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Tornadoes Sweep Across U.S. South and Midwest; Interview with Senator Bernie Sanders; Sanders Addresses Critics on Foreign Policy and Terror; Iraqi Forces Advance Battle in Ramadi. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired December 24, 2015 - 08:00   ET

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

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: -- Christmas Eve, a very exciting time. It is 8:00 in the east. Michaela is off. And we do start with hard news for too many. The death toll climbing this morning, the threat still on the table of tornadoes and very severe weather all through the south and Midwest. So far eight people have lost their lives including a seven-year-old boy.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Heavy rain, gusty winds and hail pounding several states leaving behind complete destruction as you can see on the screen, and many people homeless just as they get ready to celebrate Christmas. So let's get right to CNN's meteorologist Chad Myers with the very latest for us. Tell us what you're seeing, Chad.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I'm still seeing storms that could make tornadoes throughout the day. Not as many as yesterday, which was 24, 24 tornadoes on the ground. And one of these tornadoes may have been on the ground for 140 miles, maybe straight 140 miles on the ground. So the Weather Service will be out there looking at these. It's not unusual. We have 24 tornadoes on the ground every December on average, but this was a big day.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MYERS: This Christmas Eve morning hundreds of people are waking up to devastation. The destruction caused by a deadly tornado outbreak cutting across the south and the Midwest. This tornado claimed multiple lives including a seven-year-old boy as residents desperately tried to hide in their cars and homes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: By the time I got out of my car, I had a tree that was in my windshield.

MYERS: In northern Mississippi, this tornado tore through a busy highway. Watch as the massive twister tosses this tractor-trailer as it barrels through traffic. Watch from this angle what appears to be the same semi, this driver just feet away. The winds in southwestern Tennessee roared up to 75 miles per hour as officials declared a state of emergency.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The houses just exploded. They were buried in the rubble.

MYERS: Two people were killed east of Memphis, their bodies found under debris. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were in the house, we heard the wind picking

up. We had 45 seconds and it just hit. We walked out to the storm shelter and everything was gone.

MYERS: And in Arkansas an 18-year-old woman died when a tree fell through her house, toppled by the high winds and heavy rain.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Christmas is all about love. And we're going to love through this.

MYERS: Some residents in Mississippi clinging on to what they say matters most, after losing nearly everything this holiday season.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It wasn't about the house. It was about my family. That was the most important thing to me.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MYERS: Not sure you can actually hear that, but this soundproof studio just got hit by a lightning bolt and a pretty big bolt of thunder. Severe weather still here in the South in Atlanta. Right now right over the airport I assume planes are circling, not going to land in this type of weather for a while. So if you are flying out today, take some patience because this morning weather is going to last throughout the day. There's a risk of severe weather all the way up to Philadelphia because it is warm, it is spring-like. It feels like spring all the way from New York down to D.C., Philadelphia and certainly down to Atlanta where the storms are right now.

Now there's not as big of a risk as yesterday. I've been talking to producers all day because they all want to know what is going to happen today. Yesterday there was a 20 percent chance of a tornado within 100 miles of any one spot. Today the number is more like two to three. So a lot less than yesterday, but the heat is still here. It's just all those other things that made all the tornadoes, all those ingredients to make the soup not together today like yesterday. And that's the good news. But still, if you're going to be traveling today, lots of heavy rainfall and slow airplanes. Big interstates covered with water. Watch out for all of that stuff.

CUOMO: And as you've made it clear, my friend, it's already been too much for too many. We know you'll stay on it throughout the day. We don't have to remind you at home to do the right thing, the CNN audience. It's amazing to me since I've been here how you step up. But the need is going to be very great. And we'll tell you how to help those especially around the holidays.

And it turns out weather is not going to be the only thing to slow down travel this year. Yes, you have to watch for storms if you're on that east/southeast part, but there are new security measures from the TSA that are now in place. Why the late change? What do they mean? Let's get to CNN's Sara Sidner. She's at LaGuardia airport, New York. She has more. Sara?

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Chris. Things are going pretty well here this morning, but there is a little concern about the new rules that were put in place just in time for the holiday by the TSA. Basically what they mean is you cannot opt out of going through the body scanner. A lot of people did that because they were concerned about radiation, although studies have shown that it does not affect the human body going through these scanners, a very, very small amount of radiation. But the TSA decided because of a climate they were in today because of the heightened awareness of terrorism and worry that there could be more attacks on the U.S. soil, they have decided that some people will not be able to opt out of going through those scanners and asking for somebody to pat them down.

[08:05:00] What they are saying is this might not apply to everybody, but there are some people they pick out to say, you know what, sorry, you will have to go to the scanner. You will not be able to ask for somebody to do the pat-down. That's the change there.

But we should talk a little bit about the numbers of people who are traveling this holiday season. AAA estimates 100 million people are going to be going more than 50 miles from their home this Christmas and New Year's. The majority of folks will be on the road, so don't get road rage. It's going to be crazy out there. But about 5.8 million people are expected to be in the air, coming through the airport. And that's a really, really big number for this time of the year. And so they are kind of telling everybody take that extra time, because while there is no snow here, no delays in New York, there are delays and elsewhere because of the weather. And there's just a heck of a lot of people out there traveling.

CAMEROTA: Wow, those numbers are staggering, Sara. Thanks for all of those warnings.

Let's talk politics, now. A new CNN poll shows how Democratic voters feel heading into 2016. Hillary Clinton still leading nationwide and with a big advantage on some key issues, though our poll shows Bernie Sanders climbing. Senior Washington correspondent Joe Johns has more on those numbers along with a new warning from Donald Trump. Good morning, Joe.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn. Let's talk about those key issues points that we asked questions about. Hillary Clinton still holding a commanding lead when it comes to foreign policy, handling ISIS, and gun control. But speaking of the economy, which Bernie Sanders has really been hammering away on, you have seen that this morning. He has gained some ground, about eight points, yet he's still trailing Clinton by about the same margin.

Now, in the head-to-head match-up against Republicans, this fascinating. It's one of the things we see in this poll, Hillary Clinton almost running neck and neck with all three of the top Republicans. She squeaks past Donald Trump but runs two or three ticks behind both Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, all three match-ups within the margin of error.

Meanwhile, the back and forth between Donald Trump and the former secretary of state continuing. Trump pushing back against Mrs. Clinton's allegation of sexism. Trump tweeting "Hillary, when you complain about a penchant for sexism, who are you referring to? I have great respect for women. Be careful!" And then there was this tweet from Trump, quote, "Hillary said I really deplore the tone and inflammatory rhetoric of his campaign. I deplore the death and destruction of the caused. Stupidity." So both candidates getting a lot of mileage out of this as we go into Christmas. Back to you.

CUOMO: All right, Joe, thank you very much.

So Senator Bernie Sanders just got his best gift in this election, he got a big bump in the polls. But he's got to go a lot further, especially on foreign policy. We saw that in the poll and we also see it in what he has as a message. Let's discuss CNN political director David Chalian and Patricia -- oh, that's right. Let's show you the interview first and then we'll talk about it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: Senator Sanders, thank you for joining us on NEW DAY, as always.

BERNIE SANDERS, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My pleasure.

CUOMO: So the Santa Claus of political polls has brought you a gift, the highest number you have reached so far in the new CNN poll, 34 percent. Hillary down eight, you up four. However, still a big gap. Hillary getting 50 percent, commanding lead. What do you make of it?

SANDERS Well, Chris, what I make of it is when we began this campaign, as you will recall, we were three, five percent in the polls. All of the pundits considered us a fringe candidacy. Today we perhaps are in the lead in New Hampshire. We're, I think, closing in here in Iowa. And your poll seems to indicate we have national momentum.

So I think we have come a really long way in seven-and-a-half months, and we are feeling really good. We have a tremendous volunteer network all over this country. We are raising significant sums of money from small, individual contributions. So at this point, I have to tell you, we're feeling good.

CUOMO: From the poll, we can glean that the big issue that seems to be holding you back with those potential voters is foreign policy. That's where Hillary Clinton has her biggest advantage. There is a perception that you do not have the stomach or the head for what it takes to beat ISIS. Your response, sir?

SANDERS: Well, let me assure all the people in our country that I have the stomach, I have the head, I think we have the approach not only to beat ISIS, but to crush ISIS and to destroy ISIS. And what my view is that we have got to learn a lesson from Iraq. And that lesson is, it's not god enough just to be tough. We have got to be smart. And what that means is, we cannot do it alone. We cannot and should not be involved in perpetual warfare in the Middle East.

[08:10:00] What we need to do is bring together a grand coalition led, as King Abdullah of Jordan reminds us, by Muslim troops on the ground. What we should do along with the U.K., France, and Russia, and other major powers, is give the Muslim nations on the ground the support they need from the air. We should be training troops. We should be doing special forces when necessary. But ultimately, this war will be won and ISIS will be destroyed with our support and other great nations' support taking on ISIS on the ground with Muslim troops.

CUOMO: The pushback is this talk of coalition has gone nowhere. There's been years of Democrats trying to do it, haven't gotten it done. What needs to be done here at home is protect the homeland. These refugees you want to let in willy-nilly, they can hurt Americans, they increase American fears. You have to be tougher and put up more restrictions on immigration specifically of those refugees because there are terrorists in those numbers.

SANDERS: Needless to say, I disagree with that assertion. What we want to do as we destroy ISIS, we do not want to give up the values that have made us the greatest country in the history of the world, which among other things has been a beacon of hope for people in deep distress. Obviously, it goes without saying that there must be a very, very strong vetting process. I think we have to do a better job at that. But I do not think that what America is about, and I speak as somebody whose dad came to this country at the age of 17, I do not think what America is about is turning our backs on people in distress.

CUOMO: Donald Trump says we must look twice at those coming across the southern border. There are bad people among them. His numbers go up. He says we should think about banning all Muslims, at least temporarily. His numbers go up. He points at people like you and Hillary Clinton and says they are weak insiders and I am strong. And he is now the presumptive favorite in every poll in every metric we have. Is America ready for someone like Donald Trump and not ready for someone like you?

SANDERS: Well, I think that the more the American people understand what Trump stands for, which, among other things, is his assertion that wages in America are too high. He wants to quote/unquote "Make America Great." And here's a guy who is a billionaire who thinks that wages in America are too high. He thinks we should not raise the minimum wage. He wants to give hundreds of billions of dollars in tax breaks to his millionaire and billionaire friends.

But I think creating and playing off the anxiety and the fears that the American people have, the fears about terrorism, the fears about our economy and becoming a demagogue about that, and then trying to get us to hate Mexicans or to hate Muslims, I think that is the strategy that is not what America is supposed to be about.

What I believe, in contrast to Mr. Trump, is that we bring our people together to focus on the real issues, which is the disappearing middle class, massive income and wealth inequality, a corrupt campaign finance system, the fact that we're not effectively addressing the international crisis of climate change, the fact that our kids can't afford to go to college and moms and dads can't afford childcare, those are the issues we have to focus on. And we have to look at the greed, the greed of corporate America, the greed of Wall Street which has had such a terrible impact on our economy and on millions of people.

So I'm trying to bring people together to take on the wealthy and the powerful who have done so much to hurt the middle class. Trump is trying to play on fears and divide us up. At the end of the day, I believe that our approach will win.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: Now the question becomes, well, is that its own form of division, the rich versus everybody else? Let's discuss. CNN political director David Chalian and Patricia Murphy, columnist for "The Daily Beast." Thank you to both of you. Happy holidays, merry Christmas, whatever applies.

Mr. Chalian, Bernard Sanders, senator, outspoken in this interview, full-throated, but offering the solutions and alternatives that will help him catch Clinton.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes, that's a good question, Chris, because you heard, he took your question about Trump and Muslims and Trump's approach to a whole range of issues right now and brought it right back to his message. I think Bernie Sanders has been one of the most consistently on-message candidates throughout the campaign.

But what happens, and we saw this in the Democratic debate last week, help wanted to take every question about ISIS and turn it back to his economic message. I think that's why our poll shows Hillary Clinton doing much better when we interview people after the debate than before because ISIS and terror and foreign policy front and center, and as you saw in the numbers, those are her strong suits.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: I think Bernie Sanders has been one of the most consistently on-message candidates throughout the campaign, but what happens and we saw this in the Democratic debate last week, he wanted to take every question about ISIS and turn it back to his economic message.

[08:15:02] I think that's why our poll shows Hillary Clinton doing much better when we interview people after the debate than before because ISIS and terror and foreign policy front and center, and as you saw in the numbers, those are her strong suits. And although Bernie Sanders clearly has a resonate message with a third of the Democratic base. I think by being so tied to that prevents him from broad anything the reach.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: So, Patricia, let's talk about that. In that interview, was Bernie Sanders able to allay any anxiety that he doesn't have the foreign policy chops to deal ISIS? I mean, one of the things that he told Chris was, well, I want to let regional soldiers fight ISIS. That's the answer.

But is that what Americans want to hear?

PATRICIA MURPHY, COLUMNIST, THE DAILY BEAST: I don't think that's the answer to get to your average American who's listening to what Bernie Sanders is going to do to make sure there's not a Paris-style attack in their hometowns or not another repeat of San Bernardino in their hometowns. It was sort of a very, as a relatively wonkish answer to a question visceral to some people.

I was surprised personally if you asked if he had the stomach for this. He did vote for the Afghanistan war and is certainly capable of going into countries with American boots on the ground if that's something that he chooses to do, but he didn't even really talk about that. And to David's point, he really does love to bring it back to the economic message.

But after Paris, I think we have seen this become a national security debate for even Democrats, people are really worried about what is going on in their hometowns. And when you bring it back to the billionaires and billionaires, I think that's really missing the mark. His economic message is where it needs to be. I think though when you have a dynamic campaign, you need to have a dynamic candidate, and he doesn't seem to be that right now.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: I know what you say it's right where it needs to be, depends on who he's trying to cultivate, though, right? I mean, arguably, it could be its own form of division. You want to blame Trump for that, what are you doing by saying like the rich is the worst thing in the world, which Bernie Sanders keeps seeming to suggest to people.

David Chalian, a chance for you to say that I'm unfair, I said earlier on in the campaign -- Bernie Sanders is kind of the Donald Trump of the left, not in terms of tone but in terms of making this a very specific us versus them and appealing to have a very die-hard portion of his party. Fair comparison?

CHALIAN: I -- certainly Bernie Sanders does have an us versus them. He's very clear about that. It is the billionaire class versus the rest of the country in Bernie Sanders' world view.

I get that that appeals to a slice of the Democratic electorate in a very visceral way. I just don't know how it broadens beyond that.

Let me give you an example, Chris, of what a senior Clinton campaign adviser said to me about framing Hillary Clinton against Bernie Sanders. They say she's the one they are trying to present her as the one that can take care of the issues to keep you up at night, those economic issues, but also take care of the issues you read about in the morning papers, such as ISIS and foreign policy.

That's the frame of their recent advertising, the frame of what they are trying to do, and the contrast with Bernie Sanders who is not pivoting in any way.

I do think you raise a point. He is Trump in the sense that he is the outsider in the Democratic race the way Trump has dominated as being the outsider in the Republican race. I just don't know he's quite as divisive within the electorate as Donald Trump may prove to be.

CAMEROTA: There you go. Patricia, David, thank you. Stick around. We are going to have more of Chris' discussion with Senator Sanders ahead.

What does he think of the coverage of Donald Trump and the coverage of his own campaign? You'll find out later this hour.

Meanwhile, Iraqi troops closing in on ISIS in the battle to retake the key city of Ramadi. This as U.S. officials discuss changes to how the U.S. governs airstrikes over Iraq and Syria, to the so-called rules of engagement.

CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr has the latest for us.

What did you learn, Barbara?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn.

The U.S. military by the hour keeping an eye on the situation in Ramadi as Iraqi forces continue very slowly to turn and advance to the city's center. They are running into what they knew they would run into, barricades, booby troops, IEDs, bombs, whole buildings wired to blow up. This was very well-known to them.

The U.S. has been providing months of training on how to deal with the obstacles. And so, it is still very slow going for them to get into the center of Ramadi. And the question we talked about all week, if they can get Ramadi back, will they be able to hold on to it over the long-term? It's a real test of Iraqi forces and, of course, U.S. strategy to combat ISIS in Iraq and Syria.

And as for U.S. strategy, we now know there is indeed a very quiet conversation going on amongst the national security agencies, the Pentagon, the State Department, the White House about whether to loosen the rules of engagement -- the rules that govern when air strikes can be launched.

[08:20:01] U.S. officials are insistent it's not about increased risk to hitting civilians inadvertently in the air strikes, but they want to see if they can keep the pressure up on ISIS from the air, if there is a way to adjust some of the roles, the need for intelligence, the coordination, to continue to have increased air strikes, increased pressure on ISIS -- Chris.

CUOMO: All right. Thank you very much. Appreciate the reporting on this. Let us know what else develops, obviously.

Also, breaking overnight, a warning from the American, British and French embassies in China. All three say they received information of possible threats against westerners visiting a popular Beijing shopping district around Christmas. Now, we also have heard that a woman was killed at a shopping complex in this district in August. The embassies sent out warnings to staff and are urging extra vigilance.

CAMEROTA: An early Christmas present for Beatles' fans. Their music at long last streaming online after years of holding out, 17 of the band's original compilations began streaming just after midnight on places like Spotify, Apple Music and Google Play.

The news coming with a press release reading, can you do a Liverpool accent?

CUOMO: No.

CAMEROTA: "Happy Crimble from us to you", qoting the legendary John Lennon.

CUOMO: Ooh, are you a Beatles fan?

CAMEROTA: Some songs I love. Not the entire collection, but I'm happy we have access to it now. That's great.

CUOMO: Good to know.

CAMEROTA: Yes, there you go.

CUOMO: Presidential front-runners clashing. Surprise! Donald Trump responding to new accusations of sexism, but how he did it, was it a shot across the bow across Hillary Clinton? The latest, ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:25:07] CAMEROTA: Donald Trump firing warning shots against Hillary Clinton after she says Trump had a penchant for sexism. Trump responded with a not-so-subtle warning for Clinton.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I really haven't gone after Hillary yet and there's a lot to go after. She's very susceptible I think to -- I mean, look, the job she's done is horrible. I mean, you don't get worse. So I think that's going to be, frankly, easier in some cases than some of the people I'm currently running against. The last person, and I know this for a fact, the last person that she wants to be running against is me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: All right. We are joined again by David Chalian and Patricia Murphy.

Patricia, let me start with you. He says I haven't gone after her yet and there's a lot to go after. That's a warning for Hillary to say, you better not talk about me or else.

MURPHY: Yes, I don't know a lot of people who say, you better not do it Hillary or else, and she doesn't it. I don't think she's going to shrink to threats from Donald Trump.

But it does point out the fact that Donald Trump has very high negatives among women. He has very high independent voters in head- to-head match-ups. He's a little behind her if not up there with her.

He is also a wild card. He'll say and do a lot of things that more polite candidates haven't said or done against Hillary Clinton yet or Bill Clinton. And there's probably a lot of air there.

And how would voters respond to that? I think what he does right now is obviously working with the Republican base, would it work with a general electorate? I don't really think so, but it is a big unknown for Hillary Clinton going into it. She feels very strong running against him. Democrats would love to run against Donald Trump.

But there is a significant wild card factor there that you have to factor into it if you're going to run against Trump in the very end.

CUOMO: Murphy, thank you for that propositional gift.

The suggestion is raised, Mr. Chalian, you can now answer it. This notion that what works for Trump in the early polling, in potential primaries will not only not work in the general but will hurt him. Why? How do we know that?

CHALIAN: I'm not so convinced that's true, Chris. I -- let me just pick up on the wild card factor that Patricia was talking about there, because I think what we normally see in general elections, if you will, is that the candidates try not to be sullied with the direct attacks. They leave that to operatives. They have their opposition research shop around stories to reporters and say, hey, dig into this candidate's past here, dig into this candidate's past here.

Donald Trump is going to deliver all the opposition research if he's the nominee and Hillary Clinton is the nominee directly to her on camera every single day. And Bill Clinton, too, whether it's Clinton -- donations to the Clinton Foundation or her record as secretary of state. Whatever the area that he's going to mine, Bill Clinton's past with Monica Lewinsky or others, that's something Donald Trump is not going to be afraid to talk about all the time.

That is not something that the Clintons have dealt with before. It's usually far more sort of under the radar passing around these kinds of attacks.

CAMEROTA: And, Patricia, would Hillary Clinton respond in kind? Would she then delve into Donald Trump's past? Is that what we have in store?

MURPHY: Yes, I don't know. In terms of hand-to-hand combat, Hillary Clinton has done best when she is under fire, when she's behind. But she has never been directly attacked to David's point. It's very hard to know how it would play.

We know exactly what he looks, Donald Trump looks like when he goes negative. What does Hillary Clinton, especially as a female candidate, what does she look like if she gets really mean and nasty going up against Donald Trump? It's a very delicate line that she would have to walk with that. And I don't know exactly how it would play out.

I've talked to a lot of voters who, even if they like what Trump is saying, they don't like the way he says it. If he does it against Hillary Clinton, I personally think it would backfire on him, but all we know about Donald Trump is we don't know what is going to happen with Donald Trump.

CUOMO: Let's play out one more step. What did we see with Fiorina? She overwhelmed people, in my opinion, with her intellectual tools. But she also smacked him around and put him in a position where he said things that if he didn't regret it, he should have regretted them. Is that at all gender-role based? If he goes into it with Hillary, for instance, if in a debate, he would have said, who is talking, me or you?

If he had the mistake and calculus of saying something like that, is there an automatic for it? Is it like when Rick Lazio, Chalian, walked across the stage to Hillary holding the papers and she was like, why are you walking at me? And it effectively crushed him.

CHALIAN: I was going to bring up the Lazio example, Chris. What we've seen with Donald Trump is that I don't think the old rules apply necessarily. You just described the Donald Trump/Carly Fiorina reaction, but it only emboldened him, right?