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Affluenza Teen and Mother Captures in Mexico; Chicago Officer Who Killed Teen in Court Today; Terror Threat Raised in Belgium; New Poll: Voters Split on Satisfaction with Obama; Poll Reveals Anger Among Americans at Government; Trump Versus Clinton. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired December 29, 2015 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:01] POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: I know. I know. He said, is your husband there? And it's just -- the outpouring of support from all of you, from everyone out there on Twitter, I am just amazed, stunned, grateful. Thank you. Thank you to everyone. The baby, our little girl, six months old, rock and rolling. She is just fine. I'm doing fine. And let's get to the news. Thank you all.

PEREIRA: Great.

LEMON: Bye, Popster.

HARLOW: Bye.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW (voice-over): Happening now in the NEWSROOM, the fugitive affluenza teen arrested in Mexico.

SHERIFF DEE ANDERSON, TARRANT COUNTY, TEXAS: We're not through with Ethan Couch.

HARLOW: So what's next for the drunk driving teen who killed four people and never went to prison?

Also the Chicago officer who shot and killed Laquan McDonald expected to plead not guilty this morning. But the city's on edge.

Now the mayor is cutting his vacation short. Should Rahm Emanuel keep his job?

Plus Donald Trump says he's going easy on Clinton.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: She says, oh, we'd love to run against Trump. It's her worst nightmare.

HARLOW: But he's going hard on Chris Christie saying there is no way the New Jersey governor didn't know about bridgegate.

TRUMP: Does anybody believe that? Honestly.

HARLOW: Let's talk. Live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(END VIDEOTAPE) HARLOW: Good morning, I'm Poppy Harlow. Thank you so much for being with us. I'm sitting in for my friend, Carol Costello today.

We begin with breaking news. Captured in Mexico, the manhunt now over for the so-called affluenza teen, Ethan Couch. The 18-year-old nabbed by authorities in a vacation hot spot of Puerta Vallarta along with his mother. You see the mug shot there. We haven't seen an image of him in quite a long time.

Officials had been searching for the two of them for several weeks. That's after Couch violated his parole. He made headlines after getting just probation for killing these four people. He killed them because he was driving drunk. Hollie and Shelby Boyles, Breanna Mitchell and Brian Jennings.

Couch's defense attorney claimed his family's wealth meant that he didn't understand limits or accountability. That was dubbed the affluenza defense and it got him only parole.

Let's talk about all of it with CNN justice correspondent Evan Perez.

And I should say he just got probation, which I think has stunned much of the nation and then he disappeared for weeks on end. Now what do we know?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Poppy. Glad to see you back in the chair. The U.S. Marshal Service was tracking a cell phone tied to Ethan Couch in recent days and they alerted Mexican authorities of where to find him. Police in the Pacific coast region near Puerto Vallarta moved in yesterday to make the arrest and they found the 18-year-old fugitive with his mother Tanya. As you can see in this picture, he seems to have darker hair and a mustache and a beard.

And the so-called affluenza teen is expected to be turned over to the U.S. Marshals for his return to the U.S. Now authorities also listed his mother as a missing person because they believe she was helping him. And the Tarrant County sheriff says both mom and son could face charges.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: We will file a criminal case or cases as serious and with as much punishment for her as we can get. We've said since day one if she's helping him, if she's helping him evade detention, if she helped him get away which we believe she did, if she's helping him hide, then she's breaking the law. So we will file criminal case or cases against her and we will push along with the DA who's cooperating with us fully in this investigation. We will push for full prosecution of her and our hope is that they will both be locked up for some time and finally Ethan will be held accountable for what he did.

(END VIDEO CLIP) VALENCIA: And Poppy, officials issued a warrant for Couch's arrest after his probation officer was unable to reach him earlier this month. This is shortly after a video on social media appeared to show Couch playing beer pong at a party and that would be a violation of his probation. Couch made headlines two years ago when he only received 10 years probation for this drunk driving crash that killed four people. And Couch's lawyers argued that the teen suffered from affluenza, meaning he was raised rich and just didn't know any better, Poppy.

HARLOW: All right. Evan Perez, reporting for us from Washington. Thank you very much, Evan.

For everyone watching, keep this in mind. Couch, who was 16 at the time of this crash, had a blood alcohol level three times the legal limit. Earlier this month Kevin McConnell whose son was injured in that crash spoke to CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN MCCONNELL, SON INJURED BY DRUNK DRIVER: The anger has to subside at some point. Anger is a temporary emotion. And, you know, I try not to hang on to that. But I do feel like accountability hasn't been demonstrated yet and I would still like to have some accountability because I need for my son Lucas to see that there are consequences for bad decisions.

[09:05:01] I don't wish anything bad upon Ethan. And I think with what's happening, I don't see an exit strategy the way he's going. I would just say, you know, Ethan, you're a man now. It's time to man up, come in and let's begin to make good decisions and start again. I mean, you're not beyond redemption.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Let's talk about all of this from a legal perspective. Joining me now CNN legal analyst, criminal defense attorney, Joey Jackson.

Thank you for being here, my friend.

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: My pleasure, Poppy. Good morning.

HARLOW: What happens now? Obviously they are in the custody of the Mexican authorities. They're going to be extradited one would suppose. But then what in the legal process?

JACKSON: All right. So what happens first. Kudos of course to the FBI, Federal Bureau of Investigations, in addition to the U.S. Marshals.

HARLOW: Right.

JACKSON: Very good at what they do when it's hard to run. Now the problem that he has is that, of course, initially you can argue that it was a violation of his probation because he was around alcohol. Not supposed to be around alcohol. That's something that could have been addressed, though. Why? He would have a hearing, the lawyer would argue listen, he was a juvenile at the time. Yes, he's 18 now. Made a bad decision. But he still can be rehabilitated.

Now it's a whole different ball game because he was on the run. So as you mentioned, I certainly suspect that they'll be extradited without issue and they'll have to face the music. Now remember he's not going before the same judge that sentenced him to the probation because she's no longer there. She declined running for reelection so there is a new judge in town. New sheriff. Judges have wide discretions in terms of what they can do.

Now initially many people as you know, Poppy, felt there was a miscarriage of justice. And I get that.

HARLOW: Right.

JACKSON: Right? I mean, look, I get that when you're 16 rehabilitation is a significant part of the process. But when four people are dead and when two are significantly injured, one brain damaged, there needs to be consequences. Well, if there weren't consequences then I certainly would suspect that there would be consequences right now.

HARLOW: So let's talk through what those legal consequences could be.

JACKSON: Yes.

HARLOW: You just heard the father there, one of those injured individuals, Lucas. The father of Lucas said, I need accountability. Anyone can understand that. Legally, what are the parameters for that?

JACKSON: Yes. And, you know, Poppy, so gracious, too, in saying that he's not beyond redemption.

HARLOW: Right.

JACKSON: You know, just such grace under such horrific circumstances. So what happens is there is a range of options, of course, that the judge has. One of course may be, and you're going to have two competing factions. So defense attorneys are going to make the argument that he can be redeemed. He can be rehabilitated. Do not put him in jail. Give him another opportunity.

Of course the prosecutor is going to have a whole different thing to say about it. We know what the prosecutors are doing now, is they want him to be treated as an adult. And of course he turns 19 in April, they want this moved to adult court. And so the range could be, he could be afforded another opportunity, doubtful, or he could be sent to jail, which is more likely. And so the issue is --

HARLOW: For the violation of probation.

JACKSON: The violation of probation.

HARLOW: What about the -- what about the crime itself, killing those four people?

JACKSON: Yes.

HARLOW: Any retrying of that?

JACKSON: Well, no, that's been litigated, the judge has ruled on that matter, and as a result of that he got what he got, which is the probation with the -- you know, proviso that he get the treatment and attempt to get the redemption and rehabilitation he needs. So that's resolved.

The issue now becomes he was directed to do something. That direction was to follow your parole and your probation, do as you're ordered to do. Stay away from drugs and alcohol.

HARLOW: Right.

JACKSON: We'll give you that chance. Now having been afforded the chance and running afoul a bit, he's looking at jail time.

HARLOW: Yes.

JACKSON: What that ultimate jail time will be is at the discretion of the judge. I suspect, though, it will be steep.

HARLOW: Final question. The father, the father who was not with them in Mexico.

JACKSON: Right.

HARLOW: Is the one who reported their passports missing a few weeks. If it is proven that he knew that they were attempting to leave the country, planning on it, any legal ramifications the father could face?

JACKSON: You know, there always can be ramifications, Poppy. I more so think that the mother has the legal issue here more so than the father based upon her harboring a fugitive, based upon her potentially aiding and abetting him to go.

HARLOW: Right.

JACKSON: And based upon her hindering the prosecution. Could the father? Ultimately if it's found that he did something wrong, be held accountable, of course. But right now it looks like the mother has a world of accountability.

HARLOW: The mother.

JACKSON: Not the dad.

HARLOW: All right. Joey Jackson, they said they'd find him. And they did.

JACKSON: And they did.

HARLOW: Thank you.

JACKSON: They are good at what they do.

HARLOW: They are very good at what they do. Thank you very much.

Next hour the officer who shot and killed the Chicago teenager Laquan McDonald will appear in court. Officer Jason Van Dyke is expected to plead not guilty to six separate counts of first-degree murder. In 2014 he shot McDonald 16 times in just seconds. This after dispatch called for someone with a taser to respond.

Our Rosa Flores is live for us this morning in Chicago. She has been following the story from the very beginning.

You are outside the courtroom. Rosa, what do we expect today?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Poppy. Jason Van Dyke is scheduled to be a arraigned today at 9:30 local time. Like you mentioned he faces six counts of first-degree murder and one count of official misconduct all from the shooting and killing of Laquan McDonald. He's the 17-year-old black male who was shot 16 times in 15 seconds back in October of 2014.

[09:10:14] Now his attorney being tight lipped about this particular proceeding. But overall he's been very clear. He has said that his client acted in self-defense, that he used proper force and he's expected to plead not guilty today in court. Now something very rare in a criminal court in Illinois is going to happen today. Cameras will be allowed in the courtroom for the second time in this particular proceeding.

But Van Dyke not only facing scrutiny inside the courtroom but also on the street. Every time that we've seen him walk out of this court we have seen that protesters scream at him, they pound at his vehicle as he is driving away. And we are expecting the same thing to happen again today. But again he's scheduled to be arraigned today at 9:30 local time -- Poppy.

HARLOW: And Rosa, also let me ask you this because this arraignment comes as the city of Chicago is in a place where it hasn't been in a very long time with incredible tension between police and a lot of community members. They are facing, you've got another wrongful death lawsuit now filed against the city by the father of the teenager, Quintonio LaGrier. He was killed, the 19-year-old, over the weekend, along with a 55-year-old grandmother at their home.

What do we know about that?

FLORES: Yes. We know that an attorney has filed that complaint. And from reading it, Poppy, I can tell you that we learned a few more details about that shooting. Like we talked about yesterday we have very few details because of course all of this is under the investigation of the Independent Police Review Authority, which is the authority that investigates every single officer-involved shooting in Chicago. Now from that complaint we've learned that there is actually some

video that the police confiscated according to this complaint. We also know from this complaint according to Quintonio's father that the teen did not have a weapon at the time that he was shot. Again, all of this according to that filing. Now his father also claiming that he was interrogated by police without an attorney. Now we're going to have to see how all of this plays out in court but again, a lot of tension here in Chicago.

And Poppy, just to let you know, Jason Van Dyke, the officer being arraigned today, he is the first police officer to be prosecuted in an officer-involved shooting in Chicago since 1968. So you can imagine all of the protests that we see and hear about here

in Chicago, that is one of the reasons why because they haven't seen anyone been prosecuted in Chicago in so many years.

HARLOW: Yes, absolutely. I did not know that. All right. Rosa Flores, thank you so much. Again, she's outside of the courthouse. Van Dyke's hearing is expected to begin at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time. We will bring that to you live as soon as it does happen.

Also possible New Year's eve terror attack foiled. Authorities in Belgium arresting two people suspected of plotting attacks against popular landmarks in Brussels, in addition to a police station. Despite the arrests officials are raising the terror threat level there once again warning of more possible attacks.

Our Erin McLaughlin is live with the latest. What do we know?

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Poppy, well, there are some starting details out of Brussels this morning. The target believed to be New Year's celebrations at several emblematic locations in Brussels. The threat taken -- being taken very, very seriously. This according to a prosecutor's office statement that was released earlier this morning.

Now Belgium media is reporting that one of the targets, a police station near a location called the Grand Place. Now the Grand Place is this incredibly ornate tourist attraction located right in the heart of the city. And authorities there have raised the terror threat level for police and military personnel from two to three out of a possible four, meaning that an attack there is possible and likely. Now all of this coming as Brussels already is on edge. You remember following the Paris attacks, it was a subject to a lockdown, multiple terror raids throughout. So this news of this latest alleged plot foiled, certainly not helping people's nerves there -- Poppy.

HARLOW: It's not. And in terms of the raid, Erin, what do we know more about what may have been seized what evidence they have? I know it's still early going.

MCLAUGHLIN: Yes. Well, the investigation is still ongoing but we know that there have been raids that took place Sunday and Monday. In Liege, Verband, and Brussels.

[09:15:00] And in those raids they found materials such as military uniforms. They also found computer equipment as well as ISIS propaganda. And a senior counterterror official telling CNN that they believe that this plot was inspired by ISIS but not directed by ISIS. So it seems that they are, at this stage, discounting a direct link to ISIS militants in Syria. Poppy?

HARLOW: Wow. All right, Erin, we'll keep watching. Obviously Brussels had that extraordinarily high terror alert and basically locked down after the Paris attack. Thank you very much, Erin McLaughlin live for us from London today.

Still to come, Donald Trump sharpening his attacks on former president Bill Clinton and bringing up the name Monica Lewinsky.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: Welcome back. In 2008, President Obama swept into office on a wave of hope and change. But as his time in the White House winds down, do Americans feel he delivered?

Take a look at this. These are new numbers out this morning from a new CNN/ORC poll. What they show, pretty mixed results. 37 percent say the president has brought positive change to the country. The same amount say that he's changed things for the worse. 21 percent say he hasn't changed anything at all.

That split mirrors overall views of the president: 48 percent have a favorable opinion, while 50 percent have an unfavorable view. But when it comes to Washington as a whole and the current state of this union, if you will, an overwhelming 75 percent of you say you're not satisfied with the way the U.S. is being governed. That governs to 24 percent only of people who are satisfied.

[09:20:03] And when asked if they are angry about the way things are going in this country, 25 percent say they are, quote, "very angry". 44 percent are somewhat angry. 30 percent say they are not angry.

As you might expect, views about the state of the United States differs among party lines very greatly. And as Americans get ready for the next presidential election, supporters are of one candidate are expressing the most displeasure. 97 percent of Donald Trump supporters say they are dissatisfied with the way the U.S. is being governed right now. That compares to 87 percent of other Republicans and 58 percent of Democrats. Trump supporters also led the way when it came to being angry about the way things are in this country today, coming in at 91 percent of them. 78 percent of other Republicans are angry. 55 percent of Democrats are angry about how things are going in the country today.

Let's discuss it all. A lot of numbers to chew through. CNN senior political analyst and "National Journal" editor and editorial director Ron Brownstein, and CNN senior reporter Nia-Malika Henderson. Thank you both for being here.

Ron, I'm interested in so what stands out most from these numbers? And I know we've talked in how Donald -- talked about how Donald Trump is so successfully tapping into this mood of the electorate. Do you think that these results could influence the other campaigns of his opponents?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: I think they have already. First of all, good morning. I think the first point about these numbers is they really underscore the precarious political balance in this country. I mean, you see how close we are to a 50-50 country. Democrats have had the advantage at the presidential level; they've won the popular vote in five of the past six presidential elections. The groups they are strongest among -- millennials, minorities, socially liberal college educated whites -- are growing in the electorate, giving them a kind of structural demographic advantage. But Republicans are dominant now in the House and in many states largely because the Democratic vote is overly concentrated in the biggest cities.

So the first point I think is we have a very divided country. The second point is that we have a very volatile electorate, largely because the political system has not produced steady gains in living standards for most Americans. I mean, the median income is lower today than it was in 2000. That is almost unprecedented in American history to have the median income not rise over any 15 year period. And I think that is underpinning a lot of the dissatisfaction that you hear expressed most pointedly by Republicans, particularly those without college degrees, the voters who feel both economically marginalized and somewhat culturally eclipsed by the demographic change. And now you add the element of security and terror, you have just a very volatile combination that is fueling Trump. It's very powerful in the Republican Party. It's another question whether it's enough to take him all the way to the White House.

HARLOW: It's interesting; we heard Trump say yesterday that he would raise wages, sort of tapping into what you just pointed out. We'll talk about that a little later in the show.

But Nia, you've got the former president Bill Clinton making his first 2016 campaign trip to New Hampshire today. Earlier today, Donald Trump tweeted that the former president, in his words, quote, "failed in history's last presidential campaign". This morning, here's what he said on the "Today" show.

(BEBIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There were certainly a lot of abuse of women. And you look at whether it's Monica Lewinsky or Paula Jones or many of them. And that certainly will be fair game.

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, NBC HOST: Are you saying an extramarital affair by Bill Clinton is fair game? Is something that you think should be in the campaign.

TRUMP: I'm not saying -- what I'm saying is very simple. If she's going to play the woman card -- because I'll do more for women than Hillary Clinton is going to do for women, including the safety of our country, which is good for everybody. But if she's going to play what she started about a week ago, talking about, oh, he mentioned -- you know, the whole thing, playing up the women's card very, very strongly. And if she's going to play that game, and if he's going to be out there campaigning, then he's certainly fair game. And I think just about everybody agrees with me on that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: All right, Nia, he says everyone agrees with him. Does it win him votes?

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Oh, I doubt it wins him votes, I meaning switching votes from the Democratic side, from the Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders voters, to his side. I think it will rile up conservatives who like this line of questioning, like the attacks on Bill Clinton, have certainly made something of a sport of it, going way back to the '90s. I do think it is interesting to see sort of what's next from this, right? He says Bill Clinton is fair game. So he has raised the well-known history of Bill Clinton having affairs with women, particularly Monica Lewinsky. So what's next?

HARLOW: Right.

HENDERESON: I mean, what is sort of the next line of attack? And also in some ways as much as he's pointed his finger at Bill Clinton, Donald Trump himself has been unfaithful to his first wife, so what does that mean for his own sort of stature and ability to campaign and court voters? So it's really unclear what's next beyond this, well, Bill Clinton had affairs.

[09:25:01] HARLOW: A very important point. Before I let you go, I want you both to listen to this. This is what Donald Trump told our Wolf Blitzer back in 2008 talking about why former president George W. Bush was not impeached for the Iraq war, and why President Clinton was. Let's roll it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Look at the trouble Bill Clinton got into with something that was totally unimportant and they tried to impeach him, which is nonsense. Ad yet Bush got us into this horrible war with lies, by lying, by saying they said had weapons of mass destruction, by saying all sorts of things that turned out not to be true.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: 30 seconds each. Ron, to you first.

BROWNSTEIN: Well, look, it's one of many issues on which Trump has completely reversed himself to align more with the conservative wing of the Republican Party. And I think that what you see is Republicans will face the question at some point of whether anger is enough. Because its worth noting that since the attacks on Bill Clinton have started, the targets have also included Republican Trey Gowdy from the House, the publisher of "The Manchester Union-Leader" and Chris Christie.

To answer Nia's question, "What comes next?" Next will be another target. And he has shown enormous ability to move the media through this kind of serial personal invective. HARLOW: Nia?

HENDERSON: I think that's right. He'll pick somebody else and he'll move on. And this is the key. Jeb Bush of course is out there saying you can't insult your way to the White House. Donald Trump seems to be doing a pretty good job, at least in terms of poll numbers and gathering voters who support him at least in polls. So we'll have to see how this plays out.

HARLOW: It ain't over till it's over. Ron Brownstein, Nia-Malika Henderson, thank you both.

HENDERSON: Thank you.

HARLOW: Still to come, a lot of you across the country, you are feeling this weather. You definitely want to allow extra time if you are planning to fly or drive in many states today. When to expect the worst as a winter storm moves northeast.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)