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Private White House Party; Jeb Bush's Presidential Announcement; Manhunt. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired June 15, 2015 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:13]

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: And we continue on, hour two. I'm Brooke Baldwin. You're watching CNN.

We begin with this. Two sociopathic killers who seemingly vanished without a trace, here we are now nearly 10 days after they tunneled out of prison. There are now growing fears that the trail to find them has gone cold.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D), NEW YORK: We don't know if they are still in the immediate area or if they are in Mexico by now. Right? Enough time has transpired. But we're following up every lead the best we can.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Police hoping if this woman helped them get out of prison, just perhaps she has information that could help catch them. Here she is in her stripes this morning.

This is Joyce Mitchell. She was the prison tailor shackled here and facing charges of being an alleged accomplice.

Let's go live now to CNN's Polo Sandoval. He's there in Upstate New York.

And, so, Polo, here we have now, what, police say they have received 870 leads. More and more continue to stream in each and every hour. When is the last credible sighting around that area?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, I think that the main headline there, Brooke, there have been no confirmed sightings, despite those just hundreds of leads that have come in.

And, at this point, sort of the predominant theory seems to be that these two individuals may still be in and around the area here, mainly the wooded area just beyond the checkpoint that we are standing at just outside of Dannemora, New York, just outside of Plattsburgh and Dannemora, New York.

But, still, at the same time, we're also still hearing those reports, Brooke, that investigators continue moving forward with this manhunt, not only in neighboring Vermont, but now over the weekend, law enforcement sources now telling me that they have located at least one family tie to Richard Matt in South Texas along the U.S.-Mexico border.

So, that is further fueling speculation really here on the ground in Upstate New York that these individuals may have slipped out of the net that was set up here just after the escape now 10 days ago, Brooke.

BALDWIN: I know. Hearing the governor of New York use the M-word Mexico, I sort of read that this morning and thought, what?

We have learned a little bit about the meticulous plan. We have talked a little bit about some of the tools apparently Joyce Mitchell helped them procure, but now we're learning they actually -- what did they do, like a dry run before they pulled this thing off?

SANDOVAL: Right.

We're slowly learning more about what Joyce Mitchell had agreed to do in that initial -- at least what she had agreed to do to help these two individuals. And, still, really the questions do surround the possibility that these individuals may have even left the country, as you mentioned there.

We're also learning that one of them, Richard Matt, mainly, have had human smuggling contacts along the U.S.-Mexico border. So, that still begs the question if, after they were able to get that alleged assistance from Joyce Mitchell, potentially able to leave this area in Upstate New York, were they able to head down there into Texas?

So, again, this is all part of a very fluid investigation, but I do have to mention one thing, Brooke, that I think often gets overlooked. And that's just the general mood in this part to country. After 10 days of this, after 10 days of roadblocks, armed officer on every street corner, you would imagine that the people in this -- in these tiny towns are frustrated.

That's not really the case. We have seen all morning long individuals really shaking the hands of officers, which is interesting, and asking if they have found them yet. You're seeing the support for law enforcement. We took a drive just beyond this police barricade earlier this morning. We noticed so many people have actually tied blue ribbons to their mailboxes.

Some of the local media reports shows that that's in support of the nearly 700 to 800 law enforcement men and women that continue standing in the rain, walking through the woods, as a lot of people here, Brooke, are ready for this nightmare to be over.

BALDWIN: Yes. If I knew my local law enforcement was keeping these two convicted killers out of my house, I would be tying a blue ribbon around my mailbox as well.

Polo Sandoval, thank you so much in Plattsburgh, New York. Now new information coming in on those terrifying shark attacks over

the weekend in North Carolina. Two teenagers who both lost an arm in these attacks are now listed in fair condition. The 13-year-old girl and 16-year-old boy were both attacked on the very same beach within 90 minutes of each other.

As this terror was unfolding on the beach, you had 911 operators. They were inundated with frantic phone calls.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

911 OPERATOR: Ma'am, we have gotten several calls and we're getting help on the way. Do you, are any of the fingers completely amputated?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It looks like their entire hand is gone.

(CROSSTALK)

911 OPERATOR: OK.

If you can, just make sure they take a clean, dry cloth and wrap it around the wound and place pressure on it.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A clean, dry cloth to wrap around the wound.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... towel wrapped around her.

(CROSSTALK)

[15:05:03]

911 OPERATOR: OK. Just make -- make sure they press and hold on the end of it to try to control the bleeding. Do not lift the...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They wrapped it.

911 OPERATOR: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They have wrapped a boogie board leash around it to try to stop the bleeding.

(CROSSTALK)

911 OPERATOR: OK. Tell them not to lift anything up. Yes, we have notified our units. We gotten several calls and we have got help on the way.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

BALDWIN: A boogie board leash. Did you hear that? Both of those attacks happened near a popular fishing pier. The victims were both in waist-deep water about 20 yards off the

shore, we're told. But here's the thing. These beaches, they are open. They will remain open, with local officials telling people just to keep your eyes peeled.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS ANSELMO, OAK ISLAND POLICE CHIEF: There's no way that we are going to stop them from going in the water. If they want to go in the water, they go into. I swim in the water? I would swim in the water today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: We just heard from doctors treating both victims. We're told the young girl's family is asking for complete privacy, so the doctors could only speak about the boy.

His surgeon says he came out of surgery fine, he's doing well considering and will have a long recovery.

There is some eyebrow-raising going on today in Washington after President Obama and the first lady hosted a -- quote, unquote -- "secret party" at the White House, one that included performances from both Prince and Stevie Wonder.

CNN senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta joins me from D.C.

I'm assuming you, sir, did not get the invite, if this whole thing was a secret shindig. Why were they throwing the party and what is the White House saying about it?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, they are not saying much.

And, Brooke, this is interesting because, as you know, we get a schedule of events here at the White House and it is curiously absent when you go back and look at the schedule for the White House on Saturday and Sunday. We know the president played golf. We know he went to a dance recital this weekend.

We did not know that he had a party in the East Room of the White House with Stevie Wonder and Prince. But apparently that's what occurred on Saturday night. According to one of the guests there, a television personality on another network by the name of Al Sharpton, he tweeted out that Stevie Wonder and Prince were on the keyboards together at the same time.

And then check out this picture from Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson. He Instagramed a picture of his night here...

BALDWIN: Here we go.

ACOSTA: ... at the White House on Saturday night, looking very dapper there. And so, when we asked the White House today, what's the deal, why

didn't we know about this, why didn't we hear about this party, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said this was a private event hosted by the president and first lady, which begged the question for me, so who is paying for it? Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: You said it was a private function. Does that mean that the president and first lady will be paying for that event with their own funds?

JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Yes.

ACOSTA: And that includes the entertainment, the staff? Who was staffing the event? Was it White House staff? Was it catering staff?

(CROSSTALK)

EARNEST: I don't have all those details for you, Jim, other than to tell you that the president and first lady paid for the event.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Now, Brooke, there were some other questions about what happened on Saturday night, because, according to published reports, one of those published reports being "Page Six" in "The New York Post," said that there were pretty high-rollers at this party from American Express, other big companies around the country, raising the issue of transparency and why the public did not know that potentially there was some lobbying going on at this party with the president and the first lady.

The White House press secretary, during that briefing, when he was asked those questions, said, well, maybe some of us in the press were experiencing a little bit of angst because we were not on the invite list, that essentially we were jealous and that's why we were asking all these questions.

(LAUGHTER)

ACOSTA: But, obviously, when they do an event that big at the White House, we like to know about it.

BALDWIN: Yes, I think you do. I think we all appreciate a little transparency. And Stevie Wonder? Come on.

Jim Acosta, thank you.

ACOSTA: It would have been nice to know about it. You bet.

BALDWIN: Right. Thank you.

Here's something we also now know with regard to that NAACP president, the leader who is accused of faking her race. She says she will never stop fighting for human rights, but we have learned today that she has stopped fighting for her job. She is Rachel Dolezal. She just announced she is leaving her post as president. She announced it on the Facebook page of the Spokane, Washington, NAACP.

You know the story here. She came under fire after her parents came forth saying that Dolezal is white. Her adopted brother told CNN that about three years ago -- quote -- "She told me not to blow her cover about the fact that she had this secret life or alternate identity."

That's from her adopted brother. Today, in her lengthy post on Facebook, she says that the controversy has become a distraction. Let me read part of this for you -- quote -- "And yet the dialogue has unexpectedly shifted internationally to my personal identity in the context of defining race and ethnicity."

With me now, Joshua DuBois, former director at Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships at the White House.

Joshua, welcome back.

JOSHUA DUBOIS, FORMER SPIRITUAL ADVISER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA: Thanks, Brooke. Thanks for having me.

BALDWIN: So, listen, I'm sure you have read it. I read her entire resignation letter.

DUBOIS: Yes.

BALDWIN: What is lacking is, "I'm sorry" and explaining why she did what she did. What do you want to hear from her?

DUBOIS: Well, listen, first, I'm just glad that the most extreme example of culture appropriation probably since Iggy Azalea is finally coming to an end.

(CROSSTALK)

[15:10:05]

BALDWIN: All this Iggy Azalea being brought into this whole...

DUBOIS: Well, that's right.

This woman has had a heck of a weekend. The NAACP has as well. And it's probably time for everyone to take a step back and figure out what just happened here. I think she probably needs to look within herself and figure out what the dynamics are with her family that caused that rupture and also the gap that she has, where just being herself is not enough.

And so hopefully Rachel will be able to step back and process some of those issues moving forward.

BALDWIN: Joshua, why has this story so much a nerve, made people giggle, infuriated people ever since this broke? And then you have as part of this discussion this word transracial. Why do you think this has so resonated? DUBOIS: Two words, Brooke, black Twitter.

There's this enormous cultural force that really hasn't been studied enough. There folks on Twitter who are both wise and humorous. And they have really been driving this conversation. And really what started with Rachel moved to a community sort of reminiscing about things that are important to African-Americans as African-Americans.

It became much larger, but it's driven by the cultural force that is African-Americans on Twitter that I think over and over again, from very serious issues, like issues with police, to lighter issues like this one with Rachel and the NAACP, they seem to be driving conversation. And I think that's something that we need to look at a little bit more.

BALDWIN: We have been talking for months and months just about a lot of stories involving racial issues, black lives matter, marches. And so I think the notion that this woman wants to continue, as she points out on her Facebook post, wants to continue advocating for racial justice, I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing.

I guess my question to you would be, how would you suggest she do that, all the while sort of owning up to her actual ethnicity or race or skin color?

DUBOIS: Yes.

The reality is, you don't have to be African-American to advocate for social justice. I mean, look at the civil rights movement of the '50s and '60s. The folks marching with King in Selma, while largely African-American, also came from diverse races and background and religions, from Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel to Catholic priests and nuns and others walking side by side with African-Americans.

But there was one difference between them and Rachel. And that is they were proud of who they were and they understand and had a -- and brought their own perspective to the table. And so I think that is the distinction. She can speak out for civil rights and she should, but she do it from her own lived perspective, not someone else's.

BALDWIN: From her own truth.

Before I let you go, I just want to play this one sound bite. This is from one of the members of the Spokane NAACP organization, spoke to CNN, saying this group just wants to put this in the past.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KITARA JOHNSON, SPOKANE NAACP MEMBER: People want resolve. That's what they want.

They want some type of closure. They want to hear a statement that is not ambiguous, that is clearly stated what the problem is and what a potential solution could be. The Spokane community is ready to forgive Rachel. We just haven't heard anything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Forgiving, moving on.

DUBOIS: Yes.

BALDWIN: We have now heard from her via Facebook. Perhaps we will hear more.

For now, Joshua DuBois, love having you on. Thank you so much.

DUBOIS: Thanks for having me. Yes.

And now I want to turn to my colleague Fredricka Whitfield joining me Atlanta to address an issue from over the weekend -- Fred.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks so much, Brooke.

Well, Saturday, during a segment on the Dallas Police Department attack, I used the word courageous and brave when discussing the gunman. I misspoke terribly. I misused those words terribly. And I sincerely apologize for making this statement. And I understand now how offensive it was.

And I want to reiterate that in no way do I believe the gunman was courageous or brave.

I sincerely apologize -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Fred, thank you.

Coming up moments from now, we will take you to Miami, Jeb Bush poised to announced he is entering the race for the White House. Obviously, there are challenges, as there would be for many a candidate, for anyone running for the nation's top seat. We're going to discuss the Bush family legacy, how that will play in.

We have an all-star political panel ready to cover this announcement live from Miami.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:18:43]

BALDWIN: "They could be in Mexico by now" -- those words from New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.

You have these two sociopathic killers still on the run. We are now nearly 10 days after they tunneled their way out of that Clinton Correctional Facility, this maximum security prison in Upstate New York, dogs on the trail for Richard Matt and David Sweat, helicopters still scouring all of these woods and farmland, using that heat- seeking technology.

We sent a crew up into a chopper to find out exactly how this crucial part of the search really works.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We can stay up about three hours. We will be doing 130, 140 miles an hour to a call. So, we can get there pretty quick.

For this scenario, we will say that that black Crown Vic was used in an armed robbery. First thing I'm going to do is, when we get to the scene, I'm going to be looking out.

And, OK, I got the car. If someone saw them, said they ran northbound away from the car into the woods. First thing for me during the day, I'm going to be looking out and see if I can spot them with the naked eye right in the back. If they're running, I might pick them up.

During the day, we can use our camera system. This is great for surveillance. And once we get our perimeter set up, and I haven't spotted them yet, that's when I'm going to go to the infrared camera.

[15:20:09]

Now, you see -- start seeing all these little hot spots, these white spots. Now, there's a lot of rocks out there. It might be a little more difficult to start picking things up.

If this was a regular call, we would know, all right, he ran northbound from the car. So we're going to start looking anywhere north from there. Right now, we just picked up the two -- two fugitives. They are just kind of hiding behind the trees.

So, if you're going down that dirt road, you may not see them. Now, you can see from this angle -- let me get back over here -- that that big hot spot right next to it kind of makes it blend in a little bit. You don't -- they don't really stand out very much.

But, again, that's all absorbed the heat from the day. And you can see them behind this little pine tree. The pilot is not really necessarily looking for the bad guy. Now, he might glance out here and there through his scan, but his primary function is keeping the aircraft flying.

This -- our primary concern with this unit is officer safety and catching the bad guys. So, if we can look ahead of them, and we can find the bad guy, especially -- you know, they might be armed. We don't know. Hey, if we got a heat source heading this direction.

It has its limitations. It's not -- it's not X-ray vision. We can't see through things. What it does allow us to do is see better.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: All right.

When we come back, and then there were 11. Jeb Bush minutes from now will be announcing he wants to run for the White House. We have a crew live there in Miami and a massive political panel ready to digest all of this, talk about the competition he faces, the curveballs in the preseason and what's missing there in the Jeb apostrophe logo.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:25:24]

BALDWIN: Key race alert.

Want to welcome our viewers in the United States and all around the world here, live pictures from Miami, Florida, here. Any moment now, Jeb Bush is set to say he is running for president.

We have a massive discussion that is about to get kick-started here. CNN political commentator S.E. Cupp is with me. Former senior adviser to President Obama and CNN political commentator Dan Pfeiffer is live with me. Former presidential adviser to Nixon, Ford, Reagan, Clinton and CNN senior political analyst David Gergen is here, also there in Miami, CNN chief congressional correspondent Dana Bash, fresh off that European tour with Jeb Bush, with us, and CNN chief political analyst Gloria Borger sitting with me here on set.

But let me kick it off with you, Dana Bash, in Miami, because you were just in Estonia with Jeb Bush. And I understand he said to you, "I am Jeb, not George." He wants to try to show his heart a little bit. Tell me about Jeb Bush.

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know what? Perfect timing, because I was just going to tell you that they were doing the prayer, and I didn't want to be disrespectful. But it just ended.

So, I can tell you the answer to that question, Brooke. The answer is that he was very interesting, talking about his family and talking about the fact that my question that I posed to him was that some of his friends had said to me his biggest challenge is coming across as just Jeb, and not just another Bush.

And his answer was: "I'm not Jeb. I'm different from George. I know I have to show my heart." And he said, "I know that I'm an introvert, and I need to kind of explain who I am and what I have done."

And, by all accounts, that's what he plans to do here in the speech which should start in just a couple of minutes, talk a lot about his record here in Florida, talk a lot about what he plans to do, and really emphasize the fact that, as many people in his camp say, he would be the adult in the room, he is somebody who people can trust in the presidency.

But they know that the challenge is getting there, getting people excited about him, getting himself energized, because he told me, look, I'm an introvert and that often comes across as not having fire in the belly. And in this day and age, and with these -- many candidates in the race, you have got to have fire in the belly -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Yes, I was wondering about that introvert comment. We're going to get to that as far as sharing a stage with so many people come debate time.

But, Gloria Borger, let me just turn to you, because he will make now the 11th Republican to throw the hat in the race.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Right.

BALDWIN: Eleven, and I imagine more to come. What has taken him so long?

BORGER: You know, I think, first of all, he's raising a lot of money and there are certain restrictions on you...

BALDWIN: Isn't that really it?

BORGER: ... when you're a defined candidate vs. an ill-defined candidate...

BALDWIN: Right.

BORGER: ... where you can raise money for your super PAC, unlimited amounts. So, yes, it was all about money.

I think the surprise about Jeb has been that a lot of people thought once he kind of indicated that he was really serious in getting in this race that he would take all of the oxygen out of the room, and he didn't do that.

BALDWIN: Like in a good way or a bad way?

BORGER: And he just -- in a bad way.

BALDWIN: Yes.

BORGER: He didn't kind of grab the stage and people gravitated towards him. They said, you know what? We don't want -- a lot of Republicans, you're not conservative enough. We don't want another Bush. That's the last thing we want.

He couldn't distance himself from his brother W. on the war on Iraq and it did not dissuade other candidates from getting in. It's -- other candidates are now getting in. John Kasich of Ohio says, look, I thought he was going to take up all the air, and he didn't.

So, since he's been really on the trail, his unfavorable ratings have gone up. He's got a lot of work to do in the Republican Party. He's in the top tier, but not at the very top, where people expected him to be.

BALDWIN: David Gergen, I think Gloria hit on it as far as distancing himself from his last name.

I mean, when you look at even the logo, which is front and center there where Dana is, Jeb!, what is missing is his last name, Bush.

(LAUGHTER)

DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: There's no doubt about who he is running as.

Well, it's going to be -- he wants to make this Jeb vs. Hillary. And he was the front-runner as he -- a few months ago. But these last few months have not been kind to him.

Even though he had a good trip to Europe, even though he's raised piles of money, far more than anybody else, he's essentially on defense going into today.