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U.S. Marshals Arrest Ex-Convict in D.C. Murders; Hillary Clinton E-mails to Begin Being Released. Aired 7-7:30a ET
Aired May 22, 2015 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: It's unknown who's being arrested here. Wint, on the run for a week, charged for the slayings of a prominent CEO, his wife, their young son and housekeeper. Allegedly torturing the 10-year-old, killing all four of them before setting the house, located in an upscale D.C. neighborhood, on fire.
[07:00:18] ROBERT FERNANDEZ, U.S. MARSHALS: New York Police Department did a fantastic job getting us vital information last night.
JOHNS: U.S. Marshal Robert Fernandez says investigators worked 48 straight hours, first tracking Wint all the way up to New York City Wednesday night, just barely missing him.
Police believe Wint saw himself identified on the news and took off. Investigators then located the suspect back in D.C. the following night at a Howard Johnson's hotel 20 miles north of the White House.
FERNANDEZ: When we were approaching, we realized he was in a vehicle. They started going northbound on Route 1. We followed them for about, I don't know, four or five miles.
JOHNS: The task force, including 20 vehicles and a county helicopter, tailing two vehicles, a sedan where Wint was identified in the backseat, and this small moving truck. Sources told CNN affiliate WJLA a large amount of cash was found inside. Police arresting a total of four men and two women.
FERNANDEZ: They're the most amazing investigators I've ever seen. It's incredible what these guys are capable of doing.
JOHNS: Forty-six-year-old Savvas Savopoulos was the president and CEO of American Iron Works, a multimillion-dollar building materials manufacturer. Wint once worked for that same company and, according to one source, allegedly stole $40,000 that was delivered to the home before setting it afire.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JOHNS: And the Savopoulos family releasing a statement this morning thanking law enforcement for bringing about an arrest in this case. Quoting now, "While it does not abate our pain, we hope that it begins to restore a sense of calm and security to our neighborhood and to our city. We are blessed to live in a community comprised of close circles of friends who have supported us and grieve with us."
So one of the big questions, of course, right now is whether any of those other individuals arrested with Daron Wint are in some way involved in this case. Authorities have said they have not ruled out the possibility that there may have been accomplices.
So far, no word on any connection of any of the other individuals arrested to the murder here at the house in northwest Washington.
Back to you in New York.
CAMEROTA: OK, Joe, bring us all the developments as you get them.
Our next guest knows Daron Wint well. He represented him in previous criminal cases. Attorney Robin Ficker joins us now.
Mr. Ficker, thanks for being on NEW DAY.
ROBIN FICKER, ATTORNEY: Thank you. I represented him in six cases in the past. He was not found guilty in any of those six cases. I know him to be a kind, gentle, nonaggressive person, someone you wouldn't mind your grandmother going to lunch with. He's not the guy that did this.
His DNA was found on pizza that was delivered outside the home. And then later, that pizza crust was found in a Dumpster. But the murders were committed inside the home. They've got the wrong guy. It's a group grope, a rush to judgment. There's a presumption of innocence, which is not being mentioned by the police.
CAMEROTA: Mr. Ficker, we hear how strongly you feel about this and about Daron Wint. Let's talk about his rap sheet. Let's go through it so you can explain what the cases were.
In 2005 a family files a restraining order -- I assume it's his family -- against him. In 2006, charged with second-degree assault. 2009, charged with second-degree assault and fourth-degree sex offense. Also in 2009, more second-degree assault. 2010, charged with fourth- degree burglary and property destruction. What can you tell us about those charges?
FICKER: I'm not hearing you mention the word "conviction." Charges are easily made and difficult to prove oftentimes. He was being harassed by the police in 2005 and 2006. Many people in the -- on the street know what harassment like that is.
For instance, in a case where, supposedly, he had weapons, he pled guilty to possession of a container of alcohol. No prosecutor is going to diminish reputable charges in that way.
CAMEROTA: Sure, but how about -- OK. But how about the assault? How about the sex offense? What do those stem from?
FICKER: Was he -- was he convicted of a sex offense?
CAMEROTA: You're right. He's not. But what are the -- what were the charges stemming from? What was the incident?
FICKER: In what year was that you're talking?
CAMEROTA: In 2006, when you represented him, what was the second- degree assault?
FICKER: He was not convicted of two -- of second-degree assault.
CAMEROTA: Yes, but what was the incident that brought the charge?
FICKER: He was not convicted of a sex offense.
Well, you're talking charges that were brought but not proven. There's a presumption of innocence that travels with him until a conclusion of the case. And that presumption of innocence was upheld.
[07:05:09] CAMEROTA: Mr. Ficker, even his relatives, according to ABC News last night, his relatives describe him as he's very hostile. He's arrogant. He doesn't listen. You try to tell him and guide him the right way, but he thinks he knows the law. You are the only person that we have heard who considers him a gentle, kind person.
FICKER: Every mother's child at some point becomes angry, becomes hostile towards their parents. We know that. I'm a parent three times over. And I've seen it in my kids who are wonderful successes.
I think we're nitpicking here, trying to brand him in the public's eye -- in the court of public opinion. The police should take their case to court. There's no evidence of DNA -- his DNA on any of the victims, is there? No.
CAMEROTA: We don't know. All we know that's been released so far -- I mean, obviously, we don't -- we're not privy to what the investigators have inside the house, but that there was pizza, as you say, delivered to the home. That pizza was eaten. And his DNA was found on it. So how do you explain that connection?
FICKER: I've had many cases where the DNA findings have been thrown out of court. We don't know who conducted this DNA and how it was done. It needs to be scrutinized. Why is -- why are the police letting out piecemeal little bits of evidence in a Chinese water torture method? They need to conduct themselves in court and not keep talking to the media, trying to brand this guy.
CAMEROTA: Mr. Ficker, why do you feel so strongly about this?
FICKER: Because I've met him many times, represented him in court. And there were no findings of guilt. Although it started out, as though he were the guilty one, it turned out he wasn't.
CAMEROTA: OK. And describe to us...
FICKER: You may be next. You may be next. Someone may find another person's DNA in your house, as I'm sure they could. We need to protect the least of these in order to protect all of these. CAMEROTA: Sure. Fair enough. I mean, you are a defense attorney.
You do an important public service in this country. Will you represent him in this case?
FICKER: It's possible. But I have not been contacted by the family or retained in the family to represent him in this particular case. Although we've been successful in the past.
CAMEROTA: When you -- when you say that he was kind and gentle, can you give us some examples?
FICKER: I met with him many times. I've observed hundreds of thousands of people in my life, completed 30,000 cases in court. When I'm sitting across from a person for hours at a time, I can tell that they're kind and gentle.
He was not a mean, aggressive person at all. He was a young man finding his way, a student at Prince Georges Community College. He tried to get into the Marines. He was patriotic. He was well- meaning, and he remains that way, as far as I know.
CAMEROTA: So how would you describe a criminal, whoever it is, who tortures a family, who tortures their 10-year-old son, who stays at the crime scene long enough to eat a pizza, and then torches the house. How would you describe that criminal, whoever it is?
FICKER: I would describe that as a heinous crime. And that person should be prosecuted. But it's not Daron Wint. He's not the one in the video. There are no facial features of Daron Wint in that video. They've got the wrong guy. They've made a big mistake here.
CAMEROTA: How can you tell it's not him in the video, the surveillance video that we see? Someone's back as we see right here, running with a white bag. How can you tell that's not Daron Wint?
FICKER: The police are saying it is. How can they possibly say that that is Daron Wint, based on that video? Does he look like Daron Wint to you? Be honest about it. You can't tell who that is. There's no facial features there.
CAMEROTA: It's hard to tell. I mean, to be honest, it's hard to tell from -- as you point out from that video. But it's also hard for you to tell that it's not him.
Let me ask you this, Mr. Ficker, why did he lead police on a 48-hour manhunt? Why -- if he is innocent, why not just go surrender and say, 'You've got the wrong guy. Here's my alibi" and not -- not have them chase him from New York to D.C. and back?
FICKER: We're not saying that he actually knew that they were behind him chasing him. He was -- we have freedom of travel in this country. Just because someone leaves a city where some crime was committed doesn't mean that he committed that crime.
CAMEROTA: Yes.
FICKER: This is not a case where someone runs from a policeman that's right behind him.
CAMEROTA: Well, his girlfriend reportedly told police that he was aware that they were looking for him. And she said that he was going to turn himself in. But that's not what happened.
FICKER: Well, have you interviewed the girlfriend and heard her actually say that? Some of these police statements about what other people say are hearsay and need to be taken with a very large grain of salt.
[07:10:04] CAMEROTA: So Mr. Ficker, again, you believe that somehow he might have eaten the pizza that was outside, and that that's the only connection. If the DNA is true, that you don't believe that Daron Wint was in the house and you don't believe he was capable of this. But the pizza is a sticking point.
FICKER: Well, why wouldn't the police mention DNA in the house at the crime scene? We're told that the pizza was delivered outside the house and then the crust was found in a Dumpster, not in the house. Why aren't the police coming out with some really damning evidence rather than this circumstantial evidence that doesn't come close to proving that he committed these murders?
CAMEROTA: What was his relationship? Do you know what his relationship was with his employer who he is now accused of killing?
FICKER: I don't. But I believe the police looked at the six companies owned by the deceased. They looked at all the former employees, and then pinpointed people that may have been arrested. So these false arrests in the past have come back to haunt him, but that doesn't mean that he committed these crimes. It's a giant Olympic- sized broad jump from a piece of pizza to four homicides.
CAMEROTA: I mean, you say these false arrests in the past. In fact, he was charged. It was more than an arrest. He wasn't convicted, but he was charged. And these are very serious charges. I mean, prosecutors don't, you know, lightly charge somebody with sex offense and assault.
FICKER: When you're not convicted -- you know, I've had people who have been in jail for ten months and have been found not guilty on all charges. That's why we have the American system, the jury system, to provide a buffer between the king and his subjects.
CAMEROTA: In 2005, did his family file a restraining order against him?
FICKER: Was the restraining order pursued? Did it go into effect?
CAMEROTA: You tell me. You represented him.
FICKER: As far as I know, there was no finding of any guilt in that crime at all.
CAMEROTA: Well, restraining order doesn't have guilt. There's just a restraining order. Was there a restraining order against him in 2005? FICKER: As far as I know, there was no restraining order in effect
against Mr. Wint at all.
CAMEROTA: Mr. Ficker, are you reaching out to his family to volunteer your services to represent him?
FICKER: Well, I've known his family for a period of time. I met them when I represented him before. And I'd be willing to give him any help that he requires. And I think that he should talk to an attorney. He needs to come up with an explanation as to where he was at the time of these offenses. And he needs to talk about his future.
CAMEROTA: Mr. Robin Ficker, we appreciate your perspective. It is always important to remind everyone that people are innocent until proven guilty. Thanks so much for being on NEW DAY.
FICKER: Thank you.
CAMEROTA: Let's get over to Michaela.
PEREIRA: All right. The Senate still has some unfinished business before a weeklong holiday break. It includes action on key parts of the Patriot Act, set to expire June 1. Senators are sharply divided over extending the NSA's powers of mass phone data collection.
CNN's Dana Bash live in Washington as the clock ticks on -- Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sure does. Hi, Michaela.
Ever since the public learned years back during the Bush administration that the government secretly gathered its phone records and more. It's been highly controversial. We know that. But that's why the Republican-led House passed an extension of the program this week. (AUDIO/VIDEO GAP)
CAMEROTA: OK. We lost Dana there.
Meanwhile, we've got another story to tell you about. Protests in Olympia, Washington, last night over the shooting of two unarmed black men by a white police officer. Some 400 people turned out for this demonstration. Olympia's police chief says the two men were suspected of shoplifting, and one assaulted an officer before the shooting. He says the incident is being investigated. Both shooting victims expected to survive.
PEREIRA: New threats are emerging against police in the wake of that biker gang shootout in Texas. A bulletin by the Texas Department of Public Safety saying the Bandidos are out for revenge. The gang members blaming police for shooting, quote, "their brothers." Nine bikers were killed Sunday. There are reports police may have killed some of those.
CAMEROTA: And let's take a look at this Georgia man, taking matters into his own hands, holding a would-be carjacker at gunpoint until police arrive. Hashim Fannin says he had just pulled into a parking lot when the suspect slipped into the passenger seat, attempting to steal his car. Fannin says he wasn't having it. So he pulled out his own gun. He kept the suspect face down in the parking lot for several minutes before police arrived.
PEREIRA: Imagine that scene that police roll up on, though? Not knowing who the perpetrator, who the suspect is, who the bad guy is. Somebody's on the ground, another person's with a gun.
CAMEROTA: Wow. Great point.
PEREIRA: Good police work. Made sure THAT nobody got hurt in this situation. My goodness.
CAMEROTA: That's incredible. All right. Meanwhile, Democratic presidential front runner Hillary Clinton's e-mails finally revealed, at least some of them. What the first batch tells us, particularly about Benghazi.
[07:15:07] PEREIRA: And as Dana was telling us, it's the last day of the Senate scheduled to be in session before parts of the Patriot Act expires. Does that mean the NSA surveillance program is in its final hours? Or will it be replaced?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PEREIRA: The State Department is expected to release the first batch of Hillary Clinton's e-mails as soon as today, this morning we're even hearing. Will these documents give a larger picture of what she knew, what she didn't know immediately after the Benghazi attack? Michael Smerconish is the host of CNN's "SMERCONISH" and the "The Michael Smerconish Program" on Sirius XM. Of course, a CNN political commentator and a friend of the show.
And we're so glad you're here on this Friday, because this is the day, the e-mails. Here they come.
MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: The first day.
PEREIRA: The first day. And some 850 of the thousands that are supposed to be coming.
SMERCONISH: Right.
PEREIRA: Are you sensing from what you've seen leaked released so far that there are smoking guns to you?
SMERCONISH: No.
PEREIRA: Because we know you look at things a little differently.
SMERCONISH: No. And nor do I expect that there will be any smoking guns revealed during the whole course of this process. Because let's remember, she blended together personal and professional e-mail. She was maintaining them on a private server. She then determined, or someone at her behest determined, what would be handed over to the State Department. Fifty-five thousand were then handed over to the State Department. If there were smoking guns, I would think, Michaela, they were among
those that weren't handed over to the State Department.
And so now 850 of the 55,000 have been given to a congressional committee. The "New York Times" has seen a third of them. And we are now reading what "The Times" has seen. Thus far no smoking guns.
CAMEROTA: OK. No smoking guns but fascinating nuggets.
SMERCONISH: Oh, yes. I love this stuff. But I -- you know I don't know that it's going to move the needle.
[07:20:04] CAMEROTA: Here's the one that I'm fixated with, and that is what she knew about Benghazi and when she knew it. Because the Republicans, as you know, for the better part of more than two years, have been saying that she knew more than she said. In fact, the whole administration had this false narrative that it was about demonstration. Guess what? On the second day after Benghazi, she gets an e-mail from her top aide, Sid Blumenthal.
SMERCONISH: Right.
CAMEROTA: Who tells her "It looks like my sources are telling me that this work was actually a terrorist attack." This was from members of Ansar al-Sharia, the Libyan terrorist group. They had ties to al Qaeda. They had planned the attack for months, he tells her.
So what does she do? Does she try to hide it or bury it? No, she says it's her aide with this quote: "We should get this around ASAP."
SMERCONISH: Right.
CAMEROTA: It's the opposite of what the Republicans have been saying about her.
SMERCONISH: It is. A couple of thoughts. First, the initial memo, apparently from Sid Blumenthal, bought into the narrative that was the first thought.
CAMEROTA: On the day of.
SMERCONISH: On the day of.
CAMEROTA: That there was a demonstrations.
SMERCONISH: Demonstration, and it was inspired by that video. So there's a little something in this for everybody. Whatever you want to read into these e-mails, you might.
What I thought was most significant about Blumenthal's involvement, and that's a name from the past. And I'm sure it will be a name for the 2016 cycle again. I thought it was significant that he was apparently writing memos that she would read and then recirculate without reference to the fact he had authored them.
PEREIRA: Yes. Yes. SMERCONISH: I guess because he contained some baggage, and for
whatever reason, they didn't want whatever they didn't want whatever the message was to be tarred by the individual who wrote them.
PEREIRA: Do you think going forward then, considering that you think that there's no smoking gun and that these are sort of being shown now piecemeal. And they're going to be continued to be released, how do you think now the GOP's going to pivot?
Or are we even just her critics who are saying transparency's an issue. She obviously is trying to keep things in control. How do you think they're going to use all of this?
SMERCONISH: I think the "B" word, Benghazi, continues to be a rallying cry for the base. And therefore, I expect will continue through the 2016 cycle to hear a great deal about it.
CAMEROTA: But does this exonerate her a little bit? That she wasn't the person who, after that Sid Blumenthal interview -- sorry, e-mail, ever said again that it was a video?
SMERCONISH: I think that it does. And what you haven't seen is anything to support some of the wild accusations that she singlehandedly denied security requests that were put forth by Ambassador Stevens. There's evidence to suggest that it was the contrary. This sounds harsh but that Stevens himself made decisions that put himself in harm's way.
What I expect is that the partisan scrum will continue. But that this will not move the needle among independents and undecideds regarding Hillary.
PEREIRA: All right. Let's talk about another issue that is going to be facing the Clintons.
SMERCONISH: Right.
PEREIRA: As certainly Hillary. We are learning from "The Washington Post" that there was $26 million of undisclosed revenue, not donations. They're citing it as revenue, from speaking engagements. Problematic, the fact that it was undisclosed? Is this sort of par for the course for a politician?
SMERCONISH: I think -- first of all, these are each complicated. It's very difficult for me, no matter how closely I pay attention to each of them, to try and condense them into 20-second sound bites. And I say that because I think it speaks to whether they resonate in the political cycle.
Watergate resonated because it was a burglary. Nobody wants their home to be broken into.
PEREIRA: We can relate to that.
SMERCONISH: Whitewater? What was that about? Give me a couple minutes, and I'll try and lay it out for you. I think that this is a serious issue, because Peter Schweizer has this
new book. It's called "Clinton Cash." The theory of the book is that foreigners who are precluded from making campaign donations to domestic candidates here nevertheless tried to curry favor with the Clintons by engaging him to speak or making contributions to the foundation and therefore got close to the Clintons. This furthers that narrative.
PEREIRA: Under the guise of a speaking engagement.
SMERCONISH: Correct. For big bucks, Michaela. Big, big dollars being paid. And not by business interests in the U.K. or Germany or France. But a lot of rogue nations for a lack of a better descriptor. Businesspeople involved in transactions in those areas.
So again, will you find a quid pro quo, evidence of it? Will you find a smoking gun where Bill gave this speech and consequently this approval was given. You won't find something that clean. But there are a lot of inferences here that I think don't bode well for either of them.
CAMEROTA: Does it have to be a quid pro quo, or can it just be unseemly, just unseemly that they're not disclosing it and that there's so much money and that they kept gobbling up these millions of dollars and obviously not wanting to let people know?
SMERCONISH: I think that for many, yes, that is enough. Because it's a continuation of this cloud that, in the eyes of some, seems to always follow them. A different interpretation is to say the only thing new about this is that there's a foreign entity, and the donations were given to the foundation. This is the way it is in politics. Usually, the money is given to a super PAC.
PEREIRA: I was just thinking that these things are going to follow her around for a while. And she's going to have to address them. And we know she's not been real eager to answer questions from folks like us, so we'll have to see what happens. Mike Smerconish.
SMERCONISH: Have a great weekend.
PEREIRA: You too. Hopefully, you'll have a long weekend question mark? Maybe, maybe not so much.
SMERCONISH: No.
PEREIRA: Either will we. You can watch Saturday 9 a.m. Eastern on CNN and here on weekdays on Sirius XM also at 9 a.m. Eastern. Good to have you.
[07:25:10] CAMEROTA: Thanks, Michael.
PEREIRA: We're going to dig more into this and other big news in Washington with Senator John McCain. He joins us in our 8 a.m. hour.
CAMEROTA: Well, a gripping manhunt for that suspected killer went across several states, but this morning happy to report police say that they have their man. How they caught quadruple murder suspect Daron Dylon Wint.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAMEROGTA: Breaking news to tell you about. Police have nabbed the suspect in last week's quadruple murder and arson at that upscale home in Washington, D.C.
It took a multistate manhunt to capture Daron Dylon Wint, arrested with others, including his brother, after leaving a hotel outside of Washington, D.C. This was late Thursday after authorities said they barely missed him in Brooklyn.
Wint is suspected of killing his former employer, the employer's wife, their 10-year-old son, and the family's housekeeper. The victims' family now thanking their friends and law enforcement for all the support.
Let's bring in CNN law enforcement analyst and president of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement executives Cedric Alexander.
Cedric, great to have you here with us this morning.
CEDRIC ALEXANDER, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Good morning. Thank you.
CAMEROTA: So when we went to bed last night at 8 p.m., it seemed as though the suspect, the police were looking for him in Brooklyn. And then, lo and behold, they found him at a Howard Johnsons in College Park, Maryland. Just fascinating policework how quickly you guys can put these things together.
