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CNN NEWSROOM

Ramadi Liberated from ISIS Control; Affluenza Teen Apprehended in Mexico; Bill Clinton to Begin Campaigning for Hillary; Donald Trump Says Clinton Marital Issues 'Fair Game'; Deadly Tornadoes in Texas Over the Weekend; Refugee Family Starting Over in Canada; Japan's Suicide Rate. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired December 29, 2015 - 00:00   ET

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


[00:00:00] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles.

(HEADLINES)

VAUSE: Hello, everybody, great to have you with us. We would like to welcome our viewers in the United States, and around the world; I'm John Vause. The first hour of "Newsroom" L.A. starts now. (HEADLINES) The fall of Ramadi is seen as a blow to the terror group and it comes as the leader of ISIS releases a new message to rally his followers. We get details from Jim Sciutto.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: From the ISIS chief, Abu-Bakr al-Baghdadi, a new audio recording seemingly attempting to boost fighter's morale with "the world united against" them. In the 24 minute tape al-Baghdadi says the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS does not dare send ground troops to fight ISIS. He threatens Israel and praises ISIS fighters engaged in combat.

BRIAN MICHAEL JENKINS, RAND CORPORATION: This message is intended to reassure them that he is still there, he is still the leader, that ISIS is still in business.

SCIUTTO: Baghdadi makes no mention of recent terror attacks claimed by ISIS, including armed assaults in Paris and San Bernardino, and the downing of a Russian passenger jet of the Sinai.

JENKINS: He doesn't really make any references to the current condition of the so-called Islamic State, either in Syria or in Iraq.

SCIUTTO: The message comes amid a rough week for ISIS on the battlefield, as Iraqi ground forces, backed by coalition air strikes, reclaim much of the western Iraqi city of Ramadi from ISIS fighters, who have held it since May.

Iraqi security forces claiming victory on Sunday after taking full control of a key central government compound. U.S. military officials, however, are more cautious.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Inside the Sunni center, there remain some neighborhoods that have not yet been cleared. There is a threat for unexploded ordnance, minefields, booby-trapped houses. So there's a lot of still danger inside of Ramadi now.

SCIUTTO: With the gains in Ramadi, we heard from the Iraqi Prime Minister, Haider al-Abadi today, saying that Mosul will be next; but you speak to U.S. officials, you speak to former U.S. commanders, they say there's a lot of ISIS controlled territory between Iraqi forces and Iraq's second largest city. It's much further from the stronghold of Baghdad. It's also five times the size of Ramadi. No U.S. officials I speak with have a timeline for Iraqi forces taking back Mosul.

Jim Sciutto, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Well, for more Kevin Lacz joins us now. He's a former Navy SEAL and a veteran of the fighting in Iraq. He was also the costar and adviser for the film "American Sniper." He joins us from Pensacola, in Florida. Kevin, thank you for being with us.

I'm just curious, is the backslapping a little premature here? One Iraqi analyst said only 14 of 43 neighborhoods in central Ramadi are actually under Iraqi government control. There are hundreds of booby traps, unexploded devices there. You were there. You were back there in 2006. You know what it's like to go street-to-street. Explain the challenges still ahead for the Iraqi troops.

KEVIN LACZ, Retired NAVY SEAL: Well the fall of Ramadi in May of this year was a symbolic loss for coalition forces and Iraqi troops; but the gaining of the ground in Iraq, today, in Ramadi right now is a symbolic loss for ISIS. Ramadi has been under a constant battle for the last ten plus years. It's a patch work and woven of streets, alleyways and they stuck a flag in Government Center. It doesn't mean they control all of Ramadi right now. Ramadi is a stronghold for the insurgency. For them to lose it, it's a big step. So we have cautious optimism, with the taking of Ramadi, of Government Center, but there's still a lot of work to be done to fully secure Ramadi.

[00:05:09] Back in the day, back in 2006/2007, around the surge time, it was clear, hold, build. They are at the clear section right now. They need to clear that entire city, root out the insurgents and prepare to move on, and press towards Mosul.

VAUSE: There is some positive news here, let's start with that because this was the local Iraqi military, many are Sunni forces, with the help of U.S. advisors and Coalition air power. According to some, this might be the start of a revival of moderate Sunni forces in Iraq. Is that how you see it?

LACZ: It has to be Sunni forces. What worked well in 2006 and 2007 was using the tribal engagement model, using the locals to help root out the insurgents because, as we all know, Ramadi is a Sunni stronghold. If we're using Shia-based Iraqi forces, you're going to get the ethnic tensions that we had back then, in 2006-2007. So by using tribal engagement models, using what has worked in the past, we will have success in Ramadi.

The advisers bring a lot of that experience, having served at that timeframe with me, in the city and pressing on the western front of Iraq. So using a tribal engagement model, using what has worked in the past is going to help us defeat ISIS and help secure and build from Ramadi and push towards Mosul.

VAUSE: Do you agree with some that believe this is the model which should be used to move forward to Mosul, maybe even moving on to Syria? But the other flip side of that is, it's going to be a very slow road ahead if that's the case, isn't it?

LACZ: It's a very slow road. The winning of Tikrit took a couple of months to get the amenities of power and water and supply. You know, sticking a flag in the Government Center, Ramadi doesn't mean the city is won. It's a long, hard fight. It's an uphill fight. But it's a very positive fight. We spent $25 billion propping up the Iraqi military and then promptly left in 2011. So having a couple thousand ground troops as advisors, and having the Iraqis win the fight against ISIS is a symbolic victory and it's a very positive sign.

But it's cautious optimism because, as we know, ISIS wants a caliphate. They want to own that territory and they want to lure in American forces on the ground to fight us in the open. But what we have is boots on the ground. This is what it takes. It takes the Iraqi military to win that fight on the battlefield and show ISIS that they're not deterred; they're not afraid and will press on with the help of advisers and the help of air power. We can help stymie that supply-line that leads to Syria and helps fuel that western front, which ISIS partially controls.

VAUSE: You know, it's very difficult though to pin ISIS down. They are very good at changing their tactics. They're very good at melting away. They're very good at hitting back and hitting back hard. So what do you expect to happen next?

LACZ: I expect the same thing that got the job done for us, which ensured success, which was going house-to-house, door-to-door and rooting them out and showing them that we are advanced with tactics and we're there for the long run, to win the fight.

The Iraqi army has to prove themselves day in and day out. If we don't press ISIS, they're going to continue to proliferate and get bigger and stronger. People have always asked me what happened to al- Qaeda when you were out there. Well, we were constantly hunting them down and that's what suppressed them and put them into hiding. When they're out in the open, they're able to inspire homegrown terrorism, not only on our soil but also in France and other countries. So the fight has to continue day in and day out and it has to be relentless because the enemy is relentless. The Iraqi army has shown, with a victory in the recent days that they are willing to take that fight to the enemy each and every day and secure western Iraq.

VAUSE: Okay, Kevin, we'll leave it there. Thanks for being with us. You have some valuable insight from your time which you spent there.

LACZ: Thank you.

VAUSE: Take care. A recent CNN/ORC poll taken shortly before the Iraqi success in Ramadi shows most Americans are not pleased with the U.S. fight against terrorism. Here are the numbers: 74-percent say they're either not very satisfied or not at all satisfied.

U.S. Republican Presidential Candidate, Donald Trump, back on the campaign trail Monday night. He's been leading the Republican field for about six months now. During a campaign event in New Hampshire, Trump boasted about defying the pundits and confounding his opponents.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Tonight somebody reported that they are absolutely going crazy and they are devastated over what Trump is saying. Now we're getting back to the basics; okay? Look at what's happened with the republicans. Every single person that's gone after me is gone. They're gone. They're gone.

[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]

TRUMP: When I say gone, they've either left the race or they're down in the very, very low portion. They're low.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Mr. Trump has been embroiled lately in a back and forth with Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton; even taking shots at her husband, the former president, Bill Clinton. Here's Dana Bash.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TRUMP, via telephone: She's playing the woman's card and it's, like, give me a break.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: The way Donald Trump sees it, to be a winner, you have to act like one. So he's ending 2015 as if [00:10:11] he's already won the 2016 GOP nomination; attacking Hillary Clinton.

TRUMP: I've had so many women come up to me say, you've got to keep her out. She's just terrible.

BASH: Trump's anti-Hillary rants have been nonstop since before Christmas, when she returned fire.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's not the first time he's demonstrated a penchant for sexism.

BASH: Now Trump is bringing Bill Clinton into it; the latest on Iowa radio this morning.

TRUMP: With all of her past, and her past dealings and, frankly, she's been involved in it with her husband as much as anybody, for her to be discussing that I think is out of bounds. And I've let them know that.

BASH: Trump is doing well with republican women. In the last CNN/ORC poll, a whopping 69-percent of female GOP voters said they have a favorable view of Trump. But it's almost the opposite when all female voters are included, 61-percent view Trump unfavorably. The only republican woman running for president is trying to capitalize on the Trump/Clinton war of words.

CARLY FIORINA, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Look, how about an honest woman? How about a competent woman? How about a qualified woman? But I'm never going to ask for people's support because I'm a woman. I'm going to ask for their support because I'm the most qualified candidate to beat Hillary Clinton.

BASH: As for Trump, his campaign insists he'll win by bringing new voters into the GOP fold, which is why he's lashing out at Virginia republicans, for a new requirement. To participate in its GOP primary, voters must sign a party loyalty pledge. One of Trump's many tweets said, "Straighten out the republican party of Virginia before it's too late. Stupid. RNC."

Meanwhile, in New Hampshire, the Conservative Union leader, which endorsed Chris Christie, unloaded on Trump today for "bathroom humor and verbal bullying," comparing Trump to the bully, Biff, in the movie "Back To The Future". The editorial saying, "we trust New Hampshire republicans will send Biff Trump back to somewhere, anywhere, but on the road to the most important elective office in the United States."

Despite having harsh critics, Donald Trump has admirers, too. In fact, Gallop came out with its most admired men of the year list and Trump is tied with Pope Francis as the second most admired man in America, both behind President Barack Obama.

And the most admired woman? That's Hillary Clinton. In fact, this is the 14th straight year she's topped Gallop's list; the 20th overall. And, more than any other man or woman, Hillary Clinton has been the most admired since it started this in 1948.

Dana Bash, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: CNN Senior Reporter for Media and Politics, Dylan Byers, is with us right now for more on the Trump versus Hillary battle. So if anyone was going to link Bill Clinton's infidelity to Hillary Clinton's run for the White House, it was most likely going to be Donald Trump because, I guess for almost anyone else, it would backfire, but this is Donald Trump and the rules don't apply.

DYLAN BYERS, CNN SENIOR REPORTER FOR MEDIA AND POLITICS: The rules don't apply to Donald Trump and you have to imagine if he brought this out back when he was launching his presidential campaign, we might be looking at this a little differently, but we've gone through six months of seeing Donald Trump say incendiary things that would have tanked any other presidential candidate. So Donald Trump can really say whatever he wants. It's a totally different bar. The rules don't apply to him. Look, he's doing two things right here: he's going after Bill Clinton, because he knows Bill Clinton is going to be the attack dog, he was Hillary Clinton's attack dog in 2008; and he's trying to get under Hillary Clinton's skin and run a general election campaign.

VAUSE: So this is a two-pronged attack? He is directly trying to hurt Bill Clinton, who is about to hit the campaign trail, and also indirectly discredit Hillary Clinton. But, again, I don't want to go back to the regular rules here, because we've seen they don't apply, but when they've done this in the past it's backfired because a lot of people are very sympathetic towards Hillary Clinton, on this issue.

BYERS: A lot - this is absolutely true. It's also true that when he brings up issues like sexism, a majority of American women disapprove of Donald Trump, generally speaking, but that's not true of the republican base. What Donald Trump is doing, even though he appears to be running a general election campaign, he's throwing the red meat out there for that conservative base, which actually includes a lot of women who don't like Hillary Clinton, who don't like the Clintons at all, and who certainly don't like Bill Clinton.

VAUSE: Look the Republicans don't like the Clintons. So criticizing Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton isn't going to do any harm in the nomination. As you look at the poll numbers, he's doing well with women when he attacks Hillary Clinton, but, overall, not so great. I mean, this just comes back to the thing that I think he's trying to win the nomination and not the presidency, because these two things seem to be counter with what's going on.

If Hillary Clinton does, in fact, win the nomination, and she probably will, and Donald Trump probably takes on the Republican nomination, is this the kind of presidential election campaign we're in for, that all of the political scandals, all of the [00:15:49] baggage that the Clintons had during the '90s, all of that is going to be relitigated again?

BYERS: Yes, but a lot of that depends on how Hillary Clinton handles this during the primary season. So if she goes -- if she tackles this issue head on, and she's willing to sort of turn the tables on Trump and present this as unfair territory that he's gone too far, you could get to a general election scenario where that's no longer on the table. If she can't meet that head-on now, then, yeah, we could be going through a general election cycle where we're reliving all those names that were familiar to us during the late '90s.

VAUSE: But you're saying she needs to take him on and end this as an issue?

BYERS: Well she - look, he's running a general election campaign.

VAUSE: Right.

BYERS: She doesn't really have a primary to run, right? I mean, she's the presumptive nominee. So the question is, does she use this as a way to brand all republicans? Does she use this as a way to go after republicans generally? Does she use it as a way to try to elevate the conversation and cast Trump as this sort of, you know, as he was likened to in one recent editorial Biff from "Back To The Future," this sort of bully, foul-mouthed bully. If she can sort of quarantine that issue and make it a divisive, unfair issue, then she can sort of preclude it from taking the spotlight during the general election.

VAUSE: I mean, taking on Trump on anything, especially this kind of trash talk, he is good at it. It's not easy, especially for someone, I guess, like Hillary Clinton, who is a schooled campaigner. Dylan, thank you for being with us. We appreciate it.

BYERS: Thanks for having me.

VAUSE: Still to come here, no indictments for two police officers in the shooting death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice; and now his family is accusing prosecutor of sabotaging the case. Also, authorities track down the so-called "Affluenza" teen, wanted in the U.S. for allegedly violating his probation. Plus, later this hour, how a Indie pop (inaudible) the people and a Japanese teen plan to strike a chord against bullying.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

[00:21:20] VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. We go to Mexico now, where authorities say they have detained a Texas teenager, known as the "Affluenza teen," wanted in the United States for allegedly violating his probation. Ethan Couch and his mother were taken into custody near the resort town of Puerto Vallarta. Two years ago, Couch was sentenced to probation in a drunk driving crash that left four people dead. His attorneys argued that Couch suffered from what they called "Affluenza", because his wealthy parents never taught him right from wrong. Couch missed an appointment with his probation officer earlier this month and shortly after that he disappeared with his mother. Couch and his mom are expected to be turned over to U.S. Marshals.

Let's bring in civil rights attorney and legal affairs commentator, Areva Martin, for more on this. So leaving the country, missing the appointment with the probation officer, clearly a violation of probation. Is Ethan Couch now facing jail time?

AREVA MARTIN, CNN LEGAL AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: Well, that's what lots of people hope and it's not just missing the probation meeting. There's also this video, apparently, --

VAUSE: The beer bong.

MARTIN: -- of a teenager drinking, that they say looks very much like Ethan Couch. We know one of the terms, important terms, of his probation was that he not drink or do drugs. So if that video can be authenticated, and that is Ethan Couch, he faces the possibility of up to 10 years in jail and for the victims families, they say that's not enough time. VAUSE: That's what I was going to ask you. This does not affect his sentence in any way because I know prosecutors at the time wanted at 20 years in jail.

MARTIN: Yes. Yes.

VAUSE: So what has happened over the last couple of days, and the video with the beer bong, doesn't affect the judge's decision?

MARTIN: Well it doesn't affect it right now because we haven't been able to confirm that he is actually the teen in this video. But once there's an investigation, and it's completed, and it's determined that he's drinking and he's violated his probation, he could face up to ten years in jail. So that's what -

VAUSE: But not 20 years is what I'm saying?

MARTIN: Well -

VAUSE: That 10 years' probation stands -

MARTIN: Yes.

VAUSE: If he violates it he goes to jail for ten?

MARTIN: 20 years was the request from the prosecutors, not followed by the judge in this case. But what was, was ten years probation. Violation of that probation could mean facing those ten years in jail.

VAUSE: Okay, what about the mother? What's she have to look at --

MARTIN: Oh, my god! This is a mother -

VAUSE: -- apart from being a horrible parent?

MARTIN: -- who, what we already know about her, coddled her son; made excuses; led to this conduct that he's engaged in; breaking and entering; stealing; drinking; driving; killing four people, injuring many more. Yet helps him, at least from what we've been told, violate his probation, leaves the country. So she also could be facing some serious charges.

VAUSE: Mother of the year. Okay, theirs is another big legal story out there, --

MARTIN: Really sad.

VAUSE: -- and this a grand jury in Ohio has decided not to indict two police officers. This is a sad story of a young 12-year-old boy who was shot to death. Everyone agrees this was a tragedy. Now the details are that an officer in training shot Tamir Rice last year, as he held a pellet gun outside a recreation center. All this happening in Cleveland. A dispatcher sent police to the scene without telling them Rice was a juvenile or that the gun may have been a fake, which is what was called in on that 911 call. The county prosecutor called Rice's death a tragedy, but said it's not clear the officers acted criminally.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIM MCGINTY, PROSECUTOR, CUYAHOGA COUNTY, OHIO: Upon close examination, especially of what is perhaps the most critical piece of evidence, a very recent enhancement of the surveillance video by an expert laboratory often relied upon by the FBI, it is now indisputable that Tamir was drawing his gun from his waist as the police slid toward him, and Officer Lowman exited the car.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Okay, so Areva, the criticism that some are making, in particular the family of Tamir Rice, is the way Mr. McGinty, the prosecutor there, directed the grand jury. Prosecutors usually want a grand jury though, don't they?

MARTIN: Yes, this is really a galling case. When you think about this prosecutor really began the process of preparing this community for no indictment some months ago. He started releasing reports that he went out and sought from experts to support his conclusion -

VAUSE: Is that allowed, or is that usual?

{00:25:35] MARTIN: It's unusual. It's highly unusual for a prosecutor to do that, to find exculpatory evidence for the police officer. His job is to take evidence into the grand jury that would lead to an indictment. He is supposed to present the evidence that would allow for a probable cause determination to be made. He did just the opposite in this case. He really put himself in the position of the defense attorney and he found these experts to issue these reports.

VAUSE: So with that in mind, I want to run through a couple things very quickly. Was it wrong or unusual for McGinty to recommend to the grand jury that no charges be filed?

MARTIN: Turning the grand jury process on its head. The grand jury process is there to allow these jurors to look at all the evidence and to make this very low threshold determination of probable cause.

VAUSE: Right.

MARTIN: Not to find guilt or innocence, but is there enough evidence to proceed to a trial to determine whether a crime, in fact, was committed. Clearly there was enough evidence in this case.

VAUSE: Wrong or unusual for McGinty to allow two officers, the ones involved in this, to take an oath, read out prepared statements and then not go to cross-examination?

MARTIN: Not be cross examined; again, he put himself in the position of the defense attorney and apparently went into the grand jury, although it's a secretive process, from what we're learning, and he provided that information, that evidence.

VAUSE: But is it wrong?

MARTIN: Absolutely wrong. When you think about what the grand jury's job is, and what a prosecutor's job is -

VAUSE: Illegal?

MARTIN: Not necessarily illegal, but let me tell you this: the state of California has a new law, just signed by the Governor in 2015, which will prevent the use of grand juries in cases of police excessive force cases and hopefully eliminate what we're seeing in cases like Tamir Rice, Michael Brown and Eric Garner.

VAUSE: So essentially we're looking at now is an argument that many people are making across the country, that in police officer involved shooting incidents, that the prosecutor should not be involved in the grand jury?

MARTIN: Relationships are too close and we've seen now too many incident where is the prosecutors aren't willing to step up and charge and hold police officers accountable. I think this is the most egregious case that we've seen, in the Tamir Rice case.

VAUSE: Areva, thanks for coming in.

MARTIN: Thanks, John.

VAUSE: There's a lot going on. We appreciate all your thoughts.

MARTIN: Thank you.

VAUSE: Short break here, but when we come back we're tracking some severe weather across the United States, including Texas. After deadly tornadoes, now it's snowing there. Plus, we'll hear from one man who was picked up by a tornado. He was still inside.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:30:00] VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles, just going on 9:30 here on a Monday night. I'm John Vause; the headlines this hour.

(HEADLINES)

Further to the west, blizzard warnings are in effect, and near Dallas, Texas many there are trying to recover from deadly tornadoes. Here's Nick Valencia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOSH WHITE, TORNADO SURVIVOR: I thought I was dead, you know? I was waiting for the tornado to suck me out, but it didn't. Life gave me a second chance.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For Josh White, the chance to walk away from a deadly E4 tornado here, in Garland, Texas, almost didn't come. WHITE: I was running towards my closet, and the doors and everything started caving in and stuff started flying through the windows. Things were just hitting us; I could feel it hitting us, bricks, everything.

VALENCIA: He hid with his wife and 5-year-old son with just a mattress to protect them from winds up to 200 miles per hour.

WHITE: This has made me realize how fragile life is but try to do better.

VALENCIA: 11 people were killed in Texas alone this weekend when tornadoes ripped through the state, tearing apart buildings, leaving skeleton structures and shattered wood behind. The destructive winds are part of a massive storm system wreaking havoc across the nation, with a deadly mix of tornadoes, ice, blizzards, and flooding, stretching from New Mexico to Maine. At least two dozen people have died and more than 100 million more could be affected by severe storms, flooding, and snow from this same system.

White gathers his belongings in just a sweatshirt, while others in the Lone Star state are digging out of frigid blizzard conditions, just part of the bizarre and brutal weather here.

Texas is among the hardest hit states, along with Illinois and Missouri, each reporting multiple deaths. At least four international soldiers, stationed at Fort Leonard Wood, perished in Missouri this weekend when their car was overtaken by rising water.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They did find two individuals in the car. we found two other men that were actually outside of the vehicle, that were in the creek.

VALENCIA: Now as hundreds of Americans are beginning to see the destruction left in the storm's path, millions more are bracing for what's next. Josh White says he'll be there to help anyone who needs it.

WHITE: Everybody never expects this. I mean, once you go through it, it changes your life forever. You want to help people now, you know?

VALENCIA: The recovery efforts here in Garland, Texas continue. Residents at this apartment complex have slowly started to trickle back, to see if they can salvage any of their belongings, but the structural damage is so severe that many of them have yet to be left back inside.

Nick Valencia, CNN, Garland, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Gary Tucker was caught in those deadly tornadoes. He was in his truck. He was lifted you have the ground by the winds. [00:35:38] He was inside with, alongst with his girlfriend. He lived to talk about it and joins us now, live from Garland, Texas. So, Gary, you've had a little time to piece together exactly what

happened during the storm. Can you walk us through some of the worst moments, what you were thinking at the time?

GARY TUCKER, TORNADO SURVIVOR: Yes, so I'm thinking we get lots of warnings around here. What I have to say first is we have to heed those warnings. A thousand false alarms is better than one time of what we went through. We were lucky. We were in a large Toyota truck and it saved us. A lot of people weren't so lucky, but heed the warnings. That's my first thing that I am thinking; but we got in the automobile, in the truck, despite the warnings, and we were headed home. I could see, you know, just a big mass wall of -- we were literally driving through the apartment complex that you just mentioned was swirling around at, like you said, 200 miles per hour. That started banging into the truck. We could just -- I could see it ahead of me, and I could see debris, 2x4's, pieces of guard rail, just as far as my vision could see, swirling around. So I put the truck in "Park" and I started screaming get down. Stay down, Stay down, and that's what we did. We could hear this debris hitting the truck and breaking out the windows, and it started shaking.

Literally, at one point, the truck started lifting up off the ground. I could feel it, and I remember thinking, just as plain as day, that I had died and I had the feeling that I had passed away. If I can give anyone any comfort in saying that, at that moment, I totally blacked out. So I believe when we pass away, the body has a mechanism that shuts off and we don't feel pain. And I literally thought from what was hitting the truck and all the things that were breaking that I had died.

The truck lifted up off the ground. I don't remember anything after that but what we know is the truck was thrown over into the field, you know, 20 or 30 feet and rolled some seven to ten times. It wasn't until we stopped rolling and we were on our -- the truck was on its side, on the driver's side, that someone was standing outside yelling at us, "Are you okay? Are you okay?" and

we were, thankfully, able to climb out the window.

VAUSE: So Gary, sorry; do you actually have any idea how far off the ground the truck was at the highest point? And so many people were killed in this storm. Why do you think -- how do you think you managed to survive alongside your girlfriend, because clearly you were in a dangerous situation?

TUCKER: So I don't know how high, but you look at the truck, it's a solid truck, it took a beating. So a lot of the beating came from the sheer stuff of hitting it. So I suspect it was some height and rolling as far as we were off the street, it had to be fairly high. I have no idea; I believe God has a bigger plan we know nothing about. So in addition to that, being in the large Toyota truck, it had to be a combination of those two things. I don't know why, and that's --

VAUSE: Very quickly - I'm sorry, your voice dropped out. Go ahead.

TUCKER: -- why us, right. Go ahead.

VAUSE: I was just going to ask you, how much damage is around you? How much destruction have been left behind by these storms?

TUCKER: That was really, when we got out, we were, of course, in shock from what we went through, but it was like being in a war zone. There were cars all around the highway next to us. Cars had flown off of the highway and were all around us, frankly. There literally was debris and trees and there was a riding lawn mower, some 10, 15 feet away from the truck. So when we got out, it literally was like being in a war zone. It was pretty amazing.

VAUSE: Well we're glad you survived, obviously, to tell a pretty incredible tale there. Gary, we appreciate you being with us.

TUCKER: Thank you.

VAUSE: Best luck to you in the new year.

TUCKER: All right, you too. Thank you.

VAUSE: Let's go to Pedram Javaheri right now. He has more on this terrible weather. So, Pedram, we have twisters. We've got snowstorms. We've got flooding. It's all happening.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It's an incredible pattern, John. I've never seen a pattern persists for so long, into this time of year. In fact, if you take a look at somewhat transpired in the last seven days, nearly 70 tornadoes that can be plotted; every single one of them across this portion of the eastern and southern U.S. Of course, the numbers just tell the tale because six consecutive days of tornadoes in the month of December. That's only happened two other times, and guess what? That was 1953, el Nino year. 1982 another el Nino year. Of course, you know what's happening right now, in 2015.

The pattern falls in line with what you would expect. We know a 145 mile tract, the longest December track of a tornado. Multiple EF-4's, which account, typically, for 1-percent of all [00:40:00] tornadoes and we had multiple in the past week, becoming the deadliest month on record as well, for the month of December. Again, the pattern is a global pattern, when it comes to weather anomalies and how el Nino displaces the steering currents in the atmosphere and essentially displaces storm tracks and weather patterns. This is somewhat has happened across parts of South America.

I want to give you a floor perspective of this because this is the Piranha River. This stretch (inaudible) the second longest behind the Amazon River. It comes out of Brazil, into parts of Uruguay, Paraguay and, eventually, Argentina. Before perspective, from about 400 miles up, and the after perspective. Again, you see the river just balloons. This has forced nearly 200,000 people to be evacuated across this region and the continued conditions there are for heavy rainfall over the past couple of days, and will be for the next several days.

Similar scenes out of parts of England. Work your way in to York, and this is what it looks like, with evacuations in place. We have military personnel on the scene across that region. The flood warnings ease just a little bit, John, as we head in towards Wednesday. Medium risk returns. So this is something we expect for a lot of places around the world. Last time we had a severe el Nino, which was back in 1997 into 1998, John, it had a global impact, economically, between $30 and $45 billion. This is something, of course, that a lot of people are looking at carefully as we go into 2016 now.

VAUSE: Yes; you pray for the rain, you've got to deal with the mud.

JAVAHERI: Absolutely.

VAUSE: Okay. Thanks, Pedram.

JAVAHERI: Thank you.

VAUSE: Talk soon. Well, still to come here: a long awaited reunion in Canada for a family whose lost came to symbolize the migrant plight in Europe. Plus, three police officers in Puerto Rico shot and killed inside their headquarters by a fellow officer. Those stories and more straight ahead.

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[00:45:00] VAUSE: Welcome back. (HEADLINES)

The family of a Syrian boy who drowned off the coast of Turkey is beginning a new life in Canada. The uncle, aunt and cousins of Alan Kurdi arrived in Vancouver Monday to reunite with family. The pictures of Alan's body on the beach, in September, received worldwide attention and put a face on the migrant crisis. Alan's brother and mother also died when their boats capsized as they tried to cross from Turkey into Greece. Paula Newton reports now on the poignant reunion for the Kurdi family.

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PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Understandably it was emotional scenes there at Vancouver Airport as Tima Kurdi couldn't wait to get her hands around her family that had just come in from Germany. They were coming from Turkey originally, and, obviously, still really struggling to make a new life for themselves outside of Syria. She wanted to bring them to Canada long ago; and the back story there was that there was just too much paperwork. She told her brother, Muhammad, it wasn't possible. She had told her brother, Abdullah that it wasn't possible; and that is why she says, her brother Abdullah took his family on that boat. That's where her nephew, Alan Kurdi, died in September. She says she wants people to remember that picture. She wants it to stand for something, for a time when the world finally said enough is enough. and here is what she had to say at Vancouver Airport.

TIMA KURDI, ALAN KURDI'S AUNT: We almost lost hope but thank you to the Canadian government and to Canadian people who make it happen and who were (inaudible), and to our family, who -- the rest you know.

NEWTON: Now her brother, Abdullah, who is Alan's father, he lost his entire family: his two little boys, his wife. He was invited to apply, also, for asylum in Canada and he chose not so. He says he's still grieving and really wants to try and figure his life out. Right now he's doing a lot of volunteer work for refugees. What the Kurdi family says is that they want people to keep in mind while they've had a happy reunion, for today, what they really want is for some peace to come in the next few months to Syria.

Paula Newton, CNN, (Inaudible).

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Japan has one of the highest rates of suicide in the world. It's something teenage Nanae Munemasa thought about. We featured her back in September as she reveals her struggles with bullying at school. Her story resonated with the Indie pop group, Foster The People. Paul Vercammen explains how the two are now striking a chord against bullying.

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PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: the story of how a teenage girl from Japan wound up in California, recording with Indie pop darlings "Foster The People begins on a darker note.

A disturbing CNN piece about bullying. Nanae Munemasa explains starting in second grade she was slapped, beaten with broom sticks. She later contemplated suicide.

NANAE MUNEMASA, SINGER, JAPAN, via translator: The big problem in Japan is that when you are seen as somebody that's a little bit different, or strange, and deviates from main stream society, that's when bullying happens.

MARK FOSTER, MUSICIAN, FOSTER THE PEOPLE: When I read the story, it took me right back to the place, when I was her age, in school, and right when I really discovered music. Music for me, at that moment, was kind of my outlet. So really, like, I guess, it gave me hope.

VERCAMMEN: Foster The People, known for social consciousness, created a fund drive to fly Munemasa to the U.S. to collaborate on a stirring song.

MUNEMASA: This song is very autobiographical. It's about me [00:55:00] losing hope in my life, at some point; but I decided to keep going and I decided to live. Even when thinking of suicidal thoughts, it's about a miracle that happens, if you keep living.

VERCAMMEN: The young singer is also receiving support from Molly Thompson and Lauren Paul, the wife of Breaking Bad's Aaron Paul. The friends founded Kind Campaign, and now speak at schools about girl on girl bullying.

LAUREN PAUL, COFOUNDER, KIND CAMPAIGN: To be able to really stand in front of girls and to let them know that that's never the solution to anything; and how I just wish so badly I would have reached out to a counselor, talked to me parents more about what I was going through.

MOLLY THOMPSON, COFOUNDER, KIND CAMPAIGN: But we love, you know, being here today to be a part of this story, and this amazing experience, and creating awareness all over the world, and specifically in Japan.

VERCAMMEN: And as a talent, mark, this is no junior varsity performer.

FOSTER: So we really kind of walked into the situation being, like, okay, what are we going to do now? And, you know, after the first day I was, like, wow, you know, this girl is really something special.

Paul Vercammen, CNN, Burbank, California.

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VAUSE: Great stuff. Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause, and I'll be back with another hour of news, from all round the world, after a short break. Stay with us; you're watching CNN.