TAPPER (voice-over): OK, that's the nice list. But don't bother checking your stocking if you've been naughty.

TRUMP (voice-over): They're filled with West Virginia call --

TAPPER (voice-over): Starting with two former pals.

TRUMP (voice-over): I think the losers are Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer.

TAPPER (voice-over): Lumps of coal for Chuck and Nancy. Santa Trump also thinks that former FBI director James Comey has been naughty. Comey probably has the president on a list of his own.

TRUMP (voice-over): Director Comey was very unpopular with most people.

TAPPER (voice-over): One year later, the person who still is number one on the Trump naughty list.

TRUMP (voice-over): If Hillary runs again in four years, which I hope she does, we're going to teach her unbelievably nasty, really nasty.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRIGGS: All right, Jake. Thanks for joining us this afternoon. I'm Dave Briggs

[16:55:00] in for Fredrickka Whitfield. The next hour of "Newsroom" with Ana Cabrera starts right after this short break.

(COMMERCIALBREAK)

ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: You are in the "CNN Newsroom." I'm Ana Cabrera in New York. Great to have you with us. The Republican Party representatives, senators, the president, definitely not all on the same page when it comes to who should be elected to Congress or the Senate. Today, that was made more clear than ever. A sitting U.S. senator from Alabama, a Republican, did not vote for the Republican candidate

[17:00:00] running to join him in Washington. I'm talking about Alabama senator Richard Shelby, in office for more than 30 years. Today, he told CNN that he has already voted in the special Senate election and he did not vote for Judge Roy Moore.