Return to Transcripts main page

New Day

Human Factor: Basketball Star's Diagnosis Dashes NBA Dream; Victor Espinoza Takes Third Crack at Triple Crown; What's Sparking Surge in Violent Crime? Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired June 03, 2015 - 08:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:33:38] ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Time for five things to know for your NEW DAY.

No. 1, a man shot and killed by Boston police had been radicalized by ISIS, they say, and was part of a wider terror probe. Police shot Usaama Rahim after he allegedly charged them with a knife.

President Obama signing the USA Freedom Act into law. It reforms government spying and ends the bulk collection of phone records. The president says it will protect privacy while helping intelligence officials keep the country safe.

Rescue crews in China searching frantically for survivors from Tuesday's deadly shipwreck in the Yangtze River. 420 people remain unaccounted for. 18 bodies now recovered, at least 14 people found alive.

A stunning about-face by FIFA president Sepp Blatter announcing his resignation just days after being reelected. Blatter is said to be the focus of a corruption investigation by the U.S. Justice Department.

The Defense Department now investigating whether live anthrax was brought into the Pentagon building. The Pentagon police force says it will test questionable shipments it received from the U.S. Army.

For more on the five things to know, go to newdayCNN.com for the latest.

Let's go to Chris.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Alisyn, Baylor basketball star, Isaiah Austin, is learning to dream again. He had a devastating diagnosis that ended his NBA career before it could even begin. Well now, he's channeling the loss into something good, inspiring others to overcome adversity.

[08:35:02] We have CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, explaining in this edition of "The Human Factor." Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DR. SANJYA GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over):

Isaiah Austin is blind in his right eye due to a detached retina that he suffered as a teenager. But that didn't stop him from dominating the court as a Baylor University basketball center.

ISAIAH AUSTIN, FORMER BAYLOR UNIVERSITY BASKETBALL PLAYER: I knew that I had to perform at a high level in order for people to really respect me, and I did that.

GUPTA: In 2014, he was a top recruit for the NBA draft but just days before that draft, Isaiah was told he has Marfan syndrome. It's a genetic disorder that affects the body's connective tissue. Doctors said he could no longer pursue a career in basketball.

AUSTIN: Toughest moment of my life.

GUPTA: Isaiah had to be tough, especially for his younger siblings.

AUSTIN: I just knew that I had to handle myself right in front of them because they look up to me like no other.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The NBA selects Isaiah Austin.

GUPTA: The NBA commissioner recognized Isaiah with an honorary draft pick and a job after he graduates. For now, Isaiah is working with NBA Cares and bringing awareness to Marfan syndrome through a foundation he started. In his book "Dream Again," Isaiah shares his personal journey in the hopes of encouraging others.

AUSTIN: I could have been playing in the NBA right now and there could have been a high chance that I would collapse on the court, but my new passion really is to inspire people with my story.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: I have to tell you, it was a big loss. He was a really talented player, he's a good kid and for him to channel what made him special on the court off it, he's going to help a lot of people.

CAMEROTA: That's a beautiful story.

Alright. Meanwhile, murders on the rise in major cities, including here in New York. What needs to be done to get violent crime under control?

CUOMO: And American Pharaoh and his jockey hoping to make history. Will they win the triple crown? The final jewel coming up. There is the man, very nicely dressed, Victor Espinosa, jockey extraordinaire, we'll put him to the test.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:41:14] CAMEROTA: Anticipation building in the horse racing world as we get close to Saturday's Belmont Stakes and the possibility of a triple crown winner. All eyes on American Pharaoh after winning the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness. Victor Espinosa also making history as the first jockey to have a third opportunity to win a triple crown.

Victor Espinosa is with us this morning. Welcome.

VICTOR ESPINOSA, JOCKEY, AMERICAN PHARAOH: Good morning. Thank you for having me, guys.

CAMEROTA: How are you feeling?

ESPINOSA: As of right now, a little tired because I wake up early.

(LAUGHTER)

CUOMO: We feel for you. What are you going to do differently this time? Do you think about it or do you put it out of your mind? The past is the past, this race is all that matters?

ESPINOSA: Yes, the past, like you said, is the past. Absolutely. I am trying to do something different this time.

CAMEROTA: Like what?

CUOMO: Win.

ESPINOSA: Win.

(LAUGHTER)

CUOMO: You think it's the right horse?

ESPINOSA: I think so. I think it's the right horse and he is coming along in the right time and, you know, I know it's nothing easy, but I think American Pharaoh, he is ready to go.

CAMEROTA: I read that you said, "Since the first day I rode him," American Pharaoh, "I had the confidence in him and I thought he was special. " What makes him special?

ESPINOSA: Special, the way he run and if you see the way he touch the ground.

CAMEROTA: Like, show -- We are looking at him now. How is he different?

ESPINOSA: Do you see his legs how he floats on the ground? You know, he just like floats. You know, it's like swimming on top of the ground and that's how it makes a special horse.

CUOMO: So he's got a special gait that you feel and that you pick up when you ride him. How is he different from the horse last year? Because you were on the verge of winning the triple crown last year. ESPINOSA: Oh, boy. The difference -- other horses there are

different, horses basically like us, like human beings, we are all different and the same with the horses, they are all different and have different personality, they like to run different. And also all different colors, too. And American Pharaoh, he has very short tail. So that's a difference, too.

CAMEROTA: Does that make him more aerodynamic?

ESPINOSA: I hope so.

(LAUGHTER)

CUOMO: Fresh horses are usually a problem, right? I mean, that's something that factors in here is that some horses come into the Belmont that were not in earlier races. You worried about that this time?

ESPINOSA: Yes. You always worry about because they are fresh, they're coming back and they train just for that race, a mile and a half, and American Pharaoh, other horses, they have long, long campaign in the whole Kentucky Derby and Preakness, not enough time, and now we get it to a mile and a half and it's always a concern.

CAMEROTA: Chris always teases me for my lack of athletic ability, but he thinks I could be a jockey. Now, how much do you have to weigh to be a jockey?

ESPINOSA: Probably like - I weigh like 112.

CAMEROTA: 112.

ESPINOSA: Yeah. I think it's all about the weight. It's not - Doesn't matters how tall you are or what the size, but the weight is the most important thing.

CAMEROTA: Is that right?

ESPINOSA: Yes.

CAMEROTA: It doesn't matter how tall you are?

ESPINOSA: Yeah, it doesn't matter how tall you are.

CAMEROTA: I think I have a chance.

ESPINOSA: Right.

CUOMO: But it's the kind of 112 pounds he is, too. I mean, he is like a piece of twisted steel, this guy. You know? You got to be strong to stay on top of that.

CAMEROTA: Possible more muscular, you're suggesting?

CUOMO: No, I'm not. I mean, I've seen you when you're in the gym, it's no joke. I'll tell you right now, Espinosa, you've got to be careful.

ESPINOSA: Yeah. You know, the toughest thing for being a jockey is - for me - is two things. You know, workout, my workout routine is pretty hard.

CAMEROTA: What do you do?

ESPINOSA: Every day. You know, I work out twice a day. I lift weights in the morning and then run in the afternoon like up the hill. And the other thing is like the eating thing, you know. You cannot eat pretty much everything, and not that much.

CAMEROTA: What is your diet like?

ESPINOSA: I don't really have a diet. I eat everything, but small.

CAMEROTA: Small portions.

ESPINOSA: Small portions, yes.

[08:45:00] CUOMO: That's very smart. That's what we tell everybody, that it's about portion control.

ESPINOSA: Yeah.

CUOMO: How about superstition? It's such a big part of horse racing. Do you have any rituals or things that you do before a race every time?

ESPINOSA: I am not really superstitious, but I like to take a nap before the race.

CUOMO: Nap before the race. How do you relax your mind enough to sleep?

ESPINOSA: Just don't think about it.

(CROSSTALK)

CAMEROTA: How long is that nap? Power nap or an extended nap?

ESPINOSA: A little bit extended nap. You know, it depends on how much time that I have.

CAMEROTA: That's awesome. We should do that to improve our performance.

CUOMO: I should power nap before an interview.

CAMEROTA: Right before the show.

CUOMO: Maybe during the interview.

CAMEROTA: That's great. Wow. Well, best of luck to you. We will certainly be watching and everybody is pulling for you to have this historic moment.

ESPINOSA: Thank you. Thank you for having me, guys.

CUOMO: It will be great. I hope you get to make history. All the best of luck.

ESPINOSA: Right? I am ready for it.

CAMEROTA: That's great. Victor Espinosa, thanks so much for being on NEW DAY.

ESPINOSA: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Alright. Well, back to our top story because violent crime is spiking in big cities across the country. Why is that happening? We will debate that ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D), NEW YORK: There has been, obviously, an uptick in homicides and shootings. It's something we take very, very seriously, it's something we are addressing right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: How? What is causing it? What do you do about it? That was New York City Mayor, Bill de Blasio, responding to the spike in violent crime that his city has witnessed over the last two years. Now during those same two years, the number of illegal weapons seized dramatically dropped. Is there a correlation there or is it correlation but not causation?

[08:50:01] Let's discuss with Jim Bueermann, the president of the Police Foundation, a police think tank. Jim, thank you for joining us. What is the answer?

JIM BUEERMANN, PRESIDENT, POLICE FOUNDATION: Thank you, Chris. Well, I wish I could give you a really simple answer. This is a very complicated question and we all seek very simple answers to complicated questions like this, but the answer is we really don't know.

There is obviously a correlation between the availability of firearms in our society and the number of violent crimes, but I can't tell you, and I don't know that anybody can with any definitive sense, tell you that a reduction in the number of weapons that are seized by any particular police department directly correlates, especially in the short-term to an uptick in crime.

CUOMO: Well, the people who call themselves Second Amendment advocates, but really just like guns, they will be okay with this because it's illegal guns that are being talked about, and that's the big point, right? Keep the bad guys from having guns? How can it not contribute? BUEERMANN: Well I think, you know, in the long run, it's

obviously going to contribute. The thing that we focus on and what we call is a risk factor is the notion of the availability of firearms to criminals, so it's that availability that causes problems. If they can't get their hands on guns, then it's pretty hard to shoot anybody with them.

Whether Second Amendment advocates like that or not, I don't really know. I mean, we have lots of guns, obviously, in our society, we're going to have for a very long time to come and I think the question is, given that as our reality, then how do we rationally and responsibly keep those guns out of the hands of criminals?

CUOMO: Right. And it gets a little misleading when you start talking about homicide rates like we see in Milwaukee, it's up 180 percent, and they say most of those are done with guns. Well, that makes sense. I mean, most homicides are going to be done with the guns, it's the easiest way to kill somebody. But if it's not taking guns, and if it's not that police are simply laying down on the job -- you know, some people are using these numbers to harness political agendas - what are the factors that go into a spike in crime when you've had such positive trends for so many years?

BUEERMANN: Right. Well, there's many things and it could be anything from lack of jobs and influx of illegal drugs to gang warfare, among gang members or the notion of retribution is a big deal, so that can drive - to dispute this notion of disrespect in our society and how we deal with disrespect creates problems for especially inner city young people.

So I wish I could -- Again, as I said earlier, I wish I could give you a clear and definitive answer, but science just is not that clear. Our common sense tells us certain things and science tells us other things, but we have not spent, quite frankly, enough resources on studying these kinds of phenomenally important issues.

CUOMO: Now, New York City Commissioner Bratton says that really most of the major crime indicators are down, it's just homicides that are up and that's why the gun rights advocates have jumped in on both sides and some are saying, look, you seized less, the numbers went down, we will show them to you now, and this is why guns are saying, look, you took so many less, 3,648 in 2010, 2,942, you know, a 20 percent decrease over five years. You're going to see that.

Another thing they add to it is stop and frisk. Stop and frisk has been modified, it was seen as unconstitutional in its previous administration, so now they changed that. Do you think that comes into play with homicides?

BUEERMANN: Well, it does, but I think - you know, we are asking, again, very complicated questions that we need to spend a lot more time studying. I think that if there is one thing I would say to politicians is that they need to get the gumption and they've got to have some political will to say that we're going to spend some serious resources trying to understand this problem better because what happens in this country is we have lots of believes about what drives crime, we don't have a lot of knowledge necessarily about that.

The good thing is we have the tools, we have the scientific tools, that criminologists can use to answer many of the questions about whether things like stop, question and frisk are effective. The notion of whether any particular crime control strategy is hard on crime or soft on crime, I think, is a false construct. It is an artificial one. Crime control strategies either work or they don't work. They are effective or they are ineffective. And that's where we need to spend our time is evaluating whether they work and if they do, what is the collateral consequences of using those? In other words, do we create more problems in communities than what we are trying to solve?

CUOMO: Alright. And then, you know, obviously, you get into numbers like the disparity index that we saw in Missouri where you are 75 percent more likely to be stopped if you are black than white. That has to be taken into consideration also.

BUEERMANN: Right. Absolutely.

CUOMO: Mr. Bueermann, thank you very much. It is a complex situation. It's good to get the perspective.

Alisyn?

BUEERMANN: Thank you, Chris.

CAMEROTA: Okay, Chris. A topic we know you love, that is working out. How long can you hold an abdominal plank, Chris? A minute?

CUOMO: Measured in days?

(LAUGHTER)

[08:54:57] CAMEROTA: One 57-year-old former marine has us all beat -- even you, Chris Cuomo -- and he does it for a good cause. That's our "Good Stuff" coming up.

CUOMO: I have the same shorts. Does that matter?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: It is time for the stuff that is good. Take a look at Carlsbad, California, resident, George Hood. 57 years young. Marine. Holding that plank, not easy, to support his body weight only on his forearms and toes, by the way. Guess how long he did it?

CAMEROTA: I can't even make a guess.

CUOMO: Five hours, 15 minutes.

CAMEROTA: What?

CUOMO: He beat his own world record of four hours, 26 minutes. But best of all is why he did it. He doesn't give a gosh don don about his abs. He did it to raise money for the Semper Fi Fund, a charity that gives big financial help to injured vets. Anyone familiar with a plank knows that is a really difficult burning sensation, even with those nice shorts on.

Here's what George had to say about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE HOOD, PLANKING FOR INJURED VETERANS: This is the least I can do. And the discomfort I feel right now pales in comparison to that which they've experienced on the battlefield. Trust me when I tell you that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Oh, he is tough.

CUOMO: He is telling the truth. He's doing it for a good reason and I liked how he was biting through the pain as he said it.

[08:59:56] CAMEROTA: He beat his own record by an hour. That's a lot.

CUOMO: 57 years old. God bless you. He's showing that your best years are ahead of you, and did it for a great cause.

CAMEROTA: We'll look forward to you doing that on the show in some future episode.

CUOMO: Why not you?

CAMEROTA: Let's get to "NEWSROOM" now with Carol Costello.

CUOMO: Why not Carol? She's a planking crazy person.