Return to Transcripts main page

At This Hour

The World Versus Donald Trump; Shark Attack in North Carolina. Aired 11:30a-12:00p ET.

Aired July 02, 2015 - 11:30   ET

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


[11:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The world versus Donald Trump. Brand new this morning, Serta Mattress company has cut ties with the billionaire's luxury mattresses. And if you didn't know, yes, Donald Trump apparently is involved in making mattresses. This comes after both Macy's and NBC broke up with him.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: But there is some good news for Mr. Trump right now. His Ms. USA pageant, he co-owns it will actually be seen on TV now. Cable network Reels has picked up the event. The outrage of all of this continues though. It's, of course, over Trump's comments about Mexican immigrants where he suggested many of them are rapists and drug dealers.

BERMAN: And, and I've got to say, he did a stunning interview with CNN where Donald Trump essentially tripled down on those remarks. Listen again.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Don, all you have to do is go to Fusion and pick up the stories on rape, and it's unbelievable when you look at what's going on. So all I'm doing is telling the truth.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: I read the, I read "The Washington Post," I read the Fusion, I read "The Huffington Post" and that's, that's about women being raped. It's not about criminals coming across the border entering the country.

TRUMP: Somebody is doing the raping, Don. I mean, you know, it's, it's - I mean, somebody is doing it. Just saying that women being raped, well, who is doing the raping?

BOLDUAN: One of the articles he is referencing is an article by Fusion written by our next guest, she is an investigative producer for Univision, Erin Siegal McIntyre and she is joining us now via Skype from Burlington, Vermont.

Erin, thank you very much for joining us. I'm sure if I were in your position I would be shocked that I found myself in the middle of what really has become a fire storm and it all centers around according to Donald Trump, around your reporting, your article that he's holding up as the basis of all of this. You say he's misrepresenting what you reported. Explain it. ERIN SIEGAL MCINTYRE, WROTE ARTICLE TRUMP KEEPS REFERENCING: I

think that's what, what the Fusion PR people have said. You know, personally I'm not sure if, if Mr. Trump actually read the article, which is about the rape of central American women migrating through Mexico and that's a co-authored piece. It was an eight-minute broadcast piece. So I'm not sure if he actually watched it or read it because it's certainly not about what he's, he's, he's presenting.

[11:35:00] BOLDUAN: And here is the one piece that he keeps pointing out and you can - and I want you to help explain it then. I mean, the one line that he keeps grabbing onto is it says a staggering 80 percent of central American girls and women crossing Mexico and throughout the United States are raped along the way. This is according to directors of migrant shelters interviewed by Fusion. And you say -

MCINTYRE: That's correct.

BOLDUAN: - obviously Mr. Trump is taking that completely wrong.

MCINTYRE: Well, yes, because we're, we're talking about central American women and girls. We're not talking about Mexican immigrants. That's a pretty big jump to make.

BERMAN: It's just flat out different, first of all. It's apples and oranges and in your article you're saying they're being raped before they get to the United States, correct? Presumably you point out in Mexico by coyotes, by, by officials there. Not by Mexican immigrants coming to the United States, correct?

MCINTYRE: That's correct.

BOLDUAN: So in your reporting that you've seen, and you did a very long investigative piece on this. In your reporting did you find any of the people committing these horrible acts, committing the rapes, that these are the folks that are also making it into the United States?

MCINTYRE: That had nothing to do with the article we wrote, that has nothing to do with the piece in question. So our piece specifically came around as a way to check the facts from embassy international and other NGOs would per year who are reported around 60 percent for a sexual assault figure for migrant women crossing Mexico specifically from central America. And so we, we started to being told by various sources that, that number was actually higher which is how the investigators got started.

And so my co-producer and I set out to check the figure and speak to another people in southern Mexico on the southern border with Guatemala to see what was happening.

BERMAN: On the southern border with Guatemala where immigrants are growing into Mexico and that were people coming from Mexico into the United states. So again, based on your reporting, your thorough reporting here and based on the experience you have now had, how does it feel when Donald Trump stands there and, and holds up your article for the world to see in the middle of this circus?

MCINTYRE: You know, I, I think this is a really important issue, and it's an issue that's really hard to report about. You know, rape, no matter which country it happens in, is the most underreported crime, right? And so when you look at it through a lens of OK, not only is it this very difficult crime to talk about and report on, we're also talking about an extremely vulnerable population of, of migrants who are in many cases fleeing their home countries for very serious reasons, violence, gang threats, it's, it's a very sensitive issue.

And so when I first heard that Donald Trump was speaking about our article, I, I didn't quite believe it. I didn't quite understand how that, that kind of connection was being made, and I have to say I'm still a little bit baffled.

BOLDUAN: So in light of all of this and as this continues to swirl, have you heard from or have you reached out to the Trump campaign? Because I imagine you probably have something to say to him.

MCINTYRE: No, no. I think the story and the reporting speaks for itself.

BOLDUAN: What would you say to Donald Trump though?

MCINTYRE: I don't think I would say anything. Again, I think the story speaks for itself. Debra and I did a thorough job with our, with our investigation, and I would invite anybody to watch the broadcast piece or read it and make their own decisions.

BERMAN: Erin Siegal McIntyre, a reporter I appreciate your work on this issue and I appreciate you coming on with us. Thanks so much.

BOLDUAN: Thank you.

MCINTYRE: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: It is a great piece to read.

BERMAN: It really is and it's an important piece to read.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely.

BERMAN: It's apparently about something different than what Donald Trump was talking about. But still a very important piece to read.

BOLDUAN: Good to get some facts around it though.

BERMAN: All right. Coming up, for us a fatal mistake. What the captain of this plane did immediately before it plunged into a river. Remarkable video and now remarkable new information coming out about that crash.

BOLDUAN: Also ahead, grabbed by a shark. One man was swimming in waist-deep water when a shark takes him under. Why does it seem there have been so many attacks like this, this year?

BERMAN: And then the captured killer sharing new information about his escape from prison, including the tension between two inmates while they try to run from police.

[11:40:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: A new shark attack in North Carolina raising serious concern this morning. The number of attack there is this summer does seem unusual. This time a man in his 60s bitten on multiple parts of his body by a six to seven-foot gray shark.

BOLDUAN: The latest incident happened just off the outer banks of North Carolina and it's the tenth such attack in the Carolinas this

year. Alina Machado is in North Carolina with much more on this. A beautiful scene behind you Alina. What are you hearing from folks?

ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kate, it really is a beautiful city. I'm going to move out of the way so you can see what I'm seeing here. People are out here. They're getting ready to enjoy a long holiday weekend. They are thinking though about those shark incidents, those shark bites, and it's something that is - something they're thinking about but you can see people are still getting in the water. They're not necessarily fearful enough to stay out of the water during this holiday weekend.

The latest incident, the latest attack happened yesterday. It involved a 67-year-old man from Massachusetts who was in North Carolina vacationing with his family. Authorities tell me that he was alert. He was talking when first responders got to him. Even though he suffered severe puncture wounds in the area between his hip and his knee. He also had bites to his calf. Now, this attack happened in the outer banks which is north of where we are. It is the seventh to happen off the North Carolina coast this year.

And the victims of the other attacks include a 13-year-old girl, a 16-year-old boy, each of them lost an arm in separate attacks some 90 minutes apart south of where we are on June 14th. Bites as you mentioned have also happened in South

Carolina and in Florida.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. Alina, thank you very much. A beautiful scene as Alina is pointing out, but still probably on top of everyone's mind there as these attacks seem like there have been a lot this year so far. Thank you.

[11:45:00] So another story obviously we've been following, captured inmate David Sweat, he is still spilling new intriguing details about his brazen escape from the prison in Upstate, New York with Richard Matt. Speaking from his hospital bed, Sweat threw prison worker Joyce Mitchell essentially under the bus. He told investigators it was her plan for the inmates once they got out to kill her husband, when they got out, not their plan.

But he also said in addition to a hacksaw, they used a sledgehammer that they had found in the underground tunnels of the prison to help knock down a brick wall to get to freedom.

BERMAN: This morning officials are launching new security measures at the prison. Every cell at Clinton will be inspected once a week with supervision from a senior security staff member. They will triple the number of cell search every day, the so-called honor block has been eliminated there, all tunnels are being inspected monthly instead of twice a year. Joining us to talk all about this, Gary Hayward, a former corrections officer at Rikers Island. Also he became an inmate himself after smuggling drugs while on the job. So he has a unique perspective really on both sides. Gary, thanks so much for being with is.

I want to start with the new security measures in place. I was talking to a former inmate this morning who essentially told me, yes, for six months they'll do these things, they'll do more bed checks, they'll check underneath the tunnels, but eventually inertia will take over, boredom will take over, and they'll be right back where they were.

GARY HEYWARD, FORMER CORRECTIONS OFFICER, RIKERS ISLAND: He's right because when I was a correction officer, one of the duties was randomly pick a cell and we had a rubber mallet which we had to go in the cell and bang on all the walls and make sure it was still intact. I took it seriously for about five minutes when a supervisor was there. Other than that, because how many times does an inmate really escape from prison? So when you factor that into my job duties and everything else I have to do as a correctional officer, that's not going to be top priority.

I may do it when my supervisors are there. I may do it randomly or if I did it yesterday, I'm not going to check that cell today. And the fact that they have beaten it up. If they stick to it, it would help. It would prevent anything else from happening.

BOLDUAN: So you do think if they would stick to it but you're not confident of that. If they would stick to these changes it would be enough?

HEYWARD: It would be enough, senior correctional officer job is so rapacious. That's why they get tired and bored, we're doing the same thing over and over again. But now like the inmate said because of the escape, they will beef it up. They will monitor for a while it's hot. Maybe if they do keep to it and be consistent, yes, it will stop. A lot of inmates won't even think about attempting something like this.

BERMAN: So David Sweat, the dude is singing. I mean, he is saying a lot of stuff right now. The question is how much of it, if any of it, is true. Based on what you know about life on the inside and you have seen it from two perspectives, what's his incentive right now to tell the truth? A guy who knows he's going back to prison to do really hard time for the rest of his life, why would he tell the truth? Why might he lie?

HEYWARD: One of the things - reasons why he's probably spilling the beans is because behind walls a lot of things going on behind walls that's not made to the media. He may strike a deal with them where he could be shipped somewhere more comfortable than what he's supposed to be getting. Like right now you may feel he's going to be on 24 hour lockdown, 23 hour lockdown, one hour recreation, a shower, use the phone or something like that.

But if he makes a deal with them, he could be placed somewhere comfortable, out of sighted where nobody knows where he's at and do the rest of his time a little bit more comfortable than what he should be doing.

BOLDUAN: Big, big problem in all of this is the issue of contraband and how it seems very easily or more easily than a lot of folks think can make it into prisons. You have been on both sides of this. You are a corrections officer and you found yourself behind bars because you got involved with dealing contraband, drugs and other things.

With that in mind, what system could have been in place do you think would have prevented you from falling into this? Do you think there's a system that could have stopped?

HEYWARD: Yes. I wrote my book called "Corruption Officer."

BOLDUAN: Right.

HEYWARD: In the book I put detailed ways where they could slow down contraband from entering inside the prison. One way is, eliminate comfortability. Officers are comfortable with the post they're working on. If we're working together, we come in together, familiar with one another. If you switch that around - like one of the things the front entrance you're supposed to search officers just like civilians. If you switch people from one facility to another who don't know these officers and another supervisor who these officers are not familiar with one another, the officers tend to do his job more terribly.

BOLDUAN: This is essentially eliminate complacency that officers fall into?

HEYWARD: Yes. Absolutely.

BERMAN: There's a new superintendent at Clinton, you know, the superintendent was in placed on -

BOLDUAN: Yes. And many others.

BERMAN: - administrative leave, 12 new people over there. Is a prison system like this, is it a case the fish rot on his head, does the supervisor may not have known what was going on with prison guards checking each person? Does the person ultimately get in charge of the prison bear responsibility for what's going on inside?

[11:50:00] HEYWARD: Actually, they do, but it's like they really don't know unless you're in the trenches. Reports are supposed to be filed - OK, for instance if the officers were doing the duty of checking the cells when they're supposed to, there's no way this could have happened.

A report is filed, passed up, passed up to the overseer of the prison. So you'll know, OK, this cell was checked this day. So now he can go back to his records, OK, we did our job, so how could this have happened in this time frame if we did our job?

BOLDUAN: With all the new changes in place, you've seen it on the inside. What is prison culture going to be like? How is it going to be different now?

HEYWARD: A little bit more strict for the inmates. A little bit more work for the corrections officers. Everyone will be under the spotlight, everybody is going to be doing their job to the T. No one wants to get blamed. They're waiting for the repercussions of those other correction officers who may or may not have been involved for dereliction of their duties. So they're going to be on point for a while.

BOLDUAN: OK. Let's hope for longer than a while. We'll see you I guess, right?

HEYWARD: Yes, Ma'am.

BOLDUAN: All right. Gary, thank you very much.

HEYWARD: No problem.

BERMAN: A captain's deadly mistake. What the pilot said eight seconds before this really unbelievable plane crash. New details on the investigation ahead.

BOLDUAN: Plus, a nation on edge. A scare this morning at the Navy yard in Washington, D.C. as the FBI warns of a possible terror attack, heightened alert for possible terror attack as we head into the fourth of July weekend. We'll have details ahead.

[11:55:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: This is one of the most shocking videos we've seen all year. The new details we're learning this morning just as shocking. Trans Asia airlines flight 235 clipped a bridge and plunged into a river minutes after takeoff in Taiwan. Only 15 of the 58 people onboard survived the crash it was in February. And now, this morning, we learned what went wrong.

BOLDUAN: Taiwanese investigators now say that one engine was already out when the captain mistakenly turned off the other engine, the one actual working engine, and that was just eight seconds before the crash. So we have a lot to look into here. So let's talk more about this with Aviation Analyst Mary Schiavo.

Mary, we were talking about this morning when we saw this. You feared that this was the case when we discussed this back in February, that he had possibly turned off the wrong engine. We now know that is actually the case. How does that happen? MARY SCHIAVO, AVIATION ANALYST: Well, we feared that and I

thought that might be the case because this is not the first crash that was caused by that. There have been at least a dozen others and it really comes down to training and the report also cites the inadequate training or at least this particular person was not grasping the training. It's very important when you have one engine out on a twin engine plane to ascertain which engine it is.

As I always tell people, there's no rear-view mirrors in the cockpit so that comes through training and very careful response. And in the second tragedy was that even after he realized he'd shut down the wrong engine, he delayed trying to do something about it and that was also part of the criticism in the report.

BERMAN: You bring up the fact this has happened before. You bring up the fact this is something you train for and you brought up the point the other key piece of information he essentially failed simulator training right in this very area. So if you're an airline, how can you let this guy in the cockpit knowing this issue?

SCHIAVO: Exactly. That's a huge issue. For the airline has been doing a lot of mea culpas and saying they have gone back to retrain and they

have reviewed their pilots and their pilot performance and training, but there really is no excuse for it, and we have seen this in so many crashes where pilots' training and their performance have been lacking but airlines have allowed it to go forward. You know, Asiana for example in San Francisco.

BOLDUAN: You're kind of talking about it Mary but I want to get your take. In that moment when you're having a problem with one engine, is it difficult to figure out which engine it is?

SCHIAVO: It can be and that's when you have to really rely on the rely on the instruments. You really have to look at what is going on. There have been situations - for example, one of the crashes that I mentioned, the prior dozen or so crashes, the passengers and the flight attendants were trying to tell the pilot that they had the wrong engine, that the wrong one was shut down. So it comes down to training. And in those emergency situations if you haven't been trained for it and trained in a hands-on situation, it's hard to get this in simulator, that's the key. The key is training and being able to react. If you don't know what to do, disaster is likely to ensue.

BERMAN: Mary, while we have you I want to ask you a question, about 30 seconds left to talk about something facing all travelers now.

BOLDUAN: We all suspect that.

BERMAN: Federal investigation looking into the possibility, essentially a price fixing on airline seats. The major carriers in the United States. What do you make of that?

SCHIAVO: Well, you know, if it's out there and there have been many cases like this in the past, the most famous in 1982 when an American president called up and said raise your bleeping fares 20 percent and I'll raise mine and we'll both make money.

The justice department tried these cases and in the 90's and again in 2006 there are a bunch of colliding cases over fuel surcharges. Few succeed. There's also a lot of smoke but it's hard to get the evidence. Maybe in this day and age of text messages and e-mails they'll come up with the evidence this time but they tried many times before and haven't made a case.

BOLDUAN: That is an important point but with looking back in the past cases or past allegations that have been made, what do you think will happen next here? Obviously the investigation must happen but even if they did find there was price fixing and colluding, what happens?

SCHIAVO: Well, it will be up - two things can happen. One, the justice department can proceed. They can issue fines and various other penalties on the airlines or private civil suits may also ensue and consumers could take it into their own hands with their counsel.

BOLDUAN: Mary, thank you so much. Great to see you. And thank you all for joining us on this very busy day At This Hour.

BERMAN: Legal View with Ashleigh Banfield starts right now.