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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Manhunt for Escaped Killers: New Tip; Pool Party Chaos: Officer Resigns; The War on ISIS: more U.S. Troops to Iraq?; Pope Greets Vladimir Putin. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired June 10, 2015 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:30] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now: the search narrows for the two killers who broke out of prison. This morning, the new tip that has focused the search, and brand new information on how they may have managed their escape.

New developments this morning in the Texas school party that ended with the police officer pulling his gun on unarmed teenagers. What the police officer is doing now.

And the White House with a possible plan, a new plan to take back territory seized by ISIS. Will more U.S. troops be sent to Iraq? We are live with the latest developments there.

Good morning. Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans. It is Wednesday, June 10th. It is 4:00 a.m. in the East and John Berman is on assignment this morning.

Happening now: authorities pursuing a couple of important new breaks -- new breaks in that manhunt for two convicted killers escaped from a maximum security prison in Upstate New York. The first break, a source tells CNN investigators they think a woman who worked with Richard Matt and David Sweat at the Clinton prison facility planned to pick them up after their escape Friday, but source says Joyce Mitchell changed her mind at the last minute and wound up in the hospital suffering panic attacks.

Mitchell's son Tobey rejecting any suggestion she voluntarily helped these inmates, telling NBC News there is no way she was having an affair with one of the men.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOBEY MITCHELL, SON OF PRISON WORKER: She is not the kind of person that is going to risk her life for other people's lives to let these guys escape from prison.

She definitely wouldn't have an affair against my father, and it definitely wouldn't be with an inmate. There's no truth to that.

REPORTER: There is a report out there your mom went to the emergency room with a panic attack. Did that happened? MITCHELL: Yes. She was, in fact, in the hospital that evening. I

don't know the exact details. I just know that she was having severe chest pains and she was concerned about that.

My mom, she worries a lot about everything. I mean, especially with me. People might say no matter what, I wouldn't do that. Well, when you're put in a situation where family members threatened or other family members might be, you know, threatened or at risk, you do a lot of things that you wouldn't think you would do. My family, family always comes first.

REPORTER: Were threats, Tobey?

MITCHELL: I have no idea.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: There is a second break in the case. A witness report of two suspicious men spotted walking down a road in rural Willsboro, some 40 miles south of the prison.

That's where CNN's Jason Carroll picks up the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christine, for several hours, a number of law enforcement were out here on the ground, searching by foot and by air. This after on Monday night, they got a tip that two men were spotted walking around during the middle of a storm in the middle of a street when a car approached, apparently, those two men took off. That set off a lot of red flags. That's also what set off this massive search out here where we are located it's just about 40 miles south of where the prison is located. So you can imagine why this search effort was under way here.

Again, searching by ground, searching by air in terms of the ground search and the property where we are, it's bordered by a train tracks on one side, by a river on the other side. At one point, officers walking shoulder-to-shoulder as they conducted their search throughout the woods. . it wasn't just a search in the woods, but they also checked security cameras, resident security cameras and security cameras from businesses as well. So far, we're told that has turned up nothing.

So, it's going to be another restless day for many residents in this rural area -- Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: It sure will. All right. Jason, thank you for that.

For days now, authorities have been warning just how dangerous Richard Matt and David Sweat are. But, you know, few people understand the threat like Matt's accomplice in a 1977 crime. Lee Bates -- Bates served 15 years for his role in the kidnapping and murder of businessman William Rickerson. Bates told Anderson Cooper he watched Richard Matt brutally beat

Rickerson over a 27-hour period in an unsuccessful effort to get money from the man.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEE BATES, MATT'S ACCOMPLICE IN 1997 MURDER: Torture is probably an understatement because once he -- at different points during the commission of what was the crime there, he used duct tape to tie Mr. Rickerson up. He beat him with anything and everything that he possibly can, a knife sharpener, security device, the club for my automobile.

[04:05:06] He physically grabbed Mr. Rickerson's hands and pulled his fingers back until they snapped, punching him, beating him. Starting from in the house throughout the car ride and then eventually when he opened up the trunk and Mr. Rickerson told him, I'll take you to the money, let me out, and Richard Matt there then said, "I don't believe you, I don't believe you. You've been playing games with me, I don't believe you."

And a fit of rage, he reached into the car, grabbed Mr. Rickerson by his head and snapped his neck in front of me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Bates says he was afraid of Richard Matt then and is still afraid of him now.

A dramatic new development this morning in McKinney, Texas. The police officer at the center of that pool party melee, that police officer pulling his gun on those teenagers, he is stepping down. Protesters have been calling for Corporal Eric Casebolt's badge. They've been calling for his resignation after he drew his gun on those unarmed teens.

The host of the pool party is telling CNN she's happy Casebolt has resigned.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TATYANA RHODES, HOST OF POOL PARTY: I feel he could have done way better, performed better and acted better toward teens in this situation. Just like in the video, his peers were working way better, more appropriately than he was.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Again, he has resigned and his boss saying his behavior there is not defensible.

For the very latest, let's turn to CNN's Nick Valencia in McKinney.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christine, the huge news on Tuesday night was the announcement of the resignation of Officer Eric Casebolt, the officer in question of that viral video posted over the weekend showing him wrestling a young teenage girl to the ground. The police chief of the McKinney police department came out and called his actions indefensible. He said of the 12 officers that responded to the incident on Friday, 11 of them acted appropriately, but Officer Casebolt wasn't one of them.

CHIEF GREG CONLEY, MCKINNEY POLICE DEPT.: Eric Casebolt has resigned from the McKinney Police Department. As the chief of police, I want to say to our community that the actions of Casebolt as seen on the video of the disturbance at the community pool are indefensible.

VALENCIA: This much is clear. We're told that the incident began with the physical altercation between an adult and a young teenager. We're told by one of the witnesses who wasn't within earshot of this but said that others heard it, that it began when an adult started hurling racial slurs at the young black teenagers. Neighbors that spoke to there in the community say that just wasn't the case. One African-American resident in that subdivision where this incident took place on Friday said it was the teenagers that were causing the commotion and that the chaos didn't start until they started hopping the fence.

Now, this has created some division within the community and the case is far from over. Some are asking for charges to be brought against Officer Casebolt -- Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Nick, thank you for that.

The McKinney police dropped the charges against one person arrested following the chaos, 18-year-old Adrian Martin. Again, those charges dropped.

To the war on ISIS now, the White House considering a sweeping new strategy. This White House pan calls for a new military base in Iraq's Anbar province manned by hundreds of U.S. military trainers.

Let's get the latest from CNN's Jomana Karadsheh for us this morning.

Good morning, Jomana.

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine.

U.S. officials are telling CNN that the administration is now considering sending an additional 500 troops to Iraq that is in addition to the more than 3,000 who are already in Iraq right now. And many of these troops are expected to be focusing on training Iraqis. It's unclear what the breakdown would be of these 500, if approved, if they do end up going to Iraq, how many of them will be doing the training. Others may be doing other -- there for other purposes like security, for example, medical help and air support.

Now, U.S. officials are also saying they are considering one of the considerations by the administration, is adding the number of locations for training in Iraq potentially, as you mentioned, in Anbar province. That province, the majority of it is under the control of ISIS where we recently saw those major setbacks take place with the fall of Ramadi into hands of ISIS.

Another consideration that they are looking at is if U.S. troops will be directly training Sunni tribesmen, not arming but training them directly. Of course, the U.S. administration believes that the Sunni tribes in Iraq could play a major role in shifting the balance of the war against ISIS to try and replicate what we saw in 2006 and '07 in the fight against al Qaeda there when the U.S. recruited the Sunni tribes.

[04:10:11] So, these basic things, the military strategy for the United States in Iraq over the past year have really been focused on the air strikes and also training Iraqi forces, Christine. This is something that has been key in the military part of the strategy. But, of course, more needs to be happening on the ground as we have heard from Iraqi officials and also from the U.S. It is not just a military solution there, more needs to happen on the political level as we have seen over the past few months. The group is still powerful. It is still able to go on the defensive and gain fresh territory.

ROMANS: And they're training those Sunni tribes, if not equipping them but training the Sunni tribes, a new wrinkle in that strategy for the White House.

Thank you so much for that, Jomana Karadsheh.

In Washington this morning, the Secret Service and Capitol Police are investigating two separate bomb threats that forced evacuation of a Senate hearing. And in the White House briefing room, reporters were scrambled and moved to a separate building while the Secret Service kept the president and his family in place in the White House.

Officials they covered up TV cameras to protect the methods used to investigate bomb threats. Secret Service officials declined to discuss any possible connection between those two threats, but certainly a hairy afternoon on Capitol Hill yesterday.

Another embarrassing development for the Secret Service. It turns out, dozens of newly hired officers have been assigned to the White House and other sensitive posts without the proper national security clearance. Some of them even having access to classified material. The rush to hire new personnel in the wake of a host of security lapses is being blamed. Secret Service director promising to fix that problem quickly.

Time for an early start on your money on this Wednesday moaning. Asian stocks are lower after one of the world's major equity indexes said it would not include stocks traded in Shanghai and Shenzhen over concerns about China's market restrictions. European stocks and U.S. stock futures are looking brighter.

Good news for job seekers. There are 5.4 million job openings in April. That is a record. This is the most job openings since the government started tracking openings 15 years ago. That means for every available job, every job opening out there, there are fewer than two people looking for work.

This is one of my favorite charts. That number has slowly ticked down from about seven job seekers for every available job during the height of the recession, that was a bad number. Now to fewer than two. That shows a job market that's getting better and better prospect for many of you out there looking for work.

All right. The shocking new security problems at the TSA and the new plan to keep America's airports safe from terrorists. We got that for you, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:15:52] ROMANS: Simply stunning testimony from the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security. John Roth appearing before a Senate Homeland Security Committee, slamming the TSA for a host of shortcomings, including the TSA failure to detect 73 TSA employees who were hired despite being on a federal database of potential possible terrorists.

We get more from CNN's Rene Marsh.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RENE MARSH, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christine, on Capitol Hill, serious questions raised about whether the TSA is capable of protecting the flying public from terrorists. The agency is struggling with low morale, faulty airport screening equipment, officers failing to detect weapons and fake explosives, and inadequate vetting of airport workers.

Now, lawmakers are calling for a complete overhaul of the agency. The TSA was not at this hearing, but the Department of Homeland Security inspector general was. He told lawmakers, quote, "He is deeply concerned about TSA's ability to execute its important mission."

Those are sobering words from the government auditor behind a scathing report, revealing TSA cleared more than 70 people with links to terrorism to work at U.S. airports. The inspector general was also behind the recent covert bomb threat that TSA officers failed miserably at airport checkpoints.

Now, some of the possibilities is more bomb sniffing dogs and better communication between agencies, sharing information about individuals on terror watch lists. We should point out that CNN reached out to TSA for comment but they have not yet responded -- Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Rene Marsh, thank you for that.

We are learning new details this morning about the charges against former House Speaker Dennis Hastert. He emerged from hiding to go plead not guilty Tuesday in federal court in Chicago. The 73-year-old Hastert is charged with structuring cash withdrawals from banks and lying to the FBI about the reason. Prosecutors believe he was buying the silence of a former student to cover up allegations of sexual abuse.

Hastert made 106 withdrawals of less than $10,000 to avoid bank reporting requirements. That's what the FBI says. They say he promised to pay $3.5 million to the person identified in the indictment only as individual A. Hastert has not been charged with sexual abuse.

All right. He will not officially join the presidential race until Monday. But Jeb Bush, he is polishing and showcasing his foreign policy credentials during a three-nation trip to Europe. Bush meeting Tuesday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and urging the country's political leaders to take a tough line for Russia for its aggression in Ukraine. He travels later today to Poland and in Estonia where the focus is expected on the crisis in Ukraine.

A ruling by a federal appeals court uphold some of the toughest limits in a Texas abortion law puts nearly half of the state's remaining abortion clinics at risk of permanently shutting their doors. The three-judge panel ruled Texas can require all clinics meet hospital level operating standards. The decision is expected to take effect in less a month. Abortion rights groups say they plan to appeal to the Supreme Court.

Attorneys for six Baltimore police officers charged in Freddie Gray's death, filing a motion to have prosecutor Marilyn Mosby dropped the charges or recuse herself from this case. They're citing an email sent by Mosby back in March asking police to target the intersection where Gray was arrested with enhanced drug enforcement efforts. Freddie Gray was arrested in April and suffered a fatal spinal injury while being transported in a police van.

In Ferguson, Missouri, a petition to recall the mayor of the troubled St. Louis suburb has fallen short. The country board of election commissioner says the petition was 800 signatures short of the 1,800 need to put the recall of James Knowles before voters. The group behind it has 10 days to gather additional signatures. Ferguson's mayor has been under fire since the Justice Department found a pattern of racially bias policing in that city following the Michael Brown shooting.

[04:20:07] Happening in just hours, the pope is set to meet with Russia's president. Can Vladimir Putin be pressured to pull his troops out of Ukraine? We are live next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: A big meeting today at the Vatican. Pope Francis hosting Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Holy See trying to build relations with Moscow, even as Putin's government is facing increasing isolation on the world's stage.

CNN senior international correspondent Nic Robertson is at the Vatican with more. Nic, do we know what the pope is likely to ask or talk to Vladimir

Putin about?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we understand that Ukraine is very likely to be on the agenda and the plight of Christians in the Middle East. The pope looks to President Putin to help secure and aid in helping the Christians of the Middle East so that will be an important part of this.

The pope is so far refrained from criticizing President Putin and Russia over what is happening in Ukraine. Earlier this year, he described what was happening there as a fratricide. And that really disappointed the Ukraine's 4 million to 5 million Catholics. They wanted the pope to be much stronger. But, of course, the pope tries to be a part of the peace making process, trying to bring an end to the conflict there.

[04:25:02] That is the pope's aim, so undoubtedly that is part of the discussion as well. But three are certainly a lot of people looking at the situation right now. President Putin not attending the G7. He's been excluded from that. He's looking for a place in the world stage, in particular in Europe is meeting today with the Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. And when he comes to meet the pope here, of course, that elevates President Putin on the world stage.

So, something in this for him at the time of isolation, this kind of makes him look back home as if he is doing well. But also the pope, in a way, needs President Putin, the pope wants to unite Christians across the world and, of course, President Putin describes himself as a Christian, a Russian orthodox, to 225 million orthodox Christians around the world, two-thirds of those Russian orthodox.

So, there's a dialogue there that goes back sometime between the Pope Francis and President Putin and that's something likely discussed as well, Christine.

ROMANS: No question the isolation on the world stage. G8 is now G7. Russia kicked out basically. Vladimir Putin kicked out, and now with this high profile reception, I guess, at the Vatican. It should be very interesting. Thank you so much for that, Nic Robertson.

All right. A tip narrowing the search for two killers who made a stunning prison break. That search narrows as we leaned about possible help they may have had in their escape.

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