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Confederate Flag Debate Sweeps South; Police Release Video of Church Massacre Suspect's Arrest; Hundreds of Thousands Without Power After Storms. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired June 24, 2015 - 06:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Take it down! Take it down!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Take it down! Take it down!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Take it down! Take it down!

[05:58:19] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wal-Mart, Kmart, Sears, Amazon and eBay have all decided to stop selling the Confederate flag.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: God help South Carolina if we fail to achieve the goal of removing the flag.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The suspect looks like the subject they're talking about on the news from that Charleston shooting.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: New video showing the arrest of Dylann Roof in North Carolina.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There were jokes, I guess racist slurs, but they were never taken too seriously, until now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: More than 1,000 officers now converging on the tiny rural New York town of Owls Head.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Joyce Mitchell has confessed to investigators that she put hacksaw blades in frozen hamburger meat.

LYLE MITCHELL, HUSBAND OF JOYCE MITCHELL: She said, "Their plan was they want to kill you."

I said, "What?"

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Wednesday, June 24, 6 a.m. in the East. And as you can see, Alisyn is in the South Carolina capitol of Columbia. And the big question there will be, when will that Confederate flag be moved off state grounds? The state legislature did agree, overwhelmingly, to take up the debate, but when? And what's going to happen in as many as six other states with suspect flags?

Let's get to Alisyn -- Alisyn.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: So, Chris and Michaela, I am here in front of the state capitol. And when you're here in Columbia, boy, you can really see this issue in stark relief. Because that is the Confederate flag right over my shoulder. It may be hard to see it, because it's not windy this morning. But it stands right in front of the state capitol every single day. It's behind the Confederate war memorial.

And so it's that position, it's that place of prominence that, of course, has caused so much debate and contention here over the past week.

And CNN's Ana Cabrera has been here for days, following all of the political shifting sands and the difference in attitude in just a few days. Tell us what you've seen.

ANA CABRERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we're really seeing is a movement, right, regarding racism in this country, and that's what this flag controversy really is about to so many who believe that the flag represents a racist mentality that's rooted in history.

But as you pointed out, the flag still stands in front of the state capitol today. So this fight is not over yet.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Take it down!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Take it down!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Take it down!

CABRERA (voice-over): Hundreds of protesters demanding the Confederate flag be removed Tuesday in the wake of the vicious murders at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston.

SEN. PAUL THURMOND (R), CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA STATE LEGISLATURE: Our ancestors were literally fighting to continue to keep human beings as slaves.

CABRERA: Inside, South Carolina lawmakers overwhelming voting to allow a debate on a bill to do just that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Bennett?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Aye.

CABRERA: All except ten lawmakers, digging in their heels, voting against it. And 10 who did not vote.

REP. WILLIAM CHUMLEY (R), SOUTH CAROLINA STATE LEGISLATURE: I think that misuse and the miseducation of the flag has probably pushed it to this point. CABRERA: State Representative William Chumley says we shouldn't let

hate groups dictate how we feel.

CHUMLEY: We're focusing on the wrong thing here. We need to be focusing on the nine families.

CABRERA: Confederate flag images, still prominent in a few states across the country, may soon be no more.

REP. EARL BANKS (D), MISSISSIPPI: People use the flag as a symbol of hatred.

CABRERA: In Mississippi, where the Confederate battle flag is a part of the official state flag, the speaker of Mississippi's state house is calling for it to be removed.

Georgia now weighing a redesign of state-sponsored Sons of Confederate Veterans license plates featuring the flag. But governors in Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia are already saying they'll support pulling the plates from production entirely.

GOV. TERRY MCAULIFFE (D), VIRGINIA: Today, I'm calling for actions to be taken for the removal of the Confederate flag.

CABRERA: This, as eBay, Amazon and Wal-Mart, among other big-name retailers, are banning the flag from their shelves.

DOUG MCMILLON, CEO, WAL-MART: We just don't want to sell products that makes anyone feel uncomfortable. And we felt like that was the case, this was the right thing to do.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: Now, at this point, it's still unclear exactly when the state legislature is going to take up the legislation regarding removing the flag. We did talk with one Republican representative, who introduced a version of this bill. And he tells us that they're likely to focus on it after the Fourth of July.

But today, Alisyn, it's really all about the victims. One of the nine killed, as you know, was state Senator Clementa Pinckney, and today he's going to lie in state inside the capitol rotunda. At this point, though, it's unknown whether the flag will still be flying during that time.

CAMEROTA: Right. Thank you so much, Ana.

Today is a pivotal day here and, obviously, it will be a very intense day here emotionally, as well. So all morning, we will be talking to South Carolinians about how they feel about these issues, and we'll be bringing that to you.

Let's go back to New York -- Chris and Michaela.

CUOMO: We'll be watching for it. We also want to let you know this morning, there's new information. Now police have told us that the Charleston terrorist was arrested without incident. But now, we're getting a first look at the pursuit and 911 call that led police to nab the confessed mass killer.

CNN's Alina Machado has the very latest on that in Charleston. What do we know?

ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Chris, when you look at the video, you get a sense of just how calm Dylann Roof was just hours after he walked into this church and shot and killed nine people.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Confirmed it is the suspect in the Charleston shooting.

MACHADO (voice-over): Newly-released footage from police dash cams, along with 911 dispatch calls, give a fuller picture of the moments leading up to the capture of accused South Carolina mass killer Dylann Roof.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Black Hyundai, white male traveling northbound.

MACHADO: Police were on the lookout for Roof after the killing of nine people inside an historic African-American church last Wednesday. The next day, an officer in South Carolina, some 250 miles away, received a tip from a woman driving to work, saying who spotted Roof partly because of his hair. The officer then called 911.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know it's strange, but I just got a call on my personal cell phone. A lady called a friend of mine and said that she was behind the car matching the description of the Charleston killer. It had a South Carolina tag on it. White male, early 20s with a bowl haircut.

MACHADO: The dash cam shows police closing in, ending the 14-hour manhunt. You can see the moment police ordered Roof to step out of the vehicle, placing his hands on the top of the car. Roof was checked for weapons, but none were found on his body.

However, according to the arresting officer, a search of the car revealed Roof was traveling with a Glock semiautomatic handgun in the backseat.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACHADO: Now, officers found that gun underneath a pillow in the backseat suggesting perhaps that Roof had spent the night in his car following the shooting.

[06:05:07] Meanwhile, a federal law enforcement source tells CNN that Roof purchased that weapon at a gun store in West Columbia, South Carolina, not far from where he lived -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK, Alina, thanks so much for all of that background.

We want to bring in now Bakari Sellers. He's a CNN contributor and former South Carolina state representative.

We want to talk all about what's happening here today. Thanks so much for being with us.

BAKARI SELLERS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Thank you for having me.

CAMEROTA: So when is this flag going to come down?

SELLERS: Well, that's a good question. I think I'm cautiously optimistic about it coming down. There still has to be a vote, but hopefully...

CAMEROTA: But that's the way you think it's going? Because there is still obviously resistance, and some in the general assembly say that they will fight it. But you believe that, ultimately, this flag is coming down?

SELLERS: Well, I think that's the goal. I think that's the way that South Carolina is moving. I think that's the way the world is moving.

I had a conversation with a few legislators yesterday, and we determined that there are two pages in history: the right side and the wrong side. And I think many legislators want to be on the right side of history. We still have a few outliners, even some in my generation. But I do look forward to South Carolina moving into the 21st Century.

CAMEROTA: Today, State Senator Clementa Pinckney will lie in state here. Should Governor Nikki Haley do something? She has it within her power today to take, just temporarily, to take this flag that's over our shoulder down, just -- because there's a loophole in the law.

SELLERS: There is a little gap.

CAMEROTA: It says it can come down for wear and tear. Is that what's going to happen?

SELLERS: You actually caught me off a little bit, because I hope that she perverts the law for only one moment. I hope that, while myself and a few others are escorting our friend's body into the rotunda today at 1 p.m., that that flag is not there. It's very difficult for many of us when he lies in state, 30 yards away from the Confederate flag. So that's my hope. Will she do it? I don't have any insight into that, but that's my prayer.

CAMEROTA: If, ultimately, this flag is removed permanently from the statehouse grounds and goes to a museum, what does that change? How does that change racism in this country?

SELLERS: Well, it doesn't necessarily change racism. But what it does do is begin the discussion. Many people in South Carolina, many people throughout the south, whether or not it's here or Mississippi, we've been -- we've been echoing that chance that we want to have this debate. We want to have this discussion.

In South Carolina, we want to have a discussion about economics. We want to pivot and talk about economics. We want to pivot and talk about the fact that we have a court of shame where children of color go to school where their heating and air don't work, where their infrastructure's falling apart. I literally had a school in my district where the roof -- cafeteria roof fell down.

And these are things that we want to talk about. These are opportunities that we now have. And I think with that flag coming down, we can begin the discussion.

CAMEROTA: You know, I just went over, and I read the inscription on that Confederate war memorial. And this is people's ancestors. They bravely fought for what they believed in at the time. History, you know, has 20-20 hindsight, but at the time, they believed in what they were doing. What do you say to people who say, "This is about the pride of my ancestors"?

SELLERS: Well, I respect that. You have to have respect for that, especially growing up in the South.

However, I can also tell you that my father was shot 60 miles away from here in Orangeburg, South Carolina, in what's known as the Orangeburg Massacre, where 27 other students were wounded and three were killed.

I can also tell you that I understand the history of Jimmy Lee Jackson of the 16th Street Bombing. I can tell you about those nine people who died just on Wednesday.

So yes, while it speaks for history for some, for many of us, those wounds are very real; those wounds are very deep. And my father is 70 years old, and when it comes down, hopefully, maybe he can have a little peace.

CAMEROTA: Bakari, stand by. Thank you for sharing all of that.

SELLERS: Thank you, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Hold on a second. We want to bring in now Ronnie Musgrove, the former governor of Mississippi. He was governor in 2001 when voters decided to keep their state flag with the Confederate emblem.

Governor, thanks for joining us this morning.

RONNIE MUSGROVE, FORMER GOVERNOR OF MISSISSIPPI: Thank you, Alisyn. Pleasure to be with you.

CAMEROTA: Governor -- sorry for the delay, Governor. What do you think about Governor Nikki Haley here in South Carolina coming out and so unequivocally now saying that it's time for the flag to come down?

MUSGROVE: Well, now is a time for healing. Certainly, it is time to retire the Confederate flag. But, if all we take away from this horrible tragedy is that we have done terribly little for inequality in America, then that's not a good sign.

I think it's time to move forward with the discussion that matters. Getting rid of the flag in Mississippi won't end racism. But keeping it shows we're not even going to try.

CAMEROTA: Well, let's talk about Mississippi. Because your state is in a worse predicament, even than South Carolina, because the Confederate emblem is part of the flag. This would require an entire redesign of the flag. This is something that you tried to do, as we said, in 2001, but voters rejected it.

So do you think that today, voters in Mississippi, we're putting up now what the flags look like. That's the proposed flag in 2001, but again, they didn't like that. So do you think today the tide has turned?

MUSGROVE: In 2001 three southern governors addressed the Confederate flag: Hodges in South Carolina, Barnes in Georgia and myself. All three of us had it used as campaign issues against us by Republicans, including Mark Sanford. We all three lost.

If Republicans want to say they're doing something, then address education in the South. Level the playing field. Expand health care. Create opportunity. Then you'll know we're serious about the real problem behind the flag. And that is the issue to address.

The problem of institutional racism has caused us a loss of opportunity all across the South. And that's where we want to get to, is greater opportunity for all of our citizens.

CAMEROTA: Governor, you're making such a good point, that obviously, the flag is just a symbol. But there's real work to be done on the ground. But does that symbol, in your state of Mississippi, need to change first?

MUSGROVE: Well, our state is last in educational achievement, income gap, lack of job opportunity and health care. That's not a coincidence. The flag is a part of it. But the real problem is the attitude it represents.

And we must change the attitude if we're going to move forward and give all of our citizens opportunity. That's the challenge. That should be the goal for all of us as elected leaders, is to provide opportunity for all of our citizens.

CAMEROTA: Former Governor Ronnie Musgrove, thank you for sharing your perspective on the flag in Mississippi, as well as South Carolina and beyond. Nice to have you on NEW DAY.

We'll be talking a lot about this, Michaela, obviously all morning. We have all different perspectives for you as I send it back to you in New York.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right. We will get back to you shortly, Alisyn. Thank you.

But now, we turn to upstate New York where the hunt continues for Richard Matt and David Sweat. They've evaded capture after nearly three weeks on the run. A source tells CNN one of the prison escapees may be barefoot,

apparently leaving behind a pair of boots at a cabin where DNA was found. We are also learning new details this morning about how Joyce Mitchell may have swayed other guards to arrange favors for the convicted killers behind bars.

CNN's Boris Sanchez joins us from Cadyville, New York, with all of the very latest. So many developments for us.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Michaela.

Law enforcement officials are just starting to arrive at this command post about five miles from the Clinton Correctional Facility. They're hoping for better weather today. It's been raining over the past few days, and law enforcement sources told CNN that rain was slowing down the investigation.

As they're getting ready to go out for another day of searching, we're learning more about Joyce Mitchell's involvement in helping these men escape the prison. Law enforcement sources telling CNN that she has admitted to sneaking hacksaw blades inside of frozen hamburger meat.

We're learning that she convinced a guard, Gene Palmer, to pass the meat through inside the prison to Richard Matt without going through a metal detector. That is a violation of prison policy. Palmer's attorney says that his client was duped by Mitchell.

We're also hearing that Mitchell tried to gain favors for these inmates through offering pastries to the guards there at the prison. At one point, she may have even requested that David Sweat's cell be moved next to Richard Matt's.

Some intriguing revelations here. We also got word, as you mentioned earlier, that one of the inmates may be barefoot because of those boots that were discovered inside that broken-into cabin. Investigators are certainly hoping they are getting closer to these men -- Chris.

CUOMO: All right. Thank you very much.

We're going to follow that throughout the morning with new information as well as about what went into the caper to begin with.

But we do want to tell you that parts of the Northeast is waking up to major damage this morning after a round of really strong early summer storms. Some of the weather got caught on video. This guy shooting this, you've got to be careful with these cameras. Want to be close to it. This guy got too close. This is a possible tornado rumbling through Long Beach Island in New Jersey sending debris flying, eventually tossing the guy around, as well.

Now the Midwest is next up, with more severe weather on the way. So let's get to meteorologist Chad Myers with what lies ahead. What do you see? Where is it going, my friend?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Another day of severe weather, Chris, all the way from Nebraska to south of Chicago, right along the same line that we had so much severe weather yesterday. Two hundred reports of severe weather across the country, and here are some of the pictures.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[06:15:05] MYERS (voice-over): Overnight, the supercell storm system that ravaged much of the Midwest with at least nine tornadoes, and injuring a dozen people on Monday, is tearing its way through much of the Northeast. The severe weather knocking out power for thousands across the region. Pennsylvania bearing the brunt of the storm.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It just devastated our backyard, our neighbors. The shingles were blowing off. The trees were falling down.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I grabbed my kids, and I ran in the basement. And it was terrifying.

MYERS: Powerful winds splitting a home in half, the residents still inside, rescued by emergency crews.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've never seen anything like this, as bad as this.

MYERS: And in central Maryland, one driver killed after hitting a tree that fell on the road.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kind of weird-looking up there, isn't it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

MYERS: Storm clouds looming over Boston's Fenway Park, casting an ominous backdrop.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a tornado! Oh, (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

MYERS: In New Jersey, downed power lines and uprooted trees littering the roads, causing numerous collisions and this car to overturn.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MYERS: Now, there's some good news at the end of this tunnel. By the time we get this cold front to go by and really cool us off, a trough is going to change everything across the northeast, shut off the severe weather, guys. And look at the weekend. New York, the high will be 71. We go back to spring for a few days and get out of this muggy mess.

PEREIRA: See, I like that you know how I operate. I always need some good news at the end of this, Chad. Good work.

MYERS: I try.

PEREIRA: Thank you very much.

MYERS: You're welcome. PEREIRA: All right. In other news here, President Obama's fast-track trade deal expected to pass a final Senate vote today. After that, it will -- rather, it will head to his desk for signature. The trade deal passing a key procedural vote in the Senate Tuesday by the slimmest of margins. The fast-track authority President Obama, can negotiate trade deals when Congress won't be able to amend them, only vote them up or down.

CUOMO: To Baltimore now. There's new insight into the death of Freddie Gray. "The Baltimore Sun" obtaining a copy of this autopsy and reporting he suffered a, quote, "high-energy injury to his neck and spine." High-energy injury. That's how the autopsy states it.

Now, they compare it to diving into a shallow pool and says it was likely caused by the police van suddenly stopping. The medical examiners ruling Gray's death a homicide, because he was not restrained with a seatbelt, and officers did not render aid. All of this comes a day after six Baltimore officers pleaded not guilty to charges in Gray's death.

PEREIRA: France will, quote, "not tolerate acts threatening its security." That word from French President Francois Hollande following a WikiLeaks report saying the U.S. spied on him and two of his predecessors. French leaders summoning now the U.S. ambassador for a meeting later today over this report.

The White House, for its part, said it is not now spying on Mr. Holland and would not in the future. However, that statement did not deny spying had taken place in the past.

CUOMO: All right. So it's been almost three weeks now since these two killers escaped from this upstate New York prison. Some people thought he was in Canada and Mexico, maybe somewhere else. Now, he may just be miles away.

And on the investigative side, how do they do this? Stunning new details about just that. Wait until you hear the lengths that a prison employee went to sneak tools to the convicts.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:22:21] CUOMO: Day 19 in the search for those two escaped killers. And here's the latest. A source says prison worker Joyce Mitchell admits putting hacksaw blades into frozen hamburger meat and sneaking it to the inmates. All this as the search heats up. Well, that's one term for it.

Let's bring in Sheriff David Favro of Clinton County, New York.

Sheriff Favro, thank you very much for joining us. The search heating up. I'm probably exaggerating a little bit there. You do have some cause for optimism, because you found the DNA in this cabin. But is there any reason to believe you're close to getting these guys?

SHERIFF DAVID FAVRO, CLINTON COUNTY, NEW YORK: Well, the area that they're in is very rugged. It's very, very dense terrain, very rocky. So it's difficult to move through quickly. With the volume of researchers that we have, we certainly hope we're able to keep them confined into this particular space. I think the enthusiasm and optimism of the officers on the ground definitely is much higher than it has been.

CUOMO: That's good. Good. I feel better reporting that, then.

Let me ask you something. If it's so rugged and so tough, especially for people who aren't accustomed to being there, not just talking about the killers, but your guys, any thought to having hunters from the region and professional trackers come in to help you guys?

FAVRO: I have heard that response a couple different times. And I think that poses a few problems. One is communications, because if you put people that are not law enforcement in these wooded areas searching, and law enforcement comes upon them, now, you're going to have a difficult encounter that could potentially add -- end unfavorably. And we certainly don't want that to occur.

CUOMO: Yes, but you could also just give the guys temporary shields, deputy vests. There's tons of stuff to do to make that easy. It's not like if you have an outsider, you're going to necessarily kill the guy.

FAVRO: It's true. But in this small area, when you can see exactly how dense and mountainous it is, when you see the volume of law- enforcement members that are up there, we're approximately 1,000 members from multiple agencies. I don't think it's the volume of staffing that's the difficulty. It's just the ruggedness of the terrain, easability of being able to hide in literally thousands upon thousands of different areas.

CUOMO: Right. I mean, the concern would not just be more, as you say volume, but it would be better: people who are used to moving that terrain, who know the area because they hunt there or they professionally track. But I'll leave it to you to figure out the best way to do it.

Now, when we hear that frozen chopped meat was used to smuggle it in, that was a shock. But then we learned in this place where they were housed in Clinton Prison, they were allowed to cook their own food. And then we hear the prison guard never ran it through any type of detector.

And Joyce Mitchell says she doesn't think the prison guard knew that there was anything hidden in the meat. Does that make sense to you?

[06:25:05] FAVRO: It doesn't make sense to me, but an awful lot of things certainly can occur. I don't have an awful lot of knowledge on what's going on inside the walls of the state prison. But, as far as our facility goes, you know, it's very difficult for something like that to be able to get through.

CUOMO: You have Joyce Mitchell there. You're the custodian for her. Do -- are you surprised at the timing of what she's been telling authorities, or is it just the timing of how we're learning about it in the media? Because it seems like she's been stringing along the information she's been giving them. Or do you think it's just that how it's being released and that you guys have known all this for some time?

FAVRO: I don't have any direct knowledge of exactly when she told the investigators the information that is now getting out. But I do know with any investigation, you have to be careful of what you actually put out to the public, because it can hinder any future leads from that investigation. And it can also prevent other people that may be involved from speaking up and saying something. So we have to be very careful while that's going on.

CUOMO: All right. Sheriff Favro, we do know for sure that, just as the hunt continues outside, it is also continuing inside. And there certainly will be more developments. Good luck catching these two men. We all are rooting for you to put them back inside where they belong without any injury to any innocents. Thanks for joining us this morning, as always.

FAVRO: Thank you.

CUOMO: All right. Let's go back to Alisyn down in South Carolina for our other big story this morning -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK, Chris, ahead, we'll have more on the Confederate flag controversy. And it's not just happening here in South Carolina, where I am today. Several Southern states are taking up this issue. So how will Republicans navigate all this without alienating their base? Our political panel, next.

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