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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Captured Killer Tells All; Another Black Church Burns: Latest In Series of Fires; Greece Defaults on Loans; Chris Christie Joins GOP Race; U.S. Women Advance to World Cup Final; U.S. and Iran Extend Nuclear Talks. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired July 01, 2015 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to EARLY START, everyone. I'm John Berman.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Christine Romans. Thirty minutes exactly past the hour.

New this morning: captured prison escapee David Sweat, captured prison escapee is now recovering quickly from two gunshots wound. His condition has been upgraded now to fair. And he is apparently spilling big time, revealing key details about how security broke down at Clinton correctional facility in Upstate New York. Sweat says he and Richard Matt actually practiced their escape the night before they broke out. They practiced that escape but he says they reached a manhole and then decided it was not isolated enough, so they picked a different manhole on the night of the real escape.

More now from national correspondent Jason Carroll.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, David Sweat's condition has been upgraded to fair and he is telling investigators a lot, filling in many details about the escape, telling investigators that he was the, quote/unquote, "mastermind" of the whole escape plan and that falls in step from what we are hearing from a source who tells me that David Sweat had a reputation at the prison of being somewhat technically minded and the smarter of the two.

He also said they did a dry run the night before and they had been planning this up to six months. They only used those hacksaw blades to cut a hole in the prison wall and through a pipe to lead them to freedom. He also talked about who was involved and who was not involved -- meaning Joyce Mitchell, he says, was involved. She was supposed to be the getaway driver. But Gene Palmer, that prison guard here, the one who smuggled in that piece of frozen hamburger meat -- well, according to David sweat, he says Palmer knew nothing of the escape plan.

Also, someone is coming to his defense. His mother who says her son is not the only one to blame for the breakout. PAMELA SWEAT, PRISON ESCAPEE'S MOTHER: I still say to this day, is

that woman and whoever else was involved and didn't give them that stuff, those guys never would have broke out of jail. So, I kind of -- you know, I blame them, as well as the two guys, David and the other guy.

CARROLL: And, John and Christine, we're also getting new details about Richard Matt and what happened up until his very final moments. Apparently, he found some things on the way when he was out on the loose. He found things like food, pop tarts and M&Ms, but also liquor, some sort of grape-flavored liquor that he apparently was drinking just before he was shot.

He also had a shotgun that he fired several times in a trailer. One of those bullets striking a vehicle that was passing by. And that's what triggered the whole thing.

Also, we are getting a picture coming to us, also a very gruesome picture, some viewers might find it disturbing just a few moments after Richard Matt had been shot. He was wearing boots, he was wearing a green jacket and dark pants. The coroner saying it looked as if he was dressed to be hidden there in the woods. He was a man who lived a very, very violent life and he came to a violent end -- John and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: All right. Thanks to Jason for that.

There has been a stunning shake-up in prison leadership. Three top Clinton correctional officials are now on paid leave, along with nine members of the security staff.

We are also hearing from the brother of the sheriff's deputy murdered by David Sweat. He is furious at all of the privileges Sweat had in the prison's honor block.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVEN TARSIA, BROTHER OF DEPUTY WHO SWEAT KILLED: We were told that he would look in cells, the cell the whole time and that is all he would ever do is look at a cell, look at walls, come out for half an hour a day, you know, and put in a cage like a dog, which he is. He was able to use computer and talk to his friends, relatives, and have people come and see him, and that really, really ate us up on that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: The lawyer for Joyce Mitchell says she is ecstatic the manhunt is over and that no harm came to any other person. She may be ecstatic but she is still sitting in jail, charged with helping Matt and Sweat escape. Attorney Steve Johnston tells CNN she believes her prayers were answered.

And there's I guess more good news for Mitchell. The lawyer for her husband says Lyle Mitchell, he plans to stick by his wife. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER DUMAS, ATTORNEY FOR LYLE MITCHELL (via telephone): He is still in love with her, to put it bluntly. And I think he plans on waiting for her. We have spoken about the fact that he may -- he may still be an employee of the Department of Corrections and community services here in New York, and what that would mean if his wife was in prison at that point.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: According to investigators, Mitchell planned to pick up Sweat and Matt and help them get to Mexico, but she lost her nerve at the last minute.

BERMAN: All right. Breaking overnight: federal agents are investigating a fire at a black church in Greeleyville, South Carolina. As many as 50 firefighters worked to put out that blaze at Mt. Zion AME Church. As of now, officials do not know what started this fire started, but, you know, 20 years ago, the same church burned down at the spate of some 30 arsons blamed on the Klan.

[04:35:00] This new fire is the latest in a series of recent blazes at African-American churches and other churches across the south and this is raising concerns. The fires at churches in Florida, Tennessee, North and South Carolina have all come since the shooting rampage at the Emanuel AME Church in South Carolina on June 17th.

All right. New this morning, new defiance from Donald Trump in the face of widespread criticism over his remarks about Mexican immigrants during his campaign kickoff announcement two weeks ago. Among other things, he called them rapists.

The billionaire is rising in the polls and telling supporters that he stands by his words. He is firing back at the network he claims is now in breach of contract. That coming as the co-hosts of the American Miss USA telecast, that is "Dancing with the Stars" pro Cheryl Burke and news anchor Thomas Roberts, have announced that they are withdrawing from being the hosts of that show.

Let's get more from CNN's Athena Jones.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John and Christine.

The Donald Trump/Univision/NBC Universal feud is heating up. Trump filed a $500 million lawsuit against Univision on Tuesday for breach of contract. This is after the company cancelled those plans to air the Miss USA pageant, which Trump partly owns. And he hasn't ruled suing NBC for doing the same thing.

And the billionaire businessman is standing by those inflammatory remarks he made about Mexican immigrants that sparked this whole controversy two weeks ago.

Take a listen to what he told a crowd of supporters in New Hampshire last night.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And I understand everybody loves what I'm doing in terms of the border because we have to stop the illegals from coming in.

JONES: And Trump is also trying to turn the tables on NBC and Univision.

He's blasting them for abandoning the Miss USA contestants. Take a listen.

TRUMP: What NBC and Univision did to these young women was disgraceful. They ever had them in mind.

JONES: The defiant Trump isn't backing down. And if the last several days are any indication, this is surely not the last we're going to hear from him on this front -- John, Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Athena Jones, thanks, Athena.

This morning, Greece is the first developed country to default on a loan from the International Monetary Fund, the IMF. Greece did not make the $1.7 billion payment due yesterday, and it's now cut off from resources, cut off from IMF funding until a payment is made. Now, leaders, Greek leaders made a desperate last minute attempt to buy more time with a new bailout. It was rejected.

Now, Greece's future in the Eurozone is uncertain. Greek citizens will vote on Sunday and a no vote to the most recent bailout offer could mean saying no to Europe and its currency. No country has left the Eurozone, no country has left the Eurozone before. It's causing a lot of uncertainty for the world markets. We just have never been here before.

The European shares are higher. They are bouncing back from this week's losses after that missed payment. U.S. stock futures are up too, simply waiting for the next step for Greece but you can expect some uncertainty and volatility here.

Greek officials expected to make yet another bailout request today. But the European leaders say now that Greece has become the first developed nation ever to go into default, terms of a new bailout would be tougher, not easier. It would be tougher! They have already proven they can't abide by their word.

That is just what the White House is so worried. President Obama concerned about Greece leaving the euro, calling European leaders, pushing them to soften the terms of a deal and find a path toward a resolution.

Joining us now with the latest on this growing crisis is CNN's Isa Soares live in Athens.

And, Isa, I think it's very important to point out here that Greek citizens have undergone a five-year period that is akin to a depression in Greece. They have seen their paychecks cut. They have seen their services. They have seen their taxes rise, and there is more of the same in store for them if they're going to buy in a new bailout. That is the crux of the whole problem here.

ISA SOARES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You got it spot-on, Christine.

Greeks here have already made a lot of sacrifices. They suffered five years of austerity. We have seen pension cuts and a lot of families, a lot of households depend on pensions as their only source of income and employment. The economy shrunk 25 percent and employment hovering around 26, 27 percent, youth unemployment over 50 percent. And people are saying they have had enough.

Now, we are hearing from Europe that if the new request is seen, this new bailout is approved, that they have to discuss it at the moment today. We expect later on Eurogroup to meet, the finance ministers.

But they're already warning, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the Eurogroup president, basically saying conditions will be tougher. Why will they be tougher? Well, look at the state of the economy. It has deteriorated so much in the last few months alone, they are saying they will have to put tougher proposals on the table. Whether Greece will be able to meet that proposals when -- until now, it hasn't -- well, that's another question, but the reality is that Greece is alone, it's insolvent and it's bankrupt, Christine.

[04:40:02] ROMANS: And if Greece were to leave the euro, big concerns about other countries, just opening up the possibility of leaving the euro causes so much, it's an existential crisis quite frankly for the European Union and what is a big concern how it ripples around the world.

Thank you so much for that, Isa Soares.

BERMAN: A new milestone in improving relations between the United States and Cuba. The two countries set to make simultaneous announcements today, reopening embassies in Havana and Washington and exchanging ambassadors. This is a big step yet in establishing full diplomatic relations for the first time in more than five decades since 1961.

Let's get more from CNN's Jim Acosta.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, this has been in the works for months but now, the reality of ending decades of Cold War tensions with Cuba is fast approaching. Senior administration official say both the U.S. and Cuba will announce later on this morning that they have reached an agreement to reestablish diplomatic relations and reopen embassies in Havana and Washington.

For now, both governments have only had small intersection official but now those offices will become full-blown embassies. The president and Secretary of State John Kerry will have more to say on this later on in the morning. And State Department spokesman John Kirby told CNN Kerry may travel to Havana for the opening of that embassy.

Here's what he had to say.

JOHN KIRBY, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: Clearly, that's something we are entertaining right now, but I don't have anything to talk to in terms of his travel right now. What we're focused on less the travel schedule and more the effort here and achieving the president's objective of restoring diplomatic negotiations with Cuba. What that looks like, how that is processed, how we do that over time.

ACOSTA: And the White House has not ruled out a presidential trip to Cuba before President Obama wraps up his time in office -- John and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Jim Acosta, thank you for that, Jim.

Breaking overnight, the State Department releasing thousands of Hillary Clinton's e-mails.

And Chris Christie officially enters the race for president, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:45:35] ROMANS: Breaking overnight, a new batch of e-mails from Hillary Clinton's private email address, the only email address Clinton had while she was secretary of state. That's a violation of government rules. Among almost 2,000 e-mails in this batch, exchanges with President Obama's top aides including David Axelrod. Now, Axelrod has previously said he was unaware Mrs. Clinton was using a private e-mail address.

The e-mails released last night amount to 3,000 pages worth, a small fraction of the 55,000 pages she has turned over processing. I have gone over some of them, John, and I get buried in my own e-mails let alone government corporate e-mails of someone else. No barn-burners in there at this point.

BERMAN: Not yet, at least.

All right. He is the newest candidate in the Republican field. Chris Christie, number 14 and counting! He says his experience is unique. He got into the game officially at his high school gym in Livingston, New Jersey. He told reporters that he of all the candidates is the only one willing to do what it takes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R-NJ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I wake up every morning knowing that I have an opportunity to do something great. I don't do something great every day. I'm human. But every morning, I wake up with an opportunity to do something great. That's why this job is a great job and that is why president of the United States is an even greater job for a greater number of people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: About a 30-minute speech. No teleprompter, no actually written speech at all, sort of off-the-cuff. Impressive.

The governor is now in New Hampshire for the next several days. He is going all in there. It's sort of make or break for him.

ROMANS: His campaign slogan is, "Tell It Like It Is". Tell it like it is from the New Jersey governor.

One problem for Christie. New Jersey's economy is not doing so hot. Unlike most states, New Jersey still has not recovered all of the jobs lost in the recession. The state's unemployment rate will above the national average. Since the recession, poverty has risen, revenue has declined.

Christie touts his business credentials, but New Jersey ranked one of the worst states for doing business and that track record could make it difficult to challenge candidates like Rick Perry and Jeb Bush who led states of huge growth. His supporters will say that he is a Republican governor of a Democratic state that is ruining the country -- the finances and he's just trying to fix it. But that will be an interesting topic on the debate trail, I'm sure.

BERMAN: Indeed, indeed.

All right. Now to the most important news story of the day. One of the best games I have ever seen! The United States advanced to the World Cup final. The American women shut out top-seeded Germany 2-0. This is how you do a penalty kick that is from captain Carli Lloyd. That was after Germany missed a PK.

Here we go, a beautiful cross to Kelley O'Hara right here. I think you're going to see her put it in the air, 2-0 over Germany, the top- ranked team in the world, although that will not last because Team USA will soon be top ranked as it heads to the final to play the winner of Japan and England. That semifinal match is tonight.

And I have to say, I needed this game and helped me solve the wounds after Ben and Jennifer broke up.

ROMANS: Oh, yes, they broke up on my wedding anniversary.

BERMAN: I know. I'm sure. I'm sure they thought about putting it off for a day so one coincide --

ROMANS: That wasn't one of our top headlines this morning, John.

BERMAN: No.

ROMANS: The Ben and Jen --

BERMAN: The not top news.

ROMANS: Yes.

BERMAN: All right. Deadline extended in the nuclear negotiations with Iran. But not without a new warning for President Obama. We are live from the talks next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:52:33] BERMAN: There is a new deadline this morning in the nuclear talks with Iran. The new target date for a final agreement is now July 7th. It was to be last night.

U.S. and Iranian negotiators say the new deadline will allow for more time to hammer out a long-term solution. CNN's Nic Robertson is live at the talks in Vienna with the very latest.

Nic, what's the atmosphere like there this morning?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it seems quite relaxed, but from what we understand at the moment, there is plenty going on behind the scenes. Also, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is expected to meet again today with the Iranian foreign minister. But we are also learning from the Iranian state news agency that the head of the IAEA, that is the nuclear -- the world's nuclear watch dog, the organization that would effectively check Iran's compliance with any agreement ahead, head of that organization is expected to go to Tehran tomorrow, the same day that the IAEA releases its own confidential report on Iran's compliance over past agreements.

One of the outstanding issues on that in the past has been what is called a possible military dimensions, PMD. And it's a big issue because it gets to the point of has Iran ever used any of its nuclear technology in terms of weapons research, weapons development. They have refused to answer that so far.

And that, according to senior State Department officials, is one of those issues that is fundamentally tells you if Iran does change on that and answer those questions that it hasn't before, then that shows they are entering a new phase of their attitude to dealing with the United States and the West on their issue of past nuclear uses. If they don't answer that question, then that shows that they are not fully open at the moment. So, of course, fundamental to getting an agreement here.

So, the head of that nuclear watchdog going to Tehran tomorrow, according to Iranian state news agency, the IAEA, don't confirm that at the moment, but essentially saying stay tuned on this. That could be important part of the background to these talks that are going on here.

BERMAN: Seven days to figure it all out. Nic Robertson for us in Vienna, thanks so much.

ROMANS: All right. Greece is collapsing. Stocks this morning, though, up a little bit and tell you the reason why and get an early start on your money next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:58:18] ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. Let's get an early start on your money this Wednesday morning.

European markets higher. Markets waiting for the next step from Greece. European stocks and U.S. stock futures higher. You got Chinese stocks down again this morning.

Greece did not make the $1.7 billion payment due yesterday, the first developed country to default on an IMF loan. That's history making, folks. Leaders made a desperate last-minute attempt to buy more time with a new bailout but it was rejected. Now, Greece's future in the Eurozone is uncertain. I expect you can get some wild swings until this is all sorted out.

Hope this morning that Puerto Rico can avoid default at least for now. The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, it's a government-run energy company, has a debt due today. The company doesn't have the money.

Investors are worried this could be the first of many defaults for the island. "The Wall Street Journal" reporting the government is close to a deal with creditors to avoid that. Earlier this week, Puerto Rico's governor asked Congress for authority to declare chapter nine bankruptcy so the country's finances are in a debt spiral.

Big shakeup to the corporate suite. Nike chairman and cofounder Phil Knight planning to step down next year. He founded that company in the 1960s, selling shoes out of his car. Nike is the biggest sportswear company. President and CEO Mark Parker will be the next chairman.

And DKNY has lost its namesake designer. Donna Karan is stepping down as chief designer of Donna Karan International. Karan started that company in the 1980s and helped revolutionize the wardrobes of working women.

Both of those people are a legend in retail.

BERMAN: With Donna Karan, unclear how unhappy she is about this situation. Phil Knight seems to be going out by choice.

EARLY START continues right now.