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Conclusion of Obama/Rousseff Media Event; U.S. Brazil Aim to Reset Relations; Twelve N.Y. State Prison Officials Suspended in Connection to Prison Escape; Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired June 30, 2015 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:20]

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDNET OF THE UNITED STATES: So I might see if we can make next week even better.

QUESTION: (inaudible) press conference.

OBAMA: I love press conferences. It's my press team that's always holding me back.

(LAUGHTER)

I want to talk to you guys every day.

Sorry, Josh.

ROUSSEFF (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): We take the issue of security in large events very seriously. We take the question of security in large- scale events as a very serious issue, which means that we involve all of those bodies or agencies that can and will ensure proper security during the upcoming Olympics.

They include the armed forces, the federal police service and all of the state-level police bodies and the state of Rio de Janeiro. We already have experience in the public security arena because last year we organized and staged the world soccer cup and we did -- we had to provide security not only to just one city, rather we had to cover the whole country and there was not one single action that was left uncontrolled in the 12 different host cities of the World Cup in Brazil, thereby establishing a very effective control system by means of command-and-control centers as well as monitoring control centers covering all activities, including the displacement (sic) of athletes as well as high-ranking government officials and authorities.

So we followed up on and ensured proper security conditions to all of those steps. And that is why I am certain that we will be in a position to ensure absolute security during the Olympics, just as was the case during the last year's world soccer cup.

I actually believe that the upcoming 2016 Olympics to be held next June and July in Rio will be a unique and special occasion because it will bring together the joy of the Brazilians and the beauty of Rio. Of course each country tends to think that they have the world's best city but I think Rio de Janeiro is indeed the world's best and most beautiful -- most beautiful city.

So the Olympics will bring together excellent organizational capabilities and also the wonderful ability of Brazilians to welcome and receive visitors and athletes and all of those who wish to come to Brazil, you have a standing invitation to come to the Olympics because we will certainly ensure not only proper security conditions but also we will make sure you will be able to enjoy beautiful and great celebrations during the upcoming Olympics.

I'd like to now -- I'd like to now call upon our Sao Paulo daily newspaper reporter, Raul Laure (ph), for the second question.

QUESTION: Petrobras, our state owned oil giant, is being sued by many American investors who lost millions of dollars and it's being investigated by the Department of Justice because of allegations of corruption.

Is it an issue of concern?

President Dilma, President, Senora (SPEAKING IN PORTUGUESE)

OBAMA: You know, I make it a policy not to comment on active cases that are working their way through the justice system, partly because the people here in the United States know that the lawyers work for me and I want to make sure that we appear impartial.

I'm not familiar with all the details of the case so I'll decline to comment on the specifics.

I will make a general statement that I have had the opportunity to work with President Rousseff on the open government initiative that we've been trying to mobilize internationally and Brazil has been a great partner in that process, that the more we can create accountability and transparency in our government systems, the better off we're going to be.

And that takes work; it takes time. But Brazil's been a strong partner with us in that process and I hope that both countries can continue to make progress on that front.

ROUSSEFF (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I would like to highlight the fact that Petrobras is indeed one of the major oil-producing and oil- exporting companies in the oil and gas industry.

Petrobras has more than 60,000 employees. Some employees working for Petrobras did engage in corruption or acts of corruption, therefore the investigation, of course, that is going on, has been going on by the federal prosecutors' office, and they're -- they're being sued by that office. The circumstantial evidence that is available from the prosecutors are pretty substantial. The evidence is pretty substantial, circumstantially.

So what I'm trying to say is that all legal measures that may possibly be taken against or about Petrobras will certainly have taken to account that acts of corruption were practiced within Petrobras, yes, but it does not involve 100 percent of the company and all staff members.

So it therefore follows that those who did practice acts of corruption be held accountable and be punished. The people who actually engaged in these acts of corruption should be punished, to them, though, what will happen in terms of the corporate processes.

The good news about Petrobras is that it is a strong company, very well-managed today, with proper governance processes and compliance processes, well in place and properly adjusted.

Were that not the case, how can you -- or how could you possibly understand that it has come to a production level of 800,000 barrels a day.

Furthermore, this year, it was awarded the so-called "Oscar" of the oil industry, oil and gas industry by the OTC. The Innovation Award was granted to Petrobras this -- this year. So Petrobras is a corporation that is at full blast. It is a fully operational company, not the contrary.

Now, as regards to your second question, I have never appointed nor have I dismissed ministers that may have been appointed or dismissed by the press or by the media. That being the case, I will await until all facts and events be properly looked into and disclosed before I come to an assessment. But at least in principle, I think it is important and necessary that all of us have access to the same information. The Brazilian government does not have access to the court records.

Strangely -- strangely enough, there was this selective leakage of information supposedly or allegedly stemming from the dockets or the court records. So apparently people are free to say whatever they want, and those who are accused have no way of defending themselves, because they don't really know exactly what they are being charged with.

We are a country marked by a Democratic process. We were able to put an end to all of the arbitrary arrangements and violation of rights in the past.

In the case of Brazil, we had a strong military dictatorship. So given our track record, we should really enshrine the right to defense, and we should stick to the principle of sentencing only when evidence is available, not the other way around.

I mean, people have the right of proving that they are innocent. I mean, only those who accuse are the ones who should provide evidence of guilt. I mean, that's the underlying basic principle of Western civilization that we all share.

That's what we talk about when we talk about democracy, I mean, people's right to defense, to a fair defense, and also the burden of proof. The burden of proof lies on the accusing party, and it should be, of course, a grounded type of evidence, not just allegation, speculation. That does not ensure access to all of the court records.

That would be medieval. It would send us back to the Middle Ages. That's not what we do in Brazil today.

OBAMA: Jim, about last week, I had a chance to do the -- the Rose Garden celebration of the court decision around same-sex marriage. I did not have a chance to comment on how good the White House looked in rainbow colors.

(LAUGHTER)

That made it a really good week.

To see people gathered in an evening outside on a beautiful summer night and to feel whole and to feel accepted and to feel that they had a right to love, that was pretty cool. That was a good thing.

QUESTION: No regrets on (inaudible).

OBAMA: That -- that was a good thing. And the only bad part about it was I couldn't go out and peek at it myself because then I would have had to clear out all the people, or the Secret Service would have. So I -- I could only reflect on it from a television screen. That's a moment worth savoring.

Thank you very much, everybody.

(OBAMA-ROUSSEFF PRESSER)

[13:10:39]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: All right, the President of the United States and the visiting president of Brazil, Dilma Rousseff, wrapping up a nearly one-hour joint news conference in the East Room at the White House.

Once again, we want to welcome back our viewers here in the United States and around the world, I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting from Washington.

Lots of critically important issues came up during the course of the Q&A with the two presidents, including the fate of that Iran nuclear deal that U.S. and others are negotiating right now with Iranian officials in Vienna, Austria.

I want to bring in chief political analyst, Gloria Borger; our chief national security correspondent, Jim Sciutto.

Let's talk about what the president said about these Iran nuclear negotiations. He made it clear that unless the Ayatollah Khamenei, unless the Iranian President Rouhani, unless they all agree to what the U.S. thought they agreed a few months ago, if they back out of any of those commitments, the United States and the other permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany will walk away from a deal. That's what the president said.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF U.S. SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: He did say that. And listen, we're now in overtime on these negotiations. Actually, double or triple overtime, depending on how you count it with all these delays but this is, for all intents and purposes, the final extension possible, up to one more week, July 7th, in that timeframe, with the congressional timetable in there.

The president saying, listen, if we don't get the things we want by then, we will walk away, which is something that negotiators have said before throughout these talks. Verifiable is the word he uses. The trouble is the standard for verifiable has changed over the course of the last 12, 16, 18 months with things like how much do the Iranians have to admit to, 'fess up to, for past military work?

How much -- how many inspections they have to allow and where just based on the hints and the public comments from others involved in this. He says that you won't have a deal unless you can verify, but the definition of "verify," that's very key because, from what we're hearing from there, that definition has been watered down a bit.

BLITZER: Were you surprised the president once again, when he was asked specifically about those four Americans who are still in prison in Iran right now, if there's any linkage, must they be released, must they be freed as part of some sort of Iranian nuclear deal which gives the Iranians at least $100 billion in frozen assets almost right away?

The president did not directly link their freedom to any such deal.

SCIUTTO: Not at all. And that's been a consistent administration position, that this is basically a challenge for another time. That's what the administration's saying, yes, the president said we're deeply concerned; yes, in his words, we will push hard irrespective of a deal.

But the fact is they're willing to make a deal with four of -- well, three Americans behind bars in Iran; one still missing, Robert Levinson. And listen, the families are not happy with this. They, like the families of other hostages held by other groups feel like they haven't been given their chance and that this is a missed opportunity. It will be impossible to satisfy them.

But it's also a difficult position to walk away from, what would be a historic deal with a lot of money going to Iran immediately with those three Americans still behind bars.

BLITZER: He did take a sort of victory lap at that news conference, responding to questions from our own Jim Acosta, our senior White House correspondent.

He made it clear, Gloria, that he was extremely, extremely happy with what happened here in the United States last week. GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: But true to the no-drama Obama form, he didn't exactly spike the ball in the end zone. He was understated what about occurred last week at the beginning, talking about trade and talking about how the court decision on ObamaCare and same-sex marriage was gratifying.

But what I found interesting was he came back to it afterwards because he clearly had this vision in his head, when the White House had rainbow colors that evening --

BLITZER: To support gay rights.

BORGER: -- to support gay rights and he was inside the White House. You've got this sense that he was somebody who was kind of trapped watching a celebration that he really wanted to participate in and he couldn't do it. And I bet he actually thought about going outside the White House to celebrate but he said to see people feel whole and accepted, that they had a right to love, that was a good thing and he said it was a moment to savor.

And I think this is kind of part of the Obama that's showing a little bit more of his --

[13:15:00]

BORGER: -- inner thoughts to the American public because now we have this vision of him in the White House watching that celebration, feeling quite gratified that the court decided that way.

BLITZER: That victory lap I was referring to at the end of the news conference on his own. He didn't have to bring up the whole issue once again of same-sex marriage here in the United States and that rainbow color that emerged outside of the White House Friday night.

He basically said, you know what, to those who oppose same-sex marriage in the United States, the Supreme Court has ruled; get over it.

BORGER: That's right. And one more other thing I should say from today that I found interesting, the whole NSA spying scandal, which kind of -- she canceled a visit here once before and she sort of said today we're going to engage directly and I told the president just pick up the phone and call me --

(CROSSTALK)

BORGER: -- any time you need a question answered which leads you to wonder why that never happened before.

BLITZER: He did say the Greece crisis is enormous, for Greece, obviously; for the Eurozone, for the Europeans. The spillover though, he suggested, here in the United States might not necessarily be that huge.

SCIUTTO: He said primarily of concern to Europe. He even made a point of saying that he thinks the markets have priced this in already, the dangers in the U.S. markets, et cetera.

So him I think trying to calm the markets to some degree but it's a risky thing to say that this is primarily for Europe because the European economy, the E.U. economy, America's number one trading partner, if they experience a major dip from this, there's no question there will be economic repercussions.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: -- lot of jittery people, we saw it happen yesterday, the New York Stock Exchange dropping 350 points, the worst drop of this year.

All right. Guys stand by; we'll continue to assess what we just heard. We're also following breaking news out of New York State where top officials are now being held accountable for the escape of those two prisoners, those two killers. We have an important update on the captured fugitive as he lies in a hospital bed. Much more coming up right after this.

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[13:20:59]

BLITZER: We've got some breaking news on the fallout from the prison escape and the three-week manhunt in upstate New York. Right now 12 people have been placed on administrative leave; that includes the prison superintendent, who is basically the warden. His deputy is also on the list.

It also includes nine members of the security staff at the Clinton correctional facility. Let's discuss what's going on with our Justice reporter, Evan Perez and Jeff Dumas. He's a former sergeant with the New York State Department of Corrections. He worked at the Clinton Corrections Facility.

Jeff, 12 people now put on leave, three guards: this is a huge deal, which seems to suggest there were major blunders made there.

JEFF DUMAS, FORMER CORRECTIONS SGT., CLINTON CORRECTIONAL FACILITY: It is a huge deal. However this is a move that is kind of expected from the government in Albany. We kind of expected it.

None of these people are going to have anything really to do with aiding in the escape. They are going to suspend these people just because of where they worked. Probably the officers in the block that evening, even though they did their rounds, even though they did their job procedurally correctly, just because of the escape, they'll probably be suspended.

So it's going to be suspending and pending the investigation.

BLITZER: But there's a separate investigation underway right now of the facility, allegations of drug use, heroin use.

It sounds crazy, what was going on over there, Evan.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It really sounds dysfunctional, with all due respect. I think it appears that the state government has decided to move very quickly here because they know, not only is there an ongoing investigation by the state inspector general; the FBI, in assisting the state police in investigating the escape, found from their interviews with some of the employees, they found that there was widespread use of heroin and that there was a concern that there was a drug trafficking ring, including perhaps these two escapees.

And so the question now remains whether any of these people were at all just lax on their job. There was allegations of some of these guards were sleeping during the time that they were supposed to be working so it appears there's some deep, deep problems here that the FBI and others want to try to get to the bottom of.

DUMAS: Well as far as the heroin use, it's an epidemic amongst criminals. They all come in; they all have prior drug use. And it's not just that facility. And it's not just New York statewide; it's across the country.

BLITZER: But the question is how do prisoners, some of whom are serving life in a maximum security prison like the Clinton Correctional Facility, without the possibility of parole, how do they get heroin?

They obviously have to get it from guards. Somebody has to bring it in.

DUMAS: Oh, no. No. It doesn't come from the officers. The visiting rooms that the families come into is where the majority of the drugs come in.

BLITZER: So somebody's -- how do they let the families come in with heroin?

DUMAS: There is no way to detect -- we send them through a metal detector so that we will eliminate guns, knives, that kind of thing. But heroin, drugs, they don't come up in a metal detector.

BLITZER: Well, they should come up some other way, then, right?

They should physically go through everything they're bringing in to see if there are illegal drugs that these family members are bringing into a prison.

DUMAS: They do. But one of the common ways to get it in is to -- for a woman to have a balloon of heroin, she can stick it in her bra, anywhere, we are not allowed to frisk the person because we don't have that right. They haven't done anything wrong. They're simply coming in to visit so we can't physically frisk their body. And they hide it on their body and in their body. They will go into the ladies' room, we can't monitor the ladies' room, they have personal privacy. They'll throw in the their mouth, they come back and, Wolf, they sit at a table very similar to this in the visiting rooms. There's no Plexiglas with a screen to talk to. It's just like you and I and the women can lean over the table, they can touch their husband, hold hands and as --

[13:25:00]

DUMAS: -- soon as they kiss him, she just passes the balloon of heroin to him.

And he'll either --

BLITZER: There are video cameras watching everything that's going on.

DUMAS: Oh, no.

BLITZER: Well, there should be.

DUMAS: Absolutely. There should be a lot of heightened security measures there. But the way the state works, it's the bottom dollar; they want money. And cameras cost money --

BLITZER: Who wants money?

DUMAS: The government, the New York State government.

BLITZER: They got to fix this. They got to fix this. To hear a maximum security prison in my home state of New York, where this is going on and what we heard was going on with these two convicted killers, serving life in prison and having these opportunities to serve in an honor block and go out there in the catwalks and have a party if you will, this is crazy.

DUMAS: I absolutely agree. I spent 22 years of my career there. And it's unbelievable how well murderers, child molesters, rapists, how well they are treated.

They aren't treated like inmates. And they give them all these liberties, they give them the jobs in the catwalks, the light, heat and power guys to go and fix this. They are learning the infrastructure of the facility. And that's a security risk. But Mr. Racette, the warden or the superintendent at the facility, he can't govern that because he is a superintendent and not a warden, Albany has all the control.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: I think the governor of New York now has to take charge, has to learn from the lessons, not only here at Clinton Correctional but Ossining, Attica, some of the other major prisons in New York State. Go through it point by point by point and learn from what happened and make sure it obviously doesn't happen again.

DUMAS: Well, yes, because we had the escape in Elmira in 2003.

BLITZER: I remember that very vividly.

All right. We're going to continue this, guys, thanks very, very much.

We also now have a new image of the end of the line for the fugitive killer, Richard Matt. Some of you may find the image disturbing.

Matt was shot by police when he refused to surrender last Friday. We'll show it to you right now.

Matt and fellow fugitive, David Sweat, had split up several days before this. Police noticed the smell of alcohol as they approached the body. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo says they found that Richard Matt had blisters on his feet and that may have contributed to Matt and Sweat splitting up.

Meanwhile, David Sweat has now been upgraded from serious to fair condition. He's been talking to investigators from his hospital bed in Albany, New York, revealing details about the escaped plan.

We are also hearing from Joyce Mitchell, she's the prison worker, who admitted that she helped Matt and Sweat escape. Her attorney now says Mitchell is, quote, "ecstatic," that the manhunt is over, that no one other than the inmates were injured.

Coming up, as the holiday weekend approaches, why is there now here in the United States a heightened concern over a possible terror attack on the U.S. homeland?

Plus, Donald Trump dropped from NBC over comments he made about Mexicans and immigration. Now an unlikely ally coming to his defense. The details and more when we come back.

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