joe john, cnn washington. thank you for watching. i'm deborah feyerick. wolf with brianna keilar is wolf with brianna keilar is going to start right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com hi, there, i'm brianna keilar, and i'm in for wolf blitzer. wherever you are watching from around the world, thank you so much for joining us. we begin to today with iraq claiming a major victory in the fight against isis. they are saying they retook the city of ramadi which is 60 miles from baghdad. >> yes, ra ra mmadi has been fl >> after days of fighting they have claimed to recapture a e key compound in the city, and

raised the iraqi flag in victory. you may are recall that ramadi fell to eisis in may, and that s seen as a major fight to retain the terror group. i want to get to nima elbager. would it be isis retreating or are they defeated the group? >> well, they are retreating and a number of eisis groups are heading back towards mosul and they have been clashing with them to the right. and they acknowledge pockets of fighting, but they feel and the key word is they, they feel that they have taken enough of the city, and the structure of the city to call it liberated. the u.s.-led coalition, the pentagon in the statement was very careful to congratulate iraq on continuing successes against isis, and not quite

ready, it seems to the call it fully liberated, but if they are calling it earlier than they should, it is absolutely no surprise. you mentioned the humiliation in may when ramadi fell, and the iraqi army fled ahead of the advancing isis forces, and it was not a humiliation to the iraqi force, but it was a entire rethink and redress of the u.s. strategy of why it is not working. what we are seeing in ramadi is the fruits of a complete restrategization, bringing in the sunni mobilization troops, and much like what we saw in 2006 and 2007, and the sunni a wakening then to push back the isis precursor al qaeda in iraq. and there is a stake here that not the least of which is ramadi could be the blueprint for the fight against isis in fallujah

and other cities. >> we know that u.s. led a role in this battle, and how did they back up the forces? >> well, in addition to the intensifying strikes hitting at the isis presence on the ground, they were also there in a advise and assist capacity, and we understand from the head of the iraqi counter terrorism council who himself was u.s.-trained, that they pushed back on isis, an trained directly by the u.s. the u.s. is not shy, by the way, to claim their part in this. in that statement from the pentagon, they mentioned all of the ways in which they have been supporting the iraqi forces. this is if indeed, and when indeed it is a fully success, it is a success for the first time that the iraqi army will have taken a key, and a major city back from isis without the help of those iranian-backed popular tribal mobilization forces, and that is important for the u.s.

to claim, and they want to show that this is their victory as much as it is iraq, and a victory of their strategy as much as it is the iraqi forces, briana. >> thank you so much, nima elbagir. >> i want to bring in steve warren who is the head of the u.s.-led forces there. and colonel, can you give us a sense if the isis fighters are are gone there or are there still pockets of resistance? >> well, the iraqi forces have made great progress in the last week or so, and they have secured the city sen te ter, which is like a city hall complex, and they have secured and that south to the railroad tracks, they form the southern border of the city. in the last week or two, they had cleared some of the major neighborhoods outside of the city center, and the suburbs and they have done a terrific job of

clearing those areas, and inside of the is the city center, they have cleared the neighborhoods that have not been cleared and squad-sized elements, and seven or eight-men teams of enemy fig fighters still moving around, and additionally a threat for unexploded ordinannanceordnance and booby trapped houses, and so there is still a number of security issues. >> are you going to be confident that the forces can hold ramadi? >> based on where the battlefield sits, it does not appear that isil has the strength to knock the iraqi security forces oout of their positions. >> okay. so pretty confident coming from you there. and so, looking forward perhaps to another push, what happens next year? could we see a push to retake mosul? >> well, mosul is certainly on the list of things to do as we

free the rest of iraq from isil, but before that, there is a lot of work to be done in anbar. we have to move up to secure more of the euphrates river val e lee on the other side of the country, and the tigress still e need needs help up around bay ji. and that is going to be taking some time, and we have to finish training the remainder of the iraqi army, and are reset some of the forces fighting hard over the last several months. mosul will come, but it is going to be a while. >> and tell us about the role, and you have talked about the training and the advising of the iraqi force, and we know they are u.s.-led air strikes. tell us about the role that the u.s.-led coalition is playing right now? >> well, we have played a pretty great role. here are from the air, and delivering devastating air pow, and we ve dropped over 2,000 p

weapons in the last couple of months, and we have dropped about 390 weapons in the last week alone. this is everything from taking the enemy fighters off of the battlefield to can destroying the precision weapons of the enemy. and it has opened up travel lane lanes, and that is is the kinetic piece. and the other pat of it is training and assisting. the training takes place close the baghdad, at several sites, and we have trained about 5,000 sunni tribal fighters who are participate ing participating in the fight in ramadi, and the final is the advising and assisting. months ago when we opened up a new location, there was a little tension about that, but it is really paying off. our advisers who are in this forward advisory base there have

helped the iraqi forces integrate their ground operations with our air component. >> all right. colonel steve warren, thank you for the update, and we a certainly appreciate that. here in the u.s., there is a new cnn/orc poll that is interesting saying that the american public is largely dissatisfied with the war on terror, and only 18% believes that the u.s. has the upper hand, and 40% believe that the terrorists are winning, and this is what is significant about it, it is the highest number since 9/11. as for president obama, 64% disapprove of how he is handling the fight against isis, and only 51% think that the administration can protect against terrorist attacks? how does that stack up? well sh well, it is eight points lower than the confidence level under president george w. bush in 2006. this is a poll taken before the current push to take ramadi from is isis. still ahead, 43 weather-related

deaths in the u.s. in the past week. there are more severe storms on the way, a nd we will take yu live to texas on the latest of the cleanup there, and later on donald trump taking some swings at both hillary and bill clinton. we will talk over the cost, the benefits of his strategy. stay with us.

flooding in the midwest and tornadoes in texas and blizzard conditions in the southwest, and weather is taking a devastating toll on many parts of the k country, and there have been 43-weather-related deaths in the u.s. across the last week, and eight people killed by tornadoes in texas. residents are trying to recover from the tornado, and also

dealing with the near-freezing temperatures this today. flooding is blamed for 13 deaths in missouri and illinois, and the forecast is calling for more heavy rain and flooding today. missouri's governor has declared a state of emergency. and then you is -- then you have parts of texas that authorities say could get hit with more than eight inches more of snow, and as well as new mexico, and the cleanup, and the recovery effort is under way from those deadly to tornadoes. this is is from collins county, texas, and you can see here, homes are obliterated and wiped off of the foundations by the tornadoes, and the other eight fatalities were in a place called garland where we will find cnn reporter nick valencia,

who is a guest dealing with a lot of loss, and also, realizing how lucky she is. >> and so many people counting the lucky stars here, if it is something that can equate to what they are feeling here, and it is incredible to hear the stories, courageous stories of survival, brianbriana, and unbelievable how they were a able to survive this terrible storm. we are joined by two of the survivors. angie king, you rode out the storm in the car, a nd you were locked out of the home? >> yes, my daughter had the key and going to pick up my granddaughter, and came home the to start dinner, and i realized that i was locked out of the house as soon as the storm came, and so we jumped in the car and going to pull out, but then the storm hit. >> reporter: and what was it like? so many said they had little warning, and did you see it coming? >>, no i did not see it coming, but i could hear it, so i thought that i had a little bit

more time than i did, but no, it is really quick and over. >> and please, face back around here for me, because we have been look g a ing at a this, an is just -- there is no -- i am a loss of words looking at this. when you see this damage, a you think about how eight people in your neighborhood n this town here, they lost their lives. >> yes. >> reporter: what are you thinking about when you look at that and realize people are less fortunate than you are. >> it is sad, and we are fortunate, a nd thank god that e arer here, and right now, we are here trying to get my daughter's puppy locked in the bathroom. and that is why we are here walking around trying to get the puppy that is locked in the bathroom. >> are you on the way in there and will they let you in? >> no, they are not letting us in, and we have talked to several police officers who said to wait, because it is not structural, and the structurally sound, and so we have to wait. >> what are you guys doing as a family? where are you staying? your home is gone? >> yes, we are staying in a e hotel, and i have a good employer who is going to help me

out with trying to find a place, and my son-in-law works for home depot, and they are helping us out. we are fortunate that we have a lot of people who are helping us. >> and go find that dog, that puppy. thank you for taking your time with cnn. and you heard from angie king because the structure is so are not allowed to go all of the way in, and we are have seen the folks going inside and some police aofficers have led some residents to go inside to collect and salvage what is left, and heartbreaking story from the residents who did not expect the tornado to come, and there were warnings out there, and as we have been been reporting all day, the sound of the evef-4 were so strong that muffled the head's up for so many people. we have spoken to so many people here in the apartment complex who said they had little if any

warn warning. >> it is heartbreaking, but it is great to hear the employers stepping up to help people there in the community, and it is fantastic. nick valencia, there in garland, thank you so much. the thing is the threat of the severe weather is not over for the central part of the country. and we are joined with details from the weather center with you, karen. >> well, the warm sector of the system, this very powerful system that is so deadly, and it has affected tens of millions of people all across the united states, well now, we are watching it begin to the lift off more towards the northeast. and still, here is the warm sek to, and here is the potential for storms still existing primarily in florida right now, but that is going to diminish as we go into the afternoon. on the back side of the system, blizzard conditions, and the icing. the icing has been very unforgiving, and now we will watch it spread across the great lakes, and into the northeast and new england.

there is a tornado watch that goes until 6:00 p.m. for a good portion of the florida panhandle. there have been tornado warnings, and discontinued, but we will start to see those firing up later on in the afternoon as the temperatures there are still in the 70s, but we have serious flooding around st. louis, and interstate 70, and one of those areas that is seeing the heaviest rain fall, already, 6 6, 7, 8 inches of rainfall. and where is the system headed? into the lower great lakes, and into the northeast, and altoona and pennsylvania and cleveland, you are looking at significant icing. maybe half an inch to 3/4 of an inch, and already in chicago, icing is a problem there at the major airports. problems with the delays expected for atlanta, dallas, st. louis, also into denver, and temperatures behind the system, teens and 20s. ahead of it, briana, we still

have the 70s for this time of the year. >> certainly is for the holiday s. than you, karen mcginnis. >> and for more on how to help the victims there across texas, we have information at cnn.com/impact. and now donald trump is not just taking on the top democrat, but her husband as well. donald trump says that bill clinton is fair game. we will have the panel when we come back. the only way to get better is to challenge yourself,

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in the race for the white house, it is donald trump versus the clintons and over to the weekend, trump slammed hillary clinton for quote playing the woman's card, and he kept up the criticism today tweeting if hillary thinks that she can unleash the husband with a terrible record of women's abuse while playing the women's card on me, she is wrong. and then sunday on fox news he defended going after bill clinton. >> i think that he is fair game, because his presidency was really considered to be very troubled to put it mildly, because of all of the things that she is talking to me about. i mean, she is mentioningis exism, and i put out the exact words, and the follow tweet, i turned her exact words against her from that standpoint. >> and now we have cnn political xhen

commentators hillary rosen and tara set myer and senior director ron brownstein joining as well. now, this could be a risk for donald trump, but how does, he respond to this? is this, do you think, potentially a win for donald trump when he seems to really get away with a lot of things? >> well, first we have to recognize that donald trump is not running against hillary clinton. he is running against the other republicans for the gop nomination, and they love the clinton bashing. so that is the goal here, and that is what he is doing. he is trying to signal that he can do something in the general election that there is a no holds barred. hillary does not need to respond. i don't think that she will or should, because when the time comes, you know, if trump wants to take on bill clinton's administration, and the record for the economy, the record for women, and hillary clinton's policies on women, you know, more power to him taking on the greatest politician in the

world, but right now, for trump, this is all about, you know, you know, red meat to republican primary voters, and hillary needs to stay above it, and ignore it. >> and what you feel about that, hillary clinton cannot maybe push back on this, and maybe it is an issue that she should not touch, and whether there is a risk or just reward for donald trump, tara? >> well, you have to think about this, donald trump doesn't care. he has nothing to lose. he can say whatever he wants, and he has done that already. he has demonstrated that he will say whatever he wants, and political correctness be damned, he does not care, and he has nothing to lose by doing after hillary clinton this way. whereas h hillary clinton has been preparing her whole life for this moment there, and she is so close, a nd she lost it i 2008, and now, this is the last chance, and so for trump to do this, he can throw as many hate-makers as he wants, because it won't matter, because the

tabloid campaign style is working, and people think it is entertaining, and thus you will see the popularity in the pols,s but if he does it in the general e election, and becomes the nominee, it is not going to work, because people loved bill clinton, and regardless of how you feel about him, and regardless of calling him a sexist in the sexual misdeeds whether they are are true or not, it does not matter, and people don't care. he is popular leaving office, and popular now, and peel don't use it as a disqualification, because there are so many plenty things on the record to go after her and not this. it is tabloid campaign iing, pa rt of donald trump's schtick. >> to this point, ron, you saw rand paul before hillary clinton declared to go after bill clinton, a nd tnd that seemed t subside very quickly, and the republicans seemed to think, you know what, this is not, going to be getting into this may not p a winning avenue for us to go down, but donald trump is saying that bill clinton is fair game.

what do you make of that assessment? >> well, i this this they the -- i the think that the first thing that tara made is that we are talking about this and not this, and not talking about whether donald trump's policy on taxes is plausible or security is plausible, but donald trump's vective of personal attack has a poll for the media, and he is able to dominate the debate through anned a hom -- through ad hominem attacks as he went after trey gowdy as well over the weekend. in his approval rating among men, i am sorry, the comparable to hillary clinton, s and only one-third of the women of the last poll said they

viewed him as over hillary clinton. it is more about narrowing that gap as it is as hillary and tara mentioned more about motivating the republican base. >> i want to play new sound that jeb bush is out on the campaign trail in florida, and certainly struggling, and the latest cnn/orc poll has him as 33%, but moments ago, he had a moment on the ground that our producer flagged for us, because this is a side of jeb bush, and she has been following him all of the time, but this is a side of jeb bush that she has not seen, and maybe a more confident and comfortable jeb bush. >> the selfie is now the 11th amendment of the bill of rights. it is inspired by the framers and founders apparently. it is a requirement that you take one, and i do it with great joy in my heart.

[ applause ] so i don't know, look, it wasn't that long ago that people wanted signatures on things and now, forget that. i just want my damn selfie, and i'm not leaving until i get it. so we spent a lot of quality time doing that, and hoping that the person has a long enough arm or i will take over. just for the record, young people do it better than older people, and we will go through a training class here. it is cooler to codo it diagonally rather than straight up. remember that. and it is better to do it higher than e lower, because you will look skinnier.lower, because yo look skinnier. am i right? >> and higher is better than lower, and i agree with jeb bush there, and you see this picture of him, and then he is going on the offense in some ways, too, and what do you think of this point, tara of jeb bush's chances of maybe reviving himself especially as the campaign and the super pac is

throwing all of the money at the race now. >> jeb bush has zero chance of coming back. zero. okay. the fact that he is now cracking jokes about selfies, and he has spent all of the money, and he is still going down in the polls. it came out that chris christie has surpassed or pulled even with jeb bush in three national polls, and polling better than him in new hampshire. that is a key early state. bush is not polling well in any of the early states at all. he is in the lower tier of all of the places. she is not going to be coming back, and people have made up their minds when it comes to him. and are donald trump has completely railroaded any chance that jeb bush ever had, and even as the attempts there to seem like loose and trying to be cool is awkward. people are just not resonating with the gop voter base. he is the establishment, and old news, and that is not what the gop voters want. and so i feel bad for jeb, but set over for him, it is. >> i have to wrap it up, but does anybody disag grree with t

on that? >> well, one thing about the selfie, he does create distance of himself and the voters and he acts like he is too smart and intellectual and mature. so, you know, that is dismissing people who want a selfie with him as he is campaigning, and the manner, and that says it all. >> and maybe he is saying that he was nerdy about the selfie, and what do you want, ron? >> well, it is hard for him, and he is in the same position as the other center candidates the one and done for john kasich, and jeb bush, and maybe marco rubio, and all of them are in a cage match to see if who if anyone can consolidate the s center right, who is resistant to ted cruz and donald trump. and it is possible that one of them emerges from new hampshire to the wing to the go to june, but it is possible they never consolidate and you have trump

and cruz in a finalist that would horrify many of the republican strategists in washington. >> thank you for being with us, and we appreciate it. and for the latest in politics and all of the presidential contends head over to cnnpolitics.com. >> and the image of a 2-year-old toddler's body being carried off of the turkish shore shocked the the world. this brought attention to the crisis, and now his family is hoping for a fresh start after an agonizing journey. we will have their story after we return. and you're coming with me... you realize i have gold status? mucinex sinus-max liquid gels. dissolves fast to unleash max strength medicine. let's end this. ♪ eye of the tiger ime. tv anncr: good afternoon everyone. tv anncr: it's the perfect day for a game of football. tv anncr: this team is having a fantastic season.

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let's go back now no the top tori. ir .

top story, and the iraqi military is saying that it has retaken ramadi 70 miles from the city of baghdad and recapturing a key compound there in the center of the city. and you may recall that ramadi fell to isis earlier in the year in what is a major setback and embarrassment as well to the maintain the terror group. i want to talk it over with military analyst and retired general james spider marks and also bob baer. and so, this is ramadi is a major route moving supplies and how important in terms of strategic value towards, i guess a victory or the pushing isis back farther, bob? >> well, i think that it is important. i mean, ra ramadi is a base that isis could launch attacks on baghdad, and last year, there was a concern that they might

move on baghdad and that is stopped, and it is important road going the to jordan and if you continue up through mosul, it is a key target. i think that what we are seeing is the islamic state is starting to fail, you know, at least losing ground which is very important for this war. >> general, i want to know what you think about this, and also, it seems in some ways listening to the pentagon that they are being careful in the how they acknowledge this in terms of the success. we know that there are certain pockets off are resistance there in the city, and i spoke with a spokesman the coalition, and he seemed confident that this is going to hold, and the iraqi military will hold this, and what do you think? >> yes, brianna, i heard the interview with colonel steve warren, and he did a very good job, and topical on what is taking place, and the key thing right now is the heavy lifting begins. retaking ramadi is the first step, and what has to happen now is governance, and the water has

to be turned back on, and confidence that the iraqi government can provide security, and then from that, everything else is a derivative. it is very, very important that the residents return to ramadi, and they feel that they can with the degree of security get about their the lives. this is the toughest step that has to take place, and next. and i agree with, bob, the next focus has to be on mosul, and that is an entirely different picture however. >> and why is that so much tougher, and what are the challenges there that are unique, general? >> well, they have been in mosul now over two years, and ramadi fell six months ago, and mosul now has its own identity that isis has been able to the create in terms of trying to provide for the citizens of mosul good or bad, but they have created a form of governance there that now has to be completely uprooted and approximate to syria, and the lines of support are easier to support up in mosul to syria, and this is a

much tougher task, and although the kurdish fighters are capable, and demonstrated the ability to make success and achieve success in that part of the country, a i would hope that we could reinforce that. >> and i want your opinion, bob on the new cnn/orc poll that is showing that americans are split on the use of troops on the ground the fight terror groups. keeping in mind that it is a poll that was done before this headline coming out of ramadi, but when you are looking at that, and find this inclination towards even in limited numbers more troops and certainly special forces, what are you thinking? ground troops? what are you thinking that the numbers tell you about the appetite for greater involvement? >> well, brianna, it is fairly simple in the sthaens americans don't trust the governments in damascus or baghdad or anywhere else there. and yes, the soldiers have never lost a battle in that part of

the world, and we would win if we put ground troops, and what would we get. we did win in iraq a couple of times, but what do you do about baghdad and as general marks was saying, the governance is the key important issue here, because if baghdad does maintain and holdramadi, they have to treat the sunnis in a way that they cannot revert back to the sectarian ways of repressing these people, otherwise the conflict will go on for the next 30 years, and we have limited influence on baghdad. american americans feel in. they simply dot no trust the political solutions that we have come up with, and trust the m l military, but not the political solutions. >> all right. we will see bob baer and general mark, and thank you, both, for this next story that we are

going to talk about. i will show you a picture and i will warn you, is very graphic of a 2-year-old syrian refugee's lifeless body. this is a photo that sparked international sor row, and became one of the most powerful symbols of the growing crisis of the 1 million refugees fleeing this year. the parents of the toddler are expected to arrive in their new home in canada after what is a long and painful journey from syria, and the country that is taken over by syrian war. and paula newton is coming to us live from ottawa, and who, paula, of this family is expected to arrive there in vancouver today? >> well, they are little aylan kurdi's cousin and his aunt of

aylan who has been trying to get the two brothers, and family to canada, and the red tape was exhausting. because they were not able the to get anywhere, that is why aylan kurdi found himself on that dinghy where he died. of course, it is bittersweet, brianna, but it is showing what has changed in the last few months since aylan kurdi died and governments and public opinion changed in trying to sponsor the refugees trying to get them here perhaps with all of the ts not crossed or the is not dotted. >> this is interesting case where where the relative in canada still facing fierce red tape as she put it trying to bring the family members over. and overall, paula, is canada approaching the crisis

differently than the u.s. or public opinion that is really pressuring the lawmakers there? >> there is not really any pressure on the lawmakers, be through is a diversity of the opinion. and you struggle to say a majority of can canadians saying they should take in tens of thousands, but that ey are taki in 25,000 by the end of the year, but that is nowhere near germany. lots of charities have opened their facilities and opened them to legal help and financial help and shelter, and the refugees that have come in are getting a welcome knowing what is ahead and the difficulty of integrating, and the e key thing is in terms of security, the canadian government is guaranteeing they have done the security screenings, and when they arrive here, they will be permanent citizens of canada, and they believe that the people have been screened, and that it is secure for them to come to canadak the and they will settle

we well. >> and giving the reassurances there. and paula newton for us there in ottawa. we appreciate it. coming up, two more shooting deaths intensifying the spotlight on an already troubled police department. we will go live to chicago next. dayquil liquid gels and go. hey buddy, let's get these

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any planned surgery and all medicines you take. i will take brilinta today. tomorrow. and every day for as long as my doctor tells me. don't miss a day of brilinta. city's embattled mayor have two controversial shooting deaths to answer for. they have already deemed the death of bettie jones as an accident when police opened up fire against quintonio legrier when his police called police for help when he reported that his son had mental issues. rosa flores is there on the story, and tell us what happened, and how was jones involved in this? >> well, bettie jones, we have

learned, she is a neighbor, and her family has said that all she did was to open her door before she was shot by police. she's a grandmother, a mother of five, and of course, her family grieving at this hour. now, as to what transpired, we won't know more than just preliminary information from the police, because right now, all of this is under the investigation of the independent police review authority. this is what we know from the report. all of this starts early saturday morning with the domestic disturbance call, and the police arrive at the scene, and like you say, they mentioned that they were confronted by a combative individual. police later confirming that this individual, 19-year-old quintonio la gear had an aluminum bat, and that he was coming at police with thoo aluminum bat according to the police. now that is when they opened fire and hit not only the

19-year-old, but also the 55-year-old ms. bettie jones. now all of this is still under investigation, and as i said ipra is leading the investigation, and the officer involved we should say is in administrative duty for 30 days. brianna, that is a new policy just announced after this shooting. so now, every officer involved in the officer-involved shooting in chicago will be evaluated before being put out in the field. brianna? >> this is one rather old incident involving a young man, and the video came out a month or so ago, and the major there now, rahm emanuel who is facing cr criticism, and people are calling for him to step down, and he is in cuba on vacation, rosa. there is a lot of pressure on him to come back. do you have any news as to whether he may? >> you know, i have asked the press secretary, one of the

deputies, multiple times, and i started to ask yesterday and heard anything.d i have not - i don't know whether he has returned or not, but i have text messaged and e-mailed asking if the mayor is back. but we receive an e-mail every single day with a list of the mayor's schedule for the following day, and for today, there are no public events scheduled for the mayor here in chicago. so, should we take that as a clue? maybe. but we don't know at this hour where he is. brianna. >> all right. we will keep an eye on, that and rosa flores in chicago thank you so much. and now, 2016 might be the year of the e presidential election, but 2015 was not without big political stories. jake tapper will take to a look at the most talked about political headlines of the year. whatcha doin?

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farewell of one of washington's most high profile lawmakers to the debate over refugees. jake tapper takes a look back at this year's dominating political stories. >> this was the year the next president entered the race barring any surprises in 2016. washington outsiders dominating the polls as america's political cland skate saw historic change. laws on marriage, views on terror and. our tolerance for trump are much different now than internship in january. these are our top ten political stories of 2015. number ten, after a quarter century in congress, john boehner declared he was done, pushed out by the tea partiers. >> i leave with no. regrets, no burdens. >> after balking wisconsin's congressman paul ryan finally accepted the gavel. >> e we need to make some changes starting with how the house does business.

>> number nine, same-sex marriage was deemed legal nationwide. though in some states county clerks such as kim davis refused to give their stamp of approval citing religious convictions. davis spent five days in jail over the divisive issue. number eight, an anti-abortion group released videos they say showed planned parenthood staffers selling fetal tissue for profit. the videos were hotly contested and the funding debate was on. >> planned parenthood must be defunded. >> i will defend planned parenthood. >> in november three people were killed at a colorado clinic after this man opened fire. planned parenthood blamed heated rhetoric for the attack. number seven, the obama administration negotiated with iran ending sanctions in exchange for promises of an iran free of nuclear weapons.

israel's prime minister was vehemently oppose d. >> it doesn't block iran's path to the bomb, it it paves the path to the bomb. >> president obama vowed to veto congressional attempt to block the deal. >> the majority of members of this congress do not support this it deal. >> but secretary of state john kerry was alsoed ed adamant. >> number six, hillary clinton defended her use of a private e-mail server as secretary of state. >> everything i did was permitted. >> an fbi investigation into the matter notwithstanding. even opponents said he heard enough about the controversy. >> the american people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn e-mails. >> clinton was confront ed for hours about the hearing during the benghazi attacks and about those e-mails. >> it was you and your attorney who is decided what to return and what to delete. >> number five, nine african-americans were gunned down at this south carolina church by a 21-year-old white is

supremacist. >> the alleged killer could not see the grace surrounding the reverend and that bible study group. >> the kill er had posed pr photographs with the confederate flag prompting the question was it it time for the flag to be removed from the state capital. debit was passionate. and in the end, the flag was history. number four, millions fled war torn parts of the middle east into europe. president obama vowed to take in up to 10,000 syrian refugees. >> those countries that can must do more to accommodate refugees. >> but when at least one of the paris terrorists was linked to the masses entering europe, 31 u.s. governors vowed to shut their doors. >> embedded in the group are those out to destroy us. >> then after terrorists struck california can, donald trump said all muslims should be banned from entering the u.s. prompting backlash. number three, the black lives

matter movement became ever present in poll tucks. thousands rally pd in. baltimore and chicago after a young black man in each city died during police confrontations. . after freddie gray's arrest in baltimore, police officers were charged with murder in both cities. chicago's mayor came under pressure to step down. number two, according to president obama isis rose from a so-called jv squad last year to become a, quote, contained threat. but after o two massacres in paris drew world leaders sbo the fight and an attack in california killed 14 americans, president obama was forced to revise his message. >> the threat from terrorism is real, but we will overcome it. >> and the number one political story of 2015, the donald. >> i'm at number one by a lot. >> donald trump disrupting politics and redefining what it means to be a republican presidential candidate.

>> when mexico sends its people, they are not sending their best. >> his behavior was met with outrage in an unstoppable rise in republican primary poll numbers. >> frankly i'm the most solid person up here. >> will he win the white house or will america say you're fired? those were our top ten political stories of this year. the question is what and who will top the list nx year. jake tapper, cnn, washington. >> be sure to watch cnn tomorrow night for our all the best and all the worst of 2015. that will be at 9:00 p.m. eastern and pacific. that is it for me. i'll be back at 5:00 eastern on "the situation room." we'll be talking to peter king, the chairman of the subcommittee on counterintelligence and terrorism and he's on the intel committee. for our viewers in north

america, "newsroom" with brooke baldwin starts right now. we will take it on this monday. great to be with you all. i'm brooke baldwin. let's begin with breaking news. any moment now, live from cleveland. you'll see as we're waiting to hear from this prosecutor here in the case of ta mere rice. you know the story. this was novembers ago. he was waving a fwun in a park and ultimately police officers went to call it in and shot him. so what we're waiting for, by the way there's a lot to this story, we're waiting to hear the prosecutor potentially revealing the grand jury's decision as to whether or not the officers in this case will be indicted. i have sitting with me here