Return to Transcripts main page
Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
New York Prison Guard Arrested; More Charges for Church Shooter; President Obama Snags Major Trade Win; Stocks Fall on Greece Concerns; Boston Marathon Bomber Apologizes. Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired June 25, 2015 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:31:02] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight, a second prison worker arrested in a plot that freed two dangerous killers. What he told his attorney that his biggest mistake was.
New charges could soon be coming for the Charleston church shooter. That as worshippers return to the room where that man killed nine people. Bible study resumes at Emanuel AME.
The Boston marathon bomber breaks his silence. He apologizes for his crimes. What his victims had to say, ahead.
Welcome back to EARLY START, everyone. I'm John Berman. About 31 minutes past the hour. Christine Romans is off today.
And happening today, a New York state prison guard is expected to plead not guilty in connection with the shocking escape of two convicted killers nearly three weeks ago. Investigators tell CNN that 57-year-old Gene Palmer, you can see these pictures of him overnight, that he gave inmates tools to fix circuit breakers in the catwalk behind their cells. Palmer told detectives he supervised the work and reclaimed the tools after, but this is the same catwalk that Richard Matt and David Sweat used in their escape.
For the latest, let's turn to Jason Carroll in Plattsburgh, New York.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John, that prison guard was arraigned Wednesday night. He's now in custody, facing several serious charges, including promoting dangerous contraband, destroying evidence, and official misconduct. I'm told that these are low-level felonies and at one point, he could have faced an even more serious charge of aiding and abetting.
But because he was cooperating with investigators, I'm told the district attorney chose not to pursue that particular charge. But still, serious charges nonetheless for his alleged involvement in all this. His attorney tells me that his client did admit to passing on that frozen chunk of hamburger meat to Richard Matt inside, that frozen chunk of meat there were those hacksaw blades but there by Joyce Mitchell. Joyce Mitchell, also the prison employee who convinced Gene Palmer to pass on that chunk of frozen meat.
Once again, he was arraigned on those charges Wednesday night. His attorney tells me he will be entering pleas of not guilty.
ANDREW BROCKWAY, GENE PALMER'S ATTORNEY: I believe that he was conned by Joyce Mitchell. She duped him. And looking back on that, he can't believe that someone would take advantage of him. He knows he made a mistake and that he shouldn't have done what he did but I think at the end of the day, he's a man of integrity. He has taken a polygraph test. He passed the polygraph test.
The district attorney has stated that he does not believe that Mr. Palmer aided and abetted the escape of Mr. Sweat and Mr. Matt. And that's what the story should be here.
CARROLL: And Palmer's attorney also wanted to make is he clear that his client says he did not know what was inside that slab of meat and had no knowledge at all about any escape plan -- John.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BERMAN: Thanks to Jason.
There's new information this morning that Charleston church shooting case. Overnight, law enforcement sources tell CNN the Justice Department is likely to pursue hate crime charges against the gunman in addition to nine state murder charges.
Also last night, bible study began once again at Emanuel AME Church just one week after the mass killing there. Interim Pastor Norvel Goff discussed Jesus saying that because he lives, we can face tomorrow.
CNN's Martin Savidge has the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.
It was last Sunday that members of Mother Emanuel Church reclaims their church, the sanctuary. But it was last night, in a courageous move that members of a bible study group actually reclaimed the space where this horrible massacre occurred one week ago. And the public was allowed to join them. There were about 150 of us that went inside. And I sat in the back of room.
[04:35:00] I didn't lose anybody, and just walking into that space, it was incredibly powerful, because it just seemed to still reverberate with that sense of tragedy. But that said, you could see people embracing one another before the study began. It was that long embrace, that hold on to me and let's hold it together kind of embrace.
But then Reverend Goff began, he said, look, we're starting again our service here, our bible study. We'll never be the same. But we will continue on.
And from that, he launched into a whole night of sort of talking about the power of love and also about the gift of forgiveness. And some of the key lines that he brought out were this one. He said, "Last Wednesday, dark powers came over Mother Emanuel and God in his infinite wisdom says, that's all right, I've got the nine." That's a reference to the Emanuel Nine as they're now referred to.
There were times of laughter, times of soulful prayer. There were reminders, there were places cutouts where bullet holes obviously had been. But he finished really by saying and spreading his arms to the whole room and saying, this territory belongs to God -- in other words, reclaiming this terrible scene, taking it away from terror and giving it back to the people of the church -- John.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BERMAN: Our thanks to Martin for that.
Breaking overnight, five former key advisers to President Obama on Iran said they are concerned that the pending nuclear deal may fall short of the administration's own standard of a good agreement. The advisers, among them former CIA Director David Petraeus, they've written an open letter that expresses concerns about concessions the White House may make on a way to the deal. A senior administration official tells "The New York Times" the concerns in the letters, quote, "in large part tracks with the American negotiating position."
President Obama is telling the French President Francois Hollande that the U.S. will abide by commitments not to eavesdrop on French leaders, now or in the future that is. This comes after reports that the U.S. spied on Hollande and two of his predecessors. Secretary Kerry denies any ongoing surveillance and says it will not happen.
A usual drama on Capitol Hill as the House committee grilled an officer of person until management over the worst ever breach of U.S. government data. Katherine Archuleta will face new questions today from the CNN committee. Archuleta disputes CNN's reporting that 18 million current, former and prospective government workers may have been affected. She says those numbers are preliminary, unverified and approximate. She stands by the original estimate of 4.2 million people, which frankly is still an awful lot.
U.S. officials say as many as a dozen Americans are being held hostage by terrorists overseas. A top adviser to the president says more than 30 Americans are being held captive in total. The majority are being held by drug cartels and other criminal groups. The revelation comes as the president made clear that the families of hostages will not face prosecution for paying ransom. But one former hostage says the move is not likely to change whether Americans are taken captive.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Many of the families told us that they, at times, felt like an afterthought or a distraction. That too often, the law enforcement or military and intelligence officials they were interacting with were begrudging and giving them information. And that ends today. I'm making it clear that these families are to be treated like what they are, our trusted partners and active partners in the recovery of their loved ones.
DAVID ROHDE, FORMER TALIBAN HOSTAGE: I don't know of any studies that show that American and British citizens, because their governments don't pay, are somehow being kidnapped less because of those government policies. When I was in captivity, my Taliban captors, they simply thought the U.S. government secretly did pay ransoms. That's false but they really believed it.
So, captors aren't hearing the message or believing it. And you know, even if they think, you know, they're not going to get money for an American or British captive, they still can use them for publicity.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: The families of several American hostages killed in the last year call the changes a step in the right direction.
Pretty big victory for President Obama after the Senate approved fast track trade authority. The vote sets a chance at a legacy-making deal for the president, joining the markets a dozen Pacific nations accounting for 40 percent of the global economy. Congress will have a final say on that accord if it comes to pass, probably by the end of the year. They will not, though, be allowed to amend the pact. No guarantee that it will pass by the way.
The IRS is under renewed scrutiny this morning. The House Oversight Committee will hear testimony from officials investigating former IRS Director Lois Lerner and her e-mails, up to 24,000 of them, missing because agency employees erased the backup tapes.
[04:40:02] Congress requested the e-mails following allegations that the IRS targeted Tea Party groups applying for nonprofit status. Agency officials told lawmakers last June that an unknown number of e- mails had been lost when Lerner's computer crashed in 2011.
It is time now for an early start of your money. Alison Kosik is here with that.
Good morning.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN MONEY CORRESPONDENT: And good morning to you, John.
Look at that red arrows for European and Asian markets. But U.S. futures, they're up a bit after a rough day yesterday. We saw stocks tumble after Greece's debt talks ended abruptly with no deal on the table. The Dow fell 178 points or 1 percent.
The NASDAQ and the S&P 500, they also -- that also fell down almost 1 percent. The investigation into the Takata air bag recall isn't going well. That's the stunning revelation from the company's own CEO.
During a conference call yesterday, he said investigators, they haven't figured out why the air bags are exploding and he didn't know when the investigation would end. The exploding air bag problem has been linked to at least eight deaths. And one in seven cars in the U.S. have been recalled.
Now, the CEO hasn't made a public appearance since June of last year. Today he'll be holding a press conference since this whole recall business started. We'll see if he says anything new.
BERMAN: Yes, it inspires anything but confidence. All right. Alison, thanks so much.
KOSIK: Yes.
BERMAN: Not in my house. President Obama had an unusual confrontation with a heckler inside the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: No, no, no, no, no. No, no, no, no. No, no, no. Hey! Listen, you're in my house.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
As a general rule, I am just fine with a few hecklers. But not when I'm up in the house.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Joe Biden giving a shoulder rub to make it all OK.
The heckler was an LGBT activist demanding an end to the deportation of LGBT immigrants. The woman was escorted from the room as the president requested because she would not quiet down.
The Boston marathon bomber now says I'm sorry, apologizing for before sentenced to death. We'll tell you what his victims had to say, right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:45:51] BERMAN: Dramatic moments inside a Boston courtroom. The Boston marathon bomber, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, he never said a word during his trial. But just before a judge formally sentenced him to death, Tsarnaev stood up and spoke, apologizing to families of the victims and survivors who also had their say.
CNN's Deborah Feyerick has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John, it was a very powerful day at the sentencing of marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, as about two dozen survivors and relatives of those who died gave victim impact statements.
One amputee, Heather Abbott, who said, "He did not break me. The memory of those killed will be kept alive by those who survived his terror."
The family of 8-year-old Martin Richard basically condemning what he had done, saying, "He chose to accompany his brother. He chose hate. He chose destruction. He chose death. We choose love. We choose peace."
Among those defiant was amputee Rebecca Gregory. She essentially said, "We are Boston strong. We are America strong. By choosing to mess with us was a terrible mistake. How's that for a victim impact statement?"
Now, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev did offer an apology to the victim's families saying he was sorry for the lives he had taken, the suffering he caused and the damage he had done. He also did confess saying, "The bombing, which I'm guilty of, if there's any lingering doubt, I did do it along with my brother."
But for several family members and for officials here, it was too little too late. The U.S. attorney Carmen Ortiz saying, what Dzhokhar Tsarnaev did not say was he did not renounce terror and he did not renounce violent extremism -- John.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BERMAN: No, he did not. Deborah Feyerick, thanks so much.
Attorneys for James Holmes will call their first witnesses today at the trial of the Colorado movie theater gunman. The defense is expected to focus on his alleged mental illness trying to convince jurors that Holmes was legally insane when he opened fire inside a packed movie theater, killing 12 and wounding 70. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
Bobbi Kristina Brown has taken a turn for the worst. A family member said the 22-year-old of the late Whitney Houston was moved to hospice care because of her deteriorating condition. Bobbi Kristina has been unconscious since she was found unresponsive in the bathtub of her home in Georgia earlier this year. An aunt made a statement to reporters saying, "She is in God's hands now."
A lawsuit accuses Nick Gordon of assaulting Bobbi Kristina and transferring thousands of dollars from per bank account to his, without authorization.
Severe storms creating somewhat of a catastrophe across the country, and it's not over yet. We're going to tell you what you need to know. An important forecast right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:52:15] BERMAN: Severe storms struck across the country with damaging hail, heavy rain that caused street flooding and high winds to topple trees. More is lined up for today. In Denver, look at this, flash flooding had streets looking like a water park or something, cars just going every which way as drivers tried to maneuver through several feet of water. They should not have been driving at all.
Tree limbs, no match for the rain and the hail that hit Denver and the surrounding communities. Some neighborhoods water from the intense flooding was waist high. As you can imagine, it was awfully hard for people to get around.
Plus, look at Georgia right now. People there waking up to destruction, severe storms, torn down trees, destroyed mobile homes at the Whistling Pines Park in Tyrone. Residents are having a hard time coping with the sudden devastation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You come home and everything's gone.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A lot of the stuff is lost, but we're alive. I'm so glad my daughter's alive. It scared me. Because I really thought we were going to die.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: For more of the severe weather let's get to meteorologist Derek Van Dam --Derek.
DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good Thursday, John.
We have a series of low pressure systems moving from west to east. This is across the plain states to the Mid-Atlantic. This is going to spawn off the possibility of severe weather once again, sounding to some a bit like a broken record if you ask me.
We have roughly 50 million Americans under the threat of severe weather today. Damaging winds and large hail are the main concerns. It does include Denver, Kansas City, St. Louis, Indianapolis as well as the nation's capital. You can see the enhanced risk of severe weather with the shading of yellow.
Here's the storm complex moving across the Ohio River valley, eventually late in the day across Washington and Philadelphia. We start to get the daytime heating from the sun and we start to see the thunderstorms start to develop.
The western half of the U.S. starts to warm up including the Pacific Northwest, roughly 15 degrees above average heading into the weekend. We get a break from the extreme heat over the eastern half of the U.S. look at New York's forecast, still one more day in the 80s but cooling off into the low 70s by the weekend with even chances of rain. More of the same for Washington, D.C.
Back to you.
BERMAN: All right. Derek, thanks so much.
So, it is the hottest ticket in New York right now. It's not for a Broadway show or sporting event or even the live broadcast of EARLY START. An early start on your money, next. KOSIK: Shocker.
BERMAN: I know, right? That should be the best ticket. Everyone --
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:58:04] BERMAN: Time now for an early start on your money. Alison Kosik here with that.
Good morning.
ALISOK: Good morning.
And we are seeing some red arrows for European and Asian markets. But U.S. futures are higher after a rough one yesterday. The Dow fell 178 points or 1 percent. The NASDAQ and S&P 500 also fell almost 1 percent.
And, of course, the Greek drama continuing. It's deadline day to reach a debt deal actually on Tuesday to reach a debt deal with international creditors. If no agreement is reached, a Greek exit of the European Union is likely. They'll be continuing those talks later today.
Listen to how wasteful we are. Americans are throwing away $640 a year in food. That's according to a new study by the American Chemistry Council. Food waste is actually a major population problem. But only 15 percent of people said they're concerned about its environmental impact. It's the biggest item in land fills where it sits and releases that nice smelling methane gas.
BERMAN: Nothing better.
KOSIK: You drive by that big hill, you hear it.
You know what day it is?
BERMAN: Draft day!
KOSIK: It's draft day for the NBA. He's good.
But if you want a chance to be part of the action, it's going to cost you. Tickets on the floor are going for $223. The average price $92. The top price paid for a ticket is $350. All this to watch NBA Commissioner Adam Silver just kind of read off a list of names.
BERMAN: It's not all to read off a list of names. There are deals, it's all about hope and the future.
KOSIK: It's literally reading a list of names and paying that much. Come on.
BERMAN: No, it's about hope and the future, because these guys could all be stars one day.
KOSIK: That's your story and you're sticking to it. BERMAN: That's my story, and I hope the Celtics trade for a big man.
Thanks, Alison.
KOSIK: Sure.
BERMAN: EARLY START continues right now.
(MUSIC)
