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"Affluenza" Teen, Mother Apprehended in Mexico; New Poll Assesses President Obama's Performance According to American People; Grand Jury: No Charges in Tamir Rice Death; Mounting Pressure on Chicago Mayor Over Police Shootings. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired December 29, 2015 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:25] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and welcome back to your NEW DAY. It is Tuesday, December 29th, 8:00 in the east. Chris and Alisyn have the day off. Don Lemon and Christine Romans are both here with you this morning. Good morning to you both.

We begin with breaking news. No longer on the run. The so called "affluenza" fugitive captured by Mexican authorities. Ethan Couch and his mother were apprehended near the resort town of Puerto Vallarta. Both are now awaiting extradition to the United States.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: On the run for weeks. The teen skipped a mandatory meeting with his probation officer. He is in his second year of a 10 year probation sentence for killing four people in a 2013 drunk driving crash. We're going to begin now with CNN's justice reporter Evan Perez. He broke this story. He has some new details for us this morning. What do you have, Evan?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE REPORTER: That's right, Don. The U.S. marshals were tracking a cell phone and in recent day they alerted Mexican authorities they had tracked down Ethan Couch. 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.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PEREZ: Breaking overnight, the so called "affluenza" teen Ethan Couch captured in Mexico. The prosecutor's office releasing this photo to ABC news showing Couch with noticeably darker hair, mustache, and a beard. The manhunt ending when Mexican authorities nabbed the 18 year old along with his mother Tonya, nearly 1,000 miles from their hometown in Texas, detaining them both near the popular beach resort town of Puerto Vallarta. The mother and son duo on the lam for more than two weeks, leading U.S. Marshals on a massive manhunt.

Couch went missing earlier this month and officers issued a warrant for his arrest after this video surfaced on social video appearing to show Couch playing beer pong at a party, a violation of his probation. At the time of his conviction, violating probation meant up to 10 years in prison. Shortly after Couch vanished Texas authorities placed his mother Tonya on the missing persons list as well, believing she might be helping her son. Couch first made headlines two years ago after only receiving 10 years probation in a drunk driving crash that killed four people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We had over 180 years of life taken. And two of those were my wife and daughter.

PEREZ: Couch's defense attorney argued he suffered "affluenza," meaning his wealthy upbringing was to blame for his behavior.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PEREZ: And Michaela, Mexican authorities are expected to turn Couch over to the U.S. Marshals for his return to the United States, and that could happen as soon as later today.

PEREIRA: All right, Evan, thanks so much. I want to turn Art Roderick. He's CNN law enforcement analyst and former assistant director of the U.S. Marshals' Office. Good to have you with us, Art. So we are learning here at CNN that U.S. Marshals, the folks you used to work with, actually are the ones who tipped off Mexican authorities on where this duo was in Mexico, leading to the arrest of Couch and his mother. Can you give us a little insight into how that would have worked?

ART RODERICK, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Sure, Michaela. Good morning. Yes, the marshal service, just like most of the other federal law enforcement agencies here in the U.S., have very close working relationships and actually have offices not only in Mexico City but spread out around the country in Mexico. They work very closely with the federal police. They work very closely with the state police in Mexico.

And as has happened in past cases, when you look at exactly where these individuals were, obviously the best place for them to go to try to hide out would have been Mexico because they were in Texas. So immediately when this warrant was issued they contacted the northern Texas fugitive task force. And the U.S. marshal started assisting them in looking for these two individuals.

PEREIRA: We learned through Evan's reporting that they used a cell phone to track him. Is it common for fugitives like this to make such an amateur mistake?

RODERICK: Exactly. That is exactly what we were expecting. What the marshals were expecting was that they would make this type of mistake. They are not career criminals. Career criminals a lot of times will get caught using communication devices, whether it's cell phone, laptop. But this was the key part, and obviously being able to locate where they were and eventually apprehending them.

[08:05:02] PEREIRA: And add to that they darkened their hair slightly. As you mentioned, these are not career criminals, but they were able to elude capture. I think the arrest warrant was first issued on December 11th. So they were on the lamb for a couple of weeks.

RODERICK: Yes and we'll piece this whole thing together now, or Tarrant County and the marshals pieced the whole thing together to figure out the exact time line of when they left. I'm sure they entered Mexico illegally, which means that Couch can immediately be expelled from the country as an undesirable alien instead of going through the regular extradition process. So it will be interesting to see how quickly we actually can get both of them back to Tarrant County.

PEREIRA: What would you anticipate that timeline being like?

RODERICK: It might already be happening as we speak right now. If he's being expelled and marshals are already down there working with the state police, then he could have been put on an aircraft early this morning sometime and on his way back now.

PEREIRA: The fact that this mother and son, again, they had only released a missing person's case on the mom, but this young man was considered a fugitive. The fact that they had resources, did that further complicate the search for them?

RODERICK: That not only complicated the search for them, but them being close enough to the Mexican border and having some time to get from Tarrant County to the Mexican border really was the key in this whole case. So it really was a situation where we needed a probation officer to come forward as soon as there was a contact so that could jump on them right away before they made it to the border. But obviously in this particular case they somehow got across the border, and it is going to be interesting to see exactly how they did it that.

PEREIRA: Yes, I'm curious to learn that too. I found it really surprising, and maybe it's not to you, but the fact they were found in Puerto Vallarta, so many Americans and Canadians that watch CNN and all the news stations and have news headlines and pictures flashing over their cell phones when they travel, they travel there to get sun and margaritas. Do you think they thought that hiding in plain sight was the better option?

RODERICK: I think that they probably thought just being in Mexico itself would provide them some type of cover. Obviously they were living in a resort area. They had resources to hide out. I don't know if they had another plan to move further south or move into central or South America. But it will be interesting to see if they are going to cooperate and at least let us know not only what their initial plans were but what their future plans were.

PEREIRA: I suppose U.S. marshals really count on the fact that you have time on your side. These aren't people that you are concerned necessarily are going to be violent. You believe that they are on the run and just trying to elude capture. But you have time on your side in the U.S. marshal service. You can be meticulous and be very careful and thorough in your search, whereas you know they are likely -- especially not being career criminals, they are more likely to make a mistake, and that's where you can catch up to them.

RODERICK: Exactly. As a matter of fact I'm surprised it actually took this long. But, you know, this kid committed a horrendous crime. And, you know, watching the families during their interviews was heart wrenching, and I'm glad we were able to bring this to a fairly quick conclusion.

PEREIRA: You don't get to bring back the family members but you can bring some measure of justice by capturing this guy. Art, thank you so much for you expertise and insight on this. We appreciate it.

RODERICK: Thanks, Michaela.

PEREIRA: Christine?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Also breaking this morning, Michaela, Belgian authorities thwarting a new year's terror plot. Two under arrest. CNN learning the plan inspired by ISIS. What was the target? CNN's Erin McLaughlin live in London with the breaking details for us this morning. Erin, what's the latest.

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christine, the alleged target emblematic sites in Brussels during new year's celebrations. The threat serious, that according to a statement released by the Belgian federal prosecutors office. Belgian media reporting one of the targets was a police station in Brussels, a key tourist attraction. And authorities this morning have raised the threat level from two to three as a possible four for military personnel and police, that according to the Belgian authorities as well.

This following a series of raids that took place Sunday and Monday at various parts of Belgium. What they found, military uniforms, training uniforms. They found computer equipment as well as ISIS propaganda.

[08:10:09] Now, a counterterrorism official telling CNN It is believed that attacks were inspired by ISIS but not directed. So it would seem there is no direct link from this alleged plot to ISIS militants in Syria. They also say they did not find weapons and they did not find explosives during those raids. So it is not clear what stage this plot was on. But they have arrested two individuals and charged those individual with terrorism related offenses, and the investigation is ongoing. Don?

LEMON: Thank you very much for that report.

Snow and freezing rain pummeling parts of New England this morning, making a headache for air travelers today. This is the first significant winter storm to slam the northeast this season. CNN's Boris Sanchez live on I-95 just outside of Boston with more for us this morning. Hi, Boris.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Don. You know, one two three inches of snowfall really isn't that uncommon for New England. What is uncommon is the timing of all of this. We're only about three days from the new year, from January. And this is the first snowfall they have seen so far. Typically its starts snowing here in early November so this is certainly out of place.

Right now you can see behind me the roads are actually somewhat clear. That's because there have been hundreds of workers from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation that have been out all morning making sure that the roads are clean. Despite that it is still very dangerous. Earlier today there was an accident, a driver lost control and slammed into a guardrail. So officials certainly want drivers to be cautious and be prepared as this sleet transforms into the rain and then later tonight when it goes back to snow.

The storm we're seeing here in Massachusetts is the same storm that swept through Texas this weekend killing dozens of people with tornados hitting that area. And it is important to know the recovery effort there is going to be stunted at least in parts of Texas like Dallas because of freezing temperatures. So Mother Nature not relenting on those who were hit by tornadoes over the weekend.

Also very difficult to move around and airports. We know of dozens of cancellations and delays. Boston a main focus as well as Detroit and in Chicago as well. That city's two airports dealt with more than 1,600 cancellations over the weekend. And problems will continue as the storm keeps moving east, Michaela.

PEREIRA: Build in a little extra time if you are planning on any extra travel in that area where the cold snap is hitting. And you take care out there. Thanks for that report.

How do Americans feel about the job President Obama is doing heading into his final year in office? A new CNN-ORC poll out this morning suggests that Americans are divided over his legacy. Jim Acosta is live in Honolulu -- tough assignment -- traveling with the president. I suppose this is not unusual at this part of the presidency.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Michaela. And President Obama is getting his end of the years grades and almost his end of term grades courtesy of our new CNN-ORC poll. As you might expect, given some of the heated campaign rhetoric out there this year. Americans are outraged with the way the government is being run back in Washington. Our poll shows three quarters of Americans are dissatisfied with their government. And look at this, 69 percent say they are either very angry or somewhat angry with the direction of the country.

And despite the president's hope as a candidate in 2008 to heal the bitter divide in Washington, our polls finds Americans are pretty split right down the middle on what Mr. Obama has achieved in the Oval Office. Most Americans believe he has brought significant change to the country. But look at this, 37 percent say that change has been for the better, while the same number, 37 percent, say that change has been for the worse.

Our poll did find one area that was optimistic, and that is on the economy. And 52 percent like the way the president has handled the economy, 47 percent say they disapprove. That is likely one reason why the president has much higher favorability numbers than Congress has these days. They are barely in the double digits. All in all, though, heading into this final year in office, President Obama, he has the potential to be remembered for his handling of the economy more than anything else. And as we all know guy, Americans vote with their wallets, so that is a potential boost for Democrats heading into the 2016. Christine? ROMANS: All right, Jim Acosta, thanks for that in Honolulu this morning.

The family of Tamir Rice going directly after the prosecutor after an Ohio grand jury decided not to indict the officers who shot and killed the 12-year-old back in 2014. They are accusing prosecutors of sabotaging that case. How are prosecutors justifying the decision? CNN's Martin Savidge live in Cleveland with more. Martin?

[08:15:01] MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Morning, Christine. The family, as you point out, saying that they are absolutely devastated by the announcement. And they also say, thought, that they are not surprised.

What is clear is that a lot of other people seem to have been surprised, especially -- and that includes the prosecutors office. And what I mean by that is that this announcement comes the Monday after Christmas, and even though it was anticipated there would be a ruling at some time, at this particular time it seems to have surprised.

Here is how County Prosecutor Tim McKinney announced the news.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

TIM MCKINNEY, CUYAHOGA COUNTY PROSECUTOR: Given this perfect storm of human error, mistakes and miscommunications by all involved that day, the evidence did not indicate criminal conduct by police.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

SAVIDGE: So those two officers are not going to be charged criminally as a result of the shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice. The family believes that that is not a justifiable shoot (ph). They have a civil suit that has been filed. It is going to move forward, but there is not going to be any criminal prosecution of the two officers.

It is interesting to note that that line that the prosecutor used, this perfect storm of errors, almost sounds like it would be the opening statement made by the Tamir family attorneys in their lawsuit. It appears that they could have a great deal of justifiable evidence for their civil case and that is in federal court.

Christine.

ROMANS: (inaudible) has been just not resolution, just more sadness quite frankly. Martin Savidge for us, thanks for following that. We're going to speak with the attorney for the family of Tamir Rice in just a few minutes, Don.

LEMON: Iran shipping more than 25,000 pounds of low enriched uranium to Russia.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

LEMON (voice-over): It is an effort to keep Iran with too little fuel to make a nuclear weapon as part of the landmark nuclear deal reached over the summer.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

LEMON (on camera): Iran still has to finish taking apart centrifuges and disabling a plutonium reactor among other steps to back off its nuclear program.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

PEREIRA (voice-over): San Francisco officials are crying foul over graffiti used to promote Justin Bieber's new album done with permanent spray paint on city sidewalks. City employees have been trying to scrub off as much as they can, but that paint has survived weeks of hard work and weathering.

The city attorney calls it a visual blight. Officials are demanding to know it who is responsible.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

PEREIRA (on camera): My question for the panel is, do you think San Francisco is more upset that it was Bieber-related? And if it had been maybe, you know, some actual, you know, other band that was maybe...

ROMANS: Do we know if it's affiliated with the marketing strategy for the album, or is it just some overzealous fan?

LEMON: What do you mean?

PEREIRA: Yes, yes, we're told it is. All right, I say Biebs...

LEMON: Did you see what I did there?

PEREIRA: Are you a Belieber?

LEMON: What do you mean? No, I'm not a Belieber, but I do like that that's the only Justin Bieber song I know.

PEREIRA: You're a Belieber.

LEMON: No, I'm not. And Belieb that.

The were the - they were the buzz words when Barack Obama ran for president.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

LEMON (voice-over): Now a new poll reveals what Americans think about that word hope, that word change, that he promised back in 2008. We're talking about that with a key player in his campaign next. Belieb that.

PEREIRA (voice-over): You know, Chris said you can't laugh at your own jokes.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:21:15] LEMON: Oh, well that music means it's time for politics. The promise of major change swept Barack Obama into his presidency seven years ago, but in a new CNN poll, Americans believe they got change but not all of it positive. So, how will this impact the president's legacy with 2016 less than a year away?

So, let's bring in CNN senior political commentator, a former senior advisor to President Obama, David Axelrod, a man who many believe help put him into office, right, from Chicago.

So, good morning to you sir. You doing okay?

DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I'm doing fine. Good to see you hours later....

LEMON: I know.

AXELROD: ... from the last time I saw you.

LEMON: I know. Just two hours ago it seems like.

Let's talk about this poll. The public, Mr. Axelrod, seems evenly divided, 37 percent on whether Obama has brought positive or negative change to the country. It splits along party lines, obviously. So, what is his legacy? What do you think? And is this going to impact the race for the White House for 2016?

AXELROD: Yes, you know, what was interesting about the poll was that three quarters of those who responded said they thought he had had a significant impact. And as you point out, they were split on whether it was a positive or a negative impact, and they were split almost precisely along party lines with Democrats going one way, Republicans going the other, and independents pretty much split down the middle. And that's the nature of our politics today in this era.

We have a very polarized electorate. And particularly when they're evaluating Obama, that -- those partisan predilections pretty much predict how they are going to respond to questions. That said, on the issue of the economy, he got pretty good grades, which given the partisan bent of the electorate was good news for him. And I think...

LEMON: Well, let's put these numbers up then because (CROSSTALK) he got 52 percent approval for his handling of the economy. Do you think that he is getting, you know, what he deserves or the credit he deserves for turning the economy around, which, quite honestly, was in the tank when he took office?

AXELROD: Oh, yes, no. I think that when historians look at the administration, which is the best way to decide about legacy, it's hard to judge in the moment. I think the first thing they're going to turn to is the fact that he came to office in the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, and he led the country through that cataclysm and we've had six and a half years of positive job growth, and the economy has stabilized.

What hasn't been done has been an increase in wages, and that's really part of what's aggravating the electorate, and I think the president himself probably would acknowledge that is the undone business, not just of his administration but it's been a problem that's been nagging at our economy for several decades.

LEMON: And if people were making more money, one would think that those numbers would be higher than 52 percent. And I'm glad that you mentioned gun control. He has said that that is his biggest disappointment by his own admission and this is what the - that poll shows.

Gun control, 62 percent disapprove of his handling on the issue. Again, he said he could have done more. Do you think it was a no win situation, because not many, if any president, has been able to really make a dent when it comes to gun control?

AXELROD: Well, it's obviously been exacerbated by the fact that we've had these very visible large scale attacks with guns, often with semi- automatic weapons. But the - but you look at this poll and what's interesting about it is that he's sort of getting it from both ends.

[08:25:02:] The gun owners are very negative on the president's efforts to try and pass some gun safety laws, and the proponents of those rules and laws are unhappy that he hasn't gone -- been able to accomplish more. So I think that, you know, what this number reflects is dissatisfaction on both ends of the debate. What I anticipate and what, you know, there have been some rumblings about this, I think, reported here and elsewhere that he will try and take some steps, if not with Congress then through executive authority to increase perhaps background checks or other aspects of gun safety laws in the coming weeks or months. But - but...

LEMON: Do you think he'll do it with executive order?

AXELROD: Well, I think that clearly he's been very candid about that he's exploring his options. I mean, obviously there is a limit to what he can do through executive action, and the challenge with executive action is that the next president can come and undo a lot of the steps that you have taken. And so it's always preferable to move on a legislative front, but clearly the gun lobby has enormous influence.

When the country -- 90 percent of the country favors background checks and Congress won't even take it up, that tells you how difficult it is to move these kinds of measures through the Congress. So, the president has signaled that he's going to try and do it with the authority that he has. He's been exploring that and we'll see what happens.

LEMON: Let's talk about that beautiful city that's in the backdrop there as you look at the Wrigley building and you look at the Tribune Tower and the Chicago River there behind you. It's got some issue.

You're friends with Mayor Rahm Emanuel, on vacation now, returning from Cuba, cutting his family vacation short - his holiday vacation. You have written and you told me yesterday you don't think that he should resign even amid many calls for him to resign, and you think part of it's political.

AXELROD: Well, there is no doubt that part of it is political. But look, the question is not about him, it's about the problem, the problem that's been with us as we've discussed before for generations. And it is a problem that plagued cities around the country.

And it is how do you have strong, effective policing and still respect the rights of your residents and your citizens? And that is something that, you know, I've been here for over 40 years, I've seen seven mayors wrestle with it. None of them have been able to solve that problem completely. And what you want to do, Don, is make sure that you do it in concert with the police and the community.

The community needs good policing. 80 percent of the police officers in this town have few or no complaints against them. There are some who clearly have overstepped their bounds. And the question is, how do you detect that early? How do you prevent that? How do you keep situations that shouldn't rise to the use of lethal force from doing that? There are a lot of questions that have to be tackled.

What I believe is that no one has a greater impetus at this point than Rahm Emanuel to help solve that problem and...

LEMON: And he certainly...

AXELROD: And now the Justice Department is in as well, and they're going to help him. They're give him leverage in trying to solve that problem.

LEMON: As you said, you have watched seven mayors grapple with this and he's the one that should at least - -as you said, has the impetus now to try to deal with it. Thank you very much. David Axelrod, appreciate it.

AXELROD: Always good.

LEMON: Michaela?

PEREIRA: All right, Don. Tamir Rice -- his family is furious over a grand jury's decision not to indict the officers who shot and killed the 12-year-old last year. Where does that family go from here? Their attorney will join us next.

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