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LEGAL VIEW WITH ASHLEIGH BANFIELD

Fourteen Killed as Tornadoes Rip Through the South; War Against ISIS: Toughest Fight for Ramadi Lies Ahead. Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired December 25, 2015 - 12:00   ET

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


[12:00:12] ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Alison Kosik, in for Ashleigh Banfield. Merry Christmas and welcome to LEGAL VIEW.

We begin with the threat of severe flooding, possibly even more tornadoes across much of the South this Christmas Day, where so many people are still picking up the pieces after a wave of deadly storms. Fourteen people were killed in that violent wave of spring-like storms that roared across parts of Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi.

This new surveillance video that you are seeing here shows one of the deadliest twisters in Mississippi. This storm incredibly staying on the ground for 150 miles, 150 miles, destroying most -- everything in its path. Those who survived have harrowing stories to tell, as you can imagine, and CNN's Nick Valencia has that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This Christmas, scenes of devastation in parts of the South and Midwest, heavy rain causing widespread flooding across North Georgia and tornadoes tearing across several states.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Started here, real loud, roared, started getting louder and louder, and I told her, we need to get in the house now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It sounded literally like a freight train. Sounding of the horn. It was coming.

VALENCIA: In Ashland, Mississippi, all that's left of Theresa McKay's (ph) home is the porch. She and her husband were inside when they saw the tornado coming. They ran and hid in this truck.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nothing left of my house. Not one thing. Nothing but all that debris.

VALENCIA: This building may have saved Tony Goodwin's life when a tornado hit Perry County, Tennessee.

TONY GOODWIN, STORM SURVIVOR: I had my grandson in my arm, under my arm, and everybody got in except for my sister-in-law and I'm yelling at her, come on. You know? And she got in. As soon as she did, I shut the door.

VALENCIA: A tornado knocked his house off its foundation, but he and six others survived by taking cover in the storm shelter.

CAPT. BART ROSSON, PERRY COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: You'll never know how important it is to seek shelter immediately however you can because it's a lifesaver.

VALENCIA: Two of those killed in Tennessee were husband and wife, Ann and Antonio Isaguerre (ph). According to the Storm Prediction Center, at least 14 tornadoes hit Mississippi on Wednesday, but a single twister did most of the damage.

DR. PATRICK WASHINGTON, ASHLAND RESIDENT: This is a miracle. There's no way that three individuals were in this house at this time and they were able to walk away.

VALENCIA: Communities coming together, thankful to be alive.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I went and bought toys for kids because I also have a little girl, and for them not to have Christmas and toys and stuff, there's -- it's not a holiday.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOSIK: Nick Valencia joining us live now from Atlanta with more.

Nick, you know, you see all those people impacted by these storms. What are the states doing to help the people? Many of the people look like they have lost everything.

VALENCIA: Well, the shelters have opened and the Red Cross is doing their fair share as they always do during tragedy. Three states, Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi hit very hard from this unseasonable weather which is the type of damage that you expect to see in the springtime, and, of course, we have to remember the victims and really what has happened to this loss of life.

A 7-year-old in Mississippi had his life taken. He believe is the youngest victim in the string of storms. The Storm Prediction Center, though, Alison, giving us is saying that the threat of violent weather has dropped dramatically, but Texas seems like they might be hit as well with some more severe weathers and, of course, flash flooding and just the plain old flooding is still the concern across the south here -- Alison.

KOSIK: It is difficult to have the storms any time of the year, but especially during the holidays.

VALENCIA: Especially Christmas, yes.

KOSIK: And to see -- a 7-year-old boy killed from that.

All right. Nick Valencia, thanks so much.

VALENCIA: You bet. KOSIK: The rain, it hasn't stopped, but the clean up is already

underway, especially in hard hit Mississippi.

Joining us on the phone now from Pearl, Mississippi, is Brett Carr. He's a public information officer at the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.

Brett, thanks so much for joining us today. Merry Christmas.

But I know that you are having a tough time there, because Mississippi was hit the hardest, seven people dead, at least 40 injured. Can you tell me what's happening right now to help the victims of the storm and their families, do you know if anybody is missing or if everyone has been accounted for?

BRETT CARR, PUBLIC INFO. OFC. MISS. EMERGENCY MGMT. AGENCY: Thank you for having us on. Right now, at this time we have one person missing in Denton County. The search and rescue is continuing today, and will continue until that person is located.

The shelters are on standby at this point. The good news is that everyone that was misplaced or displaced rather has found some place to stay with family and friends, but the shelters are still ready if they are needed.

[12:05:00] We are continuing to keep in constant contact with the governor's office and everyone who has a role in this response and recovery to make sure that all of the needed of everyone in Mississippi are being taken care of.

KOSIK: What can you tell us about utilities? I know that many of the people have lost power across the state. How quickly are things going to be restored there?

CARR: So, what's going right now, we are out there doing the damage assessments and compiling those numbers to try to quantify the amount of damage. That's going to give us an idea of what types of assistance might be available to the people of Mississippi. We will get those numbers together today or tomorrow.

And we will sit down with the governor's office and go over what we could request from the government, the federal government, and what could be available through the state, nonprofit groups, and through the faith-based organization. And then we will start to pushing that information out so that people can start getting back on their feet, and picking up their pieces and rebuilding their lives.

KOSIK: OK, picking up the pieces, and we do wish you the best. Brett Carr, thanks so much for coming on the program today.

CARR: Thank you and merry Christmas.

KOSIK: You too.

All this spring-like weather is shattering heat records, and more could be on the way. Chad Myers -- he's tracking this for us in the CNN Weather Center in Atlanta.

Chad, you know, I'm wearing flip-flops today. I'm in New York City. What is causing this system first of all that caused the destruction in the South, and can you tell us the forecast for the rest of the holiday period?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, really, the number one blame would be El Nino. I mean, that's truly the reason why it's 80 degrees in Virginia Beach. I mean, we have gone from ridiculously hot to the sublime. If you get 80 in the winter, almost January in Virginia Beach, or 77 in Charleston, you have gone way past the age of destruction.

What we have here is we have a humidity factor coming off of the Gulf of Mexico, we have the jet stream right over the areas that have already been hard hit, and more tornadoes possible for the same areas that have already seen them. And then you will see the record heat across the East. It seems like, wow, you know, I know people -- I know that the kids wanted the snow, but the adults are saying, hey, this is great, we are loving it, but the people across the South where the jet stream aren't loving it all, because it's the flooding, it's the tornado, it's the chance of another wind event, or maybe some small hail, but really it's wind and tornadoes.

There could be two to five tornados in this little zone here, Mississippi, Arkansas, Mississippi/Alabama and then Tennessee.

The problem is that it is pretty unpredictable except along the line, and the line right through here where they are trying to pick up the pieces, thunder, lightning, and more storms developing. So, we are seeing another day like we are have seen in the last couple of days, and everywhere you see red, there are river streams or roads that are underwater or overflowing.

So, the flooding potential here for the rest of the day is still very high. From Atlanta southward, the red zone, that's six inches of rain in two days or more, and there is more rain where that came from, there's no place to put it, and so when it rains on the ground, it is going to be running off. That's the severe threat for today, flooding after you is been in the dark and not familiar with it because you are visiting someone and you do not go around the barricades. Be careful tonight.

The rains are heavy at times. You need to slow down. Even here in Atlanta, we saw the pounding on the roads, and people were spinning out, and hydroplaning. That's how hard the rain is coming down.

It's like spring. It is literally a spring storm that is happening almost at the end of the year -- Alison.

KOSIK: Yes, you would think it is happy things for the spring, but it is extreme temperatures, these extreme conditions, south, be on the look out for those possible tornadoes. Chad Myers, thanks.

MYERS: Sure.

KOSIK: All right.

All right. If you're looking for ways to help people impacted by these storms, go the CNN.com/impact, and you will find ways to volunteer or donate.

Up next, Iraqi forces squeezing out Iraqi forces like a boa constrict. That's how one coalition commander describes the mission to retake the city of Ramadi from terrorist forces.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:12:39] KOSIK: The massive battle to push ISIS fighters out of the Iraqi city of Ramadi is entering a final, but most difficult stage. That's according to the local officials who say that the Iraqi army has recaptured about 70 percent of the city that used to be totally under ISIS control.

If and when ISIS is completely out of Ramadi, it will signal one of the most important achievements by the Iraqi forces who are mostly handling military operations on the ground. American bombers leading the coalition have been pounding ISIS locations around Ramadi for the last several days.

Let's get more on their progress now from Barbara Starr from the Pentagon. Also here with us, Bob Baer, he's a former CIA operative with extensive experience in the Mideast. Thanks for joining us both of you.

Barbara, I want to start with you, because these mayors and these city officials in Iraq, they've got some pretty predictions that they've thinking that Ramadi will be liberated they are saying in the coming days.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: They are saying that, Alison, and there is good reason to believe they are on the path to do that, Iraqi forces consistently now moving towards the center of Ramadi. But are they going to be able to hold it? Will ISIS completely disappear? Pretty doubtful.

If the Iraqis can bring in the Sunni holding force that the U.S. has trained, they will be able to the hold on to parts of the city, but I think there is a sense that the ISIS fighters who are left there may not all just disappear, you know, into the desert. They are going to be staging guerrilla attacks, they're going to stage terrorist attacks, they're going to try to continue to make it very difficult.

So, this will still be a very significant security challenge. But make no mistake, it is a huge strategic victory for the Iraqi forces to finally prove that they can get back a significant piece of territory, and it is a political victory for the U.S. administration for the White House that has been trying desperately to prove its strategy of training the Iraqis really can work.

KOSIK: And, Barbara, you are talking about the strategy. Bob, let me ask you this, because officials are saying that, you know, first, it's Ramadi, then it's Mosul, and then the ultimate goal of pushing ISIS out of the country, Mosul is the terrorist's biggest stronghold at this point, how important is it that the Iraqi forces achieve a decisive victory in Ramadi?

[12:15:05] BOB BAER, CNN INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY ANALYST: I agree with Barbara. I mean, this is the first time they have really fought, the Shia forces are not involved, according to what we're hearing. So, this is big. It's a symbolic victory that they can go on the offensive, but we have to remember that Ramadi is an abandoned town, and the locals have fled to Jordan or anywhere they can get. They're going to have to, and I think that we will see the pictures that is pretty much destroying the city. They could move on the Mosul.

But my problem with all of this, unless there is a political settlement in Iraq, basically a re-writing of the Constitution, you're going to have Mosul, Ramadi, Fallujah, all of these cities who are going to be occupied by essentially Shia forces. I know the Iraqi government has tried to put together Sunni tribal memories, but that is very, very symbolic, they are not doing the body of the fighting.

So, I don't see -- I don't see Iraq coming together the with the fighting of Mosul, but still huge, huge problems in that country, and nobody is addressing them so far.

KOSIK: All right. But at this point, the Iraqi military is getting very close.

We will stay on it. Barbara Starr, Bob Baer, thanks so much for your time.

BAER: Thank you.

KOSIK: Up next, the fine line between prescription pain killers and heroin addiction. Today, in his series on the stunning rise of heroin use, Dr. Sanjay Gupta shares one struggle on a long, painful road to recovery.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:20:00] KOSIK: This week, we've been looking at the personal and political fallout from heroin use in the U.S. And today, our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta looks at how a trip to the dentist led to a heroin addiction for a young man with Olympic dreams.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When he was 8 years old, Joe Putignano became obsessed with gymnastics. He was so good that his dreams of going to the Olympics seemed within reach.

He couldn't have imagined that a dental procedure when he was 19 would derail the dreams and start a whole new obsession with prescription pain pills. JOE PUTIGNANO, RECOVERING HEROIN USER: It just worked. You

know, it clicked. It is like the stars were aligned, and I have never felt anything like it.

GUPTA: This time it was Percocet, but the high Joe felt from all sorts of opiates eventually led him to another opiate delivery system, heroin -- one of the most dangerously addictive substances on the planet, nearly impossible to escape.

As hard as he tried, Joe was amongst 78 percent of the heroin addicts who relapse over and over again, a relapse he would encounter when he worked at "The New York Times".

(on camera): Many times you were clean?

PUTIGNANO: Yes, I was 27 years old, and "The New York Times" had sent me to rehab, I was so grateful, still am, and it was there that a therapist suggested that I go back to something that I was passionate about which was gymnastics.

In my eyes, I was a failure, because my only goal was to go back to the Olympics, and I didn't. So, to go back to the sport was to walk through humiliation. I went back to it in rehab, as I was doing handstands and the push-ups just to kind of gain a sense of what that would feel like, and this fire inside of me, I should say a spark kind of ignited.

GUPTA (voice-over): No surprise, it felt pretty good. After rehab, Joe caught a break, and started performing on Broadway.

But the thing about heroin, is that the possibility of a relapse was always waiting there for him in the wings.

PUTIGNANO: I managed to stay clean for a year and a half. Amazing my life changed, I was performing on Broadway, I couldn't believe it. As a heroin addict and here I am performing on Broadway.

GUPTA: But it was another visit to the dentist, another prescription, and this time for Vicodin, and then --

PUTIGNANO: I took it as prescribed and within four hours, I was shooting heroin.

GUPTA (on camera): Four hours?

PUTIGNANO: Yes. And on Broadway, yes.

GUPTA: You were clean for a year and a half performing on Broadway, you get an FDA-approved medication from a doctor, and within four hours --

PUTIGNANO: Yes, it woke up something ancient in me.

GUPTA: You took that Vicodin to a year and a half clean, and describe again, what did you feel?

PUTIGNANO: Like I came home. Like, oh, I have missed you.

GUPTA (voice-over): Stories about recovery are almost always messy. People move forward a little, and then may slip back even more, but for Joe, each time, it did become easier.

PUTIGNANO: These are all of my emergency room overdoses and everything like that. I need to see a reminder, you know, of who I was.

GUPTA: The same obsessions that fuelled the addiction also fueled his dazzling performances like this one as the crystal man in Cirque du Soleil's totem, tethered at the waist, spinning, shoulders pinned back, the twisting, the turning, stunning to watch, but also putting so much pressure to be upper body.

For two years, his injuries mounted. Joe would eventually need surgery, painful surgery. He knew one thing, though, pain pills could not be allowed, because the risk of relapse was so great.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know your goal. The goal is to avoid anything that you had a problem with in the past.

PUTIGNANO: Of course.

GUPTA (on camera): You decided to let us follow you along through the shoulder operation. Why did you allow that?

PUTIGNANO: Well, at first, I didn't want to, because it felt like a private thing and then I remembered what I had gone through. And I was like, this could actually help people.

GUPTA (voice-over): Joe came through those operations with flying colors. Instead of opioids, he was given a nerve block, and anti-inflammatories, even acupuncture, it worked for him. He got back the school, was exercising again, and then he needed another operation, and this time, his ankle.

PUTIGNANO: I was getting my ankle operated on, it was not nearly as severe as my shoulders, I had done everything that we had in place for my shoulders, I told them what medications I can have and what I can't have, and the day of surgery, there's a -- like a five-page document that you sign.

[12:25:03] And on every single one where it says allergy, it said no opiates, in big letters. OK. Awesome. We have talked about it.

And waking up out of surgery, and it feels like someone sawed my ankle in half, because it is kind of what happened. And then the nurse said, are you in pain, and I said, yes, I was not even awake.

And then all of the sudden I felt something, that thing, that ancient feeling like, oh, my God, and I said, "What did you give me?" And she said fentanyl. And I was like, oh, my God. So, I freaked out because it felt good, you know? It was like I was eight years clean, and I was like, I was drugged. GUPTA: Whether or not the nurse simply forgot or there is still

a fundamental misunderstanding about the severity of addiction, Joe was in trouble again. But this time, the brutal years that he had endured through recovery paid off. This time, there were no more pills, no more heroin, no more relapse.

PUTIGNANO: So, this is the old apartment that I used to live in.

GUPTA (on camera): Literally across the hall.

PUTIGNANO: Yes, 17 years ago when I was a heroin addict. It was actually during 9/11 and my apartment was full of syringes. And it's interesting now living the way that I do, because it's like you make that one decision that changes your life. When I walked down the hall I take a right and not a left.

GUPTA: And that was the old Joe and this is the new Joe?

PUTIGNANO: Yes.

GUPTA (voice-over): And his first obsession, his first love really, is still very much a part of the life.

(on camera): This a sanctuary for you now? A gym?

PUTIGNANO: Yes, this is pretty much where I have done my recovery not just from surgery, but where I come to when I have a lot of emotion in sobriety.

GUPTA (voice-over): The gym is now a refuge, a sort of place of safety, and far, far away from the addiction to heroin.

PUTIGNANO: Addiction is the only cell where the key is on the inside, and I don't live in that cell anymore.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOSIK: Such an incredible story, great series from Sanjay Gupta this week.

Up next, Christmas prayers in Bethlehem amid all of the unrest. And from the Vatican, the pope's Christmas message of peace.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)