Return to Transcripts main page
NEW DAY
Seahawks and Patriots Head to the Super Bowl; Boko Haram Grows More Deadly; Obama to Propose Tax Increases on the Wealthy; Widening Search in Europe for Sleeper Cells
Aired January 19, 2015 - 06:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: The vice president and his wife were not home at the time. That residence is several hundred yards from the main road where the shots were fired from. Officials say it's unclear whether any of them hit the vice president's home.
Protests against racism and police violence expected to mark today's Martin Luther King Day in Boston, Memphis and St. Paul, Minnesota. Meanwhile, in the San Francisco Bay area, at least three people reportedly were detained in a largely peaceful demonstration. Oprah Winfrey and her "Selma" co-stars, meanwhile, marched in Alabama Sunday alongside hundreds of other people. Today, people in all 50 states will mark the holiday by helping others, we hope, taking part in day of service events.
And now for something entirely different. Dover, Delaware. Police Officer Jeff Davis jams to Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off" and thus the video is a viral smash. Go ahead. Take a listen. You know you want to.
(VIDEO CLIP)
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Shake it off.
PEREIRA: Yes, baby. Yes.
CAMEROTA: Hey.
PEREIRA: So the Dover PD actually released the video in an effort to humanize its officers, apparently getting a thumbs up from the singer herself. Taylor Swift tweeted, "lol the sass." I love his sass. That is so great. I sing that song far too often.
CAMEROTA: Oh, it's the catchiest song in the world. And I love his dance moves.
PEREIRA: I know.
CAMEROTA: But two hands on the wheel, officer, at all times.
PEREIRA: Well, he might have been at a light. He might have been at a light.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: That is the least of the concerns about what we just saw.
PEREIRA: It was - come on, you didn't know -
CAMEROTA: Oh, you haven't danced to "Shake It Off"?
PEREIRA: Don't try (ph).
CUOMO: There are lines.
PEREIRA: You have two daughters at home.
CUOMO: There are lines.
PEREIRA: Please.
CUOMO: I love the blue, but that's a man law violation, what you just saw there. And what was this thing that he did there? What was that?
CAMEROTA: He's dancing. It's hard to dance while seated, though I can do it.
CUOMO: All right, listen, I'm going to do him a favor and change topics. This is the other thing that's going on. This is not a man law violation.
PEREIRA: Oh, everybody's talking about this.
CUOMO: Let the betting, the TV buying and dip making begin. The year's Super Bowl now set. The Seattle Seahawks stole one from Green Bay, boy, I'll tell you. And the New England Patriots will play in the big game as well. It all happens in Arizona.
Let's bring in Laura Rutledge. She's got the dets for us in this morning's "Bleacher Report."
You couldn't ask for better games, that's for sure.
PEREIRA: (INAUDIBLE) Sunday.
LAURA RUTLEDGE, CNN SPORTS (ph): That is right. And, yes, both the Seahawks and Patriots are teams a lot of people expected to make the Super Bowl. But for Seattle, it didn't look good in the final minutes of their game against the Packers. The Seahawks had committed five turnovers and were pretty much done before this onside kick. The ball bounces off the Packer's player and Seattle recovers. Now, that sets up Marshawn Lynch. Well, he's going to take it to the house, giving the Seahawks the lead. The Packers would tie the game with a field goal. That would send it into overtime. Then the Seahawks, they decide to finish the deal. Russell Wilson finds Jermaine Kearse for the game winning touchdown. Seattle going back to the Super Bowl for the second straight year. CNN's Rachel Nichols caught up with the winning coach, Pete Carroll.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETE CARROLL, SEAHAWKS HEAD COACH: We just needed to keep believing and knowing it was going to happen. And that's what - how we've been doing it, counting on one another all year long. And it was never more important to show that right then. Those guys told me, they (Ph) got it, they went ahead and did their business and took care of it. A great freaking win.
RUSSELL WILSON, SEAHAWKS QUARTERBACK: I've seen a lot of great games and I've seen a lot of sports and I think the resilience of our football team is unmatchable.
AARON RODGERS, GREEN BAY QUARTERBACK: It's going to be a missed opportunity that we'll probably think about the rest of my career. We were the better team today and we played, you know, we played well enough to win and we can't blame anybody but ourselves.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RUTLEDGE: So the AFC championships didn't keep you on the edge of your seat nearly as much as the NFC since the Patriots handled the Colts easily throughout. Tom Brady was doing Tom Brady things, basically dominating. He threw for three touchdowns in pouring rain, mind you. The Patriots blow out the Colts 45-7 and Brady is now the first quarterback ever to play in six Super Bowl games.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM BRADY, NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS QUARTERBACK: We had a lot of good teams in the past. And, you know, this one is going to have to, you know, win a very important game to kind of leave our legacy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RUTLEDGE: So all you have to do is look towards the prognosticators in Vegas to see how good this Super Bowl might be. The Seahawks started off last night as a 2.5 favorite. But the line has already moved back towards the Patriots. And that's just nine hours after this game, basically. So it's going to be a good one.
CUOMO: Well, they looked a lot more dominant. You know, I say you couldn't ask for better games because that was a great example of New England at its best. Laura, thank you very much for giving us the insight on that.
Did you watch? Did you get any?
CAMEROTA: I watched the Seahawks. Even I saw the Seahawks.
CUOMO: Is that why you're wearing green today?
PEREIRA: Yes.
CAMEROTA: I didn't know I was supposed to -
CUOMO: Another play green on TV, people.
CAMEROTA: I'm not that sports savvy.
CUOMO: But it is.
PEREIRA: We'll be watching and I'm sure there will be some bets made.
All right, here -
CUOMO: I could hear John Berman's little -
PEREIRA: Oh, don't even get me started on him.
CUOMO: Little squeaks from his home. Yay, Patriots.
PEREIRA: The president's plan to help the middle class involves hiking taxes on the wealthy. Does this measure, though, stand a chance in a GOP controlled Congress. A preview of the president's State of the Union Address ahead.
CAMEROTA: And, Boko Haram growing more deadly. So why isn't anything being done to stop them? We will ask the U.S. ambassador to Nigeria.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CUOMO: You know about the terror hot spots in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, the big response to them, now home grown fighters coming back to Europe, and everybody trying to figure out what to do. But all the while in Nigeria, Boko Haram operates virtually unchecked. Boko Haram has wiped out a Nigerian town, literally off the map. They've used children as human bombs, kidnapped civilians, even taken on the military directly, attacking barracks in Nigeria and now Cameroon. By any measure, this group is a murderous hoard that is getting bad and now worse. So why isn't more being done in country and from big allies like the U.S.? Moments ago, we put the situation to the U.S. ambassador to Nigeria, James Entwistle.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CUOMO: NEW DAY. I'd like to get your latest insights on the news of the 80 people kidnapped by Boko Haram. Any word on their location?
AMBASSADOR JAMES ENTWISTLE, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO NIGERIA: I don't have any update, Chris. And good morning. It's a pleasure to join you from Abuja.
This latest incident, unfortunately, is just the latest in a continuum of horror that goes back to well before the infamous Chibak (ph) kidnappings in April in that part of the country.
CUOMO: You couldn't be more right, sir. It is just the latest. Hundreds now, even by the smallest count, gone. You've seen the picture of the town, right? Just about everything there levelled.
ENTWISTLE: Yes, I have.
CUOMO: Two thousand people according to human rights organizations may be lost. And yet it seems no real inroads against the group and, frankly, no real urgency from countries like your own, the United States. How do you explain that?
ENTWISTLE: Well, I have to disagree completely with great respect, Chris. The United States has stood with Nigeria since the early days of their counterterrorism struggle. No country is doing more to try to help them through equipment, through training, through all sorts of things. But it's more than just a military issue. It's building up the conditions in that part of the country so this kind of thing can't happen again.
CUOMO: When you look at what's going on around the world and the commitment of western country, what's called the coalitions, especially the United States, you do not see it happening in Nigeria. As you know better than we do, Mr. Ambassador, the men fighting on the ground against Boko Haram say they need weapons, they need bullets. So easy to provide. Such a small commitment. Why isn't that getting done?
ENTWISTLE: Well, that's exactly why we're working so closely with the Nigerian military. Keep in mind, what we're doing here, as a friend and partner, is supporting the Nigerian effort to deal with this. We can't do it for them, but we can help them do it. It's training, it's equipment. We're gradually building up their capacity.
Let's be clear, Chris, if we've learned anything ourselves, dealing with a group like this, like Boko Haram, that has enmeshed itself in the civilian population, that couldn't care less how many civilians are killed, countering an enemy like that is very, very difficult to do. And much of our interaction, much of our training with the Nigerians is helping them from our own perspective in Iraq and Afghanistan from the lessons that we've learned there.
CUOMO: Right, and yet we're not seeing basically any progress against this organization. It, obviously raises -- they're not even an organization, let's be honest. They're a murderous hoard just running rough shod over the countryside there seemingly unchecked. And I understand that there are barriers to entry for the United States and others getting involved in Nigeria. Some leading all the way up to the president himself, Goodluck Jonathan. Is that the issue, that he's not asking, that he doesn't take this serious enough and that he is keeping people like the United States from helping as much as they could?
ENTWISTLE: I don't see any barriers to entry here, Chris. We've had a close relationship with Nigeria ever since their independence. As I said, we are heavily engaged with the army, with the rest of the military. It's a slow, sometimes very frustrating process. But the notion that we're - and the rest of the international community are doing nothing is just not accurate. The president was up in that area recently. I imagine he's incredibly frustrated by this as well. But it's a difficult situation. We have to just keep on keeping on. Sadly, it's not going to be solved overnight.
CUOMO: The elections. Do you have questions about whether they should go off next month, given the fact that the country seems to have little capability to keep them safe? Are you worried that an election will just be drawing, you know, tens of thousands of people into a potential attack by an unchecked Boko Haram?
ENTWISTLE: No, I don't worry about that across the nation. Obviously, conducting the election in the northeastern part of the country is going to be problematic. And we're also working closely with the Nigerians to encourage them to make sure that the thousands of people who have been displaced by this conflict can vote. The fact that they're displaced should not mean that they're disenfranchised. But I think it's going to be a very interesting democratic exercise across the country next month. The election commission is up against a very tight time line to get everything in place. But I see no reason right now that the election should have to be delayed.
CUOMO: Well, the concern is that there's essentially a third candidate on the ballot and it's Boko Haram and they're using kids as suicide bombers and it has the world's attention now and that's why we come to you to see what the most powerful world in the country is planning to do about it.
Ambassador James Entwistle, thank you very much for joining us on NEW DAY. Good luck in your duties there.
ENTWISTLE: Chris, thanks very much. A pleasure to serve.
CUOMO: All right, Alisyn to you.
CAMEROTA: Thanks, Chris.
Well, the president says he wants to help the middle class by taxing the wealthy more. Does a tax hike stand a chance in the Republican- controlled Congress? We have a preview of the State of the Union Address straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAMEROTA: President Obama proposing tax increases on the wealthy. We're told the president will sell his ideas Tuesday during the State of the Union Address. He'll make the case that increased tax revenue would benefit middle class Americans through child care credits and a credit for working married couples. Does his plan have a chance of making it through the Republican-controlled Congress? Let bring in CNN political commentators Ben Ferguson and Marc Lamont Hill. Ben is the host of the "Ben Ferguson Show," and Marc is a professor at Morehouse College.
Gentleman, thanks so much for being with us this morning.
BEN FERGUSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning.
MARC LAMONT HILL, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning.
CAMEROTA: So let's - let me just start by showing you and our viewers what we understand the president will be pitching on Tuesday night. Here's what his plan calls for, an increase on tax for couples earning a half a million dollars a year, fees on large financial institutions and he says it will raise $320 billion over 10 years.
Marc, how is this plan going to go over?
HILL: Oh, smoothly. The Republicans will applaud it. It will be the first unanimous vote in recent congressional history. Everybody will be happy and we'll skip away.
No, no, I mean it -- this isn't going to pass. We all know this isn't going to pass. But I think it's important for the president to do this. He needs to lay out a coherent, cohesive plan for moving the country forward. Obviously, this puts the ball then in Republican hands.
Now, the argument will be, why would the president put forward legislation that he knows isn't going to pass. Well, first of all, Republicans have been doing that for the last two to four years. They've sent how many bills to - in universal health care have we seen put forward. But I'm not saying it's right because they - because Republicans have done it. I'm saying it's right because it's necessary to start the conversation and to present to the American people a plan that makes sense.
CUOMO: Well, look, if you don't think it's right that he's doing it because they did it, then don't mention it as a reason.
Ben, let me come over to you.
HILL: No, I'm just - I'm just say, I can imagine that as being a counterargument, but it's - but it's bigger than that.
CUOMO: Yes. Right, I know, but why mention it. Yes, it shouldn't be about that, so let's not even give it as an option.
Ben, let me ask you this, though.
FERGUSON: Sure.
CUOMO: You - I believe that from your sides the optics are, he should have done it when he had the votes. He should have done it then.
FERGUSON: Yes.
CUOMO: Why do it now? Is that a little bit of this new term, a false narrative? Because he was trying to do it. He was trying to get it done.
FERGUSON: No. Well -
CUOMO: And he was unsuccessful because of the opposition.
FERGUSON: So why would you try to do it now then? And the answer is, he never really pushed hard for this. This is a classic example of political pandering to get ready for the Democrats so they have a narrative for when they run for the White House. He obviously doesn't want to hand the keys over to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue to Republicans. He wasn't to help whoever it is, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, you know, Elizabeth Warren, whoever it may be.
And so this is - look at what he's doing after the State of the Union. He's not going around the country campaigning on this because he knows that this is never going to happen. But the narrative is great for Democrats. The Republicans are evil, rich people that want to keep all their money and don't want to help the middle class out and you can go campaign on that. And he knows this isn't going to pass. That's the reason why he's not wasting any time on it after the State of the Union because if he actually thought it had a chance, he'd be going around the country talking about it. And he's not doing it. It's not on his schedule. And this is a classic one liner for political gain only and the American people are the ones who are going to be scratching their heads.
HILL: I disagree.
PEREIRA: Marc, I want to read - I want to read something I find personally entertaining. This is Grover Norquist, the head of an anti- pac group, Americans for Tax Reform. Look what he has to say about the proposition.
When it comes to tax hikes, Democrats are like a teenage boy on a prom date. They keep asking the same question, different ways, but always to the same point. Marc, my point is this, American taxpayers are thinking that this is just sort of a lesson in futility and a waste of time and resources and just keying up the Congress and the president for a whole another round of stalled talks and what we saw - a repeat of what we saw a few years ago. It's going to frustrate taxpayers.
HILL: Oh, it's going to frustrate taxpayers. Everything that happens between the president and the Congress is frustrating to all of us. But I do think there are moments where you have to lay out a policy, you have to lay out an agenda. The president campaigned if 2012 on this very thing. He said - he campaigned on economic populism. He said, we need to close that gap between the have nots and the have gots. And now he's actually doing what he said he would do.
The president -- capital gains taxes have increased under the Obama administration from 15 percent to around where we are now, which is 23 percent. He wants to get up to 28 percent, which is Reagan level tax hikes. My point is, it's not as if he's done nothing, as Ben said, he has been doing this and gradually trying to move this up. He's talked about education reform. Giving a $2,500 tax credit to people going to college makes sense. These are the things that I think the American people will find resonant (ph) -
CAMEROTA: Yes -
FERGUSON: I think -
HILL: And then it's up to Republicans to then respond. I think that's important.
CAMEROTA: Go ahead, Ben.
FERGUSON: Look, here -- here's the thing. I think part of the issue with these ideas that he has is, they're just not well thought out, which tells you how much they don't really believe in them. If you want to give a tax credit, why only limit it to community college. If you have a kid coming out of the inner city, for example, and he makes it into a four year incredible university, why shouldn't he get the same tax credit? At the same time, when we have families in America that are struggling, sometimes -
HILL: The tax credit is not just for community college, Ben.
FERGUSON: But my point is - but my point is, it should be for wherever you choose to go.
HILL: No, that's wrong.
FERGUSON: No, no, no, their -
HILL: Right, what I'm saying is -
FERGUSON: He's specifically focusing on community colleges and putting people in community colleges. If you're an incredible student, you should be able to get the same tax credit to use a public or private university of your choice because you're rewarded for how hard you worked. And I'll also say this, the tax credit he's doing, for example, for two parents that are working -
HILL: Ah, that 21 - that $2,500 will (INAUDIBLE) the kids going to Yale.
FERGUSON: But, hold on. Let me finish this. Let me finish this. Well, I -
CUOMO: Wait, hold on a second.
CAMEROTA: Hold on. Hold on.
FERGUSON: Well, if you're - (INAUDIBLE) Yale -
CUOMO: Hold on. Ben, Ben, hold on a second.
FERGUSON: And you can't afford it -
CAMEROTA: Hold on.
CUOMO: No, hold on a second. Marc is making a point that it's not just about community college. They're just focusing on that from a policy perspective -
HILL: Right.
CUOMO: Because that population is dealing with a lot of financial sensitivity.
Marc, is your point that it applies to any college?
HILL: It applies to any college.
CUOMO: Right.
HILL: There's a whole different initiative around community college.
CUOMO: Right.
HILL: But it applies to all college. That's just not true.
CUOMO: Hey, Ben, let me do a tropic shift with you.
FERGUSON: But when you have a - but you have a - you have a 25 percent aspect of this that goes to state level and governors are talking about this saying, well, if it's a private university, how are we going to have the funds go towards that? There's a policy issue there, is my point. Several governors have mentioned that as well saying, you should be able to use this and spend it wherever you choose to go and the state should not be put in this position to only have it go to state universities or community colleges.
CUOMO: It's also free money.
CAMEROTA: But let's -
FERGUSON: Well -
CAMEROTA: Hold on, guys, let's change topics because we do also want to talk about what's happening on the Republican presidential side and that Mitt Romney is seriously considering another bid. And we're told that one of the themes that he would hit hard is the income inequality in the country. Marc, obviously Mitt Romney knows a lot about finances and economics. How do you think that that message would go over coming from Mitt Romney?
HILL: First of all, I giggle every time Mitt Romney runs for president. It makes me very excited as someone on the left that Mitt Romney is running for president. It really clears the way. I don't think economic populism works with a guy caught on tape talking about the takers of the world. Whether it's a good message or not is not even the point. I don't think he's the right person to present that message.
CAMEROTA: Ben, how does -- how does he get past that, that tape where he was talking about the 47 percent?
FERGUSON: Well, look, everybody - yes, I mean, look, everybody that's running for president is a multimillionaire. So is Hillary Clinton, even though she said she was dead broke when she left the White House. I think the issue is, does the guy understand business and does he understand state finances and government? The answer is, yes. Look at his policy as a governor. But here's his biggest problem. He's the most brilliant, boring candidate that we have a prospect of being in this field. And that's what's going to hold him back if anything is his - you know, if I've got a -- if I'm a Republican and there's 10 different candidates and I can only go into one room to hear one candidate, am I going to pick Mitt Romney's room? Probably not. Now, if I want someone to help me with my finances, or the government's finances, he's the guy you go to. But there's still that lack of an x factor with him.
CUOMO: I always love this idea -
HILL: But there's another piece of this, and that is -
CUOMO: What's the other piece, Marc?
HILL: That if you're talking about economic populism, at some point, if he runs on that, he's going to run up against the Democrat. And then when he lays his actual policy, which is actually the exact same thing he's been talking about for the last 12 years, if he runs against a Hillary Clinton or anyone else, they're going to see that he's still talking about tax cuts for the rich. He's still going to be talking about corporate bailouts. And that doesn't feel like economic populism.
PEREIRA: Marc Lamont Hill, Ben Ferguson, we always love a good robust conversation with the two of you. Happy Monday, my friends. We'll talk to you soon.
FERGUSON: You too. See you guys.
HILL: Happy Monday. Happy Martin Luther King Day.
PEREIRA: Absolutely.
CAMEROTA: Thanks. You, too.
CUOMO: Happy Martin Luther King Day. Thank you very much for that, Marc Lamont Hill.
This is one of the themes that we're on today, but there's a lot of news this morning. So what do you say, let get to it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Twenty people were arrested in anti-terror raids in Belgium, France and in Germany.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is an international phenomenon.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What these terrorists represent is a perversion of a major religion and we have to take them on with everything we've got.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) made several trips to Yemen. Investigators are trying to figure out whether one or both of the brothers ever met with Anwar al Awlaki.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there a point where you just stay on them 24/7?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A huge opening for "American Sniper."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What does the success of "American Sniper" say about how Americans feel right now?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota and Michaela Pereira.
CAMEROTA: And good morning, everybody. Welcome to NEW DAY. A widening search this morning across Europe in the hunt for terrorist
sleeper cells. Heavily armed guards dispatched across Brussels. Five Belgian nationals now in custody for their suspected role in a terrorist organization plotting to target police officers. Two other suspects in French custody this morning.
CUOMO: And here's what we know. Security right now is being tightened at all key targets outside embassies and Belgium's national museum. All of this is going on as European foreign ministers gather today to talk terrorism. CNN has this story covered, of course, like no other network can. Let's start with Nic Robertson live in Paris.
Nic, what do we know?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: DNA found in Coulibaly's apartment, Amedy Coulibaly, the gunman who went in and took hostage -- people inside a kosher supermarket, killing four of them, the DNA found on ammunition he had there, on a gun clip containing bullets, that, of course, very important to police because it means that that person will have known about Coulibaly's weapons, potentially is out there with weapons of his own.
Also, DNA found in a car that is believed to be the car that Coulibaly used to get to the kosher supermarket. Again, a potential indication of an accomplice who knew what Coulibaly was doing. Somebody else who may be a danger and still on the loose. The police are looking for them.
Ten thousand French troops still on the streets here in Paris. Unprecedented in its nature. How do the French people view how the government is handling this? The apparent answer is, they view it very favorably. The president here getting a 21-point poll boost. The prime minister, 17 points up in his popularity, too.
Michaela.
PEREIRA: All right, Nic, thanks so much.
Meanwhile, growing concerns that al Qaeda's branch in Yemen, which claimed responsible for the "Charlie Hebdo" attack, may benefit from all of this growing instability in Yemen. That country's prime minister now in hiding after coming under heavy, heavy fire as he left a meeting with Yemen's president at a Houti (ph) political group. Fighting between government forces and Houti Shiite rebels has been raging near Yemen's presidential palace, potentially giving AQAP an opportunity to make its move.
Let's get the very latest from senior international correspondent Nic Paton Walsh.
