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Captured Killer Reveals Plan to Escape; FBI Investigating Possible Corruption at N.Y. Prison; Obama to Expand Overtime Eligibility for Millions; Greece on the Verge of Default; New Jersey Man Arrested for Trying to Join ISIS; FBI, DHS Warn of July 4th Terror Threat. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired June 30, 2015 - 07:00   ET

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

SARA GANIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: An examination of his body found blisters on his feet and minor cuts.

[07:00:05] SHERIFF KEVIN MULVERHILL, FRANKLIN COUNTY, NEW YORK: You know, for as intelligent as these guys are, breaking out of a maximum- security prison, evading police for three weeks, Joyce Mitchell was Plan A.

GANIM: Both men were found dressed for the woods. Inside Sweat's bag there were tools, bug spray, maps and Pop-Tarts. Authorities say Matt's body reeked of alcohol. The inmate's DNA initially found inside this cabin, along with an opened bottle of grape gin.

WILLIAM FARMINGTON, FOUND CABIN WHERE INMATES STAYED: There was cooking gear. There was a barbecue. There was beds. It looked pretty well-equipped for a place that far out in the woods.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GANIM: Now, Sweat remains in this hospital here in Albany in serious condition. And he is under heavy security. Both hospital and law enforcement officials watching him. They do expect that he'll be here for a few more days. The district attorney in Clinton County telling CNN that he does intend to charge Sweat with escape, with burglary and any other crimes he may have committed while on the run -- Chris.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: All part of trying to keep the pressure on so they can keep the information flow going. Sara Ganim, thank you very much.

Now, let's turn to the prison they escaped from. The FBI is launching an investigation into Clinton Correctional for possible drug trafficking and other corruption. CNN's Jean Casarez is following that for us. She is at that prison in Dannemora, New York.

Jean, what do we know?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And you know, Chris, we see so many correction officers reporting for work this morning. And the FBI has confirmed with CNN that they have launched an investigation inside that prison to see if, in fact, there is a drug trafficking issue with the inmates. Now the New York solicitor general has had an investigation ongoing

for several weeks now. And they've been talking with employees. And CNN has learned that some of those employees are saying that the inmates are using heroin, and there are issues amongst the employees.

But the question is, are there issues amongst the employees and the inmates in regard to those drugs? And that's what the investigation is going to look at.

And that brings us to the point that Sweat and Matt may have had access to more parts of the prison than other inmates.

Well, while that is going on at the prison, Gene Palmer made a court appearance yesterday. His case will now go to county court. It will go before a grand jury in probably about a month.

This was the first time we have seen him. I sat behind him in court. And his demeanor, he was frozen, stoic. He appeared frightened. And this 27-year-old [SIC] career veteran of the corrections system now a defendant. Truly a sight to see -- Michaela.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Jean, very interesting developments there.

Millions of Americans could soon see a boost in pay. The president working to change rules making more workers eligible for overtime. This as a CNN/ORC poll conducted over the weekend shows that the president's approval rating rising after a week of wins for the administration.

CNN senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta is live for us in Washington. Good morning to you once again.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Michaela.

The White House is setting new overtime rules that will raise the pay of nearly 5 million Americans. President Obama announced the move on "The Huffington Post" last night -- we'll put it up on the screen -- saying, "In this country, a hard day's work deserves a fair day's pay. That's at the heart of what it means to be middle class in America."

Now here's what it means for you. Under the old overtime rules -- let's put those numbers up onscreen -- the -- that extra pay of time and a half stopped at $23,660. Now that threshold will be bumped up to people making up to just over $50,000 a year.

Now, this announcement comes as the president is receiving higher marks for the way he's handling his job. According to our new CNN/ORC poll, the president's approval numbers are on the rise. You see right there 50 percent approve, 47 percent disapprove. That doesn't sound all that impressive, but that is, in fact, his highest number in two years. And just over the last year, you can see the difference.

And one reason why is how he is handling race relations in this country, a big issue in this country since the church massacre down in Charleston and the president's speech there last Friday. The president's now 55 percent in that category, up five points from last month when it was at 50 percent in May.

People are also feeling better in general about race relations in America under the president. Twenty percent say they are better. That's up five points from February. And another big reason for this upward swing for the president is his handling of the economy. Up six points from last month.

The president had a big week last week. That's what everybody has been talking about when it comes to talking about President Obama. And that is clearly showing up in his approval numbers this morning -- Chris.

CUOMO: All right, Jim. Thank you very much.

We want to turn to Greece now. They are hundreds of billions of dollars in the red. They have to make a payment on that debt today. The problem is, Greece cannot make that payment.

CNN's business correspondent, Richard Quest, is live in Athens with the latest. Everybody's saying, will they make the payment. That answer is no, Richard. The real question is, what happens when they don't make the payment? What do you have?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I wish I could tell you with any degree of certainty. But Chris, in the last hour since you and I spoke, there are rumors flying around Athens of potential talks between the Europeans and the Greek authorities.

Now, the Europeans want the Greeks to agree to the various deals. They want the Greek government to say yes in the referendum, all of which has been a big no-no so far.

So whether these talks, these negotiations, these sham discussions, whether they are just a smokescreen for what will be a very nasty evening when default happens, we just don't know. At the moment, what we can say with certainty is that Greece will default tonight, and so far, it doesn't appear there's a deal on the table -- Michaela.

PEREIRA: Uneasiness in Greece and, certainly, in the markets around the world. We'll be watching. Richard, thank you for that.

Back here at home, the FBI says agents have arrested a New Jersey man for plotting to join ISIS. Prosecutors say he planned to join terrorists in Iraq and Syria and even planned to take his brother along. This is just the latest in growing number of ISIS-related arrests on U.S. soil.

Justice reporter Evan Perez joins us now from Washington. It is really concerning. Yet another arrest in New Jersey.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Michaela. This makes nine the number of ISIS-related arrests this month alone in the United States. Alaa Saadeh is a 23-year-old man from New Jersey. He's part of what

can fairly be called a cell of ISIS supporters in the New York City area. At least three other associates have been arrested on other charges including a Queens college student, Munther Saleh, who was plotting to detonate bombs in New York City.

Another friend, allegedly, tried to stab an FBI agent during a search of his home in Staten Island.

Now, this latest arrest, federal prosecutors are charging Saadeh with planning to travel to Syria to join ISIS. Now, he allegedly also helped arrange his brother's travel there in May, and his brother is now under arrest in Jordan.

Now this all comes as U.S. officials raise warnings about possible ISIS terrorist plots in the United States around the Fourth of July holiday -- Chris.

CUOMO: All right, Evan. Thank you very much.

We want to tell you this morning, the death toll is rising in that military plane crash in Indonesia. Now at least 49 people have been confirmed dead, this after a military jet crashed in the city of Medan. The plane went down shortly after take-off in Sumatra. It left from Jakarta earlier today with 113 on board but made two stops along the way. So it's not really clear yet how many people were on board. The cause of the crash is under investigation.

There's also a bill that is requiring vaccinations for California kids in school or day care. That's in the news. It's on the desk of Governor Jerry Brown. The state's legislature approved the bill after a recent measles outbreak at Disneyland. You'll remember this. Remember, it infected about 150 people or more. Opponents say the bill tramples on parental and religious freedoms. Governor Brown has 12 days to decide whether or not to sign the bill.

And Arizona is going to pay $50,000 to the families of each firefighter killed battling that wildfire in Yarnell. Nineteen Granite Mountain Hot Shots died two years ago. Today marks that date. It was the state's worst fire disaster, ever. As part of the settlement, Arizona also agrees to extra safety provisions for firefighters, including better tracking and communication for crews on the ground. That was a big one, Mick.

PEREIRA: It sure was. Two years ago today.

I want to turn now to some more of those details that are emerging now in the capture of David Sweat, spilling secrets about his escape, including that original plan to head to Mexico, leaving Richard Matt behind because Matt was slowing him down.

For insight into all of this, we turn to Lou Haremski. He's the prosecuting attorney during Richard Matt's 2008 murder trial. He's declined to do interviews until now over concerns that Matt would track him down.

Mr. Haremski, I bet you're sleeping a lot more soundly these days.

LOU HAREMSKI, PROSECUTED RICHARD MATT: It's a little more comfortable.

PEREIRA: I imagine it is. My goodness. So tell me, when you first heard that he broke out of prison, what was your reaction?

HAREMSKI: Actually, I wasn't surprised.

PEREIRA: Really?

HAREMSKI: When we were trying the case, and we were prepping for it, he had apparently had plans with someone outside the Niagara County jail to hatch an escape. Given the fact that he had previously escaped from the Erie County Correctional Facility a number of years earlier, it's really in his nature. He's a runner. And I think he's smart enough to take advantage of whatever the situation presents him.

PEREIRA: And the concern was so great that I understand the judge in the case that you were prosecuting made some adjustments to the actual courtroom to make sure there wasn't danger to any of you that were there.

HAREMSKI: Tremendous adjustments. Judge Sperrazza was very proud of the fact that a tremendous restoration of a historic courtroom had just been finished, and the old tables from probably the 1860s had all been refinished. And she wanted them protected. So she had plate glass installed so that the attorneys' briefcases wouldn't do any damage.

And because of Sweat's or Matt's propensities, the plate glass was removed for fear that he might try to break it and use it as a weapon. So that was just one of many things that were done to protect the rest of the community during the trial.

PEREIRA: Since he's been taken into custody, David Sweat spoke of the fact that he sort of left Richard Matt in the dust, because he was slowing him down. One man was 35 years old. Richard Matt was, what, 49 at the time of this escape, et cetera. He was concerned he was going to slow him down. Is this the man that you and others were so very afraid of?

HAREMSKI: Well, it was seven years ago. And obviously, three weeks in the Adirondacks can certainly change one's physical condition.

PEREIRA: That's true.

HAREMSKI: Matt was always viewed as someone who was strong, powerful. He had a lot of resources at his disposal. It's just kind of surprising to me that I figure that Matt was the mastermind to -- for this entire escape.

PEREIRA: That surprised you that it was -- that it was the other way around.

HAREMSKI: Well, I'm not -- well, I haven't seen what Sweat has been divulging to the authorities. So I can't comment on that. But I would have assumed that Matt was the one who really planned this all out and made it happen.

PEREIRA: Put your prosecutor's hat on for a second here, and let's talk about the case now. In terms of the fact that they were able to capture David Sweat alive, how can the prosecution and the investigators use that information? How does it change the course of the investigation now?

HAREMSKI: Well, it certainly gives the authorities an insight into how this was accomplished.

And you know, very candidly, I was surprised at the escape, but I was originally disappointed and to the terms of becoming angry that the Department of Corrections had, you know, pretty much failed in their role.

And I say that because, from the moment the Department of Corrections took custody of Richard Matt, they knew about his history. They had to know. In fact, the day that he was sentenced by the Judge Sperrazza, the Niagara County sheriff insisted that the Department of Corrections take him that day.

PEREIRA: Do you feel more should have been done to secure him?

HAREMSKI: Absolutely. There is no reason that he should have been on an honor block. Prison is prison. It's not supposed to be a nice place to be. And when you -- when we've heard over the last three weeks about the types of accommodations that were given to these two people, particularly given Matt's history, I think it's abominable that this -- that this was allowed to happen.

I think what it was was sort of an institutional arrogance on the part of the Department of Corrections that, you know, Clinton had never been broken out of, so therefore, it's never going to happen.

PEREIRA: Right, right.

HAREMSKI: Matt has, you know, just an attitude. And I'll give you one example. There was a photograph that "The New York Daily News" printed. It was a Polaroid of Richard Matt while he was in the Elmira County Correctional -- or the Elmira Correctional Facility on a previous sentence. And he was wearing a Department of Correction officer's shirt, holding a billy club. He's got his little placard that you would do for a mug shot. And what was written on this Polaroid was something like, "Who says I can't break out of this place?"

PEREIRA: Wow.

HAREMSKI: So there's an attitude with this man that he just wasn't going to be kept caged.

PEREIRA: Are you surprised that more -- that people weren't hurt, that law enforcement or civilians weren't hurt during the three weeks that they were on the run? HAREMSKI: In fact, I am. And that's part of why I'm angry about what

happened, because every one of those thousand police officers that were out there, you know, on this manhunt put themselves, you know, at risk, you know, with someone who ultimately, they found, was armed. It's abominable, in my opinion, that that stuff has happened.

PEREIRA: Lou Haremski, some really, really strong words from you. We're so glad to get a chance to talk to you. As I mentioned, you'll be sleeping a lot easier, knowing that this man is no longer a threat to you or the others that prosecuted him those years ago. Thanks so much for joining us today.

HAREMSKI: You're welcome.

PEREIRA: All right. Chris.

CUOMO: All right, Mick.

[07:15:00] Experts here at home are saying it's more than just the usual chatter. There are some scary terror warnings for this Fourth of July. Is there real reason to worry? We're going to get you answers, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: So, news of the triple terror attacks in Tunisia, France and Kuwait have intelligence officials here at home taking these recent threats they've been getting targeting the July 4th holiday much more seriously.

Let's bring in former congressman, Mike Rogers. He's a CNN national security commentator and former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.

Always good to have you on NEW DAY, sir.

MIKE ROGERS, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY COMMENTATOR: Chris, always good to be here, thanks.

CUOMO: So how do you connect the dots on these? What do you hear about the types of threats that are being received about this weekend and why they should be separated from the norm?

ROGERS: Yes, several factors. We know that ISIS themselves has issued a ruling that said, "Hey, over Ramadan," which we're right in the middle of Ramadan, particularly in the United States, "we want you -- a call to action. We want you to take into your own hands and do a terrorist attack wherever you are: either in Europe, or the United States, wherever it is."

You layer under that that they get a lot of what's called chatter in the intelligence business, meaning they're getting lots of pieces, little bits and pieces of information about an event that will happen, might happen, could happen, trying to inspire it to happen.

You take last night, the attack in Yemen shows that ISIS still has a bit of a reach outside of Syria.

And I think all of those factors lead them to say, listen, something's going on. We don't know exactly where; we don't know exactly what. But they clearly have some intention here to do some type of activity. Let's be extra cautious and make sure people are paying attention. I think that's what you're seeing here for this weekend.

CUOMO: Where are our heads supposed to be on ISIS? Because we keep getting told, you know, they're not really a threat here at home. It's kind of overblown. And maybe, you know, that should be a lens through which we look at to what we do overseas, because they're not such a big risk.

But then we get good information from you that, you know, every FBI field office has an active case about someone on U.S. soil helping ISIS. We keep hearing about arrests and capabilities of lone wolves who may not be so alone after all. That just because you're solo doesn't mean that you're a lone wolf. What's the truth?

ROGERS: Well, I think it's exactly that. So you have a network clearly in the United States that's raised the attention to every single FBI field office, meaning somebody there has communicated everywhere from Los Angeles to Seattle to Miami to Washington, D.C., to New York City. Somebody has at least connected themselves to an ISIS operative overseas. That's concerning, so the FBI has to naturally follow those leads.

What we think is happening is this self-styled attack that has a little bit of coordination. So just because it's one person does not make that person a lone wolf. You can have an operational cell and an attack planned with just one person. And you saw how impactful they were in Tunisia, specifically.

So what they worry about here at home, is can they get enough information and direct that person to a place where they can cause real violence and death and mayhem? And the answer is, simply -- unfortunately is yes, that can happen. And that's what they worry about.

So other intelligence services, Chris -- this is interesting -- have said, "We are -- we're taking water over the bow. We have so many leads. So many people are talking about things that concern us. We don't have the resources to make sure that we're on top of all of them."

When that starts happening and you see how many offices here in the FBI or across the country have these investigations, that's when the law enforcement and intelligence committee start to get a little bit nervous saying we'd better be careful here. We're stretched to the max, and we have lots of information that they really want to pull something off. Doesn't mean they can. Doesn't mean they have an operational decision. But they want to. They're trying to inspire someone to do it. Let's be careful.

CUOMO: And I keep on hearing from your brothers and sisters on the intelligence side that, you know, this is why we were pushing back when you guys were making the changes to what we can do, vis-a-vis surveillance. That's a discussion for another day.

Right now, you were saying that it doesn't mean that they have the ability to pull them off. But are they hearing, as we keep selling here, more than chatter? Do they believe that there could be something afoot this weekend, that people should be on edge, should be hyperaware, with the "see something, say something"?

ROGERS: You know, I don't -- if they had something very, very specific, we would all know about it. They don't have that. They don't have someone send --- picking up the phone or sending an e-mail or sending a written message to somebody that might be cooperating with the intelligence service, "Hey, we're going to do this attack. We have an operator who's ready to go. All's we have to give them the signal, and it's in, you know, fill-in-the-blank place in the United States." I don't believe they have that much acuity.

But what they do have, Chris, is a lot of the folks that they would watch for signs that there might be an operational activity. And they are seeing those -- those pieces of information are active, meaning they're having these conversations. They're talking to other people. They might not be able to know what, but they know that that normally means, "Hey, there's going to be some activity."

And ISIS, themselves have said, "Hey, there's a big plan in the works." We've watched them say that for the last few months. Could it have been the Tunisia, France, Kuwait event? Could be. But that's why I think they are being very prudent saying, "Hey, listen, all of the signs show that something is afoot here. We don't know what. But let's be really extra careful."

Obviously, the July 4th weekend would be an ideal target for them, because it's so American and Americana. I think that's why they're being extra careful.

CUOMO: Welcome to the new normal. Mike Rogers, thank you very much for the insight. Appreciate it, as always.

ROGERS: Thanks, Chris.

CUOMO: All right. Mick.

PEREIRA: The president has also been very busy with this, calling for an expansion of overtime pay. Good news for millions of American workers. But the question is, can U.S. businesses foot the bill? We'll put that question to the White House, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:28:22] PEREIRA: David Sweat is speaking to investigators from his hospital bed. He says the plan was to go to Mexico. Joyce Mitchell was supposed to be the getaway driver. They did agree to reward her for her help by killing her husband. When she was a no-show, they had no real Plan B other than run for Canada. They split when Richard Matt got sick some five days ago. In the meantime, the FBI is investigating alleged drug trafficking at the Clinton Correctional Facility, involving inmates and employees. Greece is on the verge of default. The country must pay the IMF $1.7

billion. With the deadline extension denied, it likely won't happen. A referendum on a bailout deal full of painful cutbacks is expected today. The country's prime minister already urging people to vote no.

Wal-Mart issuing an apology after making a cake with an ISIS flag on it. A Louisiana man said that first he tried to order a cake with a Confederate flag on it, but Wal-Mart's bakery denied his request. At some point later, he ordered the image of the ISIS flag, and Wal-Mart fulfilled the request. A spokesman for Wal-Mart acknowledges the mistake, saying the employee who made the cake didn't know what the image was.

Chris, I guess they're going to learn their lesson the hard way.

CUOMO: Yes. All right. Speaking of the hard way, how about a hard day's work deserving a fair day's pay? That, according to an op-ed that President Obama just wrote, is the motivation to announce a new plan to extend overtime to more than 5 million American who never got it before because of wage restrictions. So we're going to discuss this.

To defend the policies, Cecilia Munoz. She is the director of the White House domestic policy Council.

It is good to have you with us. And I want to start off with a chance for you to take pride in poll numbers. The poll numbers about how the president is doing on the economy. Let's put them up for the audience. You know them already, I'm sure.