Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Sebelius Testifies Before Congress; Racial Profiling in Arrest of Three Rochester Teens?; New Photos of Obamas, Bushes, Hillary Clinton on Air Force One; House Votes on Pediatric Cancer Research; Marine Catches Great White Shark; Super-Volcano Under Wyoming Bigger Than Expected

Aired December 11, 2013 - 15:30   ET

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


BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius back in the hot seat, getting hammered today by questions from the House subcommittee about the progress of the ObamaCare Web site, and it has made some progress.

We have numbers, ladies and gentlemen, new numbers, showing 364,682 people signed up for health insurance from the beginning of October through the end of November.

Now, of those, you see this here? A little more than 137,000 used the federal exchange. More than 227,000 signed up on exchanges run by the states. These numbers are up from a total of 106,000 who signed up in October.

You know, encouraging news, yes, but not so encouraging when we know that 7 million Americans -- put this in context, 7 million were projected to enroll by the end of March 2014. That's mere months away.

What's got Sebelius slammed today is she told the panel the Web site's hub has worked beautifully. That's her quote.

Here a few highlights from the hearing today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATHLEEN SEBELIUS, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: The hub has worked beautifully from start to finish.

REP. MIKE BURGESS (R), TEXAS: Look, you've testified this morning that there is -- people cannot actually make their payment now when they go on healthcare.gov.

SEBELIUS: No, that's not accurate, sir. I said a lot of people haven't yet made their payment. The payment isn't due.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will you admit they will have a higher premium?

SEBELIUS: No, I do not. I think what a lot of actuaries will tell you if you have preventive care and prevent a most costly hospital stay, cancer --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. All right, I got it.

SEBELIUS: -- down the line, that cost lowers the premium.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's like talking to the Republic of Korea or something.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Americans have until December 23rd to select a policy if they want coverage to start the first of the year.

Coming up next, a dramatic story about three teens who said they were unfairly targeted by police.

They claim they were just waiting for the school bus, but police are telling a different story.

And now the district attorney is weighing in, has some strong, strong words about this case. We'll talk about that.

And remember, Air Force One, we wanted to be a fly on the wall. We know Pete Souza was on there, White House photographer.

And so he's sharing some of the amazing pictures, the Obamas, the Bushes, Hillary Clinton, together for almost 20 hours straight.

We may not have audio, but we have picture said and they tell a tale about the conversation between the first families.

Stay here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Did race play a role when three African-American teenagers were arrested in Rochester, New York? That is what some in this community are asking today.

The teens say they were simply waiting for a school bus to take them to a basketball game, but they didn't make it there. They got arrested and tossed into jail.

And that has some accusing police of racial profiling.

CNN's Jason Carroll sat down with these teens.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: When not in school, this is where Raliek Redd, Deaquon Carelock, and Wan'tauhjs Weathers like to spent their time, out on the basketball court, playing for Edison Tech High School.

It was just a few days ago they were leaving a much different court, all three charges in a case involving them and Rochester police.

DEAQUON CARELOCK, STUDENT: I'm like wow, it shouldn't have gotten this far.

CARROLL: The morning before Thanksgiving, the students were waiting outside a convenience store near this intersection in downtown Rochester, waiting for their bus to take them to a game.

Then they say a police officer approached them.

WAN'TAUHJS WEATHERS, STUDENT: The cop -- officer addressed us. He was like, You can't stand here. You have to go.

And we tried to inform him we weren't waiting for the city bus. We were catching for the yellow bus to go to our scrimmage.

He told us he didn't care. He told us to move.

CARROLL: Did anyone protest, or say anything at all?

CARELOCK: I did. I said this is where we catch our bus. This is where we catch our bus at. This is where our coach told us to be at.

Then he told us to move. Then I said, All right. I was laughing while I said it.

And he said, you think stuff funny? Put your hands behind your head.

CARROLL: Redd says he was walking away when he noticed Carelock was in handcuffs.

RALIEK REDD, STEDENT: I turned him around and I seen he had him. And I asked him what happened and then he said, I don't know.

CARELOCK: Raliek came over to see what happened to me. He just wanted to know what was going on with me, and the cop was arresting him because he said he was nosy.

CARROLL: Police then arrested both Redd and Weathers. All three charged with disorderly conduct.

It was all happening so fast, says Edison Tech basketball coach Jacob Scott, who was less than a block away and making his way towards the bus stop. When he got to his students, he also got a surprise.

JACOB SCOTT, EDISON TECH BASKETBALL COACH: I told the police officer who I was, why I was there.

Explained to him that these guys were down here to catch the bus to go to a scrimmage. Did they do something wrong?

CARROLL: And what did the officer say to you?

SCOTT: Yes, they didn't disperse. They didn't leave. We told them to go home and they didn't go home.

At that time, I'm just -- I'm puzzled. Next thing I know, he turns around and says, if you don't disperse from here in the next few seconds, we're going to take you downtown as well. CARROLL: Rochester's police chief defended the officer's actions, saying his department has received complaints about loitering and fighting in the area.

And he says the boys were not actually standing at their bus stop but rather they were standing 100 yards away from it.

CHIEF JAMES M. SHEPPARD, ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, POLICE: This is an officer on a day-to-day basis dealing with students in the downtown area, and in this instance, based on their interaction and his request, an arrest was made.

So I'm not going to say that, yes, he couldn't have done anything different. I acknowledge that he could have done something different.

CARROLL: Redd's mother believes there would have been a different outcome had the students been white.

CHRYSTAL CHAPMAN, REDD'S MOTHER: I feel that they were profiled for all the wrong reasons when they were doing nothing wrong.

CARROLL: Do you think this would have happened if these three young men were white?

SCOTT: Well, that's a tough question to answer because, I mean, I look like these guys.

WEATHERS: Some of the cops are just ignorant. They don't ask questions. They just do based on what they see.

CARELOCK: I feel like he just judged us way too quickly.

CARROLL: Rochester's police chief said the arrest was not about profiling or race and says the overwhelming majority of students in the city's school district are African-American and Latino.

SHEPPARD: So if we're going to address students who come through the downtown section, of which 12,000 are eligible to ride the school bus, that is who we're going to encounter, people of color.

So to put it on the Rochester police department to say that, because they're people of color, they were addressed, I think it's totally inappropriate.

CARROLL: But city officials now do concede the officer's actions in this case would not hold up in court, the district attorney saying after reviewing the facts, she was dropping the charges against the students in the interest of justice.

A relief to the students and their coach.

CARELOCK: That's a weight put off our shoulders. Now we can stay focused on our grades, class, and basketball.

CARROLL: Jason Carroll, CNN, Rochester, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: In politics, they were rivals, but on a plane, talk about the friendly skies here. Take a look at this photo.

This is from Air Force One, showing former President George W. Bush there showing off his paintings -- you know how he's taking onto painting in recent years -- showing Hillary Clinton on her tablet, showing Michelle Obama, the back of her head on the left, and other members of the Obama administration.

Can you imagine what the thought bubbles would be if they existed over the heads here?

This is one of several pictures the White House released after Air Force One flew the Obamas, the Clintons, the Bushes, and others to Nelson Mandela's memorial in Johannesburg.

Joining me now, Mr. Wolf Blitzer. Nice to see you.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR, "THE SITUATION ROOM": Nice to see you, always.

BALDWIN: Let's show another photo and then we'll talk, the two presidents talking over the table, appear very chummy.

You have been on Air Force One. Looking at the one picture made me realize how huge this plane is. Could they have avoided each other if they wanted to?

BLITZER: Well, they probably could have, although it would have been extraordinarily difficult given the fact they were all up front in the VIP area where the president and first lady are.

When I was on Air Force One as a network pool reporter back in the 1990s when I was the White House correspondent for CNN, traveled all around the world with then-President Bill Clinton, the media, we were kept in the back of the plane.

And we were only allowed to go up front to the conference room, that big conference room that you showed there, and other quarters if we were invited by the president or some other senior official.

So I spent many hours on Air Force One, just sort of in the back with my journalistic colleagues, and I didn't rub elbows with the president or anyone else important, other than the journalists who were all important, of course, to be sure.

BALDWIN: You've done that since.

BLITZER: If you're the former president or Laura Bush, or Hillary Clinton, you're going to be seeing the president. The president and the first lady are not just going to stay in their own little personal cabin.

They have a bed there. They could stay there, but they're going to go out there and mingle, and what we're told, they spent a lot of time in the conference room there.

You see the president there and the others. They were talking. They were having a good time. It's a good way for all of these people to bond.

You're on a 17- or 18-hour flight. You're going to get to know the people you're with.

BALDWIN: Sure, of course, and I have to ask since you're talking about being in the back of the plane here and walking toward that conference room area that we just saw, I'm just curious, how many paces, just to understand how big this plane is, how long does it take to get from the back to the front?

BLITZER: It's a 747, so everybody has been on a 747. Most people have. And it's a huge plane. It takes a while.

And it's configured totally different than a normal passenger commercial 747. You've got a lot of different rooms. You've got the Secret Service. You've got a lot of communications facilities.

So it's not just a normal plane with a bunch of chairs, first class chairs or coach chairs or whatever. It's got a lot of different compartments, so it can take a while.

And, of course, if you're just -- if you're not invited up, you don't get up front because there's Secret Service people to make sure you don't get up front.

If the president is nice, he'll invite you to come up once in a while. When I was a reporter covering the White House, Bill Clinton was traveling around. He would often invite the media to come up, do a little Q&A, on the record or off the record.

And a few times, at least with Bill Clinton, he would even invite reporters to go into the conference room and play cards. He liked to play cards with his senior staff, Hearts or other games. I remember doing that on a few occasions as well.

BALDWIN: That is awesome. I would love to stick my head in and see what it looks like, Wolf Blitzer.

BLITZER: Its are a great experience, especially if you have a long trip and an opportunity to mingle with senior officials or the president, a great opportunity.

BALDWIN: Wolf, we'll be watching you as we do each and every day on "THE SITUATION ROOM," 5:00 Eastern right here on CNN. Thank you, sir.

BLITZER: Thank you.

BALDWIN: And happening now, Congress is voting on a bill named after a young girl who tragically lost her battle with cancer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GABRIELLA MILLER, 10-YEAR-OLD WHO DIED OF CANCER: It's not fair. Just because, you know, we don't know as much doesn't mean we're not important.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: The bill named after Gabriella Miller would give more money to cancer research.

We're watching this vote on Capitol Hill. We've got a live update for you, coming up next here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Happening right now in Washington, a vote on the bill we mentioned last hour.

This is the bill that was named for Gabriella Miller here who campaigned before her death in October for more money for children's cancer research.

The bill in her name would boost government funding by something on the order of $13 million a year.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MILLER: It's not fair. Just because, you know, we don't know as much doesn't mean we're not important.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: House Democrats oppose this measure. Some even call it fraud. They are saying the money is just a drop in the bucket, compared to cancer research lost to deficit cutting.

Here is an answer to that from one of the bill's top supporters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ERIC CANTOR (R), VIRGINIA: To sit here and impugn anyone's motives, much less say something that somehow is a commentary that this isn't constructive towards the plight of the parents like the Millers, who are around this country searching for some indication that we can break the political gridlock on an issue like this.

REP. STENY HOYER (D), MARYLAND: So let us not fool the public that we're doing something for pediatric research.

I know my friend Mr. Upton has been a friend of NIH, and he's a dear friend and good member, but I tell my friend, this bill does not do anything for pediatric research.

You'll have an opportunity to vote for pediatric research. Vote to get rid of the sequester. Vote to invest in the national institute of health, not to cut it. That will make a difference.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Dana Bash watching the vote for us right now. Where does the vote stand right know?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's a slow vote, but right now only 14 Democrats have voted yes, 124 Republicans yes, so we're waiting to see a lot more people vote.

But, look, it looks as though if you have the number two Democrat, as you just heard, Steny Hoyer, and others actively, not just saying that they're against it, but actively whipping or twisting arms on the Democratic side against this, it does not look good for this bill.

And you heard very clearly the reasons Democrats gave, Brooke. They believe this is window dressing, a political stunt, because what Republicans are saying is that this is money that they are taking out of or doing away with from federal funds that are supposed to go to political conventions and authorizing that or redirecting it towards pediatric research at the NIH.

And what Democrats are saying is that it doesn't really do that, that you have to have a different kind of mechanism to make that happen, that this is basically a fraud, so that's why they're voting against this, but it is pretty hard, politically, for them to do that.

BALDWIN: OK. OK, I hear you have a voice. I do have a follow question. Give me a thumbs up if I can ask it.

I know you're -- OK, just quickly, let me ask -- OK, go for it. Live TV, it happens.

Quickly, the parents, the parents are there.

BASH: Yes.

BALDWIN: You've interviewed these parents?

BASH: I did interview them. They're in the gallery. They're watching this.

They were going to come and talk to us, Brooke, live, but they wanted to see the vote, because, again, to underscore, this bill is named after their daughter, Gabrielle Miller.

BALDWIN: Dana Bash, go get a drink of water and keep watching that vote for us. Dana, thank you so much, in Washington.

Yellowstone National Park, it is a place visited by millions each and every year, but a new report says a danger may by lurking underneath the park's grounds. The results could be catastrophic.

We'll explain what that's all about, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Talk about landing the big one. It astounded this Marine. Jeff Fangman caught a great white shark, taking nearly a half hour, wrestled the thing ashore.

Now we have video proof, though his wife apparently wanted to keep her distance, and I don't blame her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Got it?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Oh, my god!

Look at it.

Whoa!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh! Oh, my god!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: No, thank you.

By the way, it's illegal to catch a great white, so this guy, after toying with its fangs, quick set it free.

And now this, hidden underneath Yellowstone National Park, right, now, is something that has shocked scientists.

These are just super cool pictures, this super-volcano with a cavern of magma far bigger than anyone had predicted, in fact, so big that scientists say an eruption would be catastrophic.

So, Chad Myers, we talk to you, of course, about super-volcanoes. They knew it was there, but can you explain how the hot springs, the geysers, the study has just discovered the actual size.

How big is this thing?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We have always known it was a caldera. We always knew it was super-volcano under a weak spot, a thin spot in the crust where the magma is close to the surface, between maybe a mile and 10 miles, depending on the point of view there. We always knew it was there.

But up here in the northwest part of Wyoming, we now believe it's 1,000-square miles, 50 miles one way by 20 miles the other way, and a magma chamber below the surface of 100-cubic miles of molten rock.

And you ask, how do we do this? How do we know?

The scientists at the University of Utah have been watching earthquakes around the area, and they know that the seismic wave will go through a molten rock slower than a solid rock.

So if you look at these signals the way they look at these signals, and they know that below this magma chamber, below this caldera right here, there's molten lava down here.

Now, this thing erupts about once every 700,000 to 800,000 years. The last time it erupted was 640,000 years ago, plus or minus a couple of decades.

BALDWIN: Huh-oh.

MYERS: So I think we're OK.

BALDWIN: You think?

MYERS: We're about another 160,000 miles -- unless stem cells can keep me alive for 100,000 years, I don't think that's going to happen.

I don't think we're going to see this thing erupt, but it's always possible. Mother Mature does what it wants, you know?

BALDWIN: I know. She sure does.

Cool pictures, though. Thank you for the explanation, as always -

MYERS: You're welcome.

BALDWIN: -- our resident scientist here on CNN.

Quickly, you need some cash for your holiday shopping? You might want to pick up a Mega Millions lottery ticket.

Last night, no one drew the winning numbers to the top prize. So, now, of course, the jackpot has further soared. The prize is now worth about $400 million, or do the math, we're talking a little more than $200 million before taxes, if you so choose that lump sum.

Lottery officials say this is the second-largest Mega Million jackpot ever. The next drawing is this Friday.

I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you so much for being with me. I'm back on tonight, CNN at 11:30 Eastern, 8:30 Pacific, with "In Case You Missed It."

Now, "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper begins now.