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Hunt for Escaped Inmates Stretches to Vermont; Former McKinney, Texas, Cop Apologizes to All He Offended; Jeb Bush Tours Poland on Second Leg of European Tour; Bush Tours Poland on 2nd Leg of Europe Tour; U.S. to Send Weapons to Sunnis, Peshmerga. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired June 11, 2015 - 09:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, intensifying efforts to catch two escaped killers.

GOV. PETER SHUMLIN (D), VERMONT: Lock your doors. Make sure that you're being vigilant.

COSTELLO: Searching by air, on the road, by foot. Where could they have gone? What are they doing now?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm sure they're probably looking to break into some houses, change their clothing, get new gear on.

COSTELLO: And the woman in the tailor shop. Did she have a soft spot for one of the fugitives' art?

Also an American killed fighting ISIS in Syria. His motivation to join the fight -- God and the desire to help.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I did see him before we left and we prayed together and he said, I'll see you soon. And that was his last words.

COSTELLO: What his church and his family are saying.

Plus, taking on the world stage while struggling to pull ahead in the polls at home.

JEB BUSH (R), FORMER FLORIDA GOVERNOR: It's June, for crying out loud. So we've got a long way to go.

COSTELLO: Is Jeb Bush's famous last name a help or a hindrance just days before he announces?

Let's talk. Live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

Stay inside and lock your doors. That's what police are telling residents in upstate New York as authorities chase multiple new leads in the manhunt for those two convicted killers. Three states are now potentially in play -- New York, Pennsylvania and Vermont. Just moments ago we got word that a cab driver in Philadelphia is talking to police after he claims he picked up both inmates and then drove them to the train station.

This comes as a major highway in New York just five miles from where Richard Matt and David Sweat made a stunning super max prison escape has been shut down. Officials now taking every precaution, setting up roadblocks and closing down schools, more than 400 law enforcement officials are now scouring terrain in New York and Vermont, where officers say the inmates may have fled.

Here's what the state's governor said on "NEW DAY."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHUMLIN: This is a governor's nightmare. We're trying to protect the public's safety, take care of our folks. These guys are dangerous. They're desperate and, you know, they would do anything to continue their freedom. So we're following every single lead. There is some indication based on the information we had that they had a canoe on their mind or something one could paddle. So, you know, these guys where smart. They're probably trying to seek any way quietly to get over to this side. Whether they've done that or not we don't know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So let's bring in CNN national correspondent Jason Carroll. He's on the ground on upstate New York.

Good morning.

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Carol. And we are about seven miles east of where the prison is located. If you take a look, you can see Route 374. There's a section of it that has been shut down, blocked off. You can see the checkpoint there. Nonresidents not allowed into that particular area. You can see some of the traffic now being moved out.

This all being triggered last night after there was some sort of suspicious activity in the area that triggered this. And then last New York State Police putting out the alert asking residents to stay inside their homes in the affected area, to lock their doors, if they had exterior lights to make sure that those were left on. This morning the Saranac Central School District closed as a precaution.

Police still following up on 500 leads -- at least 500. This just happens to be another one of those leads. Again, some sort of suspicious activity spotted in the area. That's what triggered this new search. In terms of how long Route 374 would be closed, this particular section, they say will be closed until further notice -- Carol.

COSTELLO: And Jason, we're also learning new details about that female prison worker who knew both inmates. What can you tell us? CARROLL: Right. Joyce Mitchell, I actually spoke to her daughter-in-

law yesterday -- at length yesterday. You remember that Joyce Mitchell is that prison worker who was questioned at length over the weekend. I spoke to her daughter-in-law Paige about a number of the allegations that are out there.

She told me, Carol, that 95 percent of what is being reported, in her opinion, is simply not true. I asked her about two key points. One point being the allegations that's out there that Mitchell in some way had planned, once these two men had escaped out of the manhole, that she was going to be their getaway car and then changed her mind at the last minute.

I asked Paige about that. She said, quote, "It's appalling to me. I'm totally disgusted that anyone would think that she would knowingly help them. She would never want a criminal near her family."

I also asked her about that allegation that Mitchell's cell phone was used to call some of Richard Matt's associates. This was her explanation for why the cell phone was used. She said, "I believe she was persuaded to contact people for him," him, once again being Richard Matt. "Who knew about an art piece or a work of art. That's why the cell phone call was all about."

[09:05:10] Paige Mitchell also went on to tell me during our phone conversation yesterday, she said that her mother-in-law's -- she said her heart was in the right place. That she was trying to do something nice and it backfired -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Jason Carroll, reporting live this morning. Thanks so much.

My next guest knows Dannemora, New York, well. He lives right next to the prison. He runs a local meat market there. Steve Lashway joins me now. He's on the phone.

Good morning, Steve.

STEVE LASHWAY, LIVES NEAR CLINTON CORRECTIONAL FACILITY: Hi, how are you doing?

COSTELLO: Good. A better question, how are you doing and what is life like now?

LASHWAY: Well, I'm doing great. Life has been insane. It's been a little scary for some people and it's been a lot frustrating for everybody.

COSTELLO: How is it frustrating for you?

LASHWAY: Well, with -- they have all the roadblocks up. I mean, a lot of people have commented it's like a military state here. We have correction officers on every corner with shotguns and there's roadblocks up everywhere. And it's been crazy and with all the rumors just about every day I think somebody comes in the shop and says they've got them. They've got them. Nope, they don't. Then the next day, same thing. And now we're doing it again. Right now they think they've got them surrounded. So we'll see.

COSTELLO: So are you more frustrated now than scared?

LASHWAY: Well, it's interesting. Today most of the people I've talked to haven't been concerned because they've all believed that they weren't in the area any longer. But today with all of the action that's going on, I've talked to a lot of people and they were a little scared today because, you know, it looked like, hey, maybe they're right here in our back yard. And so some people were concerned, you know?

COSTELLO: What's this doing for your business?

LASHWAY: It's interesting. It's been hurting it and helping it. Our sub business has doubled with all the, you know, personnel in the area. But it hurt the meat business a little bit with people -- I think some people are staying in and with all the roadblocks, it's -- you know, it hurts a little bit. But definitely been making a lot of subs.

COSTELLO: So what is your theory about where these guys are?

LASHWAY: Well, I've always believed that they weren't in the area any longer. But it's hard to say. I mean, they could be anywhere. It's hard for them -- you know, everybody knows them, their picture is everywhere. It's hard for them to travel. It's hard to say. I mean, I would say they're out of the area, but, you know, now it's maybe they're not. Maybe they're in Philadelphia.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: Well, Steve Lashway, thank you so much for talking with me this morning. I appreciate it.

LASHWAY: You're welcome. Thanks a lot.

COSTELLO: Sure.

The former McKinney, Texas, police officer who was caught on video slamming a teenage girl to the ground and pulling a gun on to other teenagers at a pool party says he's sorry if anyone was offended. According to his attorney, Eric Casebolt let his emotions get the best of him at the end of a tough day at work, answering two suicide calls.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JANE BISHKIN, ATTORNEY FOR ERIC CASEBOLT: Eric regrets that his conduct portrayed him and his department in a negative light. He never intended to mistreat anyone but was only reacting to a situation and the challenges that it presented. He apologizes to all who were offended.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: CNN's Ryan Young is live in McKinney, Texas, with more.

Good morning.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Of course that lawyer went on to say that Eric Casebolt actually had go tough calls that day where two people tried -- one person actually committed suicide. But the second person they were able to talk down off the roof. And those emotions were what he brought to that area when all of this happened.

Of course everyone has watched that video of a young lady being pinned to the ground. And that's something that's been played over and over. Once again the officer said and his lawyer said that he had a bad day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HANNAH STROUD, ATTORNEY FOR DAJERRIA BECTON: The manner in which Miss Becton was treated was inappropriate, excessive and without cause. I would not expect and have never been treated -- I would not expect to be treated and have never been treated by any police department or any police officer in the way that Miss Becton was. And I would doubt that any parent or reasonable person would expect their child to be treated in the same way. In my mind they went beyond inappropriate and they were clearly excessive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: So, Carol, just reviewing this, you know, if you look back at it, his own police chief said there were 11 other officers that did it right that day. And of course people have been talking about what happens next. Well, the reason why Casebolt said he didn't show up to that news conference yesterday is because his family and him have been receiving death threats. He wants to make sure everyone stays safe.

But going forward, will he face charges? That's a question that a lot of people want to know. What will happen next? You can see online there's so many different opinions about what actually happened that day and that the officer's reaction match up with what they should or shouldn't do. But the police chief here, I spoke to him, has said, definitely, that his officers' actions did not match up with the standard that were here at his police department.

[09:10:00] COSTELLO: All right. Ryan Young, reporting live from McKinney, Texas, this morning.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Jeb Bush dismissing concerns that a soon-to-be announced campaign is in disarray. Should he worry, though?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Jeb Bush has been widely viewed as the GOP front runner for 2016. But some early stumbles and sagging poll numbers have some questioning if he can really win. For his part, Bush says he isn't worried.

CNN's Dana Bash has more from Poland, one of the stops on Bush's three-country European tour. DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Carol, Jeb Bush is

now right in the middle of his European tour. Here in Warsaw, Poland, he is part tourist, part would-be world leader.

Let's start with the tourism part. He spent the morning at the Warsaw Museum, the one that commemorates the Warsaw uprising during World War II.

[09:15:00] And he and his wife went to a memorial wall and placed flowers there, at the place where there are actually American soldiers names on the wall, those who gave their lives to protect the poles during that time.

But when it comes to the leaders that he's meeting, he actually had one unfortunate meeting. That was with the now former speaker of the Poland parliament. Now, I say former because he resigned abruptly just yesterday amid scandal because there were audiotapes released taken of him and others secretly. And him in particular, he was saying some pretty derogatory things about the U.S. using rather colorful language about the U.S. -- and Poland's subservient role to the U.S.

It's exactly the kind of bond, though, that Jeb Bush is here to promote, not just in Poland and but in his next stop in Estonia. So, it will be interesting to see what that -- what went on there behind close doors.

But, meanwhile, all the time he's traveling here, of course, the big focus is what is going on back home. In just four days, he's going to announce formally for president. And the questions he is getting here from some American reporters is about his standing in the polls.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEB BUSH (R), FORMER FLORIDA GOVERNOR: I don't read the clips. I kind of know what my job is. It's to develop a message that's hopeful and optimistic about the future of the country.

I am confident that the team in place will do their job. And I've got to do my job as well.

So, I don't read the polls. Polls are -- you know, it's fun to see when you're winning. Not so fun to see when you're not.

It doesn't really matter though. It's June, for crying out loud. So, we've got a long way to go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: So, you see there, Jeb Bush is blowing off the idea that he is struggling back home, that he is failing to catch fire.

But the fact of the matter is even though his name is Bush, even know he clearly will have tens of millions of dollars in his war chest, much more than his competitor competitors, he has failed to break away from the pack and failed to scare away the competitors, probably about 15 at the end of next month, will be running for the Republican presidential nomination -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Dana Bash reporting.

So, as we said while Jeb Bush tries to make his mark in foreign policy, there is concern his campaign is sputtering here at home. The question is why.

I want to bring in Mark Preston. He's executive editor for CNN Politics.

Good morning, Mark.

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICS EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Hey. Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: I know you've been working the phones this morning. You spoke with a senior Bush campaign official. What do they say?

PRESTON: Well, you know, I think there's an acknowledgment right now that things have been pretty bumpy for the campaign over the last few weeks. But this campaign official says to me, in many ways, it's quite true, that they still remain at the top of the polls. They still are going to have more money at the end of the reporting period than any other candidate.

If there's ever going to be a problem in a campaign or if there's going to be any talk about a campaign sputtering, you would want to have that now in 2015 -- June of 2015 than, let's say, January of 2016.

So what he has done, though, Carol, you know, the sputtering, the inability to answer some questions, is that he's opened the door to the likes of Marco Rubio and to the likes of John Kasich who now seriously is considering running for president.

COSTELLO: Absolutely. You know, everybody has a theory, of course, every political pundit out there.

So, one of the theories, is Bush came out early and strong because he was sure -- by doing that, he was going to keep other candidates out like Marco Rubio. But that didn't work out, did it?

PRESTON: No, it didn't, certainly not with Marco Rubio. But where he was successful is that some say he was able to keep Mitt Romney out of the race. And why that was important is that many of the donors for Mitt Romney potentially have now gone over to Jeb Bush.

So, when it comes to the money spigot, Jeb Bush was successful pushing Romney out of the race who wants consider getting in it. But Marco Rubio, somebody who really learned at the elbow of Jeb Bush in many ways has decided to get in. And he really has benefitted, Carol, from the stumbles of Jeb Bush.

COSTELLO: He absolutely has.

So, Jeb Bush needs to run as Jeb Bush, not George or H.W. Can he win though with the Bush name in Iowa and in New Hampshire, or in Florida for that matter?

PRESTON: Well, you know, Carol, I spoke to somebody who is basically running a campaign for one Bush's opponent out in Iowa. They were very surprised that Bush is not playing more in Iowa, and the reason being is that the Republican field is so wide and so diverse, that they think that the conservatives could cut up Iowa so many ways, that perhaps a centrist Republican could win Iowa. That centrist Republican could be Jeb Bush.

You know, Jeb Bush is going to have the difficult of having the Bush name connected to him, but let's not forget a lot of Republicans still like George W. Bush. While it hurts with the electorate as a whole, it's not as hurtful with conservatives.

COSTELLO: OK. So, a third theory, my third and final theory that's out there.

Jeb Bush supports Common Core. That's not popular among many Republican voters. His immigration stance isn't so popular either. So, can he overcome these things?

PRESTON: Well, it's certainly something that conservatives are angry at him about, and probably his two big stumbling blocks. Speaking to a strategist for another one of his opponents just yesterday, they said that Jeb Bush has done a really terrible job articulating his own conservativism. That they do acknowledge that he has some very strong conservative views, he hasn't done a very good job of talking about how conservative he is and instead is talking about what separates him from the rest of field, on issues such as Common Core and immigration.

If he is going to win the Republican presidential nomination, Carol, he is going to have to do a better job of articulating his conservativism to those base voters.

COSTELLO: All right. Mark Preston, many thanks to you. I appreciate it.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Egypt's ancient sites at risk, as militants target the country's rich cultural history. We'll talk to an Egyptologist about what's at stake, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:25:00] COSTELLO: An American who went to Syria to fight ISIS on his own is dead, killed on the battlefield. According to the State Department, Keith Broomfield, a native of Massachusetts, died earlier this month while fighting in Syria. Broomfield is remembered by his friends and pastor as a man of God who was called by the Lord to fight ISIS.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He started to just talk about how he wanted to just make a difference in this world and that God had changed his life around . He was a single gentleman. He -- you know, like I said, he loved the Lord. He made some -- God made some radical changes in his life.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Every time he came to church, which was three times a week, Wednesday night, Sunday morning, Sunday night. Sat next to him, sat behind him, sat in front of him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: A woman who says she's Broomfield's sister shared a text message on Facebook which she says was her final message from her brother. It says in part, quote, "Sometimes you've got to be a man, whether you want to or not. I don't expect anyone to understand, but I don't need anyone to understand either."

We'll have more on this story in our next hour, including an interview with another American who fought in the same Kurdish army group as Broomfield.

The Obama administration hoping it can inspire a new, quote, "Sunni Uprising", sending as many as 450 more U.S. troops to help train Iraqi forces and shipping weapons to Sunni tribes in Peshmerga fighters. Their target? Taking down Islamic State fighters.

Our senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman is covering the story from Baghdad.

Hi, Ben.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. That's the idea, that somehow these 450 additional U.S. troops added to the 3,100 already here will somehow make the difference. They're going to be based at Al-Taqaddum Air Base which is halfway between Ramadi and Fallujah, two towns under the control of ISIS.

Now, the U.S. wants to provide training and perhaps weapons to Sunni fighters. But it's not going to be anything along the same scale as what we saw during the surge in 2006-2007 when the U.S. spent millions and millions of dollars, actually paying the salaries of Sunni tribesmen, training them, providing them with weapons. And they did succeed back then at crushing al Qaeda in Iraq as it was called back then.

But it's a whole different order now. You have ISIS controlling a third of the country. They're much better armed than al Qaeda in Iraq ever was. And certainly, there's hesitation within the Iraqi government itself to arm and train Sunni tribesmen, because the worry is they'll take that training and take those weapons over to ISIS -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Ben Wedeman reporting live from Baghdad this morning. Thank you.

Islamic militants taking a page from ISIS, urging terrorists to attack the life blood of Egypt's culture and economy, the ancient pyramids and temples. Some major German tour operators apparently cancelling trips to Egypt after yesterday's attack at Luxor attack, because of safety concerns. The Luxor attack which comes just one week after another incident at a different cultural treasure, two police officers were killed by gunmen while guarding the pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx.

To discuss this, I'm joined by Egyptologist and professor at the American University in Cairo, Salima Ikram.

Welcome, Salima.

SALIMA IKRAM, PROFESSOR OF EGYPTOLOGY, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY IN CAIRO: Hi, Carol.

COSTELLO: How worried are you about these ancient sites?

IKRAM: Well, we are becoming increasingly worried, because, of course, for a long time, everything had seemed relatively safe. Now we have everyone coming to the borders with all kinds of attacks going on in Syria and Tunisia, and now in Egypt itself.

So, we are becoming increasingly concerned about the fate of our monuments.

COSTELLO: And we're talking about some famous antiquities, things like the Sphinx. I can't even imagine -- I can't even imagine how the world would feel if the Sphinx is gone.

IKRAM: I mean, for us, it would be tragic, because, you know, the pyramids of Giza are the only remaining seven wonders of the ancient world. And to have anything happens to any of these monuments would be heartbreaking not just for the Egyptians, but also for the entire world.

COSTELLO: Is Egypt protecting these sites well enough?

IKRAM: Well, they're trying to. But you have to remember that it's not just like a museum. You've got several kilometers of space that needs to be patrolled. And certainly, you know, when you're going the into a monument, their security checks for cars, buses, people, but if several groups sort of race or rush the gate, of course, there's not that much you can do. Although there is marked military presence around the larger monuments, such as the pyramids and the Sphinx.

COSTELLO: These terrorists who want to harm these ancient sites in Egypt, what do they want? What's their goal?