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FBI Informant Records Fogle's Conversations; The Dow Dips Sharply at Open; Ranger Graduation for Two Female Soldiers; "Woman in Black Shirt" Sought by Thai Police. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired August 21, 2015 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:29:56] CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: So let's zoom in here and show you this Twisp fire. This was the one that took the lives of those firefighters here. The winds coming down the valley here all the way across from Twisp and then blowing into the city. These firefighters were trying to keep it out of the city because as the wind was blowing from the west, it was blowing those embers back toward the town of Twisp.

And this is what we have going this weekend as well. Just like last weekend, these fires will get out of control even though they have been fighting them for quite some time. A front is going to come through and make it windy again.

Now, the wind will eventually get into Idaho and Montana and Wyoming, but there are fires there, too. So here is the wind today. 5:00, 6:00 tonight blowing at almost 30 miles per hour with gusts. That will quickly pick up an ember and send it miles ahead and start more fires here.

Finally though by Saturday and Sunday, the wind does get farther to the east giving the Washington firefighters something to hope for but those people to the east, those firefighters in Montana, Wyoming, and also into parts of Colorado have their work cut out for them this weekend. It's going to be a windy weekend.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Just unbelievable.

Chad Myers, many thanks.

MYERS: You're welcome.

COSTELLO: I appreciate it.

And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. More Fogle fallout. A new disturbing detail. Subway's former front man has agreed to pay his victims $1.4 million in restitution. This part of a formal plea deal on charges of child pornography and sex with minors.

Last night Anderson Cooper spoke with one of the FBI informants who secretly recorded conversations with Fogle. Let's listen to some of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ROCHELLE HERMAN-WALROND, JOURNALIST: The remarks that he made to

me were really just off the cuff, and he told me that he was -- he thought that middle school girls were so hot.

ANDERSON COOPER, HOST: And this just came out of nowhere?

HERMAN-WALROND: Out of nowhere. We were actually at a school here in my area, and he was with the American Heart Association. And we were preparing -- I was doing TV and radio at the time, and I was on the stage in the auditorium. We were waiting for the group of kids to come in.

And he thought that we were just by ourselves having a one-on-one conversation when, in fact, my cameraman, who was just off in the gymnasium said -- he was recording us, and he heard Jared say that to me. We were having just a nice conversation. And he just came out of the blue when we were talking about the kids, and he thought -- he said he thought that the middle school girls were hot.

COOPER: Did you say anything to him or -- I don't even know what one would say.

HERMAN-WALROND: Well, I was in shock, and I actually was questioning did I really just hear what I think I heard? And I looked over at my cameraman, and he just dropped his jaw. He was just astounded.

COOPER: And in the conversations with him over the years, which you say the FBI had you record, did he say more? Did he talk about sexual relations with underage children?

HERMAN-WALROND: Yes. Yes, he did. Yes, he did. He was -- it was just something that he really, really enjoyed. And he trusted me for unknown reasons. And he had said numerous times to me over the course of the years about having sex with minors.

So I had two young children at the time, and he talked to me about having -- installing cameras, hidden cameras in their rooms and asked me if I would choose which child I would like him to watch. During the times that I had with the FBI, I had to play a role. I had to play a certain part in order for Jared to be able to trust me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Makes you sick, right? Under Fogle's plea deal, the government will recommend less than 13 years in prison. Fogle's lawyers agree to ask for no less than five.

CNN law enforcement analyst and former FBI assistant director Tom Fuentes is with me now.

Wow. So, Tom, these recorded conversations went on for a period of years. Why so long?

TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, I think, Carol, part of the problem was that the lady that records the conversations is a reporter in Florida, and Fogle lived in Indianapolis, so they ran into each other at events, but they weren't around each other all the time, so it wasn't a situation where she would be near him very often and could do a continuing set of recordings for that.

Also, you know, when you refer to the term informant, FBI informant, often that has a negative connotation of somebody involved in criminal activity and the FBI gets them to cooperate. This is a private citizen who was also a reporter who was shocked at what she heard, and she notified the FBI and said, you know, basically I can't believe what I just heard.

And for the FBI sex with minors, especially crossing state lines to have sex with minors, is a federal violation and producing, possessing, distributing child pornography is considered a violent crime against a child and is also a federal violation.

[10:35:03] So that's why the FBI would want her to assist them in trying to get the evidence that he was really telling the truth, that he was interested in sex with young children.

COSTELLO: Yes, because it's not enough if he just says it. They have to prove he's actually doing it, right?

FUENTES: Oh, absolutely. They need the proof. They need his intent to do it, and, you know, and finally, you know, two of the charges in the indictment of him were that he traveled from Indiana to New York on a couple of occasions and had sex with a 17-year-old girl at the time and later a 16-year-old girl -- a girl that was 16 at the time.

So they have him traveling across state lines. They have him expressing the intent to do it with this reporter who is recording the conversations, and then, of course, his best friend and the person running his children's foundation, you know, the FBI searched his computers a couple of months ago. Found more than 400 videos of sexually explicit material involving minors.

And learned that Taylor, this individual, was involved with Fogle in sharing the information, sharing the videos, sharing the photographs. So this is something that's been going on, but it's not easily proved. And, you know, the assistance of this reporter was instrumental in gathering the evidence.

COSTELLO: So it seems like authorities had such a preponderance of evidence. Why agree to a plea deal with Fogle unless he's giving them more information?

FUENTES: Well, you know, we don't know the details of what's causing that, and you know, the agreement -- and it still has to be approved by the judge even when it's presented. So you could have a situation where a judge is so outraged by the conduct that he says this is not sufficient and that the U.S. attorney's office in agreeing to a maximum of 13 years in prison was too lenient and the judge doesn't want that deal. He wants them to go back and renegotiate a higher prison sentence. We don't know that but that's a possibility.

COSTELLO: All right. Tom Fuentes, thanks for your insight. I appreciate it.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, it's graduation day for two female rangers. We'll tell you why one of their male counterparts said he would not be there without them.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:41:34] COSTELLO: All right. It's a rough ride on Wall Street today. The Dow falling sharply at the open, and you can see there it's still down more than 200 points. Cristina Alesci live at the New York Stock Exchange to tell us more. Hi, what's happening?

CRISTINA ALESCI, CNN MONEY: Well, the slide continues as you just said, Carol. And that's really because there's a confluence of factors that has investors very nervous. I mean yesterday's slide was bad enough. It was the biggest percentage drop in about a year and a half.

Adding to that overnight, you had Chinese manufacturing with really some ugly numbers there. That caused investors to get nervous again, and this all ties back in a way to what's going on in the emerging markets led by China. You know, you have a lot of concerns about growth in those countries.

And as we said before, that's putting pressure on oil. Oil is going down. That means that the dollar is getting stronger. The dollar gets stronger, it's harder for U.S. companies to sell their goods overseas.

So now we have investors re-evaluating, you know, their thoughts on profitability for American companies, and now we've seen specific companies get hit and more skepticism around stocks like media and tech. So you're going to have a lot more skepticism.

Plus you have the unknown of what the Fed is going to do. Now, a lot of investors are looking for a rate hike in the fall but here is the thing. If we have the market kind of going awry, does that mean that the Fed has to re-evaluate its time line? You have to think that some of those committee members at the Fed will take a look at today's moves and say, is this the right time to raise rates -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Cristina Alesci reporting live from the New York Stock Exchange. Thanks so much.

In just about 20 minutes history will be made in the American military -- there they are. Two female soldiers set to receive their Ranger tabs. Graduating from the prestigious and grueling army ranger school at Fort Benning, Georgia.

Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr is following this story. It's going to be a proud day for them, but I cannot imagine the pressure they're feeling.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think probably both of them feel they've, you know, leaped the big hurdle by getting through ranger school at this point. I'm not sure anything could be tougher about what lies ahead for these two women. The army at Fort Benning at this hour very much getting ready for this graduation ceremony for both of these women.

This, of course, comes against the backdrop of the Pentagon about to make some decisions by the end of the year about what jobs in combat can actually be opened up to women. As you see some of the pictures of the demonstrations of what rangers do in their training.

They have passed ranger school, but still to be decided can they join the 75th Ranger Regiment in the field and go into front line combat positions? A lot of curiosity I think about, you know, how the men in the ranger class felt about working with these women. And I want you to listen to what one of these young male rangers had to say about his female counterpart.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[10:44:55] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was one night we were doing a long walk. I was the 320 gunner so I had a lot of weight on me and I was struggling and I stopped and I asked at halfway point, can anyone help take some of this weight?

I got a lot of deer in the headlight looks and a lot of people were like I can't take any more weight. Shaye was the only one to volunteer to take that weight. She took the weight off me. She carried it the last half of that -- literally saved me. I probably wouldn't be sitting here if it wasn't for Shaye.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: And that is what is so critical and has nothing to do with gender. In combat these are units of teamwork. That is what any military leader will tell you. Women, men -- they form a team. They go into combat together, they fight together, they do everything to come home together.

This experience of having women in the ranger school certainly eye-opening and very interesting because most of these young men might have had a bit of skepticism going in. All of them are saying when they came out of ranger school with the women, they felt very much everyone was part of that team -- Carol.

COSTELLO: That's awesome. I guess what I meant by pressure, you know, they're the first. At least I would feel I would have to perform perfectly from here on out because I would be the first. I just can't imagine how that feels. But it is great to know they have support from their male colleagues.

STARR: Well, it is. You know, this is something I think actually I don't know how to express it -- to be thankful that it does work out that there was no unpleasantness in any of this, at least none that we know of. There were several other women in the class. They were not able to complete.

But at a lot of times, some men don't complete. You pointed out just now, this is so tough. I think we have something we can show our viewers. How tough is ranger school? The physical training that these people have to go through, these young people -- the road marches, the push-ups, the sit-ups, the mock -- 62 days anyone will tell you of just absolute sheer misery -- hungry, cold, tired, very little food, very little sleep, and training after training after training.

So at the end of the day, again, there's a good deal of pressure to be able to come out of ranger school. One of the things we should say is commanders have been very adamant for these women, for all women, the standards not lowered. They met the same standards as all of the men -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Awesome. Barbara Starr reporting live from the Pentagon. Thank you.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, police in Thailand up the reward in connection with that deadly bombing at a religious shrine.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:52:06] COSTELLO: In Bangkok, Thailand the investigation into that deadly bombing at a Hindu shrine is currently centered on, quote, "a woman in a black shirt". Police did not provide any more details or say why they were looking for her, but they did dramatically increase the reward in the case.

CNN's Andrew Stevens is in Bangkok with the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDREW STEVENS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Police in Bangkok now say they think at least ten people were involved, and what they say was a well-organized team that executed the attack on Erawan Shrine on Monday evening. They say they've obtained evidence to suggest that several people were involved in plotting the attack and also acquiring the materials as well as building the bomb, all done under the radar, of course. They haven't shared what that evidence is at the moment.

At this stage they're also pulling back on making any link with international terrorism. They say they have been talking to Interpol and sharing information with security agencies in the U.S., the U.K. and Australia, and the consensus opinion is that it is not an international conspiracy which brings the focus at least somewhat back onto domestic issues. And they say they're not ruling anything out at this stage.

They've, meanwhile, increased the reward for any information leading to the arrest of the man in the yellow shirt, the man they say they're now very sure is the bomber. Apart from the early breakthrough when they identified the man they think is the bomber, there's been very little else solid and concrete.

They've actually ruled out two other suspects they thought were initially accomplices, and they're now saying that the network that was used may be more than ten people. Very frustrating for the police, but also very frustrating and also very worrying for the people of Bangkok.

COSTELLO: Andrew Stevens, thanks. I'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:58:12] COSTELLO: An all-glass swimming area suspended ten stories in the air. Would you take a dip? Jeanne Moos did.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's a cross between the glass skywalk over the Grand Canyon and a swimming pool. It is the sky pool. Ten stories up, a see-through pool suspended between two luxury apartment blocks in London.

I don't know. It seems possible you'd get vertigo while swimming.

Developer John Mulryan (ph) says that when his father first broached the idea --

JOHN MULRYAN, DEVELOPER: We weren't really sure whether it was even possible.

MOOS: But after a year and a half of consulting with engineering and even aquarium experts, Mulryan says the sky pool was a sure thing. 90 feet long made out of crystal clear acrylic that's eight inches thick.

Gives a whole new meaning to the word sky diving though you have to be careful about diving into this pool. It's only going to be about four feet deep.

It may not be among the highest pools like the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore or among the deepest pools like the Nemo 33 in Belgium or the largest pools, the San Alfonso Del Mar in Chile, but the sky pool will make you want to keep your eyes wide open under water.

What are you thinking it would feel like to swim in this pool?

MULRYAN: Yes, we don't 100 percent know because it's never been done before, but the idea was we thought it would be like you're kind of swimming through air.

MOOS: Rarified air. The sky pool is for residents in the apartments being built at Embassy Gardens start at $940,000. Construction won't be complete for another three years. No worries about falling off the pool. The acrylic extends well beyond the water's surface.

Skinny dipping in this pool would be very exposing.

MULRYAN: You know, you're ten floors up, so you have a little bit of protection.

MOOS: We'd look like tadpoles up there in this human aquarium in the sky.

Jeanne Moos --

Where does the lifeguard sit?

CNN --

MULRYAN: He'll sit on the edge.

MOOS: New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Freaky.

Thanks for joining me today. I'm Carol Costello.

"AT THIS HOUR" with Berman and Bolduan starts now.