Return to Transcripts main page

NEW DAY SUNDAY

G7 Summit Getting Underway Right Now; Manhunt for 2 Killers After Prison Escape. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired June 7, 2015 - 08:00   ET

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


[08:00:00] ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Irving had surgery yesterday to repair the broken kneecap that he suffered in Thursday's game one overtime loss. Now, him being out for the rest of the series, a major blow for the Cavs that's already -- the team already without Kevin Love who separated his shoulder in the opening round of the playoffs.

But don't ever tell LeBron that he is an underdog.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEBRON JAMES, CLEVELAND CAVALIERS: I said it was going to be one of the most challenging seasons of my career from the beginning and this just adds on to it. You know, we are undermanned right now, and, you know, we have guys in the locker room that's ready for the challenge.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Game two of the NBA finals tips off tonight at 8:00 Eastern.

The Tampa Bay Lightning even up their Stanley Cup final series at one game a piece. The Bolts won a hard-fought 4-3 victory in game 2 over the Chicago Blackhawks in Tampa. Now, the series going to shift to the Windy City. Game three is in Chicago tomorrow night.

Guys, I can't say enough about this sports weekend. Maybe it will go down as one of the best weekends we've ever seen. We've got the men's French Open final happening later today. We got the NBA finals, the Stanley Cup final, we had the Champion League's final, and, of course, out there at Belmont Park, we saw the first Triple Crown in 37 years.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Look at him, he is in heaven.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm saying he's had a good weekend already.

BLACKWELL: Andy Scholes, thank you so much.

SCHOLES: Not bad.

PAUL: Thanks, Andy.

NEW DAY continues right now.

(MUSIC) PAUL: And good morning to you. We're so grateful for your company as always. I'm Christi Paul.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Happy Sunday to you.

It is an incredible half way around the world right now in Germany. The G7 summit is underway. Take a look at this. President Obama and other leaders gathering in front of a castle where they are now meeting. President Obama wants world leaders to stand up what he calls Russian aggression in Ukraine, and of course what is happening with ISIS.

CNN senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta joins us now.

Jim, President Obama gave a bit of a preview of what he will be talking about with those other world leaders.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Victor. It's a spectacular setting here in the Alps, in Germany, in Austria, where we are located, you keep waiting to find out if Julie Andrews will come out and break into the sound of music, but instead it's the sound of diplomacy at this G7 summit.

And you're right, Russia is right at the top of the agenda. It is going to be talked about among these G7 leaders over the next couple days here, I should say, here in the Alps. The president previewed some of that before the G7 summit got started. And we should point, this was the G8 summit only a couple of years ago, but because of Russia's actions in Ukraine, Russia and Russian president, they were booted out of the G8 and now creating the G7.

And the president talked about what they'll be discussing at these meetings earlier this morning. The violence in Ukraine will be first at the top of the agenda, but in addition to that, the battle against ISIS. Here is more of what the president has to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Over the next two days, we're going to discuss our shared future, the global economy that creates jobs and opportunity, maintaining a strong and prosperous European Union, forging new trade partnerships across the Atlantic, standing up to Russian aggression in Ukraine, and combating threats from violent extremism to climate change. And on all these issues, we are very grateful for the partner and leadership for your chancellor, Angela Merkel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And the subject of Russia's intervention in Ukraine is a difficult problem to solve for these G7 leaders, and admittedly so, at least on the part of this White House, senior administration officials have been saying over the last several days that they understand that these sanctions in place on Russia or their actions in Ukraine have not really changed Vladimir Putin's calculus, and so the question they'll be trying to deal, grappling with during these meetings is what can they do with these sanctions.

Obviously, the temptation is there because the sanctions have not been affective so far, the temptation is there for the Europeans at the very least to sort of loosening some of these sanctions. And so, the president, the very top job he has is to make sure the Europeans stay united on that front.

The president is getting a fair amount of criticism back home. House Speaker Boehner put out a statement over the weekend, we can put it up on the screen, where he took the president to task for the situation in Ukraine and the reason why Russia has not withdrawn from that country, he said, "Words and photo ops will not beat back Russian aggression, the administration needs to act to break Vladimir Putin' energy stranglehold on Europe and utilize the authorities Congress has provided to send defensive military systems to the Ukrainian government."

Victor, that question of whether the U.S. would ramp up some sort of defensive military support to Ukraine.

[08:05:00] That is a subject that has been hotly debated inside the Obama administration. Just the other day, Vice President Joe Biden talked about this in his speech, that they are still thinking about it, and it is a big question at this summit -- how do you change Vladimir Putin's' calculus, change the equation to force him to change his position in Ukraine. It's a problem they just have not solved yet. They will try to do that at this summit, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Yes, a big question, one they have not been able to answer in more than a year now. Jim Acosta reporting for us this morning -- Jim, thanks.

PAUL: Well, let's bring in Jill Dougherty for perspective here, former CNN Moscow bureau chief.

Jill, so good to see you.

You have covered Moscow for years. Do you believe Putin is indeed as big a threat as he is being portrayed?

JILL DOUGHERTY, PUBLIC POLICY SCHOLAR, WOODROW WILSON CENTER: You know, Mr. Putin not answering your specially questions, and answered just today, he said, Russia -- you would have to be crazy to think that Russia is a threat. You'd have to be crazy to think that Russia would want to attack NATO.

So, at this very moment, this is very typically, Mr. Putin, at this very moment the west is saying that he is aiding those rebels in the east of Ukraine, he is saying it's not a threat, we are not helping them, we are not providing weapons. We're not providing any troops.

This is the type of thing that really kind of infuriates some in the West who say he simply is lying, and he is calling black white and white black.

PAUL: And there does seem to be photos and satellite images that corroborate the thought that he is lying. He also said, the world changed so drastically that some people cannot imagine a large scale military conflict today, referring to the idea that Russia would attack NATO.

So, you hear that, and it's condescending to some degree. What do you make of -- is it deflection that he is trying to put out there? Some people would say, sure, he wants to act as though nothing is going on even though a lot of people believe very well that there is a lot going on and he just does not want to be on the radar?

DOUGHERTY: I mean, one of the ideas, Christi, is that he is going to wait out the West on this, that he will try to sow some type of dissension in the ranks. For instance, their meeting right now, the G7 in Germany. Germany -- the foreign minister just the other day said I think it would not be good if the G8 were to permanently become the G7. In other words, Putin and Russia should not be permanently excluded. Then, on the other side, you have the Canadians, the Canadian prime minister who said Russia with Putin should never be a member of the G8.

So what Putin tries to do is divide the NATO allies, maybe not with weapons but rhetorically, and after all the Germans have a long relationship with Russia, and they hate to see it go even though they decry what he's doing in Ukraine.

PAUL: Jill Dougherty, always great to get your perspective. Thank you so much.

DOUGHERTY: Thanks.

BLACKWELL: Well, the summit has just begun but the protests have been going on for days now, and 17,000 police officers have been called in, they're on the ground to provide security.

Our Karl Penhaul joins us now near the protest site.

Karl, we have seen different snapshots throughout the morning. What's the scene like now where you are?

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Victor, I want to tell you the scene around us now, some of the thousands of protesters in the last few days have been campaigning to stop President Obama and the other members of the group of seven from meeting, but at every move today their moves have been stifled by the riot police -- 17,000 police on duty to provide security, and the total cost of the summit $150 million, which is the protesters say that cost is an obscene cost for this type of meeting.

Now, right now, this demonstration that has been working itself through a town of about 15 miles from the G7 meeting, the riot police blocked the march from going any further. It is a detailed that they are trying to shut them down on, they're trying to tell them they have to space these banners apart, and they are not allowed to march with the banners together and that is why they have stopped this march from proceeding. What I must say, until now the meetings, the protests have a reputation for violence, but the mood has been peaceful and friendly.

We did see some scuffles yesterday and this morning because the protesters have been playing cat and mouse with the riot police, and the protesters at one stage tried to move on to a highway.

[08:10:00] As they tried to do that they were surrounded by riot police. At another point there was a peaceful sit in on one of the highways, and again, riot police swiftly moved in to move them on, and as I say, really, they are here out in force, as you see both men and women with their riot gear on, but so far on the side of the protesters, they are just obeying police orders for now and are standing still to see if they can get the issue sorted out to see if they are allowed to proceed to continue their march, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Wow, Karl Penhaul, taking us in the narrow space between the police and protesters as they try to continue to march, and police there stopping them. Karl, thank you so much.

And this morning, there is a massive manhunt in the states underway right now for these two men who escaped from a prison in Upstate New York. We'll tell you why they escaped, who they are and we'll talk with a forensic psychiatrist and delve into the mindset of these two escapees.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: There is a massive search happening right now on the ground and from the air in upstate New York to find these two inmates. They pulled off a daring elaborate escape, both men broke out of the Clinton correctional facility about 25 miles from the Canadian border.

Let's bring in CNN's Polo Sandoval, with more on the escape and the latest on the manhunt -- because you've got local, state and federal authorities now looking for these men.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Victor. Hundreds of police officers on the ground and in the air, desperately trying to search for these two men at this point and not only is that a priority to find them, but actually trying to figure out exactly how they were able to pull this off.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL (voice-over): A massive manhunt is under way for two convicted killers on the run. The FBI, state and local police setting up roadblocks searching house to house.

MAJOR CHARLES GUESS, NEW YORK STATE POLICE: Currently we have over 200 law enforcement officers in the area, with a variety of specialized units and equipment at their disposal. No stone is being left unturned.

SANDOVAL: Forty-eight-year-old Richard Matt and 34-year-old David Sweat made a daring escape from the Clinton correctional facility in Upstate New York near the Canadian border. GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D), NEW YORK: Well, there's no doubt that it was

an extraordinary act. I mean, you have a facility that opened in 1865, just think about it. This is the first escape from the maximum security portion of the institution ever.

SANDOVAL: The pair left makeshift dummies in their beds made out of hooded sweat shirts and carved a hole through a steel wall at the rear of their cells.

ANTHONY ANNUCCI, NEW YORK DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS: This morning, we noticed during the standing count at 5:30 a.m. of this facility the two cells which were adjoining each other were empty.

[08:15:01] SANDOVAL: Officials say the inmates crawled through tunnels and down a six-story cat walk and used power tools to cut through steel pipes, eventually escaping through a manhole outside the prison perimeter. Officials say the brazen pair even left a note for prison officials. It read, "Have a nice day."

CUOMO: We went back and pieced together what they did. It was elaborate. It was sophisticated.

SANDOVAL: Sweat is serving a sentence of life without parole after he was convicted of first-degree murder. Matt is serving 25 years to life for kidnapping a man and beating him to death.

CUOMO: So, these are dangerous people and they are nothing to be trifled with.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Another concern is perhaps nearly the seven-hour head start the two men had, and they had the visual contact with guards at 10:30 a.m. on Friday and the guards did not realize they were missing until 5:30 on Saturday, and with the search well over 24 hours, the main focus trying to find the two convicted murders.

BLACKWELL: So many questions about them. Polo Sandoval, thank you so much.

PAUL: So, let's try to get into the minds of the escapees and talk to forensic psychiatrist Lise Van Susteren.

Lise, thank you so much being with us.

I want to start by asking you about one of these inmates specifically, Richard Matt. He's 48 years old and serving 25 years to life, he actually had a chance for parole.

Why do you think he would try to escape at this point?

LISE VAN SUSTEREN, FORENSIC PSYCHIATRIST: Well, of course, he can only answer that himself, but the point is that this was not something that has been brewing in the last couple weeks or months. I suspect that this is something these two individuals were thinking about for a long time, and what it represents is that the antithesis the incarceration, they are thinking about escape and freedom.

So, it's a very, very attractive state of mind to be in for a long period of time.

PAUL: But they clearly have to have help once they get out. Let's look at the manhole where they escaped. Now that they are on the streets, where do they go? I mean, obviously, they have to have somebody who is assisting, yes?

VAN SUSTEREN: It's clear they had help. There is no way -- power tools just don't materialize inside prison cells. This has been being planned for a very long time, and I suspect that law enforcement will look at all the people who have been visiting them on a regular basis, and anybody with whom they have contact, friends and family members and et cetera. So, someone was most likely waiting there to pick them up and to take them to most likely -- I would think, to the border, so they could get away and out of the country.

PAUL: Yes, get to Canada. Right, remember, this is 20 miles from the Canadian border.

These are two convicted killers. With that mindset, do you think they are at risk to kill again of anybody that would get in their way?

VAN SUSTEREN: Absolutely. If you have killed once under these circumstances and it was a very intentional killing, of course they will likely kill again, especially if desperate.

What we see in people like this, they have a very high threshold for anxiety and for the expression aggression, and just the fact they left this note, "have a nice day", tells you they don't feel the kinds of sentiments we do. So, the fact somebody is in their way and keeps them from having their freedom is really not the same for somebody like us, thinking about the morality of hurting others.

PAUL: And there is a pride there when you look at the note, they wanted to leave some sort of a calling card saying, hey, you can keep us down but not for long, yes?

VAN SUSTEREN: They were making a statement, but it really reflect the state of mind of people who have criminal intent who do kill others, they really don't have the same impulses we have to control ourselves.

PAUL: Lise Van Susteren, so good to get your perspective. Thank you for taking the time to be with us today.

BLACKWELL: Ahead this morning, new pictures of the royal babies. Can you still call George a baby, right?

PAUL: Oh my God, yes.

BLACKWELL: Yes, he is still a baby.

PAUL: Look at those socks.

BLACKWELL: Although I'm sure they tell him he is a big boy, perfect boy. For the first time, you'll see the chemistry between Prince George and his baby sister, Princess Charlotte.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:23:23] PAUL: All righty. Some of the other headlines right now. Five more bodies have been recovered from Malaysia's Mt. Kinabalu today. This brings the death toll to 16 following Friday's earthquake.

BLACKWELL: Two climbers are still unaccounted for, one person thought to be missing was found safe on Saturday.

PAUL: Iraqi forces with U.S. support say they are now in full control of the city of Baiji. Sources say CNN soldiers regained control of the city's government buildings and Baiji's main mosque. Baiji is home to the largest Iraqi oil refinery, so a pivotal move there.

BLACKWELL: Pretty cute pictures here, getting a look at the first official pictures of Princess Charlotte. She is there, of course, with her big brother, Prince George, already taking good care of her there. He will kiss on the forehead. The duchess of Cambridge, Catherine, put on her photograph hat, I don't know if that's an actual hat, and took these pictures last month surely after the baby girl was born.

PAUL: Who knew she was such a good photographer.

BLACKWELL: Well, she's good lighting there.

PAUL: You would have to be, yes, because lot of a lot of pictures of them.

We are so grateful that you started your morning with us. We hope you make some great memories today.

BLACKWELL: Of course, enjoy this Sunday.

PAUL: But, you know what, we do leave you with this. Our "one to watch" series featuring superstar pianist Lang Lang who's passing along his craft to future generations.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NARRATOR: The Chinese pianist Lang Lang has become a global superstar through a combination of his breathtaking talent and flamboyant personality.

He is one of the few artists today who can frequently pack out concert halls around the world. He's performed for presidents, prime ministers and princes, and entertained a global audience at the Beijing Olympics.

LANG LANG, GLOBAL PIANO STAR: An artist today must bring diversity or different dimensions to our plain. If you are sitting there for two hours of just, you know, different pieces, I think, you know, it can be very challenging.

NARRATOR: What's become known as the "Lang Lang effect" has inspired millions of Chinese children to take up the piano.

He harbors a passion to pass on his enthusiasm for the instrument and its music to a younger generation through his work as a UNICEF ambassador and his own music foundation.

LANG LANG: When I see those kids playing on stage or in the class I got very emotional because it really takes me back. And I just got personally attached to those kids, that I really want to help them to achieve their dreams, because I know we had the same dream before.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL: You can check out the full show at CNN.com/onestowatch.

"INSIDE POLITICS WITH JOHN KING" is with you after the quick break.