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Four Charged With Hate Crimes in Torture Video; Some Trump Voters Hoping They Don't Lose Obamacare; Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired January 06, 2017 - 06:30   ET

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

[06:30:00] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Out there on video for the police to track.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. And everyone has been talking about this especially in the community of Chicago, has been talking about the idea of they can't believe it was streamed live on Facebook. Of course a lot of people looking to Facebook to see what will change maybe to stop this from happening in the future but now these teams or these four face some serious charges in fact. Everything from hate crime to felony aggravated, kidnapping, aggravated unlawful restraint, and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.

Now when you look at this video, of course we're going to warn you about what's in it, we know that these young people tortured this young man for quite some time. Police actually detailing some of the things they did. Not only from making him drink toilet water to taking a knife and trying to scalp a piece of his head.

Not only has this community reacted but the president of the United States, Barack Obama, had some words about what he saw on this video.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What we have seen is surfacing I think a lot of the problems that have been there a long time. Whether it's tensions between police and communities, whether it's hate crimes of the despicable sort that has just now recently surfaced on Facebook, I take these things very seriously.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: There's a lot of questions about the crime here in Chicago. Of course just last year we had over 700 murders in this city, now something like this. A lot of people focusing on what could be changes.

Alisyn, though, not a lot of answers right now but people all can agree that what they saw on this tape was very sickening.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: We are going to be diving into this more and analyzing it. Thank you very much for all of the reporting.

Meanwhile, some weather to tell you about. There's snow falling here in the northeast as we speak. And winter storm, it's heading to the southeast this weekend.

CNN meteorologist Chad Myers has our forecast. What do you see, Chad?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, the good news is it's the weekend because if not this city would be shutdown.

(WEATHER REPORT)

MYERS: Chris.

CUOMO: All right, Chad. Thank you very much. We know you'll keep us on top of it.

So a really vexing question going on for Republicans. Do you repeal when you are not ready to replace? That of course the question surrounding what to do about the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. You're going to hear from someone engaged in the fight and maybe worried about the future for their Republican Party. Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:36:10] CAMEROTA: As Republicans prepare to dismantle Obamacare, more than 20 million Americans who use it are in limbo. That includes one Trump voter who is now hoping that Mr. Trump will think twice.

CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BOB ROSCOE (PH), FLORIDA RESIDENT: They wouldn't sell to me at any price. It was just not -- I was overweight so I was a risk.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Back in 2013 Bob Roscoe, then 53-year-old, was a familiar story in America. Too familiar. He was more than 100 pounds overweight and risk of heart disease and diabetes. He was also self-employed and no company wanted to offer him health care insurance. He was considered too big a risk.

(On camera): Was that tough to go uninsured?

ROSCOE: I does make you warm and fuzzy, but I didn't like it but it was the reality of the situation.

GUPTA: When did you first hear about the Affordable Care Act?

ROSCOE: It was all over the news.

GUPTA: What did you think?

ROSCOE: I thought it was a good idea. Even though I'm a conservative.

GUPTA: So when did you first sign up for Obamacare?

ROSCOE: When it was first available. It was October I remember and I wanted to be covered because it's important. GUPTA (voice-over): And as a result starting in 2014, Bob was able to

get insurance after subsidies. It was finally within reach. And a big relief.

ROSCOE: September was I can't wait until October, it's the feeling of coming out of the rain, if you will. You know, you're out there to the breezes. You can do all you can. You can get healthy, you try to be safe but there's a certain amount of fate that's just out there so to have coverage it was --

GUPTA: Which makes what happened next all the more surprising.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT: Repeal and replace.

GUPTA (on camera): Look, OK, you voted for Donald Trump who promised to repeal something that you're very much benefitting from. How do you explain that to people?

ROSCOE: I did what I thought was correct for the overall good of the country. I think economic strength cures a lot of things. People working, making decent money. That certainly helps out. I rather not need the subsidies. I'd rather be working.

TRUMP: We are repealing and replacing Obamacare. We can reverse the stagnation and usher in a period of true opportunity and growth.

GUPTA (voice-over): That repealing Obamacare would be good for the economy. It's a common refrain but the Committee for a Responsible Budget suggests the opposite. They say fully repealing Obamacare would cost roughly $350 billion over 10 years and would also increase the number of uninsured by $23 million.

(On camera): If he does repeal Obamacare, as he's promised to do, what is that going to mean for you?

ROSCOE: No insurance.

GUPTA: No insurance. That was a big problem for you before.

ROSCOE: I wasn't happy about it.

GUPTA (voice-over): Truth is some of the states that most benefitted from Obamacare had a majority who voted for Trump. Like Roscoe's home state of Florida. In fact Florida has the highest percentage of enrollees in the nation. One in 10 Floridians under 65 signed on for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act.

Roscoe credits Obamacare with profoundly changing his health. And because of that, this lifelong conservative wrestled for the first time with the idea of voting Democrat.

ROSCOE: If I had voted for what I thought was strictly best for me, I would have voted for her. Because the health care plan gives us piece of mind, medical screening. To stop something before it gets worse.

[06:40:01] GUPTA: Roscoe says he has no regrets about voting for President-elect Trump but he would tell him this.

ROSCOE: Each day we face the possibility of losing our home, go into bankruptcy, one thing to come in, health care act has taken the worry away.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, West Palm Beach, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: You know, one of the reasons -- first of all, thank you to Sanjay. Once again putting a human face on what is a very common situation. Not just the need for insurance but the complexity of the situation. It is fair criticism to say repealing is easy, politically, but if you're not ready to replace it, there are a lot of balls to keep in the air who are just like this man and his family.

CAMEROTA: But he also made, I thought, a compelling case that what he did he thought was for the good of the country and he thought that if there's an improved economy it would help everybody but now he finds himself in this bind.

CUOMO: Right. Look, you can't blame the vote. The voter did what he thought was right. However, I'm talking about the lawmakers. They better think long and hard about what they do because there are millions and millions of people in the balance.

CAMEROTA: We'll have an opportunity to talk to many of them in the problem coming up.

CUOMO: So, and talking about battles that have only just begun, you're going to hear about a lot of bathroom bills going on around this country. North Carolina was just the beginning, not the end. Now in Texas transgender people may be in the crosshairs and you might see North Carolina-like backlash of Texas. Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:45:06] CAMEROTA: A couple of headlines for you now. The House passing a measure condemning the United Nations for passing what it calls an anti-Israel resolution and slamming the White House for not blocking it. The Obama administration drew bipartisan criticism when it declined to use its veto power and it allowed this resolution to pass. The resolution calls Israel's expansion in the occupied territories in violation of international law.

CUOMO: Texas lawmakers taking a page from North Carolina's playbook proposing a bill requiring transgender people to use the bathroom matching their gender at birth. Supporters say it's about public safety. Business groups are concerned the measure will spark protests and cost the state potentially billions in revenue just as it did in the Tar Heel State.

CAMEROTA: OK. Wait until you hear this story. There was a royally close call. The "Times of London" reporting that Queen Elizabeth was almost mistaken for an intruder and almost shot by a palace guard while off on an early morning walk. She reportedly told the guard next time I'll ring through beforehand so you don't have to shoot me. The 90-year-old monarch is recovering from a stubborn cold. Yes. That would have been bad.

CUOMO: So in the context of the Queen Mother's apparently recovering, so some of the grave concerns --

CAMEROTA: The Queen.

CUOMO: Right, the queen. You know, some of the grave concerns can put them to the side as she's out taking a walk at 3:00 in the morning. Maybe she's feeling better. So now we can have fun with it. Here's my question. Why was the Queen walking in a hoodie and when she approached the guard gate --

CAMEROTA: Wait a minute.

CUOMO: And she -- at 3:00 in the morning and she had her hands inside of it, and when the guard approached she would only say, so, so. She would not give I.D.

(LAUGHTER)

CAMEROTA: I was wondering where we were going with this. I didn't hear the hoodie element.

CUOMO: And we are still tracking down whether or not there was a physical altercation.

CAMEROTA: Yes. I don't think there was.

CUOMO: Just saying.

The two frontrunners for the NBA MVP are going head-to-head last night in Houston. Andy Scholes has more from the CES in Vegas. This morning's "Bleacher Report."

So you don't get to just cover the best stuff in the world of sports. But you get to do it from the coolest place in the world. The CES out in Vegas and get all the new gadgets. Good for you, Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Chris. You know, I have been here for five days now which is a personal record. Halfway home to getting out of here but I have a lot of fun checking out all the new cool stuff here at CES.

Let's talk a little NBA first. You know, James Harden and Russell Westbrook, if you took a vote for MVP right now, it'd really be a tossup between those two. They're going head to head. Harden had his Rockets rolling early in this one. They opened up an 18-point lead in the 3rd quarter. But Russell Westbrook would not go quietly. He would lead the Thunder back in this one. Westbrook at 8-3 in this game, on his way to 49 points.

This game would be tied in the closing seconds and you'll see Harden is going to find Nene under the basket. And he gets fouled. He'll knockdown both free throws. Rockets sweep by the Thunder 118-116. Now one of the coolest things I've got to try out here while I've been

at CES in Las Vegas is all the new virtual reality products. Well, next VR it's an amazing new way to watch sporting events. It really puts you right there in the action like you're sitting courtside. And right now the NBA, they broadcast one game a week in virtual reality. And I sat down NBA commissioner Adam Silver yesterday and he's excited about the future of this technology.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADAM SILVER, NBA COMMISSIONER: It's the closest thing to being live in an arena and of course when you have a global game like ours only a tiny fraction of our fans will probably ever be in the United States. Let alone be in an NBA arena and therefore if we can replicate the experience, especially that courtside experience, talk to fans on your left, talk to fans on your right. Hear what players are saying out on the floor, move around the arena, I think those are the kinds of things we're very focused on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: NextVR has also worked with the NFL providing highlights. They hope to do more with them in the future.

Don't forget, guys. The playoffs, they start tomorrow night. You've got the Lions at the Seahawks and then, Alisyn, you've got the no one has a quarterback bowl between the Texans and the Raiders.

CAMEROTA: Sounds fun. Andy, not as much fun as your assignment. But thank you very much for sharing all of that with us.

All right. So we are learning more about this sickening case. The torture of a mentally disabled teenager by four people. It was streamed live on Facebook. So what President Obama is now saying about this crime in his hometown of Chicago and what can be done to stop things like this. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:52:58] CUOMO: There are new details emerging in the torture of a white special needs teen in Chicago. You'll remember the video as it was streamed lived on Facebook.

The four African-American attackers now facing hate crime and other charges. President Obama weighing in on the this senseless attack as well.

Let's discuss this with political editor for the Root.com and professor of political science and communication at Morgan State University, Professor Jason Johnson. And "Chicago Sun Times" crime reporter, Frank Main.

Good to have you both there. Let's start on the ground, Frank. What is this being taken as in the city of Chicago?

FRANK MAIN, CRIME REPORTER, CHICAGO SUN-TIMES: Well, as you know, Chicago has been roiled by racial tension over the last year because of police issue and so this is more fuel on the fire, I think, involving race. Rahm Emanuel, the mayor, weighed in on this yesterday. As other politicians, he called it sickening but he also said look, Chicago is also a place where millions of people come every year so, you know, there are obviously tourists who feel comfortable coming here and this doesn't kind of represent, you know, Chicago as a whole.

CAMEROTA: Yes. People were wondering, Jason, if it was going to be -- if in fact they were going to be charged with a hate crime. Yes, they have been.

JASON JOHNSON, POLITICAL EDITOR, THE ROOT.COM: Right.

CAMEROTA: In part because of the racial component. You can hear them saying racist things but also because they targeted a mentally disabled teenager. That also constituted a hate crime. What it did not turn out to be, according to police, I mean, we have to go to the primary source.

JOHNSON: Right.

CAMEROTA: Is at all connected to Black Lives Matter, though right- wing Web sites were claiming that.

JOHNSON: Yes. Racists are going to say racist things. You know, look, if I committed a bank robbery tomorrow with a Giants jersey on its not Eli's fault. Right? Just because someone is black and commits a heinous crime doesn't mean that they're associated with the organization.

What I think, though, in this case is this is actually how the justice system is supposed to work. People did something bad, they got caught, they have been publicly condemned, they're going to be convicted. I wish similar things that happened in that case with the high school in Iowa where two white students raped a mentally disabled teammate, you know, and they escaped.

[06:55:07] You know, they weren't given hate crime -- you know, fines or anything else like that so I hope future cases are treated this way.

CUOMO: Now often, as you know this, but many people don't, when police are involved in one of these situations, there are all these analogies are being drawn between this situation and what's happened with police situations, people often complain, they say why wasn't that cop arrested right away the way I would be. That's not how the system works. Police are given a suggestion of use of force as part of their job.

JOHNSON: Right.

CUOMO: They don't get arrested the way you or I would.

JOHNSON: Right.

CUOMO: That's something that people need to learn when they're reviewing something like this as well. No?

JOHNSON: Well, it's true. And that's actually one of the things that lots of criminal justice activists are concerned with, that if you are a state agent and use violence you actually should be under greater scrutiny because we expect you to be more responsible when you're a police officer but again, I think, if we go back to this case, this is open and shut. You beat up some random person, you abuse some random person --

CAMEROTA: On tape. And streaming live on Facebook.

JOHNSON: You know, on tape, streaming live. And they've been caught for it. And again that should be how our justice system works regardless of if you've got a badge or you're just a jerk.

CAMEROTA: Frank, the streaming live aspect of this was of course deplorable, though President Obama had a different spin or a different take on it. He basically said that social media is now allowing these things to be seen in a way they weren't before. Listen to him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: In part because we see visuals of racial tensions, violence and so forth because of smartphones and the Internet and the media. What we have seen is surfacing I think a lot of the problems that have been there a long time. Whether it's tensions between police and communities, whether it's hate crimes of the despicable sort that has just now recently surfaced on Facebook. The -- I take these things very seriously.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Frank, it's interesting. I read that you, having covered crime in Chicago for a long time, say that it is often the practice of gang members to broadcast themselves or their actions.

MAIN: Right, so first of all let me say that police say there's no indication that any these folks, these defendants were gang members. But yes, in Chicago for years gangs have antagonized each other by going on Facebook and posting messages and video and that kind of thing, and in a broader context, society is using social media every day. I can point to four, five hate crime cases in Cook County over the last two years in which, you know, hate speech or alleged hate speech was caught on video.

You know, in one case a woman was at a festival and, you know, used the N word and apparently spat on someone and she was charged with a hate crime. White -- people black, people have been charged with hate crimes in Chicago in recent years and the hate crime statute here is a very simple statute. All it says is that hate just has to be one of the motivations that you had when you committed a crime and what the police department is saying is it was just simply the speech that was on those videos.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

MAIN: That constituted, you know, hate.

CAMEROTA: Right. So, I mean, it's a double-edged sword. It does reveal what's going on but it also might incite it because if you think that you're going to have more notoriety by posting it on Facebook.

Jason, Frank, thank you very much for the reporting on all of this.

CUOMO: All right. Thanks to our international viewers for watching. "CNN NEWSROOM" is going to begin for you in just moments. For our U.S. viewers, NEW DAY is going to continue right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CLAIRE MCCASKILL (D), MISSOURI: He was the benefactor of someone who was about to become commander-in-chief, trashing the intelligence community.

REP. PAUL RYAN (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: He won fair and square.

JAMES CLAPPER, DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: The hacking also entailed classical propaganda, disinformation, fake news.

REP. CHRIS COLLINS (R), NEW YORK: Where has Barack Obama been with Iran, North Korea and China?

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D), MINORITY LEADER: We will fight that decision to defund Planned Parenthood.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Donald Trump, Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell, you have awakened a sleeping giant.

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Trump is looking to ask U.S. taxpayers, not Mexico, to pay for his proposed border wall.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT: That wall will go up so fast your head will spin.

JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm being an adult and the president, you got to do something.

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: Heads are spinning right now going back and forth, trying to figure out who's going to pay for this wall.

Good morning, and welcome to your NEW DAY. Up first, the nation's top intelligence chiefs will meet today with President-elect Trump. They are going to make their case that Russia interfered in the U.S. election. Their meeting comes after America's top spies told Congress that Russia's intervention went well beyond hacked e-mails and disseminating so-called fake news.

CAMEROTA: This as we learned a few details as to what is in the classified report that Mr. Trump will see today. Will the president- elect accept what is presented or continue to cast doubts in the intelligence community. That's the question today. We are now two weeks away from inauguration day. We have it all covered for you. But let's begin with CNN's Jason Carroll, he is live at Trump Tower in New York.

Good morning, Jason.

CARROLL: And good morning to you, Alisyn. We're now just hours away from the president-elect receiving that briefing --