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Mexican Drug Lord Joaquin Guzman Moved to Temporary Prison; Paul Ryan Withholds Endorsement of Donald Trump; Donald Trump to Speak at Rally in Spokane, Washington; Wildfire Spreads Rapidly in Canada. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired May 07, 2016 - 14:00   ET

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

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[14:00:15] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again, everyone, and thanks so much for joining me. I'm Fredericka Whitfield. We're following breaking news about El Chapo. CNN has learned the drug kingpin is now at a prison in Juarez, Mexico, right across the border from El Paso, Texas. The statement from the Mexican government says he was moved this morning because of renovations to improve security at the prison where he was residing. U.S. officials tell CNN the transfer could accelerate the extradition process. He is expected to stand trial in Brooklyn. Let's bring in CNN correspondent Nick Valencia for us with more on this move, Nick.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, a senior Mexican government official tells us that El Chapo, the world's most notorious drug trafficker, was transferred very, very early this morning, according to about 2:00 a.m. local time from the Altiplano penitentiary where he had been held since his capture to a different penitentiary in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, just along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Initially we were told this had to do with the next step in the extradition process. We had been told for the last few months by government officials in Mexico to expect El Chapo in the United States sometime this summer. A lot of that had to do with legal petition being put forth by El Chapo's attorney, clearing up paperwork, essentially.

Until this point, El Chapo had been shuffled in the Altiplano penitentiary, shuffled between a number of cells, watched 24/7, heavily guarded throughout the entire day, throughout those 24/7 monitoring. This morning we hear he had been transferred to a different prison, and now what is interesting in all of this, is that the Altiplano penitentiary is the most secure prison in all of Mexico, transferred to another prison that is not as maximally secure.

We are hearing from the Office of Governance in Mexico that there is renovation, security measures being taken, renovations happening at the Altiplano penitentiary. But what those measures are, what they're doing, we just don't know. And how that relates to El Chapo, they had an incredibly embarrassing moment last summer in July when he escaped from that heavily guarded prison. We can only assume that they were trying to keep that from happening again. This could be potentially part of the extradition process. It also could have to do with renovation. A lot of this is pretty murky and unclear right now.

WHITFIELD: And Nick, of course, the paramount concern is security, especially going from a more fortified prison to one that isn't as much. What do we know about how they are trying to best secure him?

VALENCIA: We don't know about the process of the security measures being taken. We can only assume it's the strictest kind. What I find interesting to give context to our viewers is El Chapo has an incredible reach, not just in Mexico but throughout the world. And the region that he has been transferred to, Ciudad Juarez, he had an incredible influence there with the violent nature, the violence that we saw. At one point in 2010 Ciudad Juarez was the world's deadliest city. I did reporting from there a number of years ago, reporting on that war, the turf war between the Juarez cartel and the Sinaloa cartel. Now you send the world's most notorious trafficker back to an area where he has known operatives to be in that region. He has control of that trafficking route through Juarez into the United States.

I'm sure the Mexican government officials are well aware of that. They're well aware of his connection in that region, connection in that city, and they're going to be taking added precautions to make sure that he does not use the influence he has to escape a third time, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Nick, let's bring in justice reporter Evan Perez into the conversation as well. So, Evan, your understanding is if he is to be extradited he would be sent to Brooklyn. Is this something that could happen as quickly as this weekend, especially because of the maybe less than secure facility that he's in in comparison to where he was?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Fredericka, at this point, that wasn't the plan to send him to the United States this weekend. Certainly that wasn't the plan as of yesterday. But what Nick was referring to is certainly something that's on the mind of U.S. officials. The Altiplano prison, which is the prison where El Chapo is being held and the prison from which he escaped last year is the most secure prison in Mexico. The Juarez prison is not quite there. And so the concern is whether or not this is a facility that they can ensure he's supposed to be kept behind bars or whether or not there is a need to try to accelerate the proceedings to be able to get him to the United States.

[14:05:03] The U.S. has been making plans for him to be transferred to Brooklyn to stand trial. Those plans are ready. They can at a moment's notice send a plane over and get him into the Brooklyn facility. There's a secure federal detention center in Brooklyn very near to the federal courthouse where they plan to put him on trial.

WHITFIELD: Quickly, Evan, while you're talking, I don't mean to interrupt, but I do need to interrupt. So we're looking at some of the first image showing the transfer, the arrival of El Chapo to this new facility. So continue your point. PEREZ: This is a big concern is about how secure is this facility in

Juarez, how long can he be kept there securely. Until the U.S. -- at a moment's notice say they can get him to Brooklyn and make sure that he stays secure and be prepared for trial. All these preparations have been put in place, and if the Mexican government can approve the transfer, they can do so very quickly.

WHITFIELD: And you know, to Nick's point that he just made, that they would be moving El Chapo to an area where, you know, his drug cartel would have quite a bit of competition in that region, and that that alone could be potentially disruptive to the security of an El Chapo, what do you know about that potential scenario and how it could influence what happens there while El Chapo is being held before extradition?

PEREZ: The Juarez region is definitely seen as an area that's part of his turf. And that's part of the security concern here. The security concern is that he has a lot of influence there. And we've seen instances, unfortunately, of corruption in the parts of the Mexican government. So that's one of the concerns here now that he's there, how long can they keep him there securely, how long before the proceedings in Mexico can go forward and then be handed over to the United States.

The Mexican attorney general, the Mexican attorney general who took office last year, made it clear she has a very good relationship with Loretta Lynch, the attorney general of the United States, and made clear she was very eager to have him transferred as soon as possible. So we'll see whether this move this weekend accelerates that from happening.

WHITFIELD: And Evan, what would you know about the -- how the U.S. would go about securing El Chapo?

PEREZ: Well, we know that they have aircraft that would be ready. They have all the security precautions. They planned this out very, very well. He would probably be flown to an airport near New York City, and then from there with the help of the New York police department and federal agents, they would get him into the secure detention facility.

Just a few months ago, the last couple months, they had what's known in the Justice Department as something of a beauty pageant where you have seven different U.S. attorneys who have ongoing charges filed against El Chapo. They held a conference call to compete for the right to bring him to trial. The decision was made that Brooklyn would be the venue where he would stand trial. That was a surprise to some people because one of the long-running cases, what we've seen as one of the best cases was one in Chicago. And his cartel had a very strong presence there, and so the idea was perhaps Chicago would be the place. It ended up being, the decision being that Brooklyn was the best venue, the place where they would put him on trial. And if he is found guilty under the U.S.-Mexican agreement, he would not have the death penalty but would probably spend the rest of his life in a U.S. high-security prison somewhere in the United States.

WHITFIELD: Evan Perez, Nick Valencia, thank you so much, appreciate that.

Just to refresh your memory, it was a very elaborate escape followed by a massive manhunt lasting nearly six months for El Chapo, and on the day of El Chapo's capture back in January our Brian Todd filed this report on the takedown.

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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A dramatic capture, the world's most wanted, most dangerous drug lord, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, back in Mexican custody. Mexico's president announcing mission accomplished after a nearly six-month manhunt for the Sinaloa cartel chief.

DUNCAN WOOD, WOODROW WILSON CENTER: This is absolutely massive. It's of enormous importance for the Mexican, in particular for the Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.

MICHAEL BRAUN, FORMER DEA CHIEF OF OPERATIONS: I think when most Americans think of organized crime they naturally think of guys like John Gotti, Al Capone. They pale in comparison to Chapo Guzman.

TODD: A Mexican official tells CNN at 4:30 Friday morning, Mexican special forces closed in on one of El Chapo's houses in his home state of Sinaloa.

[14:10:02] There was a shootout. Five people were killed, all on El Chapo's side. Six were arrested. A Mexican marine was wounded. The official says El Chapo was actually captured at a nearby motel. At least one analyst surprised he was taken alive.

WOOD: El Chapo is a man who knows what the consequences of this are. He knows that there's a very high likelihood he's going to be sent to the United States to go to jail there. He knows that there is probably no way out after this. So it was a very real risk that he wouldn't even accept being captured alive.

TODD: Mexican officials say the drug lord had a lot of firepower near him. Captured in the raid, a rocket launcher, eight rifles, two armored vehicles.

BRAUN: He's known to have traveled throughout Sinaloa, oftentimes with a security force of as many as 150.

TODD: El Chapo's escapes from Mexican prisons are legendary. He broke out of a high security prison in July through this elaborate tunnel. Prison officials were fired. Dozens of people were charged over that. Previously, El Chapo eluded police through a trapdoor hidden under his bathtub. This six-month search for him, a Mexican official tells us, extended into the United States. It involved tracking the movements of El Chapo's beauty queen wife, Emma Coronel, believed to be seen in these photos posted online. Now the Mexican government will be under enormous pressure to extradite the king pin.

BRAUN: The only way the government of Mexico is going to ensure absolutely that they don't go through another embarrassing situation, another embarrassing escape, is to extradite him to the United States. TODD: And if that happens, El Chapo could be a good source for law

enforcement. Former DEA operations chief Michael Braun tells us when El Chapo was captured by Mexican authorities in the early 2000s, he sang like a canary, giving up a lot of information about rival cartels.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Coming up, a huge wildfire forces thousands to evacuate. Dan Simon is joining us from Canada.

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka. And 88,000 people remain evacuated. This fire continues to burn out of control. Still lots of smoke and flames. We'll have a live update coming up.

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[14:15:52] WHITFIELD: More firefighters and equipment are headed to Fort McMurray, Alberta. The devastating wildfire there threatens to grow twice as large today because of windy and dry conditions. The fire is already as big as Hong Kong and has forced tens of thousands of people to flee for safety. Evidence of the fire has drifted thousands of miles, smoke can be seen as far south as Florida. CNN's Dan Simon is near the fire. So, Dan, we heard it was supposed to grow today. What are you hearing there?

SIMON: Well, hi, Fred. This continues to be really an unprecedented situation. You still have nearly 90,000 people who are evacuated. They've never seen anything like this in Canada. The weather conditions are not ideal for battling a fire. It remains windy, low humidity. And it's going to remain like this throughout the weekend, although there is a chance that there could be some rain tomorrow which would be welcome news.

You can see some of the smoke behind me. We continue to see flare-ups here along Highway 63 near Ft. McMurray. We've seen a number of cars coming south. These are people who were at a camp. They had been evacuated there. They thought this might be a safe place. But then authorities came in and said you have to leave. So in essence you have double evacuees. And where they're going, some are staying with friends and family. Others are going to shelters. You have thousands of people staying at various shelters throughout Alberta, Canada. And so this remains a very fragile situation, Fred.

WHITFIELD: And then is it the case that some are forecasting this could burn weeks more? It's already burned for a week.

SIMON: That's right, because you have bone dry conditions and a lot of fuel. You're talking about a forest fire. Fortunately we should point out the fire is burning away from communities. So that's good news. But because the wind can change directions at any minute, they are concerned that more structures, more businesses and homes could go up in flames. But in terms of where things go, I mean, we just don't know. It could burn for weeks, weeks on out. WHITFIELD: My goodness. All right, Dan Simon, thank you so much.

And we'll be right back.

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WHITFIELD: All right, in the next hour, Donald Trump is expected to speak in Spokane, Washington. CNN's senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta is traveling with the Trump campaign. It's getting more boisterous there. What's about to happen?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. That's right, Fredericka, we do expect Donald Trump to be out shortly here in Spokane, Washington. He's all but clinched the Republican nomination, but he's still on the campaign trail mainly because they like the excitement that is generated by these big events, these big rallies like the one they're about to have here in Spokane.

But I can tell you, after traveling with Donald Trump over the last few days, especially last night in Eugene, Oregon, he really has the gloves off. You would think as somebody who has basically wrapped up the Republican nomination he would ease a little bit. But he's going full throttle not only against Hillary Clinton and Elizabeth Warren, which we heard last night, but some of these top Republicans who are not supporting his campaign. He went right after Lindsey Graham. He went right after Jeb Bush at a couple of rallies yesterday, both in Nebraska and in Oregon, slamming them for not supporting him. Reminding voters out there that Lindsey Graham and Jeb Bush and the other Republican rivals signed that GOP loyalty pledge. He's accusing those Republicans of not honoring that pledge.

But consider how he's treating Paul Ryan just a little bit differently. You'll remember a couple of days ago he told our Jake Tapper he's not ready to support the presumptive GOP nominee. Donald Trump has been a bit more measured in talking about that development in the course of this campaign. Here's how Donald Trump talked about the news that Paul Ryan isn't ready to support him. This was Donald Trump yesterday Omaha, Nebraska. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Paul Ryan, I don't know what happened.

(BOOS)

TRUMP: I don't know. He called me two, three weeks ago. It was a very nice conversation. He was congratulating me. This was before we had the ultimate victory. But he was congratulating me in doing so well. I figured routinely he'd be behind it. And the other day just did a big surprise.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Now, Fredericka, you could hear as soon as Donald Trump brought up the name Paul Ryan those boos that rained down in that auditorium in that aircraft hangar in Omaha, Nebraska. That gives you a sense as to how these Republican crowds, these crowds at Donald Trump rallies, are not exactly the same crowds that show up for members of the GOP establishment. This is a different movement that Donald Trump is leading here now.

We should point out, as a lot of folks know already, Donald Trump and Paul Ryan are going to be meeting on Thursday in Washington. Trump is going to meet with the entire House Republican caucus. I talked to some Trump sources, Fredericka, who say they're not too worried about this just yet. They do know it's a concern. They're not too worried about it just yet because they hope that after Paul Ryan and Donald Trump have this meeting that the two will be able to work over their differences. They know these two leaders are not going to have every policy position lined up exactly the same, but they're going to have some differences.

But they do help inside the Trump campaign that Paul Ryan will come on board, although you heard Donald Trump or you saw what Donald Trump said to the "Washington Post" yesterday, Fredericka, that maybe they're going to have this meeting and go their separate ways. So certainly something to watch as we move forward here. We'll be listening to see if Donald Trump brings it up again in just a few moments, Fredericka.

[14:25:07] WHITFIELD: All right, you bring it to us when that happens. Thank you so much, Jim Acosta, appreciate that, in Spokane.

Up next, new information about the shootings in Washington, D.C. Next, what we've learned about the suspect.

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WHITFIELD: All right, brand new details involving deadly shootings at two sites near the nation's capital. Police have charged a man with murder in Friday's shootings. The same man had already been charged for a deadly shooting the day before. CNN's Sherisse Pham is at the scene of one of those shootings. Sherisse?

SHERISSE PHAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fred. Yes, today the police just charged a suspect with two counts of first degree murder and two counts of attempted first degree murder. This is on top of first degree murder charges that came down last night for the killing of his wife.

The violent events all started on Thursday, police say, when the man followed his wife into a high school parking lot where she was going to pick up her daughter. He approached her in her car, shot her multiple times, and killed her. A bystander at that location tried to intervene, he tried to help. He was also shot and injured.

[14:30:03] The next day here in this parking lot, the suspect shot three people, killing one. A short time later at another close by parking lot, approaching again another woman in her car, shooting and killing her.

So what do we know about the suspect? It is 62-year-old Eulalio Tordil. He is a federal enforcement law officer. And he was placed on administrative leave after his wife ordered a restraining order against him. He's expected if court on Monday. Fred?

WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right, horrible situation. Thank you so much, Sherisse Pham.

All right, thanks so much for spending part of your day with us. I'm Fredericka Whitfield. "Vital Signs" with Dr. Sanjay Gupta is next.