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Intense Manhunt Continues For Escaped Convict David Sweat; A Landmark Week For American Social Fabric and Jurisprudence; Multiple Terror Attacks Abroad; Terror Warning For This 4th of July Here At Home. Aired 12-1p ET
Aired June 27, 2015 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- without stopping and trying to either tell someone how to play their instrument or that they are playing too loud.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One thing that I noticed about him asking for a strange tempo change was that sometimes my brother would be like a little argumentative and say dad that's the wrong one and I would say guys let's just do it for him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN GUEST ANCHOR: We're following breaking news on the New York manhunt. Still no sightings of fugitive David Sweat as more than 1,000 law enforcement officers are searching for him. Police say that bloodhounds have not picked up his scent.
Fellow escapee, Richard Matt, was shot and killed by a border patrol agent on Friday. But police they had closed in on him after getting a call of shots fired. Officers say that Matt was shot when he refused to put his hands up.
Joining me now is our own Jean Casarez. She is live in Malone, New York. That is where the search is intensifying. So Jean, tell us where things stand at this hour. We know there's a contained perimeter. Are we getting closer to finding him?
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, sources telling CNN right now there have been sightings of David Sweat at all so the search continues by air with helicopters, by land, by ATV. Federal, state and local police, I think you're seeing some live shots right now, live pictures of an actual checkpoint.
This area is very roped off. You cannot go into the tightest mountain area unless you live there and even if you live there, you're stopped and questioned and possibly even your vehicle is searched. Now this all began and it came down starting about 2:00 yesterday afternoon.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CASAREZ (voice-over): After three weeks on the run escaped killer Richard Matt was shot and killed near Malone, New York.
GOVERNOR ANDREW CUOMO, NEW YORK: You never want to see anyone lose their life, but I would remind people that Mr. Matt was an escaped murderer from a state prison. Mr. Matt killed two people who we know about.
CASAREZ: After a tip from the driver of a recreational vehicle who heard gunshots and then realized that his camper was hit. Police narrowed in on a cabin in the surrounding woods.
JOSEPH D'AMICO, NEW YORK STATE POLICE SUPERINTENDENT: We discovered the smell of gun powder and realized a weapon had been fired as we were doing the ground search in the area. There was movement detected by officers on the ground.
What they believe to be -- a tactical team from Customs and Border Protection met up with Matt in the woods, challenged him, and he was shot dead by border patrol at that time. We recovered a 20-gauge shotgun.
CASAREZ: Now the focus of the manhunt is on David Sweat who is said to be contained in the area though there has been no actual sighting. Police used helicopters and vehicles with infrared spotting technology in the overnight hours. Residents are still on the edge.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How have you been feeling since?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Anxiety through the roof. It's awful. I cannot sleep. When it's darkness I wonder how they get out, what are they doing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CASAREZ: So once again, sources telling CNN that the bloodhounds are out today. They have not picked up the scent of David Sweat. Remember these are specialized dogs. They go through months and months of training to be able to track that human scent in the vicinity.
Nonetheless, they're not changing the search area. This is the area, the north northwestern area in the mountains. They -- we are close to the border of Canada. Once they have searched this entire area, they may then re-access and go to another area.
But one thing we are learning from yesterday in regard to that man with the camper that originally heard the gunshots and believed that he had flat tire and then ultimately 8 miles down the road pulled over.
We were able to confirm with the Clinton County Sheriff's Department that in fact that shoot that went through his camper was by Richard Matt. When law enforcement honed in on him and asked him to surrender, he did not, and they shot him dead. There was that 20- gauge shotgun that was found next to him.
Ironically, one week ago today, a cabin was burglarized and it was believed a shotgun had been taken from that -- Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: Jean, I am sure that they're wondering if Sweat is actually armed as well. I am sure that's something that they're considering when they go into that wooded area. Jean, thank you so much. We're going get back to you with more on this story.
And of course, the question is how do we survive in the wilderness for three weeks especially when we have a small army of police and helicopter dogs all on your trail.
[12:05:08] I want to bring in our survivalist, Shane Hoble, who has been training people in wilderness survival for years. Actually, Shane, I understand that you're in the middle of a training session right now?
SHANE HOBLE, FOUNDER AND OWNER, MOUNTAIN SCOUT SURVIVAL SCHOOL: That's true. I'm out in the middle of Long Island. We are actually in the middle of all-day survival class. They're being doing their stuff, so I can have a chat with you.
MALVEAUX: That's great. Thanks for taking the time. So tell us, first of all, I mean, it's one thing to survive in the woods, but another thing when you're hunted by police. Give us a sense of how long you think you can survive when you're hiding from the law. Essentially you have a lot of folks who are on your trail.
HOBLE: You know, you raise very interesting points, Suzanne. You know, there's a difference between being in the disaster and a survival standard survival situation where you're going take the time and have that luxury of making a shelter and getting out of the elements and collecting water and making a fire and getting warm and not worried about being caught.
In fact, in a survival situation, you want to be found. Whereas this, this is a whole new level of survival. It's really about the survival of himself at this point. He is not thinking about the shelter and the standard procedures of in terms of standard survival.
He is literally trying to evade and any cross and any which way that he can. So I know that they're using thermal imagining throughout the night time. I know that the authorities have already admitted that this is not a 100 percent proof or solid technology.
You can still go into one of these cabins or even into a cave and there are a lot of little nukes and crannies in that neck of the woods that can take the heat signature and actually disappear and evade that type of thermal imaging.
So he is looking at any place, a temporary place to lay his head down right now and even if he is sleeping, and I doubt very much that he is. He is tired and exhausted. The law is on top of him. He is squeezing and running out of resources and options.
MALVEAUX: Shane Hobel, they could have depended on each other, but how much more difficult is it now for Sweat to survive when he is on his own? HOBEL: You know, so much more difficult. You have -- at least you can be doing something that someone else is watching your back or two people can gather quite a bit of material or supplies in a very brief amount of time.
Now you're by yourself and it seems like the master mind is now dead. This guy was sort of the follower. He did not have it all within himself. I know he is not a survival expert. I know that he is thinking rapidly as much as possible just to evade the law.
He has to eat and still has to have water and stop and go to the bathroom and he has to do the normal things that all of us have to do, but at this point survival on his own with very little skills is in a place of desperation and certainly losing time.
MALVEAUX: Yes, and I want to ask you about that time. How much time do you think, Shane, he has before he really is not functional if the police do not find him?
HOBLE: You know, there's a rule out here in survival and it's known as the three threes. There's three minutes without air, three days without water and three weeks without food. Any of those things is going put you in a really bad position.
So we do not know the last time that he's eaten and had water if any. He is putting himself in such a risk in his own personal health and survival just by staying in the evasion. Let alone the exposure to the elements. That's detrimental to yourself.
It's simple to fall asleep while you're in a hypothermic condition and that's it. So he is increasing the risk all of the way through. He is absolutely out of options.
MALVEAUX: Shane, does he have like food and water in the woods. Could he be eating leaves or berries or things that he is surviving off of?
HOBLE: Absolutely. That's the beautiful thing about this region. It's filled with abundant of free sources if you know what you're looking for. Now I know that these were not survival experts. I'm sure that their edible and medicinal information and their ability out in the landscape is probably lacking pretty good.
So this is the reason why we know that they have been going in and out of the urban environment to basically gather the resources because they know that they exist and that's through abandoned homes and the hunting cabins.
We know that they escape and who knows what else they have actually obtained through going through some of these resources.
MALVEAUX: All right, Shane Hoble, thank you so much. We really appreciate it.
Still to come new details on the alleged gunman behind the terror attack at a seaside resort. Plus a warning about possible terror threats here in the United States. That's up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: We're continuing to follow the breaking news out of New York today where an intense manhunt continues for escape convict, David Sweat. Bloodhounds now have not picked up his scent yet. We will bring you the updates on the story as we get them.
It was a close decision. A 5-4 margin, the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage across the United States. Now the legal question was this, the 14th amendment versus states' rights.
The 14th amendment says nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty or property without due process of law nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. Now the key language are those four words, equal protection of the law.
The other issue was states' rights, which was part of Chief Justice John Roberts' dissent. He wrote, "Five lawyers have closed the debate and enacted their own version of marriage as a matter of constitutional law."
So did the majority get it right? I want to ask our legal guys, Avery Friedman, a civil rights attorney and a law professor is in Cleveland, and Richard Herman, a New York criminal defense attorney and law professor joining us from Las Vegas. Thanks guys for being here. You know, filling in for Fred. Tell us Richard, what do you think?
RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Hi, Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: Hi. Good to see you, guys.
AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Nice to see you.
MALVEAUX: Do you think that the court got it right?
FRIEDMAN: Do I think that the court got it right?
MALVEAUX: All right, Richard, let's start with you?
FRIEDMAN: Go ahead, Richard.
HERMAN: I think that the court got it right. It's been a long time since 2004 since Massachusetts became the first state to acknowledge same-sex marriage, and now the 14 remaining states in the United States that have bans on it will have to lift those bans or face serious litigations and sanctions and loss of funding, et cetera.
So you will see all of those lifted. What this means, Suzanne, is that every state has to perform same sex marriages. It does not mean that a same sex couple can walk into a church or a synagogue and demand that they be married in that facility.
[12:10:11] That is not what this means. It means that the states cannot ban it, and there will be plenty of facilities open to hold these ceremonies.
MALVEAUX: Avery, do you agree?
FRIEDMAN: I actually look at this opinion, Suzanne as something much deeper than that. It's a recognition or an affirmation of the right to marry, which the majority said is a fundamental right. So the idea of letting the state legislatures and letting the government make the decision is essentially wrong.
It violates both due process, as you mentioned, and equal protection under the law, so at the end of the day what Justice Kennedy did in speaking for the majority was to say look. We have recognized the right to marry and we reaffirm it today.
It has nothing to do with the personal beliefs or the religious beliefs. It has to do with the restriction on the government and those days now are gone.
MALVEAUX: Richard, there are some conservatives that claim the decision encroaches on the first amendment freedom of religion. Do you think that argument does have merit?
HERMAN: No, it has no merit at all, Suzanne. Again you cannot compel a particular religious facility to marry a same sex couple. There are government facilities that can do this. The courts will do this. There are plenty of venues. All this means that the states cannot ban same-sex marriages. That's what 14 states have done and it will take about three weeks for this law to take effect and most states --
FRIEDMAN: Richard, it is taking affect now. There are thousands of people lined up in courthouses and are getting married. It's in affect right now.
HERMAN: I know that. There's a re-argument. There is a three-week technical re-argument period, which is not going to have any bearing on the ultimate ruling here. But you know, Suzanne and Avery, the happiest people in the world are the divorce lawyers.
MALVEAUX: That's so cynical.
FRIEDMAN: That's an awful way of looking at this decision. I mean look --
HERMAN: It's realistic.
FRIEDMAN: There's the beauty of the constitution. Richard, only you would come up with that.
MALVEAUX: Let's hope that people are happily married and not in divorce court. But Avery, Richard, thank you so much.
HERMAN: Thank you, Suzanne. Nice seeing you.
MALVEAUX: Nice to see you. We're going to have more right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: Continuing the follow the breaking news out of New York today where an intense manhunt continues for escaped convict David Sweat. Now bloodhounds, they have not yet picked up the scent, but we will bring you the updates as we get them.
New developments now about the global terror attacks, we have now learned that 15 British nationals were killed in a terror attack in a seaside resort in Tunisia that left 38 people dead. This as Tunisian officials named the alleged gunman as Saif Aldeen Al-Rezgui.
They believe he is behind one of the terrorist attacks that rocked three continents. But fears are they may all now be connected. Our CNN's Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr has that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Dead and wounded tourists being pulled off a beach in Tunisia, just one of three horrifying attacks on three continents, at this seaside hotel on Tunisia's Mediterranean coast, a Shia mosque in Kuwait and an American-owned industrial plant in France.
Dozens of innocents killed and injured. Growing worry ISIS affiliates and lone wolves are behind it all.
JOHN KIRBY, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON: There is a common thread here of extremists and I don't believe we've seen any evidence of tactical coordination.
STARR: But one U.S. official tells CNN we are in a heightened period of concern. FBI and counterterrorism officials issued a bulletin to law enforcement across the U.S. warning of possible terrorist threats around the July 4th holiday though nothing specific.
But there are worrisome indicators. It's currently the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. ISIS' official spokesman has called for fighters to rush over to Jihad and rise up, a call to killing.
It's been a year since ISIS' leader, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, emerged from hiding to declare his caliphate. In Tunisia, nearly 40 people, many western tourists, killed when the gunman attacked.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We went to the left and hide in the under path with two people that work at the hotel. We were in a large room without lights. We stayed there for two hours.
STARR: The attackers had sworn allegiance to ISIS the U.S. believes. Next door in Libya is a failed state and already a new center of ISIS power. U.S. intelligence indicates, ISIS money, fighters and training camps are here.
In Kuwait, a bomb tore through a Shia mosque and killing 25 worshipers and injuring more than 200. The perpetrators U.S. officials said an ISIS affiliate based in Saudi Arabia and in France at an industrial gas plant, an attacker who had been on the terror watch list beheaded his boss.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STARR: Spain also increased its terror alert level. Many countries are increasing their watchfulness. Barbara Starr, CNN, The Pentagon.
MALVEAUX: Still ahead, the search continues for prison escapee, David Sweat. CNN's Polo Sandoval is joining us live from Malone, New York. What do we know?
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Suzanne, the search for that remaining fugitive is only really intensifying here in upstate New York. Meanwhile, we are learning more information and new details on this other alleged accomplice, who was shot and killed by federal agents. Did he set off his own red flag? We have that coming up for you in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: Hello and thanks for joining us. I'm Suzanne Malveaux in for Fredricka Whitfield. We are following breaking news in upstate New York. So far no sightings of escaped inmate and killer, David Sweat. Police say bloodhounds have not picked up his scent.
Fellow escapee, Richard Matt, he was shot and killed by a border patrol team. It happened on Friday. Police closed in on him after getting calls of shots fired. Officers say Matt was shot when he refused to put his hands up.
Joining us now is Polo Sandoval. He is live in Malone, New York. So what do we know this hour? How close are they?
SANDOVAL: Suzanne, good afternoon to you. One very important piece of information that we need to keep in mind here as this manhunt continues is that officials here on the ground in upstate New York say that there's nothing to confirm the exact location or where David Sweat could be.
That being said, we also have to keep in mind that officials say that there's no evidence to suggest that he actually left this area, so as a result I do expect to see the 1,100 law enforcement officers continue on here and find where this very dangerous individual is.
Now as we continue to monitor the manhunt, we're also hearing from authorities now revealing new information about Richard Matt, the other inmate that was shot and killed by the federal agents during the confrontation not far from where I am standing.
The Clinton County Sheriff now telling CNN that they do believe or can confirm that Richard Matt actually fired one shot at a recreational video or a camper that was making its way through this area here.
The driver of that vehicle then called 911. Police officers responded and then were lead to Richard Matt's exact location, which then lead to his death.
Now with this new information coming in, Suzanne, it really is interesting because as we digest all of this information.
[12:30:02] It now suggest that Richard Matt essentially fired the shot that blew his cover and that led investigators directly to him, those officers --
MALVEAUX: We lost polo, but we will get him back shortly. They're experiencing an intense manhunt and looking for Sweat. I want to bring in our James Conway, who is joining us via Skype. He is retired correctional superintendent.
And James, you believe that this escape was more than the two guys getting away, but it was a failure of the system and the system itself because there were so many people and failures along the way for this to happen in the first place. How significant is that?
JAMES CONWAY, RETIRED SUPERINTENDENT, ATTICA CORRECTIONAL FACILITY: Well, it's important to understand that New York State has a street presence and it's one of the most dangerous and difficult management problem (inaudible). This is a completely and total admiration from what's the norm. There's a relationship between inmates and staff that went unnoticed apparently by (inaudible) -- unsupervised and experiencing it through (inaudible).
MALVEAUX: All right. James we're going to try to get a better connection with you so we can actually hear a little bit more clearly so when we get that reestablished, we will get you back. But James, thank you so for spending the morning with us. We're going try to get better audio next go round. Thank you.
Coming up a big week of President Obama between the landmark Supreme Court rulings and a powerful eulogy in Charleston, well, how is that going to affect his legacy. We will talk about that next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: And we have got James Conway back now on the phone to talk about the intense manhunt that continues for escape convict David Sweat and also the other one that was killed.
So James, bring us back to the point that you were making before that this was a system wide failure and there were a number of things that went wrong on the communication and human level. Was this just a perfect storm that enabled these two to get away?
CONWAY (via telephone): Yes, I mean, the correctional officer can be routine, and unfortunately, staff fall prey to complacency. They make the same round and gallery for months and years and the same flashlight and inmates and they fail to notice things that they should notice.
I am not throwing blame on Clinton. It can happen everywhere. It's a fact of the business that we're in. We house the most dangerous and violent inmates that the nation has to offer and sometimes people let their guard down.
MALVEAUX: That's why it's so strange when we hear these stories about the fact that some of these guards, they were trading Richard Matt's paintings for favors. I guess, this guy was a great painter and then he ended up getting power tools hidden in hamburger meat.
CONWAY: Yes, the hamburger meat itself is not allowed either. It's not just the tools, but it's the raw meet. They're not allowed to have raw meat.
MALVEAUX: We're looking at some of the paintings that were done. He is quite talented there. It's quiet strange that there was a relationship that was developed with one of these guards that he was able to get these power tools and other things. Do you think that there might be other correction officers that might be implicated in this?
CONWAY: I think that there's going to be information in the investigation come out that's going to surprise folks. I have every reason to believe. This is not Joyce Mitchel and Gene Palmer that were involved. Somebody should have noticed that there was a close relationship between Joyce Mitchel and the inmates, and they should have taken action.
MALVEAUX: Why do you say that? Why do you think that there will be more information and people? What makes you think that?
CONWAY: I just think that the plan was too elaborate for these two individuals to come up with on their own. I am surprised that they did not have a better exit strategy.
MALVEAUX: James, do you think there will be changes that will be made to this correctional facility because of this?
CONWAY: I am sure there will be. There was an escape from Elmira in 2004 or 2005 and we had a system wide shake up and new procedures were put in place and now nine years later and there's another one. I expect there to be some significant changes.
MALVEAUX: All right, James, thank you so much for joining us on the phone and the bugs of Skype and things like that. We really appreciate you this morning taking the time. Thank you, James.
CONWAY: Thank you for having me.
MALVEAUX: Sure. It's been a landmark week in America. The Supreme Court handed down key rulings on Obamacare and same-sex marriage and President Obama ended the week leading Emanuel AME Church in amazing grace when he delivered the eulogy for State Senator Clementa Pinckney in Charleston.
(VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: That brought people to their feet so could this be a historic week for the president? Our CNN correspondent, Sunlen Serfaty, is at the White House with more.
And just really an incredible moment that we saw, I mean, having covered the president, I have not seen that kind of emotion and that spirituality that at that moment seemed to embrace not only the people at that church and the community, but really the spirit of the country that was called for at that time.
SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's absolutely right, Suzanne. Definitely emotion that we rarely see from President Obama and after a big week for him three legacy defining issues not only to two decisions by the Supreme Court going his way on the health care and same-sex marriage.
[12:40:08] But also he scored a major win from Congress this week in moving his trade agenda for it as well. It was really that eulogy in Charleston were truly encapsulated what could be the biggest legacy issue for President Obama as the nation's first African-American president.
And he said during the eulogy that we do not need to have another conversation about race in our country. That conversation is happening, and it's time to look at the small ways that prejudices do come out in the country. Here is one of the moments that got the biggest applause from the audience.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We are guarding against not just racial slurs, but we're guarding against the impulse to call Johnny back for a job interview, but not Jamal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SERFATY: Now looking forward, next week could be a big week for President Obama to the deadline to get a nuclear deal with Iran and the deadline is June 30th. Administration officials continue to down play the expectations here.
There's a major foreign policy accomplishment for President Obama if he is able to get the finish line and again administration officials not necessarily going in confident in the latest round of talks -- Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: All right, Sunlen, thank you so much. Appreciate that. I want to bring in our CNN political commentator, Van Jones. Van, it's good to see you. I have to tell you. First of all, this morning, my parents and I have been talking about this all morning and the "Amazing Grace" moment that really hit them.
It's my mom's favorite song. We're seeing a leader that's comfortable and spiritual and taking risks and who had an incredible week in terms of his signature social change issues that he wanted to accomplish by the end of his two terms. To me it seems like there's a legacy here.
VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Absolutely. This is why he ran for president. I put out a tweet that said, the confederate flag seems to be on its way coming down. You have marriage equality. You have health care and the president speaking to questions of race. This is what I voted for in 2008. In one week it all came to pass. I also think that you're seeing a different kind of Obama. This is Obama 3.0. He tried to speak about race on the campaign trail, in his biography and then when he first came into the White House and he got hammered so badly that he really kind of spent a couple of years almost as a racial pinata.
Just not saying anything, black folks matter, but not saying enough. White folks afraid he might be playing the race card and he was just a racial pinata. Somehow I guess, between Trayvon, Ferguson, Baltimore, and now Charleston, he has found the voice on the issue.
He says that he is fearless. I have never seen a president period including this president speak so powerfully that the church organist jumped in to accompany the speech. That never happens. He was the minister in chief yesterday.
MALVEAUX: Yes, I think that we certainly saw that and many times about really his evolution when it comes to talking about race. I want to bring Sunlen back to the conversation here because what was really interesting and perhaps even ironic, right, is that you saw Republican lawmakers working side by side with the president to help that trade deal passed.
So in a way it really was kind of the ability to work with the Republicans that he was -- and defy his own party, people who did not want that, to push through, to accomplish something. Do we think that we are going to see more of that?
SERFATY: Well, you're very right that was a rare time when the White House and Republicans teamed up on a major issue. It was the Democrats that were divided over a trade and certainly an unusual situation. To your question I don't think that it's likely.
I don't think that the White House believes that this is a big indication that they're going to be able to work with Republicans in the future on major issues. We saw President Obama make note of that when we talked about in the wake of Charleston and the push for gun control.
Really giving a nod to the political realities of the moment and seeing at that he does not see an avenue for the moving forward because of the Republican control Congress, both the House and the Senate under Republican control. So him kind of admitting that he needs to move public opinion and not move any legislation through Congress.
MALVEAUX: And Van, this really was a unique week that we saw. It's so rare that you have Supreme Court decisions. You have legislation and you have so much that's going in the favor. I know the president, he lit up the White House with the rainbow colors. It was an extraordinary week. How do you think that it's going to be remembered?
JONES: Listen, I think that you just saw probably the best week for the Obama presidency. If you were doing a movie about Obama, this would be the end of the third act, the president finally triumphant across the board.
The White House lit up in the way that it was. There's also just one area where there maybe another bipartisan miracle, which is criminal justice reform.
[12:45:02] Simpson Brenner, a right wing Republican and Bobby Scott, a left wing Democrat put forward comprehensive legislation last week in the middle of all of this that the president could probably sign and the Republicans may like.
So there may be one miracle, and if not this is the week and the song is one of the defining moments of the entire Obama presidency. This will be seen over and over again when they look back on this man's incredible journey.
MALVEAUX: I think a lot of people are going to look back at this week and try to digest and analyze and figure out how it all came together. Sunlen, tell us what the president is doing in the weeks ahead. What do we see in the terms of is this a pivot moment?
SERFATY: You know, it could be. I think there is a realization among the White House officials here and probably the president at what stage he is in his presidency. I think that's a lot of the reason why we're seeing him be a little bit more liberated and not to be so politically calculating.
And we really saw President Obama mention that in the podcast interview that he did this week. He talked about how he is fearless, and he seems to say that was a refreshing feeling for him. I don't think that this is a major pivot, but I think that we will see him until he leaves the White House -- Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: That podcast was called WTF too. So I might be an indication of where everybody is here. Van Jones, Sunlen Serfaty, thank you so much. We really appreciate you seeing you this morning.
Still ahead today's victims are buried and families grieving after dozens were killed and hundreds wounded in three separate terror attacks. We're going to bring you the very latest.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: We're continuing to follow the breaking news out of New York today where an intense manhunt continues for escaped convict, David Sweat. We will bring you updates on the story as we get them.
But now new details on the multiple terror attacks abroad and new information now about a terror warning for this 4th of July here at home, the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI and the National Counterterrorism Center issued a joint intelligence bulletin to law enforcement across the country.
Now it does not detail any known active plots, but warrants extremist could launch attacks tied to the U.S. Independence Day holiday or to perceive defamation of the Prophet Mohammed. Now, these threats at home coming on the heel of three separate terror attacks on three continents, French authorities have detained a lone suspect who allegedly decapitated his boss before crashing a van at a U.S. owned warehouse creating a huge explosion that injured two.
Police in Kuwait are searching for the driver's car that was used for a suicide bomber at a mosque on Friday. That blast killed at least 27 people and wounded 227 others.
Today CNN has learned the name of the alleged gunman behind the attack in the beach resort in Tunisia, Saif Al-Deen-Al-Rezgui. He is described by police as a normal young man, not known to have problems. CNN's Phil Black has more on the aftermath of the deadly shooting spree in the Mediterranean.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The roads here around the Imperial (inaudible) Hotel, we have been witnessing an exodus, coaches and busses full of tourists leaving the many hotels and resorts in the district and leaving on mass together as a direct result of the terror attack that took place in the hotel around the pool area and the beach just behind me yesterday.
We're learning a little bit more about the man responsible for that attack. An engineering student that specialized in electronics and someone who did at one point worked, they say, in the tourism industry, for an entertainment company that may have believed allowed him to learn the layout of the attack which he choose to target.
They also say he had a passport, but there is no evidence he used it, which is interesting because Tunisia is a country that has sent around 3,000 men to fight with ISIS in Iraq and Syria, the highest of any country outside of that immediate region.
And the fear of course is that those men and veterans come back and pose a greater threat to their homeland. In this case that would seem is not the source of this man's learned military ability.
We have been visiting hospitals and talking to people that saw him up close and simply did not believe what they were seeing and hearing and thought that it was fireworks and when they saw the man across the beach with his gun thought that he was some sort of a performer attached to the hotel.
Such was the disbelief that a terrorist attack was taking place in their midst. They all talk about the terror and fear and panic that sent them running from the beaches to find shelter within the grounds of the hotel itself. Most were fortunate but many were injured and 38 did not live through that terrible tack. Phil Black CNN in Tunisia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: Thank you, Phil for that report. Still to come, one dead and one still wanted. The latest on the hunt for a convicted killer David Sweat at the top of the hour. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:58:14]
WHITFIELD: Checking top stories, the confederate flag is back up on the grounds of the South Carolina state capital. That's after an activist identified as 30-year-old Bri Newsom took it down. Well, earlier this morning she climbed the flag pole, grabbed the flag and removed it. She and another person were arrested and charged with defacing a monument. The #freebri is now trending on Twitter.
And Iran nuclear talks are underway in Vienna ahead of Tuesday's deadline. Secretary of the State John Kerry and Iran's foreign minister are involved in intense negotiations. Iran insists that economic sanctions end immediately after a deal signed. The U.S. wants to gradually phase them out with verification.
And two more people attacked by sharks off the Carolina coast on Friday. A 47-year-old man was bitten several times on the utter banks on the lower back and lower legs. Another man in the 40s was bitten on the top of his foot in South Carolina. So far five people have been victims of shark attacks in the Carolinas in the past two weeks.
The big headline in sports, U.S. woman's soccer team beating China, 1- 0, that puts the United States into the semifinal round at the World Cup against Germany. The U.S. is trying for the first world title since 1999.
And we have got a lot more just ahead in the NEWSROOM. It all starts right now.
Hello. Thanks for joining me. I'm Suzanne Malveaux in for Fredricka Whitfield. We are following breaking news on the upstate New York manhunt. A brand new picture from NBC News from inside the first cabin were police believed that David Sweat and Richard Matt were hold up in the woods.
Now you can see this, right, the TV in the upper right corner, we don't know if they had access to cable, but if they did, they would have been able to track news about their own --
[12:30:00] POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: -- information and now suggest that Richard Matt essentially fired the shot that blew his cover that let investigators directly to him, those investigators or those officers--
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: We lost Polo but we'll get him back shortly. Again, they of course are experiencing this intense manhunt looking for Sweat.
I want to bring in our James Conway, who's joining us via Skype. He is retired correctional superintendent. And James you believe that this escape was -- it was more than just these two guys getting away. But it was a whole -- a failure of the system, the system itself because, you know, there were so many people, so many failures along the way for this happen in the first place. I mean just how significant is that?
JAMES CONWAY, RETIRED SUPERINTENDENT, ATTICA CORRECTIONAL FACILITY: Well, I think it's important to understand firstly that New York State, you know, probably 16 maximum security prisons. And those are holding some of the most dangerous difficult management problem (ph) inmate that New York State has to offer.
And this was a completely total aberration from what's the norm. So, there was -- I have spoken earlier the perfect storm. You can have fast complacency, you have incorporate relationship between inmates and staff, with one unnoticed and probably by supervision, you have other tools that found at the hands of inmates unsupervised. Class A tool (ph) that can use in cutting steel. And then they're pretty elaborate plan to make sure that under working with this public (inaudible) survey that even experienced in (inaudible).
MALVEAUX: All right. James, we're going to try to get a better connection with you so we can actually hear a little bit more clearly. So when we get that, reestablished, we'll bring you back. But James, thank you so much for spending the morning with us. We're going to try to get a little better audio next go round. Thank you.
Coming up, a big week for President Obama between landmarks Supreme Court rulings, and a powerful eulogy in Charleston. Well, how is that going to affect his legacy?
We're going to talk about that next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:35:39] MALVEAUX: And we've got James Conway back now on the phone to talk about the intense manhunt that continues for the escape convict David Sweat, and also the other one who was killed.
So, James, bring us back to the point that you were making before that this was a system-wide failure, that you had a number of things that went wrong in a human level, on the communication's level. Was this just simply a perfect storm that enabled these two to get away? CONWAY: Yes. I mean the general (ph) of the correction officer can be described as mundane routine but not most of the times. Unfortunately staff fall prey to complacency. They make the same round and the same gallery for months and years, with same flashlight, with the same inmates, and they fail to notice things that they should notice.
And I'm not throwing a blame on Clinton, I'm saying it can happen anywhere. It just -- well, it's a fact about the business that we're in. We have some the most dangerous violent predatory inmates that nation has to offer, and sometimes people let their guard off.
MALVEAUX: And that's why it's so strange when we hear the stories about the fact that some of these guards they were trading Richard Matt's paintings for favors, that I guess this guy was a great painter and then he ended up getting power tools and hidden in hamburger meat.
CONWAY: Yes. I mean the hamburger meat itself is not allowed either. So it's not just a tool inside the hamburger, its actual -- its raw meat. Inmates are not allowed to have raw meat, so--
MALVEAUX: Well I think we're looking at some of those--
CONWAY: -- that's always a violations.
MALVEAUX: -- those paintings here. And we're looking at some of the paintings that were done. I mean he's quite talented there. But it's a quite strange that this was a relationship that was developed with one of these guards that he was able to get these power tools and other things.
Do you think there might be other correction officers who will be implicated in this?
CONWAY: I think there's going to be information in the investigation come out that's going to surprise folks. I have a reason to believe this was not just Joyce Mitchell and Gene Palmer that were involved. And -- if somebody should have notice that there was a too close of a relationship between Joyce Mitchell and the inmates. And they should've take an action. They should have move on in a lot of inmates.
MALVEAUX: Why do you say that? Why do you think that there would be more information and more people? Or what makes you think that?
CONWAY: I would think that the time is too elaborate for these two individuals to cooperate on their own. And it's a quite frankly surprising they didn't have a better attitude (ph) and strategy.
MALVEAUX: And, James, do you think there are going to be changes that will be made to this correctional facility because of this?
CONWAY: Well I'm sure because there was a escape from Elmira in 2004, 2005 around there and we have a system-wide shake up and (inaudible) put in place and unfortunately it's now -- nine years later we have another one. So, yes, I expect there are some significant changes. MALVEAUX: All right, James, thank you so much for joining us on the phone and putting up with the bugs of Skype and things like that. We really appreciate you this morning taking the time. Thank you, James.
CONWAY: Thank you for having me.
MALVEAUX: Sure. It's been a landmark week in America. The Supreme Court handed on key rulings on Obamacare and same-sex marriage. And President Obama ended the week leading Emanuel AME Church an Amazing Grace, when he delivered the eulogy for State Senator Clementa Pinckney in Charleston.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Amazing grace how sweet the sound--
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Really, everybody that moment bringing people to their feet. So, could this be a historic week for president.
Our CNN correspondent, Sunlen Serfaty she is at the White House with more.
And just really an incredible moment that we saw, I mean having covered the president. I have not seen really that kind of emotion and that spirituality that at that moment seem to embrace not only the people at that church in the community but really the spirit of the county that was called for at the time.
SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, it's absolutely right, Suzanne. Definitely emotion that we rarely see from President Obama and after a big week for him, three legacy defining issues, not only two decisions by the Supreme Court going his way on health care and same-sex marriage, but also he scored a major win from Congress this week in moving his trade agenda forward as well.
[12:40:12] But it was really that eulogy in Charleston which really encapsulated, one of the -- what could be the biggest legacy issue for President Obama as the nation's first African-American president.
And he said during that eulogy, you know, we don't need to have another conversation about race in our country, that conversation is happening, it's time to look at the small ways that prejudice is do come out in our country.
Here's one of the moments that got these biggest applause from the audience.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Regarding against not just racial slurs but we're also guarding against this saddle impulse to call Johnny back for a job interview but not Jamal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SERFATY: Now looking for next week could be a big week for President Obama to the nuclear deadline, the deadline to get a nuclear deal with Iran, the deadline is June 30th. Administration officials continue to downplay those expectations here, this would be a major foreign policy accomplishment for President Obama if he's able to get this past the finish line.
But again the administrations officials not necessarily going in confident in this way this round of talk Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: All right Sunlen thank you so much, appreciate that.
I want to bring in our CNN Political Commentator Van Jones.
Van it's good to see you. And I have to tell you first of all this morning, my parents and I we've been talking about this whole morning the amazing grace moment that really hit them, it's my mom's favorite song.
And so clearly we are seeing a leader who is comfortable, who is spiritual and who is taking risk and who also had just an incredible week in terms of his signature social change issues that he wanted to accomplish by the end of his two terms.
To me seems like there's a legacy here.
VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Absolutely, I mean this is why he ran for president. I put out a twit and said, you know, the confederate flags seems to be on his way coming down. You have marriage equality, you have health care, you have the president speaking powerfully to questions on race.
This is what I voted for in 2008 because -- in one week it just all came to past. I also think you're seeing a different kind of Obama. This is Obama 3.0, you know, he tried to speak about race on the campaign trail in his biography. And then when he first came into the White House and he got hammered so badly that he really kind of spin a couple years almost as a racial pinata just not saying anything black folks are mad at him for not saying enough, white folks are afraid he might be playing a race cart.
And he was just a racial pinata. Somehow I guess between Trayvon between Ferguson and Baltimore, now Charleston, he has found his voice again on this issue. And as he said he's fearless. I have never seen a president period, including this president speak so powerfully that the church organist jumped in to accompany a speech. That never happens. He was the minister in chief yesterday, the minister in chief.
MALVEAUX: Yeah, I think we surely saw that. And Van you and I have talked many times about really his evolution when it comes to talking about race.
I want to bring Sunlen back to the conversation here because what was really interesting and perhaps even ironic, right is that you saw Republican lawmakers working side by side with the president to help get that trade deal pass. So in a way it really was kind of the ability to work with the Republicans that he was able and defy his own party, people who did not want that to push through to accomplish something.
Do we think that we're going to see more of that?
SERFATY: Well that's right, you're very right that that was a rare time when the White House and Republican teamed up on a major issue. It was the Democrats that were divided over trade.
So certainly an usual situation. But to your question I don't think it's likely, I don't think that the White House believes that this is a big indication that they're going to be able to work with Republicans in the future on major issues.
And we saw President Obama make note of that when he is talking about in the wake of Charleston, the push for gun control really gave you a nod to that political realities of the moment. It seems that he just doesn't seen avenue for this moving forward because of the Republican controlled congress of both the House and the Senate under Republican control. So him kind of admitting that he needs to move public opinion not move any legislation for the congress.
MALVEAUX: And Van this really was a unique week that we saw because if -- it is so rare that you have Supreme Court decisions, you have legislation, you have so much that's going in your favor.
I know the president he lit up the White House with the rainbow colors last night, yesterday. I mean it really was kind of extraordinary week for him. How do you think this is going to be remembered?
JONES: And listen, I think you just saw probably the best week for the Obama presidency, if you were doing a movie about Obama, this would be the end of the third act, you know, that the president finally triumph in the cross board, the White House lit up in the way that it was.
And there is also just one area where there maybe another bipartisan miracle which is criminal justice reform.
[12:45:02] Sensenbrenner a right wing, a Republican. Bobby Scott a left wing Democrat put forward comprehensive legislation last week. I mean in the middle of all this that the president can probably sign it and that Republicans are probably like. So there maybe one more miracle but even if there's not this is going to be week and that president singing that song is going to be one of the defining moments of the entire Obama presidency that will be seen over and over again when they look back on this man's incredible journey.
MALVEAUX: And I think a lot of people are going to look back at this week and try to digest and analyze and figure out how it all came together.
And Sunlen tell us what the president is doing in the weeks ahead. I mean what are we see in terms of, is this a pivot moment? SERFATY: You know, it could be, I think there's a realization among white -- the White House officials here and probably the president is also at what stage he is in his presidency. And I think that's a lot of the reason why we're seeing him to be a little more liberated not to be so politically calculating, not so deliberate with each and every word.
And we really saw parts on Obama mentioned that specifically in the podcast interview, he did this week, he talks about how he is fearless and he seem to say that was a refreshing feeling for him to have.
So I don't believe that this is a major pivot but I think we'll still see this sort of president at this stage in his presidency until he leaves the White House, Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: And that podcast was called WTF too. So it might be an indication of where everybody is here.
Van Jones, Sunlen Serfaty thank you so much we really appreciate seeing this morning.
And still ahead today's victims have buried families grieving after dozens were killed, hundreds wounded in three separate terror attacks.
We're going to bring you the very latest.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:50:57] MALVEAUX: We're continuing the following the breaking news out of New York today, where an intense manhunt continues for escape convict David Sweat.
We're going to continue to bring update on the story as we get them.
But now new details on the multiple terror attacks abroad, new information now about a terror warning for this 4th of July here at home.
Department of Homeland Security and the FBI and the National Counter Terrorism Center issued a joint intelligence bulletin to law enforcement across the country.
Now it doesn't detail any known active plots but warrant, extremist could launch attacks tied to the U.S. Independence Day holiday or to perceive defamation of the Prophet Mohammed.
Now these threats at home coming on the heels of three separate terror attacks on three continent, French authorities, they have detained the lone suspect who allegedly decapitated his boss before crashing a van in a U.S. owned warehouse creating a huge explosion that injured two.
Police in Kuwait, they are searching for the driver who's car was used to drop off a suicide bomber in a mosque Friday. That blast killed at least 27 people and wounded 227 others.
And today CNN has learned the name of the alleged gunman behind the attack at the beach resort in Tunisia Saif Al-Deen Al Rezgui. He is described by police as a normal young man not known to have problems.
Well CNN's Phil Black has got more on the aftermath at Friday's deadly shooting spree in the Mediterranean.
PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In the roads here around the Imperial Marhaba Hotel, we have been witnessing an exodus, coaches, busses full of tourist leaving from many hotels and resorts in this district, leaving on mass together as the direct result of the terror attack that took place in the hotel around the pool area, the beach just behind me yesterday.
We're learning a little bit more about the man responsible for that attack. And engineering student who specialized in electronics and someone who did at one point work they say in the tourism industry for an entertainment company that may have they believe allowed him to learn the layout of the attack which he chose to target.
They also say, he had a passport but there's no evidence he used it which is interesting because Tunisia was a country that have sent around 3,000 men to fight with ISIS in Iraq and Syria, the highest of any country outside of that immediate region. And the fear of course is that those men, those veterans' comeback and post a greater threat to their homeland, but in this case that it would seem is not the source of this man's learned military ability.
We've been visiting hospitals in the region talking to people who saw him up close who simply didn't believe what they were seeing and hearing who thought it was fireworks who -- when they saw the man striding across the beach with his gun, he thought that he was some sort of performer attach to the hotel.
Such was the disbelief that a terrorist attack was taking place in their midst. But they all talk about the terror, the fear, the panic that sent them running from the beaches to find shelter that within the ground of the hotel itself most were fortunate that many were injured and 38 did not live through that terrible attack.
Phil Black, CNN in Sousse Tunisia.
MALVEAUX: Thank you, Phil for that report.
Still to come one dead, one still wanted. The latest on the hunt for convicted killer David Sweat, for the top of the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:58:12] MALVEAUX: Checking top stories, the confederate flag is back up on the ground. So the South Carolina State Capitol that's after an activist identified as 30-year-old Bree Newsome took it down.
But early this morning she climb the flagpole grab the flag and removed it. She and another person were then arrested and charged with defacing a monument the #FreeBree is now trending on Twitter.
In Iran nuclear talks are underway in Vienna ahead of Tuesday's deadline. The Secretary of State John Kerry and Iran's Foreign Minister are involved in intense negotiations.
Iran insist that economic sanctions and immediately after a deal is signed. But the U.S. want's to gradually face them out with verification.
And two more people attacked by sharks of the Carolina Coast on Friday. A 47-year-old man was bitten several times on the outer banks. He was bit of his lower back and lower leg. And another man in his 40s was bitten on the top of his foot at Huntington Beach in South Carolina.
So far five people have been victims of shark attacks in the Carolina just in the past two weeks.
And the biggest headline in sports is the U.S. women soccer team beating China one no. That's right that puts the United States into the semifinal round at the world cup against Germany. The U.S. is trying for its first world title since 1999.
And we've got a lot more just ahead the News Room it all starts right now.
Hello. Thanks for joining me I'm Suzanne Malveaux in for Fredricka Whitfield.
We are following breaking news on the Upstate New York manhunt, a brand new picture from NBC News from inside the first cabin where police believe that David Sweat and Richard Matt were holdup in the woods.
[13:00:05] Now you can this, right. The T.V. in the upper right corner, we don't know, if they had access to cable.
