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Escaped Convict David Sweat Captured And Being Treated At New York Hospital; Greece Shuts Its Banks Down. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired June 29, 2015 - 15:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:33:47] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

More now on our breaking news on the end of this manhunt but the beginning of the search for answers here. Escaped cop killer David Sweat wounded by this one lone New York state trooper. He's now back in custody and in a hospital bed in Albany. We are now learning that Sweat was on his own, actually, for a couple of days before fellow fugitive Richard Matt was shot and killed. We're learning this because Sweat is talking. He is revealing details to investigators about their getaway plan.

And in just a couple of minutes away, Gene Palmer, this prison guard here accused of helping Matt and Sweat, is due in court. He accused of smuggling hamburger meat. It was a full of tools like a hacksaw to both of these fugitives. His attorney says Palmer didn't know what was inside the meat. That's what you will hear in court.

Meantime, let's bring in prison consultant and former federal inmate Larry Levine.

Larry, welcome back.

Glad to be with you, Brooke.

BALDWIN: All right. So David Sweat is talking. You know, he says that the plan indeed was to get that getaway car from the seamstress Joyce Mitchell and head on to Mexico. And the fact that, Larry, it hasn't even been 24 hours since he was caught, this is a guy in the hospital, and that he has cracked, does this surprise you he's cracked so quickly?

[15:35:01] LARRY LEVINE, FORMER FEDERAL INMATE: No, not really. I imagine there's, no pun intended, Brooke. There is a lot of people at Clinton sweating David Sweat right now. Because he knows the dirt on the institution. He was there for a long time. And they were probably hoping the cops would have taken him out and killed him also. I mean, he's serving a life sentence so what does he really have to lose?

BALDWIN: You really think that? I mean, all of that planning and he'd be OK with suicide by cop? LEVINE: He necessarily wouldn't be OK with it. But I'm talking about

all of the people at Clinton that probably helped him, staff members, other inmates, they wanted him dead. They didn't want him taken alive because he knows things.

Clinton correctional, the people have been there for so long that he knows the dirt on the people. He has dirt on other inmates. And Governor Cuomo, he wants to know that. The department of corrections, everybody wants to pick his brain, to know what is going on in that institution.

BALDWIN: So what's in it for him if he gives up the dirt?

LEVINE: Well, for one, he'll serve better -- he's never getting out. Let's face that. He'll get better food. He'll be sent to a better institution. When somebody escapes from custody, they normally send you to the SHU, known as the special housing unit, solitary confinement, for up to five years. Maybe he'll only spend six months in there. Maybe he'll never spend time in the SHU. So he will have certain advantages to cooperating.

I mean, right now, what is he really facing? He's facing escape. Well, he's not going to serve any extra time. He's facing burglary possibly for the cabins that they broke into. He wasn't caught with a weapon so there's no felony in possession of a firearm. So really his living conditions is what he has to gain. But then, on the other hand, if he testifies against, let's say, other law enforcement, other correctional officers, wherever they move him there's the brotherhood of law enforcement. He's going to have a hard time wherever he goes. He may end up going into a federal institution just to take him out of the state.

BALDWIN: Do you think he would go back to Clinton, Larry, or would he go elsewhere?

LEVINE: Absolutely not. He will never, ever go back to Clinton correctional because the staff there is out to get him. He knows that. The staff knows that. The director of the department of corrections, they know that. You know --

BALDWIN: But Larry, everyone knows his story. This has made nationwide headlines. Whenever he goes, these correction officers will know who this guy is.

LEVINE: True. But he will have not had direct contact with those staff members. They move the staff members around periodically, but let's say they throw him back at Clinton. Now he's around hundreds of correctional officers that he was with for several years, and he knows things about all of these people. So they are all sweating him out.

Let's say they send him to upstate correctional in New York. He really doesn't know anybody there. So those people, they're not going to be happy with him, but they're not going to treat him the same way that the staff at Clinton would treat him.

BALDWIN: OK. All right, Larry Levine, thank you so much. LEVINE: Certainly.

BALDWIN: I want to go -- breaking news now here in to CNN on an investigation into the prison where these two inmates escaped from as we were discussing this, Clinton correctional facility.

Our justice correspondent Evan Perez joins me now with some new details.

Evan, what have you learned?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well Brooke, now that the manhunt is over, federal investigators are going to take a closer look at that upstate New York maximum security prison. Now, we have learned the FBI has launched an investigation into broader corruption problems at the Clinton Correctional facility.

Among the things they're looking at is possible drug trafficking and other criminal activity involving prison employees and inmates. Now, law enforcement officials tell CNN that some prison employees who have been interviewed have actually described rampant heroin use at the prison and the role of employees getting some those drugs inside.

Now, investigators have already identified a couple of specific prison employees who they are focusing on for this investigation. And Brooke, this all began with the FBI helping the state police investigate the escape of those two murders, Richard Matt and David Sweat. And we should add that the New York state inspector general is doing its own separate investigation, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Heroin in the prison allegedly. We'll be looking for more of your reporter coming up on "the LEAD." Evan Perez, thank you so much for those details.

Just ahead here, one of the country's most notorious gangsters, Whitey Bulger, you know what, he wrote a letter from prison to a group of high school girls. What he wrote here in this perfect line cursive, straight ahead.

Plus, frustration and anxiety spilling over right in the middle of a CNN live shot.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Based of people of opposition to what's going on there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the sort of thing --

[15:40:05] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Watch yourself, Richard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Coming up, as Greece shuts down banks, we will show you how the ripple effect could reach us right here in the United States.

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[15:44:23] BALDWIN: This may be hard to believe, but economic troubles in Greece could have a huge impact on all of us right here in the U.S. imagine if what's happening there could be hatching here. Banks closed for a week. You go to the ATM to get cash, sorry, they're out. That country owes billions to European lenders. And it's showing signs of going into default. So as you might imagine, that is not exactly going over well with investors anywhere, including Wall Street. You see the red on the screen, 15 minutes to the end of the trading day down 330 points.

Let me begin with our money business correspondent Alison Kosik. Clearly Wall Street's reacting.

[15:44:59] ALISON KOSIK, CNN MONEY BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Investors, Brooke, running for the exits today. We're seeing the sell-off really accelerate as we get closer to the closing bell.

You know, what is interesting is that the sell-off is happening despite the fact that the U.S. has very little financial exposure, direct financial exposure to Greece. You look at the financial crisis in Greece it's been going on for in years. And investors have had a lot of time now to limit their exposure to Greece's financial markets.

Now, the reason we are seeing this strong reaction here in the U.S. is because there's a lot of concern about, you know, this being unchartered territory. There are a lot of questions. What are the global implications of Greece not being able to pay its bills? What would be the ramifications of Greece leaving the European Union? And the biggest concern here in the U.S. really seems to be, what are the shock waves that Greece's financial troubles could cause here?

So Brooke, right now those are a lot of questions people are asking and there are a lot of unknowns - Brooke.

BALDWIN: Alison Kosik, thank you.

She brought up a couple of great points. We'll try to get some answer, a global perspective, with Brian Walsh, foreign editor of "Time." So he's joining me to talk.

Let's just begin, you know, with this issue and this tiny nation, you know, over in Europe, right? But it could absolutely have ramifications for us here in the U.S. because how?

BRIAN WALSH, FOREIGN EDITOR, TIME: Well, basically, you're right. It's a very tiny country, less than one percent of U.S. trade is with Greece. But really what everyone is worried about is simply the uncertainty. If you actually see Greece --

BALDWIN: Psychological all of these markets.

WALSH: Yes. Markets are incredibly psychological. I think we're seeing it right now. I mean, what's happening with those market is really more of a fear reaction that has to do anything with actual economic fundamentals. But of course, we're kind of entering unchartered territory here so it's hard for anyone to know what's next.

BALDWIN: So numbers, Greece only represents two percent of the Eurozone economy. The economy has shrunk 25 percent in recent years it's smaller than Oregon's. President Obama was on the phone, you know, with European leaders over the weekend trying to make sure that they would not -- to avoid default. But in terms of let's say my 401(k) or your 401(k), at what point would that be affected?

WALSH: I think, well, the U.S. should be fine. I mean, we are walled off really from Greece certainly and even Europe.

BALDWIN: What's this?

WALSH: Well, that's a temporary reaction. That is a short-term reaction. Anyone know physician you have a 401(k), you look at the long term, not short term. Now, of course, should Europe really get into trouble, that will spill over into the U.S.

BALDWIN: Let's talk about Europe, part of the Eurozone, the euro, use the euro. If Greece were to say, we want out, maybe it wouldn't be a big deal if you take it just as one nation. But it could be a slippery slope for other countries wanting out, thus eroding the Eurozone.

WALSH: Exactly. What sort of leading this club, it really raises questions about what is the euro, how solid is it going forward? So what happens to the next time you have say a smaller country in economic trouble, you have a Portugal or a bigger country like a Spain. If you know that Greece can leave, that suddenly makes everything uncertain. And of course, you know, this is what markets don't like. They don't like that uncertainty. We don't know what will happen with Greece if they actually pull out. We don't know exactly how you will re-introduce road currency. I mean, there's just a lot of uncertainty out there right now.

BALDWIN: When will this - final question, when will this be decided because I know the vote is happening, what, next Sunday essentially saying, you know, they would decide whether they say yes to these austerity measures, these stricter measures, in a sense than getting some money again from the leaders to help them. Any idea which way the vote could go?

WALSH: I think it is really -- no one really knows which way it will go right now. Emotionally you see the Greek people very angry about what they've been forced to do.

BALDWIN: Very angry.

WALSH: I know we look and see, well, they've been -- they've under gone a lot of economic pain over the last few years, and the European Union is asking them to do even more really. And so, there's a point where they may say, look, we don't want to be part of this anymore. We want to strike out on our own. Certainly, that is what the Greek government, I mean, they don't want to leave the euro but do they no longer really want the bailout terms being afforded them. So we will see. I mean, the Greek people may decide to go emotionally, and that would have huge ramifications for the currency union.

BALDWIN: Brian Walsh, thank you so much. We'll keep the conversation going absolutely. I appreciate it.

But next, you will meet three high school students who did not know what they probably were not actually expecting this, a response, a handwritten response by Whitey Bulger himself from behind bars. These next three young ladies will be joining me next live to tell us Bulger's message and if they plan to take his message to heart. That's next.

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[15:53:35] BALDWIN: All right. So breaking news here. We've been talking a lot about this manhunt for the last 23 days. These are on now. Our first pictures of this corrections officer who is in custody. He's posted bond. He has been in this courthouse. This is Gene Palmer. He is the one who is accused of tampers with evidence as it pertains to this manhunt and escape. So he has just pleaded not guilty to charges that he promoted dangerous prison contraband, destroyed evidence, and official misconduct. Remember, he's the person who's accused of providing the meat -- remember the hamburger meat to those inmates, the meat that was apparently full of tools, and he is, according to these allegations, had burned paintings that one of these inmates had given him, burned them, buried them, so again pleading not guilty there.

Now to this here, this trio of New England high school students working on this project for a national history competition, settled on a very unusual subject here. The contest was about leadership and legacy. The group's choice, convicted Boston crime boss James "Whitey" Bulger, the 85-year-old is serving consecutive life terms in 11 murders. He spent nearly two decades on the run before finally being caught in 2011. So these three young ladies, they wrote a letter to Whitey, asking all kinds of questions. And to their surprise, you're looking at it. He wrote a response. He didn't exactly cooperate. He didn't exactly answer all his questions. He advised them to, quote, "not waste their time talking to him." And there was this tip, they really want crime to pay quote "go to law school."

With me now, I have those three students, Britney Tanish, I have Michaela Arguin and Mollykate Rodenbush.

So ladies, welcome.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi.

BALDWIN: Hi. So before we get to, you know, Whitey Bulger's message to you, I think what struck me, when I saw the picture of the letter. And Michaela, if you hold it up, I'm sure, we have closer picture, but his penmanship. Can you talk about what this looks like on the page?

[15:55:45] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's actually like all in the lines. And it's pretty much like perfect, in the margins and everything. It's pretty crazy. BALDWIN: Who knew convicted crime boss Whitey Bulger knows to write

perfect. So what exactly was your assignment, and why did you choose him?

MOLLYKATE RODENBUSH, TEEN WHO RECEIVED LETTER FROM WHITEY BULGER: So every year we compete in national history day. And that is a competition. It's not affiliated with our school, but our school does regularly compete in the competition. So we start freshman year, and we are required to take part in the competition. But this year we just did it for fun. And so we decided to choose James "Whitey" Bulger for our project because we like to choose more unconventional topics that are going to stick in the judges' mind. And we chose him, Whitely Bulger, because he's not the normal president or hero that you would normally associated with a leader. We chose Whitey Bulger because he's a leader of organized crime, and we think that his legacy is a big one.

BALDWIN: It's definitely a big one. Think about that legacy. But did you -- when you all -- when you ladies landed on Whitey Bulger, and you're writing this letter, and you are putting all these questions together, who actually thought he was going to get back to you? Of the three of you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think any of us actually thought he was going to respond.

MICHAEL ARGUIN, WROTE LETTER TO WHITEY BULGER FOR HISTORY PROJECT: I was definitely hopeful because I kind of pushed the two of them to let me actually send it with my address on it, and hope for a response. So I think I had the most optimism.

BALDWIN: You have the optimism. You had the hope. You're the one who got this, you know, it in the mail, and you see the return, you know, address. You knew instantly where this letter was coming from.

Michaela, I know you're the one with the letter, so if you would, can you read me a paragraph?

ARGUIN: Sure. Don't waste your time as such as I. We are society's lower, best forgotten, not looked to for based on leadership. I'm a ninth grade dropout from school and took the wrong road. My brother five years younger applied himself and worked hard in school and in 40 years he serve for the mass state house and retire. And was president of the mass state house for the second term. Finally. He was the president of U mass after retirement. He had nine children, all college graduates, and four lawyers among them. A better man than I.

BALDWIN: Were you expecting that?

ARGUIN: Not at all.

BALDWIN: So, you know, the big question is, when you hear these words, girls, is whether or not this is authentic, you know, whether this is real, this is remorse? Because I know a retired state police colonel, Thomas Foley, and the widow of one of Bulger's victims, have absolutely questioned his remorse. You all had read it through, I imagine, a few times. Do you think it's real?

ARGUIN: I definitely think it's real, and I think it's definitely somewhat remorseful. I think it's somewhat truthful. There's definitely some truth to what. He's definitely reflecting his life is about to end. And he even says that in the letter. He says his life was wasted. And I feel like someone who is sincere is going to say that, and not someone who is insincere and doesn't really mean what they are saying because nobody is really going to say their life is wasted, unless they really don't mean that.

BALDWIN: Mollykate, do you think he was remorseful?

RODENBUSHl: I do think he is remorseful. I also think that he was despondent in the fact that we were acknowledging him as a leader. In one of the paragraphs, he actually, as Michaela read, he doesn't want to be acknowledged as a leader, and he is trying to stay us away and try to get us to interview the patients at Walter reed memorial.

BALDWIN: Ladies, that is quite a letter. I'm sure one of you will hang on to it for quite some time. Britney Tanish (ph) and Michaela Arguin, and Mollykate Rodenbush, thank you, all three of you. Appreciate it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.

BALDWIN: And quickly before we go, let's show the big board here as we are just about at the end of the trading day. And you can see the Dow, it is really sinking today down 353 points. Listen, we are just talking this is psychological, this is all based of course upon what's happened in Greece. So stay tune to CNN. We will have much more on potential economic fallout.

I'm Brooke Baldwin. I got to say goodbye for now. I will see you back here tomorrow. "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts right now