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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Richard Matt Shot At R.V.; Prison Staff Shakeup During Investigation; Jailed Prison Worker "Ecstatic"; Donald Trump Not Backing Down; Greece Misses $1.7 Billion IMF Payment; U.S., Cuba Reopening Embassies; U.S. and Iran Extend Nuclear Talks. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired July 01, 2015 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: A new historic black church burning in South Carolina overnight. The fire erupted as the FBI investigates possible arson at several other churches across the south.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Greece defaults on its debt, missing $1.7 billion payment. This morning, markets around the world on edge. That is something that has never happened. A big modern economy has never defaulted like that. We are live in Greece.
Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.
BERMAN: Good to see you this morning. I'm John Berman. It's 30 minutes past the hour.
New this morning, captured prison escapee, David Sweat, is recovering from two gunshot wounds. His condition has been upgraded to fair. He is apparently spilling big time revealing key details about how security broke down at Clinton Correctional Facility in upstate New York.
Sweat says that he and Richard Matt actually practiced their escape the night before they broke out. He says they reached a manhole, but decided that manhole was not isolated enough so they picked a different one on the night of the real escape. Let's get more now from national correspondent, Jason Carroll.
JASON CARROLL, CNN 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 that they had been planning this for 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 get-away driver.
But Gene Palmer, that prison guard here, the one who smuggled in that piece of frozen hamburger meat, 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.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAMELA SWEAT, PRISON ESCAPEE'S MOTHER: I still say to this day, if that woman and whoever else was involved didn't give them that stuff, those guys never would have broken out of jail. So I kind of, you know, blame them, as well as the two guys, David and the other guy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: And John and Christine, we are 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, 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 is what triggered the whole thing.
Also, we are getting a picture coming to us and also a very gruesome picture and some viewers might find it disturbing showing just a few moments after Richard Matt had been shot. He was wearing boots and 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, Christine.
ROMANS: All right, Jason Carroll, thanks for that. There has already been a shake-up in prison leadership, at least for now. While the state inspector general investigates the escape, three top Clinton Correctional officials are now on paid leave, along with nine members of the security staff.
Meanwhile, the brother of the sheriff's deputy who David Sweat was in prison for killing, he is furious at all of the privileges that Sweat had on the prison's honor block.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVEN TARSIA, BROTHER OF DEPUTY WHO SWEAT KILLED: We were told he would look at cells, the cell the whole time, and that is all he would ever do is look at a cell, look at walls and 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 and relatives and have people come and see him. That really ate us up on that.
(END VIDEO CLIP) ROMANS: The lawyer for prison tailor, Joyce Mitchell is ecstatic that the manhunt is over and that no harm came to any other person. Mitchell is now in jail charged with helping Matt and Sweat escape. Her attorney, Steve Johnson tells CNN that Mitchell believes her prayers were answered.
There is also some more good news for Mitchell. The lawyer for her husband says that Lyle Mitchell plans to stick by his wife.
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)
BERMAN: 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.
[05:35:08] ROMANS: All right, breaking overnight, federal agents are already starting to investigate a fire at a black church that broke out last night in Greeleyville, South Carolina. As many as 50 firefighters worked to put out the blaze at Mt. Zion AME Church last night.
So far officials do not know what started the fire, but 20 years ago, the same church burned down some 30 years ago and it was blamed on the Ku Klux Klan. Tuesday's fire, the latest in a series of recent blazes at black churches across the south is raising concern and suspicion.
The fires at churches in Florida, Tennessee, North and South Carolina all happened after the shooting rampage at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston on June 17th.
BERMAN: New this morning, new defiance from Donald Trump in the face of the wide spread criticism over his remarks about Mexican immigrants during his campaign kickoff announcement two weeks ago.
Among other things, he called them rapists, some of them rapists, some he said maybe good people. The billionaire is rising in the polls and he is telling supporters that he stands by his words.
He is also firing back at the network he claims is now in breach of contract. The co-host of the Miss USA telecast, Cheryl Burke from "Dancing with the Stars" and Thomas Roberts from MSNBC, they have announced they are withdrawing and they will not host. Let's get more from CNN's Athena Jones.
ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John and Christine. The Donald Trump/NBC Universal feud is heating up. Trump filed a $500 million lawsuit against NBC 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 out suing NBC for doing the same thing.
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 in New Hampshire last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I understand everybody loves what I am doing in terms of the border because we have to stop the illegals from coming in.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JONES: Trump is also trying to turn the tables on NBC and Univision. He is blasting them for abandoning the Miss USA contestants. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: What NBC and Univision did to these young women was disgraceful. They never had them in mind.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JONES: The defiant Trump isn't backing down. And if the last several days are any indication, this is surely not the last we are going to hear from him on this front -- John, Christine.
ROMANS: All right, Athena, thank you for that.
This morning, Greece is the first developed country ever to default on a loan from the IMF. Greece did not make the $1.7 billion payment due yesterday.
Now Greece is cut off from IMF resources until it can make a payment. Now leaders made a desperate last minute attempt to buy more time with a new bailout, but it was rejected.
Buying more time, it's been six months of non-stop talking. Now Greece's future in the Eurozone is uncertainly. Greek citizens will vote on Sunday in a referendum.
A no vote to the most recent bailout offer could mean saying no to Europe and no to Europe's currency. No country has left the Eurozone before. It's causing a whole lot of uncertainty for world markets.
The European shares are bouncing back a bit from this week's losses after that missed payment. U.S. stock futures are up a little bit waiting for the next step from Greece. But the Dow, you know, on Monday was down 350 points.
It has a lot to go to try to recover all of that and a lot of uncertainty ahead. Now Greek officials expected to make another bailout request today. 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. That has the White House worried.
President Obama concerned about Greece leaving the euro calling European leaders and 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. So much, Isa, over the past 24 hours, speculation and rumors and talks of a conference call and will there be a new bailout?
The fact is this has been going on for five years and over the past six months, these two sides, Greece and the European Union, have not been able to resolve this.
ISA SOARES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Christine. People are tying the twists and turns and keep on coming. I've got some news to bring you that we have gotten the last few minutes. Euro group has confirmed to CNN they have received the new letter from the Greek, as promised.
There are reports also this hour that we are chasing at the moment that the Greeks may have perhaps have done a u-turn and may have conceded in some of the creditors demands that were put on the table last weekend.
Apparently, just reports they have accepted the terms of the agreement. This is what the supposed letter that is doing around at the moment to euro group with one exception. That would be the VAT on some -- the euro group was suggesting on some of the islands.
[05:40:04] This is exactly -- if this is true, Christine, if they have, indeed, done a u-turn and if Alexis Tsipras has conceded, the people of Greece will be absolutely furious because he would have lost so much of their trust and people that I've been speaking to here now want to go to the referendum. They want to have their voices heard, so it will be interesting to see how it all plays out today with more drama, no doubt -- Christine.
ROMANS: More drama, no doubt. All right, Isa Soares, keep us posted on all of those twists and turns and the supposed letter making the rounds.
BERMAN: All right, in just a couple of hours, President Obama will announce that the U.S. will open an embassy in Cuba for the first time in over 50 years. We will have those details next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: A new milestone in improving relations between United States and Cuba. The two countries set to make simultaneous announcements today reopening embassies in Havana and Washington and exchanging ambassadors. This is history, folks. This is the biggest step in establishing full diplomatic relations for the first time in more than five decades. We get more from CNN's Jim Acosta.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDEN: 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 officials 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 both Havana and Washington.
[05:45:03] For now, both governments have only had small intersection offices 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.
State Department Spokesman John Kirby told CNN that Kerry may travel to Havana for the opening of that embassy. Here is what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN KIRBY, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: Clearly that is something that we are entertaining right now, but I don't have anything specific to talk to in terms of his travel right now. What we are focused on is less the travel schedule and more the effort here in 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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.
BERMAN: They haven't ruled it out. I would count on it at this point. You know what I want to know, what is coming up on "NEW DAY?" Michaela Pereira joins us now.
MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR, "NEW DAY": I shall make your dreams come true. Good morning to the pair of you.
We have emerging details about what David Sweat is now telling investigators. Apparently the two of them, he and his partner, Richard Matt, they didn't just break out of prison. They did it twice. They did a practice run the night before they bolted. Apparently that gave them all sorts of confidence. Now this is new. Twelve employees at their prison are paying the price and we will give you all of the latest on that.
Also, there is new polling due out in just minutes and it will give us some insight into the 2016 race. The Republican field is getting much more crowded so who is on top and who is taking a tumble and can any of them measure up against Hillary Clinton? We will break down all of those numbers. See? Making dreams come true for you, John.
BERMAN: Thank you so much. ROMANS: The dreamy Michaela Pereira, thanks. Deadline extended for the nuclear negotiations with Iran, but not without a new warning from President Obama. We are live where the talks are happening right now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:50:33]
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. U.S. and Iranian negotiators say the extra days will help them hammer out a long-term deal.
CNN's Nic Robertson is live at the talks in Vienna with the very latest. Good morning, Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, john. Both sides saying there's still a lot of tough talking to be done and a lot of tough choices to be made. We are learning today from Iranian state news agency that the head of the International Atomic International Agency, the nuclear watch dog.
That's the group that would enforce and verify any agreement that Iran signs up to, the head of that nuclear watch dog is going to Tehran on Thursday, an indication here that there perhaps is an advancement on some of the technical side of the talks.
Of course, we have heard from recent days that Iran, particularly the supreme leader, opposed to any inspection of military sites but, of course, any agreement would have to include access for the nuclear watch dog the sites they are choosing.
The technical details that are involved there are agreements how to manage access to a disputed site, how long would it take if you both sides identify you want to go to place A, potentially a military site, and how long would it get, would you take to get to an agreement to get in there and what would the limitations be.
So potentially here the nuclear watch dog chief's trip to Iran could smooth the way to a better understanding. Also the issue of what is known here as a possible military dimensions, that is, Iran's historic, if they have had any, nuclear plans, preparations, research for weapons systems.
They haven't talked about that in the past. That is a key issue that would have to be addressed for everyone to understand that Iran really was turning a page and getting into a lasting agreement -- John.
BERMAN: Developments at many levels and now in many countries over the next several days. Nic Robertson in Vienna, thanks so much.
ROMANS: All right, 52 minutes past the hour. Greece is collapsing, folks, but stocks moving up a little bit. I'll tell you why and getting an EARLY START on your money next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [05:56:07]
ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. Let's get an EARLY START on your money this Wednesday morning. European stocks much higher on hopes that Greece will find a way to stay in the Eurozone. U.S. stock futures turning higher here as well.
Greece did not make a really important $1.7 billion payment due yesterday and the first developed country to default on an IMF loan. Leaders made a desperate last-minute attempt to buy more time with a new bailout and it was rejected. Now Greece's future in the Eurozone is uncertain.
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 payment due today. The company doesn't have the money and investors are worried this could be the first of many defaults for the island.
But now the "Wall Street Journal" is 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 9 bankruptcy for Puerto Rico. He said the country's finances are in a debt spiral.
Big shakeups to the corporate suite, Nike chairman and cofounder, Phil Knight, planning to step down next year. Knight founded that company in the 1960s selling shoes out of his car. Nike has since become just a little sportswear company, the world's biggest sportswear company. President and CEO Mark Parker will be the next chairman.
DKNY has lost its namesake designer. Donna Karan stepped down as chief designer of Donna Karan International. She started that company in the 1980s and helped revolutionize the wardrobes of working women. John Berman loves her fashions --
BERMAN: I like DKNY as a matter of fact. I am familiar with her work. She sold the company basically and was more or less an employee, a chief designer there. It's unclear whether her break is amicable. Her damage PR guy said this was probably not what she wanted. Barbara Streisand, her big friend, wishes her well and says she will miss her clothing at DKNY. Just telling you what I know. See I know an awful lot about this.
All right, a captured killer is revealing all. New details of the prison break. "NEW DAY" starts right now.
