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Fugitive David Sweat Captured by New York State Police; Fugitive's Mother Speaking Out; What Happens Next to David Sweat; Same-Sex Marriage Victory Has Roots in New York; Aired 8-9p ET

Aired June 28, 2015 - 20:00   ET

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


[20:00:27] POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Poppy Harlow in New York, and we begin with our breaking news.

The nightmare is over. Those words just spoken by New York's governor, Andrew Cuomo. Escaped convicted murderer who killed a sheriff's deputy David Sweat has been captured. Shot twice and in the hands of police as we speak.

This photo obtained exclusively by our Deborah Feyerick shows the moment just after Sweat was apprehended by a New York state trooper, the officer who took him down. New York State Police Sergeant Jay Cook. He brought down the fugitive all by himself. As we speak, Sweat is on his way to Albany Medical Center. You see

his ambulance in the police patrol there. He's going to get further treatment there. We're told, though, he is in stable condition after being shot twice in the torso.

This after 23 days on the run through the wilderness of upstate New York. Captured just 1 1/2 miles from the Canadian border. Moments ago Governor Cuomo detailing the capture. Giving a lot of new information about how he and his accomplice Richard Matt who was killed by police on Friday escaped from the Clinton Correctional Facility three weeks ago.

We've got live team coverage of Sweat's capture. Polo Sandoval is on the ground, Alexandra Field is on the ground as well. We have our Jean Casarez as well outside of the medical center where he was initially treated. Deborah Feyerick here with me in New York and a host of law enforcement analysts.

Let's go straight to you, Deborah, what stands out first from what the governor said?

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, so much. First of all the fact that there was a toolbox that was left on the catwalk that they were able to access and break out of that facility. Major breach in protocol right there. The second thing also is something that the police superintendent said which is that you had a sergeant alone a mile and a half from the border, essentially, who saw David Sweat and who confronted him, told him to stop.

Sweat continued jogging in the direction of the road. He asked him again. Sweat turned around. Recognized him and once David Sweat took off towards the tree line that's when the sergeant opened fire. That is so interesting to me help because he said, had he made it to

the tree line, quote, "he would have been gone." He was wearing this camouflage so it would have been difficult to spot. And so the fact that this quick-thinking firearms instructor was able to shoot twice and hit him both times in the torso is really pretty remarkable, and obviously teams were sent very quickly thereafter in order to get him.

HARLOW: All right. I want to go to Jean Casarez as well. And by the way, we are going to play for you some of that press conference that just happened last hour where we got so many more details from the governor and head of police up there about what went down. So we'll play that for you just on the other side of this.

But, Jean Casarez, to you, what's the reaction of the community? The people around. I know they just sort of converged on the hospital once they learned that David Sweat was taken into custody.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN LEGAL CORRESPONDENT: They did. It just seems like the minute that David Sweat was brought in here by ambulance -- it seemed as though the minute that David Sweat was brought in here by ambulance, this community just came to this hospital in pouring rain and they were standing outside and when law enforcement was going by, near the end, they just broke out into a huge applause.

There is elation for law enforcement, for helping them to make their community safe again. I also saw local people bringing hot food to the law enforcement. I think they thought that they were going to be here for a long time here tonight because you don't know how long an inmate is going to be in the hospital locally here. And they were bringing him baked goods and main dishes and drinks and everything that they could just to thank these law enforcement officers.

And so it's a great day for this community, although they can't believe that it's their hospital that David Sweat was taken to and also that Joyce Mitchell, who is one of the alleged villains in all of this, that she helped to plan the attack with them, conceivably. That she went to this hospital with her panic attack when she decided she wasn't going to pick them up from the manhole. And they're concerned their community of Malone here is going to be known for that. But I think as history records will show, this is where he was caught. It was this county that he was caught.

You know, I was just talking to a law enforcement official that said something interesting. That the cabins that -- both cabins that were broken into along with where Matt was shot and along with where David Sweat was captured was all in the same county right here. And so it's not that far apart.

[20:05:04] But now David Sweat obviously for the moment isn't going to be in Albany at the medical center but whether he will face charges of burglary and everything in this county, it could be a moot issue because there's a life term that he's now serving but criminal charges of some sort may be warranted for putting law enforcement through what they were put through here.

HARLOW: Yes. Absolutely. And millions and millions of dollars Governor Cuomo told me in my interview with him this morning had been spent on this search. Millions and millions of dollars.

I am going to play for you very shortly part of what the governor said in this press conference. Before I do that, let's go to Polo Sandoval who's on the ground in Constable, New York.

What is the sense of relief like there?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A tremendous sense of relief, Poppy. And just think about it, 1200 police officers searching really just acre upon acre for three weeks and yet it took one single encounter between a New York State Police sergeant and that cop killer David Sweat, that happened really just down the street from where we are.

This is as close as we can take you to the actual scene itself. Obviously that's a crime scene right now. It's been sealed off. Even residents being told to simply turn around and go back in the other direction for now. They clearly want to make sure that they have every bit of evidence. If you look over my right shoulder, really both sides, you're able to see part of that tree line that authorities were so afraid that David Sweat would be able to reach and then potentially get lost given the attire that he had, the camouflaged clothing.

And what we're seeing now, again, Poppy, is just this tremendous sense of relief here from the community, and also even from law enforcement. I spoke to a couple of troopers just a few moments ago, and you could hear in their voice it's a bit lighter now, that they seem to have this weight off their shoulders, knowing that no law enforcement got hurt, no innocent people got hurt either, again as this nightmare, this three-week nightmare seems to end, only about a 45-minute drive from the prison where it all started three weeks ago.

HARLOW: Isn't that astonishing? Polo Sandoval, thank you very much.

And as I said, I want to play you some of this press conference. What we heard just last hour from New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D), NEW YORK: We are here with good news. As I'm sure you've heard already, the nightmare is finally over. It took 22 days. But we can now confirm as of two days ago, as you know, Mr. Matt is deceased and the other escapee Mr. Sweat is in custody. He's in stable condition.

And we -- let's give a big round of applause to the men and women of law enforcement.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

I'm very proud. The -- it has been a long, long time, but as you've heard, and the superintendent will go into further detail, Mr. Sweat was spotted by a New York state police sergeant, Sergeant Jay Cook. He was approached this afternoon. The sergeant recognized Mr. Sweat obviously from his description. He encountered and engaged Mr. Sweat. Mr. Sweat fled. The trooper gave chase. The trooper was unable to catch him on foot.

At one point, the sergeant decided to discharge his weapon hitting Mr. Sweat twice in the torso. Mr. Sweat went down. Help arrived and Mr. Sweat is now in a hospital in stable condition. This happened a mile and a half from the Canadian borderer in the town of Constable. I had the chance to speak with Sergeant Cook and congratulate him on his great police work. He was alone when this happened. Sergeant Cook happens to be from Troop B, which is this area. So he knew the area very well. But he was still alone and was a very courageous act.

I said to Sergeant Cook, who has two daughters, 16 and 17, I said, well, you go home tonight, and tell your daughters that you're a hero. With teenager girls that will probably last a good 24 hours and then you'll just go back to being a regular dad, as I well know.

This was an extraordinary situation in many ways. The prison in Dannemora is over 100 years old. This is the first escape in 100 years. And if you were writing a movie plot, they would say that this was overdone. You had hacksaws delivered with a -- by a facilitator in ground-up meat. You had two prisoners who were on the honor block. They hacksawed through the back of their cell. They got in to the account catwalks.

[20:10:02] The catwalks took them into a labyrinth of tunnels where they came across a contractor's job box. Large toolbox. One of the prisoners was a burglar, knew how to pick the lock. Picked the lock repeatedly. They used those tools then to do the work of breaking the wall, cutting the pipe, cutting the chains, and making way through the sewer pipe.

The -- it was an extraordinary circumstance. And the first escape in over 100 years. But one escape is one escape too many. We will have the ongoing investigation to find out exactly who was involved. We have two people who have been arrested for facilitation or accomplices in this situation, but the investigation is not over. Now that we have Mr. Sweat, it gives us the opportunity to ask some more questions and provide more facts on the overall situation.

Anyone who we find who was culpable and guilty of cooperating in this escape will be fully prosecuted. The DAs have done a great job, of both Franklin and Clinton County, and I want to thank them. But we will prosecute them to the full extent of the law. If anyone else was involved we will find that.

We will also be conducting an investigation into the systems in that prison. And how could this happen? And how did they have access to the catwalk, et cetera. So there are a lot of questions to be answered and we already started a full investigation that's being headed by the inspector general of the state of New York.

JOSEPH D'AMICO, SUPERINTENDENT, NEW YORK STATE POLICE: About 3:20 today, Sergeant Jay Cook, who's assigned to Troop B, spent most of his career right here in SP Malone, a 21-year veteran, who was on patrol. He was supervising perimeter post up in the area in our continued ground search. As he was driving down the road he spotted a male who is basically jogging up along the side of the road. He approached him. And as he exited the car the male turned to him.

He says hey, come over here. The male kind of ignored him. Called out to him again. At which time the male turned around kind of like, you know, what do you want from me? And he recognized him to be David Sweat. And at that time, Sweat turned and fled on foot with the sergeant in pursuit.

At some point running across a field, he realized that Sweat was going to make it to a tree line and possibly could have disappeared and he fired two shots from his service weapon, his handgun, hitting Sweat twice in the torso. Local EMS team responded and treated Sweat on the scene. He was airlifted to Alice Hyde Hospital and he's in stable condition. And I would expect that he's going to be moved to one of those trauma centers for further treatment.

We have been in the area, as I told you on Friday. We started up at the northern border near the Canadian border . This event took place about a mile and a half from the Canadian border. Our concern was that they could have made it to the border and we were pushing southward from the border. And I think that it was effective today being in the right area, where Sweat was. I could only assume he was going for the border that he was that close and we couldn't be happier that we were able to apprehend him and not lose him. It's been a long three weeks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: It has been a long three weeks indeed. I think everyone is praising law enforcement profusely tonight for their job on this one.

We're going to take a quick break. Coming up next, you're going to hear for the first time from David Sweat's mother speaking out in tears right after her son was captured. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

[20:17:10] HARLOW: We're continuing to follow the breaking news this Sunday evening. Right now one of the most wanted men in America is no longer on the run. David Sweat. 23 days after he and another convicted murderer broke out of prison in upstate New York he's been apprehended. And all that time David Sweat only got about 30 miles and almost to the Canadian border.

Today that temporary freedom ended when he was spotted, shot, arrested and taken into custody by New York state police. One of our affiliates in upstate New York found and spoke with David Sweat's mother. This is the first time we have heard from her. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAMELA SWEAT, DAVID SWEAT'S MOTHER: I felt like a big lift was off my shoulders that he was captured and he is alive.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: And again talk to me about those feelings when he was captured.

SWEAT: Just a sigh of relief and we started crying because he wasn't killed.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Were you ever afraid that he was going to try to come to this area while he was on the run?

SWEAT: Oh, no. My son knows that if he would have came here I would have knocked him out and had them take him to jail by themselves because that's just the way I am. I have always done it to him when he was bad.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: We spoke a few weeks ago. And you described to me that these problems with David really began at an early age. Can you describe to me -- I know it was when he was about 9 years old. Can you describe to me when these problems began and what they were like?

SWEAT: In the beginning, he was 9 years old and his dad brought him a broken fishing pole and tackle box that wasn't new and he got mad, and his dad told him to get down the stairs or he was going to throw him down the stairs. He went in the bedroom and he took his baseball and threw it to the window hoping it would hit his dad, and because it didn't he broke his new TV that he just got him for his birthday.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: So the violence began at an early age obviously. And talk to me a little bit, you know, as he grew up, did he grow out of it? Did it get worse? What was it like?

SWEAT: He always got in trouble and every time he did I would grab him by the ear and take him to the police station. Or one time he had a knife in his backpack and the school called me. They wouldn't go of his backpack. I had to. While I grabbed him by his ear right in front of everybody, took him right to the principal's office. I don't deal with that stuff.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: So your son right now, he's 35, correct?

SWEAT: Yes. He just turned 35. The same day as me.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: So what do you think about what it's going to be like now for him to go back to prison for the rest of his life?

SWEAT: I don't know. I know that's where he should have stayed. And if that's what he needs to do then that's what he needs to do, is go back and do what he's got to do.

[20:20:02] UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Have you been watching the media coverage? Have you been watching the news outlets?

SWEAT: No. I don't want to. I didn't want to know what's the matter with my son.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: A grieving mother there. A lot to impact. Let's talk about it with criminologist Casey Jordan joining me now.

Casey, what do you make of what she has said? First time we've heard from her about her son. She said if he came home she would, quote, "knock him out." She also talked about his behavioral disturbances going back years.

CASEY JORDAN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Right. And I think that everyone's touched by the sincerity of what she is saying because she is in touch with how emotionally disturbed and behaviorally abhorrent her son is. She talks about the fact that from the time he was 9 years old he was incorrigible. She tried to discipline him and it never worked.

So she is in touch with what a danger that he is. But you can't blame her for being very relieved that her son survived the shooting. I think all parents understand unconditional love of their children. But to her credit, she doesn't excuse what he's done. She would have knocked him out and turned him in if he had come home, and she knows that he belongs in jail.

HARLOW: When you look at the little we can glean about him from what his mother said, do you believe that this is someone who will talk, who will tell the authorities all he knows, which is everything about how they got out of prison because they have said they haven't interviewed him yet but they certainly plan to interrogate him?

JORDAN: Yes, Poppy. He may be angry and incorrigible and dangerous but he is not an idiot. I think his three weeks on the lam pretty much proved that. He's known to be very organized. He likes lists. And earlier in your broadcast, we talked to Eric who had been incarcerated with him at Clinton, who said, you know, of the two of them, Sweat and Matt, it's Sweat who is the manipulative, articulate, smooth-talking one. It was Matt who was kind of the crazy, unpredictable one.

Now I find it a little bit interesting that, you know, we want to know when they broke up, when did they separate? And I think that it was shortly after they had broken to the cabin a week ago. We have one weapon that was the result of Mr. Matt dying yesterday or 48 hours ago. If there was only one weapon and one gun between the two, think about that. Do you think that David Sweat is going to want to stick around with Richard Matt if he's the one in charge of the shotgun? What's to keep Matt from shooting Sweat? I think Sweat probably took off a few days ago and that head start maybe what saved his life.

HARLOW: Casey Jordan, taking us into the mind, the mind of this criminal. Thank you so much, Casey, for being with us this evening throughout for our team coverage.

We're going to take a quick break. More from our Alexandra Field right live -- right near where he was shot and taken down right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News. [20:26:35] HARLOW: Updating you now on our breaking news. Escaped

convicted murderer David Sweat has been captured alive after more than three weeks on the run, and the end to an intense manhunt in upstate New York. Authorities revealing last hour Sweat was shot twice in the torso by a New York state police sergeant who spotted him walking in broad daylight just a mile and a half from the Canadian border.

Sweat was not armed at the time. He is in stable condition. Another remarkable, almost unbelievable detail. We learned police believe that Sweat and Richard Matt were using pepper, pepper shakers to cover their trail and throw police bloodhounds off of their scent. They have not been able to interview Sweat yet but they do intend to do so as soon as possible.

Also here is the hero of the day. That is for sure. You see him right there. The brave state police sergeant identified as Jay Cook who spotted Sweat on a routine patrol who took him down as he fled in a field in Constable, New York. No police officers were injured in the takedown.

Let's go straight to our Alexandra Field who's live in Constable where this all happened.

Hi, Alex.

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, there, Poppy. We know that forensic investigators are still out there in that field collecting any evidence that is relevant to this case. We spoke to a man who actually owns the property there. And he said that investigators came to his door. They asked for permission to do a search. Presumably they are looking for any items, of course, also that would have belonged to David Sweat.

We really don't have a timeline here as far as when Sweat and Richard Matt may have separated. All we know is that Sweat turned up here in Constable, some 26 miles away from the spot where Richard Matt was gunned down. So they are going to try and piece together, of course, where he was over these last couple of days, how far these two men traveled together, when and why they may have split up.

Poppy, we've been telling you for days now about the huge law enforcement presence that descended on Franklin County more than a week ago when law enforcement sources told us that both men's DNA has been found in a cabin near Owls Head. We watched the investigation in Owls Head, it then shifted somewhat north to Malone. Then there was a big break in the case with Richard Matt being shot near Lake Titus and then David Sweat ending up here near the Canadian border exactly in the spot where investigators believed that he would be headed.

Here is a something that is a little bit surprising that we learned this afternoon from law enforcement sources. David Sweat did not appear to be armed when he was confronted by that New York State police sergeant. Of course all the law enforcement officers in this region have been operating under the assumption that he, like Richard Matt, could have been armed when they encountered him. A tremendous sigh of relief here that this was a safe takedown, a safe

capture of this very dangerous man. Meaning no law enforcement hurt, no one in the community hurt -- Poppy.

HARLOW: Yes. Absolutely. Alexandra, thank you so much. And to you and your entire team, you've been there three weeks straight, you've done such an extraordinary job working around the clock. Thank you, Alex, very much.

Let's talk about it with our team here who've also been working around the clock. Deborah Feyerick breaking news left and right on this, also with us former FBI agent and Navy SEAL, Jonathan Gilliam, and lawyer and legal analyst, Joey Jackson.

Joey, let me begin with you. They haven't interviewed him yet. They want to interrogate him. How do they incentivize him to talk?

JOEY JACKSON, HLN LEGAL ANALYST: Big day for law enforcement. Great job. You know, they got their person. But I think this is what's going to happen. It was very important that the governor said he was in stable condition. And that's an important fact. Because we know he got shot in the torso and you always wonder and worry whether he's in critical condition and the like.

[20:30:09] So I think as soon as he has the ability to speak then they'll start asking him and again provide an incentive for him to speak. Now here are the incentives not to speak. From a prosecution perspective you're talking about someone who's in jail for life. So you might say, well, it's over. What then should I -- why should I speak to anyone? You can't do anything to me.

And certainly no member of the community would want you to cut a deal to have him out early. We don't want him out early. However, there's the realities of prison life. And the niceties that all of us take for granted like what? Maybe a soda? Maybe some food? The niceties we take for granted, boy, in prison they are very significant. And so to the extent, Poppy, that they may be able to make his life that much easier, be a long life indeed that he'll be spending in jail, I think those are some of the inducements that they'll provide for him to get him to talk.

Now second point to this. Simply because he talked does not mean that everything that he says --

HARLOW: Is true.

JACKSON: Is gospel. Exactly. OK. You're going to have to vet the reliability of that. You know, if he has a vendetta against anyone in prison, and it sometimes happens when you're in prison over a long period of time. You don't like correction officers, you may not like civilians so you may have an incentive to say things that may have -- may not be true. But I think what they'll do is they'll get information provided they give him the incentive to speak and then they'll vet that information properly to corroborate it to see whether or not it's reliable. HARLOW: Deborah, so many people have said that even the governor is

saying in the press conference tonight, you can't write a movie script like this. Right? It would be unbelievable. I wonder how much information, if they are able to successfully interrogate him and get all the information they want. How much of that do you think will ever be publicly released in a formal way?

FEYERICK: I would think probably a lot. Once the investigation is completed, it's going to take a long time. And what we saw on the ground, all those searchers that were out there, that was the physical part of the manhunt. What we didn't see is we didn't see the investigators who were going to a hotel, and asking for guest logs, to find out who stayed in the area over the last six to eight months.

We didn't see them going to the prison library, to find out what access these men have. We didn't seem them questioning inmates to see whether in fact a code for one inmate was used by either of these two men.

Now the one thing that investigator really did find out is that they didn't have the kind of support network that they needed to have really a plan B. And that's why Joyce Mitchell was their plan. But it does appear that they had additional information. They knew that a member of the correction officers, it appears, you know, did go hunting in that area. They ended up in cabins belonging to correction officers.

Now arguably, that's the whole business up in that area. So it may simply have been a major coincidence. But the investigation is going to be huge. And I think we are going to see a lot of information coming out.

HARLOW: And this is taxpayer money, by the way, that funds these prisons, and there was clearly a huge problem at this facility.

Jonathon Gilliam, you're there -- let's say you're there, you're the one interrogating this guy. What's the first question you ask?

JONATHAN GILLIAM, FORMER FBI SPECIAL AGENT: Well, first off, you know, attorneys like this are going to be my biggest fear more than getting the truth out of Mr. Sweat. But, you know, the first thing I want to do, once he -- you know, they get him stabilized is I want to create an environment that is probably completely opposite of what he's been in. You know, he's been so stressed to where I want to create an environment where this guy thinks I'm his friend.

And then you can -- you know, you can kind of introduce to him that, you know, he knows he's going back to jail. We can actually do things to help alleviate some of the stress. Work with us and we'll -- you know, and help us to clean up this whole picture because here's the thing that I think a lot of people are missing is the fact that he may hold the key to a system that is -- has been corrupted.

Now I'm not saying everybody is corrupt in there but a system that has been corrupted. If there is one or more of these guards or these employees, as we've seen, that have done things they're not supposed to, the system is corrupted. So I think this is where he's going to be very helpful.

HARLOW: Right.

GILLIAM: And he may actually be the most helpful part of this entire investigation.

HARLOW: And also to you, Rick Schwein, former FBI special agent who led the hunt for the 1996 Olympic park bomber Eric Rudolph. What do you think is the key bit of information that we can likely get from David Sweat? What is your number one question to him?

RICK SCHWEIN, FORMER FBI SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE: Well, I want to know obviously a lot about the planning that led to the successful escape. And then I'd like to know quite a bit more about how he successfully evaded for almost three weeks. But finally there's a parallel between this investigation and the Rudolph case. Both of them ended with a single uniformed police officer on patrol doing their jobs exceptionally.

In the case of Rudolph, a young 19-year-old police officer by the name of Jeff Postell on routine patrol encountered Rudolph foraging for food in a dumpster. And did all the right thing. Drew his weapon, called for backup, and gave Rudolph a new place to go. And the manhunt ended.

[20:35:10] Today Sergeant Cook, a veteran New York state police officer doing his job as a supervisor in the perimeter, going likely from post to post checking on his guys encounters Sweat this front of him. Recognized who he had. Sweat was not compliant. Sweat took off running. When -- only when it became apparent that he can make that tree line and continue to pose an imminent dangerous threat to other law enforcement or to society did Sergeant Cook draw his service weapon and bring this thing to an end.

HARLOW: Yes.

SCHWEIN: So finally there is a great parallel between the two investigations.

HARLOW: Yes. Well, indeed. Rick Schwein, thank you very much to our panel. Thank you very much.

Quick break. On the other side, Polo Sandoval, on the ground there right where David Sweat was taken down. Just spoke with the boss of Sergeant Jay Cook, the hero of the day. We'll bring you back next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

HARLOW: All right. I'm Poppy Harlow in New York. We continue to follow the breaking news for you on the fact that David Sweat, that convicted murderer, has been captured by police after 23 days on the run, shot twice in the torso. He is alive and in stable condition.

[20:40:06] Take a look at this. This is a new photo just into us here at CNN. An exclusive photo obtained by us here at CNN of David Sweat. This is only the second photo we have seen of him since he escaped from prison 23 days ago.

You see him leaning over. You see him multiple officers and medics around him. His shirt is off. We know now that he was shot twice in the torso. And we know that he was transported to the medical center in Albany for treatment but that he is in stable condition.

As we continue to let you see this new photo, let's also, guys, throw up the other photo that our Deborah Feyerick obtained so you can see these two different images side by side of Sweat. And as we do that, on the phone, I believe I have Clinton County district attorney Andrew Wylie.

Are you there, sir?

ANDREW WYLIE, CLINTON COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Yes, a I am.

HARLOW: Thank you for being with me, sir. What a day. What a night. Appreciate you taking the time. Just for our viewers to fill them in, Clinton County is where Dannemora is located. That is where the Clinton Correctional Facility is located.

Walk me through the procedure now legally. What happens?

WYLIE: Legally we will await David Sweat's medical treatment and once he's being discharged from Albany Medical Center he will be transported back to Dannemora County to face the criminal charges of escape in the first degree and then there'll be a determination made as to whether he will face further criminal charges here in Franklin County under acting District Attorney Glenn McNeil.

HARLOW: He is technically still, as Deborah Feyerick pointed out all evening, technically still an inmate. So I'm interested in what sort of rights he has and how that changes the process if this was a criminal who had carried out a crime and was apprehended but not someone who escaped from prison.

WYLIE: I'm sorry, could you repeat that?

HARLOW: Sure. Because he is technically still an inmate I wonder how that affects what rights he has and how that changes the legal process.

WYLIE: Well, the aspect of what rights he has, yes, you are correct. He is still property of the Department of Corrections. Upon his sentencing for his conviction for murder and sentenced to life without parole he will obviously remain in the custody of the Department of Corrections. (INAUDIBLE). Once -- as I indicated once he is discharged he will be returned to the Department of (INAUDIBLE) Service. In light of that we will proceed with processing him and charging him in Clinton County with the escape and then following through with in all likelihood a grand jury proceeding to charge the escape charge and any other charges the grand jury (INAUDIBLE).

HARLOW: What can you tell us, sir, about guards at the Clinton Correctional Facility being questioned, the guards being questioned about conversations they had with the escapees about life outside of prison. What did they tell these two men about what the terrain was like, what might be available for them to hide and to elude the authorities?

WYLIE: Pertaining to the investigations with the correction officer that had contact with Sweat and Matt as well as any civilian employees at the facility that had contact with them, so that will continue to be an ongoing investigation and should we have the opportunity to speak with David Sweat to interview him, obtain information as to who, what information from, we will certainly follow through with those leads on the investigation relative to any other individuals that may have been involved.

HARLOW: All right. Clinton County District Attorney Andrew Wylie, really appreciate you joining me, sir, especially on such a busy evening, walking us through the legal process, what is next for David Sweat.

For the first time on your screen you are seeing the two images that we have of this man as he was apprehended in the middle of the day today in broad daylight in a field a mile and a half from the Canadian border. Quick break. Back in a moment.

[20:44:45]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

HARLOW: All right. We continue to follow the breaking news here on CNN. David Sweat, that convicted murderer who escaped three weeks ago from a maximum security prison has been apprehended by police. You see him there, shot twice but not killed, in stable condition.

Let's go straight to CNN national correspondent Polo Sandoval in Constable, New York.

Polo, what have you learned?

SANDOVAL: I can tell you right now that there is a sense of relief here in the community. I just spoke to an individual just a few moments ago who was actually trying to get back into their home again. They packed up and left when the search really focused on their area. However, at this point, they're being told to really turn around until the road opens up. That shooting happened really just down the street.

One thing I should mention here, Poppy, is we're also hearing about really some reaction north of here, mainly from Broome County Sheriff David Harder who supervised Deputy Kevin Tarsia. He was the deputy that was gunned down by David Sweat in 2002. As you may imagine, this news very well received by that department.

The escape that happened three weeks ago tore open these wounds as this individual was on the run. Well, now the individuals that worked alongside Deputy Tarsia obviously overjoyed and also Deputy Tarsia's family this weekend will be the anniversary of his death. You'll recall that he was gunned down on the Fourth of July. And so this weekend they will come together yet again, really celebrating the deputy's life, and also reflecting on this moment when really this three-week manhunt ended on this road with two shots.

HARLOW: Yes. And our thanks to all the 1300 law enforcement officers working around the clock for the last three weeks to make this happen.

Polo, thank you very much. Quick break, we're back with more news on the other side.

[20:50:01]

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HARLOW: All right. We've been hearing from New York Governor Andrew Cuomo throughout the hour on the dramatic end to that manhunt for David Sweat. Before that news broke earlier today, I interviewed the governor about another story that is captivating this nation. The historic ruling by the Supreme Court on Friday legalizing same-sex marriage in all 50 states.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW (voice-over): The right to marry is a fundamental right, and with those words from Justice Anthony Kennedy, history was made. Same-sex marriage becoming legal in all 50 states. A monumental ruling inside the highest court in the nation coming just days before this.

Pride Parade, New Yorkers taking to the streets every June since 1970. Before today this now globally recognized vibrant explosion of color and sound had been largely a plea for equality but today it became a celebration of it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From working in a job where you don't have to worry about being fired. You know. Stepping on a subway train and not having to worry about being bashed because of your identity.

[20:55:01] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What really touches me is to think of all who have worked for so many years and who were not here to see this moment -- this day. But they are with us.

HARLOW: In New York City, the roots of the gay rights movement run deep.

CUOMO: New York, and I'm speaking now as a prideful New Yorker, but New York has had a special place in the history of this country. In many ways, you look at a lot of the progressive movements and New York was at the forefront of it.

HARLOW: The Stonewall Inn, a building which was given landmark status still stands as a reminder of the hurdles of generations past and the struggles still ahead.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A lifestyle that is both perverse and dangerous.

HARLOW: In 1969 a riot here would change the course of this country forever. Patrons, the Greenwich Village Bar refusing to live in the shadows, fought back and a new era of activism was born. Years of fighting for their right to no longer be treated as pariahs, institutionalized and studied. Finally paying off in 2003 when Massachusetts became the first state to legalize same-sex marriage. In 2011, New York followed. A charge led by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.

CUOMO: It did fail in the state before. And people forget this but New York on the stateside is Democrats and Republicans. This is not an entirely Democratic government. So we had to work very hard to get it passed. New York was a laboratory and New York passed the law and nothing bad happened. The world didn't stop spinning. The sky didn't fall.

HARLOW: That message one that took some other lawmakers more time to echo.

(On camera): What do you make of the shift we've seen amongst some politicians, very quickly?

IAN MCKELLEN, ACTOR: Politicians either lead or they follow. And on this issue, I'm afraid they've been following.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

MCKELLEN: The country has changed, shifted, and they've had to catch up with public opinion. Isn't it amazing? And now they are proud to be on the right side. Well, about time and wonderful. I mean, it (INAUDIBLE).

HARLOW (voice-over): And like many politicians in this country, Cuomo wasn't always an advocate of same-sex marriage. In 2006, the year he was elected New York's attorney general he had a change of heart.

(On camera): For you personally, a religious man, as well?

CUOMO: Yes.

HARLOW: Very interested in your personal evolution when it happened for you that you made that change?

CUOMO: I happen to be a Roman Catholic. Catholics have their own rules on marriage. That's not what this is about, but I represent the people of the state of New York, I represent the laws of the state of New York. And I am -- have taken an oath to equal treatment of all and in the eyes of the law.

HARLOW (voice-over): Today Governor Cuomo did something for the first time. He officiated a gay wedding.

CUOMO: To love and to cherish.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To love and to cherish. CUOMO: From this day forward.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From this day forward.

CUOMO: Until death do us part.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Until death do us part.

CUOMO: By the power recently vested in me by the state of New York, I now pronounce you married. Congratulations.

HARLOW: One by one, same-sex weddings, like this one, will be held in all 50 states, but the struggle for complete acceptance is still far from over.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: All right. To recap our top story, David Sweat has been captured. Here is what we know right now. The prison escapee on the run in northern New York for the last three weeks was shot twice in the torso this afternoon. He was captured alive. He was a mile and a half from the Canadian border. A mile and a half. He is in stable condition. He is on his way to Albany Medical Center, having initially been treated at the Alice Hyde Medical Center in Malone, New York.

The shooting occurred around 3:20 p.m. in broad daylight after New York State Police Sergeant Jay Cook being hailed as a hero tonight, saw a suspicious man walking down a road in the town of Constable. The sergeant ordered Sweat to stop, he started to run and the sergeant opened fire. Sweat was not armed at the time of the confrontation. The shooting coming two days after a federal agent shot and killed the other prisoner who had escaped. On your screen right there, Richard Matt. That agent shot Matt three times in the head with a semiautomatic weapon, that is according to the new autopsy result just released this morning.

Again, David Sweat, a mile and a half from the Canadian border, shot and captured alive today bringing to an end a dramatic, a dramatic three-week ordeal that gripped not just northern New York but the entire nation.

Just in to CNN, these images, pictures coming to us of David Sweat arriving at the Albany Medical Center just moments ago.

Our coverage will continue through the night and all morning right here on CNN. You can always get the latest news at CNN.com.

[21:00:00] For now, I'm Poppy Harlow in New York. Up next CNN's original film "GLEN CAMPBELL: I'LL BE ME."