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Activity in New York Neighborhood as Search Continues for Inmates; Source Says Joyce Mitchell Provided Inmates with Tools; Obama Arrives on Capitol Hill to Push for Trade Bill; Bill Clinton Defends His Wife as Questions Continue over Foundation. Aired 9:30- 10:00a ET

Aired June 12, 2015 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: 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?

THOMAS LASALLE, RESIDENT OF SARANAC, NY (via telephone): Oh, I mean, it's definitely increased like the last half an hour or so. Not boots on the ground, but more or less patrols have increased. I could see down at the intersection that there was a huge flurry of activity. They had it all blocked off, several troopers, correctional officers. And I'm pretty sure that - you know, and I haven't seen any civilians drive by at all these last two hours. So I'm pretty sure they have both ends of the roads at this point locked down.

COSTELLO: Gotcha. So, Thomas, could you stand by because I really want to see how this all evolves because who knows, it might really be them.

Actually, let me ask you this.

LASALLE: Sure. I mean -

COSTELLO: Let me ask you a question about Joyce -

LASALLE: I mean -

COSTELLO: Yes, let me ask you -

LASALLE: (INAUDIBLE) -

COSTELLO: Let me ask you a question about Joyce Mitchell, this prison worker who supposedly supplied these men with hacksaw blades and safety glasses and established some sort of relationship with both of them. She probably lives, you know, not very far away from you. What goes through your mind when you think of her?

LASALLE: Disgust. Really, since day one, when the rumors started to fly about her, and, you know, I think everybody around here knew somebody had to help them. And I think it's a pretty general consensus of everybody around here is just pure disgust and we really hope that she pays for this.

COSTELLO: You would think, though, there had to be more than one person helping them because it was such a complicated escape route.

LASALLE: You would think so. You know, I mean, I've lived here my entire life. Nothing like this has ever happened. You know, it's like definitely something out of a movie. And that's a huge prison. I got a chance to tour it when I was a child and it's just - the immensity of it all, like it's almost unimaginable how somebody could even get out of here.

COSTELLO: All right, Thomas LaSalle, please stand by. I have to take a break.

We'll be back with much more in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:36:24] COSTELLO: Happening now, it is day seven of a massive manhunt in upstate New York as two convicted killers continue to elude law enforcement. This morning stunning new details about just how they escaped. Sources tell CNN that Joyce Mitchell, a civilian working inside the prison tailor shop, gave hacksaw blades and drill bits to the two escaped prisoners, which could have been used to cut through sheet metal walls in their cells. Officials are working feverishly following a possible break in the case. Police search dogs picked up the inmates' scent at a gas station just one mile from the site of their escape. But until those two men are back behind bars, an entire region remains on lockdown.

Let's turn our attention now to the latest information we have. Sources revealing to CNN that that prison seamstress, Joyce Mitchell, gave the two escaped inmates hacksaws and drill bits.

Let's bring in criminal defense attorney and HLN legal analyst Joey Jackson. Welcome.

So supposedly -

JOEY JACKSON, HLN LEGAL ANALYST: Good morning, Carol. Good to see you.

COSTELLO: Good to see you too. It's just such a strange case.

JACKSON: It really is.

COSTELLO: Supposedly Ms. Mitchell has been cooperating with authorities.

JACKSON: Right.

COSTELLO: She's talked to them every day. She has not acquired a lawyer, however, which I first interesting.

JACKSON: Ah, yes. Well, that's certainly problematic. She should and she should do so immediately. But, you know, she's in an interesting position right now, Carol, because she could provide valuable information. And how ironic would it be that a person who allegedly helped them escape could potentially find their whereabouts or have clues or information as to there whereabouts. Did they access her cell phone? Reports are they potentially did. Did

they, through that access, communicate with people who police - you know this Carol - are all over and speaking to, to determine where they could be, what were their plans, where were they going, where have they been. And so, ironically, that could occur.

And I also think that she's in a - I wouldn't say a good position here, but in a superior position because they're relying upon, that is prosecutors and law enforcement, the information she provides. So to the extent that she's in a lot of trouble - and she really is - that could be mitigated or lessened depending upon the extent of her cooperation.

COSTELLO: OK. So, yes, it appears she's in a lot of trouble -

JACKSON: Yes.

COSTELLO: Especially if it's true that she - she supplied these guys with hacksaw blades. That's bad.

JACKSON: It's 100 percent bad. What happens is - and, you know, in my other life I represent correction officers in institutions. She's not a correction officer. But there are strict rules, Carol, against what we call undue familiarity and that is correction officers or even civilians who work there otherwise getting into relationships or having too close relationships with inmates, and it's for this very reason because it can turn to instances where you become vulnerable, and as a result of that, you asset them. And so there are strict rules against promoting prison contraband, the drill bits or anything that she would provide that would assist them to escape. You know, she could be in trouble in terms of accomplice liability. Was she an accessory? Did she help? To what degree did she help? Did she conspire with them? And these are all very, very serious laws within New York state.

COSTELLO: This had to happen over a long period of time, right? It was a very convoluted plan.

JACKSON: Right.

COSTELLO: And then she had to figure a way to smuggle these items to these inmates.

JACKSON: Sure.

COSTELLO: And then they had to figure a way to smuggle them and hide them wherever they kept them, in their cell or other places.

JACKSON: Absolutely. Yes. And, you know, it's interesting because every prison - different prisons have different security codes. You know, you have maximum/minimum. But when you're dealing with a security code, you know, as we have here, where it's heightened and its max security, you would certainly think that movements attract, whether it be civilians or whether it be inmates, make no mistake about it, even though you're a civilian, when you want access to certain things, it's recorded. There are surveillance cameras in jail. Your movements, for the most part, are scene. There are areas there that are not surveilled but you, of course, have to document what you do.

[09:39:59] And so I think that investigators will be going back, tracking her movements and determining where she was, when she was there and over what period of time she engaged in this. And going back to the cell phone, certainly they'll be looking at that for any clues in terms of who she contacted or who they contacted on her phone so that they could further plan this escape.

COSTELLO: It's just, just really insane.

I want to go back to the scene for just a second.

JACKSON: Sure.

COSTELLO: So hang there, Joey.

I want to check in with Jason Carroll.

Jason, I know you don't know anything about this because you're miles away from where this man lives that I just talked with minutes ago. His name is Thomas LaSalle. He said a neighbor saw these two men jumping over a stone fence in her parents' backyard and take off into the woods. He says there's a huge increased police presence in his neighborhood right now. He lives in Saranac, New York, which is about three miles away from where the prison is located.

I know you can't tell me much about that, but just tell me how often police hear about reports like this and how often they investigate and it turns out to be nothing?

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, a couple of things. It is several miles from where we are. I've not seen an uptick in activity from our vantage point, on Route 374 where we are, for viewers who are looking at our particular location.

But, look, what they're doing is, the public is doing its job. I mean law enforcement has repeatedly said they're asking the public to be vigilant, to be on the lookout for anything at all that might be suspicious. The public has to be in some ways eyes and ears on the ground. And so they're following up on hundreds of leads. At least 600 here. That's just locally. Hundreds more across the state and nationally. They have to follow up on every lead as if that might be the lead that eventually takes them to where they need to go.

So we are going to hear throughout this entire ordeal, as we've heard throughout the past few days, about possible leads. Just a few days ago you remember we were in Willsboro, not too far from here, about a possible tip there. We're hearing yesterday about a possible tip, a lead into the woods - a wooded area just off of 374 where perhaps these two inmates had bedded down for a period of time. So it's not unusual. What you have to do is we have to wait, follow up with law enforcement and wait to see what they - what they tell us.

I can tell you, from our point of view, there is a perimeter that's set up off of 374. They are narrowing in on that perimeter there. Whether it ends up leading to these two men, we don't know at this point. But the public, I can just say, is doing its job. Once again, law enforcement asking the public to be vigilant and report anything at all that might be suspicious.

COSTELLO: All right, Jason Carroll, many thanks to you. Joey Jackson, thanks to you as well. I'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:47:40]COSTELLO: President Obama has arrived at 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.

CNN's Michelle Kosinski is live at the White House with more. Good morning, Michelle.

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, yes. Carol, this has turned into a kind of bizarro world situation. I mean, we have the president really battling, as you said, members of his own party, many of whom are fiercely opposed to this trade authority. It's a couple of votes involved, actually. But now unexpectedly, we have the president showing up on Capitol Hill to make this last ditch push of last ditch pushes.

We are hearing, though, from at least one House Democrat who is saying, well, this is too late. Where was he before? Although, the White House has been making some efforts here. They've been having Cabinet secretaries talk to Democrats over the last couple of days. The president did phone the House speaker. There have been efforts like that. And in fact, last night we saw the president show up to the Congress baseball game, an annual event. But this Democrat who's been talking to CNN said the president didn't even really talk to anybody there. It was kind of more of a show. And he, you know, obviously wasn't the time or the place to have these conversations on trade.

But this remains to be seen if the president can convince some of these members, and they do need several more votes for this thing to pass, because if it doesn't today, if the first vote doesn't go through, then this fast track authority for the president to be able to forge these important trade deals will fail. And then this Trans- Pacific Partnership, this trade agreement with Asian nations is also likely to fail, and that would be the loss of a big legacy piece, something that he's been working on for a long time for the president.

So, this is really a test. Can the president work on these members of his own party and get them on board at this 11th hour? And can he push through this trade deal, which the White House is trying to position as really an offset to China's influence and a way for the U.S. to engage economically more deeply with Asia. They're looking at this as really being all important for the U.S. economy moving forward, while those opposed are saying just the opposite, that this is going to be bad for American workers and send more American jobs overseas, Carol.

[09:50:09] COSTELLO: All right. We await the president's remarks. Michelle Kosinski reporting live from the White House. Thanks so much.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Bill Clinton brushes off criticism of his foundation and his wife's tenure at the State Department. Will voters buy his argument?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Bill Clinton defending his wife as questions continue to swirl around their foundation and whether donors were given special treatment while Hillary Clinton was secretary of state.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

COSTELLO (voice-over): Clinton dismissed the criticism during an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper who is making his debut this Sunday as host of on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION."

JAKE TAPPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think a lot of people might say, okay, you say there's no evidence that anything was done for them, but can you really say that these companies, these wealthy individuals, these governments, none of them sought anything? I mean, some of them did have business before the State Department.

BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I don't know. You never know what people's motives are, but in this case I'm pretty sure everybody that gave to Haiti in the aftermath of the earthquake saw what they saw on television, were horrified and wanted to make a difference. And...

[09:55:20] TAPPER: You're not saying -- you say you don't know if anybody sought any favor, just that there was no...

CLINTON: No, and I don't think Hillary would know either. She, you know, she was pretty busy those years, and I don't -- I never saw her study a list of my contributors or, and I had no idea who was doing business before the State Department. But what I will say this, she believed that part of the job of the secretary of state was to advance America's economic interests around the world. If she hadn't been doing this economic diplomacy work, nobody would have been doing it, and -- but I never thought about whether there was any overlap.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

COSTELLO: Mr. Clinton noted that none of this was an issue until the political season began, adding that some of the companies in question have supported the Clinton Foundation for years, even before Hillary Clinton was named secretary of state. You can see more of Jake Tapper's interview with Bill Clinton this Sunday on "STATE OF THE UNION" beginning at 9:00 a.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)