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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Severe Storms Slam Southeast, Midwest; Trump to Clinton: Be Careful; U.S. Embassy Warns of "Possible Threats". Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired December 24, 2015 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:30:01] ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: Deadly storms barreling through the country. Seven people killed, dozens more injured. We are tracking the damage and what you can expect today.
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Donald Trump warning Hillary Clinton, be careful. A war of words escalating in the race for president.
KOSIK: New this morning, U.S. citizens visiting China being warned about possible threats in a popular tourist area. Armed police now on the scene.
Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Alison Kosik.
SANCHEZ: I'm happy to be here with you, Alison. I'm Boris Sanchez.
KOSIK: Good morning.
SANCHEZ: Good morning.
We are talking this morning about at least seven people being killed and dozens more injured as a line of Christmas storms stretches from the Gulf Coast to the Upper Midwest, spawning rain, hail, high winds, and tornadoes. Look at this twister, tearing across the landscape. This is in northern Mississippi.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look at that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, man. I hope it's not hitting houses.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Unfortunately, it did hit houses. Major damage reported to homes, vehicles and power lines along the tornado's path.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We actually did see it happen. He actually looked out the window and saw the grass circling and tons -- well, it wasn't really trash, but tons of our neighbor's house blowing into the yard to the interstate, which is just quite a ways over that way.
(END VIDEO CLIP) SANCHEZ: Mississippi emergency officials say at least four people were killed in the state and 40 were injured. In one tragic case, a 7-year-old boy in a car with his family died when the tornado came through.
KOSIK: And just north of there, across the state line in southern Tennessee, authorities reported two people dead and two missing when an apparent tornado tore through Perry County ripping three homes apart, with the residents still inside.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were in the house. We heard the wind picking up. We dashed to the storm shelter. We had 45 seconds and it just hit. We walked out of the storm shelter, everything was gone.
REPORTER: What does it look like?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It looks like a waste land. There's nothing left.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: And in Arkansas, a teenager dies after fierce winds and heavy rain uprooted this massive tree and toppled it over slicing through a portion of her home. The image says it all. You can see a small part of the trunk sticking out of the window.
A neighbor down the block said the storm was so intense, she immediately ran for cover.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everything was just moving sideways and the sound of the wind and I just jumped and I ran.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Fortunately, four other people in the home, including an 18- month-old girl survived. The baby was taken to the hospital, but said to be doing OK.
KOSIK: Meantime, Alabama hit with massive flooding. It looks like a lake here, forming right in the center of this neighborhood. Highways were shutdown after almost 3 feet of water fell there and large hail pounded the homes. Look at the size of the hail stones in that person's hand.
SANCHEZ: And a trailer ripped to shreds in Illinois. The winds so strong, it came apart like a house of cards. Widespread damage reported through the state with power knocked out to thousands of people.
KOSIK: For the latest, let's bring in meteorologist Pedram Javaheri.
We are talking about the warm temperatures and wild weather. It's winter. Shouldn't we be seeing snow?
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, you know, it feels like we should, right? It certainly feels like a spring in December.
And, of course, this is the big question. A lot of people wondering, hey, why are getting such conditions? We know El Nino has a lot to do with it.
But when you give the prime conditions for tornadic development, it doesn't matter. Mother Nature will fire up like spring. The Storm Prediction Center has a possibility for severe weather for 49 million people from Houston, Texas, all the way towards to Washington, D.C. and points South. The severity has dropped off a little bit compared to Wednesday afternoon. That is great news.
Incredible instability in the atmosphere and also wind sheer will break down here. Look at the temperatures. Mid-60s around New York City this morning have already set a record high temperature at midnight. Once the clock struck midnight and it was 24th, record high temperature set in New York, well above the 61 from the previous mark.
Here is what happened in the environmental conditions for supporting tornadoes. We had winds at the surface from the south, and once you work in from the southwest with winds. This is what we call wind sheer.
I want to give you a 3D representation with the atmospheric conditions, because again, it doesn't matter if it's December. You have these in place with the southerly wind at the surface. You get 4,000 feet or 5,000 feet in the atmosphere. The area indicated in yellow right here. Wind from the southwest.
You have the tubular vortices of winds, essentially think of a pizza roller almost on the table with the horizontal access there and an updraft. You have positive winds from the horizontal access moving to vertical access.
[04:35:04] And then you have yourself these incredible tornadoes that respond in this region with the severe weather. And again, we have the mild weather to support it and instability to support it, and the sheer as showed you to support all of this.
And look at these records: shattered being shattered for Christmas Eve across this region of the country. It should make it up to 73 degrees in New York City. In Concord, New Hampshire, touching 70 degrees, and typically, whether, guys, it's June or July or August, records are broken by two, three, four degrees. We are breaking records by 10 to 15 degrees on Christmas Eve. It is unlikely anything that I've ever seen when it comes to this kind of year, guys.
KOSIK: This is a winter we will be talking about for a long time, I'm thinking.
SANCHEZ: Ten degrees above the record high. Pedram, thank you.
JAVAHERI: Thanks, guys. KOSIK: Big changes are coming for millions traveling this holiday season. AAA says about 5.8 million are planning to fly in the next couple of weeks and they may notice new procedures in the airport screening line. TSA agents can now order passengers to go through the body scanner even those who ask for a full body pat-down instead. TSA says security consideration warrant the change on a case by case basis. It says scanners can catch non-metallic bombs that a pat-down may miss.
Worrying news this morning for Westerners in China. British and American embassies in Beijing are warning they have information about possible threats against Westerners visiting a popular shopping district in the capital around Christmas.
Joining us live with the latest on this is CNN's Alexandra Field.
Alexandra, I know the shopping district has a lot of high end stores. It's where China's first Apple Store was put in in 2008. But it's also a very high profile shopping district as well.
ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Alison. Good morning to you.
But it is evening in Beijing at the shopping center where anyone is doing any last minute sort of Christmas shopping, is doing it in the company of heavily armed police officers. A pair of warnings went out today from both the British and the U.S. embassies, urging Westerners to be vigilant, to take precautions, warning of this information about a possible threat targeting Westerners and also urging government employees, Western government employees take particular caution as well.
There was no mention of what kind of threat had been uncovered here or possibly uncovered here. No information about what kind of intelligence was gathered. But at the same time that both of the embassies, the U.S. and the British embassies put out these warnings, Beijing public security bureau also put out a warning of its own -- stepping up the security level in Beijing to a higher level, not the highest level, put elevated level to the yellow security level.
The warning went out on social media. It mentioned the shopping area which was mentioned by both the U.S. and British embassies. It does not talk about a threat to westerners. It simply says that there would be armed security in the key shopping areas as well as outside major supermarkets because of the heightened crowd level during the holiday season. So, no mention from the Beijing security bureau. You did have three warnings all at once and mentioning Sanlitun, and all urging some level of caution here, Alison.
KOSIK: Can you tell yet if shoppers are staying away?
FIELD: No reports yet on how this will affect the last couple hours of shopping. If you take look at the images of the security guards who are standing outside in Sanlitun, those armed officers. It is really quite an unusual sight. It is not something that people in Beijing are used to seeing in the way that they might be used to seeing it in other cities. Certainly, you got armed police deployed out to the streets during sort of high profile politically sensitive time. But simply during the holiday, the Christmas season when there's a rush of shoppers, it isn't a routine response to put this number of armed personnel. So, we'll see how shoppers react.
KOSIK: Armed personnel becoming too familiar in so many big cities around the world. Alexandra Field, thanks so much.
SANCHEZ: For the race for president now, this morning, Hillary Clinton putting accusation of sexism directly on Donald Trump. In the wake of his crass language about her 2008 primary and her use of the restroom, Trump again defending those remarks on FOX News.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, to me, it was to mean she got beaten badly. I mean, that's what happened with Hillary. She got beaten badly. But to me, that's really a reference to getting beaten and really -- you know, decisively.
When I said it, nobody in the audience thought anything about it. They clapped. They didn't view that as being a horrible thing. And then, all of a sudden, I get back in and people are calling about it. And, you know, when they checked it out, some pretty quality people have been using that term over the years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Meanwhile, Clinton's campaign is ramping up its combativeness as Trump warns against taking him on too directly with his poll numbers soaring.
CNN's Sunlen Serfaty has the latest from Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Boris and Alison.
Well, Donald Trump now has a dominating lead in the Republican field.
[04:40:00] This new CNN/ORC poll shows that Trump on top with 39 percent. That's more than double his closest opponent Ted Cruz. And Trump's lead is even more definitive when measured by the depth of his support on issue after issue, on handling the economy, on immigration and ISIS.
Voters all said Trump is the best equipped candidate by a commanding margin. Now, meanwhile, Trump is in this war of words with Hillary Clinton. Clinton speaking out responding to Trump's vulgar rhetoric about here, saying she thinks Trump has a penchant of sexism.
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I really deplore the tone of his campaign and the inflammatory rhetoric that he is using to divide people. SERFATY: Now, Donald Trump is hitting back tweeting out, quote,
"Hillary, when you complain about a penchant for sexism, who are you referring to? I have great respect for women. Be careful."
Now, Clinton also notably saying in that interview that she doesn't want to personally respond to Trump personally because he thrives on that kind of exchange -- Boris and Alison.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KOSIK: OK. Sunlen, thanks for that.
Ted Cruz is turning his feud with the media over an editorial cartoon into a fundraising opportunity. "The Washington Post" cartoon showed Cruz's daughters in a political ad depicting them as organ grinding monkeys. Cruz and others blasted the cartoon which "The Post" removed from the web site and now, Cruz has sent out an e-mail to supporters saying the cartoon proves the liberal media is desperate to attack and destroy him and his family and asking for donations.
Cruz was asked about that on the campaign trail.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: You circulated this e-mail fundraising emails today that had "The Washington Post" editorial at the top of it. Do you think that's hypocritical that you're blasting the media for that and then using it to raise money?
SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Listen, I appreciate that number one the media yesterday decides the right thing to do is target my girls, to attack a 5-year-old and 7-year-old and now coming back and turning yet another attack. You know, thank you for that sentiment. But let me suggest a simple rule that everyone ought to follow: leave the kids alone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Ben Carson has fallen to 10 percent in the latest CNN/ORC poll tied for third with Marco Rubio. Carson plunge from second place sparked reports like one in yesterday's "Washington Post" of a big campaign shake up, including budget and staff cuts.
But Carson told CNN's Don Lemon last night that no such cuts are planned.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEN CARSON (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We are constantly looking at everything. We're going to continue to look at everything. No one is ever 100 percent guaranteed that they're always going to be there. As the organization grows and our responsibilities grow, you know, some things may have to change. We may have to add some people. We may have to change some people.
(END VIDEO CLIP) SANCHEZ: Carson says expenses are actually dropping now his campaign is past the costly start-up phase.
KOSIK: Happening now: the battle to retake Ramadi from ISIS. Iraqi forces say they are within a mile of the government compound in the city just 70 miles from Baghdad. But a military spokesman says progress is slow as specialists dismantle thousands of improvised explosive devices one by one.
CNN's Robyn Kriel is following events for us from London on this and joins us now the latest.
You know, you look at how close forces are getting to Ramadi, but the challenges are still huge.
ROBYN KRIEL, CNN AFRICA CORRESPONDENT: Huge challenges. When you read, Alison, some of the messages coming from Iraq's joint operations command, you really realize how close the fight has become. They are describing neighborhood upon neighborhood, how the forces are literally moving through neighborhoods of Ramadi and what they are encountering. It's incredible. What sounds like dozens of IEDs, even hundreds of IEDs, which take a long time to dismantle and car bombs.
We're also hearing of suicide bombers that have tried to attack the troops directly. They have managed to kill a number of ISIS militants. It sounds like around 30 given the communication we have received. It does seem like it will be a fight to the death for the ISIS militants, about 200 to 300 have entrenched themselves and they are willing to fight to the death.
KOSIK: That is disturbing. Is there any discussion at this point about the strategy? If and when Iraqi forces do take hold of Ramadi? What happens when they do and to keep hold of it?
KRIEL: That's going to be really the tricky part, managing to keep a hold of it. ISIS operating as an insurgent group, in this case, they would have known that these forces are coming and many of them would have slipped out probably with the civilian population just slipped out of the city.
[04:45:10] Most of the civilian population that is, because a number of civilians are used as human shields we understand and ISIS have made them remain inside the capital. That is why this advance is taking so slowly. And with that, they would have slipped out, but they would have launched counter attacks.
If and when the Iraqi forces manage to secure the points in the city, the air strikes have died down, what will happen then? ISIS will regroup outside and come back launching complex attacks and taking a number of lives. It is a matter of securing the city and searching person by person, working block by block.
KOSIK: A lot of work to be done. Robyn Kriel, thanks for that.
SANCHEZ: Western security officials sounding the alarm over ISIS ability to forge perfect Iraqi and Syrian passports. "The Wall Street Journal" reports the terrorist group likely obtained equipment and blank passports when it took control of major cities in Syria and Iraq. At least one of the Paris attackers had been registered as a refugee in Greece, using one of those fake Syrian passports.
KOSIK: Time for an early start on your money. Markets in Asia closed lower while European shares are mixed. Dow futures are pointing lower for the holiday shortened trading session. U.S. firms are gearing up for the lifting of sanctions on Iran and it's not just oil companies that are interested.
"The Wall Street Journal" is reporting that HP and General Electric are exploring getting into the Iranian market. Sanctions could be lifted in January and could represent a huge opportunity for American business. Iran's tech market alone, get this, could be worth $13 billion within four years.
Hyatt is the latest hotel investigating a data breach. The company says it found malware on its computer payment system. It's unclear how many customers may have been affected. Last month, Starwood and Hilton reported similar malware infections. That is becoming a way of life.
SANCHEZ: The latest in the long list that companies this has happened to.
Hundreds of Black Lives Matter protesters shutting down a busy airport and snarling holiday traffic for thousands.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:50:29] KOSIK: A British Muslim says he and his family were barred from boarding a plane bound for the U.S. because of their religion. Tariq Mahmood was headed to Disneyland with this two children and several other relatives, they were all waiting at the gate at London's Gatwick Airport when he was informed they wouldn't be allowed to board the plane on orders of the U.S. Homeland Security.
For the latest, let's bring in CNN anchor and correspondent, Richard Quest, live for us in London.
Good morning, Richard. So, you know, we heard from one of the family members saying, you know, he thinks it's because of their religion. We saw the pictures of, you know, the kids' drawings anticipating Disneyland.
Yet, we have U.S. authorities saying, wait, this isn't religion. There are other factors. Are we going to hear what those other factors are?
RICHARD QUEST, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: No, we're not. The U.S. is categorically in its denial that the religion played no part in it. Faithful spirituality played absolutely no part in the decision. They say that the discrepancy between when the electronic ESTA visa was issued six weeks before they traveled, in that six-week period, there are a variety of reasons. Different systems are looked at, intelligence analyze, when the airlines sends the reservation is in, a whole new process is underway.
And somewhere in the process, something was flagged that meant that some of the family were to be denied. Basically, their ESTA authorization was canceled.
What that is, we don't know. Alison, the family say they simply have no idea. They have not been told. Not surprisingly, they are feeling less than pleased.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MOHAMMAD MAHMOOD, BARRED WITH FAMILY FROM TRAVEL TO U.S.: I wanted them to give me an explanation. We are not a threat to anybody. We are working class. We run a business.
We help everybody. I have a place with multi-culture society. I treat everybody the same. I feel most uncomfortable and most devastated, because I'm just like a normal person.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Well, now, of course, Alison, the British government has gotten involved. Through the members of the parliament and Prime Minister David Cameron, they will ask questions. I understand that the United States is now preparing to answer the questions and to tell the British exactly what happened.
As for the family -- well, they have been told that they can go to the London embassy, they can apply for a visa in the normal way when everything will be looked at again.
KOSIK: All right. Richard Quest, thanks for that explanation.
SANCHEZ: There is word that U.S. immigration agents are preparing to carry out a series of raids aimed at deporting hundreds of families who crossed the border illegally since the start of last year. "The Washington Post" reporting that those familiar with the operation say it will only target only adults and children who have already been ordered removed from the country from an immigration judge. The raids could start as soon as early January.
KOSIK: Fifteen people have been arrested following a Black Lives Matter rally in Minneapolis. You are looking at the scene at the Mall of America Wednesday. Demonstrators forced the nation's biggest mall to briefly shutdown.
Meantime, hundreds of demonstrators blocked access to a terminal at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Officials say there were some flight delays, but no cancellations. Organizers say the rally's goal was to bring attention to the fatal shooting of Jamar Clark by Minneapolis police.
SANCHEZ: Meantime, protesters in Chicago hoping to disrupt holiday shopping. They are gathering at the Magnificent Mile, calling for Mayor Rahm Emanuel to step down. They demonstrated at the same location on Black Friday you might recall. The protesters want Emanuel out of office over his year-long fight against releasing dash cam video of Officer Jason Van Dyke gunning down Laquan McDonald. Van Dyke now facing murder charges.
KOSIK: So, you say you have to finish your Christmas shopping, don't panic. I'm going to tell you which stores are open late tonight. Oh, fun. We're going to get a look at your money, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:57:50] KOSIK: Let's get an early start on your money. U.S. futures pointing to lower open for today's short trading session. The market closing at 1:00 p.m. today.
Stocks have rallied over the past three days, mostly as oil prices have stabilized. Crude is trading above $37 a barrel this morning.
The buying in for stocks has put the S&P 500 back in the plus column for the year. But the Dow is still on track for its first negative year since 2008.
Daily fantasy sports fans could be shutout in Illinois. The state attorney general says the contests are illegal gambling. And that means the two sites that dominate the market, FanDuel and DraftKings, they're gong to need to stop accepting bets in the state. DraftKings says it's going to be fighting the order in the court. A similar battle is underway in New York where the state attorney general has also moved to ban the games.
Good news if you procrastinate. Still time to get the last minute shopping gifts for Christmas. Walmart stores are open until 8:00 p.m. Target stores open until 10:00 or 11:00. Toys R Us will close at 9:00. You can shop at Best Buy until 6:00.
This year, the holiday shopping season got off to a slow start, but retail analysts still predict overall holiday sales will be higher than last year. I don't want to be one of the people out there late tonight battling the last minute procrastinators. They can get angry and mean.
SANCHEZ: They can.
EARLY START continues right now.
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KOSIK: Seven people killed as storms pound the South and Midwest. We're tracking the damage and what you can expect today.
SANCHEZ: Donald Trump warning Hillary Clinton to be careful, even more new drama in the race for president.
KOSIK: New this morning, U.S. citizens visiting China, being warned about possible threats in a popular tourist area. Armed police now on the scene.
Good mooring and welcome to EARLY START. I'm Alison Kosik. SANCHEZ: And I'm Boris Sanchez. It is Thursday, December 24th.
Christmas Eve, 5:00 a.m. on the East Coast.
At least seven people killed, more injured, dozens injured as the line of Christmas week storms stretches from the Gulf Coast to the Upper Midwest, spawning rain, hail, high winds and tornadoes. Watch this twister tearing across the landscape in northern Mississippi.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look at that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, man. I hope it's not hitting houses.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
