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Man Dies After Deputy Slams His Head Into His Own Car; Woman Accused Of Racist Hit-And-Run Charged In Another Crash; Top 9 Trending Stories Of Year; Thousands Of Christians Attend Christmas Eve Mass At Vatican; Meghan, Harry And Baby Archie Release Their First Christmas Card. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired December 24, 2019 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

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JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: Some shocking police body cam video has been released by the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office and it's raising a lot of questions. It shows California sheriff's deputies violently pulling a driver out of his own car, slamming his head into the car door and then using a chokehold on him and tasing him. And we're going to show you some of the video, but I want to warn you it is hard to watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLIE BLOUNT, SONOMA COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPUTY: Get out of car.

DAVID WARD, VICTIM OF CARJACKING: Alright, I'm getting out, I'm getting out. My legs, my legs, ah.

BLOUNT: Leg is under the wheel. Let go of my leg.

WARD: My legs, ow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: The driver was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. CNN's Dan Simon is in San Francisco. Dan, you watch that video and you wonder how did that all unfold?

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT; Well, hi Jessica. This begins when the deputies are chasing what they think is a stolen car and the driver doesn't stop, leaves them out of a high speed chase, last for several miles. And eventually once it's over, the deputy's body camera shows what appears to be a very special severe arrest or they're trying to arrest them.

And you see the victim's head, as you said, is smashed against the car door. He's also tased several times. And one of the deputies also puts them in a chokehold. Now what makes this especially tragic, Jessica, is that the driver was, in fact, a victim. He had been carjacked.

A few days earlier had reported his car stolen. But the deputies didn't realize that. They thought that the car was stolen. He never communicated that to him. So here's the situation. So you have this car chase. And now because of what has happened, you have the deputy who administered the most severe force he's been given a notice of termination.

[15:35:00]

And I want to read a statement now from his attorney. It says, "Deputy Blount didn't cause David Ward's death. David Ward is the victim, 52- years-old. Frankly, Mr. Ward caused his own death by inexplicably taking a number of bizarre actions that confirmed in the deputy's minds that he was an armed carjacker rather than the victim of that crime."

It is my understanding that the medical evidence will show that Mr. Ward had a serious preexisting condition and had methamphetamine in his system most significantly. There were no indications of trauma to his neck. So that's the statement from the deputy who is apparently going to be fired. We should tell you. At this point, there has been no firm cause of death. Coroner's Office is still investigating. Jessica.

DEAN: Dan, have we heard anything from Mr. Ward's family?

SIMON: Well, they have released a statement. They haven't said exactly what they're going to do, if they're going to file some kind of lawsuit. But there is a statement from Ward's - the attorney for Ward's mother and she wrote, "David was well loved in his community. When the time for mourning has passed, justice will be done upon those responsible."

So no matter how you look at it, Jessica, you have a real tragedy here. But one of the open questions here is why Mr. Ward didn't stop. Obviously, had he just stop, maybe none of this would have happened, Jessica

DEAN: Yes. All right. Dan Simon for us. Thanks so much.

We are also learning the Iowa woman who totally she ran over a 14- year-old girl with her car because the victim is Mexican. Allegedly targeted another child that same day. Nicole Franklin has been charged with a second count of attempted murder after police say he deliberately hit a 12-year-old African-American boy. Those two incidents are just an hour apart.

And that is not all. On the same day Franklin verbally abused a clerk and customers at a convenience store using racial slurs and throwing things.

CNN's as Omar Jimenez is joining us now. We know Franklin told police she hit that young girl because she's Mexican. Omar is she saying anything else about that incident that day?

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jessica at this point, please say she doesn't have to, because they say surveillance footage of this 12- year-old black kid getting hit showed that she intentionally, 42-year- old Nicole Franklin intentionally hit this kid with her car.

And according to a witness, police say, that that witness told them that the SUV gunned its engines before jumping that curb and hitting that kid, according to police. A kid who was just walking along the curb of a Des Moines, Iowa apartment parking complex when that happened.

And this of course, came just an hour before police say she did the same thing to a 14-year-old girl because she was Mexican. Now the police say she admitted to them. And both of those incidents resulting in attempted murder charges that she now faces. And then that's not even where the day ended.

It was an hour and a half after that when she went to a convenience store that police say she was reportedly stealing things and when the store clerk questioned why she was stealing or what she was stealing. She hurled racial slurs not only at that clerk, but also at the customers as well. And it was shortly after that, that she was finally arrested. And all of these details are now coming out, Jessica,

DEAN: Do we have any idea what her motivation was? Any of this? Does she have a history of any sort of behavior like this?

JIMENEZ: Well that's what police are trying to zero in on at this point. One thing that - of note that they say she mentioned the night that she was arrested at that convenience store is, police say she admitted to them that she had smoked meth within the five hours prior in that day. So, obviously, that is something they are going to be looking at on.

And one motivating factor they say is it is a common denominator in all three of these incidents, police is just saying that hate is at the center of all of these and that's something of course, they're going to be looking into moving forward.

DEAN: Yes. Tough, tough. All right. Mr. Omar Jimenez, thanks so much.

Still to come, there were a lot of major trending moments on social media this year. We're going to look at what captured your attention the most with the biggest trending stories of 2019. That's next.

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DEAN: 2019 was a big year for trending topics, from the Friends reunion selfie to the epic showdown between Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and President Trump, social media went wild. CNN's Brooke Baldwin breaks down the top 9 trending stories of the year.

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BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: From the U.S. Women's Soccer Team demanding equal pay to the passionate teenager fighting to save the planet, social media remained a powerful weapon for advocacy in 2019.

And then there were, of course, the memes, so here are our top 9 trending stories of year.

Number 9, a Friends who nearly broke the internet. Jennifer Aniston joined Instagram and the internet just couldn't handle it. Her first post actually managed to crash her page. Her first photo, an epic Friends reunion selfie and the caption, "And now we're Instagram Friends too." It became one of Instagrams most popular photos of the year with more than 15 million likes.

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Number 8, and now to even more Instagram royalty, the young son of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor whose birth, gender and name were all announced on the social media platform. The family regularly post pictures of their son to their Instagram page before they're seen anywhere else. Just another way these modern Royals are shaking up the monarchy.

Number 7, winter came and fans were not happy. It was one of those eagerly anticipated final seasons ever and the most tweeted about show of all of 2019. And while viewers were split on the ending of Game of Thrones, it was some unintended product placement that brought divided fans together, a coffee cup left on set.

The internet erupted in memes. The official Game of Thrones account tweeted this response out. "News from Winterfell, the latte that appeared in the episode was a mistake. Daenerys had ordered an herbal tea."

Number 6.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Another death on Mount Everest, bringing the total to 11 thus far this climbing season.

BALDWIN: These amazing pictures went viral, showing how record numbers of climbers packed the summit. Some mountaineers think this traffic jam actually contributed to this year's death toll. Climbers endured waits of two to four hours while in the death zone, that's near the top of the mountain where there's only one third of the oxygen down at sea level.

Number 5, a scientific event of intergalactic magnitude.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A huge breakthrough for humanity.

BALDWIN: The first photo of a black hole

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Black holes are the most mysterious objects in the universe. They're cloaked by an event horizon, where their gravity prevents even light from escaping.

BALDWIN: Located 55 million light years away in a Galaxy called M87. In this galaxy. Another black hole photo went viral. The moment researcher Katie Bouman processed the first image showing the massive phenomenon. To see it, scientists in multiple countries around the world linked local telescopes to create this virtual observatory. Predictably, Twitter couldn't escape the donut memes. Number 4, in Paris, a catastrophic fire shocked the world.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: The world famous Notre-Dame Cathedral is on fire.

BALDWIN: Millions watched in disbelief as flames engulfed Notre-Dame, the city's iconic 856-year-old Cathedral.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We had the tower full, people screamed. It's so sad,

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What went through my mind was that the heart of Paris was burning.

BALDWIN: People poured onto the streets to pray.

(PEOPLE PRAYING)

BALDWIN: And on social media so many pay tribute by posting photos of their visits to the holy site, #NotreDame became the most tweeted news related hashtag of 2019. The loss inspired generosity near and far, establishing a $700 million reconstruction fund. Restorations are now underway.

Number 3, in 2019, Democrats took back the House. Nancy Pelosi regained the speakership and had some of the year's most viral moments from the infamous State of the Union clap back. The rebuke that launched thousands of #DontMessWithMe memes.

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): As a Catholic, I resent you're using the word hate in a sentence that addresses me. I don't hate anyone, so don't mess with me when it comes to words like that.

BALDWIN: And staring down Trump from across that Cabinet Room table. The image meant to be insult, the President's caption, "Nervous Nancy's unhinged meltdown," instead went viral, showing Washington's most powerful woman standing up to the President.

Number 2, the U.S. Women's Soccer team proved once again, they are the best in the world. Congratulations poured in from all over social media. Ellen DeGeneres said her "World Cup runneth over." While former President Barack Obama thanked the women for being a strong inspiration to women and girls and everybody all across the country.

The players' game poses became instant memes...

(PEOPLE CHANTING: "EQUAL PAY, EQUAL PAY")

BALDWIN: And many of the players took their pleas for pay equity right to their fans via their social media pages.

And Number 1, she is the teenager on strike for the planet.

GRETA THUNBERG, CLIMATE ACTIVIST: Our house is on fire.

BALDWIN: TIME'S Person of the Year. THUNBERG: Change is coming, whether you like it or not.

BALDWIN: Greta Thunberg is leading a generation of climate kids.

THUNBERG: People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction and all you can talk about is a money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you?

(CROWD CHEERING)

BALDWIN: Her impassioned speech at the UN Climate Action Summit catapulted her meteoric social media rise, making her the face of climate activism online. Thunberg used her new platform to lead a global climate strike with more than 4,600 events in nearly 150 countries. #ClimateStrike was the eighth most popular hashtag of the year. So for this 16-year-old and her army of climate kids, it's only the beginning.

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DEAN: All right, Brooke, thanks. I dose of royal Christmas cheer. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, revealing their first Christmas card with baby Archie. We'll show it to you after the break.

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[15:55:00]

DEAN: Happening right now thousands of Christians are celebrating Christmas Eve with Pope Francis. Pontiff is leading the midnight mass at the Vatican on the Solemnity of Christmas. John Allen, CNN Senior Vatican Analyst is outside St. Peter's Basilica. John, what else are we expecting to hear from the pope this year?

JOHN ALLEN, CNN SENIOR VATICAN ANALYST: Well, hello there and Merry Christmas to you. This, of course, is one of the holiest days on the Christian calendar. We call it - we still call it Midnight Mass here at the Vatican, even though it isn't actually celebrated at midnight.

In the late 90s it was moved up under John Paul II second to accommodate his age and frailty to about 10 o'clock, then it moved up to 9:30 and that's still where it is. So the liturgy started at about 9:30 p.m. here local.

Tomorrow, Pope Francis will celebrate a private mass and then he will deliver his Irby at Urbi et Orbi address to the city into the world. Which is more of a policy address. He is expected to review the events of the last year and kind of suggest his social, political, humanitarian priorities going forward.

On December 26th, Thursday, which is the feast of St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, he will deliver Angelus address. And then, of course, we will be off and running with New Year. So this is kind of Prime Time for the Pope and tonight kind of fix it all up.

He is expected to set tonight as he celebrates this very special mass, a very spiritual and religious tone about the birth of the Christ child, God's love for humanity that is reflected in that event. Things will get a bit more political tomorrow with that Urbi et Orbi address.

But with Francis who was the master of the unexpected, we always have to stay on our toes because we never be quite sure which rabbit this Pope will pull out of his hat next.

DEAN: Yes. Do we know any more about his travels for next year? I know he gets to all corners of the earth.

ALLEN: Yes, the Vatican has not yet confirmed any travels for next year. And now Pope Francis himself has personally taken one trip off the table, which is his long awaited homecoming to Argentina. He is - he was expected to make it next year. But recently he said he's not going to do it. He's concerned that it would be politicized.

The one trip we know for sure that this Pope has in his heart he wants to make and he said he wants to make it in 2020 is a trip to Iraq to make a statement in favor of peace and also in favor of the struggling Christian population.

DEAN: Wow. All right, John Allen, Merry Christmas to you. Thanks so much.

Well prepare yourself for a little bit of holiday cuteness. Here the Duke and Duchess of Sussex Harry and Meghan are releasing their first Christmas card featuring baby Archie. Take a look. The photo tweeted out by the trust run by the royal couple and it shows Archie there front and center staring into the camera. And you see his parents there smiling in the background.

The message wishes everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. And by the way, Harry, Meghan and Archie, skipping the annual tradition of spending the holidays with the royal family at the Queen's country estate in northern England and instead, the trio is celebrating Christmas in Canada. So Merry Christmas to all them and to all of you.

Thanks so much for watching. Erica Hill fills in for Jake Tapper on "The Lead." It starts right now.

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