Return to Transcripts main page

New Day

Man Hunt Continue for Two Escaped Fugitives from New York Prison; Prison Worker may be Charged with Aiding Escape of Prisoners; Judge Recommends Charges in Killing of Tamir Rice; Ali Shukri Amin Faces 15 Years in Prison; Jeb Bush Wrapping Up European Tour; Hillary Clinton Speech to Get Personal, Focus on Mother. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired June 12, 2015 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:03] JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A few new details emerging specifically about the trail that these two may have been on. Apparently bloodhounds picked up a scent at a gas station located just about a mile or so away from the prison. They're going to be checking security cameras there to see if they can find any new leads at that point there as well. The theory is that they likely stopped at that gas station looking for food or looking for supplies, may have been gone into the dumpster there as well.

In addition to that the dogs traced their scent probably to an area just about three miles or so away from the prison, the area where we are now, actually a little further down on 374. This is the spot where searchers found an area, a spot where they believe, and we use the word believe, that these two men may have been for a certain period of time. That's where they found those wrappers. That's where they found that footprint as well. The search well underway, but for now these two still very much on the run.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Jason Carroll for us right now. We're also getting a sense of why a prison worker may have felt compelled to help the dangerous pair of convicts escape. It turns out that the relationship between Joyce Mitchell and one convict had drawn complaints before. So the question now is will prosecutors charge her, and if so, when? CNN's Alexandra Field is outside the prison in Dannemora with that part of the story. Good morning, Alexandra.

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. The focus of course is on finding those fugitives, but there are still so many questions about how the prisoners were able to escape here form Dannemora. We have now heard from the Clinton County district attorney. He says it is his intention to charge prison worker Joyce Mitchell at the conclusion of the investigation. She could face felony charges ranging from accessory to escape to promoting prison contraband.

Right now she is working with authorities, answering their questions on a daily basis. She is not represented by an attorney. Authorities say it was her plan to drive the escape car, but she backed out at the last minute. A law enforcement official also says that her cell phone was used to contact some of Richard Matt's associates.

We're now learning about why investigators zeroed in on Mitchell after the escape. We come to know that they had previously investigated reports of some kind to have relationship between Mitchell and the two escapees. The Clinton County district attorney says there was never enough evidence to prove that a relationship existed. But at the conclusion of that investigation David Sweat was removed from the tailor shop.

We also know that Mitchell has told authorities about her rapport with Matt, saying that he made her feel special. At this point Joyce Mitchell's family is speaking out publicly, Alisyn. They're coming to her defense, saying that most of these allegations are simply untrue.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK, Alexandra, thanks so much for all of that. We want to bring in now the host of CNN's "The Hunt" and for host of

"America's Most Wanted," my old friend John Walsh. John, good morning. Great to see you.

JOHN WALSH, CNN HOST, "THE HUNT": Good morning, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: John, we should let people know that you and I worked together for five years at "America's Most Wanted." You of course were there for more than a decade. The show helped capture 1,200 fugitives. You know how to do this. Are you surprised that these two have been able to be on the loose for almost a week?

WALSH: Well, on the 25 years that I hosted "America's Most Wanted," and you were one of my best reporters -- it was a pleasure to work with you -- we did a lot of escapees. And I think people don't realize that about 6,000 people escape from prisons all over the United States in any given year. So we did guys that were out there for a long time.

I remember profiling Eric Rudolph, FBI top 10 fugitive, one of the most wanted men in America. And he was able to stay out there in the woods of North Carolina for five years. So these guys are dangerous. They're very smart. They executed one of the most elaborate prison escapes I've ever seen. They must have been planning it for years. And I think they'll be hard to catch because they are smart.

And there's so many opportunities for these guys to disappear into the vast spaces around them. If they did walk across the border into Canada, there are great places to hide in Canada because there are so many open spaces and the law enforcement community is drawn thin in some of those spaces, although I've done a lot of cases with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. They're great man-hunters. So if they got into Canada, the Canadians will take over and we'll help them.

CAMEROTA: John.

WALSH: Alisyn, I think that they may have made it to a vacation home.

In other words an abandoned home?

WALSH: Yes. Well, a summer home. Several of the fugitives we did on AMW, if you remember, if they were lifers and they just wanted to go on a crime spree, they would try to rape, pillage, hijack cars. I think these guys are planning and hoping that they'll stay out there for a long time.

[08:05:07] So in Vermont very adjacent to this prison, there are lots of summer homes that haven't been opened up yet by vacationers. We had a couple of different guys who holed up for a long time in vacation homes. And the way they got caught was because the neighbors coming to open their homes would see something unusual, maybe a light go off in a camp that they thought people were not in yet for the summer. So they could be holed up. So they could be ready for a long wait.

I think the key and what you learned working for me, Alisyn, was that the public is the key to this. There is a $100,000 reward. So that is incentive to anybody that might be helping these guys. If it's a former inmate or a friend of their, I want to warn them, you ought to do the right thing, because when they got caught, you'll get caught and you'll do five years in a federal prison for aiding and abetting a fugitive.

So the key to this is the public having the guts to make the call. They could call my hotline, people did it for 25 years, 1-866-the- hunt. You could remain anonymous. We caught almost 1,300 fugitives.

CAMEROTA: Absolutely, John.

WALSH: We will guarantee that even --

WALSH: I just want to say, getting the public involved, that's the key. I mean, how many law enforcement thanked us for profiling a fugitive who had been missing for 15 years and then on the night that AMW aired it we caught them.

But I do want to ask you about some new information that we just broke on NEW DAY, or we confirmed I should say on NEW DAY this morning, because we had the district attorney from the local area on who said that the woman inside the prison who was working in the tailor shop did provide these escapees with contraband, presumably the power tools. Now, John, explain how it is possible to transfer power tools to a prisoner inside a prison.

WALSH: Well, I don't think people are surprised that you can get almost anything in prison, number one. There is always that weak link in prison. I've done lots of shows in the past in prisons. And wardens will tell me the prison is full of drugs. They smuggle in pornography, lingerie. There is a weak link in lots of prisons. Prison guards are paid very lowly. And 90 percent of them are professionals and do a great job, but there's always that one that brings things in.

So I'm not surprised they had power tools. I'm not surprised that they did such an elaborate escape. There are guys that have broken out of Alcatraz. There's a guy who broke out of Folsom prison when one of his former cellmates broke into Folsom Prison, dug him a tunnel from the American River outside the prison up into the exercise yard.

So I'm not surprised that they had help on the inside allegedly. I'm not surprised that they had a long time to plan this. It was elaborate and they did a good job getting out.

But again, I want to emphasize, Alisyn, and there is a reward that if you wanted to call the Hunt hotline, police don't answer that hotline. I know a lot of people are afraid of police. They don't want to be dragged into the trial. Or they may know these guys or know somebody that's helping them. We have the ways to get you that reward. You can remain anonymous. A police officer will never talk to you. You just need to give us that tip of where you think these guys are. And I learned over the years, people would call and say I was reluctant to call because it was so inconsequential. The tiniest little tip could break this case.

CAMEROTA: And John, we will put up the number for the hotline. Also CNN, we're just getting information in as you and I are speaking. This is breaking. CNN has confirmed that the woman told investigators, or investigators figured out that Joyce Mitchell provided hacksaw blades to the convicts. So that answers some questions.

And John, you know, it's so funny. We used to have a joke, a private joke at "America's Most Wanted" that I can't count the times that we would write in a script in terms of describing the fugitives that he fancies himself a lady's men. We said it all the time, that fugitives often fancy themselves lady's men. But here once again this guy Richard Matt fancies himself a lady's man and in fact does seem to have had a history of being able to romance women as we're now we're learning the other one may have had this relationship with Joyce Mitchell. What do you make of women having relationships like this with murderers?

WALSH: Well, just think about it. They're conmen. They're sociopaths. Certainly Matt is. He's a terrible sociopath. They con woman. They con lonely women. They con desperate women. They're expert at it. How many crazy women have married people in prison, including Charles Manson. I don't know how many prison escapes we did on "America's Most Wanted" where women aided fugitives that they had never met. They established a relationship online or through mail with a prisoner, helped that guy get out, and almost every single time that prisoner abandoned them.

[08:15:09] It's the manipulation of women by conmen. They've charming. They've got lots of time to work on these women inside the prison or outside the prison. I'm not surprised at all. The sad thing is that she's going to pay an awful price for helping these guys. One of these guys flattered her, played to her weaknesses. They're good at it. They're conmen. They're sociopaths. And they know how to manipulate women. It's really sad, though, because when they get caught, if she did this, she's going to be in big trouble and it will destroy her life.

CAMEROTA: John, do you think that these guys are still together, these two?

WALSH: Well, I think they're smart enough to stay together. Usually prisoners will break out in groups and split up. But I remember when we caught the Texas seven, those guys that escaped from the prison in Texas, they all stayed together. They killed a police officer the first night they got out, broke into a sporting goods store and took 70 weapons.

Everybody said, well, four of those guys are Mexican. Those seven guys are going to split up. They're going to go crazy and the Mexican guys are going to head to Mexico. I really believed they were heading north to Canada. And as it turned out we were right. They were in a trailer park in Colorado posing as Christian musicians. And they were trying to make their way to Canada.

I don't think these guys split up. I think they stayed together. I think they know if they keep a very, very low profile, that this will fall out of the news. If they stay out there another week this won't be in the top of the news. You and I won't be speaking about it. The hunt will scale back down. Resources will need to be deployed other places. The hunt will become expensive. Look at Eric Rudolph. He stayed in those woods in North Carolina for five years. The only reason he came out was his drug dealer died of a heart attack and he was starving to death. And we caught him was an "America's Most Wanted" fan saw him coming out of the woods and eating out of a dumpster. He had lost 100 pounds. But he was able to stay in the woods for over five years.

So these guys I think are just trying to keep a low profile and say, you know what, this search, if we stay out here long enough, they'll scale back this search and it will drop out of the news cycle. Then I would say then they'll probably make their run. I think they're close. I think they're close to that prison. I don't think they got very far.

CAMEROTA: Let's hope that's true. John Walsh, always great to see you. We of course look forward to "The Hunt" being back on CNN next month. Thanks so much.

WALSH: Thank you, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: If you have any informing on the whereabouts of these the escaped inmates contact the U.S. Marshal's tip line at 1-866-336-0102. If you don't have a pen, call 911. Be sure to watch "The Hunt" when it returns to CNN July 12.

ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: Let's switch gears a little bit. A Cleveland judge has recommended charges against police officers in the shooting death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice. The young boy was killed last November at a rec center where he was playing with a pellet gun. CNN's Martin Savidge is joining us live in Ohio with developing this morning. And Martin, what has the community reaction been to this announcement?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So far the community reaction has been watching and trying to discern exactly what did this judge mean and what does it mean going forward? The municipal court judge essentially said there was enough probable cause in his opinion, and this is a nonbinding ruling, but that in his opinion these two officers should be charged in connection with the death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice. In the case of Timothy Loman, that's the officer who fired the fatal

shot, he said there was probable cause for charges of murder, involuntary manslaughter, reckless homicide, negligent homicide, and dereliction of duty. For his partner he said there was enough for probably cause of negligent homicide and dereliction of duty.

However, what the backers of this community activist group had wanted was the arrest of the officers. The judge said he can't do that, didn't have the authority. He said that power still rests with the prosecutor. And that's where this case now goes back to, the county prosecutor. He says, look, I'm not charging anybody. That will be up to a grand jury. And as yet the grand jury has not heard or ruled on this case.

The attorney who represents Timothy Lohman, the officer here, he said all of this has been unfair to his client because they've been made to look bad and yet no ruling by a grand jury. I talked to him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think his life will never be the same. He's a young man, wanted to be a police officer, is a police officer. And depending on who you talk to, everybody has a different version of facts. But the only facts I would rely on right now are what the sheriff's department did. And it's been assassination by innuendo and speculation. And any one of us would suffer under those conditions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: The attorney began that conversation by saying, look, no one has suffered more, of course, than Tamir Rice and his family, and that is a terrible tragedy.

[08:15:07] But the only way to move forward here is with the justice system. And that, he says, requires a grand jury -- Alisyn.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: So interesting the developments there, Martin. Thank you so much.

Well, a Virginia teenager faces up to 15 years behind bars after pleading to recruiting for ISIS. The 17-year-old admitting he helped another person travel to Syria presumably to join ISIS.

CNN's Evan Perez is live for us in Washington.

What to do we know, Evan?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE REPORTER: Good morning, Alisyn.

Well, from honor student to high school drop out to terrorist recruiter for ISIS, 17-year-old Ali Shukri Amin stood in federal court yesterday in Alexandria, Virginia, and pleaded guilty to providing material support to terrorists. He admitted to being a secret is propagandist who wrote a Twitter feed that boasted more than 4,000 followers. Now, even as the FBI investigated him in recent months, he managed to help a friend, 18-year-old Reza Niknejad travel to join ISIS in Syria.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDREW MCCABE, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR IN CHARGE, WASHINGTON OFFICE FOR FBI: While driving with Niknejad to Dulles Airport, Amin provided instructions on where to go once he arrived in Turkey in order to meet up with other ISIL supporters in Syria.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREZ: Amin also told his online followers how to use bitcoin, the virtual currency, to secretly provide money to ISIS. Now, even though Amin is still only 17 years old, he's charged as an adult and he faces up to 15 years in prison. Now, the family attorney says Amin was simply immature and acting out of frustration at crimes committed by the Assad regime in Syria -- John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Evan Perez in Washington, thanks so much.

PEREZ: Thanks.

BERMAN: This morning, Jeb Bush is on the final leg of his European tour. He is in Estonia today. Back here in the United States, the anticipation is building for his presidential announcement. He's essentially been running for months, but it all gets official on Monday.

CNN's chief congressional correspondent Dana Bash traveling with the Florida governor. Dana joins us now live from Estonia.

Good morning, Dana.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And, John, behind me is where Jeb Bush is right now. He's actually having a meeting with some officials here, talking about cybersecurity. This is the NATO Cybersecurity Defense Center. This is a key place where they are kind of on the forefront of figuring out how the keep all of what we do secure all around the world.

So, this is kind of a prime example of the kind of meeting that he has been having along the way all week long in Europe. Talking about things where he can look presidential and comfortable on the world stage. He is well aware of the fact that there have been many a presidential candidate that have come before him even and especially in this cycle who have stepped on some political mine fields while abroad. The fact of the matter is in just two days he is going to be back in his hometown Miami and is going to be giving the most important speech of his political life so far announcing for president.

So, he's trying very hard not to do that particularly as John just mentioned, the fact of the matter is, in just two days he's going to be back in his home town of Miami and is going to be giving his important speech of his political life so far, announcing for president. He is probably going to have to have one night of sleep before he can do that and try to get over that jet lag. It is certainly interesting timing to have this kind of trip beforehand.

But what his campaign is really hoping is that it's kind of a reset moment for him to go back, to make his speech, to go to the early contest states, he'll even be on Jimmy Fallon. They hope he will get some mojo back home -- Ana.

ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Dana Bash reporting, live in Estonia today. Thank you so much.

As she travels with Jeb Bush, we now about a dozen or half dozen of his Republican rivals are now set to make their pitch to big donors this weekend as they all descend on Utah for Mitt Romney's third annual retreat.

And CNN's Sara Murray is joining us live from Park City with the details on this.

Sara, fill us in.

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Well, if you are a Republican running for president, this is the place you want to be to vacuum up some cash. Like you said, about half does Republican presidential candidates or people who are thinking of running for president will be here to make their pitch over the next couple of days to $250 high dollar donors. Today they're going to hear from Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, Florida Senator Marco Rubio, and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.

And this really gives donor an opportunity to kick the tires on these candidates. (AUDIO GAP) activity so you can play flag football with Rubio. You can go skeet shooting with Lindsey Graham. But there are also speeches (AUDIO GAP)

BERMAN: Sara Murray who is in Park City, Utah, where those Republican candidates are meeting at the Mitt Romney retreat. They're going to do hot air balloon rides, I'm told they may go horseback riding and also skeet shooting. I wonder if they're going to do Zumba, because I think that would be good for any candidate to get themselves involved.

CABRERA: Taebo.

BERMAN: That's the Republican side.

[08:20:00] On the Democratic side a huge weekend for the leading contender. Hillary Clinton gives her first big speech in her first big political rally. What will she say? What won't she say? And will she weigh in on the biggest issues?

CNN learning just moments ago that the president's big trade bill could be headed for defeat. Might Hillary Clinton rush in to try to save it? We'll ask with her top adviser next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: That music means something big is about to happen. And tomorrow, the leading presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will hold her first major rally of the 2016 campaign. This is her first big speech in front of a big crowd. And we're told she's going to show a more personal side. What will voters think of that message and that new personal side?

Joining me now to discuss that is the strategic communications adviser and senior spokesperson for Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign, Karen Finney.

Great to have you here with us. So nice to see you always.

All right. Let's talk about this speech, big speech, big crowd --

KAREN FINNEY, HILLARY CLINTON 2016 CAMPAIGN: Yes.

BERMAN: -- big rally, the first one of this campaign for this former secretary of state.

We're told, not a policy speech. She's not going to layout specific proposals.

FINNEY: She'll talk about ideas. But I think what voters want to know and where we want to kind of shift this part of the campaign is to give people a sense of what motivates Hillary Clinton. What have been the forces in her life and the experiences in her life that have shaped who she is and how she thinks about policy, and how she thinks about where the country needs to go?

As you pointed out, it will be personal. You'll hear her talk a lot about her mother. Her mother's experience really had a strong impact on Hillary at a young age in terms of understanding -- her mother was abandoned as a child. And by the grace of God, people came in and were willing to help her mother, believe in her and help her achieve great things.

[08:25:05] And so, I think Hillary realizes, look, kids are vulnerable. If we're not looking for our children, if you don't have the fortune of having someone look out for you or help you, what happens to those kids? That has driven to her to work at the children's defense fund. Looking at kids and families, and that's really driven a lot of her passion.

BERMAN: I saw one analyst noted the speech will be more Rodham than Clinton perhaps.

FINNEY: Yes.

BERMAN: What does it say, though, that someone who has been in public life for a long time, and she's been out there for a long time, decades and decades, what does it say now that she runs for president for a second time, runs for office for a third time, that she's reaching back not to her own past but to her mother's past to find a story that connects with voters?

FINNEY: Well, I think what it says is -- I mean, I've known Hillary Clinton almost 25 years and worked for her for very long time. You know, she's one of the most unknown well-known people. And I say that, by that I mean people think they know a lot about Hillary Clinton. But there's been so much caricature, and so much sort of put on her that is not necessarily about who she is and her values and her beliefs and what motivates her.

And, again, I think when you run for president, that's what people want to know, right, because the ultimate question is, can I trust this person to do what is going to be good for my family and for me and for this country? And I think part of when voters make this decision is having a sense of, OK, I understand what motivates this person. I know where this person is coming from. I get that this person understands my life and my concerns.

BERMAN: You called her one of the most unknown known people.

One of the things that's unknown currently in this campaign is where she stands on one of the big issues to the Democratic Party, the Trade Promotion Authority, the fast track vote. There's going to be a vote today or we thought there's going to be a vote today. Our Jake Tapper reported moments ago that Democratic sources are telling him that there aren't the votes there to pass it.

If it goes down, what would the secretary of state think of that?

FINNEY: Well, she's been very clear about this. She's been asked about -- she has -- I mean, she said a couple of things. She's voted for trade agreements in the past and against trade agreements.

And her sort of test, if you will, on this one has been, she wants to see the final language because she believes it's got to do two things. Number one, she's concerned about these issues of currency manipulation and she's got concerns about, are we protecting workers? And number two, the big question is, our national security. Does it keep America safe?

And I think, you know, given how dysfunctional Congress has been, to say I want to see the final language makes a lot of sense.

BERMAN: Look, in a way, that's a different issue than they're facing today. Today, they're saying should the president have fast track authority? Would Hillary Clinton, where she in the Senate today, and she was once there, would she vote to give him that fast track authority?

FINNEY: I think she would want to see -- see the language. And see, you know -- and be able to then just --

BERMAN: She knows what's in it, though. I mean, she roughly knows what's in it.

FINNEY: Roughly knows what's in it, but saying you roughly know what's in something that could have huge implications in this country, that's not like saying, I want to see where we end up and I want to see what the particulars are, how are we going to ensure that workers are protected, how are we going to ensure against currency manipulation, not just the sort of big idea, OK, yes, check, check, these things are in there. But how are we going to do that matters. BERMAN: Bernie Sanders is running for president against her, saying, I mean, come on, stand up --

FINNEY: And he's in the Senate.

BERMAN: So, the difference here is that he's actually read where the trade agreement stands right now. That's the only difference, you think?

FINNEY: Well, again, I think -- well, that's part of it certainly. I think the other piece of it is, this is where she's coming from on this issue. But I would also point, she's been out on the campaign trail, talking with voters, few have asked her about this. And this is the answer she's given. But you know what, she's heard voters talking about small businesses and family issues, and pay leave.

And one of the things that this ramp up period has given her the opportunity to here what people want to talk about, it's been heroin and opiate addiction, which is a huge problem in this country.

BERMAN: It is to important. We have heard the secretary talk about this. I think it's a very important issue.

I do not think you're going to tell me where the secretary opposes or supports this measure. She certainly hasn't said.

Let's talk about Iraq very, very quickly.

FINNEY: Sure.

BERMAN: Martin Dempsey came out yesterday and said there's going to be a new strategy perhaps, lily pad strategy. A number of small bases, perhaps sending in hundreds more U.S. troops. Would Hillary Clinton support more U.S. troops training Iraqis?

FINNEY: So, her position -- I mean, she support's the president's position on this, which has been that the United States needs to be in the role of training. And this announcement I think is consistent with that from our perspective, from her perspective. But the idea being that the Iraqis ultimately have got to be the ones in the lead.

We can do more to train. We cannot have boots on the ground at this point. So, I think she believes that's consistent with where the president stands and that's what she's agreed with.

BERMAN: Karen Finney, it's great to have you here with us on this important day, because we're getting ever closer to election day. Let's throw up the clock right now, just to tell people how close we are -- 514 days, 16 hours, 30 minutes and four seconds. Practically tomorrow.

Karen, thanks so much.

FINNEY: Great to see you.

BERMAN: We want to hear from you. What do you think about these issues? What do you think about the trade issues right now? Is the secretary saying enough? Use the #NewDayCNN.