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Second Prison Worker Charged After Escape; Confederate Flags Fall in Other States; Boston Bomber Apologizes at Sentencing; Could Escaped Killers Be Armed? Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired June 25, 2015 - 06:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Clinton Corrections Officer Gene Palmer is now the focus of a lot of key questions.

[05:58:42] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Facing several serious charges, including promoting dangerous contraband.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Palmer did not know what was inside the package.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Destroying evidence and official misconduct.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The only mistake he made was trusting Joyce Mitchell.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Boston bomber speaks. He said, "I'm sorry for the lives I have taken, the suffering I have caused, and the damage I have done."

LYNN JULIAN, MARATHON BOMBING SURVIVOR: I regret having ever wanted to hear him speak, because what he said showed no remorse.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Confederate flags coming down in more Southern states.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The future of the Confederate flag overshadows the mourning in South Carolina.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is my hope that, as South Carolina senators, that we will stand up for what is best and good about our state.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota and Michaela Pereira.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome to NEW DAY, Thursday, June 25, 6 a.m. in the East. As you can see, Alisyn in Columbia, South Carolina, because the demand is only growing to remove the Confederate flag.

But first, we do have another prison worker facing charges in the New York prison escape. Gene Palmer due back in court today, accused of loaning the escaped killers tools behind bars and tampering with evidence. Let's begin our coverage with CNN's Boris Sanchez, live in Owls Head, New York.

Now, Boris, you are where they believe that these convicts were hiding in the cabin, and now they say they may have found something in that cabin that's much more dangerous than food.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Chris, the only thing officials have confirmed was in that cabin was a pair of boots that the inmates apparently left behind. They are not revealing many details about those personal items where the DNA was linked to Richard Matt and David Sweat.

Meantime, the investigation is not just going on just here at Owls Head, but also back at the Clinton Correctional Facility, where a second prison employee has now been charged.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ (voice-over): Breaking overnight, that second corrections officer arrested in connection to a brazen New York jailbreak, now out on bail.

Fifty-seven-year-old veteran prison guard Gene Palmer expected to plead not guilty to charges of promoting dangerous prison contraband, tampering with evidence, and official misconduct. The guard allegedly carried frozen hamburger meat embedded with smuggled tools to the escapees, Richard Matt and David Sweat, officials saying Palmer, who worked in the cell block that housed the two convicts, was acting at the request of fellow prison employee Joyce Mitchell, who hid the tools in the meat and brought it into the jail.

Palmer's lawyer telling CNN his client was unaware there were hacksaw blades and drill bits inside that meat, though the prosecution says he failed to screen the meat through a metal detector, violating prison policy.

ANDREW BROCKWAY, ATTORNEY FOR GENE PALMER: He was conned by Joyce Mitchell. She duped him. He knows that he made a mistake and that shouldn't have done what he did.

SANCHEZ: Police searching Palmer's home, finding tools officials say the guard gave to at least one of the prisoners, including a screwdriver and wrench.

ANDREW WYLIE, CLINTON COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: There is some information that he allowed them to go into the back of the cells in the catwalk area and fix the breakers that were there.

And it was to help the breaker, fix the breakers so they could use their hot plates to cook their food.

SANCHEZ: That catwalk area, Matt and Sweat's escape path. Palmer telling investigators he supervised the prisoners doing the work and took the tools back before the end of his shift. (END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Now, Gene Palmer posted $25,000 bail early this morning. He's due back in court later today.

One other interesting note, Chris: officials believe that Gene Palmer may have destroyed some paintings given to him by Richard Matt.

CUOMO: All right, Boris. Thank you very much.

Let's turn from that story now to Alisyn in South Carolina, because there's a lot going on there -- Alisyn.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Chris and Michaela, I have to tell you about the remarkable scene here at the statehouse yesterday.

It was 98 degrees, and there was a heat index, meaning the feel of the air, that was 106 degrees. Yet, thousands of people stood in an hour-long line behind me. It snaked around the block, around the statehouse. There were people of all stripes; there were old and young. There were people dressed as though they were going to church. There were black and white people, standing shoulder to shoulder. They were sharing fans. They were sharing bottled water. They were holding the door open for each other. It was this remarkable show of love and unity and respect for their friend and leader, Senator Clementa Pinckney.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA (voice-over): The parking lot full at Charleston's Emanuel AME Church late Wednesday. Bible study resuming in the same room where the massacre took place one week earlier. The interim pastor declaring, "This territory belongs to God."

Earlier in the day, thousands lined up in the sweltering heat as a horse-drawn caisson carried Reverend Clementa Pinckney's body back to the statehouse, where he had served since the age of 23, to now lie in state.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senator Pinckney was a good and kind man. he was sensitive to the needs of others.

CAMEROTA: Many in South Carolina waited to see if Governor Nikki Haley would use a legal loophole to temporarily bring down the flag for the day, but her office releasing a statement saying Haley, quote, "does not have the authority to remove the flag herself."

Meanwhile, Alabama's Republican governor did order the Confederate flag removed from its state capitol grounds. And officials in Boise, Idaho, removed the Mississippi flag from a display of all 50 in front of city hall.

REP. BENNIE THOMPSON (D), MISSISSIPPI: Let's take it away. Let's say we want nothing to do with it.

CAMEROTA: All this as the son of one of the nine victims calls South Carolina Senator Tim Scott to share his hopeful vision.

SEN. TIM SCOTT (R), SOUTH CAROLINA SENATOR: He said with great enthusiasm and energy, a sense of excitement, that this evil attack would lead to reconciliation or restoration and unity in our nation.

CAMEROTA: Senator Scott fighting back tears on the Senate floor, recounting that call.

SCOTT: Those were powerful words.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[06:05:04] CAMEROTA: So as we've seen, the issues here in Columbia continue to reverberate around the country. More lawmakers and businesses demanding the Confederate flag be removed.

So we want to bring in CNN's Victor Blackwell. He has that part of the story for us. What have you learned?

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Alisyn, no question proponents of taking down the Confederate flag and replacing that symbol have built momentum that's spreading beyond South Carolina.

Check out this map. We've got a list of states where this controversy has started to build. Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Alabama.

And Alabama is an interesting case, because while South Carolina's lawmakers and the governor are entangled and have been entangled in this fight for days, which will go on for weeks, in Alabama, Governor Robert Bentley ordered the flags to come down on Wednesday morning; and that's exactly what happened, with relatively little backlash from what we're seeing. He said that there are bigger challenges facing the state. Here's what else he said about that symbol.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. ROBERT BENTLEY (R), ALABAMA: It is offensive to some people. Especially one type of flag is offensive to some people. Because unfortunately, it's like a swastika. Some people have adopted that as part of their -- maybe hate-filled groups. And, you know, that's a shame.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: And this is spreading beyond the South. There are several bases named after Confederate figures or in honor of Confederate figures. The Pentagon being forced to release a statement on why those names exist. And let's put it up on the screen. "These historic names represent individuals, not causes or ideologies. It should be noted that the naming occurred in the spirit of reconciliation, not division."

So an indication that the fight is not only in the South, and the fight is far from over, Alisyn. CAMEROTA: OK. Thanks so much for all that, Victor.

Well, despite the uproar over the Confederate flag, it did remain flying over the state capitol during the ceremony for State Senator and Reverend Clementa Pinckney.

We're joined now by Armstrong Williams. He is a Sirius XM conservative radio talk show host. He's also the cousin of Reverend Clementa Pinckney.

Armstrong, thanks so much for being here.

ARMSTRONG WILLIAMS, SIRIUS XM RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Good morning, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: What a service yesterday for your cousin. It was remarkable. I mean, as I was saying, there was thousands of line. They waited more than an hour. It was swelteringly hot. And yet in line, they talked about him. They talked about what a giant of a leader he was. Can you tell us, from being in his family, what he was like?

WILLIAMS: You know, we all -- we grew up in South Carolina. And he and his family later moved to Jasper County. In fact, his parents and my parents lived across the South Carolina fields growing up.

And Pinckney always was someone who had this moral compass. He always had a sense of right from wrong. I mean, even as a kid, he had a sense of fairness. And so it was not surprising to me and the family that at age 15, 13 he became a minister and then he went on to become the youngest person ever elected in the House and then went to the Senate, State Senate in the state of South Carolina.

And my brother, who is also a Democrat in the State Senate, they were very close. They grew up together. They were legislators together. They were on the finance committee together. And even the day before his death, they were discussing finance issues, how to move this state toward the budget. How to find more money in the caucus to help those who still don't realize the American dream.

I mean, he was just really -- I'm just telling you he's just, as I said before, Alisyn, just irreplaceable. He's really a decent guy. At least -- you know, some people want to hear a sermon, but Clementa lived the sermon. He lived it every day through his example and through his words.

Even in the legislature, the outpouring of support and love is because the legislators, from the governors to the -- both sides of the aisle knew this guy. This guy's word meant something. He didn't really care about politics; he really cared about what worked. He didn't care about gridlock. And it's something, the kind of example that more Americans want to see in Congress and across this country.

And he is one of those rare people that exemplified this. And so that flag, the debate, and the reason why it's moving so rapid is the respect that he got it from his colleagues, because this is not some distant person they're hearing about and they don't know much about. They knew his character. They knew his will to do better. And it's reflected in all the outpouring that you see in the celebration of his life.

CAMEROTA: Armstrong, I believe you. I was standing next to a person in line who was an advocate of AIDS research. And she said that, of the entire General Assembly, of everyone in the legislature, it was Clementa Pinckney who was the most engaged. She always -- he always came up to her and said, "Tell me more. I want to know more about the issue." He -- I mean, he sounds as though he had boundless energy.

But I do want to ask you about the flag today, because so many people were calling for this flag that flies over my shoulder, the Confederate flag, to be taken down, even if just for a day, while he was lying in state. But that didn't happen. What do you think of the governor, Nikki Haley's, rationale, saying that she felt, legally, she did not have the authority to take it down for the day?

[06:10:10] WILLIAMS: Well, Alisyn, you and I, all of us understand processes. We all -- we also understand that state governments operate entirely different. In Alabama, the governor has the unilateral authority to remove the flag. It's quite different, because the power really resides in the legislature. And there was a debate about this flag some time ago, and a compromise was reached, and it was moved elsewhere.

But something has awakened in the spirits and the consciousness of people all across this country. You know, I don't want to be a hypocrite, because I have not been an advocate of the flag coming down. I felt that symbols don't hate; individuals hate. Individuals perpetrate crimes.

But even for me, as strong as I felt as a son of the South about that flag, even just out of tribute to the families and the devastation and the loss of lives in one of the most sacred places, the church, where you go and find refuge, you find peace, you find forgiveness, that people could die. And if this flag in any way influenced the mind of that terrorist that committed this heinous crime, it's just removing it to help us toward the process of healing and better dialogue for us to get to know each other, then I say absolutely. Let's move forward with it.

So I think, when you see people changing their minds who may have felt this way last week, something is happening in this country that should have happened a long ago. And it's so sad, Alisyn, that it's taken this tragic death of nine families and a state and a nation that comes to realize that we have got to communicate with each other. We've got to know each other better. We've got to love; we've got to forgive; and we've got to move on. And if that flag is part of that process, yes, remove it, and then do much more in the process.

CAMEROTA: Yes. And you know -- you know, Armstrong, the state legislature has agreed that they will come back this summer to debate it. They might even do so around the Fourth of July, but before that, is there a solution that you'd like to see before that, for instance, this Friday when your cousin's funeral will be held in Charleston?

And as you know, the president and the vice president are coming in to be here. And some have said that this flag should not be flying for that day. Would you like to see Governor Nikki Haley do something outside of the bounds of that process temporarily to take the flag down this week?

WILLIAMS: Alisyn, many of us in the family think it's wonderful that the president and the vice president is coming to South Carolina tomorrow. Because what it symbolizes is that this is a national day of mourning for all of us still trying to gather and understand this madness. That there's still people in the world today with the kind of mentality that, "If I had been in that church, I would have been one of the victims strictly because of the color of my skin, not knowing anything about me, about my character. You just kill people because you have this idea."

I think what we have to celebrate is the fact that, whether the flag is flying tomorrow or not, is that substantial progress has been made. If you look across this country, you look at what is happening, the change that's happening so rapidly, like the Florida and Niagara (ph), you have to celebrate that.

You have to understand, not everything can be accomplished in a week or a day, but at least it is very sobering and very peaceful for us to realize that progress is being made.

So whether that flag flies tomorrow or not should not do anything to make us think that we cannot continue to believe in this great place of America, still that shining city on the hill setting that example. It may not happen tomorrow, but we believe it will happen. And for that, that's good enough for us right now.

CAMEROTA: And Armstrong, we've felt that progress yesterday in this line of mourners waiting to see your cousin. That was a line of love and unity. So here in South Carolina, they are moving forward.

Armstrong Williams, thanks so much for sharing your thoughts on your cousin. And we're so sorry for your loss.

WILLIAMS: Thank you, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Let's get back to Michaela.

PEREIRA: Alisyn, we'll be back to you in South Carolina in a moment, but first quite an emotional day yesterday in Boston. The Boston Marathon bomber breaking his silence, apologizing for the first time for the horrific terror attack. Survivors, however, not necessarily buying his words of remorse as he was sentenced to death. CNN's Deborah Feyerick live in Boston with reaction.

What a day yesterday, Deb.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it really was a very powerful day, Michaela, as these people stood up in court and addressed Dzhokhar Tsarnaev directly, telling him how this bombing had impacted their lives, and most were taken by surprise when the bomber stood up and apologized.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK (voice-over): Sentenced to die of execution, marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev at last broke his silence, telling the court, in his words, "The bombing, which I am guilty of, if there's any lingering doubt about that, let there be no more. I did do it along with my brother."

Dressed in a dark suit and speaking in a heavily-affected accent, the 21-year-old convicted terrorist apologized, saying, "I'm sorry for the lives I have taken, the suffering I have caused, the damage I have done."

To the prosecutors and some victims, his words rang hollow.

[06:15:04] JULIAN: I regret having ever wanted to hear him speak, because what he said showed no remorse, no regret and no empathy for what he's done to our lives.

CARMEN ORTIZ, U.S. ATTORNEY: What I was struck more was by what he didn't say. He didn't renounce terrorism. He didn't renounce violent extremism.

FEYERICK: Amputee Rebecca Gregory spoke defiantly to Tsarnaev. Referring to him in his holding cell, Gregory smiled. "It's so funny that you smirk and flip off the camera," she said. "I feel that's what we're doing to you. When people think back, they won't remember your name or your brothers."

Some victims forgave Tsarnaev. Others, like the parents of 8- year-old Martin Richard, choosing to honor their son's short life by rejecting Tsarnaev's message. "He chose hate. He chose destruction. He chose death. We choose love. We choose peace."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: And the mood inside that court, there was anger. There was grief. There was forgiveness, defiance, and really, the sense that so many people's lives had changed. Some lost jobs. Some relationships ended. Things are different for so many who are in that court now.

Tsarnaev will be sent to Terre Haute, Indiana. He will be the youngest person on Death Row -- Chris.

CUOMO: All right. Thank you very much, Deb. Really emotional words there yesterday. And people wanted to hear from this man; and now they have.

Also breaking overnight, ISIS launching deadly offensives in two Syrian cities. In Kobani, ISIS detonated a car bomb at a border checkpoint with Turkey and killed or wounded dozens. Meanwhile, there have also been heavy clashes reported between Syrian forces in ISIS in the northeastern city of Hasaka, with ISIS detonating at least one car bomb and taking some neighborhoods. PEREIRA: Well, it took months, but a fast-track trade bill is

now on its way to the president's desk. It got just enough votes to pass in the Senate, thanks to a rare alliance between the White House and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. This is a major win for the president's trade agenda, giving him authority to finalize a key trade deal with Pacific Rim nations. Many Democrats voted against it, calling it a giveaway to big business at the expense of American workers.

CUOMO: President Obama making it clear that he's not going to be heckled, at least not in his house.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Americans in...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

OBAMA: Hold on a second.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

OBAMA: OK. You know what? No, no, no, no, no. No, no, no, no, no. No, no, no, no.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

OBAMA: Hey. Listen, you're in my house.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: The interruption was coming from a transgender undocumented immigrant, who is contending that LGBT immigrants are excluded from the immigration debate. The president says in general, he's OK with hecklers, but not when they're in his house.

PEREIRA: And the exchange kind of took a long time. I watched it in its entirety, and I kept thinking that, you know, I was watching the vice president kind of stand there, watching it all kind of happen, unfold. It took a while for the security people to come in and deal with that.

CUOMO: Sometimes, you know, you have to judge each situation by what the threat level is. And then you had all this push-back...

PEREIRA: More of an annoyance level, right?

CUOMO: "It's not his house. It's everybody's house. He is the president."

PEREIRA: You're serving drinks and food, in my house, you don't get to heckle me.

CUOMO: All right. So there's a headline coming out of the manhunt. No, not about finding the two murderers, but there is another prison worker implicated now, under arrest, accused of helping the killers escape. What did he do, and who else is going to be part of this?

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[06:22:58] CUOMO: The two convicts escape, and now we do have an arrest of a second, Gene Palmer. He is a corrections officer, and he has now been charged with multiple felonies, in connection with helping these inmates escape this New York maximum security prison.

Now his arrest comes less than a day after his attorney and the district attorney said that he had no knowledge of the plot. So let's discuss. Matthew Horace is here. He's a former ATF agent and security expert.

Well, knowledge of the plot and then these charges aren't necessarily mutually exclusive. They're saying, "You gave them the meat with the hacksaws in it, and you gave them tools to help work on things in their cell area. And that you may have messed with evidence," which they didn't really reveal the details of yet. How does it size up to you?

MATTHEW HORACE, FORMER ATF AGENT: Well, whether there was knowledge or not, it all represents a part and a partial to the security breach. They're a violence of security policies. They're a violation of internal policies. And he's a part of the problem and not part of the solution.

CUOMO: And there are other D-E (ph) felonies. I mean, for the uninitiated, those are lesser felonies, but they are still significant crimes. He also is charged with misconduct.

The meat with the hacksaw, that's where his lawyer's strongest. He didn't know. Joyce Mitchell is really manipulative. She was always working different scams. He fell prey to that. But how about giving them tools to work on the fuse box in their area to help with their hot plate or whatever other concerns they had?

HORACE: Well, certainly, that's a lack of judgment, but I'm sure, as we'll find out over the next couple of days as the investigation ensues, it's a violation of security policies at any rate. And just remember, because he's being charged now with that doesn't mean that more charges may not be coming as the investigation unfolds.

CUOMO: True, prosecutor's discretion. You can always add. You can remove. You can change when it comes to charges. Do you think there's going to be a bigger story here at some point on when these guys were caught? About what is allowed in supposed maximum conditions?

HORACE: Well, I think that you're starting to see the house of cards start to crumble now, because the investigators are starting to peel away the onion and talk to more people. And as this situation evolves, I think you're going to see more people that are going to be disciplined, suspended, arraigned and possibly prosecuted.

[06:25:11] We all agree that this entire process couldn't have been planned and executed with the assistance of one person, to whit, the main suspect in this case.

CUOMO: Now, to the search. They're obviously dealing with very difficult terrain. It's hard to get anywhere, so it's going to buy guys time if they're hiding there. But they do feel that they have somewhat of a specific area to look.

If it is true that, in hunting cabins, they found hunting-type equipment, weapons or otherwise, how does that change what you do?

HORACE: Well, we have to be more cautious. It changes the lookout. And let's face it: A lot of our information is bent towards public safety. So we went from being these gentlemen, these suspects are dangerous to now being armed and dangerous.

And for the state police and investigators to put that out, there may -- there has to be fairly good information that some guns are missing from some cabins or some homes. And they had to have interviewed all the owners of those cabins and homes up in the area.

CUOMO: What you hear about the resources on the ground, the numbers keep getting bigger and bigger. Is that always good?

HORACE: I think it demonstrates our commitment to be there until the job is done. And you know, in law enforcement, time is on our side. While it may seem like it's taking a long time to the public, we look at other similar cases like the Eric Frein case. He was in the woods for 48 days. Time is on our side to proceed safely, diligently and cautiously.

CUOMO: What you heard so far -- hacksaw blades, screwdrivers and such -- we still haven't heard about the kinds of tools that would have been needed to get through those pipes, right, those steam pipes?

HORACE: We haven't heard it, but it doesn't mean that the investigators aren't aware of it.

CUOMO: But it's not going to be those type -- they didn't do that with a hacksaw. That's your understanding, right?

HORACE: No. Right.

CUOMO: So there's still more to come in terms of who helped them and how that help got there.

HORACE: There's a lot more to come, and as I understand it, the governor's investigative team is on the ground. They're investigating. They're interviewing guards, contractors, prisoners, anybody who would have had access and contributed to the security breach. They will be interviewed. And as the days and weeks and months come along, we will find out more information.

CUOMO: Do you think that, from what you heard from the district attorney and the -- and the attorney for this corrections official. He's going to get more tied up in this? Or do you think this is what his role was, and now there may be others. HORACE: I think that, as the investigation ensues and we peel

back more information from the onion, we're going to find out more information about him, about Ms. Mitchell and about other people involved.

CUOMO: Matthew Horace, thank you very much. To be continued.

HORACE: Great to be here, thank you -- Mick.

PEREIRA: All right, Chris. To the case against the Charleston church gunman, the Justice Department is likely to pursue hate crime charges. We're going to take a look at what that could mean for the confessed killer, ahead.

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