Return to Transcripts main page

New Day

Clinton to Surrender Private Email Server; Trump to Release Policy Specifics Soon; Inmates: We're Being Used. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired August 12, 2015 - 06:30   ET

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

[06:30:00] SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: The reason it may raise a red flag is when they look at politicians in Washington right now, they say we elected you on these principles on what you said he would do, and then you went to Washington and you're not following through. So, words like flexibility inherently don't sound very appealing to voters like this.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Sara Murray, I like the head move when you say flexibility, it felt from the body language perspective.

And, Nia-Malika, the coffee is on me. If you get that statistical evidence from the Trump Organization of what they pay women. Agreed? Agreed.

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Yes, we'll see if we get policy. You pressed him on that. I think we are waiting on a lot of things from Trump, not only those numbers but evidence the Mexican government is sending over people they don't like. I mean, that's something he keeps talking about. But he's been short on actual evidence.

I think one of the things that was interesting when talking about his policies at the Michigan forum, someone sort of shouted in the audience, you know, how can you fix the problems? He did this, oh, it's all up here. So, I think we have to see what that means.

CUOMO: Reminds me of an "SNL" skit when they used to parody a certain president he used to go right here, kidneys.

All right. Nia-Malika, thank you very much. Sara Murray, have a good day.

All right. We told that there's a disturbing development inside the New York state prison where those two inmates escaped this summer. Prisoners are lodging complaints, dozens of them that they were being beaten and abused by guards in the wake of that situation. The question is obvious. Are they taking out frustrations on inmates? That would be a crime. We are on it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:35:39] ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: Hillary Clinton now instructing her staff to turn over that private e-mail server that she used as secretary of state to the Justice Department. And this decision coming a day after an intelligence official said at least five e-mails on that server contained classified information. Clinton is also turning over three thumb drives to the FBI containing copies of about 30,000 e-mails.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: After coming under fire for a lack of policy, Donald Trump says his campaign will soon release specifics. The Republican front runner getting a warm welcome after a stop in Michigan, getting all sorts of loud applause when he called for a wall to be built along the Mexican border and slammed China for trying to suck the blood out of the United States by devaluing its currency. Trump is leading in New Hampshire and Iowa in the latest polls.

CUOMO: We have new details in the crash that killed comedian James McNair and left Tracy Morgan seriously injured. The National Transportation Safety Board says the driver of the Walmart truck that rear ended Morgan's limo van had not slept for 28 hours. Officials also said McNair, Morgan and others in the limo weren't wearing seatbelts. The deadly clash happened last June on the New Jersey turnpike.

CABRERA: Well, Nik Wallenda did it again. His longest high wire act yet, about 120 feet up. This is at the Wisconsin state fair. And he covered 1,576 feet, all across the Milwaukee mile, and it took about a half mile. It was on the wire the thickness of a coin. Wallenda holds nine world records. He will talk about a future attempt may involve Egyptian pyramids.

PEREIRA: You know, I will think of Mrs. Wallenda when I see this, because my guy doing some work around the house, and he's up in a ladder painting, and I have such anxiety knowing somebody is doing that 3,000 miles across the country. This guy is, how many feet in the air on a wire the size of a coin? I couldn't sleep.

CUOMO: He has eight toes on his right foot. Do you think that makes a difference?

PEREIRA: I think it does.

CUOMO: In terms of --

(CROSSTALK)

CABRERA: Does he really?

CUOMO: Of course, it's not true. Nobody has eight toes.

PEREIRA: He's going to love this.

CABRERA: Well, some people do.

CUOMO: Eight toes?

CABRERA: A birth defect or something.

CUOMO: Lunch if you find someone with eight toes.

CABRERA: Have you heard about the six fingered man?

CUOMO: Six-fingered man, I heard he's been looking for you.

PEREIRA: This is going to be an interesting week.

CUOMO: That's a princess bride.

(CROSSTALK)

PEREIRA: We are taking a look at what's going on in the New York state prison where the two inmates escaped. Big problems there, prisoners filed dozens and dozens of complaints about abuse by guards. One of them claiming he was threatened by waterboarding.

Are corrections officers taking out their frustrations on inmates? We are going to explore that coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:42:15] PEREIRA: We are hearing for the first time shocking allegations of prisoner abuse at the hands of corrections officers after Richard Matt and David Sweat escaped from Clinton correctional in upstate New York. "The New York Times" was the first to report the claims of them being, quote, "beaten while handcuffed, choked, slammed against cell bars and walls."

Joining us now is "The New York Times" reporter who broke the story, Michael Schwirtz.

Really good to have you hear. I'm reading one of these accounts from an inmate, Patrick Alexander, the officer jumps up, grabs him by the throat, lifts me out of the chair, slams my head in the pipe, along the wall, starts punching me in the face.

I mean, it goes on and on and on. There are several accounts, something of 60 inmates have now filed complaints.

MICHAEL SCHWIRTZ, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Sixty inmates have filed complaints. Some of them describing more severe beatings and less severe things. Patrick Alexander, of course, is a special case because he was actually a neighbor to these inmates who broke out. So, correctional officers immediately approached him, trying to find out what he knew.

And you have to understand that, you know, in the harried moments and hours in the days after these two individuals escaped, they are on the loose, they're dangerous, the desire to get information quickly.

PEREIRA: Sure.

SCHWIRTZ: Some of them resorted to tactics and the complaints that seemed across the line.

PEREIRA: The folks at home, there's going to be some that are automatically going to say, wait, wait, wait. Is there a reason this could be fabricated? Consider the source, right? You know, there's motivation to smear the situation to keep them behind bars.

Address that.

SCHWIRTZ: We saw some of the evidence of the injuries on the inmates we spoke to showed us evidence of the injury. Certainly, you have to take into account, these roommates making these allegations. It's very difficult to get independent confirmation of a lot of things. Very difficult to have communication with the Department of Corrections with various correctional officials at Clinton prison.

That being said, the allegations are very similar to one another, made from inmates in very different parts of the prison. Some on the honor block. Some of them in different parts of the prison --

PEREIRA: Right.

SCHWIRTZ: -- on different wings who worked with Matt and Sweat in the tailor shop.

PEREIRA: In the tailor shop, for example, yes.

SCHWIRTZ: So you have to take a look at that.

PEREIRA: Well, I should point out, there is a statement. They responded to your piece in the New York Times, the Department of Corrections says any findings of misconduct or abuse will be punished to the full extent of the law.

Now, here's the question, I know the prisoner's legal services has looked into this. They've received some 60 complaints. Is this going to be hard for them to prove?

SCHWIRTZ: One of the problems is that a lot of inmates didn't recognize the officers who they say were carrying out these abuses.

[06:45:02] PEREIRA: Meaning from different parts of the prison perhaps?

SCHWIRTZ: Or we know there were corrections officers brought in from different prisons. There are other prisons in that area, and, of course, close proximity, and a lot of -- because this was such an extraordinary situation, they were brought in to Clinton to help out.

So, a lot of these inmates didn't recognize the officers and a lot of them were not wearing name tags as they usually do when they have their uniforms on.

PEREIRA: There's been a lot of heat on that facility already. Heads have rolled. There have been changes there.

What recourse? Did you hear of a plan now that it's made public, if these allegations are true, what happens now?

SCHWIRTZ: Only that the corrections department is looking into the allegations and turns over these complaints to the state's department, which is conducting an investigation of the security failings that led to the escape. They are expected to release some sort of report soon.

So, we'll see what happens there. We'll see if our report generates any other movement on this. Again, it's going to be difficult because, first of all, because of the circumstances, because the prison is very, very closed and it's difficult to get information.

I should point out, there are no inmates that have been implicated in aiding in the escape.

PEREIRA: No, it was corrections officers themselves. That's a very good point. We'll leave it there. Michael Schwirtz, really a pleasure to have you here.

Thanks for bringing this to our attention.

Ana?

CABRERA: The presidential candidates talking tough on ISIS. Each claiming they are the one to take down the terror group. But the big question, are their plans for action practical for the U.S. military? We'll examine with someone who knows it terrain and the battle.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:51:05] CABRERA: Jeb Bush is the latest candidate to reveal his plans for fighting ISIS, which include as no fly zone over Syria. What about the other candidates?

Let's break down where they stand on taking down the terror group.

And joining us to do so, Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, a CNN military analyst. He spent more than three years n Iraq commanding forces in Baghdad and northern Iraq and the Kurdish. So, he's got lots of experience to add to those conversations.

Let's begin with Hillary Clinton before we start about the Republican strategy. She's spoken out about her plans to defeat ISIS.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When it comes to defeating ISIS, the United States has an important role to play, some of which we are currently playing when it comes to air strikes and additional intelligence and surveillance assets, working to try to bolster the Iraqi army and other groups.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: And she adds, we need a more comprehensive strategy when it comes to anti-propaganda techniques going after ISIS online. But essentially, her strategy is more of the same. She supports the Obama administration and how it's moving forward.

So, question to you, General. Is this plan working? Because critics are saying, it's not doing enough fast enough.

LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, we said for a long time, Ana, that this is going to take a while. I was surprised when I heard Mrs. Clinton speak, the secretary who has a great deal of understanding that she hasn't said much more in what she is going to emphasize or what she is going to expand upon.

So, not a lot new from her, as you said. It's mostly what the government is currently doing. There are limited areas of success and some setbacks to the current strategy.

CABRERA: All right. Let's talk about Jeb Bush. He's the one who unveiled his plan last night. It was fairly detailed, but not before he took some shots at Clinton and the current Obama administration.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: ISIS grew while the United States disengaged from the Middle East and ignored the threat. And where was the secretary of state? Where was Secretary of State Clinton in all of this? Like the president himself, she opposed the surge, then joined and claiming credit for its success, then stood by as that hard won victory by American and ally forces was thrown away.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: So, takeaway here -- troop surge worked, and then Clinton's strategy, along with the president, came in and took the troops out, essentially allowing ISIS to emerge.

Fair criticism or oversimplification?

HERTLING: It is, Ana, it's fair, but it's also irrelevant right now. I mean, both sides have been sniping at the other side. The Republicans have been saying that the president caused the collapse and the creation of ISIS. Those on the Democratic side are saying go back further and see what the Republican administration did.

So, all those things from the military perspective are irrelevant. But I've done is I have looked at the rest of Governor Bush's speech and truthfully, what I read in it is mostly what is currently ongoing. So, he's proposing things that are already occurring.

The key differences are, he's suggesting we do more direct intervention with Sunni tribes in Anbar, and also the Kurdish regions. And the implication is we bypass the Iraqi government. That's not a good idea.

That's what some of the neophytes in government have been suggesting to go directly to the ones that seem to be fighting the most. But it's not taking into account the motivations for fighting as they are trying to pull their entire country together.

CABRERA: What about the fourth point where he talks about letting troops on the ground have more leeway? Is that a good idea?

HERTLING: Well, I think the national security team currently is suggesting that we do tit for tat with the Iraqi government.

[06:55:02]As they indicate, they are more able to go after the enemy. We will, in fact, perhaps consider putting more troops on the ground and putting JTACs, or terminal air controllers forward to control the operations.

But that's not something you want to do unless you are sure the Iraqi army is going to fight for themselves. That's something of consideration as a course of action in the future.

CABRERA: Iraqis have to get responsible about it first.

HERTLING: Exactly.

CABRERA: Let's talk about Trump. He has a simple strategy. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (via telephone): Take the oil away. I take their money away. I think their source of money away.

CUOMO: How do you take the oil?

TRUMP: Make sure that Saudi Arabia, and by the way, Iran, which gives plenty of money to ISIS, believe it or not, Iran is funneling money into ISIS, too. Iraq is going to Iran like I predicted in 2004.

CUOMO: So, how do you do it? You put troops on the ground?

TRUMP: I would go in and take the oil and I put troops to protect the oil. I would absolutely go in and I take the money source away. Believe me, they would start to wither and they would collapse.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: General Hertling, I have to remind our viewers that Trump has once said that he is a better general than you are. That being said, could his plan work?

HERTLING: Well, as he has said, he is a better general than I. So, as a military man, he knows that all plans have to be feasible, credible and practical.

The plan that he's concocting right now doesn't meet any one of those categories. And, in fact, I would say, it is -- it does meet a category of laughable and dangerous. There are people around the world are listening to this and not quite understanding what is going on in America with a guy that's suggesting we just bomb and send troops in to steal the oil. It's just not a good suggestion politically.

CABRERA: All right. General Mark Hertling, thank you so much for your time this morning, we do appreciate it.

We have lots more news to get to. Let's do that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLINTON: We have done exactly what we should have done.

CUOMO: Big development in the Clinton email scandal.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She will turn over her private e-mail server. This has taken a major toll on Clinton's campaign.

TRUMP: I will be great on women's health issues. Believe me.

You are going to love President Trump.

MURRAY: Trump taking the lead in Iowa. In New Hampshire, Trump, once again, ahead of the pack.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You cannot underestimate the appeal of Donald Trump.

PEREIRA: A young Mississippi couple is behind bars accused of trying to join ISIS.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They used their honeymoon as a cover up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just a really nice kid. Not radical in any way.

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

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PEREIRA: Good morning. Welcome back to your NEW DAY on this Wednesday. Ana Cabrera joins us.

Good to have you here.

CABRERA: Happy Wednesday.

PEREIRA: Well, after resisting for months, Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton has finally agreed to surrender the private e-mail server that she used as secretary of state, instructing her staff to fully cooperate with the Justice Department.

CUOMO: Clinton trying to diffuse what could be a full blown scandal, as one of her GOP rivals, Donald Trump feels the love in his first campaign appearance since the GOP debate.

We have complete coverage, of course.

Let's start with CNN's senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny tracking the developments.

Good morning.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Chris.

I mean, after five months of saying no, Hillary Clinton is finally saying yes. She will turn over that private server and thumb drive that contain copies of all of her email from her time as secretary of state. It's all part of a Justice Department investigation into how classified information was handled and whether it was secure.

This marks a change for Clinton. You'll remember how defiant she was when her private email system was revealed back in March. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: I have no doubts we have done exactly what we should have done. I think that we have more than met the request from the State Department. The server contains personal communications from my husband and me, and I believe I have met all my responsibilities and the server will remain private.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: But, so much has changed since then. Now, the justice and congressional investigation into the e-mails has widened. Republicans have been asking for access to this server for months.

House Speaker John Boehner said in a statement, it's about time. Secretary Clinton's previous statements that she possessed no classified information were patently untrue. Her mishandling of classified information must be fully investigated.

But perhaps even more important, this morning, we are learning the inspector general for the U.S. intelligence community told members of Congress that top secret information was contained in at least two e-mails among the 40 they reviewed from the State Department. That's the highest level of government intelligence.

Clinton has maintained any information was not classified at the time she sent it. Now, all of this has taken a tool in her campaign, particularly her trust in credibility with voters. For the first time, a new poll in New Hampshire has top Democratic rival Bernie Sanders leading Clinton by seven points.