Transcripts For CNNW CNN Newsroom With Carol Costello 20151229

Expected to plead not guilty this morning. But the citys on edge. Now the mayor is cutting his vacation short. Should rahm emanuel keep his job . Plus donald trump says hes going easy on clinton. She says oh wed love to run against trump. But hes going hard on Chris Christie saying there is no way the new jersey governor didnt know about bridgegate. Lets talk live in the cnn newsroom. Im poppy harlow. Thank you for being with us. Captured in mexico, the man hunt now over for the so called affluenza teen, ethan couch. Nabbed by authorities in a vacation hot spot of Puerta Vallarta along with his mother. You see the mug shot there. We havent seen an image of him in quite a long time. Officials had been searching for the two of them for several weeks. Thats after couch violated his parole. He made head lines for getting just probation after killing four people while driving drunk. Couchs defense attorney claimed his familys wealth meant that he didnt understand limits or accountability. That was dubbed the affluenza defense and it got him only parole. Lets talk about it with cnn justice correspondent evan perez. And i should say he just got probation, which i think has stunned much of the nation and then he disappeared for weeks on end. Now what do we know . Good morning poppy. The u. S. Marshal service was tracking a cell phone tied to ethan couch in recent day asks they alerted authorities where to find him. Police moved in yesterday to make the arrest and found the fugitive with his mother as you can see in the picture he seems to have darker hair and hes expected to be turned over to the u. S. Marshals for his return to the u. S. Authorities also listed his mother as a missing person because they believe she was helping him. And the Tarrant County sheriff says both mom and son could face charges. Well file a criminal case oar cases as serious and with as punishment for her as she can get. Weve said since day one if shes helping him and helping him evade detention and helping him hide, then shes breaking the law. Well file a criminal case against her and well push along with the da whos cooperating fally in the investigation. Well pub push for full prosecution and our hope is they will be locked up for some time. This is shortly after video on social media appeared to show couch playing beer pong at a party and that would be a violation of his probation. Couch made head lines two years ago when he only received probation for this drunk driving crash that killed four people. And his defense attorney argued the teen suffered from affluenza. Thank you very much evan. Couch, who was 16 at the time of the crash had a blood alcohol level more than three times the legal limit. The anger has to subside at some point. Aking anner is a temporary emotion. And i try not to hang on to that. But i do feel like accountability hasnt been demonstrated yet and i would still like to have some accountability because i need for my son lucas to see there are consequences for bad decisions. I dont wish anything bad upon ethan. And with whats happening, i dont see an exit strategy the way hes going. I would just say, you know, ethan you are a man now. It is time to man up. And come in and lets begin to make good decisions and start again. You are not beyond redemption. Lets talk about all of this from a legal perspective. Joining me cnn legal analyst criminal defense attorney joey jackson. Thank you for being here. My pleasure good morning. What happens now . They are in the custody of the mexican authorities, and are going to be extradieted but then what . You could argue it was a violation because he was around alcohol. That is something that could have been addressed. The lawyer could argue yes he was a juvenile, made a bad decision. But he still can be rehabilitated. Now it is a whole different ball game because he was on the run. Remember hes not going before the same judge that sentenced him to the probation because shes no longer there. She declined running for reelection so there is a new judge in town. New sheriff. Judges have wide discretions in terms of what they can do. Initially many people as you know poppy felt it was a miscarriage of justice. And i get that. I get that when you are 16 rehabilitation is a significant part of the process. But when four people are dead and when two are significantly injured, one brain damaged, there needs to be consequences. If there werent consequences then i certainly would suspect there would be consequences right now. You just heard the father there of one of those injured individuals, lucas. The father of lucas said i need accountability. Anyone can understand that. Legally, what are the parameters for that . And so gracious too saying hes not beyond redemption. What happens is there is a range of options the judge has. And it would have competing factions. The Defense Attorneys are going to make the argument that he can be redeemed. He can be rehabilitated. Do not put him in jail. Of course the prosecutor is going to have a whole different thing to say about it. The prosecutors want him to be treated as an adult. They want this to be moved to adult court. So it could be afforded another opportunity, doubtful or he could be sent to jail. Violation of probation. What about the crime itself, killing the four people . Any retrying of that. Thats been litigated, the judge ruled and as a result he got what he got. Which is the probation that he get the treatment and attempt to get the rehabilitation he needs. Thats resolved. The issue now becomes he was directed to do something. That direction was to follow your parole and probation, do as you are ordered to do. Stay away from drugs and alcohol. Well give you that chance. Now being afforded that chance and run afoul hes looking at jail time. Thats at the discretion of the judge. I suspect though it will be steep. The father who was not with them in mexico is the one who reported their passports missing a few weeks. If he knew they were attempting to leave the country, any legal ramificati ramifications . There always could be ramifications. I more so think that the mother has the legal issue here based upon her harboring the fugitive and aiding and abetting and hindering the prosecution. Could the father . Of course. But right now it looks like the mother has a world of accountability. They said they would find him. And they did. They are good at what they do. Thank you very much. Next hour the officer who shot and killed the chicago teenager Laquan Mcdonald will appear in court. Officer Jason Van Dyke is expected to plead not guilty to six separate counts of firstdegree murder. In 2016 he shot mcdonald 16 times in seconds after someone called with a taser to respond. What do we expect today . Reporter good morning. Jason van dyke scheduled to be a arraigned at 9 30 local time. He faces six counts of firstdegree murder and one count of official misconduct all from the shooting and killing of Laquan Mcdonald. Hes the 17yearold black male who was shot 16 times in 15 seconds back in october of 2014. Now his attorney being tight lipped about this particular proceeding. But overall hes been very clear. He has said that his client acted in self defense, that he used proper force and that hes expected to plead not guilty today in court. Something very rare in a criminal court in illinois is going to happen today. Cameras will be allowed in the courtroom for the second time in this proceeding. Van dike not only facing scrutiny inside the courtroom but also on the street. Every time weve seen him walk out of this court we have seen that protesters scream at him, pound at his vehicle as hes driving away. And were expecting the same thing to happen today. And again hes scheduled to be arained today at 9 30 local time. This comes as the city is in a place where it hasnt been in a long time with incredible tension between police and a lot of community members. They are facing, you have another wrongful death lawsuit filed against the city by the father of the teenager. We know an attorney has filed that complaint. And from reading it i can tell you that we learned a few more details about that shooting. We have very few details because all of this is under the investigation of the independent Police Review authority, which is the authority that investigates every single officerinvolved shooting in chicago. From that complaint weve learned there is actually some video that the police confisc e confiscated according to this complaint. We also know according to this complaint according to his father that the teen did not have a weapon at the time that he was shot. All of this according to that filing. A lot of tension here in chicago. And poppy just to let you know. Jason van dyke is the first Police Officer to be prosecuted in an officer involved shooting in chicago since 1968. So you can imagine all of the protests that we see and hear about in chicago, that is one of the reasons why. Because they havent seen anyone been prosecuted in chicago in so many years. Yeah absolutely. Did not know that. Thank you so much. Outside of the courthouse. The hearing is expected to begin at 10 30 a. M. Eastern time. Well bring it live as soon as it does happen. And authorities in belgium arresting two people suspected of plotting attacks against popular landmarks in brussels, in addition to a Police Station. Despite the arrests officials are raising the Terror Threat once again warning of more possible attacks. Erin mclaughlin live with the latest what. Do we know . Poppy well there are starting details out of brussels this morning. The target believed to be new years celebrations at several emblematic locations in brussels. The threat being taken very, very seriously. This according Prosecutors Office statement that was released earlier this morning. Now belgium media is reporting that one of the targets, a Police Station near a location called the grand plas, the it is this incredibly ornate tourist attraction located right in the heart of the city. And authorities have raised the threat level for police and military personnel from two to three out of four whenning an attack is possib meaning an attack is possible and likely. This use of this latest alleged plot foiled certainly not helping peoples nerves there. In terms of the raid what do we flow more about what has been seized . What evidence . Investigation is still on going but we know there having been raids that took place sunday and monday. And in those raids they found materials such as military uniforms. They also found computer equipment as well as isis propaganda. And they believe this plot was inspired by isis but not directed by isis. Seems at this stage they are discounting a direct link to isis militants in syria. Well keep watching. Obviously brussels had that extraordinarily high terror alert and basically lockdown after the paris attack. Thank you very much erin mclaughlin. Still to come, donald trump sharpening his attacks on former president bill clinton and bringing up the name Monica Lewinsky. Very angry. 44 somewhat angry. 30 are not angry. Views differs among party lines greatly. And as americans get ready for the next president ial election, supports are of one candidate are expressing the most displeasure. 97 of donald Trump Supporters say they are dissatisfied with the way the u. S. Is being governed right now. That compares with 87 of other republicans and 58 of democrats. Trump supporters also led the way when it came to being angry at the way things are in this country today. 78 of other republicans are angry. 55 of democrats are angry about how things are going in the country today. Lets discuss it all. Thank you both for being here. Ron, im interested in what stands out most from these numbers to you. And i know weve talked how donald trump is so successfully tapping into this mood of the electorate. Do you think these results could influence the other campaigns of his opponents . I think they have already. Good morning. The first thing of these numbers is they underscore the precarious political balance we are in this country. Democrats have had the advantage at the president ial level and won the popular vote. The groups they are strongest among, millennial, minority, social liberate College Educated whites. And republicans are dominate now in the house and many states large by because the democratic vote is overly concentrated in the biggest cities. So we have a volatile country. The Median Income is lower today than it was in 2000. That is almost unprecedented in history to have the Median Income not rise over any 15 year period. And i this i that is underpinning a lot of the dissatisfaction you hear expressed most pointedly by republicans. Voters who feel marginalized and culturally. You have a volatile combination fuelling trump. Very powerful in the republican party. Another question whether it is enough to take him to the white house. We heard trump say yesterday he would raise wages, sort of tapping into what you just pointed out. You have the former president making his first trip to New Hampshire today. Earlier today. This morning here is what he said on the today show. There were certainly a lot of abuse of women. And you look at whether its Monica Lewinsky or paula jones or many of them. And that certainly will be fair game. Are you saying an extramarital affair by bill deliberate clint is fair game and something you think should be in the game. Whether im saying is very simple. If shes going to play the woman card because ill do more for women than Hillary Clinton is going to do for women. Including the sate of our country, which is good for everybody. But she started a week ago and oh he mentioned playing up the womens card very very strongly. And if shes going to play that game and hes going to be out there campaigning then hes certainly fair game and i think just about everybody agrees with me on that. Does it win him votes . I doubt it wins him votes. Switching from the democratic side, the Hillary Clinton or the Bernie Sanders side, voters to his side. I think it will rile up conservatives who like this line of questioning, like the attacks on bill clinton have certainly made something of a support of it going way back to the 90s. I do think it is interesting to see whats next from this. He says bill clinton is fair game. Hes raised the well known history of bill clinton having affairs with women particularly Monica Lewinsky. So whats e next . Right. What is the next line of attack . And also in some ways as much as hes pointed his finger at bill clinton, donald trump himself has been p unfaithful to his first wife so what does that mean for his own stature and ability to campaign and court voters. Very important vote. This is what donald trump told wolf blitzer back in 2008 talking about why former president George W Busch was h impeechd for the iraq war and president clinton was. Look at the trouble bill clinton got into with something that was totally unimportant and they tried to impeach him which is nonsense and yet bush got inus into this horrible war by saying all sorts of things that turned out not to be true. One of many issues where trump has completely reversed himself towards the conservative wing of the party. And i think what you see is republicans will face the question at some point of whether anger is enough. Because it is worth noting that since the attacks on bill clinton have started the targets also include trey gowdy, Chris Christie. What comes next . Another target. And hes shown enormous ability to move the media through this serial personal invective. Mia . I think thats right. Hell pick somebody else and move on. And this is the key. Jeb bush is out there saying you cant insult your way to the white house. Donald trump seems to be doing a pretty good job in terms of poll numbers and gathering voters who support him at least in polls. So well have to see how this plays out . It aint over till its over. Thank you both. Still to come a lot of you across the country. You are feeling this weather. You definitely want to allow traex time if you are planning to drive or fly in many states today. When to expect the worst as a winter storm moves northeast. 9 30 a. M. Eastern. Im poppy harlow sitting in for carol costello. The cleveland Police Officer who shot and killed 12yearold tamir rice will not face charges. Both officers agreeing they had no way of knowing rice was holding a pellet gun and not a real weapon. And attorney for the familys statement. The family attorney this morning on new day said this. It is clear to us from interaction with the prosecutor that this entire process was being distorted and corrupted and directed in a way that would engineer a no indictment in this case. Prosecutors a s ars ar s arsg doing calling the case a perfect storm of human error. Listen to this. This is part of the 9 11 call that prompted the officers to respond. By the West Boulevard Rapid Transit [inaudible]. So you hear there that person says it is probably fake twice. I should also note that if you extend the recording, the person says it is quote probably a juvenile. Along with the gun being fake being said twice. That was not relayed to the two officers who responded. With me to discuss now all of this shakira diaz policy manager for the aclu in ohio. And rashad rogers. And the Phil Holloway cnn legal analyst and criminal defense attorney. Thank you all for being here. Ra shaud, let me begin ith you. No charges filed. And you heard why it said looked like the officers couldnt have known it was a real gun. You say . I watch how this grand jury process was used. Grand juries are used simply to move the case forward and the role of the prosecutor was to move this to a full case. Its been said in this country that you can prosecute a ham sandwich through the grand jury prosecutor. And over and over again we saw this prosecutor set up the case so he didnt have to bring it to trial. In what way . First he did a couple of things. First he hired, at taxpayer costs, a expert to come in and basically defend the Police Officers. He released report after report and in many ways spoke out to the public that prosecutors dont do when they are trying to bring this to full case. He released three different reports. He went to the press multiple times to try his case in the public as well. Showing over and over again that he did not want to bring this too trial. That he did not want these officers to have a day in court. Officers, in fact, that have had a history of misconduct. And weve seen this throughout cleveland. Because the Justice Department has even found that there isnt the type of oversight necessarily when Police Officers do something. One thing we know just four viewers is that Consent Decree has declared there is oversight of the entire police force now there for a matter of years. Lets get our other guest in here to talk about it. Shakira, when you look at the fbi analysis that shows the shooting death of this 12yearold tamir and the officers. Of course we know now the gun is fake. Again, the officers did not know the gun was fake. I think we have an image we might be able to bring up to to show how similar it looks to a real gun. What do you say . Well it is really an indictment on the entire system. Everybody has to face the fact that the entire world is watching. The fact is this country incarcerates and criminalizes more people than any other country in the world. That we have issues such as this where we have many children and adults, people of color who are disproportionately and negatively impacted by the criminal justice system. And i want to take a moment to give and lend my condolences to the rice family. Not only for the loss of their son but for being yet another family that feels the sting of injustice in this country within our criminal justice system. Phillip holloway to you. You wrote an interesting on ed about this on cnn. Com. And in the middle of it here you cite a Supreme Court case. Graham versus connor. Walk me through why you think this shooting this, death, is justified. Good morning poppy. Likewise, i extend my condolences to the family of tamir rice. And i would respectfully disagree with mr. Robinson. The point of a grand jury is not necessarily to bring a case to trial but it is to act as a filter so that cases that dont need to be brought to court dont get there and when they do need to be brought to court that they do get there so it is a screening mechanism. But yes i do think and i i dont to use unjustified. I graham versus connor says the use of police force must be analyzed from a perspective of objective reasonableness. We dont have the benefit occurring to the u. S. Supreme court of monday morning quarterbacking these things. We must look at them from the perspective of the officers who are on the scene with the sometimes wrong or limited or inaccurate information that they may have. And we know in this case they had some inaccurate information. They had some incomplete information. Under the totality of the circumstances, even if the police didnt do anything perfectly. Graham versus connor leads us to the necessary conclusion that the grand jury got it right. Shakira, to you, i do think it is also important to talk about the totality here. And you have the person who took the 911 call failing to relay two pieces of critical information. The gun was fake probably according to the witness and the person was probably a juvenile. Can there accountability for the 911 operator, the dispatcher who took the call and relayed it. There should be accountability for everyone in the system and that is really what the problem is. The fact we have such a low bar for officer whose engage in misconduct whether it is engaging in excessive use of force or sexual assaults or just general misconduct. We have a very low bar of accountability for officers or Public Officials in general. We as citizens and residents who pay taxes who pay into these systems have to be in a position to hold all Public Officials accountability whether they are e lek ord elected or appointed and that is not the case. And we need to change that. In the context of knowing that this countrys definition of justice and its rhetoric of justice is not really meeting the belief of justice, the intention of justice. That is not actually what is happening in this country. Phillip to you. The family called for the department of justice to step in after the release of the statement. I do want to point out both officers do still remain on restricted duty until the administrative process is completed but legally what can the family do if anything . Well the family has the option of a civil case and in that realm i do believe they may get some relief. As for the Justice Department i think it is important the Justice Department look at this and i believe it is important that we have another look at it. I think that the federal government taking a look at this and if they come to the same conclusion then i think that may very well put an end to the overall question. But that said it is more difficult to bring federal criminal charges than it is state cases and at the end of the day were still left with the same investigative report and same evidence that was obtained by the Cuyahoga County sheriffs office, an independent agency, that did this investigation. Rashad, final word. Moving forward we have to do more work politically. Weve got hold prosecutors accountability. Weve got to build the type of movement that holds prosecutors accountable to change not just the written rules but the unwritten rules. That when black young people are killed that folks will be accountab accountable. They pulled out their gun in less than two seconds and then they claimed that they told him three times to put the gun away. They told him three times to respond. At the minimum these Police Officers should be held accountable for not telling the truth. And this family is left with answers. Unanswered questions about what happened to their young person. The community is left with Unanswered Questions and the community and the country at large is left with the idea that Police Officers will not be held accountable when they hurt and harm young black people in this country. And that has got to change. Rashad, thank you very much. I appreciate it. Still to come, the iraqi army may have momentum on their side in their fight against isis. Their toughest and bloodiest battle still lies ahead. The Prime Minister of iraq says his force s can wipe out isis completely in the next 12 months. That say troops have liberated 40 of isis held territory in iraq and vowing to completely eliminate them in 2016. The army has set its eyes on retaking mosul there in the north of iraq. The second largest city behind baghdad. And this fight may be the bloodiest and toughest yet. Lets talk about it with conditional cedric lleyto. Wh colonel cedric lleyton is it realistic . I think we have to temper it with a degree of realism, that basically tells us this is going to be a really long fight. And i think if they are going to be able to achieve some degree of success against isis they have to do a great deal more than capture territory. They are to hold that territory and change the political equation that existed in iraq before isis was even a major factor. This morning we heard from colonel Steven Warren and he said on cnn, look, it took 600 air strikes, some 2 thousand bombs just to retake ramadi which fell in may. Whats it going to take in mosul . Walk us through it tactically whats different. First of all mosul is much larger. So you are talking about 1. 6 or so Million People living in and around mosul. So challenges are much greater. The other factors is the ethnic make up is completely different from that of ramadi. And they are a big part of the equation in mosul. When you go in there tactically, what you are going to see that you are going to have to clear many areas block by block. Isis is going to do some of the same things they did in ramadi. Ieds in buildings, in and around roads that lead to major installations. There are a lot more important buildings and important artifacts in mosul than in ramadi. So isil is going to be bent on destroying as much as they can before the iraqi army even gets a chance to get into that city. So it would take a great deal longer. When you look at ramadi from may until now you could probably double the time that it took to get into ramadi for mosul. You know, it would be that difficult a fight potentially. Unless but at the same time isnt it hard i mean youre a military guy. Isnt it hard to overstate what a boost of confidence can cofor your troops . Look back to may when ramadi fell . Ash carter saying look, the iraqi forces lost the will to fight. Now they have proven otherwise. How much does that help . It does then them a lot. That is the key intabl factor right here. The morale in troops is very important in combat. So if the morale holds and the iraqis can take advantage of what we think has happened in ramadi so far, then the fight mo for mosul could be much better that be we expect right now. The issue is this. The troops that went into ramadi were elite forces. The iraqis have to have that same degree of training and a far greater number of elite troops, specially units that really need to play in mosul in order for them to be succesful there. So that is going to be key. It is going to be a factor of morale and it is going to be a factor that involves the make up of units that are well led and led in a way that achieves combat results. And that is going to be i think the key difference poppy. Thank you so much. Appreciate the expertise. Coming up next were going to tell you all about those nasty winter storms that millions of you are going through right now. Wasnt it just last week that we were basiking in the warm weather . What happened . Gegiving up all the thingsan she loves to do. It should just mean, well, finding new ways to do them. Right at homes professional team thoughtfully selects caregivers to provide help with personal care, housekeeping, and of course, meal preparation. Oh, that smells so good. Aw, and it tastes good, too. We can provide the right care, right at home. Take a look, we have video of officer Jason Van Dyke in chicago, charged in the murder of Lequan Mcdonald. Youll see the gaggle of cameras around him and a few protesters pointing questions at him. Lets roll it. You couldnt wait to shoot a black man you couldnt wait to shoot an unarmed black man. Make holes for him. Who care s about him . Like the 16 holes he put in that boy . Well have much more live in chicago in just a few moments. I do want to get to this nasty winter weather, though. The United States still recovering after a monster storm unleashes heavy rain, flooding and tornadoes. More than 40 deaths blamed on the Severe Weather over the last week, 11 killed by tornadoes in just north texas alone and chicago nearly 2,000 Flights Canceled yesterday. Big big, big delays. Expect delays if youre flying or driving today. Boston also bracing for its first winter major storm of the season. At Logan Airport theyve been deicing planes since 6 00 a. M. Jennifer gray tracking the latest across the country this morning. What a headache. Oh, it is. All part of that same system that went across texas just a couple of days ago. Now it is making for a wintry mix across the northeast. Not much snow, especially for the big cities. In fact, new york city its already turned to rain with temperatures up to 44 degrees. Boston, youre at 36. Already trying to change over to rain for you. So definitely not last long. Its not dumping a lot of snow for the major cities. The higher amounts are going to be in Northern New England with up to a foot of snow for portions of maine. Zooming in, you can see boston had the wintry mix earlier, a little snow. You saw from the tower cam the dusting on the ground. We are going to see travel delays in places like philadelphia, boston, even new york seeing some delays. And the big problem here, even more so than the snow, is going to be the ice. Not a lot of it but just a little bit of ice can take down the trees and power lines. We could see power outages, up to a half inch of ice expected on the west side of boston. That will be a big problem for some folks there. Here are your snowfall amounts. Bigger amounts up in northern maine. We are going to see a pretty good amount in northern vermont, New Hampshire, most of new england seeing about an inch or two, maybe even less. So as we move forward in time, all of this rain is going to push off the coast. This is a fast mover. Thats the good news as well. All of this is out of here by this afternoon. Look here, tuesday 2 30 we are just seeing a couple of lingering showers around boston, new york city, philadelphia completely in the clear. You will hang on to clouds and the snow will linger across portions of maine. We are going to see the weather conditions improve poppy. Thats the good news. It looks like winter has gotten a slow start. Of course to the season. But i think a lot of people in new england are saying, hey, itit a its finally snowing. I finally put my winter coat on, finally in almost january. Thank you so much. Still to come, Peyton Manning denies using human growth hormone. His own accuser says the allegations arent true. Well tell you what the reporter behind this explosive story is now saying. The Denver Broncos pulling out a win over the bengals in overtime, clinching a spot in the playoffs, this the day after a lot of distractions surrounding their injured quarterback Peyton Manning accused in a cable documentary of using and having human growth hormone, having it shipped to his home, to his wife specifically. Andy schulz joins us from atlanta. Andy, manning came out and said this is absolue garbage, his words, before the documentary even aired. The source of it has taken back what he said saying its not true. The reporter is standing by it. What are they saying . Thats right, poppy. Deborah davis is the reporter who put together the documentary for al gentleman jeer jazeera. She is not alleging he used performance enhancing drugs. Take a listen to what she said. Youre not even alleging that Peyton Manning took the substances. The only allegation in the program from charlie sly is that growth hormone was sent repeatedly to Ashley Manning in florida. It sounds like your documentary doesnt have any evidence against Peyton Manning. Again, davis says they arent making any allegations against Peyton Manning, but he still was included in an hourlong documentary about doping in sfo sports. Manning has vehemently denied taking any human growth hormone. Charlie sly has recounted what he said, but davis believes what he was saying. Andy schulz, thank you very much. The next hour of newsroom begins right now. Good morning, thank you for being with me. Moments ago the chicago Police Officer who shot and killed teenager Lequan Mcdonald arrived in court for his second appearance. Lets take a look. Nothing to say. You couldnt wait to shoot a black man. You couldnt wait to shoot an unarmed black man. Come on, make a hole. Who cares about him . Like the holes he made in that boy . What are you talking about . Let him through. Like the 16 holes he put in that boy . Officer Jason Van Dyke is expected to plead not guilty this hour to six separate counts of first degree murder. In 2014, van dyke shot mcdonald 16 times in just seconds, this after dispatch called for someone whith a taser to respon. Rosa flores has been following the story from the beginning. She joins me outside the courtroom. When saw what twas like when he walked in. What happens now . Reporter poppy, that was exactly what we were expecting. Like i mentioned before, weve seen this in the past. Every single time that he enters or leaves court, he is greeted by protesters, usually screaming at him and pounding on his vehicle. For my producer who was actually with that pack of people, he tells me he overheard people calling him blueeyed devil. Again, weve seep it, ive actually been sitting in the courtroom, in the overflow room, right next to van tydyke, ive heard people sitting behind me calling names. Im not sure if he can hear because its in a courtroom setting. But even in the overflow room while he has to wait for a judge, people give him that sort of treatment. Again, hes facing scrutiny on the streets, also facing scrutiny inside the courtroom. Poppy, like you mentioned, he is facing six counts of first degree murder and one count of official misconduct, all related to the shooting and killing of Lequan Mcdonald, the black teen from chicago who was shot 16 times in 15 seconds. Now, his attorney did speak briefly to the media before entering the courtroom today. Hes expected to plead not guilty on behalf of his client. Now, in the past hes been very that Jason Van Dyke acted in selfdefense that day, that he used proper force in the shooting and killing of Lequan Mcdonald. But again hes expected to be arraigned shortly at 9 30 local. Poppy, one of the other big things about this particular proceeding is that we actually have cameras inside the courtroom. Thats usually not the case in illinois. Cameras are never allowed inside courtrooms. Today we have that privilege to actually see this proceeding inside the courtroom. And we will carry it for ow viewers live as soon as it begins. Rosa, thank you so much. I do want to continue this conversation from a legal perspective with ariva martin an attorney and Legal Affairs commentator, also a civil rights attorney. Thank you for being with me. Good to see you poppy. Good to see you too. We know hes facing six counts of first degree murder. If he is convicted on all, what kind of sentence are we talking about . Were talking about life in jail, in prison, state prison, in the state of illinois. These are very, very serious charges that have been brought against him. And as weve watched this play out in the media over the last couple of weeks, months, we know that the city of chicago is not only definitely calling for him to be be convicted of murder, to be incarcerated for life, but also calling for a change in leadership in the city. Weve watched those protesters also call for the mayor of chicago to resign over the handling of this entire case. And to be really clear, its unlikely that well see that, knowing rahm emanuel for who he is and also the fact that the process just isnt in place in the city of chicago to oust a mayor like that. But well watch. Given the publicity, given the protests, those calls for the mayor to step down, how does that play into all of this . I know a trial is supposed to be tried simply on the facts. But when youre looking at the context of this in chicago, how do you think this affects it . We should expect to see his toefrps, the Defense Attorneys for van dyke, to file several motions, one of them being a request to change venue. Often in these high profile trials Defense Attorneys will file motions asking that the trial be moved to a new venue, a venue where jurors dont have as much information, havent watched the case be played out in the media as much as its been in chicago. Weve watched it on a National Level but on a local level this has been a part of the news daily. So the Defense Attorneys will argue before the judge that theyre not going to be able to get a fair trial. Theyre not going to be able to find impartial jurors because of the level of Media Coverage of the case. But the freddie gray the Defense Attorneys for the officers in the freddie gray case in baltimore asked for that. They didnt get a change of venue. How likely is it . Its very difficult. Particularly given the climate that we live in. Today almost all of these cases are played out in the media. Its going to be very difficult even if you move this trial from chicago, if you moved it to a smaller city in illinois, you still have the issue of the National Media and 24hour news cycle. We saw in boston where the judge rejected the request. But we should expect to see that motion not likely to see succeed but a common motion to be filed in cases like this. Ariva, thank you very much. I appreciate it. Good to see you. You, too. You can run, but you cant hide. That is the lesson the socalled affluenza teen, ethan couch, is learning today after being tracked down by the fbi, by u. S. Marshals, capturing him in mexico. The 18yearold fugitive was detained along with his mother in the vacation spot of puerto vallarta. Officials have been searching for the duo for several weeks after couch violated the terms of his probation. He made headlines after getting just probation for killing these four people when he was driving drunk. Couchs defense attorney claimed his familys wealth and privilege meant that he never learned limits or accountability. Our justice correspondent evan perez has more. Reporter poppy, the u. S. Marshal service was tracking a cell phone and in recent days they alerted mexican authorities they had tracked down ethan couch. Police in the Pacific Coast region moved in yesterday to make the arrest and they found the 18yearold fugitive with his mother. Breaking overnight, the socalled affluenza teen ethan couch captured in mexico. This photo was released to abc news showing couch with noticeably darker hair, mustache and a beard. The manhunt ending when mexican authoritiy ies nabbed the 18yearold and his mother tanya, detaining them both near 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 a warrant was issued after this video surfaced on video appearing to show couch playing beer pong at a party, a violation of the probation. At the time of his conviction, violation of his probation meant up to ten years in prison. Texas authorities placed his mother tanya on a missing persons list as well believing she might be helping her son. Our hope is they will both be locked up for some time. Couch first made headlines after receiving ten years probation in a drunk driving crash that killed four people. We had over 180 years of life taken, and two of those were my wife and daughter. Reporter couchs defense attorney argued that he suffered affluenza meaning his wealthy upbringing was to blame for his behavior. Poppy, mexican authorities are expected to turn couch over to the u. S. Marshals for his return to the ute. That could happen as soon as later today. Evan perez, thank you so much for that. Lets talk more about this from a legal perspective. Cnn legal analyst Joey Jackson Jack wi back with me. Hell get extradited. Does he go right to jail or more time at home . I dont think there will be much more time at home or at beaches or in mexico or any other place. What will happen is he will go before the judge, be detained initially and threaten there will be a hearing. His defense lawyers im sure poppy will want the opportunity to have him get a second opportunity. This was a mistake. He was a young person. He was on the run. He was allowed to leave the country, right . No, he was not. But he did. Theres a lot of explaining to do. Whenever you run of course it started with the video which we saw which showed potentially they were playing beer pong. Thats a violation because he was not supposed to be around alcohol, but its explainable. Now you leave the country, it demonstrates a consciousness of guilt and reinforces you were doing which we see there, playing beer pong. There are two issues he has to overcome, number one the video, number two the violation of it. And we should remember the judge has a number of options. It will not be the original judge who sentenced him to probation because that judge has since retired. It will be another judge. And judges have a wide degree of discretion in terms of giving you another opportunity or saying, you know what . You got an opportunity the first time. You got a gift. You didnt take advantage of it. This time youll pay the price and are going to jail. I think so many people who saw the story around the world were stunned he could take four lives, have three times the legal limit of alcohol in him when he crashed into them and just get probation. Is there any chance hell be retired for that initiate crime or not in the cards . The answer is no. Thats been litigated, adjudicated. Juvenile court, there are many tenets in our justice system. When youre a juvenile, the main focus is not on punishment or deterrence but the rehabilitati rehabilitation. He was 16 at the time. Hell be 19 in april. Now hes an adult. The prosecution will want to refer him to adult court so hell be punished accordingly. The fact is theres a feeling there was a miscarriage of justice here. These people are dead there victims. As a 16yearold he was dealt with by saying, we understand, we get it, were not happy about it but im going to give you that opportunity. He blew that opportunity. Now he really has to pay the price. So i would look for the judge to impose a very steep jail sentence not only as it relates mother. Who went with him. Right. You could make the argument that, did his mother go with him or did he go with his mother snf right. Was she the one who aided, assisted, abetted him in fleeing the country . Did she hinder prosecution . Shes in a world of trouble along with him. Remember those four lives lost in this. Two other people seriously wounded, one as you said with brain injuries. Joey, thank you. Thank you. Coming up next, donald trump unleashing on both sides of the aisle. Why former president bill clinton and now gop contender Chris Christie are the latest to be attacked by donald trump. Donald trump just tweeting this morning he is ready to drop big mp on this campaign saying, quote, my campaign for president is 35 million underbudget. I have spent very little and am in first place. Now i will spend big in iowa, New Hampshire, south carolina. For now, where donald trump is sharpening his attacks, well, hes dog it on someone whos not even running against him. But his presence looms large. Im talking about the former president bill clinton who makes his First Campaign trip to the state of New Hampshire this week. Trump sharply criticizing team clinton tweeting, if hillary thinks she can unleash her husband with terrible record of women abuse while playing the women card on me, shes wrong. Trump detailed what he meant by that abuse today. There was certainly a lot of abuse of women, and you look at whether its Monica Lewinsky or paula jones or many of them, and that certainly will be fair game. With me now to talk about all of it, cnn political commentator peter bienart, and Christine Romans is with us as well to jump in the conversation. Errol, to you, the Clinton Campaign says that Hillary Clinton will not be bullied or distracted. They put this out there. By the personal attacks on her husband. What does this all mean in terms of bill clinton as he emerges on the stage . And what does it mean in terms of strategically how the clintons use him . I doubt the clintons will lose half a step. After what happened in the late 1990s, with the impeachment, all the press, it is the biggest story in the literally for months and months. I dont think there will be be anything they can throw at the clintons theyre not ready for and prepared to respond to. And frankly im not sure the voters want to hear too much about this. I think what theyll do is sort of take the issue and then do a quick pivot and talk about womens issues. This is what Hillary Clinton has done time and time again about womens wages, about how the majority of the people making minimum wage and why it needs to rise. Pay equity legislation, pay equity ruling on and on. I think thats where the conversation will end quickly. Donald trump is also taking hard aim at someone not polling anywhere near him, Chris Christie. Looking at New Hampshire, lash being out at the paper, the union leader, that endorsed him. Heres what he told a rally in the state last night. Tremendous downgrade to either 9 or 11, downgrades. Its number 50 out of 50 in terms of Economic Development and in terms of the economy. Its like one of the worst in the country for jobs. Its a disaster. You have obama i dont call it a hug. I call it a hug mentally. It was unbelievable. It was like a little boy, oh, im with the president. Remember he flew in the helicopter and was all excited to be in the helicopter . So what else happened . The George Washington bridge. People in new jersey want to throw him out of office. Why isnt he running new jersey . Were a disaster state. Were going to hell. And our governor is up in New Hampshire every single day having town hall meetings. To be clear about bridge gate, it has not been found that christie knew of anything. Some of his gubernatorial aides have been found to known things christie is a distant third to trump. Theres some sense christie is rising. I think if you look at the big stories of the last couple of months, story number one is carsons collapse, two is cruzs rise and three perhaps is the fact that christie has come back from the dead in New Hampshire, clustered up with a bunch of candidates for third place. We factor in how he responds to trump. Christies m. O. Is a tough guy, right . If donald trump werent in the race, he would be the guy with the Big Personality in this race. It will be fascinating now he has the chance to go after trump. Chris christie and donald trump . Christie will not be allowed i dont think as a traditional politician to go anywhere near where donald trump has, errol. Do you think in terms of just what he tweets, what he says . Oh, no. I think what weve got is shaping up to be be something that was predicted long ago, which is that in a field with 14 candidates, 13 at this point i guess, youve got people in different lanes. Representing the sort of traditional government lane, if its Chris Christie running for that position to take on trump later in the process, all he needs at this point is to be everybodys second, third choice, then to start to build some support and go into the southern primaries and some of the other later contests and really take it to trump. I think trump is already sensing and hence the attacks. Christine romans, i was fascinated by what happened, this tweet storm by donald trump last night. Donald trump tweets . About raising wages, taking on Bernie Sanders. Heres what he said. He tweeted, because hes engaged in this backandforth with sanders. Strange but i see wacko Bernie Sanders allies coming over to me because im lowering taxes while he will double and triple them. A disaster. Can you walk us through the facts. The facts here are that donald trump said on november 10th at the Republican Debate that wages were too high, the minimum wage was too high. He said its not appropriate to raise the minimum wage. Its appropriate to grow the economy and grow better paying jobs. This is exactly what he said on november 10th. Taxes too high, wages too high. Were not going to be able to compete against the world. I hate to say it, but we have to leave it the way it is. People have to good out. They have to work really hard. And they have to get into that upper strat em. But we cannot do this if we are going to compete with the rest of the world. We just cant do it. Hes saying we just cant raise the minimum wage. Bernie sande erers is saying ra the minimum wainl. States have been raising the minimum wage. Doald trump is now fighting with Bernie Sanders over the raise the wage idea. Heres what donald trump said, wages in this country are too low. He said, theyre too low. Good jobs are too few and we need smart and strong leadership. He says his tax cuts, immigration reform, Corporate Tax plan, tax policies would help everyone and raise wages. Feel free to weigh in on this, guys. Arent they in a sense going after a similar voter with this in different parties . What i mean is that middleaged working mab man or woman who feels like we havent seen our median wages go up in a decade in this country. We need smub who will do something about it. There a difference. Bernie sanders voters are much younger than donald trump. Both are economically struggling but you have a lot of cultural resentment about the demographic changes taking place in the country. The Bernie Sanders people dont care about that. They focus their unhaepsness on their struggles. They focus their resentment on wall street. Older people have families to support. But if youre a single mother working in a fast food restaurant, minimum wage in iowa, 7. 25. If sanders comes along and says, by law, i will more than double that donald trump is saying you want to work your way out of that into the upper stratem. That does play with republicans which surveys show red states were voting to raise the minimum wage. They felt the deck was stacked too far against them. Can donald trump convince people he can create a lot of well paying jobs and you dont need to raise the minimum wage . Maybe not to 15 an hour, but people who have not always approved of raising it think 10. 10 is not a bad idea. With the democrats, wages are in the economy is issue number one and one jobs as republican is terror. Well be watching. Interesting tweet battles. Thank you all. Thank you. Still to come, from the war on terror to the refugee crisis across europe, it was quite a year filled with challenges. Up next, why did the state Department List a big achievement in the civil war in syria . Well talk about why thats raising eyebrows, next. You may know it only covers about 80 of your part b medical expenses. The rest is up to you. 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[ male announcer ] join the millions of people who have already enrolled in the only Medicare Supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp, an Organization Serving the needs of people 50 and over for generations. Remember, all Medicare Supplement insurance plans help cover what medicare doesnt pay. And could save you in outofpocket medical costs. Call now to request your free decision guide. And learn more about the kinds of plans that will be here for you now and down the road. I have a lifetime of experience. So i know how important that is. Good morning. Im poppy harlow. 10 30 a. M. Eerp. We have breaking news just in to cnn. An isis leader linked to the paris terror attack we know was killed in a Christmas Eve air strike according to officials. The target had direct ties to the ringleader of the paris attacks, abdelhamid abboud. To be clear, this is not the person who was killed. The perp who was killed has direct ties to this paris terror attack ringleader. The Coalition Says a man by the name of sha rauf el mu adawn was planning more attacks. Now that 2016 is right around the koerp, the state department is giving itself a pat on the back for this years achievements. According to the spokesman john kerby, those wins include, quote, bringing peace and security to syria. That headline posted by kirby online yesterday certainly raised eyebrows. Slate. Com writes, if youre thinking of syria, the country embroiled in a deadly civil war thats witnessing atrocities committed by isis in the regime like forcing a mass exodus of ordinary syrians youre thinking of the right country. In an oped, john kerry warns in a different tone the obstacles to peace in syria remain daunting l. s talk to bob baer, also a former cia operative. I would like your take on the breaking news first, the fact that this isis operative Sharif Al Mao adawn was killed. We are told he is tied to this man, the ringleader of the paris attack. This is a good turn of events, poppy. This synchronized attack on paris was undoubtedly planned in syria with the islamic state. Theres a lot of people who got training, syrian passports. This was a militarystyle attack. Were going up the chain of command. The bombing is obviously the bombing is creating chaos in syria, but at the same time its taking out the leadership of the islamic state. You look at the islamic state. It is not doing well at this point. So lets talk about syria as a whole because so many have said, bob you and i have talked about this countless times. You cannot defeat isis. You cannot have a full win if you still have civil war, chaos in irsyria, if you still have assad in power. What do you make of john kerby posted talking about one of their accomplishments was whats happened in syria. Its very bizarre. I mean, clearly syria is getting worse. I mean, the russian bombing is creating absolute havoc among the civilian population. Theres going to be more migrants, waves of immigrants coming into europe. Things are not going well in syria. Saudi arabia is pouring money in, supporting islamic factions, turkey is as well. I still think were on the edge of the abyss with syria. It easily could go over a conflict between russia and turkey. Again, things are not Getting Better and its a very bizarre statement to come out of the state department. He also wrote that the u. S. Is, quote, winning the fight against violent extremists. That just doesnt match up with how americans see it, right . If you pull up this recent cnn orc poll it shows actually theres only 18 of who think that the americans have the upper hand when it comes to the war on terror, 40 say the terrorists are winning. Bob, wheres the disconnect . Frankly, poppy, its propaganda. Theyre trying to paint the best picture they can about the middle east. But it is getting more chaotic. You look at afghanistan. Yemen is an utter mess. Boko haram in nigeria is coming back. Major attacks yesterday. This is not going away. We can take down the structure of the islamic state. We can close off the oil production. We can do the rest of it. But if you still have chaos in the wake of it all, youre going to have continued violence, whether its in europe or the middle east or the United States. Its just a fact. The default is islam when you have chaos, and radical islam follows. Were going to have more of it unless we get a political solution to this part of the wor world. Bob baer, thank you so much. Have a good new year. Any moment, the officer who shot and killed a teenager in chicago last year, Lequan Mcdonald, Jason Van Dyke will appear in court. We saw him walk into the courthouse moments ago. What political ramifications could his case have and the tension between police and civilians in chicago, ahead. The treatments discovered at st. Jude help save kids with cancer in like where . Verywhere. Like here and here. In those spots. Donate now at st. Jude dot org or shop wherever you see the st. Jude logo. We were in a german dance group. I wore lederhosen. So i just started poking around on ancestry. Then, i decided to have my dna tested through ancestry dna. It turns out im scottish. So, i traded in my lederhosen for a kilt. Choose, choose, choose. But at bedtime . Why settle for this . Enter sleep number, and the lowest prices of the season. Sleepiq technology tells you how well you slept and what adjustments you can make. You like the bed soft. Hes more hardcore. So your sleep goes from good to great to wow only at a sleep number store, find the lowest prices of the season. Save 600 on the 1 rated i8 bed, plus no interest until january 2018. Know better sleep with sleep number. At any moment the officer who shot and killed Lequan Mcdonald will appear in court. Officer Jason Van Dyke arrived at the courthouse just a few moments ago, protesters swarming him outside. Were expecting him to plead not guilty any moment to six separate counts of firstdegree murder. His arraignment coming as the city faces another wrongful death lawsuit filed by the father of teenager quinn tone yoe la greer. He was fatally shot over the weekend by a different chicago Police Officer. This all comes amid weeks of calls from protesters for chicagos mayor rahm emanuel to step down. He is now cutting his vacation short from cuba, returning back to chicago. Lets discuss all of this in a Bigger Picture with lynn a Washington Bureau chief for the chicago suntimes and joe moore an alderman for the citys 49th ward. Thank you for being here. Lets just do a reality check. You see so many headlines. This is now in the national conversation, calling on mayor rahm emanuel to step down. Lynn, for anyone who knows rahm emanuel, this is not someone who goes quietly. There not a protocol in the city to remove the mayor. Rur right. Theres no recall, no impeachment and rahm emanuel is not stepping down, however this story unfolds hes going to be the mayor of chicago for the foreseeable future. When we look at the future, though, he, joe, has admitted and said, we have to have change. Something needs to change. Obviously youve got the police chief out. The former head offi ipra is ou. Youve got two new folks in there. But its much bigger than that. What needs to happen, joe. Of course its much bigger than that. Weve seen it in ferguson, new york, the issue of Police Misconduct and Police Relationship was the community, particularly communities of color, are issues across urban america. The issue is not what we should have done in the past but what we can do to shape the future. I think all these calls for the mayor to resign are distracting us from being laser focused on trying to change the culture of the police department. Lynn, let me read you this. Theres this interesting wall street journal art kell that said, the city of chicago cant afford to lose rahm emanuel. He has huge ties to big business. Former head of the chicago urban lead wrote, i certainly understand the frustration of all those calling for the mayor to resign and his view he has not handled these issues well. We have his ear. We ought to use it to drive real change. Give me the heart beat of chicagoans right now. What are they saying about that . And earea zap is a Democratic Senate candidate. The wall street journal is looking at this just through a business lens. So the reality is, as alderman pointed out and i pointed out, rahm emanuel is going to stay, i dont think you can forget the past. What rahm emanuel has not done is create stins stwins constituen constituency. I think the facts on the street have changed because of these two horrific incidents dealing with police. He has to just looking at him in terms of his ties to corporate chicago, i mean, you give him credit where credit is due. He is so you have a plus or good grade on that mark on his report card. You come to schools you give him a different grade. Policing is another frayed. When it comes to the totality of the picture, right now the policing piece is the one thats created the worst crisis in this political career and governmental career. Joe, i know you want to push back. Actually being on the ground in chicago and not washington, d. C. , i think i have a little more of an ear whats going on here. What youre seeing is the people calling for the mayors resignation are the same people that supported his opponent in the last election. You dont get doovers in elections. The mayor will be up for reelection in 3 1 2 years and he will be judged in large part by how he responds to this crisis. Lynn . Were not disagreeing. Joe, my accent is as thick as yours here. Were both chicagoans. Dont pull that washington, d. C. , thing here. The point is, rahm emanuel will be there. I think the calls the stories about him resigning or stepg down are not where the story is at because its not going to happen. Im surprise thad the conversation is kind of stuck on that rather than think of something you want rahm emanuel to do, ask him to do it. Rahm emanuel. I agree on that. Hindsight is 20 20. We all do things differently looking back. What is issue number one . He needs to do better. Well, first of all, hes been doing a lot already. As you indicated, hes fired but what needs to change . It doesnt happen overnight. Hes got to show that he understands what people in minority communities are feeling with respect to Police Relationships. The best antiseptic is transparency. Nothing is more transparent as weve demonstrated than video cameras. He is pushing harder on putting cameras on uniforms on Police Officers, going to make sure that the cameras in the squad cars are actually working and if they arent that the people the officers driving those squad cars dont have them in operating order are disciplined. In other words, what hes doing is trying to do everything he can to restore trust in the Chicago Police department, particularly in communities of color where that trust has been torn apart. Lynn, joe, thank you both. Thank you. Still to come, the family of a slain 12yearold says the corruption tainted a grand jurys decision. What they say forced the controversial decision to not charge the Police Officer who fatally shot their son. Two Police Officers will not be charged in the death of tamir rice. A 12yearold was shot and killed while he was playing with a toy gun in a park. It took more than a year for a grand jury to come out last night with the controversial ruling. The boys family is more than just outraged. Theyre making allegations of corruption and sabotage pointing to the grand jury process. Jonathan ab aty an attorney for the rices family was on cnn earlier today. Its clear to us from interaction with the prosecutor that this entire process was being distorted and corrupted and directed in a way that would engineer a no indictment in this case. Cnns gene ka scasarez is wi me. Jean, to you first. First what happen next legally. The family is calling on the department of justice. What can be done . The grant jury has spoken in regard to state charges. The u. S. Attorneys office for northern ohio, the feds in ohio, say they have followed the investigation. They are going to be continuing the investigation. Of course, mark can talk more about the high standards when youre talking about a federal charge in this case. But the Justice Department for two years now have been investigating the Cuyahoga County cleveland departments because of allegations of Excessive Force. And they found Excessive Force. There a consent agreement at this point wrt two agencies will work hand in hand and obviously theyre going to address this case. But one thing yesterday that goes out of the legal realm in a sense, the prosecutor actually showed a picture of tamir rices gun which was a pellet gun, toy gun but it did shoot out things, pellets, alongside an actual gun. I think we can see how similar they are. The toy gun is supposed to have an arrange end to it. That had been ripped, torn off. So the prosecutor yesterday made a plea to toy gun manufacturers. Heres what he said. I want to call on the manufacturers of toy guns not to make guns that look so much like the real thing. If the color and design of tamirs pellet gun had screamed toy, then the call that set this tragedy in motion might never have been made. And that code was, code 1 report of a guy pointing a gun at people. Thats what the dispatcher said to the officers that were one mile away. And what is critical here, mark omara, is the difference between what the dispatcher said, which jean just read, and what was told to the dispatcher in the 911 call, which included at two times the caller saying, it is probably fake and at one time the caller saying this may be a juvenile. What kind of accountability, if any, on the dispatcher . Well, part of the problem is whenever theres a tragedy like tamirs killing we want to look for responsibility. Certainly when you look at what the dispatcher did or didnt do, we can say, had that dispatcher been slightly better trained, taken the extra 15 seconds to advise the officer whoz were going to respond exactly what they were dealing with, it may have had a different outcome. Because certainly we know those two officers when they responded unfortunately were responding with the adrenaline thats there. When they thaerd theres a code 1 person pointing a firearm. Thats an immediate dangerous situation. Thats why the cops responded the way they did. Had they known it was a 12 year ole child with a toy gun obviously the result would have been different. Thats why im not particularly surprised with the outcome from the grand jury. When you look at what those officers did based upon the Information Available to them at the moment they had to make they very tragic decision, thats all they had to work with. Im afraid we might attack the grand jury process as the attorney for the rice family did and im not certain thats well placed criticism. Lets talk mark omara about the grand jury process. They came out and said that this prosecutor did everything he could to defend his police and do nothing for our son. You can understand a familys pain. Whats i mean, you came out saying i hope this doesnt have bad implications for the overall grand jury process. Well, heres the problem. Grand juries are put in place to protect citizens. Sometimes they protects cops as they sometimes protect other citizens. What its there for is to limit the governments otherwise existing ability to just prosecute you. Now, the rice familys attorney is saying, well, they abused that privilege because the prosecutor can do whatever he wants in a grand jury. While thats true, i think that degrades or insults the true grand jury process, and this particular grand jury who took months to look at an enormous amount of information, granted not what the rice family wanted but the grand jury process is there to protect all of us. Its intentionally secretive because a decision has not been made to publicize a criminal event. I like grand juries for the most part because when we dont have grand juries we simply have prosecutors making the decision without citizen involvement. I think grand juries are generally doing a very good job, should be kept and should be respects tv timothy mcginty, the prosecutor in all of this, was previously a judge. Yesterday when he said when he took office it was paramount to make for of an investigation into Excessive Force cases. They all go to grand juries. Thank you so much, jean casarez reporting for us, also mark omara. Thank you very much. Were going to take a quick break. Coming up at the top of the hour, a press conference on that 18yearold ethan couch who killed four people in a drunk driving accident who was on the lam for weeks has been capture ed along with his mother on the run in mexico. More on that straight ahead. 3 into announcer its time to make room for the new mattress models during sleep trains huge year end Clearance Sale. Get beautyrest, posturepedic, even tempurpedic mattress sets at low clearance prices save even more on floor samples, demonstrators, and closeout inventory plus, sameday delivery, setup and removal of your old set. Why wait for the new models . Sleep trains year end Clearance Sale is on now superior service, best selection, lowest price guaranteed your ticket to a better nights sleep. The central ute still recovering after a monste storm system unleashing heavy rain flooding and tornadoes. More than 40 deaths blamed on the Severe Weather over the last week. 11 people were killed by tornadoes in north texas alone over the weekend. In chicago nearly 2,000 Flights Canceled yesterday alone, delays continuing to mount this morning. Jennifer gray tracking all of it. Where to we begin . This is all part of the same system just moving east, right . Youre exactly right. This is still the same system that impacted texas just a couple of days ago. It has been a powerful one. Of course now losing a lot of steam. Not much snow left with this system at all. New york city, youre 45 degrees now, all rain. Its actually almost ending for you altogether. Boston, youve turned to rain now, your temperature rising 38 degrees a little bit of snow left across portions of maine and northern sections of vermont and New Hampshire. But this is really moving out quickly. You can see boston even ending a little bit of that rain. So by this afternoon it lack looks like things are rapped up. Ice accumulation will be a huge problem. We could see quarter inch to half inch of ice definitely enough to lose power with trees and power lines pauling. Be on the lookout for that if youre in those areas. The higher amounts of snow basically going to be in portions of maine and northern vermont and New Hampshire with 2 to 4 inches possibly isolated amounts up to 8 if youre in maine. This winter storm is definitely one of the concerns but another concern, even though those showers have ended for the middle part of the country, the flooding is there. We have the Mississippi River at major flood stage, 439 locations reporting flooding. All of that water flowing downstream, poppy. The Mississippi River definitely overfilling its banks in some places and all the rivers and streams going to be a huge concern for the coming days. No question. Jennifer, thank you so much. Quick check of our top stories for you. Secret Service Agent stops a man flying a drone alongside president obamas motorcade. This happened while the president is on vacation in hawaii. Authorities say the man was completely unaware the president was even there. He cooperated with requests to land the drone. He will not be charged. San francisco has a beef with the biebs. The city upset over all the graffiti promoting Justin Biebers new album. Recent rainstorms didnt fade it. The City Attorney calling it a visual blight demanding to know whos responsible. Not clear how much money the city is paying for cleanup. Music fans mourning a rock icon. Legendary motorhead front man lemmy died following a very short battle with cancer. He was told of an extreme form of cancer saturday. He just passed away. They said, we will say more in the coming days but please play motorhead loud, play lemmys music loud. He was 70 years old. Thank you for joining me today. Im poppy harleoharlow. Announcer this is cnn breaking news. Hello, everyone. Im randi kaye. We begin with breaking news. At any moment, texas officials will speak of a capture of a texas affluenza teen and his mom, arrested in mexico. They were caught n