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Man Decapitated in France Terror Attack; President Obama's Defining Week; Guard Charged in Killer's Prison Escape

Aired June 26, 2015 - 07:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:32:25] MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Back to our breaking news. The terror attack at a gas factory in southeast France near Lyon. President Francois Hollande confirming a severed head was found reportedly near an Islamist flag. A suspect is now in custody.

The interior minister says now that that person is being investigated for possible radicalization. We also are learning that other accomplices are in custody and that President Obama has been briefed.

Senior European correspondent Jim Bittermann is tracking all the very latest for us, live from Paris.

Jim, what can you tell us?

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Michaela, one of the reasons why President Obama may have been alerted is because this is an American company. The products, based in Pennsylvania, that was attacked around 10:00 local time. Basically, one man - apparently, only one man drove in a car at high speed, crashed through the gates. There was an explosion. There, apparently, were no secondary explosions, but there may have been a fire.

And what is the most chilling detail is that the police investigators in the scene found, in fact, a decapitated body nearby with a head attached to the fence of the factory along with an Islamist's flag and another flag with Arabic writing.

So all the suggestions of terrorism. And both the president and the interior minister in France have confirmed that. The interior minister was just on television just a minute ago and he gave us some more details about the perpetrator. He actually identified him as Yassin Salhi. He said he was from the Lyon area. Reports are saying that he's about 30 years old.

What's interesting is that it kind of points to the difficulty of tracking individuals like this. He was under surveillance from 2006 to 2008 by the interior minister and police. And was dropped from the surveillance rolls after 2008 because he had not shown any kind of radicalization or radical tendencies, and so was not under investigation.

Now, it's a kind of thing that would give investigators a real headache to see someone that they had been basically out of the picture for now seven years, and then all of a sudden springs into action. The police were tracking him before, but they had not been tracking him up to today.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Jim, not at all dissimilar to what we saw with Kouachi brothers who staged the attack at Charlie Hebdo in January. Interesting.

Jim Bittermann in Paris, thanks so much.

Let's get straight "Inside Politics" right now with John King.

Hey, John.

JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR: Busy day, John.

We'll go "Inside Politics" and back to you if there's any more breaking news out of France or elsewhere.

[07:35:00] Good morning, everybody.

With me to share their report and their insights this morning, The Atlantic's Molly Ball, CNN's Jeff Zeleny.

Help me with what we could say is a defining week, certainly a big week in the Obama presidency. He was, after serving, pushed aside a lot for the presidential campaign that's underway, at the center of just about everything.

He used the "N" word in a Podcast to talk about how the country needs to have a better, deeper conversation about race. He said in that same Podcast after six years in office, he's fearless now. He doesn't worry about what he says. He's better at his job. He insists. And he had two huge victories.

He lost a big vote on trade, and they revived it. And he gets a big win for his legacy. Only he needs his own party on the process, but he gets a big win on trade.

And then, yesterday, the Supreme Court says the subsidies in Obamacare are constitutional and the president celebrates.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Five years in, this is no longer about a law. This is not about the Affordable Care Act as legislation, or Obamacare as a political football. This is health care in America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: This is health care in America. And, today, I should note, we have been talking about this morning, he'll be in Charleston as well to give the eulogy to Senator Pinckney. Try to bring the country together. It will be interesting to see whether in that church and in that speech he decides to add some of the pause he thinks he's talked about, like maybe revisiting the gun control conversation. MOLLY BALL, THE ATLANTIC: Absolutely. I mean, I do think we are seeing, you know, in this fourth quarter of the Obama presidency, as he keeps calling it. You do see him a little bit loser at least rhetorically. And you do see a legacy starting to come into view with things like health care.

At the same time, you know, on trade, that certainly something that he would put in that legacy category. But that was something where Republicans did a lot of the heavy lifting. And there aren't a lot of other priorities like that in sight for him.

So I don't think we can look down the road and see a lot of momentum continuing in any sort of concrete way, on any priorities. But, you know -- and confederate flags coming down across the south, there's a sense of maybe moving into a new era on this racial strife, which is also something that certainly Obama would like to be part of his legacy.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: No question. With the Supreme Court and health care, that is now set in stone. That is going to be the central part of his time now. What does this mean going forward for the next year and a half? Probably not much in terms of legislation. Like, no, a big discussion on gun control. No action on gun control, over those things.

But you have to give him, you know, without question, this health care was so controversial. A lot of people said it wouldn't happen. Now, that is cemented in stone.

KING: It's an interesting question, whether he can use the bully pulpit. He probably can't get much done legislatively. But can he use the bully pulpit at a time when you have conflicts in both presidential fields right now. Can he be the one figure at times when people are looking at a political process that's kind of messy right now? And to that point, let's move on.

A brand new CNN poll out of the state of New Hampshire this morning. Some guy named Donald Trump is now in second place in the Republican field.

Now people have -- I just did it again. People have sort of laughed and dismissed Donald Trump. But look at this. Jeb Bush at 16, Trump at 11. And, you know, Senator Paul, Governor Walker, Carly Fiorina are 9,8,6 and so forth. We go down.

And if you've look deeper into the poll, why? Why are people thinking Donald Trump could be a serious presidential candidate? At the moment, they give him the highest marks on handling the economy among Republicans. And I think this is the key point. They are disgusted with politics. And which candidate is not a typical politician? Nearly half of Republican says it is Donald Trump.

They don't trust, they don't believe, even the politicians of their own party. But is this a flash of the panic, if you will, or is this real? BALL: I think what we are seeing is in a Republican field that is so fractured and so poorly differentiated; Trump has a clear brand, where a lot of the other candidates don't.

A lot of the other candidates, sort of, it's a mismatch of where are they on policy. What is their thing? Trump, you know what his thing is. And so I think that that small hard core of Republicans who like that, like that brashness and that, you know, ability to sort of tell people off and be brusque. And, you know, it's very much a sort of protest vote against the political system.

ZELENY: Sure, it's none of the above, right?

(CROSSTALK)

BALL: It's very clear; he's none of the above.

ZELENY: Donald Trump is none of the above among these other guys.

BALL: Absolutely.

KING: So he's the bull in the China shop (INAUDIBLE). He calls people stupid. He calls some losers. It doesn't sound presidential. But at the moment --

BALL: Isn't that what we need to hear in Washington?

(CROSSTALK)

KING: You know what, maybe people think it is.

Let's move on to the Democratic race, because this is interesting, as well. Hillary Clinton was supposed to be it, right? She was it. And Bernie Sanders and Martin O'Malley are going to have a little more fun.

Well, look at our WMUR CNN Poll in New Hampshire. Clinton 43 and Sanders 35. That's hello.

ZELENY: Right.

KING: Now it's early, but that's something where you think in a campaign. And if you look deep at it again, she -- people think she's more experienced. They think she would be the stronger general election candidate. But where Bill Clinton always won was the empathy thing, "I feel your pain." Hillary Clinton, "Which Democrat represents her values?" Sanders beats her by 11 points. "Which Democrats cares most about people like you?" Sanders beats her by 20 points.

ZELENY: That's the biggest problem here now. But, overall, what is happening in this poll is the Elizabeth Warren sort of factor going with Bernie Sanders. The last New Hampshire poll had Elizabeth Warren still in it. She had 20 or so. So he is consolidating the left of that. [07:40:00] So how are they going to tackle this? This is the most interesting. Are they going to go after Bernie Sanders? No, I'm told, that they are not. But she is going to go after the Republicans more aggressively and remind those Democrats that she is a fighter. But they were keeping an eye on that.

I mean, Bernie Sanders is the candidate of the summer. The question is, "Will he be the candidate of the fall and in the next year? He has a lot of support."

KING: What's the question? It seems if you look at the Democrats, without a doubt, they like her. They think she is a substantial figure. They love her.

BALL: Yes. I mean, just in this poll, you know, 75 percent still have favorable feelings for Hillary Clinton. So it's not a case. But there is this antagonism for Hillary that's powering it. It's just that, you know, Democrats' heads may be with Hillary, but their heart is with someone like Sanders who can articulate the grievances.

And the other issue, the issue that he's winning on is takes it to corporations and the rich. And that is what we don't see Hillary doing. Even though she is sounding some of these populist rhetorical notes, she is not going after corporations and the rich. And there's a feeling on behalf of the democratic base that she's a little bit too cozy with power.

KING: A little bit too cozy with power (INAUDIBLE).

Michaela, we should get back to you in New York. Obviously, we'll keep an eye on this as the campaign folds up for a day, I think.

We are going to watch Charleston today. Not just the president, the Republican leadership as well. It will be an interesting day to see the tone and the tenor of the president's remarks and the other leaders as they file out of that church in Charleston.

PEREIRA: This is the moment we've seen before when he really does come alive. He's a great orator. And I think we'll see examples of that today. All of the nation is with Charleston today, to be sure, John. Thank you for that.

Let me promote your show. Let me do that, OK?

KING: I'll take it.

PEREIRA: Alright, here we go. Watch John King and his "Inside Politics" panel break down the very best in political news of the week. That is every Sunday at 8:30 A.M. Eastern.

Obviously, we're going to have more for you on the breaking terror attack in France.

Also another story that we are watching very closely. Twenty-one days after their escape, two convicted killers still on the run. A second prison worker now been charged with helping them to escape. How did the guard develop a relationship with those killers?

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[07:48:35] BERMAN: We have big questions developing in the three-week manhunt for two escaped killers.

So how did prison guard Gene Palmer form relationships with them in the first place?

Joining us now to discus this is former deputy warden to the New York City Department of Corrections, Ed Gavin.

Ed, thanks so much for being with us.

ED GAVIN, FORMER DEPUTY WARDEN, NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS: The pleasure is mine.

BERMAN: So this guy, Gene Palmer, prison -- correctional worker, prison guard, he provided a screwdriver and tools for these to fix a circuit box in the catwalk behind the cells. He took them to the catwalk behind the cells. He was provided with artwork from these prisoners.

I don't know if I'm naive or not, but this sounds bonkers to me that a prison guard would give a screwdriver, among other things to convicted killers.

GAVIN: I agree. I said last night on the Anderson Cooper show that that screwdriver could be used as a weapon. You might as well just have handed them a shank. It's the same thing. Why would you give that to an inmate? We try to control contraband. We don't provide contrabands.

BERMAN: So you agree? This isn't something that's happening all the time. We don't just -- we just don't know about it? This is really highly unusual in suspect?

GAVIN: Well, I think it is. And I would like to talk for a minute about the control and search for contraband and the security protocols that Michaela brought up earlier in the broadcast.

And I don't think they were following the protocols. I mean, the commissioner of correction promulgates a directive. And I just want to refer to security inspections, which page 11. And it directs that the correction officers and the members of the service conduct regular inspections of vents, locks, mechanisms, lights, OK? And the deputy superintendent of the facility shall ensure that this is being done at least once a week.

BERMAN: So whatever Gene Palmer was doing, you're saying, there should have been someone above him who was inspecting his work, who was looking through these cells, who was going into the catwalks and taking a closer look?

GAVIN: Absolutely. There were redundancies built into the system. And these searches should be also conducted. The time should be varied, so as not establish a predictable pattern.

BERMAN: Right. These guys obviously knew when to put the dummies in the beds so that when guards came along, shine the lights on them; they would be there to begin with.

If you are an investigator right now, you have Gene Palmer. You arrested him. He is not out on bail. What questions would you ask him?

GAVIN: I would post this question. "When was the last time did you, Gene Palmer, 27 year vet, steady, honor block officer, when was the last time that you conducted a thorough, detailed search of the cells inhabited by inmate Sweat and inmate Matt?"

And, furthermore, the other -- in my opinion, if one correction officer, just one, in the last 12 weeks did one thorough search, I'm sure they would have detected the breach in the vent and they would have foiled that escape. Common sense isn't very common. But it's always the simplest things first. My father taught me that from the time I was a kid and he is right.

BERMAN: So there was apparently a high level of art dealing going on inside Clinton Correctional, where art from Richard Matt and David Sweat was being given to some of these prison guards, or at least given to Gene Palmer.

Is that unusual or suspicious to you?

GAVIN: Absolutely. It seems to me that inmate Matt is the Salvador Dali of corrections. I mean, painting these surreal impressions, because this whole thing is surreal.

BERMAN: Why would it be a bad idea for a guard to get pieces of art from a convict?

GAVIN: Well, corrections officers and inmates, they are not allowed to have a degree of familiarity. That's undue familiarity. You can't become a friend of the inmate. The inmate's job is to escape. I mean, that's what they are there for. The officer's job is care, custody, control, supervision. It's just that simple. It's basic stuff.

And, you know, if Mr. Palmer did his job in the first place, he never would have allowed that contraband into the facility. That frozen chopped meat containing the hacksaw blades.

I mean, I would have taken that. If a civilian worker gave that to me, I would have taken it. And I would have run it through the metal detector and then we would have arrested her on the spot.

BERMAN: Yes, there's so much going on here.

(CROSSTALK)

GAVIN: It's very simple.

BERMAN: I don't even know where to start here.

GAVIN: Yes.

BERMAN: You know, there's this screwdriver that he knowingly gave him. Then there's also the contraband that was smuggled in the frozen meat. He says he didn't know the hacksaw blade was in there. But, again, had protocols been followed, you don't think any of that would have been able to get in.

GAVIN: Absolutely. It's criminal facilitation, it's plain and simple, on the part of the seamstress, Joyce, and the officer.

BERMAN: Again, thanks so much for being with us. We really appreciate it.

GAVIN: The pleasure is all mine, sir.

BERMAN: Michaela?

PEREIRA: More updates for you ahead here on the terror attack. Details are emerging. The terror attack in France just near Lyon. We'll have details for you, ahead. Stay with us.

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PEREIRA: Alright, ahead here. Continuing coverage for you from France, the south-eastern part of France near Lyon. We bring you the very latest on the gruesome terror attack near Lyon.

Also, we're watching Charleston this morning. It is a city in mourning as it prepares to say goodbye to beloved friend and Reverend Clementa Pinckney. President Obama is heading there. He will deliver the eulogy to them.

BERMAN: And it is Friday here on NEW DAY, where we acknowledge a hero doing real good in the world. So if you know someone deserving that honor, please go to CNNHeroes.com now. Tell us all about him or her or them. Thanks.

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[07:58:10] ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to your NEW DAY. I'm coming to you live from Charleston, South Carolina. Michaela and John Berman are in New York.

The pastor Clementa Pinckney of the Mother Emanuel church that you see behind me will be laid to rest today. And this community is preparing now for the arrival of President Obama to deliver the eulogy. We will have more for you from Charleston shortly.

But, first, we want to get back to New York because we do have breaking news this morning.

PEREIRA: Yes, Alisyn, indeed, we do. A terrorist attack is our breaking news. It is a terrorist attack at a factory, we're told, in southeastern France near Lyon. Gruesome details are emerging. One man has been beheaded. Several other people are injured. Reports say an Islamist flag was found at the scene.

The prime minister, or the prime suspect, rather, is in custody while the interior minister says that that man is being investigated for possible radicalization. Other accomplices also have been detained. We know that President Obama has been briefed following revelations that that factory is run by an American company based out of Pennsylvania. It's called Air Products.

BERMAN: We're getting new developments all morning long in this attack, just a few hours old now.

CNN's Jim Bittermann tracking the developments for us, live, from Paris this morning.

Good morning, Jim.

BITTERMANN: Good morning, John.

In fact, this is going to be a subject of much concern here all throughout the day today, because the president, himself, is rushing back from Brussels. In just about an hour and a half, there's going to be Defence Council meeting, which will include the defence minister, interior minister, prime minister and the president, talking about what further needs to be done here.

The most information we've got both from the president and the interior minister, interior minister saying just a short while ago that the suspect has been identified. His name is Yassin Salhi. He's believed to be in his 30s. He's from the Lyon area, which is about 25 miles away from where this attack took place.