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CNN NEWSROOM

Rare December Tornado Kills 7; Iraqis Continue Fight for Ramadi; Poll: Trump Lead Sizable; Arrests at Black Lives Matters Protests; Muslim Family Kept Out of U.S. Wants Answers; Hope Wanes on Finding Survivors in Shenzhen; Russia Denies Reports of Airstrikes Killing Civilians; 2 Arrested in Australian Terror Plot; 15 Arrested in India for Lynching; Russian Authorities Issue International Arrest Warrant for Oligarch, Putin Critic. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired December 24, 2015 - 02:00   ET

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


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[02:00:35] ERROL BARNETT, CNN ANCHOR: A very big welcome to our viewers in the U.S. and those of you watching all around the world. I'm Errol Barnett. Our two hours together start now. This is CNN NEWSROOM.

People in the U.S. State of Mississippi are beginning to recover after a rare December tornado touched down there on Wednesday. Now, storm chasers caught these dramatic scenes. You see that tornado actually moving toward them. It went on to destroy homes, overturn cars, and four people are now dead.

A witness there describes the damage.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED WITNESS: When the tornado was over, I couldn't even find my house. It was just that bad. By the time I got out of my car, I had a tree that was in my windshield.

Trees were just everywhere. Trees were in my house. You couldn't even see the houses around you because trees were everywhere.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: And the storms tearing through parts of the U.S. continued into Tennessee. Two people died and a state of emergency was declared there as powerful winds whipped through Memphis. Another person died in Arkansas.

We want to connect now with Mike Scantlin. He's from Holly Springs, Mississippi. He's a storm chaser with TVNweather.com and can speak to us now.

Mike, you were just north of the tornado but watched it pass directly in front of you. Just describe to us what that moment was like. MIKE SCANTLIN, STORM CHASER, TVNWEATHER.COM: Well, you know, traffic

was pretty rough on the highways because of the holiday traffic. Everyone's out doing their last-minute Christmas shopping and stuff like that. So we had a hard time getting in position in time, and we actually weren't in the right place. We could barely see it from the north. It was wrapped in rain. And it was actually so wide at that point we weren't sure what we were seeing was a tornado. We thought it was just rain. Then we came into the debris path on the highway and realized what we had seen was actually about a mile-wide tornado.

BARNETT: And in addition to being a mile wide, apparently this was also a long track tornado. Just describe to us the damage that you witnessed.

SCANTLIN: Well, there are a lot of trees in this part of the country, a lot of hills and trees. But what stuck out to me the most was all these trees are usually uprooted or pushed over in this climate with the soggy ground and soggy trees. But these trees, they weren't pushed over, they weren't uprooted. They were sheared off, about 20 feet off the ground. They were all just snapped clean. And not much debris left behind. A lot of this debris got lofted way up in the air or thrown long distances. You know, weak tornadoes don't do that. That was a pretty strong tornado.

BARNETT: It also underscored just how dangerous this storm was and how dangerous it is for you as a storm chaser to do what you do. Why do you chase tornadoes like this, considering just how deadly they are?

SCANTLIN: Well, this particular tornado I'm not too fond of tornadoes that are like this. I don't like storms that move 65 miles per hour. This was an incredibly dangerous storm chase just because of the terrain of the southeast part of the United States, a lot of hills, a lot of trees. And storms were moving way too fast to manage. But we came out here, and we gave it a shot anyways.

And our thoughts and prayers go out to the people that were affected by these storms.

BARNETT: As do ours.

That's Mike Scantlin on the line with us from Holly Springs in Mississippi.

Mike, certainly stay safe as you continue to do what you do but certainly bring us those dramatic images.

Our Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri joins us know.

You know it's a big storm when it scares even the storm chasers.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely.

BARNETT: He talked about it being very wide, but it was a, long powerful storm system. [02:04:37] JAVAHERI: A long, powerful storm system. And you know,

Errol, this is the time of year you don't think about tornadoes. In the United States we see 1100 of these per year. In the month of December only 24 of them. The other 10,050 plus are occurring in the other 11 months. A very quiet time of year. The severity of these storms of course potentially getting people off guard when you know a lot of people focused on the 408d travel, holiday shopping.

BARNETT: That's exactly what he was saying. People doing their holiday shopping and this thing cuts through.

JAVAHERI: Absolutely. The threat is still there unfortunately for the next couple of hours. Typically, 3:00 to 5:00 p.m., that's when you see storms flourish but now we're into the early morning hours. And enough instability to support those storms.

We'll show you what we're talking about when it comes to the intensity of the storms and also what has transpired over the past 24 or so hours. Here's the national average across the United States. Easily number one on a global scale when it comes to tornado frequency. Canada comes in number two, about 100 tornadoes. Bangladesh 50 to 60 tornadoes per year. The month of guess as quiet as expected with a minimal number of tornadoes across this portion of the world. But again, the climatological pattern really doesn't care what is going on. If the atmospheric pattern is supporting it, it's essentially December but spring in December is what it looks like and feels like outside. Temperatures into the upper 60s. Atlanta, Georgia. Even the nation's capital into New York City a remarkable 26 degrees above their normal high temps in the early morning hours of late December. This sort of pattern with the moisture in place, the heat in place and upstairs strong jet stream really conducive to sparking severe weather. More than 200 reports of active weather that caused significant damage. 22 tornado reports coming in confirmed across this recent United States. Compare that to what you would see in the entire month would be 24. Serious issue with this particular storm was that long tram, long lift tornado, the long nature of it. From Clarksdale, Mississippi, it is estimated the storm traveled some 135 miles. The National Weather Service looking to distinguish if this was on the ground for that amount or a storm system spawned multiple tornadoes down this track. But if this verifies, only .01 percent of all tornadoes have a track that is over 100 miles on the ground. Incredible.

Another way to put that is in the next 10 years you would not have one tornado that would reach that status and you would have over 10,000 tornadoes before you get one that would be this immense when it comes to how far it tracks. Again, you're getting this in the quiet season but right now about 500,000 people from portions of the Western state of Alabama on into central and eastern portions of the state of Tennessee underneath a tornado watch, which means conditions are conducive for storms to spawn tornadoes. The reason for that is the winds at the surface they're coming in from the south. When you go up about 5,000 feet in the atmosphere they're coming in from a different direction, what we call wind shear. You often see if when you're flying around the United States. You get wind shear that causes your plane to rattle around a little bit. Rough night of traveling and if people have early morning flights they're certainly going to feel this as well but the threat is still there and half a million people are still underneath a threat for these storms this morning.

BARNETT: Such an unusual storm, a powerful one.

For those who want to continue to check weather updates in the hours ahead.

Pedram, we'll keep checking with you.

JAVAHERI: Thanks, Errol.

BARNETT: Thanks very much.

And we do have this just in to CNN. The American and British embassies in Beijing have issued a warning to their citizens. They are warning of possible threats against Westerners in the city's popular Sanlitun shopping district on or around Christmas. That is from the American and British embassies in Beijing.

Now, Iraqi forces say they are now less than two kilometers from the ISIS-held government compound in the city of Ramadi. The fight for the strategic capital of Anbar Province is now in its third day.

Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, has more.

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BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Iraqi troops roll across a floating bridge, opening a path toward central Ramadi.

(GUNFIRE)

STARR: Heavy gunfire continues to ring out. Iraqi armored vehicles on the move, fighting street to street. The entire area is mined and booby-trapped by ISIS. Entire houses wired to blow up. Tough work for Iraqi troops, even after weeks of U.S. training to prepare for urban warfare.

COL. STEVE WARREN, COMMANDER, ANTI-ISIS COALITION FORCES: This enemy has had time to set up their defense inside of this city. And it's going to be very difficult and it's going to be a slow process for the Iraqis to slowly, methodically and carefully clear their way through the city.

STARR: Sectarian sensitivities are being handled delicately. The fighters purposely do not include any Iranian-backed Shia militias in this part of the Sunni heartland according to the U.S.

The U.S. already helping Iraq plan for a Sunni-led force to hold the city if it is taken back by Iraqis. Hundreds of Sunni tribal fighters have been trained by the U.S. The U.S. military anxious to show success of its anti-ISIS strategy.

WARREN: We've begun a training program a year ago to train Iraqi forces to be able to take their country back. And in the last several weeks we've begun to see that happen. That training has started to take hold.

STARR: Some say for is Ramadi already served its purpose this spring when they chased Iraqi forces from the city.

MAJ. GEN. JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: They've now determined, look, they're going to trade space for time, we're going to go ahead and give up this space called Ramadi, we're going to continue to live to fight another day.

STARR: But on this already devastated battlefield of a city desperation is everywhere. Some ISIS fighters remain dug in and willing to use Ramadi's citizens as they see fit.

[02:10:11]UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Human shields are going to be the favorite tactic that ISIS employs. The significant civilian casualty rate is also going to be a significant problem for Iraqi forces. So if operations go wrong, they're going to have possibly some real problems going into those areas without causing the deaths of civilians.

STARR (on camera): And even if the Iraqis can get Ramadi back and hold on to it, the next challenge still remains, Mosul. Iraq's second-largest city, still in the firm grip of ISIS.

Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BARNETT: In Saudi Arabia at least 125 people have died and 123 others injured in a hospital fire in the southern city of Jazan. The fire broke out where a nursery, critical care unit and maternity reside. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

A brand new national poll shows U.S. Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump, heading into 2016 with a sizable lead in the race.

CNN's Dana Bash reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & CEO, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: We're going to win so much, in so many different ways, that you're going to get tired of winning.

(CHEERING)

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For a candidate who loves winning, this will be a very merry Christmas.

TRUMP: I'm only kidding. We never get tired of winning, right?

BASH: Donald Trump is so far ahead in CNN/ORC's new national poll, he has more support than the next three GOP candidates combined, Ted Cruz, Ben Carson, and Marco Rubio. His leads are even bigger on the question of voters' confidence in him to deal with key issues, the economy, fighting ISIS, and illegal immigration.

(CHANTING)

BASH: But the best news for Trump may be that Republicans are settling into the idea of him as a formidable candidate to take the White House. 46 percent say they think Republicans' chances are better with Trump at the top of the ticket, up eight points since August.

TRUMP: I know where she went. It's disgusting. I don't want to talk about it.

(CHEERING)

TRUMP: No, it's too disgusting.

BASH: That as Trump's war of words with the Democrats' front-runner is getting hotter. Hillary Clinton told the "Des Moines Register" that Trump has a "penchant for sexism."

HILLARY CLINTON, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: I really deplore the tone of his campaign and the inflammatory rhetoric that he is using to divide people. His bigotry, his bluster, his bullying have become his campaign.

BASH: Trump responded Trump style, on Twitter, saying, "Be careful, Hillary, as you play the war on women or women being degraded card."

And on his use of a Yiddish word for a certain part of the male anatomy to describe Clinton's 2008 loss to Barack Obama.

TRUMP: She got schlonged. She lost.

BASH: Trump pushed back on the idea that he meant anything vulgar, insisting "schlonged" is a common political term, tweeting, "When I said that Hillary Clinton got schlonged by Obama it meant got beaten badly. The media knows this. Often-used word in politics."

Dana Bash, CNN, Washington.

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BARNETT: And on the Democratic side of this race, Hillary Clinton is maintaining her strong lead in the latest CNN/ORC poll, boosted by support after her last debate on Saturday. Overall, the survey shows Clinton leading Bernie Sanders by 18 points. Post-debate poll numbers show a shift of support back to Clinton.

Still to come this hour on CNN NEWSROOM, a British Muslim family denied entrance into the U.S. They say no one's telling them exactly why.

And protesters with the Black Lives Matter movement were arrested at the largest shopping mall in the U.S. We'll tell you where else they took their message.

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[02:18:08] BARNETT: In Thailand, two migrant workers from Myanmar have been sentenced to death for the murder of two British tourists. The victims' bodies were found on the beach at a vacation resort in September of last year. The trial was plagued by controversy and allegations the police mishandled the investigation. The suspects say they were forced to confess. The victims' families say justice has been done.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL MILLER, BROTHER OF DAVID MILLER: We believe the correct verdict has been reached. David always stood up for justice, and justice is what has been delivered today. We respect this court and its decision completely. As the trial has progressed, we came to realize that the police investigation and the forensic work performed was not the so-called shambles it was made out to be. We believe that after a difficult start, the Royal Thai Police conducted a methodical and thorough investigation.

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BARNETT: A rights group working with the defendants say they plan to appeal their sentences.

Now we want to get to Minnesota, where demonstrators with the Black Lives Matter movement were arrest on Wednesday. They were protesting at the largest U.S. shopping mall. This was part of a national day of action to condemn alleged police brutality against African-Americans.

Susan Elizabeth Littlefield, from our affiliate, WCCO, has more.

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SUSAN ELIZABETH LITTLEFIELD, REPORTER, WCCO (voice-over): Amongst the bright decorations, a sign lite up the OMA Rotunda in anticipation of a protest. Businesses closed. Businesses like Build-A-Bear temporarily turning away eager customers.

And then it started in the center of the mall. And the arrests started too. Protesters filed out minutes later towards the light rail. There was another arrest there. Some took a train to the airport. Others stayed outside of the now locked and heavily guarded doors.

[02:20:07] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But you know, I never feel safe when there's a mass amount of them in military gear. It just doesn't feel like they're protecting or serving us at all.

LITTLEFIELD: The uniformed officers, some with masks and sticks, asked everyone in the area to leave, everyone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I work in the mall and I don't know what I'm going to do now because --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just came to shop and didn't know this was going on. It's crazy.

(CHANTING)

LITTLEFIELD: Protesters say it was peaceful and purposeful. After about an hour, the crowd quietly left the mall.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's what we need to do. We've got to keep shutting down these economic pressure points so they can hear what we're saying. They only hear us with money.

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BARNETT: That was Susan Elizabeth Littlefield with our affiliate, WCCO, reporting.

And here's a reminder of how Black Lives Matter began. It's a U.S. chapter-based organization dedicated to ending violence against African-Americans. It became an international movement popularized by the social media #BlackLivesMatter in 2012 following the shooting death of African-American teenager, Trayvon Martin, and the 2013 acquittal of the man who shot him. And the group also staged protests following the deaths of African-Americans Michael Brown and Eric Garner in 2014, both killed by police officers.

The movement's protests on Wednesday at the Mall of America in Minnesota was meant to draw attention to the killing of Jamar Clark. He was shot by north Minneapolis police officers last month, and authorities have refused to release video of that incident.

Next hour, I'll discuss the impact of the Black Lives Matter movement with a law enforcement analyst and defense attorney. So do stay tuned for that.

Now, a Muslim family in Britain told they couldn't board a flight for the U.S. Well, they were supposed to be heading off for a joyous holiday taking their children to America. U.S. officials say their religion did not play a part, but the family still wants answers.

CNN's Diana Magnay has more.

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DIANA MAGNAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The owners of these little dresses had hoped to be roaming Disneyland this Christmas with their cousins who live in the U.S. But the Mahmoud family, Mohammed and Zahir, their two nieces and seven small and teenage children were turned away at the gate as they were about to board the plane for Los Angeles.

Zahir's wife didn't want her children filmed. She didn't want them to feel like they did at the airport, singled out.

ZAHIR MOHAMMED, BANNED FROM U.S. FLIGHT: My 10-year-old daughter said to my husband, is it because we're Muslim? And my husband said why would you say that? She goes, well, because we were the only Muslim people in that line.

MAGNAY: The family's papers, the electronic authorization they need to visit the U.S., were all in order, approved six weeks before by the Department of homeland security. They were due to fly with Norwegian. But the airline said they couldn't help.

MOHAMMED: We don't know why we've been taken off the flight.

MAGNAY: Just the message from U.S. Immigration that they could go no further.

UNIDENTIFIED NORWEGIAN AIRLINES EMPLOYEE: If they felt that, they should have received this six weeks ago so we would not have taken them out of school, booked their holidays, and got their hopes up.

MAGNAY: The family wants answers and they feel the fact they're Muslim has something to do with it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I definitely think Donald Trump's theory did have a part to play in it because otherwise why wasn't anyone else flagged up on that flight? Just the one Muslim family.

TRUMP: Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown.

MAGNAY: Earlier this month, the presidential candidate called for a ban on all Muslims entering the United States. A U.S. official tells CNN that not all of Mohammed's family members were prevented from traveling. Besides, that the U.S. won't comment on this particular case for privacy reasons. They say religion, faith, or religious beliefs play no role in matters of immigration. But there are a myriad of other factors which might mean an individual's turned down, health issues, criminal records, security to name just a few.

(on camera): The family says that this Facebook page may have sparked a red flag. It's written by a man who says he lives in Birmingham and calls himself a supervisor at Taliban and leader at al Qaeda. But the e-mail address connected to this account appears on an electoral register against the Mahmoods' residential address in London.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It may be someone has had in, it's got the same address as us but a different name and a different e-mail address.

MAGNAY (voice-over): The family spent $15,000 on this trip, and Norwegian say they're not entitled to a refund.

Sa Dav Mahmood who doesn't want to show her face has been ill all year. She was going to stay home. But she wanted the best for her children.

SA DAV MAHMOOD, BANNED FROM U.S. FLIGHT: It was either for me to go private and have private health care or for my children to have two weeks of pure bliss and I decided that's what I wanted to do with the money, is to send my children away so they could have a very nice holiday and come back and feel fresh and start a new year fresh. MAGNAY: She's keeping the dresses till next time. She still wants

her children to see Disneyland. She's sure one day that they will.

Diana Magnay, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[02:25:12] BARNETT: It's been four days since a massive landslide in China, and the hopes of finding dozens of people still in the rubble is waning. Coming up, a look at the latest rescue efforts from Shenzhen.

And a forceful response from Moscow about Amnesty International's report on its air strikes in Syria. More on that after this.

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BARNETT: Welcome back to our viewers here in the states and those of you watching all around the world. I'm Errol Barnett. We're half an hour in. So let's update you on our top stories.

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[02:29:56] BARNETT: I want to turn our attention to China now, where hope of finding at least 70 people missing in a massive landslide is fading fast. The rescue effort has grown since Sunday's collapse. 5,000 people are now searching the industrial park there in Shenzhen. At least four people are confirmed dead so far. And more than a dozen remain in the hospital.

Our Matt Rivers is there.

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MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are now more than four days since this landslide happened, and the odds of finding survivors inside the rubble grows less and less. Frankly, there's just been one miracle so far. That happened yesterday morning with a 19-year-old man being pulled out of the rubble. State media reporting he actually survived inside an air pocket that was created when the building he was in collapsed around him and miraculously a bag of snacks according to state media landed right next to him. He survived off that little bit of food for the next several days until he was pulled out of the rubble after several hours of work to free him by rescue workers. You know, but for that one joyous moment there are so many other people still trapped, their family members wondering if they are alive, and there is a grim resignation amongst family members that the longer time goes by the less of a chance they'll see their family members alive once again.

And moving forward now, the questions that remain center around the investigation and potential compensation for victims here. In terms of the investigation, the latest according to state media reports and several different outlets is that a senior management official in charge of the company who ran this site where the construction debris was piled up has been detained by local police. We're not sure in what way, whether there will be charges forthcoming or whether he's simply just a cooperating witness. But that is the latest with the investigation.

And then there's the question of compensation for the victims here. You can start with the factory owners inside this industrial park. Many of them have their businesses. They have been completely destroyed by this landslide. We know that these factory owners have met and expressed concerns with one another over who is going to be responsible for these financial damages. Will these factories owners have to bear the burden of the financial cost of this landslide moving forward? That's a question they are very concerned about right now.

And then it goes to their workers. There are a lot of migrant workers that come to Shenzhen, work in these factories here, and who is going to financially compensate them now that their jobs could very well be lost? If they don't have a factory to work in their jobs could go away. And these are not wealthy people. These are poor people who travel from all across the country to work here. Who takes care of them financially moving forward now that their jobs have been lost?

Finally, there are the families involved of the victims of this landslide. How will they be made whole financially? So a lot of unanswered questions here in southern China, both in terms of the investigation and how the victims of all this will be compensated.

Matt Rivers, CNN, Shenzhen, China.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BARNETT: Moscow is strongly denying an Amnesty International report that says Russian air strikes have killed at least 200 civilians in Syria and could amount to war crimes. The report said the air strikes have caused massive destruction of homes, a market, to mosques and medical facilities.

Russia's defense ministry spokesman called those reports lies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IGOR, KONASHENKOV, RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTER (through translation): We immediately rebuke such groundless accusations and have released elaborate photo and video evidence to the international community. Moreover, all these accusations have a common feature. They all lack detailed evidence and have no cited sources from anonymous witnesses.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: Russia has insisted it hits only terrorist targets in Syria.

Now, police in Australia say two men in their 20s are facing terrorism charges for plotting attacks on government targets, including a navy base.

CNN's Joel Labi reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JOEL LABI, CNN PRODUCER: More arrests and detectives are now providing more details about the Sydney terror cell they're slowly picking apart. There are two new suspects and another potential plot disrupted. 12 people have now been charged over a host of alleged attacks since last fall.

But this anti-terror sting isn't over yet. Police now confirming to CNN these men actually know each other. Many prayed at the same mosque in western Sydney. And authorities are still monitoring at least eight others. This newly arrested pair is accused of plotting to attack the garden island naval base, a landmark which sits on the doorstep of Sydney harbor. It's not clear, though, how they plan to target the site. But it was one on a long list of disturbing, crudely laid out plans since last September. Operation Appleby has uncovered an apparent plot to behead an innocent bystander in Sydney's center, meters away from the deadly Lindt cafe siege. Another target, federal police headquarters, and now the naval base.

It is worth noting the site is a prime vantage point for Sydney's world-class new year's eve fireworks, but police are stressing they caught wind of these alleged plots last year and that there isn't any imminent threat at the moment but revelers can expect to see even more officers deployed as a precaution to make sure the celebrations aren't the next terror headline.

Joel Labi, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[02:35:34] BARNETT: In India, police have charged 15 people in connection with the lynching of a Muslim man who had allegedly eaten beef. It happened in September in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

Our Sumnima Udas joins us live from New Delhi with details.

And, Sumnima, it is the worst kind of religious intolerance. It's not the only time something like this took place. And it seems as if there was some sense of mob mentality. What happened exactly?

SUMNIMA UDAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What happened was this was three months ago. A group of men approach a local priest in a village not far from Delhi, about three to four hours away from Delhi. They asked him to audience no on I loudspeaker a dead cow had been found in that village. That's what the priest ended up doing. Suddenly an entire mob arrived and they went toward one of the few Muslims' home -- Muslim homes in that village and they dragged out the father, dragged out the son, they started beating the father and son with bricks and sticks. Eventually, the father ended up dying because of his injuries. The son was critically injured. And of course beef -- I should mention cows are considered holy by Hindus and it is illegal to slaughter cows in certain states in India, particularly this state of Uttar Pradesh where this incident happened. And soon after that, about a week or two weeks after, another Muslim man was killed in another state. He was set on fire. He died because of his injuries, allegedly because he was transporting cows. Another man was killed in a separate state again for transporting -- allegedly transporting cows. So about four Muslim men were killed in a span of six weeks, Errol, on rumors that they were either eating, consuming or transporting cows -- Errol?

BARNETT: That's very troubling. We'll continue to watch this closely as the case unfolds.

Sumnima Udas live for us today. Thank you.

Now, more than one million migrants and refugees made the dangerous journey this year across the Mediterranean and into Europe. Coming up, some of our reporters reflect on the ongoing crisis.

Plus, Russia has issued an international arrest warrant for this man, a frequent critic of Vladimir Putin. We'll tell you what he's accused of, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:41:00] BARNETT: I want to bring you this news we have just in to us here at CNN. Israeli police say a Palestinian man stabbed two security guards near the entrance of an industrial park. This is in the West Bank. A spokesman says the attacker was shot and killed. One of the security guards is in critical condition, the other in moderate condition. We will, of course, bring you more information as we get it in to us here at CNN.

Now, Russian authorities have issued an international arrest warrant for Mikhail Khodorkovsky. He's a former oligarch and a high-profile critic of Vladimir Putin. He's accused of organizing the murder of a local politician back in 1998 and trying to kill four other people. Khodorkovsky denies those charges and says they're politically motivated.

Claire Sebastian has this story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLAIRE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): One of the most vocal critics of the Russian government once again wanted by Moscow.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): It doesn't matter where the accused of particularly serious crimes is hiding in Russia or beyond its borders, even in Antarctica, it's our duty to take every legal action to bring him to justice.

SEBASTIAN: The case begins in this remote Russian oil town, Neft- Ugansk, one of the headquarters of Khodorkovsky's oil giant, Yukos. The exiled former oligarch now accused of ordering the 1998 murder of the town's mayor over a tax dispute. The investigation was reopened this summer despite five people having already been convicted of the crime, including others associated with Yukos. In a press conference earlier this month when the charges were first announced Khodorkovsky said he was expecting this. The Kremlin, he said, was fighting an order by an international arbitration court in The Hague to pay $50 billion in damages to Yukos shareholders. And he accused the Russian government of cracking down on his pro-

democracy organization, open Russia, through which he has been calling for regime change.

MIKHAIL KHODORKOVSKY, RUSSIAN OLIGARCH (through translation): The activities of Open Russia, the organization I founded, are a source of irritation. There have already been police raids, and employees have been arrested.

SEBASTIAN: And there were more raids this week. Police searching open Russia's Moscow offices on Tuesday, the day before they announced the arrest warrant.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As the price of oil plunges, Vladimir Putin is left with less and less leverage with which to go after political opponents, both domestically and externally. So to many people this would have been anticipated.

SEBASTIAN: Once Russia's richest man, Khodorkovsky spent 10 years in a hard labor camps for fraud, embezzlement and tax evasion before being pardoned two years ago. Now based in the U.K., his lawyer says he will do everything possible to defend himself against these charges.

Claire Sebastian, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BARNETT: Now it's becoming a bit more difficult to get through U.S. airport security. The U.S. Transportation Safety Administration says it now reserves the right to order passengers to pass through a body scanner even if they object. Up until now, the TSA allowed people to opt for a full pat-down instead. The move comes at a time of heightened concerns about terrorism.

The father of 3-year-old Syrian boy, Ilan Kurdi, has a message for the world this Christmas. Ilan's body was found washed up on a beach in Turkey earlier this year. Photos of him lying lifeless stunned the world. Ilan's mother and brother drowned along with him in the Mediterranean while trying to make the journey to a better life. The boy's father, Abdullah Kurdi, survived.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABDULLAH KURDI: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

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[02:45:14] BARNETT: He's calling on countries to open their doors to Syrian families. "Kurdi's Message" will air in full on Christmas day on the U.K.'s channel 4.

Now, the refugee crisis has been one of the biggest stories of 2015, and some of our correspondents have seen the struggle firsthand. They sat down to talk about the unprecedented number of migrants and refugees leaving their homes in search of a better life. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Did you ever think you'd see these masses of people marching into Europe like that? I don't think I would have imagined.

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: When they get to Greece and the boats keep on coming and coming.

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(SHOUTING)

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DAMON: There's this logic out there of why don't they stay in Lebanon or Turkey, they are safe.

CLARISSA WARD, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's the question, would you? Would you?

(CROSSTALK)

DAMON: No, because you need a life. You need to be able to build a life. You need to be able to build a future for yourself. You're not going to have a future sitting in a refugee camp or in a country where you can't get a job or can't pursue your education or pursue your life.

(CROSSTALK)

DAMON: You know what? Sadly the reality is they are not going to go home. The war in Syria isn't going to end any time soon. Even if it were to end tomorrow, the country is in ruins.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There's consequences for decades to come. The dentists, the architects, the boring people who do those important jobs are not going to be there and they are not going to want to go home.

WARD: This isn't necessarily the poorest of the poor making this journey. They can't afford it.

WATSON: A lot of these folks from middle-class families.

(CROSSTALK)

WATSON: They're coming from the safe parts of Syria.

DAMON: Syria's poorest of the poor sadly are the ones either still in Syria because they can't afford to leave or they are the ones who are stuck in the refugee camps. It's not a cheap journey.

PATON WALSH: It's so universal. The shear volume of people doing it for totally understandable reasons. WATSON: There's no way the way that refugee trail unfolded it's good

for any of the refugees or any of the European states. It kind of weakens European institutions.

(CROSSTALK)

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: But it also became a debate.

DAMON: That idea of Europe or even America, it's meant to be a democracy. It's meant to uphold all these ideals and values. And to be treated like trash, that's how they felt. They felt like they were being treated like trash.

(CROSSTALK)

WATSON: It's dependent on the country and the border as well. It's not entirely fair because there were people who welcomed migrants.

ELBAGIR: And people who made difficult political decisions.

WATSON: Exactly. But it created more of a pull factor. Was that better?

ELBAGIR: We had that conversation in the U.K. where the conservatives said if you stop saving them, they will stop coming. Then you have to debate what that does to your humanity. Can you really watch thousands upon thousands of people washing up on shores?

DAMON: Why does it have to get that bad for people to react? Why does it have to that I can take that image for people on the beach --

(CROSSTALK)

DAMON: -- for people to begin to react?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BARNETT: Our correspondents having a discussion on the refugee crisis.

Now, the bodies of six American Air Force personnel are back in the United States. Their flag-draped coffins arrived in Delaware Wednesday. They were killed by a suicide attacker while on patrol near Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan. A U.S. official says the bomber inflicted extra damage by packing his motorcycle with explosives instead of just wearing a suicide vest.

CNN NEWSROOM continues after this short break. Stay with us.

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(WEATHER REPORT)

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[02:52:42] BARNETT: Just in time for Christmas, a digital gift from the Beatles.

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(SINGING)

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BARNETT: The talking's over. Let the streaming begin. That's right. The Fab Four are streaming their songs here, there, and everywhere. The band's website, beatles.com, started the streaming at one minute past midnight today. That's less than three hours ago. You can get the songs from nine different streaming services.

And a popular movie is back for the holidays, the story of a working- class family trying to get through Christmas in one piece. "A Christmas Story" is a holiday classic for people all around the world. But in the U.S., fans can visit the home where it all took place. And this Christmas eve, one lucky bidder will get to spend the night.

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UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: That's it. Stop right there. That's wonderful. Hey, what do you think?

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Can't you see I'm busy?

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: But what is that?

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: It's a major award.

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[02:54:40] BARNETT: All for a good cause.

A new optical illusion is stirring up chatter on social media. You may have seen this already. It's in the style of the famous where's "Waldo Optical Illusion" books. But instead of finding a guy in a red striped hat, I'll ask you right now, can you find the panda hidden among all these snowmen? Well, I'll give you a few more seconds here. All right. Still didn't get it? In case you're struggling, we will show you. It is right there, seven rows up and four in from the right. How about one more from the same artist? Can you find the hidden cat among the owls? Give you a couple more seconds. In the bottom right corner. If not, pay attention to the beaks. The cat is three rows up and two in from the left. He has a nose, not a beak.

Got to end the show with something light, right?

I'm Errol Barnett. Remember to keep in touch with me on social media anytime. One more hour to go, though, with me. Live reports from the U.S. and

even Bethlehem next hour. Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:59:48] BARNETT: Dramatic video of a tornado over a busy highway. Tracking the deadly storm crossing the southeastern U.S.

Plus, two migrants sentenced to death in the killing of two British tourists in Thailand.

Also ahead --

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(CHANTING)

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BARNETT: Protesters demand police release video in the death of a young black man in Minnesota.