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Escapee David Sweat Captured by NY State Police; Police Sergeant Praised for Single Handed Capture; Supreme Court Rules Execution Drug Constitutional; U.S. Stocks Sink on Greek Debt Drama; Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired June 29, 2015 - 10:00   ET

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

[10:00:01] ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And that there is a waiting list. So a lot of demands to see Donald Trump, but we've heard him over the last several days again talk about wanting to build that wall. Also talking about how he plans to sue Univision for dropping the Miss USA Pageant. But I've got to tell you his aide tells me that we should not expect a policy speech here.

We expect him to lay out what the campaign calls his vision for how to make America great again. But it's always interesting to listen to Donald Trump speak because he's famously outspoken. He calls himself blunt and often we know he's controversial. So we'll be watching very, very closely to see what he has to say here -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Athena Jones reporting live for us this morning. Thank you.

The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Happening now in the NEWSROOM. We got them.

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D), NEW YORK: The nightmare is finally over.

COSTELLO: A three-week manhunt for two killer fugitives is over. One dead, the other hospitalized.

JOSEPH A. D'AMICO, SUPERINTENDENT, NEW YORK STATE POLICE: Sweat turned and fled on foot with the sergeant in pursuit.

COSTELLO: How a hero sergeant ended the hunt. And what we could learn from the surviving escapee.

Also, banks shuttered. ATMs out of cash. What a debt crisis in Greece means for all of Europe and your retirement account.

Plus, is the GOP split over same-sex marriage?

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It is fundamentally illegitimate. It is wrong.

GOV. JOHN KASICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I believe in traditional marriage but the Supreme Court has ruled and it's the law of the land.

COSTELLO: Could this divisive issue actually help Republicans?

Let's talk. Live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

Relief washing across northern New York state as countless residents chalk up their best night's sleep in more than three weeks. The manhunt for those two escaped killers finally over. 23 days after breaking out of prison, David Sweat is hospitalized in critical condition this morning. He was shot twice while running from a state police sergeant, and nearly disappearing into thick woods. More importantly, Sweat was just two miles from the Canadian border.

His capture comes just two days after fellow escapee Richard Matt was spotted by police and shot to death. While his death -- with his death, rather, investigators are hoping Sweat can survive and reveal how the two orchestrated such an elaborate escape plan and extended run from the police dragnet.

We're covering the story from all angles. But let's begin with CNN's Sara Ganim. She's outside Albany Medical Center where Sweat is being treated.

Good morning.

SARA GANIM, CNN INVESTIGATIONS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Yes, no change in condition since he was brought here last night. Still in critical condition. The governor telling CNN this morning he's in critical but stable condition, and the state police telling us that he is beginning to talk a little bit, which is important because investigators are going to want to interview him to know not only how did they pull off this brazen escape, but how did they stay on the run for nearly 22 days in Sweat's case. Was there anyone else helping them? We know that two people who worked inside the prison have already been charged but were there more helping them pull off this escape?

Of course across this region which has been effectively shut down at times with roadblocks and house searches, there is a collective sigh of relief as this comes to a close, including a sigh of relief from his mother.

(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. No, my son knows if he would have came here, I would have knocked him out and had them guys 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP) GANIM: David Sweat was not armed when he was captured yesterday. He did have some things on him, though. He had Pop Tarts, bug spray, and maps, Carol. Those two last things particularly interesting given that the rough terrain that they were navigating over the last three weeks as they made their way -- out away from the prison.

And just to give you some perspective, he was about two miles south of the Canadian border, about 16 miles away from where his partner, Richard Matt, was shot and killed. You know, 1300 different searchers involved in this, Carol. At the end of it, though, it all came down to one state police sergeant who spotted him and was able to capture him and keep him alive -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Absolutely, Sara Ganim reporting live this morning and praise is flooding in this morning for that state police sergeant, Jay Cook. The hero cop who single handedly captured Sweat. A 21-year veteran, Sergeant Cook spent most of his career in Malone, New York. He spotted Sweat jogging along the road less than two miles from the Canadian border. Sergeant Cook called out to Sweat from inside his car. The fugitive took off running. Cook got out of his patrol car and gave chase and then opened fire. The New York Governor Andrew Cuomo spoke to CNN a couple of hours ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[10:05:09] CUOMO: Sweat turned around, started to run. The state -- state trooper sergeant chased him through the field. They were only about a mile and a half from the Canadian border. Sweat was headed for the border and a tree line. The trooper knew he would lose him in a tree line, he couldn't catch Sweat. At one point he goes down on one knee and he fires two shots at Sweat stopping Sweat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Let's bring in CNN's Polo Sandoval, he's in Constable where the manhunt finally ended.

Tell us more -- tell us more, Polo.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Carol, good morning to you. There is this sense of relief in the communities here in upstate New York. I can tell you that really the people here followed very closely that three-week manhunt that played out like a Hollywood movie and then ended in a very dramatic scene in the field you see behind me.

This is actually where that police sergeant with the New York state police and this very dangerous individual, this convicted cop killer, went head to head, but there is, though, really a sense of not only relief but also a sense of normalcy.

You see this manhunt was obviously very scary for the individuals who have called this area home, but also to a certain extent even inconvenient with a series of roadblocks and even school closures during the early stages. But for a family about four hours south of here, Carol, the manhunt

was extremely personal. I'm talking about the family of Deputy Kevin Tarsia from Broom County, New York. You see that he's a sheriff's deputy who was brutally shot and killed by David Sweat back in 2002 during Fourth of July, so clearly after this escape, the wounds that took a long time to heal will obviously began to hurt again.

And in fact yesterday we heard from the Tarsia family, releasing a statement, thanking the estimated 1200 men and women who were searching for these two very dangerous individuals and also went on to reflect on that very tragic day for them, saying, quote, "To have someone you loved be ambushed, shot 15 times and then run over with a car simply for stopping to check unusual activity in a town park is a pain that no one can understand if you have not been through it firsthand."

Again this coming from the Tarsia family. They referenced that part, they were shot -- their loved one was shot and killed in. This weekend, Carol, we expect they will be back out there honoring their loved one's memory and reflecting on what played out here in this corner of the country.

COSTELLO: Polo Sandoval reporting live. Thanks so much.

After 23 days on the run, it's hard to believe that David Sweat was so exposed and out in the open. Even more amazing that Sergeant Jay Cook was able to take him down with a steady hand and two shots before he could disappear into the woods.

Joining me now someone who knows the intensity of a manhunt like this, former FBI specialist Rick Schwein. He was in charge of the manhunt to find Olympic park bomber Eric Rudolph.

Thank you so much for joining us, sir. I appreciate it.

RICK SCHWEIN, FORMER FBI SPECIAL AGENT: Great to be with you, Carol.

COSTELLO: Nice to have you here. It is pretty amazing with hundreds of officers scouring the woods, it was a solo cop that spotted Sweat.

SCHWEIN: Yes. I mean, what a great -- what a fantastic effort by -- led by the New York State Police, a combined effort of local, federal, state, and tribal law enforcement agencies as well as I'm sure coordination with our Canadian counterparts just across the border. Just a great feat of law enforcement to get both of these extremely dangerous men who had killed without compunction and would have undoubtedly killed again in order to maintain their freedom had it not been for the actions of Sergeant Cook, so what a great ending.

COSTELLO: I was kind of surprised that Sergeant Cook was out patrolling by himself. Are you?

SCHWEIN: Not so much. I mean, the Rudolph case ended in a similar manner with a rookie police officer, Jeff Postell, a 19-year-old Murphy, North Carolina, police officer on patrol who encountered Rudolph, relied on his training, and did all the right things. You know, there are 800,000 people in this country that every morning

get up and put on a uniform, strap on a gun, and pin on a badge and serve as that thin blue line between evil and the public that they serve. So it's not that surprising. I mean, as the governor indicated, Sergeant Cook was a shift supervisor. He was on the perimeter. He was checking the perimeter. He was undoubtedly moving from station to station checking on his guys, and he encountered this guy.

It tells me there was a good plan in place, and Sergeant Cook was obviously extremely well trained, extremely competent, and did all the right things to bring this to an end.

COSTELLO: Are you surprised that David Sweat was out in an open field jogging along the side of --

SCHWEIN: No. Not at all.

COSTELLO: No?

SCHWEIN: No. Not at all. I mean, he was obviously trying to move very quickly. People are creatures of habit. One of the things that happens in a lot of these manhunts is folks go to areas that they can very quickly cover ground, railroad beds, fire breaks, power line right-of-ways, places that they're unobstructed and they don't have to break brush.

[10:10:11] And they have this feeling of, I can move quickly but then dart into the woods, which he apparently was trying to do when Sergeant Cook ended his flight.

COSTELLO: And just the way he was caught, he was in camouflage, he was not armed which actually surprised me, but he had a backpack. He had Pop Tarts in there and maps. What does just his general appearance tell you about those 23 days on the run?

SCHWEIN: Well, he and Matt were semi resourceful. They were able to get to cabins to get to meet some of their basic needs of shelter, clothing, food, water, and you can remain on the run for a relatively lengthy period of time if you can meet those basic needs. But he was obviously expending many more calories than he was taking in. He was tired.

He obviously was -- had a plan, had maps, knew roughly where he was, and correctly by the New York state police, they indicated a couple -- 72 hours before he was caught that they thought he was headed northwest towards the Canadian border and that's exactly where they found him.

COSTELLO: All right. Rick Schwein, thank you so much for your insight. I appreciate it.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM --

SCHWEIN: Thank you, Carol.

COSTELLO: You're welcome.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, the Greek economy on the brink of collapse. A day from possible default and history in the bad way. And, yes, that could hurt your 401(k).

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:15:56] COSTELLO: All right. Breaking news to pass along to you right now. More key decisions coming out of the U.S. Supreme Court this morning.

CNN justice correspondent Pamela Brown is there. Two rulings have come forward. What are they, Pamela?

PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're still waiting to look to the ruling on the second one but the first one that has come out today is a major ruling on lethal injection and today the high court, in a majority opinion, 5-4, cut along ideological lines, ruled that the controversial drug used in lethal injection midazolam is -- does not violate the Constitution.

Challengers to this drug had said that it equates to cruel and unusual punishment and that it's a violation of the Constitution's Eighth Amendment, but today the justices said in this majority that the petitioners failed to establish merits of claim, that the use of this drug violates the Eighth Amendment. Also, it talked about the compelling evidence that the other side brought forth saying that a certain amount -- a certain dose of this drug guarantees virtual certainty an inmate will not feel pain.

But there is a fiery dissent from Justice Breyer on this and in fact he actually raised the question of whether the high court should take up the death penalty again, the constitutionality of the death penalty. And here's what Justice Breyer said in his dissent. He says, "For the reasons I have set forth in this opinion, I believe it highly likely that the death penalty violates the Eighth Amendment. At the very least the court should call for full briefing on this basic question."

Important to note, this case was not about the constitutionality of the death penalty but Justice Breyer raising that question here today with this ruling upholding the use of this controversial drug that's used in lethal injection. It was used during the botched execution of Clayton Lockett, as you may remember, Carol. That was a little over a year ago, and that is partly what led to this case making it up to the high court and this ruling today -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Pamela Brown, reporting live for us. I know you're reading through the second key decision and we'll get back to you once you've done that. Pamela Brown, reporting.

I want to bring in Jonathan Turley now. He's a professor of law at George Washington University. He's also a constitutional scholar.

Thank you so much for being with me. So just to make it clear for people how someone is put to death in this country, it's a three-drug cocktail, right? They're sedated first, the next drug paralyzes them, and the third drug kills them, but this particular Supreme Court decision centered on that first drug, a sedative.

JONATHAN TURLEY, LAW PROFESSOR, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: That's right. And actually states have had trouble with this first drug because the drug they preferred was being withheld by the manufacturer. There was an international outcry for companies not to supply drugs used for lethal injection and that was successful. So the states have been really trying to run around to get the drugs that they need to carry out executions and then there was a botched execution using this very drug where the inmate was clearly suffering or at least writhing during the execution.

But the outcome is not surprising here. What is a little surprising is Breyer's dissent where he really confirms that many of these decisions are a substitute for the bigger question. You know, should the death penalty be constitutional? And Justice Breyer is saying I'm not satisfied that question is answered. I think we need to look at that when we look at these types of drug regimen cases.

COSTELLO: That's interesting. And by the way, just so people -- just want to refresh our viewer's memory, Clayton Lockett was a killer in Oklahoma. Took him 43 minutes to die. And as you said, he was writhing on the table there and he was grunting and making sounds at times and finally he died. And I guess they took it to the U.S. Supreme Court because it violated the amendment that applies to cruel and unusual punishment.

TURLEY: Right, the Eighth Amendment.

COSTELLO: So how could -- how could someone take 43 minutes to die and that not violate the Constitution? What would --

(CROSSTALK)

TURLEY: The state has said this was botched, that they I believe say they missed the vein or the vein collapsed. But their argument is that that doesn't mean that the protocol, the regimen itself, is cruel and unusual.

[10:20:07] They were really making that case to a very good court from their perspective. I always thought it would be extremely unlikely that five votes would say based on this case and this experience we're going to declare this unconstitutional. But you have this horns of a dilemma for people who opposed the death penalty. On one hand they're trying to prevent these drugs from getting to the states, but the states are saying, you know, all this effort is meaning that we have to improvise a little and you're making it more likely that there will be these types of problems.

The court basically said look, this was far off the mark. For something to violate the Eighth Amendment, you need to show more than the -- a botched execution, and this just isn't it. And I think that's the reason Justice Breyer is saying let's stop pretending that we're arguing about what drugs to use. We need to do straight on the question of, is it time for the United States to declare the death penalty unconstitutional?

COSTELLO: All right. Jonathan Turley, thanks for your insight as usual. I appreciate it.

I'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:25:30] COSTELLO: Greece's economy is on the verge of collapse. And that could mean bad news for U.S. markets. Asian and European stocks already started plunging, and already this morning, with the Dow, the NASDAQ fell on early trading.

CNN's chief business correspondent Christine Romans joins us now to explain it all.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It is really just misery for the Greek people, quite frankly, and a lot of concern around the world about what it's going to mean for economies. So this is what's happening in Greece right now. They've closed the banks. Imagine that. They have closed the banks for six days.

Now Greek citizens can still go with their ATM cards and get a withdrawal, Carol, but it's limited to 60 euros a day, that's about $67. Can you imagine? Those are the lines you're seeing this afternoon because Greek citizens cannot use their banks. They're trying to prevent a run on the banks, quite frankly, because over the past I'd say couple of weeks about a billion dollars a day has been fleeing out of those banks as people pull their money out.

COSTELLO: Wow.

ROMANS: So here's what's new. They've closed the banks because the Greek government has said we're going to put it to the Greek people a vote of whether we can abide by the European Union's plan to help rescue us. So the country is really having all kinds of financial problems. Tomorrow it has a loan payment that's due. Greece says, look, the terms to your conditions are too harsh. We don't want to do it. We want to let the Greek people decide and it's just been spiraling around the world. Stock markets down.

COSTELLO: So has an entire country ever defaulted before?

ROMANS: There have been defaults but you've never seen a default where the country then could have to leave the euro. The big concern here is that Greece would have to leave the euro and go back to the Drachma or something, and that could have such devastating impact for expectations about the European Union staying together, quite frankly.

There are some other weak players, southern European players that have managed to hold it together, managed to hold on to their bailouts. There's a big concern that this could spark other countries starting to question whether they need to -- the European officials want to keep the eurozone together.

Now what does it mean for American travelers who are there on vacation this summer? It means you're packing a lot of cash. You're bringing your cash, you're doing all your business in dollars. It could be very hard for the tourism industry this summer. I mean, at some point bookings are likely to fall. For U.S. investors, anybody with a 401(k), you're seeing it in your 401(k) there taking a bit of a hit this morning, although not as bad the response in the U.S. as in some of the other stock markets around the world because American banks are largely insulated themselves from Greece's problems.

COSTELLO: And that's the best thing.

ROMANS: Yes.

COSTELLO: Christine Romans, thanks so much.

ROMANS: You're welcome.

COSTELLO: I'll be right back.

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

Three weeks after two cold-blooded killers broke free from a New York prison, it only took two shots to take down inmate David Sweat, thanks to this man. Fast-acting Sergeant Jay Cook. There he is.

Sweat is now in custody. He's recovering at a New York hospital after being wounded in the torso. Sweat was captured after being spotted jogging alongside a road. When Sergeant Cook approached him in his patrol car, Sweat took off and that's when Sergeant Cook exited his car, chased Sweat on foot and then opened fire before Sweat could disappear into the thick woods. Now that the manhunt is over, authorities are hoping to put all their focus on the investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAJ. CHARLES GUESS, NEW YORK STATE POLICE: I'm told he's talking a bit. Obviously he's in the care of medical professionals, and their priority is to save his life. We hope that he continues to talk. Our investigators are very keenly interested in what he might have to say not only as it pertains to his escape and the Department of Corrections of course would follow up on that, but from my perspective how he managed to elude capture for the last 23 days.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So let's bring in CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney Danny Cevallos.

Welcome. So they're trying to question this guy right now as he's recovering from two bullet wounds to his torso. Do you think they're speaking to him as he slips in and out of consciousness? How does that work normally?

DANNY CEVALLOS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, if he's that much out of consciousness, there won't be much use to interrogating him now. And the police want more than just a simple -- this is not a simple interrogation. This is a bit unusual. Now police have a lot of tools at their disposal. They use what's called the Reed technique, and they are allowed to lie to a suspect in order to extract a confession, but this is a typical suspect confession.

They know what happened. What they want is the details. So I don't know that they need any pressing information at this moment. They may wait until he recovers, and, again, if he's not -- if he's in and out of consciousness, any information really won't have that much value to him.

[10:30:11] COSTELLO: Why would he talk?

CEVALLOS: Well, there are a number of different --

(END)