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Dangerous Synthetic Drug Gaining Popularity; New York Arrest Raising Controversy; Terror Fears. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired July 03, 2015 - 15:00   ET

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


[15:00:02]

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: We truck on, hour two. I'm Brooke Baldwin. This is CNN.

This holiday here, the Fourth of July, as people celebrate America, law enforcement officials are warning terrorists may use this time to attack this country. Days after the FBI issued a terror bulletin to police about the holiday, the State Department now is doing worldwide security review.

All U.S. embassies and consulates will be assessed to see if more security measures need to be taken, but national security officials are stressing they are not aware of any active or specific plots. However, with ISIS calling for attacks this Independence Day, which also lands during the holy month of Ramadan, law enforcement officials believe the terror threat is at the highest it's been in years.

And no doubt cities like Philadelphia, home of the Declaration of Independence and the Liberty Bell, feel compelled to be extra on guard.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EVERETT GILLISON, DEPUTY MAYOR OF PHILADELPHIA: Philadelphia is already part of an enhanced security network because of the fact that we have -- I mean, look behind me. It's the most iconic image of America. And so we know that it is something that people who don't like us would want to do something and maybe even try to make a statement.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: With me now, Steve Rogers, a former member of the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force and retired police detective from Nutley, New Jersey.

Steve, always great to have you on.

STEVE ROGERS, COMMISSIONER OF TOWNSHIP OF NUTLEY, NEW JERSEY: Thank you. Thank you, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Again, to stress, there is no active, there is no specific threat that these counterterrorism officials are aware of. That said, there's obviously reason to be concerned, especially as we have been talking about ISIS because of all of these individuals...

ROGERS: Right.

BALDWIN: ... in the West, Europe, U.S. who clearly have been motivated by their messaging online.

ROGERS: Brooke, this is the highest alert that I have ever -- that I have seen in the past 10 years and I'm very, very concerned about this.

Now, it is Ramadan. You did have Tunisia hit a few weeks ago. You did have France hit a few weeks ago. Now, is the next target the United States? The FBI, the NSA, federal, state, local law enforcement agencies are all on alert to be on the lookout. But, Brooke, the most important element, component of this fight is going to be the people.

If you see something, say something. Nothing is going to be disregarded by law enforcement. That is so important.

BALDWIN: What is it about -- when you point out those attacks, yes, Tunisia, France, and even possibly Kuwait, but what is it about now vs., like you said, 10 years ago? What has really, really changed?

ROGERS: Well, a few things have changed.

Ten years ago, we were fighting al Qaeda.

BALDWIN: Very different, different foe.

ROGERS: They weren't interested in holidays. They were interested in targets of opportunity.

BALDWIN: Massive large-scale coordinated attacks?

ROGERS: Exactly. Exactly.

ISIS is different. If they strike tomorrow, this is symbolic to them. This is a victory for them to disrupt the entire nation on the greatest holiday, the greatest symbol of freedom, the birth of our country. But the other side of the story is this.

ISIS wants to send a message to the American people that, you know what, we're going to scare the living daylights out of you. Our message to ISIS is, you're not scaring us. We're ready. We're prepared. We're Americans.

And I don't say that rhetorically. I say it that Americans always have the ability to bounce back to live the way that we want to live, and that's free.

BALDWIN: Yes. Listen, I have said this before. I'm going to Washington, D.C. I want to take in the fireworks with who knows how many other people. I hear you saying that we should be calm and go out and enjoy ourselves. But at the same time, Steve, I'm hearing you say this is the highest the threat level has been or the most concern you have had in 10 years. So I'm left thinking, well, how am I really supposed to think about this?

ROGERS: Yes, very difficult, but I remember years ago when I went to Israel, every day of the week, every week, every 365 days a year, that population lives on the edge, but they go and they conduct themselves normally and they live normal lives.

We're going to have to adjust ourselves to do that. A little particularly different, as you say, we have a big, big holiday tomorrow. As you have said on this broadcast many times, be vigilant. When you see something, say something. We're Americans and we cannot fold under this pressure. We cannot do that.

BALDWIN: Steve Rogers, thank you so much.

ROGERS: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Happy Fourth.

ROGERS: Happy Fourth.

BALDWIN: The hunt for two fugitives in Upstate New York may be over, but the hunt of a different is just beginning, because police are now trying to track down the owner of this backpack. Want to show you a photo here. This is a backpack found in the possession of captured inmate David Sweat. This is the guy who is talking, saying he was the mastermind. They found this backpack.

This is believed to have been stolen from a camp in Franklin or Clinton County. Meantime, did correction officers miss a clue that could have tipped them off to an escape plan? Because we're also now learning the now deceased Richard Matt wrote a letter to his daughter that contained the words -- quote -- "I always promised you I would see you on the outside. I am a man of my word."

Two simple lines in a letter to his daughter -- that letter, by the way, sent just before he and Sweat tunneled out of the Clinton Correctional Facilities.

Joining me now, Keith Hellwig. He spent 35 years in the Department of Corrections and is the author of "No Place Like Home."

[15:05:07]

Keith, welcome.

KEITH HELLWIG, FORMER CORRECTIONS OFFICER: Thank you, Brooke.

BALDWIN: You yourself, in talking about letters being sent from inmates to the outside world, you spent time screening prison mail. Do prison workers screen letters before mailing out, I will see you on the outside? Would that kind of note have been flagged at Clinton?

HELLWIG: No, that probably would not have been flagged.

Unless we had prior information that a plot or something was occurring, we don't monitor inmate mail to private individuals. We do, however, monitor inmate mail to other inmates. We have a specific procedure we need to go through if we want to monitor inmate mail and we are able to do that.

We can monitor incoming mail and we can monitor outgoing mail. The thing that people have to realize is most prisons are small cities. They have anywheres upwards to 3,000 people in them.

And the volume of mail coming in, you would have to double the staff just to read every letter going out.

BALDWIN: Wow.

HELLWIG: So we do flag specific individuals.

BALDWIN: Got it. Keith, you have actually experience with an escapee, in inmate who was actually never caught. Tell me about the postcard from Brazil.

HELLWIG: OK.

This occurred quite early in my career. Probably 30-some years ago, I was working in a medium facility institution and we had an inmate who had a background in biology and chemistry. He had been in prison for some time and he was assigned medium out status, which means that he could work outside of the fence under direct escort of a staff member.

Well, because of his background in biology, chemistry or whatever, he was assigned to work in the sewage plant. He went out one day and he locked the civilian worker in the sewage treatment plant and took his vehicle, his state vehicle and they found the vehicle about 20 miles away in the parking lot of a technical college.

BALDWIN: Whoops.

HELLWIG: And nobody had heard anything from him until maybe about a year later. One of the sergeants at a facility received a postcard and all it said was, "I made it," and it was signed "Ted" and postmarked Brazil.

BALDWIN: Get out of here.

HELLWIG: And to this date, this individual has not been caught.

No, that was pretty amazing. It was actually kind of humorous.

BALDWIN: Kind of. It sort of sounds like the way a movie would end, right?

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: So you have the postcard from Brazil, yes, and then you have, as we were discussing, screening potentially mail coming in for inmates or inmate to inmate. But what about prison staff? Do you screen your own colleagues?

HELLWIG: There have been instances where prison staff, I have seen them get wrapped up with inmates. A lot of time, it has to do with their isolation as staff members.

I can recall a specific instance -- I'm sorry -- with a female staff member who worked in our food service. And a lot of times in our food service, like I said, prisons are small cities, so we have got to depend on inmates to do a lot of the work. She was working with a specific inmate day in and day out with this inmate talking to the inmate. We had received information that she was perhaps developing an improper relationship, not that anything had occurred yet.

So, we did begin an investigation of this. And the ironic thing about it is the woman's husband was a retired captain from the Department of Corrections. So we really didn't find anything during the course of our investigation. There were no phone calls, there were no letters, anything of that nature. We did interview people.

We were not able to prove any conclusive relationship between this woman and the inmate. However, about a month after the woman retired, she divorced her husband and when the inmate was released, she began a relationship with the inmate.

BALDWIN: No.

HELLWIG: Something like that -- yes, well, something like that is extremely difficult to catch. For one thing, her husband, being a retired captain, I'm sure she knew just what she had to avoid.

She had to avoid making phone calls, she had to avoid writing letters. So all their interaction was personal. We don't monitor everything. We don't videotape everything.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: No. I know it's -- I'm sure it's impossible to. As you say, it's a small city with so many people, but clearly these relationships that develop, this is not unique to Clinton.

Keith Hellwig, thank you so much.

HELLWIG: Thank you very much.

BALDWIN: Next, stunning video of this police officer taking on this man who was resisting arrest, boxing them. See what happened and why the commissioner is defending him.

Plus, new details about this alleged plot to kill President Obama. Hear why police say this man thought it was his constitutional duty.

[15:10:02]

And even though one network is going to broadcast Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant in a couple of weeks, that doesn't mean the network loves Donald Trump. Hear from the CEO ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: A man in Wisconsin standing by his threat to kill the president, according to court papers. Police say this man made threats when the president was visiting the state earlier this week.

Investigators say he told a security guard if he got the chance, he will take him out and take the shot. We're also told the suspect posted on Facebook -- quote -- "Killing him is our constitutional duty." He's in custody.

And a Harlem street fight getting some serious scrutiny, especially when you see who pulled the first punch. Video shows it looks like it's the New York police officer. Officials tell our New York affiliate WPIX the officer was trying to arrest the man. You see the video. Here we go.

[15:15:09]

He is trying to arrest the guy in the red shirt because he was carrying a knife, but the man, Saykour George, would not follow the officer's commands, as you will see in the video. Let me just play you a portion of this encounter, which is now under review here within the New York Police Department. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You got my I.D.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, exactly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on, man. That's some (EXPLETIVE DELETED) man.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why you got to do that to me?

(SHOUTING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no.

(SHOUTING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yo, yo, this some bull (EXPLETIVE DELETED), this some bull (EXPLETIVE DELETED), this some bull (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

(SHOUTING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This some bull (EXPLETIVE DELETED), man, this some bull (EXPLETIVE DELETED), this some bull (EXPLETIVE DELETED), this some bull (EXPLETIVE DELETED), this some bull (EXPLETIVE DELETED), man, this some bull (EXPLETIVE DELETED), this some bull (EXPLETIVE DELETED), this some bull (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have got everything on camera. I have got everything on camera, because I was walking with him. I have got everything on camera. I have got everything on camera. I have got everything on camera. I have got everything on camera. I have got everything -- I have got everything on camera, everything. I have got everything on camera. I have got everything on camera.

Look, look, he's messing him. He's messing him. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: All right. So that is the majority of the video here.

With me now, David Katz, CEO of Global Security Group, formerly with the DEA and a federal certified firearms and tactical instructor.

So, let's discuss what we just saw. I do know that Bill Bratton, NYPD police commissioner, said that he did not see anything inappropriate from the officer in the video. Clearly, it appears the officer pulled the first punch. Do you agree with Bratton?

DAVID KATZ, FOUNDER AND CEO, GLOBAL SECURITY GROUP: Completely.

BALDWIN: Why?

KATZ: You do not have the right to resist arrest. A police officer tells you are under arrest, you have one option. Comply. In this case, the officer gave several attempts and what was the response? I don't know the gentleman's name.

BALDWIN: Saykour George.

KATZ: He pushes him, three, four times.

Now, could you have done it better? Yes, I think the police department probably should spend a lot more time teaching...

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: How would you have done it better?

KATZ: Personally, I like to hang on to a guy, grab him, maintain contact. If you can't control him, then you hit him, because you are...

BALDWIN: That's what you are trained, smack him, hit him?

KATZ: Well, no, the idea is you first -- it's an escalation, if you can.

First, it's a verbal encounter, sir, you're under arrest. Put your hands behind your back. That's not getting anywhere. Escalate your language, say it sharply, raise your voice, change your inflection. Body language a little bit.

But at some point, the guy is going to go. And if the guy is pushing you and resisting arrest, you have only one choice, to physically overcome that. And that's what the law requires. The law requires that the person subject to the arrest comply and the officer use whatever force is necessary, and, by the way, only that level of force to effect the arrest.

BALDWIN: What about the law as far as when you're approached by police and they are not explaining to you why they want you to be arrested, why they are approaching you in the first place? I want to play some sound. This is from this man's friend. You hear him say, I have got the whole thing on camera, I have got the whole thing on camera. He's the one rolling on the whole thing. This is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUNE ICE, FRIEND OF SUSPECT: When you watch the video in the first place, you ask the man for his I.D. First of all, when you stop -- as a cop, when you stop a man, you have to tell us why you're stopping us. You do not tell us why you stop us, but you ask for I.D.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So, as an officer, are you required by law to explain to someone why you want to arrest them, why you're approaching them? In this case, apparently, it's because there was a knife.

KATZ: It's an excellent question. Constitutionally, you are not.

In New York -- some states like New York require you or require you to, but only if the circumstances permit it. So, for example, if I can, you're under arrest for whatever charge. You explain the nature of the charge, your authority. By the way, it's the same for a civilian arrest.

But, in this case, if you're trying to and the person resists, you don't have to throw your punch and, by the way, it's robbery, whatever it is. I think it's possession of a weapon in this case.

And, by the way, if it is, in fact, as I understand it, an arrest for a possession of a weapon, the police officer is even more justified. Where you have one weapon, often, you have another weapon. So, I personally would have handled it with a different tactic.

[15:20:07]

BALDWIN: Would you have said, listen, we saw the knife, please stop resisting?

KATZ: I don't think it's bad practice.

At DEA, we were under federal guidelines. So, you're not required to. I think it's not bad practice. Sir, I saw the knife, whatever. You're under arrest.

BALDWIN: OK.

KATZ: I don't think it hurts you to say that.

BALDWIN: OK. David Katz, thank you very much.

KATZ: You're welcome.

BALDWIN: Next, is the dangerous new synthetic drug of choice for so many -- CNN investigates why flakka is taking a strong hold in parts of the U.S., despite the drug's alarming side effects. (BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

911 OPERATOR: OK. Does he have any clothes on at all?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At all.

911 OPERATOR: No?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, no, nothing, nothing.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: There is a new threat in the war against drugs. It's this synthetic narcotic. It's called flakka.

[15:25:05]

Authorities tell CNN it's become this new drug of choice, apparently because it's cheap, gives you a good high. But flakka incites psychotic episodes that police say have driven some users to commit attempted murder.

CNN's Alina Machado has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The video is startling, a man running naked through the streets of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in broad daylight.

911 OPERATOR: OK. Does he have any clothes on at all?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At all.

911 OPERATOR: No?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, no, nothing, nothing.

And he looks -- he's sweating and he's talking. He's approaching to the people and talking nonsense.

MACHADO: Thirty-five year-old Matthew Kenney later tells police he thought -- quote -- "People were chasing him and trying to kill him." He also admits to smoking flakka, a new synthetic drug. It can be smoked, eaten or snorted and it's commonly referred to as $5 insanity for the intense and cheap high it gives users.

SCOTT ISRAEL, BROWARD COUNTY, FLORIDA, SHERIFF: They say it's as bad a drug as they have ever seen.

MACHADO: Broward County Sheriff says his deputies are seeing more flakka cases than ever before. The county first saw the drug last year. So far, in the first three months of this year, they have already seen 275 cases. ISRAEL: People want their loved ones arrested because they don't want

to see them die, so they want them arrested. They want them to get help. By the time we get there, we see a person that's disoriented. We see a person that has superhuman strength, a person -- certainly, paranoia is one of the biggest problems. They all feel they are being chased or they're -- or people are following them. And it's a dangerous situation for our deputies to enter into.

MACHADO: In March, paramedics in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, had to use a saw to remove this 37-year-old man who became impaled after trying to jump a security fence at the police department. Police believe he, too, was on flakka. That same month, in a community just north of West Palm Beach, Florida, 82-year-old Louise Clinton is savagely beaten inside her home.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He came in from the front door and I guess it just went on from there. His blood splattered right there. It was a table right here.

MACHADO: Police say the man behind the beating, 27-year-old Derren Morrison, also high on flakka, also paranoid, thinking someone was going to kill him. He's facing several felonies, including attempted second-degree murder.

ISRAEL: I don't think the American public really knows the dangers of it. This is not where you get your normal high or take a depressant or a stimulant. This is about hallucinating. This is about them being paranoid. This is doing things that, you know, you would never believe you would do.

There's no reason to think that it won't come to us and that we're not going to have overdoses and people aren't going to die or our deputies are not going to get involved in a very horrific confrontation with somebody under the influence of it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACHADO: Authorities say flakka is being manufactured in China. It's made of a stimulant that is similar to what is found in the street drug bath salts.

The Drug Enforcement Administration says flakka is a schedule one narcotic, so it's illegal and it's powerful. Now, flakka cases have popped up in other states, including Texas and Illinois, and some in law enforcement fear it won't stop there.

Alina Machado, CNN, Miami.

BALDWIN: Alina, thank you.

Next here on CNN, while the Republican Party weighs the political impact of Donald Trump's words about Mexicans, one cable network is defending its decision to broadcast Trump's Miss USA Pageant that was just dropped by NBC. We will discuss next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)