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CNN NEWSROOM

Trump's Battle to Stay on Top; Trump Tops Polls Despite Proposed Muslim Ban; Manhunt for Paris Attackers Continues in Switzerland; John Kerry in Moscow to Discuss Syria Peace Process; Ted Cruz Makes Huge Gain in Polls; Republican Officials Discuss Brokered Convention; Rep. Tim Murphy Talks Gun Violence, Mental Health; Typhoon Melor Regaining Strength; "Star Wars" Movie Opens to Great Fanfare; Federal Reserve Expected to Raise Rates on Wednesday. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired December 15, 2015 - 02:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(HEADLINES)

[02:01:19] ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Rosemary Church.

ERROL BARNETT, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Errol Barnett. Thanks for joining our two-hour block. CNN NEWSROOM starts now.

In just a matter of hours, the U.S. Republican presidential candidates will face off in Las Vegas. It is their fifth debate and their last one of the year.

CHURCH: With 48 days until the Iowa caucus, Donald Trump leads the pack but Ted Cruz is closing the gap. At a rally just a short time ago, Trump sold supporters he's ready for a fight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think it's going to be big.

(SHOUTING)

TRUMP: Oh. Ooh. And they're all coming after me. I heard today, I'm watching. Man, this is like crazy.

(LAUGHTER)

Who is going to attack Trump first? Will it be this one? You know, he's taken down seven so far. If you look, so far, everyone that's attacked me has gone right down the tube.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: John Berman has more on Trump's rise to the top of the polls and his strategy to stay there. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a campaign like no other with a front-runner like no other, a new poll like no other. For the first time, Donald Trump breaks 40 percent in a national poll from Monmouth University, 27 points ahead of his closest rival. It's also the first poll taken since this controversial proposal.

TRUMP: Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.

BERMAN: A notion that will be tested in the last Republican debate of the year. The first debate since the terror attacks in San Bernardino and Paris.

TRUMP: How crazy are we allowing ourselves to be subject to this kind of terror?

BERMAN: Trump finds himself center stage at the debate with a new next door neighbor, Ted Cruz, who has surged into second place and is running out in front or close in Iowa.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: God bless the great state of Iowa.

BERMAN: Until now, Trump and Cruz have remained friendly foes, almost campaign comrades. In 24 hours, that could come to an end.

TRUMP: I like him. He's been so nice to me. I could say anything and he said, I agree, I agree. But I think the time will come to an end pretty soon.

BERMAN: Trump is previewing a possible line of attack compared to Senator Cruz, he says, he is Mr. Agreeable.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST, "STATE OF THE UNION": Why should voters go for you over Ted Cruz?

TRUMP: Because I'm more capable. I have a better temperament. I actually get along with people much better than he does.

BERMAN: Trump even accused Cruz of being a little bit of a maniac while in the Senate.

Cruz opened up a can of '80s in response tweeting, "In honor of my friend, #realDonaldTrump and good-hearted maniacs everywhere," and he tweeted a link to the movie "Flashdance."

(SINGING)

BERMAN: Trump will not be the only challenge for Ted Cruz. Senator Marco Rubio already calling him weak on national security.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Each time he's had to choose between strong national defense and some of the isolationist tendencies in American politics, he seems to side with the isolationists.

BERMAN: John Berman, CNN, Las Vegas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: For more on the upcoming debate, let's go to our John Vause, who joins us live from a very cold Las Vegas.

John, it is the last debate of the year, and there's a lot riding on this for all the candidates, as we see Ted Cruz surge in Iowa. What should we be watching for when all the Republican presidential candidates take to the stage Tuesday evening?

[02:05:08] JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There's a couple of things and a couple of unknowns. Clearly this debate has now changed. The focus is more on national security and foreign policy after the ISIS attacks in Paris and ISIS inspired attack in San Bernardino, California.

The question will be, will those candidates get up there, and where do they stand when it comes to Donald Trump's controversial call for a temporary travel ban on all Muslims entering the United States. How far do they go when it comes to that particular proposal, which is popular among Republicans but not necessarily among the majority of American voters. That's one issue to look out for.

Also where do the candidates stand? Do they go after Donald Trump or does this debate then sort of become like a scrap, if you like, between Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz? A lot of people saying that's probably more likely, because Ted Cruz has had this bromance for the last couple of months with Donald Trump. And Donald Trump has made some criticisms of Ted Cruz, calling him a maniac. Ted Cruz is not really engaging with Donald Trump, at least not with the trash talk. It's unlikely he's going to throw the first punch. Trump's going after him because of this poll in Iowa. It has Ted Cruz out in front in Iowa.

But this is the big but. Because of his base of support, even if Ted Cruz does, in fact, win that Iowa vote next -- the beginning of next year, it may not be a deal breaker for Donald Trump.

And I asked our senior political analyst, Ron Brownstein, to explain why.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Cruz is rising in Iowa by following a very tried and true path. He's consolidating evangelical Christians there, who are about 60 percent of the vote. That's what Mike Huckabee did in 2008 to win and what Santorum did in 2012 to win. They could not advance far enough beyond that to make a run at the nomination. Santorum, the exit polls in 20 states, he won evangelicals in 10 more after Iowa. He won non-evangelicals in one of them, Louisiana. So ultimately, for Cruz to go further than Huckabee or Santorum, he has to show he can reach a broader coalition.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: That's why a lot of people are looking towards Marco Rubio as being this broad consensus, unifying candidate who can bring the Republican Party together. There's been this civil war ongoing in the Republican Party for the last several months.

We should note, tomorrow, there will be the two debates, the undercard debate, the kiddies table, if you like, and the grown-up debate. What we're seeing emerge in that draw card, the top debate is another tier emerging, and that is Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio -- Rosemary?

CHURCH: It is interesting. It will be interesting to see who survives after this debate into the New Year. See if they pair down the number of candidates standing on that stage.

Our John Vause joining us from Las Vegas. Many thanks to you, John.

BARNETT: One thing is for sure, Donald Trump is holding on to his lead in national polls. This is despite his proposed ban on Muslims entering the U.S. Take a look at this Monmouth University survey taken after his controversial statement. It shows there support for Trump topping 40 percent.

CHURCH: A new ABC News/"Washington Post" poll shows a majority of Republicans supporting Trump's proposal while Americans reject it overall. Republicans support it 59 percent to 38 percent. 58 percent of Independent voters think it's wrong compared to 38 percent who back it. Hope you're still with me on this. And on a whole, 60 percent of Americans oppose it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARNETT: Ben Ferguson joins us from New York, our CNN political commentator.

So, Ben, Donald Trump still leads the Republican pack since suggesting a ban on all Muslims entering the U.S. But as we just saw, it's something Independents overwhelmingly disagree with. And that's a key voting bloc for a Republican presidential win. So how could Trump win the general election with a rhetoric like that?

BEN FERGUSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I certainly think he's going to have to do a better job explaining his plan moving forward. He's even walked this back to say he'd be willing to talk about a moratorium or having it where it would be from certain countries where there are terrorism hot beds. That's not what he said at the beginning, and those are the things that can get you into trouble when you are running for president. That's going to be his vulnerability as he's going to be having to answer that question of, hey, why did you say a religious group should be banned? If he tries to step off of it too much, people are going to call him out for saying, that's not what you said and it can hurt him in the general.

BARNETT: The race is tightening up. Ted Cruz is moving ahead of Trump among early primary voters in Iowa, which is key. He, too, is not a favorite of the GOP establishment, often called the most disliked man in the Senate.

(LAUGHTER)

What do you make of his rise in a key state?

[02:10:18] FERGUSON: It shows there's obviously a large group in the Republican Party that does not like the establishment GOP-type candidates or establishment picking the front-runner. Ted Cruz is obviously, like you said, some say the most hated man in the Republican Party in the Senate. That's a good thing if you are running for president right now because they don't want someone that's the establishment guy. That's actually what's hurting Marco Rubio or holding him from being able to break out in this campaign. It's certainly held back Jeb Bush by being an establishment guy. Ted Cruz has been very smart and also underrated.

BARNETT: What are we likely to see when Cruz and Trump go head-to- head at the debate? How can Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush finally somehow break through?

FERGUSON: I think Rubio will deal with that one first. Rubio has a chance because people do seem to like him. Rubio has always done well in the debates and has always gone up after the debates. For Marco Rubio, keep doing what you are doing and it may help you and catch on a little bit. If your Ted Cruz and go into this debate, you have to go after Donald Trump and say, you called me a maniac on Sunday morning on the Sunday morning talk shows and said I was crazy because I called the establishment GOP leader in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, a liar when he lied to us. That's who I thought you would be. I thought you were going to Washington to be the guy that was going to call out other politicians, now you're saying I'm a maniac for doing that? He's got to have a distinction between the two of them, and to show the ridiculousness of Trump's rhetoric. As for Jeb Bush, I think his campaign, for all intents and purposes when it comes to winning is over. He can stay in this, but I just don't know if there's anything he can do to turn it back around. He's also admitted he's a very weak debater. I cannot imagine somehow he's going to be able to have an amazing night with these other people on stage. I just don't see it happening.

BARNETT: There's so much at stake, so many people on stage. I don't know if they'll spend more time fighting each other or the main opponent, Hillary Clinton, the presumptive nominee for the Democrats.

Great to speak with you.

Ben Ferguson, joining us from New York, our CNN political commentator.

FERGUSON: Thanks

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And CNN will host the final debate of the year among the Republican candidates. Our Wolf Blitzer will moderate. Coverage starts Tuesday, 3:00 p.m. pacific time in Las Vegas. That's 6:00 p.m. on the east coast. In London, that coverage begins Tuesday at 11:00 p.m.

BARNETT: Now to another big story we're following for you. We're learning new details about the investigation into the terror attack in San Bernardino, California. Cell phones found at the attacker's home led FBI dive teams to search a nearby lake. Police say they didn't find anything related to the investigation.

CHURCH: The female shooter, Tashfeen Malik, had advocated jihad on social media but used a fake name and privacy settings that only allowed a small group of people to see her comments.

Meanwhile, in Europe, intelligence agencies are hunting for several suspects in and around Geneva, Switzerland, suspects who could have connections to the Paris attacks.

BARNETT: Brian Todd has new developments from Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Two men with Syrian passports arrested in Geneva, Switzerland. A European security source says traces of precursor chemicals, which could be used to make explosives, were found inside their vehicles. U.S. intelligence had tipped off Swiss authorities that terrorists, possibly from ISIS, were potentially planning an attack in Geneva.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any conversation that specifically identifies a target like that should raise an alarm, especially in a high-profile city like Geneva where you have premier banking institutions as well as United Nations facilities.

TODD: Authorities in Geneva are looking for at least two people with indirect links to people in the Paris terror attacks.

One of the prime Paris suspects is a ghost. The trail of Salah Abdeslam has gone cold according to a European counterterrorism official.

(GUNFIRE)

TODD: And there's new information that Abdeslam's childhood friend, ISIS operative, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the mastermind of the Paris attacks, may have been directing the slaughter at the Bataclan concert hall as it was happening.

(EXPLOSION)

TODD: French terrorism expert, Jean-Charles Brisard, interviewed a witness who was just a couple of blocks away during the assault. The witness describes seeing a man standing in the doorway of a building.

JEAN-CHARLES BRISARD, FRENCH TERRORISM EXPERT: The witness describes that a man was shouting and yelling over the phone for an hour, very agitated.

[02:15:03] TODD: The witness, whose account is published in the "CTC Sentinel," said Abaaoud's head was shaved and he was wearing loose layers of clothing. But the witness later recognized him when his picture was splashed on the news.

Analysts say this is an ominous sign, a new ISIS tactic.

PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST; ISIS is moving towards less of a static model of terrorism and more towards a dynamic, multi-hour, rolling attack paradigm where you start an attack and keep it going for as long as possible for maximum impact.

TODD: One expert says Abaaoud could have been sending intelligence to the attackers inside the Bataclan.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To warn there's an armored vehicle coming, a battering ram coming, a SWAT team entering from the roof, things like that.

TODD (on camera): And it appears Abdelhamid Abaaoud was pulling most of the terrorist strings on the streets of Paris that night. The Paris prosecutor says, according to his phone records, Abaaoud was communicating with one of the stadium bombers right until the moment they started blowing themselves up.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: We want to take you to live pictures right now. You see there U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Moscow to discuss the peace process in Syria. He is set to meet Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, right now, in fact. And then he'll meet with Vladimir Putin in just a few hours. They'll try to reach some sort of compromise on how to end Syria a civil war. We'll keep you informed on this and have analysis in the hours ahead.

BARNETT: Still to come, three years after the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School, President Obama has harsh words for U.S. lawmakers over their inaction on gun reform. More on that after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

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[02:20:44] BARNETT: U.S. President Barack Obama wants the American people to know he's on the case in the fight against ISIS.

CHURCH: Mr. Obama met with military leaders at the Pentagon Monday to talk about his administration's strategies to defeat the terrorists. The president laid out how the campaign is succeeding, and he delivered a powerful message to the militants who he refers to as ISIL.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are hitting ISIL harder than ever. Coalition aircraft, our fighters, bombers and drones have been increasing the pace of their strikes, nearly 9,000 of today. Last month, in November, we dropped more bombs on ISIL targets than any other month since this campaign started. We're also taking out ISIL leaders, commanders and killers one by one. The point is ISIL leaders cannot hide, and our next message to them is simple, you are next.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: Of course, Mr. Obama has been under pressure to reassure Americans his ISIS strategy is working. This comes after the terror attacks in Paris and in California.

CHURCH: Just a short time ago, we brought you some live pictures. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Moscow to figure out how to get the peace process moving in Syria.

BARNETT: Kerry is meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and later with President Putin. The two top diplomats shaking hands moments ago. They are expected to discuss their differences over Syrian President Bashar al Assad and who should involved in any peace talks in Syria.

CHURCH: A lot to tackle there.

For more on these talks, let's bring in former CNN Moscow bureau chief, Jill Dougherty.

Jill, good to talk to you, as always.

What can we expect out of these high-level talks to try to find some sort of compromise on moves to end Syria's civil war?

JILL DOUGHERTY, FORMER CNN MOSCOW BUREAU CHIEF: Well, Rosemary, from the American side, they want to narrow the gap. What are the gaps? The gaps would be a real definition, very specifically, of what happens during that transition, political transition period in Syria that everybody agrees they want to happen. Now that would be transition period, leading to rewriting the constitution, then elections, et cetera. The devil is in the details. And one of the key ones would be what happens to the existing president, President Assad. As you know, of course, the Russians have been supporting Assad and remaining in power. At least for this time until something next takes place. But when you really look at that, what does that mean? Who are the opposition that would sit down at the table? How would there be a cease-fire? How would that work? I was looking at that video. Secretary Kerry and Minister Lavrov know each other extremely well. They meet, it seems like, almost every week. They have met, seriously, about 20 times this year. But the big picture will be now speaking directly to president Putin because he's the man here in Russia who really defines things. That will happen later on today in Moscow. And that is extremely important because it's very hard to judge unless you are here meeting face to face. What exactly, Mr. Putin wants, what he plans and where is he going in this strategy? CHURCH: Jill, certainly the role of President Bashar al Assad is

really the main stumbling block here. But the other area of dispute is whether Russia is targeting ISIS militants or moderate rebels as the U.S. insisted. How might discussions on that issue go down?

DOUGHERTY: That's a very complicated issue, actually. It's become more complicated in the last couple of weeks. Here's how. Russia, for quite a long time, was saying, we're hitting ISIL and that's it. We are hitting the terrorists. Now the United States has said, you are not hitting ISIS as much as you are hitting opposition forces. And lo and behold, recently Russia started saying our air strikes are meant to help the Free Syrian Army, FSA, which is opposition. So I think that's a place where they have to really drill down and say, who are the FSA people that you are helping, because, theoretically, the Free Syrian Army is fighting President Assad. So you can see how this is all very complicated, and it's all connected.

So the idea is, sit down, try to bat out these gaps, try to understand them. And then the whole thing is moving, as one official says, a U.S. official said, this should be a weigh station on the way to a meeting on Friday in New York that the United States wants, where they'll really sit down with the Syrian support group and start to really try to define things. It's an important meeting, and Friday will be important as well.

[02:25:52] CHURCH: Many thanks to Jill Dougherty, providing some analysis as we take these live pictures from Moscow, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry there to meet with Russian's foreign and also with the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin. We'll see what comes of that as they try to work through some sort of solution there to the civil war in Syria. We'll keep you posted on what happens.

BARNETT: I believe we can take a quick live look at the debate stage in Las Vegas. Half an hour to midnight. Still to come, more on the final Republican debate of the year, hosted by CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:59:55] BARNETT: Welcome to our viewers here in the states and those of you watching from around the world. I'm Errol Barnett.

CHURCH: I'm Rosemary Church. We do want to update you now on the main stories we've been following this hour.

(HEADLINES)

BARNETT: We are just hours away from the final U.S. Republican presidential debate of the year. Texas Senator Ted Cruz is heading into the event with a bit more confidence, new momentum after making huge gains in several polls.

BARNETT: CNN's Gary Tuchman spoke with a group of Cruz supporters to find out why he's their candidate.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nine people meeting us at Ted Cruz's Clark County, Nevada, headquarters, including the man holding a Cruz fund-raiser at his home tonight.

(on camera): You're all supporting Ted Cruz for president.

(CROSSTALK)

TUCHMAN: How many of you have been supporting him the whole way?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have.

TUCHMAN: Seven of the nine of you have been with Cruz from the beginning.

You, Ron, who are hosting the fund-raiser for Cruz, who did you support in the beginning?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trump.

TUCHMAN: What changed?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What changed was he's basically saying the same things now that he said when he opened up, "Make America Great." A lot of things have to be done to make America great and he's not saying what they are.

TUCHMAN: You think Cruz is?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think Cruz is a man conviction, he's got priorities, and he can make America change.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): Nationally, there's much conversation about Cruz's likability.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's very much like Ronald Reagan and knows how to work with other people. But you're talking about the U.S. Senate in this moment. A lot of those people you didn't want to get along with.

TUCHMAN (on camera): Does it trouble any of you that Ted Cruz, even a lot of Republicans say they have a tough time getting along with him?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think they aren't getting along with his principles. He's standing on conservative principles in a bold manner and he won't move to what he calls the mushy middle.

TUCHMAN: Do you think Ted Cruz can get along with Democrats?

(CROSSTALK)

TUCHMAN: Why do you think that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because he's a good person. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You want to get a point across, you better have

your courage of conviction. That's what this man has. I'm not offended by his --

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I personally think that Cruz isn't worried about pleasing everyone necessarily, and he would rather stick to his own values and what he believes in and push for conservative principles than have to go into the middle and compromise what he believes in to please everyone to get along with everyone.

TUCHMAN: How do you feel?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think bipartisanship is overrated. That's not what we send politicians to Washington to do.

(LAUGHTER)

TUCHMAN: How important are Cruz's religious beliefs to you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Very.

TUCHMAN: Is that one of the reasons you are supporting him?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. No.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's part of the package.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He does what he says and it's a proven package. And that's part of it.

TUCHMAN: You don't think he's just an evangelical candidate you're supporting?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I see him as a constitutional candidate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): These people believe he's the toughest, and it's no coincidence his polls are going up in the days since San Bernardino.

(on camera): When he talks about his carpet bombing ISIS, do you all go for that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

TUCHMAN: Do you think that will work?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think he also says he's going to listen to his generals.

TUCHMAN: We're in Nevada. What do you think the odds are, being in Nevada, that Ted Cruz will become president? Give me some numbers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 50/50.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm going to say 50/50.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's way too early to say. I think it's going to be strong.

TUCHMAN: It's Nevada. They put odds on everything right away.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think 100 percent.

TUCHMAN: Gary Tuchman, CNN, in Las Vegas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Republican presidential front-runner, Donald Trump, hasn't ruled out running as a third-party candidate.

BARNETT: In fact, top Republican officials have discussed the potential of what's called a brokered convention, almost a nightmare scenario for Republicans.

CNN's Tom Foreman explains why that is, and how it could decide the Republican presidential nominee.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[02:34:50] TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hold on tight because with this many candidates in the race, it could get messy. Here's how. Let's say you go into the early primaries and caucuses and nobody has a commanding lead anywhere. Maybe candidate "A" wins over here and candidate "B" over there and candidate "C" over here, enough so that two or three or four candidates all think they can still keep playing this game. Then state after state after state, and it continues. And then you wind up at the convention itself with no one in a commanding lead. Already you have what's called a contested convention. And then if you get through the first vote there and nobody gets more than 50 percent, now you have a brokered convention. A brokered convention means all the delegates who showed up are no longer bound by how their state constituents voted. Now they get to wheel and deal. So maybe candidate "B" says candidate "A," I can give you all of my voters if you'll make certain concessions. Or I'll give all of mine to your candidate "D," or vice versa, if we can strike a deal. Through that process, as soon as somebody reaches 50 percent- plus, a little over 50 percent, then it's all over. Doesn't matter that it was brokered, doesn't matter that it was contested. That person is now the nominee. (END VIDEOTAPE)

BARNETT: CNN will host the final debate of the year among the Republican candidates. Wolf Blitzer will moderate. Coverage begins Tuesday, 3:00 p.m. Pacific time for those in Vegas. That's 6:00 p.m. on the east coast, and in London, coverage begins Tuesday at 11:00 p.m.

CHURCH: President Obama marked the Newtown massacre on Monday, a tragedy that reignited the national debate over gun control. 20 first graders along with six educators were gunned down at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, three years ago.

With the American political system seemingly paralyzed by gun violence, Mr. Obama posted this on his Facebook page: "Three years on, how do we tell them that their Congress hasn't done anything to prevent what happened to them from happening to other families?"

CNN's Amara Walker spoke with U.S. Republican Congressman Tim Murphy who believes mental health issues can sometimes lead to gun violence.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REP. TIM MURPHY (R), PENNSYLVANIA: We recognize although most with mental illness are not violent, those who are not in treatment are 15 times more likely to be violent than those who are in treatment. We don't have enough psychiatric hospital beds. We have Medicaid rules which say you can't see two doctors in a same day. If a pediatrician says they need to see a psychiatrist, right away, they can't. Also have rules that prevent hospitals from having more than 16 beds. We don't have enough psychiatrists, psychologists. Our bill addresses all of those issues. The key is make sure that treatment is more accessible by people who are professionals at what they do. And that's an area we have a lot of problems in the United States, and that is what my bill is going to turn around.

AMARA WALKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Of course, better mental health screening and support is obviously a part of the solution.

But I want to ask you about gun control and something that President Obama talked about, saying, look, nothing is really changed. What has changed in terms of legislative action? What federal gun laws have passed since Sandy Hook?

MURPHY: What I'm talking about is, what is in people's heads, not what's in their hands. I mentioned to the White House, the president and vice president, we need to work with these mental health issues. I mentioned to the president last Monday, we'd love to have the White House's help on this. We'd love for them to realize we have 47 co- sponsors, Democratic co-sponsors, 170-plus co-sponsors overall working on this issue. When it comes to things like the Sandy Hook strategy, where those children are killed -- and I keep their photos on the desk in my office so I see them every day. They were killed by someone who had a serious mental illness that was untreated. You can see one tragedy one after another after another. When there comes -- when there are homicidal issues, some are by criminals, some are by terrorists.

WALKER: Right --

MURPHY: And that's the area that has to be addressed.

WALKER: And I agree with you that that is a part of the solution but you've also got to talk --

(CROSSTALK)

WALKER: But what also is a big part, many would say is gun control. When you look at what the world is saying, when they look at America, they are wondering why this country stands alone when it comes to this frequency of mass shootings. This is an exceptionally American problem, is it not?

MURPHY: France has strong gun control issues, and it didn't work for them. England has problems, too. The point in the United States is the access to mental health care is still a problem. I am focused on taking care of that. We're not talking about gun control and cancer or gun control with diabetes.

WALKER: Right. Right.

MURPHY: We're talking about a brain illness called mental illness.

(CROSSTALK)

WALKER: Mental health illness if that's addressed in the United States you think that will address the number of mass shootings in the United States --

(CROSSTALK)

WALKER: -- without addressing gun control, or stricter gun control laws?

[02:40:01] MURPHY: If you look at these issues, a person with serious mental illness who has been involuntarily committed to in patient or outpatient is not allowed to own, purchase, possess, transport or anything with a gun. But also look at Sandy Hook. Part of the terrible strategy with Adam Lanza, who did those shootings, he broke every law in the book. He was not supposed to have access, transport anything with that gun. Washington, D.C., and Chicago have strong gun rules and they are areas with a lot of shootings. I'll tell you what I'm focusing on. I'm a psychologist. This is where I'm trained as a mental health professional. And I'm tired of Congress having a moment of silence and then doing nothing on these issues about treating mental illness. This is a key issue we have to address.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BARNETT: Still to come, for the second time in two months, the Philippines is lashed by a major storm. Why Typhoon Melor has been regaining strength. Stay with us here on the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: At least one person has been killed at Typhoon Melor battles the central Philippines. More than 730,000 people have been forced from their homes to find higher ground.

BARNETT: The storm got unexpectedly stronger Tuesday morning with winds as strong as a category 4 hurricane. It's knocked out power in some areas and disrupted transportation. The last deadly storm to hit the Philippines killed 54 people back in October.

For more on this erratic typhoon, let's bring in our Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri at the World Weather Center.

Pedram, yesterday, when you were telling us about this storm, we knew it was gaining strength and would have a small window to cause damage, but it seemed to get more powerful in the last few moments.

[02:44:46] PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, an incredible storm to forecast. An unusual circumstance when talking about the Philippines and the island nation. A lot of water around this region that enables this storm to continue getting stronger as it's making multiple landfalls. Look at the satellite presentation. The storm is centered over portions of northern Mendora and the Verdi Island Passage. I just did the math on the water across portions of the sea in this region. It's about 60,000 square kilometers are water across this region. You put this together, roughly the size of Ireland, hundreds of islands. You have a storm make landfall after landfall but still interact with a large area, the size of Ireland when it comes to the area of water. That's why the storm continued get think stronger. We think it's going to be on his last leg but an historic ride. A tropical storm up to category 4 equivalent. For nearly 36 hours, it maintained a strength from a category 3 to category 4 strength. Incredible to think if we only get away with one fatality with a storm that had the potential for catastrophic damage. Here it is at this hour working north of areas around the Victoria region, into the Batangas. Population 2.4 million in the area it's moving through right now.

The latest advisory bringing the storm down to 215 kilometers per hour, which is the same speed in its national landfall about 24 hours ago. Still a menacing storm but just a couple hours from moving over toward the South China Sea and eventually pushing off to the south. The big story left of this is going to be these rainfall amounts, a quarter of a meter of rainfall. It's important to note this time of year, even for manila, it's a dry time of year. Five times the amount of rainfall normal and flooding potential could be what's dangerous now.

BARNETT: Just stunning.

CHURCH: Thank you for that.

BARNETT: Thank you, Pedram. CHURCH: We'll take a short break. Still to come, "Star Wars: The

Force Awakens" premiered to great fanfare Monday in Los Angeles. We'll hear from the series' newest faces. We're back in a moment.

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[02:50:51] BARNETT: It's the world premiere of "Star Wars: The Force Awaken." The fans and the storm troopers were out to see the big launch.

CHURCH: The movie is a mix of old and new with stars from the original film joining fresh faces for a whole new adventure.

Our Isha Sesay sat down with the newest stars to talk about joining the "Star Wars" family.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: We all need to run.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Tell me about Finn.

BOYEGA: Finn is a storm trooper who doesn't feel like the path of the first order is his to take so he escapes and meets Rey and BBA.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOYEGA: Are we really doing this?

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: BBA, hold on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOYEGA: And they embark on a journey unwillingly together. And you get to see how they interact with the old generation and play their part in this fight between good and evil.

SESAY: What can you tell us about Rey?

DAISY RIDLEY, ACTRESS: She goes on this adventure she never could have imagined. So open to meeting new people. She's so hopeful as to what might be and meets incredible relationships and sees incredible things and ends the film in a very different place than she began.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: Who are you? RIDLEY: I'm no one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOYEGA: It's good to have a faith in your co-stars and to work closely with them, and it felt like an organic collaboration especially between Finn and Hawn. Their relationship is quite significant.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: You sure you're up for this?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIDLEY: Every day things would come up. We'd have conversations. Somebody would happen and we'd be like, this feels right. This feels right. It was just a progression the whole way through.

SESAY: What's going to surprise viewers and audiences when they watch this film?

BOYEGA: It takes risks. It's not just a "Star Wars" film that plays to the tune of good versus evil. Good wins. We can all go home. It takes risks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RIDLEY: I think I can handle myself.

FORD: That's why I'm giving it to you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIDLEY: I never aspire to be famous. That's something I never wanted. For me, if I can do this and have people not recognize me, that would be ideal.

SESAY: You know that's out of the question now?

(CROSSTALK)

RIDLEY: Yeah. Ultimately, I'm incredibly proud and pleased to be part of this thing. If that means people know who I am, that's fine. And if people relate to Rey, that's great. If people relate to me, that's great. It's all like a positive thing.

SESAY: Do you have a handle on how much your life is going to change? How much have you thought about it, explored what lies ahead?

BOYEGA: For me, the way I see it, it's like being on a roller coaster and you are trying to figure out, why did I get on? It's going to drop anyway. Just raise your hands and have fun.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: I can't wait. My son is going to that on Friday.

BARNETT: Oh, cool. He's going to enjoy it.

CHURCH: He will.

The U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to raise rates on Wednesday for the first time in almost 10 years.

BARNETT: With "Star Wars" mania in full effect, Richard Quest presents the "Fed Awakens."

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RICHARD QUEST, CNN HOST, QUEST MEANS BUSINESS: A decade since the last "Star Wars" and, nearly just as long, nine years, since the Fed last tinkered with interest rates. But now it's time for the Fed to awaken.

Because after three episodes of quantitative easing, Janet Yellen must now use her most powerful weapon to restore balance in the economy. She must bring out the light saber of rate hikes. And on Wednesday, we're likely to see the first hike in a long, long time.

The unprecedented era of low interest rates has given the Fed major economic victories, but not so quickly, the dark economic forces out there may yet strike back. So, for instance, the Fed faces an increasingly powerful dollar. Across the globe, it's the dollar that remains mighty. Then, related, of course, the storm troopers of labor and having to suffer weak wage growth. All of which is proving the hardest evil to vanquish, persistently low inflation.

Now as soon as the Fed raises rates, attention will turn to the sequels. How many, how far and how fast? And some warn that rapid hikes will damage this fragile recovery and put vulnerable markets under greater pressure.

Oh, make no bones about it. It may be the first move for nearly a decade, but when "The Fed Awakens," Janet Yellen will show her true powers.

Richard Quest, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[02:55:55] CHURCH: Oh, much clearer now, right?

(LAUGHTER)

BARNETT: That was a nice picture of Yellen there. Come on.

CHURCH: I don't think she'll be happy about that.

And thanks for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Rosemary Church.

BARNETT: I'm Errol Barnett. Another hour of the world's biggest stories with us is next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:00:03] BARNETT: Vegas showdown. Republicans prepare to square off in their last presidential debate of the year as Donald Trump surges to his biggest lead in a new poll.