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Three Prison Executives, 9 Staffers Placed on Leave; Greece Signals It May Accept Bailout Terms; NBC Won't Air Miss Universe or Miss USA Pageants. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired July 01, 2015 - 06:30   ET

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

[06:30:00] STEVE ADUBATO, POLITICAL AND MEDIA ANALYST: -- New Hampshire or do well in New Hampshire.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: You don't get to New Jersey.

ADUBATO: You don't get to New Jersey, because the way the New Jersey primary is set is up so far --

CUOMO: Right. I'm saying theoretically.

ADUBATO: Right now.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Is he popular enough, yes, in his home state?

ADUBATO: You are talking about in a general election, because there is no real primary that matters. Could he win a primary in New Jersey, a Republican primary? Yes.

CUOMO: Against this field, you don't think he would lose to one of the guys who are there right now?

ADUBATO: No, because he still has enough support among Republicans in New Jersey. A general election against Hillary Clinton, by the way, still 40 percent of New Jerseyans in "The Wall Street Journal" poll says they do not trust Hillary Clinton. That's another issue. I still think Christie has problems in New Jersey as well. But New Hampshire is a bigger issue for him.

CAMEROTA: We do need to touch on Hillary Clinton for a second. Let's put up the poll that shows the head-to-head match ups still of Hillary Clinton against some of these people. She is dominant, 13 percent higher than Jeb Bush right now, 17 percent Rubio, 19 percent over Christie and 19 Walker. 25 percent points higher than Trump.

CUOMO: That goes to the point that both Ryan and Steve were making to us, that against Trump, she's even a bigger winner. So, maybe this is about his technique right now, versus his real long term appeal.

CAMEROTA: Steve? Sorry, Ryan, we have to go. Sorry.

RYAN LIZZA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I was going to say, be careful of the head-to-head match ups in a general election. This far out, they don't have a lot of predicted power, because people don't know the Republican candidates, yet.

ADUBATO: The closer you look at Trump, the worse he looks.

CAMEROTA: Ryan, Steve, thank you. We'll see you guys again.

ADUBATO: You got it.

CAMEROTA: Thanks so much.

CUOMO: I miss the clock. We don't have the clock up there, Michaela. What do we have?

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: You miss the clock, 495, I have it here. It's right here.

All right. Ahead here -- there it is. You ask, we deliver.

OK. Still ahead here, 12 employees, including three top executives are off the job at Clinton Correctional Facility. We are going to dig deeper on potential problems inside those walls with someone who used to work there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:35:48] PEREIRA: Major shake up at the Clinton Correctional Facility. Three members of the executive team have been placed on administrative leave. This is all part of the expanding investigation into the prison escape last month by David Sweat and Richard Matt. We're also learning that the two inmates staged a dry run, leaving the night before their actual escape to rehearse it.

CUOMO: Breaking news out of Greece. CNN now learning Greece may accept terms of a bailout offer that it rejected earlier. The prime minister saying now the deal is good so long as it is part of a broader plan to address the country's funding for two years. Now, you remember, Greece went into default on its IMF loans Tuesday, making it the first developed nation to do that.

CAMEROTA: A Ten Commandment monument outside of Oklahoma state capital ordered removed by the state Supreme Court. In a 7-2 vote, the court says it's not constitutional since the monument is using public property to benefit a religion. State Attorney General Scott Pruitt wants the case reheard, arguing the monument is identical to a Texas monument found constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court.

PEREIRA: Ballerina Misty Copeland dancing into the history book. She is now the first African-American female principle dancer for the American Ballet Theater, in the company's 75 year history. The 32-year-old is one of the most visible ballerina's in the world, including an Under Armour ad and dancing in a Prince tour. She once wrote that she feared it would be decades before another black woman rose to her place in the ballet world. If she didn't make it to principle, she would have felt that she had failed. Congratulations to Misty.

CUOMO: All right. So, 12 days to go and no host or home for Donald Trump's Miss USA pageant.

But don't worry, he's blaming everyone else. Miss USA 2005 is going to weigh in on NEW DAY. And her take on this will surprise you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:41:38] CUOMO: Is Trump wrong about Mexican immigrants? You may think it's an obvious question. But the polls have him up. However, his corporate partners think he is wrong. First, Univision and NBC.

Now, Mexico out of the Miss Universe pageant. Officials announcing they will not send a contestant following these controversial comments that Trump made about Mexican immigrants. Now, the Miss USA pageant, which Trump also partially owns, is without a home and a host with just 12 days to the event.

Is this right? Is this wrong? Is it enough? Is it not enough?

Let's discuss. We have anchor and senior Washington correspondent for CNN en Espanol, Juan Carlos Lopez.

Great to have you with us.

And Miss USA 2005, Chelsea Cooley Altman.

First, let me start with you, my CNN brother. Were you surprised these polls that have Trump getting a boost despite what he just said?

JUAN CARLOS LOPEZ, CNN EN ESPANOL: Not at all, Chris. So, these are 14 candidates running for the nomination, and obviously, they have to find a way to stand out.

But I was just watching the promo for "The Seventies", and I see that, I saw Archie Bunker, and I guess one of the things I thought about is it seems that Archie Bunker is running for president with what you heard Donald Trump saying now. He is speaking to a specific group of voters, saying things a lot of people think. It doesn't mean they're right, they're not based on facts. It gets people talking and he's getting people talking.

CUOMO: All right. And now, Ms. Altman, the idea of Donald Trump as a caricature, an exaggerated stereotype, you say people have it wrong, that he's not anti-Mexico, he's not anti-immigrant. Make your case.

CHELSEA COOLEY ALTMAN, MISS USA 2005: Absolutely. You know, Donald Trump has said many times over again, well before this controversy, he was the Mexican people, he's in support of Mexico. There's a lot of things going on right now that he disagrees with. And in reviewing everything he talked about going over the issue, he was talking the issues surrounding the Mexican government, the things we need to do as a country to step and secure our borders with Mexico and the United States.

CUOMO: But when you look at what he said, would you at least take issue with how he said it, they are rapists, they're criminals, and I assume some are good people. If you are coaching him on how to answer the question, would that be the best way to answer?

ALTMAN: You know, when talking about this, he's talking about the problems we have at border control. So, when you have a hoop hole and anything can come in, he's worried about the protection of our country.

So, is he referring to different groups of people that may be lumped in with terrorists and rapists, anyone that wants to do ill will to country? You know, he's talking how the Mexican government is allowing anyone to come across the border that should not be coming across the border, that could be, you know, any cultural background. That's what he did express in the full scope of what he talked about.

CUOMO: Juan Carlos, when you look at the numbers, of course, there is going to be a bad factor that comes over the border, illegally. What do the numbers show about what kind of people come across, how many work and how many fall into the category that Trump put them all in?

ALTMAN: When you look at the numbers, Chris, the immigration from Mexico to the U.S. has been basically zero in the last years because people are going back. There was the economy that wasn't the best. They had better opportunities in Mexico.

You have more people coming in from Central America. We saw an up tick in children coming through the border.

[06:45:00] And, yes, bad people do cross the border. But to make a blanket statement and to throw all immigrants -- because he's been going after Mexico, he's been going after Mexican immigrants, but he's also included immigrants from all over Latin America and all over the world. That blanket statement doesn't make sense. It's not backed by the figures. It just doesn't play right.

I mean, for NBC to drop the Miss Universe and drop other associations with Mr. Trump when they are highly rated, it shows a lot about the consequences of what he said.

CUOMO: You know, and, Chelsea, when you look at your pageant brothers and sisters, and the corporate sponsors taking a different view on this, do you think you are giving your friend, Mr. Trump, the benefit of the doubt too much?

ALTMAN: No, I don't. I have known Mr. Trump for ten years now. It's been an honor to work with him, for him, he's an incredible mentor to have.

And when you look at it in the grand scope, the pageant industry in America alone is huge. There are 4 million pageant attendants that compete every single year in some 700,000 different pageants.

So, you know, I understand that there are people that are upset, they want to sign a petition, but when you look at everything from our end of the spectrum, in the pageant community, there are a lot of people affected by this.

All the contestants just arrived on site to compete for the pageant. Now there is no telecast. In conjunction with that, you are looking at jobs for everyone behind the scenes that take a lot of time and effort to put on a show like this. All of that has been wiped away.

CUOMO: But, Chelsea, he created this. Do you think he should apologize for what he said or at least take it back or say it a different way?

ALTMAN: You know, I think he's made it very clear he supports the Mexican people, he loves the Mexican people. And I think when you look at everything he spoke about, he's talking about a greater issue here.

The issue is border control and illegal immigrants coming to this country. He has no problem with anyone wanting to come and immigrate to America that wants to live out the American dream and make America great again, as what he is so focused on in this presidential run.

CUOMO: I hear you --

ALTMAN: Look at that issue first and foremost, because that's the greater issue at hand. If he stands behind something he believes in, should he apologize?

CUOMO: I hear you, Chelsea, about the principle involved, but that's not what he said and that's not how he said it.

Juan Carlos, let me end with you on this. Do you think Trump should apologize? When he says he's suing Univision and NBC because they are not thinking about the women in the pageant and the lives they're ruining? Isn't that charge properly directed at him? He's the one who created all this.

LOPEZ: He's the one who created them. He says in the media we are distorting what he said.

It's on tape, we just have to repeat it and that's what we've been doing and just hear what he said.

Now, you are entitled to your opinion, but you're not entitled to your own facts. In this case, free speech has consequences. Mr. Trump has offended a lot of people and based on thing that is are not true.

So, he's been in critical situations before. He's dug out of holes before. He can probably find a way to get out of this one.

But right now, you were mentioning, Chris, at the beginning of the segment, he's up in the polls. Whatever is working in the Republican race, let's see if he understands this goes beyond the Republican race and is affecting a lot of people who feel that he is making ignorant comments about a very big group of people who are working hard and living in the United States.

Yes, there are bad people. But you can't make a blanket statement on groups of immigrants in the United States and the way he's been doing.

CUOMO: Given a chance to apologize, he said, no, I am 100 percent right.

Juan Carlos Lopez, thank you very much for giving us.

And, Chelsea Cooley Altman, thank you very much for giving us the other side of this perspective.

ALTMAN: Thank you so much.

CUOMO: Appreciate it.

Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: OK, Chris, that brazen escape from Dannemora prison raising big questions about inside the prison facility. Now, 12 prison staffers suspended. We talked to a former worker about what was going on inside. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:52:47] PEREIRA: Twelve Clinton Correctional workers suspended, including three at the very top as the investigation of the prison break moves forward. The supposed cozy relationships between some guards and inmates under scrutiny now. Are policies in that prison too relax?

We want to talk to retired Sergeant Jeff Dumas who worked in corrections 25 years, many of those years at Clinton Correctional. And he joins us now.

Good morning to you, Jeff. Thanks so much for joining us.

JEFF DUMAS, RETIRED SERGEANT: Good morning, Michaela.

PEREIRA: So, we look at the list of heads that are rolling right now at Clinton Correctional Facility. In fact, I think we have the list, superintendent, deputy superintendent, first deputy superintendent, nine security staff employees.

We know you worked with the superintendent Racette. What do you know about him, when you worked with him? How did he run the prison?

DUMAS: Oh, Mr. Racette did an outstanding job in the security side of things. We had a prior commissioner named Brian Fisher and we had a prior superintendent at the facility and things became very lax as far as the inmates go with more liberties, and more liberal policies for them. And Mr. Racette was brought in to Clinton to clean it up, to make things a little more strict and he did an outstanding job for us.

PEREIRA: OK. So, you know people are going to say, so where is the gap? Something went on here.

DUMAS: Right. Oh, absolutely. But, Mr. Racette is going to be a fall guy. All this is, is a political move to save face. Hey, we are getting rid of all of these people, for right now. But, in a couple months, what you are going to see is those staff members that they just suspended, they are all going to be back to work because they didn't have anything to do with this escape. It's a blanket to try to cover and deflect the actual fault from the policy that is have been given by the department.

PEREIRA: OK. So, then, let's talk about the policies you blame. So, what is the problem, then, at Dannemora, at Clinton Correctional Facility?

DUMAS: Well, it's not only -- Michaela, it's not only Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, it's across the state. You have those same policies in Dannemora at that max as you do in Attica, Auburn and Great Meadow.

[06:55:00] The lack of security or the ease that they want to treat these inmates is what's a detriment to our security.

And all these policies come from Albany and they come from building two, which is basically the command center for the whole state. These are all political appointments and they are policies are what gives the inmates all the leeway that they have.

PEREIRA: So, you think that these two prisoners sort of capitalized on what they even -- I mean, were the prisoners aware the security policies were lax? Do you think they capitalized on that situation?

DUMAS: Oh, absolutely. For example, the light, heat and power, those are inmates, that job are inmates that work on the infrastructure of the facility. So, by that policy of saying we want to teach inmates and we want to use them for their labor because it's cheaper than hiring a civilian to come in and work -- well, now you are showing the inmates the entire layout of the facility.

PEREIRA: Let me ask you a new thing we are hearing about. The FBI is investigating a potential heroin ring inside Clinton that prisoners were using some of the employees were helping supply it, involved in the drug trade. What do you make of that? You are shaking your head, you don't think it existed? You don't witness it? You don't know about it?

DUMAS: Well, yes, I certainly didn't know about it. I think the words heroin ring is a twist. There is heroin -- heroin is the easiest drug to smuggle in. We have combated this for years. So, I don't believe it's a heroin ring. I think the FBI and the I.G., they are speaking to inmates in the correctional facility.

Inmates always have, if they have a bridge to burn with somebody, if they have been caught doing something -- well, now, they are going to say, hey, Sergeant Dumas did this, Sergeant Dumas did that.

PEREIRA: Sure.

DUMAS: That's the way it is. So, now, that they have an opportunity to voice themselves, they are going to play with the FBI. They're going to play with the inspector general's office and things like this are going to get twisted.

PEREIRA: Right.

DUMAS: But there is a significant drug problem in all facilities. But that's because of the openness that the department lets the visitors come in with.

PEREIRA: Jeff, we are going to talk to you more about this. Obviously, this is problem is not going away anytime soon. Jeff Dumas, thanks for joining us here on NEW DAY.

Chris?

DUMAS: Thank you, Michaela.

CUOMO: All right. Mick, we are going to have more details on the prison caper. But we also have another big headline. Trump jumps in the polls. His outrageous comments helping him? We have a major lawmaker who is going to make the test. We're going to test it. So, let's get to it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Authorities now learning more about the duo's escape, which included a dry run the night before they broke out.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A dozen employees at that prison, including three top executives are off the job.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This facility seems to have more problems than a lot of other places.

CUOMO: The White House and Cuba set to simultaneously announce an agreement to restore diplomatic relations.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are going to squeeze every last ounce of progress that we can make as long as I have the privilege to holding this office.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: U.S. officials are very concerned about terror threats and the possibility of an attack over the Fourth of July weekend.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The volume of people radicalized means you have to intervene more quickly.

PEREIRA: Misty Copeland, the 32-year-old Tour de Force ballerina making history.

MISTY COPELAND, BALLERINA: To be an African-American and to be in this position.

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

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: And good morning, everyone. Welcome back to your NEW DAY. There are new details this morning about the New York prison break, including that the escapees did a dry run the night before they broke out.

CUOMO: Now, this comes from Sweat who investigators are saying is portraying himself as the brains behind the plot. Now, was it his intelligence or the lack of it? What is behind 12 staffers now being placed on administrative leave from that prison?

Let's get to our team coverage. We have Jean Casarez and Sara Ganim.

We are going to start with Jean Casarez.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Chris, there is a lot of information coming out. CNN has obtained a photograph of David Matt right after he was shot and we do want to tell our viewers, it is an extremely graphic photograph.

Now, David Sweat, of course, is alive. He is still in the hospital in Albany and he is talking to authorities.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CASAREZ (voice-over): Captured convicted killer, David Sweat, claims he was the mastermind behind the elaborate prison break 26 days ago.

According to district attorney Andrew Wiley, the former fugitive says he and fellow inmate Richard Matt nearly escaped the maximum security prison the night before on their dry run, but decided the first manhole they reached was not secluded enough.

Sweat, telling investigators that Joyce Mitchell was supposed to pick them up and drive to West Virginia before heading to Mexico.

ANDREW WILEY, DISTRICT ATTORNEY: There were occasions where they heard the helicopters.