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Two Escaped Prison Inmates Still on the Loose; Police Officer Caught on Tape Arresting Teenager Resigns; Buildings on Capitol Hill Evacuated in Response to Bomb Threats; Jeb Bush Slams Putin in Berlin Speech. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired June 10, 2015 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: We have a New York prison worker who is apparently now the focus of the investigation. She tells investigators she planned to pick up the two escapees from the upstate facility after their get-away. But the source says that Joyce Mitchell -- that's the worker's name -- that she got cold feet at the last moment.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK, so it's now day five of this manhunt. Are police closing in on these dangerous fugitives? CNN's team coverage begins with Randi Kaye. She's live in New York. Do they have any clues, Randi?

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Not at this point, though they are still looking this morning. We've already seen the troops out. But let me talk a little bit more about Joyce Mitchell, because we are here at the prison where she works. She's been here since 2010 as an employee. She's married. She lives in Dickerson. And we know that she worked in the tailoring shop here with these guys, these two escapees. That's how she got to know them. She apparently knew them pretty well.

That's why she's being questioned in this case as a possible accomplice. She hasn't been charged, just questioned. We know that she is apparently cooperating with authorities.

We also know that her cell phone was used to make several calls to one of the escapees, colleagues, people that he knew. Several calls were made in recent days. We don't know who made those calls, when they were made, or if she even knew her cell phone was being used.

We also know, as you said, that she was supposed to pick them up. She apparently had a change of heart at the last moment and decided not to. And all of that actually may have sent her into a panic attack and landed her in the hospital on the very day that these guys escaped. Listen to what her son told NBC.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: So these guys were apparently counting on her. So who knows where they are right now or what their needs are without her helping them out there in the field. We know there is some concern they may have headed north to the Canadian border which is about 30 miles from here in the Dannemora from the prison where they escaped. And in that area, we went there yesterday, it's a lot of open areas, as they call it. There are some official checkpoints. But in those open areas you don't need a passport. You don't need any documentation to cross from the U.S. into Canada. I was standing there at one point. I had one foot in the U.S. and one foot in Canada and then I just walked right across the border no questions asked, no documentation needed.

They do have canines units in that area which are searching the trunks of cars as well just to make sure there aren't any guys up to no good in the trunk of those cars hiding out. And they also have video surveillance, which can keep an eye on the border. And Chris, I've got to tell you, we were told by border patrol just yesterday that they picked up using that video surveillance three guys they said were coming from Iraq trying to cross from the New York side into Canada, Chris.

CUOMO: Randi, that's a great point. It's a different story, but the porous nature of that border up north -- we always think about the southern border -- certainly a cause for certain. But hopefully they are one these guys and they get them before that happens. Thank you very much.

So this report that Randi was talking about, two suspicious men that sent police racing to the town of Willsboro about 30 miles from the prison, this is amateur video of what then happened. You see a phalanx of officers basically doing a field comb there. So let's bring in CNN's Polo Sandoval. He's also up there focusing on the manhunt. Do they believe the lead? Is it true about the dogs picking up a scent? How far along are they?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Chris, at this moment we know they're continuing to move forward with this manhunt. That massive search that we saw about 30 miles away from here, it all started with a simple phone call. As an individual was driving within that small town and then saw two suspicious individuals walking down a lonely road in the rain that automatically raised a red flag. So they called police after those two people essentially ran away from them.

A massive response that we saw yesterday as police officers descended on that tiny town, local, state and federal officials on the ground, in the air. At this point we're told that they did not find much. Not only did they search farms and fields, but also surveillance video thank you was shot at some homes and businesses. Also not a whole lot that was discovered there.

I should tell you what we're noticing here, though, is we're beginning to see a few hundred officials now beginning to stage and head back out. Just a few moments ago we saw a small group of correctional officers, again, staging here an area that's essentially serving as their staging area, a command post. We hear the challenges, though, Chris, have been the terrain, for example, just acres of wilderness here.

One thing that is on their side now that it's day five of this search, Alisyn, it's really the weather. They have been going through so much thunderstorms, downpours, even heavy fog. Today, though, obviously a very different situation now that police are going to get back on the ground to try to locate these two individuals. One thing they want people to do is go about their lives, but of course stay extremely alert.

[08:05:04] CAMEROTA: And it looks like if the weather is any indication, today may be their day. Thanks, Polo.

Joining us now is the FBI's former deputy assistant of the counterterrorism division Terry Turchie. He also led the federal task force that captured the Unabomber Ted Kaczynski and the Olympic park bomber Eric Robert Rudolph. Mr. Turchie, thanks so much for being here.

TERRY TURCHIE, FORMER FBI DEPUTY ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, COUNTERTERRORISM DIVISION: Thank you, Alisyn, good morning.

CAMEROTA: It's hard to imagine two more challenging fugitive hunts or more elusive fugitives than Eric Rudolph and the Unabomber. So you have a lot of experience with how to find these guys. What do you make of these two inmates? Do you think that they are smart enough to stay on the loose for long?

TURCHIE: Well, I think they are. I think they could stay on the loose for a few more hours, or maybe a few more days, or may a few more weeks. But I think that what you're seeing there is a massive investigation that's well-organized, that's very integrated. And you made reference earlier to several parts of it. But essentially they're looking at the escape and, of course, interviewing people. And the information that was laid out about Joyce Mitchell, they're trying to determine what she knows and if she had much involvement, if any.

And what they're really want to know is did they have any help after they left the prison. And that goes to the urgency of what they're doing now.

Secondly, they have the nationwide part of this where they're leaving no stone unturned, learning as much as they can about these men's habits and their habits and what comforts and discomforts are, and places they liked and inhabited before.

And then finally they're focused in the immediate search on the tactical aspect off their search in their command post in the area of upstate New York where all of this happened. And the whole purpose of that is to find them, but also to try to seal them off and keep them from getting out of that part of the state.

CAMEROTA: You know there have reportedly been these two legitimate sightings of them. One in just the hours after they popped out of that manhole, somebody thought they spotted them in their backyard. They even had an exchange with them. And then yesterday somebody else 40 miles south of the prison thought they saw two men wandering along the shoulder of a road. This was in a driving rainstorm and at night. Now, what that tell you. Doesn't that tell you that their plan, if they had one, has fallen apart?

TURCHIE: It sure does. And it actually makes me hopeful. The initial sighting where they were approached by a citizen, and if this in fact was them, and they just kind of wanted to get away from there and kind of backed off and left, shows a couple things.

First of all, they weren't aggressive. And that's pretty important I think right now. And secondly, it shows what you said. They most likely after they escaped had no help or the plan that they had fell apart.

The other thing that's interesting about this is it could turn on a dime, and it's about public help. These the cases actually have that fourth dimension. And in the Eric Rudolph case we experienced this every day. You're waiting for that phone call. You're exploring all these leads. You're looking at and assessing everything coming in. And then everything changes instantly when you get that call and you end up in a town like Willsboro.

It's very interesting that, you brought up the idea of all the open space in the woods and forest. These two people, unlike Rudolph and unlike some of the other recent fugitive searches, these people aren't survivalists. So when they get tired, wet, hungry, and everything else, they've got to make another plan. They either need to get a car and get out of there, or they need to get into one of those summer cabins and figure out what they're going to do while they're staying dry. And that's where the public can help by looking at something that might pop out as they occupy a neighborhood cabin that people notice these two guys shouldn't be here.

CAMEROTA: Sure. Now, does it help them or hurt them if they're still together?

TURCHIE: Well, I guess it could be both. It depends on a lot of ways what their intent is. If they want this to end peacefully, it will certainly end peacefully. And hopefully if they're still together, maybe they can help each other kind of reason through that, hey, we've had a run, but it's time to throw it in. And this wasn't what it was cracked up to be. So we'll have to see.

CAMEROTA: I mean, they don't sound like the types that surrender. These are hardened criminals. I mean, the crimes for which they are accused of are just the worst of the worst.

But I do want to ask you about Joyce Mitchell, the woman who allegedly, reportedly was going to help them escape but got cold feet and ended up in the hospital herself with panic attack. What could be her motivation to help two murderers get loose?

TURCHIE: Well, we're not going to really know what her motivation was until much more informing gets out. And we just don't know. I mean, I always am reluctant to speculate on people's motivation. I have been through this before where a fellow named George Nordmann during the search for Eric Rudolph, his name came up. He had been accused of helping Rudolph. But in fact it wasn't quite as dramatic was it was played out to be.

[08:10:07] So I always kind of have brakes on with that. But it's going to be an interesting aspect of this case. I mean, and we'll all find out soon enough. But I think the big thing about her and about the escape aspect of this is what happened after they left. And did they have help. And I think they haven't had any help. And I think that could maximize the chances to find them sooner rather than later.

CAMEROTA: Let's hope you're right and this is just a matter of hours or days. Terry Turchie, thanks so much for being on NEW DAY.

TURCHIE: Thank you, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: If you have any information on the whereabouts about these escaped inmates contact the U.S. Marshals. Here's the number, 1-800-336-0102. If you don't have a pen right now, call 911. Let's go to Christine.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Alisyn, thanks. A Texas police officer turning in his resignation after slamming a 14-year-old girl to the ground and pulling his gun at a pool party near Dallas. The video is now infamous. Let's bring in CNN's Alina Machado live in McKinney, Texas. Alina?

ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine. The officer had been on administrative leave and he decided to turn in his badge even before the investigation was completed. But still some people in the community say that resignation just isn't enough.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHIEF GREG CONLEY, MCKINNEY POLICE: The actions of Casebolt as seen on the video are indefensible.

MACHADO: Police officer Corporal Eric Casebolt seen on that shocking viral video yanking a 14-year-old bikini clad girl to the ground, un- holstering his gun on other teens, and later putting his knee into the girl's back, has now resigned. The Dallas suburb police chief says it's too soon to say whether he'll face charges.

CONLEY: Our policies, our training, our practice do not support his actions. He came into the call out of control, and as the video shows, was out of control during the incident.

MACHADO: This as protests continue over the shocking incident. Some teens at the pool party say the police officer's actions were definitely racially motivated.

ZACH TWA, TEEN AT POOL PARTY: Right when he came, black kids over here, white kids over there, just straight up. We want to see all the black kids because they think we all did something. And the white kids are innocent. You guys can just go and take your phones out.

MACHADO: The local police union has said that teens and adults were trespassing at the privately owned pool and that there were reports of vandalism and fighting in the area when the officers responded. Casebolt's attorney has not responded to CNN's requests for comment.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACHADO: So far we have not heard from the officer himself. And at this point, we're being told that Officer Casebolt will not be speaking to reporters today. But we have learned this morning that his attorney is planning a news conference for this afternoon. So hopefully we'll learn more about his side of the story, Chris.

CUOMO: All right, Alina, always helpful. Thank you very much.

Washington, D.C. is on edge after a series of phoned in bomb threats. The threats were serious enough to cause the evacuation of parts of the West Wing and Capitol Hill, but not serious enough apparently to evacuate the president and the first family. Why? CNN's Sunlen Serfaty live at the White House with the very latest. Sunlen?

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Chris. These two evacuations happened nearly back to back hours apart from each other. Federal officials are now looking to see if they are linked in any way.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SERFATY: Tuesday's White House press briefing was business as usual, until --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need to evacuate the press briefing room now.

SERFATY: -- at nearly 2:00 p.m. in the afternoon in the middle of a live briefing the Secret Service says a bomb threat was called into the D.C. metropolitan police specifically targeting the press room.

Reporters evacuating, camera crews packing up their equipment before bomb sniffing dogs were on the scene. Secret Service officers even covering up the press cameras during the evacuation to protect the agency's investigation tactics. This security scare came hours after a bomb threat was called into the Capitol police targeting an TSA hearing in the Senate office building.

SEN. RON JOHNSON, (R) WISCONSIN: We're clearing the floors, so if you could in an orderly fashion please exit as quickly as possible. Thank you.

SERFATY: The bomb squad sweeping the third floor, the area the caller specifically targeted according to a Senate aide who was briefed by police. After the all-clear, journalists filed back into the briefing room about a half-hour after the evacuation. Josh Earnest peppered with questions.

JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I left the room at the same time all of you did.

SERFATY: After revelations that the president and first family were not evacuated, even though President Obama was in the Oval Office and the first family in the residence at the time.

EARNEST: I have complete confidence in the professionalism of the men and women in the Secret Service to make judgments about what's necessary to keep all of us safe.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SERFATY: And this is of course an ongoing investigation, not only looking at a potential link between these two events but also looking into if there's a broader connection to the spate of recent bomb threats that we've seen against airlines recently in the last few a weeks. Alisyn?

[08:15:08] CAMEROTA: OK, Sunlen, thanks for all of that.

Well, Jeb Bush delivering a speech in Berlin Germany this morning, slamming Russian President Vladimir Putin.

CNN political correspondent Sara Murray joins us with the latest.

Good morning, Sara.

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn.

Yes, Jeb Bush clearly wants to cast himself as someone who is not afraid to take a tough line when it comes to countries like Russia. He had sharp words for Vladimir Putin both in his speech last night, as well as to reporters this morning.

Let's take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEB BUSH (R), FORMER FLORIDA GOVERNOR: Ultimately, Russia needs to be a European country. And ultimately, I think as the deal with Putin, you need to deal from strength. His bully, and bullies don't -- you know, you enable behavior when you're nuanced with a guy like that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MURRAY: Now, Bush may have been speaking in Germany, but he was clearly talking to voters back home in the U.S. who are frustrated with President Obama's foreign policy. After this, he's going onto Poland where he has meetings with political leaders, as well as business leaders there. And he's going to cast himself as presidential, but most importantly not make any mistakes.

Bush has been getting some tough questions about his performance so far, and how he's doing in the polls. In our latest CNN poll, we see Jeb Bush at about 13 percent. So, he's tied right around there with Florida Senator Marco Rubio. But he's not breaking away like some expected he would. His presidential announcement is going to come up next week on Monday.

And in the day after that, he's actually going to be on the "Tonight" show, to make his appeal to younger voters.

Christine, back to you.

ROMANS: All right. Thanks so much for that.

The release of Albert Woodfox, a man who has spent more than four decades in solitary confinement for a crime he has long argued he didn't commitment has been blocked. A federal appeals court now saying Woodfox won't get out until Friday morning at the earliest. He's the last imprisoned member of the "Angola 3", accused of killing a Louisiana prison guard.

Take a look at this video at Arizona. A base jumper leaps off the Superstition Mountains, quickly pulls his chutes. His friend then jumps, pulls his chute to join him. They get tangled, 125 feet above the rocks below, one of the guys winds up landing safely. The other hits this big boulder, left hanging above the ground. He got rescued.

We only show it because he winds up OK.

ROMANS: They're thrill chasers. I know. People watch the video because they love the thrill seekers but it's terrifying.

CUOMO: My grandmother was one of the pioneers of base jumping. No, she wasn't, she wasn't.

CAMEROTA: No, she was not.

This is his hazing of when someone fills in for Michaela.

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: My grandmother, she used to pull off, you know, those long socks --

CAMEROTA: I have good news for you. Chris is leaving right now.

CUOMO: I'm going to go. We have an assignment that I have to get to so I can make the flight. But I will be back.

ROMANS: So you're going to swap us.

CUOMO: During the break, though, so it's not, you know, break the fourth wall.

CAMEROTA: All right. See you tomorrow.

All right. Meanwhile, we do have some more fallout from that Dallas area poll party chaos. The officer who wrestled this teenage girl to the ground has resigned. We will speak with the teenager who organized the party to begin with.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [08:21:57] ROMANS: Texas police officer Eric Casebolt seen in this viral video throwing teenagers to the ground and briefly pulling his gun at a community pool party, he has resigned. That video went viral, sparked national outrage, has been seen more than 10 million times now online.

Joining us now, Tatyana Rhodes, the teenager who organized that pool party and her attorney, Emmanuel Obi.

Nice to see you both of you. Thanks for coming by and talking with us this morning.

Mr. Obi, I want to start with you. We know this man has now resigned, this police officer has now resigned. I want you to listen to what his boss said about his behavior at that pool.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POLICE CHIEF GREG CONLEY, MCKINNEY POLICE: Our policies, our training, our practice do not support his actions. He came into the call out of control. And as the video shows, was out of control during the incident.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Mr. Obi, he was out of control, now he's out of a job. Does that go far enough for you?

EMMANUEL OBI, ATTORNEY FOR ORGANIZER OF TEXAS POOL PARTY: Yes. I think it's an important first step. And I certainly applaud the chief for coming out and making the statements and the acknowledgment. But certainly given the nature of the situation and given his actions, I think that step two would be to look to criminal charges and the possibility of pursuing those.

ROMANS: Let me ask you, Tatyana. What was your reaction when you heard that he resigned his job?

TATYANA RHODES, ORGANIZED POOL PARTY IN MCKINNEY, TEXAS: When I heard that he resigned, as Mr. Obi said, it's a great first step. It's a way to start. That's how I feel about it.

ROMANS: A way to start.

Let me ask you, Tatyana, give us some background of what exactly happened here. All of us are coming in, watching this video. We see one police officer running around, others who are much more restrained. We see a lot of people very upset, kids very upset on this tape.

You organized this pool party. You have a pass to this community poll, and you asked your friend to come to this end of the year pool party. Is that right?

RHODES: Yes.

ROMANS: The strict rules of the community pool is you can have two guests per person at the pool. Were there more people than you expect who came? Was that why some of the residents at the pool were upset?

RHODES: Mr. Obi?

OBI: Christine, I'll take that. I think that the party started off as a cook-out that was scheduled to take place at a park adjacent to the pool. You know, in previous situations, you know, that was permissible. And the rules were never, you know, brought up as a basis for preventing that.

So, you know, regardless of that, you know, I think those are important distinctions. I think the more important issue is that the actions were inappropriate. There was excessive force. We're glad the police department has made that acknowledge.

ROMANS: So, Tatyana, it was a casual cook-out and go for a swim after. You've gone it before. What happened there?

One of the gentlemen who shot the video, the young man who shot the video, he said he heard talk of a confrontation around the pool of white adult women arguing with young people there and using derogatory racial terms and stereotypes.

[08:25:12] Did you see that? Did that happen to you?

RHODES: Yes. In front of the pool, they were stating racial slurs to me and my friends, saying, go back to your section eight homes and cursing us out, saying --

ROMANS: And these were adults?

RHODES: The F-word and things such as that.

ROMANS: Adult women were saying this to you? Were confronting you?

RHODES: Yes, adult women.

ROMANS: What did you say? I mean, it's just not acceptable. What did you say?

RHODES: That's what -- I was basically saying that it's not right. No one should be treated this way. You shouldn't be talking to anyone like that. That's disrespectful.

ROMANS: And that's when things started to spiral downward, you think? That's when those adults asked security to call and get you guys out of the pool?

RHODES: No. That's when the lady attacked me. That's when both of them started to attack me.

ROMANS: So you were physically attacked at the pool?

RHODES: Yes.

ROMANS: By these people?

RHODES: Yes.

ROMANS: Mr. Obi, what about that? What about charges against the women who attacked your client?

OBI: Yes. That's a very important aspect of this case. You know, as Tatyana mentioned, the use of racial slurs, the use of offensive language toward the individuals and my client, and then to escalate that to physical assault, those were very issues and we were working very collaboratively with the police department and make sure they're prosecuted accordingly.

ROMANS: Tatyana, will you ever go back to the pool? Will you go back to that pool this summer?

RHODES: I feel that it's my community. And since I live here, I should be able to go back. I'm not sure I'm ready to go back as of today, but sooner or later.

ROMANS: Your friend on the video who was thrown to the ground by the police officer, how's she going now?

RHODES: She's doing fine. I talked to her, me and my sister, yesterday.

ROMANS: And what did she say?

RHODES: She's feeling better, recovering from the hospital, because she went to the hospital that same day.

ROMANS: Just give me a sense of how this whole thing -- it must be unbelievable that this all happened. This has been viewed 10 million times. The whole world is talking about this pool party that spiraled out of control. What are your thoughts?

RHODES: I feel that everything -- it was a big change for me and my friends and everyone that experienced this. I feel that the -- once you look back at everything, you get a disgust felt. But I feel that this is a change to take advocate change and find a way to make things better.

ROMANS: Tatyana Rhodes, thank you for dropping by and telling us that part of the story today.

Also Emmanuel Obi, her attorney -- thank you sir.

Alisyn?

RHODES: Thank you.

OBI: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: OK, Christine. Well, Pope Francis is preparing for a big meeting with Vladimir Putin.

How will that go? We'll analyze next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)