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No Indictment in Cleveland Shooting; Iraq Says It's Reclaimed 40% of Territory Taken By ISIS; What's Causing Extremes in December Weather? Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired December 29, 2015 - 08:30   ET

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

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[08:32:50] MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: The family of 12-year-old Tamir Rice say they are devastated after an Ohio grand jury decided not to indict the officers involved in shooting and killing their son when they mistook his toy gun for a real one. Here to discuss is the attorney for the Rice family, Jonathan Abady.

Mr. Abady, thank you for joining us. And, first of all, please send our condolences and comfort to the family. I can imagine this is very difficult for them. Were they entirely shocked? How did they react to the news yesterday?

JONATHAN ABADY, ATTORNEY FOR TAMIR RICE'S FAMILY: Well, their reaction was one of tremendous and extreme disappointment, disillusionment, demoralization, but it was not thoroughly a surprise. We saw this unfortunately coming many, many months ago. It was clear to us from interaction with the prosecutor that this entire process was being distorted and corrupted and directed in a way that would engineer a no indictment in this case. So the family wasn't -

PEREIRA: In fact the family even said - the family even said in the statement that they believe that the prosecutor in the case deliberately sabotaged the proceedings. Those are strong words.

ABADY: They're very strong words and no one takes pleasure in observing that there's been a tremendous failure or compromise in a process of this sort. But we have to be honest, we have to be candid and we look at this and saw it from very close range and it's very clear to us that there was an abuse of the grand jury process. That this prosecutor wholly abandoned his obligation to be an advocate for the crime victim and became actually a defense lawyer for the police. And that is extremely upsetting, not just to the family, but it should be upsetting to the Cleveland community and to the nation as a whole. The problem of police violence is a horrible problem that is plaguing this country. Every time we turn on the TV or open the newspapers, we see another example of police violence frequently in communities of color. And it's not going to stop until people are held accountable. And it's an unfortunate situation -

PEREIRA: In terms of accountability, we know that the city of Cleveland is under a consent decree, which means there will be federal oversight of all the practices in that department. We also know there's an ongoing federal review by the civil rights division of the Department of Justice. Is the family at all hopeful that any of this could provide some measure of justice or closure for them? Or do they plan on pursuing other avenues?

[08:35:14] ABADY: Well, I - the family does retain some degree of hope. We have asked for the federal government, through the Department of Justice, to intervene in this case. It's an unusual and extraordinary measure but the federal government and the Department of Justice are there precisely for these kinds of circumstances. When there is a failure on the part of local law enforcement of this sort, the federal government is there as a backstop. And so the family is hopeful that the federal government is going to intervene in the same way that it's intervening now in Chicago. We think that the conduct here was egregious and so misguided that it warrants federal intervention and we're also pursuing a federal civil rights lawsuit. And so we're determined, and the family is determined, to obtain some measure of justice in this case. It's a horrible tragedy, a 12-year- old child shot for no reason, completely unjustified, completely unreasonable.

PEREIRA: You know, I was listening to the prosecutor, Tim McGinty. He called the case a, quote, "perfect storm of human mistakes." How do you react to that?

ABADY: You know, we're supposed to live in a democracy, not in a policed state. In a policed state where officers are judge, jury and executioner with impunity. This case at a minimum is criminally negligent or criminally reckless homicide at a minimum. It's the definition of criminally negligent or criminal negligent homicide. And, in fact, the Ohio legislature passed a specific provision in its criminal code allowing for aggravated murder charge where the victim is less than 13 years old. So the idea that this is some accident or a perfect storm to us is ludicrous and unnecessary apology for police officers who should be held accountable to the same rule of law that we all are. The fact that you carry a badge and wear a uniform doesn't give you a free pass. You're supposed to be subjected to the same laws that we're all subjected to. So I find those comments by the prosecutor to be very disturbing.

PEREIRA: As an attorney, do you question the grand jury process? Do you - do you have doubts about it? Do you wonder if it's - it's the wrong way to pursue justice?

ABADY: Well, the grand jury process is a secretive, highly discretionary process. There's a very famous saying that a prosecutor could indict a ham sandwich -

PEREIRA: Yes.

ABADY: If he or she wanted. And that's a function of the tremendous influence and control that prosecutors exercise in the grand jury process. No other lawyers are allowed in there. It takes place in secret. And so the reality is, it's all in the way that the case is presented by a prosecutor. And in this case, this prosecutor took a year. And during that year, he was engineering - it's very clear to us, he was engineering a very particular result. And so what I would say to you is that the grand jury process is a highly imperfect process and it's subject to tremendous manipulation and influence. And, unfortunately, that manipulation and influence frequently gets exercised in favor of the police -

PEREIRA: OK.

ABADY: In an unfair way when they're being - when they're being investigated by prosecutors.

PEREIRA: Jonathan Abady, thank you so much for joining us. Again, I can't imagine what that family's going through right now. I think there are many that are sending their best to that family, mourning the loss of their 12-year-old, there's no way around that. That's - that's devastating for anyone.

ABADY: Well, that's -

PEREIRA: Thanks for joining us today on NEW DAY.

ABADY: It's very much appreciated. Thank you very much.

PEREIRA: All right, Christine, over to you.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Michaela, with Iraqi forces wrestling Ramadi from ISIS, an important question this morning, could taking back that city be so crucial it might change the course of the fight against the terror group? We'll discuss, next.

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[08:42:36] ROMANS: Iraqi troops trying to root out any remaining ISIS fighters from Ramadi after Iraq reclaimed that city from terrorist's control. Why is Ramadi so key? Aaron David Miller is the vice president for New Initiatives and a distinguished scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center. He can take a very big view of this problem.

Ramadi is just one city, but we're hearing from folks on the ground there. They feel like this is a blueprint, sir, for going into Fallujah, for going to Mosul, for trying to keep ISIS on its heels. Is it that important? Is this Ramadi victory for the Iraqi government so notable in your opinion?

AARON DAVID MILLER, V.P. FOR NEW INITIATIVES, WOODROW WILSON INTL. CTR.: I mean the question you're seeing is whether this is a headline or whether this is a trend line. If it's a headline, and this is a one off, and the government of Iraq was back to its usual antics and policies of alienating Sunnis, of inclusivity, exclusivity, doesn't agree to open up the political system, then Ramadi is going to go the way of the dodo (ph) and you're going to end up with - with an Iraq that looks as bad as it is today. If, in fact, the Iraqi government has learned from this and is willing to empower Sunnis locally, but also on a national level, then I think you get at the root of what feeds ISIS and, in fact, it could be considered - could be considered a turning point.

ROMANS: The prime minister saying that police and Sunni tribal fighters will maintain control and peace in Ramadi once the military pulls out. But you say the victory will be short lived unless you say Iran is contained and Iraq takes significant steps to sectarian equality. Do you see it happening yet?

MILLER: Yes. No. And it hasn't happened for quite a while. And I think that's - you know, that's really the key. The question, I think, is whether - whether Ramadi has fallen to a government in which most Sunnis perceive it to be driven by Shia exclusivity. A government that is under the influence of Iran and a government unwilling to contain those Shia militias. If that's the perception of the fall of Ramadi, then we're headed for a train wreck. If that can somehow be transformed and changed, then, in fact, Ramadi can be a key, not only to - to improving the political situation in Iraq, but to containing the Islamic state as well, containing it perhaps degrading to the point where it is truly diminished -

ROMANS: Right.

MILLER: In terms of its ability to projects its power.

[08:44:58] ROMANS: This morning I talked to the spokesman for the anti-ISIS coalition in Baghdad. He told me that ISIS is in a defensive crouch. That ISIS has lost 40 percent of its - of its land mass, if you will, of its territory in Iraq and Syria. But that's the military footprint. That's that picture. When you go up to 30,000 feet it is really complicated keeping ISIS on the defense.

MILLER: It is because what you have seen in the last decade in the Middle East is the collapse of state authority and the rise of these transnational actors. Let me remind all of the viewers, including myself, that we're now 14 years after 9/11 and we have killed Osama bin Laden, we have dismantled the al Qaeda (inaudible) and yet the derivatives of al Qaeda and the notion of global Jihad is alive and well.

We've had three attacks in the last two months against three permanent members of the security council, Russia, France, and the United States, and by the way, not carried out by ISIS operatives, but by ISIS inspiration and Muslims whose inspire to identify with the Islamic State. So no. This is the long war. But degrading, underming, taking back territory from the caliphate will demonstrate that it does not - it is not the all powerful organization that many believe it is.

ROMANS: Right. The prime minister - the Iraqi prime minister said 2016 will be the year that will be the fatal and decisive victory against ISIS. Is he too optimistic?

MILLER: You know, one can always hope, but this is a broken, angry, dysfunctional region. If the issue were just Iraq and Syria, I'd say maybe. But you've got Yemen collapse, you've got internal chaos in Libya. You have Sinai now beyond the control of the Egyptian government where jihadis operate actively. So no, I would argue to you, this really is the long war. We have to be patient and we have to find the right balance between risk readiness and risk aversion and that is something this administration has struggled with. ROMANS: All right. Aaron David Miller, thank you so much for that.

Great perspective and analysis.

Don?

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Thank you, Christine.

Deadly tornadoes, first snowfall in the Northeast, and summer-like temps in December. What is going on with this weather? The extremes. We're going to explore why all this is happening. That is next.

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[08:50:50] PEREIRA: I was almost going to read your line.

LEMON: That's okay. You can read. Deadly tornadoes, a lack of snow, and wild temperature - fluctuations. What is behind the extreme weather that we're seeing -

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PEREIRA: Just keep moving - keep reading. Read through it. CNN meteorologist Jennifer Gray is here to ignore Don and explain us to.

LEMON: Yes. These deadly tornadoes in Texas. Eleven people lost their lives in the Dallas area. What caused this violent outbreak in a normally quiet month for tornadoes, Jennifer?

JENNIFER GRAY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah, well guys, we had basically a springtime weather pattern in place. We had very warm are coming in from the South. It was pumping a lot of moisture in. that cold air to the North and West basically collided with that and we saw almost 70 tornado reports, which is basically well above normal for the month of December. Normally on average we see about 25 tornadoes for the month of December. Almost 70 over the past week. Any given year though, Texas would see the most number of tornadoes. On average about five during the month of December.

Don and Michaela?

PEREIRA: Cold air where there were blizzards and such, it ended up meaning that here in the Northeast we had a really, really mild winter so far. What can you say is the explanation behind all that?

GRAY: We really have had a mild winter. In fact we normally would see snowfall before now in the month of December. But remember last year, Buffalo really took -- stole the show during the month of November. They had that epic lake effect snow event, around 7 feet of snow. But the snow in the Northeast really didn't get a start until January. Boston actually today has received more snow in the month of December than they did last year. They got started in January with snow storms every single weekend. Record breaking snowfall. But just because they got a decent snow after the first of the year last year, doesn't mean they will this year. In a typical El Nino pattern normally you have a little less snow in then Northeast in January in the winter.

LEMON: Let's talk about El Nino because there's been intense flooding in the Midwest and in the Southeast, claimed the lives of eight people in Missouri, five in Southern Illinois. So is this El Nino?

GRAY: Yes, this is really another typical El Nino pattern where you have wetter than normal weather across the South. But this year has really been unprecedented. Remember back in the spring we had all the rainfall in Texas, we had the flooding in Oklahoma and then the South Carolina floods in early October. And now look, the South once again, we had a lot of flooding in Texas during last week. We have epic rainfall once again in St. Louis. They have broken records. The Mississippi River is overfilling its banks in some places. Mississippi/Alabama once again seeing flooding and so this year is really going to be one of those years for the record books not only for the flooding, but the heat as well.

PEREIRA: So you have been telling us that this storm system is moving East. What does this mean now then? Are we going to see more regular temperatures returning then?

GRAY: Hopefully. During an El Nino year, the Northeast will actually see a little bit warmer than normal temperatures during the winter months, the South will see a little bit cooler temperatures in the winter months. But for the month of December alone, if you can believe it, we have set over 4 thousand record high temperatures. In fact Central Park today ties the record for the most consecutive days above freezing. And so temperatures have been incredibly spring-like. We've seen temperatures 25, 30 degrees above normal the week of December. So hopefully in the coming months we'll start to get a little bit closer to normal, but typically during an El Nino year, the Northeast will see slightly warmer than normal temperatures and the Southeast will see slightly cooler than normal temperatures.

LEMON: Yeah, I saw flurries last night as I left about 11:30.

PEREIRA: I know.

LEMON: All right. Thank you very much Jennifer. Appreciate it.

GRAY: Thanks.

ROMANS: All right. Do you want to live a little longer? Give a hug. A new report from the head of USC's Westside Cancer Center finds more than 40 percent of what we do each day is due to habit. So some little tweaks, Don. Get your hands -

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ROMANS: Could help extend your life. Including more frequent hugs. The study points to research from where people were exposed to a common cold and the people who had more loving social interactions had fewer symptoms.

PEREIRA: Not a license to -

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[08:55:00] ROMANS: Other ways suggested to live longer, folks, avoiding processed foods and avoid friends who make you upset.

LEMON: Oh. Well.

PEREIRA: And there you have it.

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PEREIRA: We've got "The Good Stuff" coming up for you in a second.

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PEREIRA: Friends, after this day we've had we need a little "Good Stuff," no? Police in Taylor, Michigan, they are on the hunt.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I only got a broken window and a cracked windshield.

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PEREIRA: Oh no, it's not what you think. An anonymous donor actually gave ten officers a thousand dollars each, told them to go out and apprehend those who could use it most. Instead of tickets, they are handing out $100 bills.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okay. You're welcome.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was like what did I do?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that going to come in pretty handy?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it will. A nice present for my daughter for one, that would be nice.

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PEREIRA: See, this is the stuff that ends me. This brings me to tears, this community service. Because officers say this is more than just about the money.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of people don't see the police as positive sometimes. So this is a good chance for us to show that we really care about the community.

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PEREIRA: Isn't that something? There is your "Good Stuff" for the day.

ROMANS: Before we hand it off to "NEWSROOM," some more good stuff. Our dear colleague Poppy Harlow, our friend and colleague had a little unsettling moment on live TV. Thankfully, she's okay. She joins us now. This is the first thing you can blame on your baby daughter.

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POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: You're right. Some people said I could show her the link - Oh, I hope you can hear me -- Some people said I could show her the link one day. But Christine Romans, to you, I know you can't hear me, my friend, but --

LEMON: We can hear you now.

HARLOW: Go ahead - You're the one who stepped in and took over the show with absolute grace like a dear friend and colleague. So thank you so much. Don and Michaela called me immediately to see what they could do.

PEREIRA: We got your back, sister. We got your back.

HARLOW: Don just wanted -

LEMON: I was heading back to take you to the hospital.

HARLOW: I know, I know, I know. He said, is your husband there? And it just - the outpouring of support from all of you, from everyone out there on Twitter, I am just amazing, stunned, grateful. Thank you to everyone