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More Evidence against Prison Worker?; Obama to Visit Capitol Hills to Lobby for Trade; "Lily Pad" Plan Involves U.S. Advisers, Trainers; Resident: "Swarm of Activity" in Neighborhood. Aired 9- 9:30a ET

Aired June 12, 2015 - 09:00   ET

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


[09:00:02] CAMEROTA: The kid say it made them feel better and it changed their opinion of police for the better.

There you have it.

BERMAN: That's fantastic.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Community policing right there.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

BERMAN: And it looked like a lot of fun to boot.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

BERMAN: All right. Guys, have a great weekend. Meanwhile it's time for "NEWSROOM" with Carol Costello."

Good morning, Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. You guys have a great weekend. The best day of all, it's Friday. Have a great day.

NEWSROOM starts now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, bloodhounds chasing the scent of escaped killers.

ANDREW WYLIE, DISTRICT ATTORNEY, CLINTON COUNTY, NEW YORK: We hope to be successful within the next 24 hours.

COSTELLO: New information about what they could be eating, where they may be sleeping as police seal off an entire town.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel like I'm going crazy being indoors. I feel like a prisoner in my own home.

COSTELLO: And did this prison worker offer them help for love?

WYLIE: There is information as far as the contraband that she did provide to both Matt and Sweat. COSTELLO: Plus --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you African-American?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't -- I don't understand the question.

COSTELLO: An NAACP activist gets caught faking her race. According to her mother, she's not even black. The question this morning, why?

And LeBron James, bloody and beaten, writhing in pain after hitting his head on a camera. How close is too close?

Let's talk. Live in the NEWSROOM.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

We begin with stunning new details on that massive manhunt to catch two cold-blooded killers still on the loose. Two law enforcement sources telling CNN that prison worker Joyce Mitchell gave hacksaw blades to Richard Matt and David Sweat before they escaped from a maximum security prison in upstate New York. She also bought two pairs of eye glasses with lights and drill bits.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WYLIE: She could face conspiracy to -- for escape. And she could also the -- we'll be dealing with promoting prison contraband.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: No matter what level of cooperation she does provide, do you anticipate still pressing charges? Look, if she provided contraband, no matter what it is, will she still get in trouble for that no matter how much she cooperates?

WYLIE: I -- yes. It's my intention at the conclusion of our proceedings dealing with her, she's aware that there's these charges that are obviously going to be filed or can be filed against her. She continues to cooperate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: All this as search dogs pick up the scent of the inmates at a gas station just one mile away from where they broke free. Right now more than 500 law enforcement officials are scouring neighborhoods and forest areas within a five square mile radius.

Let's bring in CNN's Jason Carroll and Alexandra Field, they're both on the ground in upstate New York.

Alexandra, I want to start with you and these new allegations against this prison worker.

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. You know, the district attorney here in Clinton is saying that Joyce Mitchell might be feeling guilty or responsible. That could be why she's speaking so freely to investigators without even having an attorney present. Law enforcement officials now saying that she brought hacksaw blades into the prison, that she also provided drill bits and glasses with lights to these inmate who escaped.

We're learning a little bit more about her connections to both Richard Matt and David Sweat. She has told authorities that Matt made her feel special in some way. We're also learning that investigators had looked at some kind of reported relationship between David Sweat and Joyce Mitchell previously. Something had been reported which prompted them to look into the possibility of a relationship there.

The district attorney in Clinton County saying there was no evidence found to support that a relationship did in fact exist. But it was enough to take David Sweat and remove him from the tailor shop where Joyce Mitchell worked. We're told that Joyce Mitchell has been talking to investigators every day. The district attorney saying that at the conclusion of the investigation, it's his intention to file charges. Those charges could range from anything from accessory to escape to promoting prison contraband.

Both of those, Carol, are felony charges.

COSTELLO: All right. Alexandra Field, many thanks to you.

Now let's go to Jason Carroll with the latest on the search. Good morning.

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And good morning to you, Carol. You know that section of 374 that we talked about yesterday still part of it shut down today. Schools in the area shut down as well for a second day as the search still underway.

Some new details about a possible lead, a possible trail on these two people, these two escaped inmates. Bloodhounds picked up the scent of the inmates at a gas station located just about a mile from the prison, the Maple Fields gas station. In all likelihood they had stopped there looking for food, looking for supplies, may have gone into the dumpster looking for food or supplies.

[09:05:07] They're going to be checking the security cameras. The security cameras currently under review as we speak to try and find out if there are any leads there that could help investigators in terms of the search. Dogs continue to pick up the scent in the area where we are now. As you know yesterday when we were out here, they picked up a possible location where these two had been bedding down for a period of time, came across several wrappers as well as a boot footprint.

But in terms of those wrappers, when I was speaking to a law enforcement source out here this morning, he was saying, you know, there's a possibility that those wrappers blew in from another location. So tests are going to have to be run and the materials that they found to make sure that what they did find is somehow linked to these two men who are still on the loose, as you can imagine, for the people who live in this area, it has been -- it has been very worrisome for them. They're very tired at this point. They just want it all to end.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel like I'm going crazy being indoors. I feel like a prisoner in my own home because I've got all the doors looked, I closed the windows. I have ladders outside. So imagine things. And I look out the window often. Everywhere I drive to work I'm scanning to see if I see any unusual activity.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: State police have been by here without exaggeration probably 50 times in the last two or three days.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: The concern is that the longer that Richard Matt and David Sweat are out here, the more desperate, the more dangerous they will become. That's why investigators, law enforcement reaching out to the public to tell them as weary as they are to remain vigilant and to report anything that might be suspicious -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Jason Carroll reporting live. Alexandra Field as well. Thanks to both of you.

I want to bring in someone who knows the prison system well. Percy Pitzer is a former federal prison warden. He joins me now.

Welcome, sir.

PERCY PITZER, FORMER FEDERAL PRISON WARDEN: Well, good morning and thanks for having me.

COSTELLO: Thanks for being here. We appreciate it. As a prison warden, is Joyce Mitchell your worst nightmare? A Joyce Mitchell your worst nightmare?

PITZER: Well, unfortunately things like that happen in prisons. They don't happen as often as one might think. But when situations like this come up, it really brings awareness of what can happen.

COSTELLO: When prison workers are hired, are they vetted in any way? Are they given some sort of psychological test?

PITZER: No psychological test. And I don't think it's warranted because there's a pretty thorough process. They go through a panel interview that's quite intensive. They go through a complete criminal background check, investigation. They do credit checks to make sure that their funds are -- that their credit -- so they're not susceptible to corruption or bribes.

COSTELLO: Bribes. There was a complaint about Mitchell getting too close to David Sweat. In fact, he was removed from the tailor shop where Mitchell worked. Mitchell was cleared of the allegations. But I'd like you to explain to our viewers what kind of investigation goes down when a prison employee is accused of getting too close to an inmate. PITZER: Well, I mean, there's a lot of interviews go on, including

the employee, the suspect. And quite often we in prisons can suspect somebody of participating or getting too close with an inmate. But often the problem is proving it. You can't terminate an employee or discipline an employee unless you have real proof that it happened. They did take actions from what I see by removing one of the inmates from the tailor shop.

COSTELLO: They did. They removed David Sweat. The interesting thing is that Joyce Mitchell said the other inmate, Matt, made her feel special. So do you think the two inmates planned to, I don't know, romance her in order to plan this complicated escape?

PITZER: Oh, I have no doubt that they manipulated the lady. You know, I've seen that over and over where inmates will see an employee and they're around them a lot and all of a sudden they start telling them how nice they are. And they're one of the best correctional workers within the facility and they're beautiful and they go on and on. And they earn the staff member's confidence.

COSTELLO: It's just -- it's mind blowing considering what these men were convicted of doing, though. So would other -- other prison workers notice her talking to them? Wouldn't someone send up a red alert? I know someone did, but this had to go on for a long time to establish such a relationship to the point where Mitchell allegedly smuggled them -- like hacksaw blades.

[09:10:18] PITZER: Well, you know, and that's exactly what happened. And that's why the initial investigation took place. Some staff member did report a suspicious activity. And it's one thing to note that in prisons, there's constant training on code of conduct. There's constant training on people taking -- staff taking care of each other. If you see suspicious activities, report it. And in this particular case, that's what happened. The only problem is when they investigated, they couldn't prove it.

COSTELLO: All right. Percy Pitzer, thank you for your insight. I appreciate it.

In just minutes President Obama is headed to Capitol Hill to push for his signature trade bill. He's up against members of his own party and a group usually in his corner. That would be unions. At stake the Transpacific Partnership, a giant trade deal involving the United States and 11 other nations. But ultimately it comes down to jobs and I'm talking millions of them.

CNN's Sunlen Serfaty is live on Capitol Hill. Our chief business correspondent Christine Romans is here.

First to you, Sunlen. What's the president looking to do with this last-minute maneuver?

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is a rare move, Carol. One where President Obama is personally coming to Capitol Hill, something he rarely does, to personally lobby and try to twist the arms of Democrats who so far have not being willing to vote for the bill.

This is definitely a rare occurrence. Three days of lobbying from White House officials, capping it off with President Obama who will speak to House Democrats this morning in just a few hours -- in just a few minutes. And all of this coming just a few hours before a series two-key votes will be held.

As of now, Carol, it does not look like there is the support to move forward. But everyone admits from both sides that this vote could be razor close. This is a core piece of President Obama's legacy. Him coming up here to the Hill really indicates that the White House knows how few votes they have, how more they need to pick up for this vote in just a few hours -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Sunlen, thanks so much.

I want to turn to Christine now. So would this trade deal impact workers in a good way or a bad way?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, the White House says it will. Labor unions, environmental groups and some of those Democrats say it won't. And that is the core of this discussion, toxic trade politics. I mean, you go back to NAFTA in 1993. Sixteen Democrats who voted for NAFTA then lost their jobs because the American people said, wait a minute, we don't think this is a good deal for us.

They look at years and years of trade policies and see environmental degradation and they see labor standards running lower, lower, lower. And the U.S. middle class jobs leaving. Now the White House says this deal has all kinds of protections for that.

And I talked to -- I talked to the Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker and this is what she told me about those protections.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PENNY PRITZKER, U.S. COMMERCE SECRETARY: For the first time labor standards are enforceable within these trade agreements and resources are being set aside to increase the amount of enforcement that we're doing. By raising labor standards for our trading partners, we're making the American worker more competitive globally.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Here's what they want to sell, chickens to Malaysia, auto parts to Vietnam, chemicals, plastics, electrical machinery, pork, you name it. This is what the White House says the trade deal will help because there are tariffs against American made products there now. The question is, will it really increase middle class jobs here in the United States? Or will it just mean more profits for those companies and not translate into jobs and -- and wage growth for American workers. That's the core of the fight.

COSTELLO: All right. Christine Romans, thanks so much. Sunlen Serfaty, thanks to you as well. Still to come in the NEWSROOM, after the president's huge push to get

U.S. troops out of Iraq, is he about to send more in?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:18:32] COSTELLO: Quagmire -- definition, a situation that's hard to get out of.

You could say that perfectly describes the United States and its presence in Iraq. After vowing to get troops out of Iraq, President Obama is now open to expanding America's military footprint there. That could mean a network of bases or lily pads, and hundreds more U.S. troops.

Yes, their mission would be an advisory role. But they could advise Iraq forces much closer to the front lines. Sounds kind of ominous, right?

Here to talk about that is former U.S. ambassador to Iraq and Turkey, James Jeffrey.

Welcome, sir.

JAMES JEFFREY, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO IRAQ & TURKEY: Welcome, Carol. Thanks for having me on.

COSTELLO: Thanks for being here.

So, Mr. Ambassador, will we ever get out of Iraq?

JEFFREY: We're still in Korea some 60-plus years after we first went in. So, being in a place is not necessarily a bad thing. The question is, what are we trying to do? If we're trying to degrade and destroy ISIS, which is the official position of the U.S. government and it's an intelligent position, we need to do a lot more on the ground now to put military pressure on this movement, because it is not being degraded. It's on the march.

COSTELLO: So, these lily pads, these bases would be run by the Iraqis supposedly. But American troops would use them to advise. So, I guess they would be sort of schools for the Iraqi military.

I don't know. What do you make of this? Is this kind of what you're talking about?

JEFFREY: Not really. We already have 3,000 troops in country who are either advising the Iraqis, training them as you put it, or supporting the trainers, which is what most of the troops are doing.

[09:20:07] By these lily pads in Taqaddum and Anbar province, very close to the city of Ramadi that just fell, the advice would be to reach out to the Sunni tribes and recruit some of them for the Iraqi military and perhaps directly. That's a good idea in and of itself.

This will move the scale slightly in the right direction. But it's not going to be enough because we are not putting the military power into this thing that we have in other conflicts including right now in Afghanistan.

COSTELLO: What do you mean by putting military power into the situation?

JEFFREY: Normally, you not only do you train and equip the force, but you accompany it in the field. You provide to some degree, informal leadership, you call in hear strikes from the front lines, you advise people on how to fire and maneuver. In doing so, you're also establishing a moral position that you're at the front with these people. That has a huge effect. To quote Napoleon, the morale is to the physical is three to one.

What we're signaling with this operation is we really do want to defeat ISIS, but not at the expense of risking our people, not at the expense of any sort of significant commitment. And I don't think that's going to work.

COSTELLO: Well, on the other hand, these American troops that would be sent, they wouldn't exactly engage in combat, but they would be closer to the front lines so that they could directly advise the Iraqi forces who are fighting is. Is that moving in the right direction?

JEFFREY: It is moving again a little bit in the right direction. That's the problem with all President Obama's military moves. When he does anything, that's a good thing, because he basically doesn't believe very much in military force. So, it's hard to criticize, even small steps.

But small steps are not going to deliver the effects that he has promised the American people, which is again to degrade and defeat ISIS, and this is a movement that really needs to be degraded and defeated.

COSTELLO: Until the Iraqi government gets its act together and engages these Sunni tribal leaders and Sunni forces, it doesn't really matter what the United States does, does it?

JEFFREY: Absolutely. I've studied 20 conflicts since China in World War II, where we've been supporting local parties and I've been on the ground with some of them. They're never particularly good compared to ideologically motivated insurgents, or the other side, or modern military forces. But with American people on the ground, we saw this in Basra, Iraq, in 2008, their military went in and was beaten badly, stopped. Then we sent in all sorts of advisors, Apache helicopters, also the things that the administration refuses to do now, and with essentially no American casualties, we defeated the Mahdi army backed by Iran and changed the political calculus of the entire country.

That's what you do with military victories. We're not getting military victories and we need to.

COSTELLO: Ambassador James Jeffrey, thanks so much for being with me. I appreciate it.

JEFFREY: Thank you. COSTELLO: Checking some other top stories for you this morning at 22

minutes past, the Germanwings copilot who deliberately crashed into the Alps feared he was going blind. A criminal investigation reveals Andreas Lubitz saw dozens of doctors over the last five yeas complaining that he could only see 30 to 35 percent of objects in the dark. Seven of those doctor visits happened in the month before the crash, one to a generalist, three to a psychiatrist, and three a nose ear and throat specialist.

Another suspect has been arrested in last week's foiled terror attack in Boston. Police say Nicholas Rovinski seen here was a friend of Usaama Rahim, the man shot and killed by police. Rovinski allegedly met with Rahim and another man who's already in custody to discuss terror plans that included one idea to behead a controversial blogger, Pamela Geller.

The government hack attack is a lot worse than originally thought. A federal union says a breach revealed last week compromised the personal data of every single federal employee. Initially begun with an attack into the Office of Personnel Management in December. After that, cyber crooks were able to navigate through other systems. Senator Harry Reid blaming China for the attack. But U.S. officials have declined to publicly name the country.

All right. We are hearing about a flurry of activity near the search scene for those escaped prisoners.

I want to get to Thomas LaSalle. He lives in Saranac, New York. He's on the phone with me right now.

Good morning, Thomas. Are you there?

THOMAS LASALLE, RESIDENT (via telephone): Yes, I am.

COSTELLO: OK. So, what's happening in your neighborhood right now?

LASALLE: Well, right now, we just got word from one of our neighbors that the police possibly spotted the inmates jumping a stone wall at the near the intersection of Cringle Road and Bucks Corners Road. I know that SWAT is there and they also have several armed officers moving in toward the house.

[09:25:01] The helicopters are now flying south of me doing search like grids to the east. So, I'm not sure if it's like a delayed report and they're searching other areas near there. But there definitely is a swarm of activity now.

COSTELLO: Have you talked directly to the neighbor who supposedly saw one of these men jumping the fence?

LASALLE: No. We're not -- they're still -- it's not a complete lockdown still, but they're discouraging people from walking around and walking up and down the road.

COSTELLO: No. I mean, how close is the neighbor who reports that one of these men might be jumping over the brick wall? LASALLE: Oh, less than a quarter mile.

COSTELLO: Have you talked directly to that neighbor?

LASALLE: Not yet. This is something she had posted. It was her parents' house. And she posted on Facebook that it just happened.

COSTELLO: OK, I was wondering how you all kept in touch with one another. So you do it through Facebook?

LASALLE: Yes, a lot of people. Most of it's through Facebook and phone calls. You know, it's been pretty crazy. There's so many different helicopters flying around. I think anything that looks suspicious, they're just jumping on. So, there's activity going on everywhere.

COSTELLO: Have there been other reports similar to this in the previous days?

LASALLE: You know, we have heard stuff like they have him cornered and stuff. We've heard probably every story you could imagine. I'm not sure which ones are true or not. But I can tell you, since 9:00 p.m. two days ago, it's just got -- like this whole area has been completely locked down.

COSTELLO: Can you read that Facebook post for me?

LASALLE: sure. It says -- it says, right now, the inmates were seen jumping the stone wall behind my parents' house. The wall is between their house and a house on Bucks Corners Road. My parents saw three trooper cars and two unmarked cars and SWAT team in their backyard, and law enforcement continues to rush in. They're lining the Cringle Road Route 3. This is insane I guess. I hope this is it. Please, please, please, and lots of prayers to those involved.

COSTELLO: I'm sure you're feeling the same way.

LASALLE: Oh, definitely, this is -- this has been wearing us down.

COSTELLO: So how long have you been holed up in your house? Are you able the get out at all?

LASALLE: Yes. I talked to an officer this morning. He said we are able to leave. And we are able to come back. But there's still unfortunately that -- they're only letting local traffic on these roads. Like they're checking IDs to make sure you actually live down here and they're being pretty strict about it.

COSTELLO: How are you keeping your family safe?

LASALLE: Well, my children have been away for a couple days since this whole flurry started. And, you know, we're definitely, very, like this is a very pro-gun area. I think everybody is armed and ready to protect their household if needed.

COSTELLO: And just the thought that these men might be so close to your house, how does that make you feel?

LASALLE: It's very unnerving. You know, we haven't slept much at all in like three days. We've been taking shifts, you know, off and on. And just you know keeping an eye on things. There's a big tree line here that's due north of us that heads right to the prison. And it's just been day after day of just watching the woods and the fields and, you know, being able to do something.

COSTELLO: OK. Tell me again the -- so it's near Cringle and what was the other street.

LASALLE: Cringle and Bucks Corners.

COSTELLO: Bucks Corners.

And there is police activity and they're trying to see if your neighbor really did see these two inmates jumping over a wall. If they jumped over that wall, would they go directly into the woods behind the house? Is that how it works?

LASALLE: Yes. It would be south of Bucks Corners road. So I imagine they're probably reinforcing the route 3 activity. It looks like there's a bus pulling up right now, actually a coach bus. This is what the correctional officers have been using to transport themselves to various locations. It's kind of loud here.

COSTELLO: So, explain what the vehicle looks like for me.

LASALLE: They're backing in a bus now. It's got tinted windows. I can't really see if it's full of people or not. But we also did see border patrol on their ATVs about an hour ago and they're hitting all the trails in the area.

COSTELLO: So, since your neighbor spotted two people jumping over the fence, how much has the police presence increased? Can you give me a number that you've seen like police like tearing down the road there in front of your house?