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CNN NEWSROOM

TSA Employees Have Ties to Terrorism?; Could Supreme Court Undo Obamacare?; Interview with Patrick Kennedy; Manhunt Intensifies for Escaped Inmates; Protests Call for Cop to be Fired; Ex-Speaker to be Arraigned Today; Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired June 9, 2015 - 10:00   ET

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


[10:00:00] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Want one picture taken with Archie Bunker and me. One, two, three.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was a period of discovery for a lot of people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My only defense was it was the '70s.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, a three- country manhunt for two convicted killers.

JACK RUGAR, RETIRED PRISON GUARD: You don't cut through a steel wall without somebody hearing it.

COSTELLO: A female prison worker questioned.

DUANE "DOG" CHAPMAN, BOUNTY HUNTER: If they did as much planning to get away as they did to get, you know, out of the prison, they're gone.

COSTELLO: Who helped them break out? And what clues did they leave behind?

Also, the TSA under fire again. This time a new report showing the agency failed to I.D. workers linked to terrorism.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These are airport workers, so this really speaks to the issue of the insider threat.

COSTELLO: This hour, lawmakers asking what we need to do to fix the TSA.

Plus, pool party protest. Accusations of racial misconduct against the officer who pushed a girl to the ground and pulled a gun on teenagers. But even neighbors don't see eye-to-eye about what happened.

Let's talk. Live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

Just how secure are you at U.S. airports? That's the question on Capitol Hill today after a new report shows that a TSA screening process for airport employees failed to identify dozens of workers with links to terrorism. And now lawmakers want answers.

CNN's Rene Marsh live in Washington. Good morning.

RENE MARSH, CNN AVIATION AND GOVERNMENT REGULATION CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. The TSA is under the microscope again this morning. This is after a government audit revealed that the agency cleared more than 70 people with links to terrorism to work at airports across the country. Now, the TSA, they're in charge of vetting airport employees, but the agency does not have complete access to every terror watch list.

So what the TSA has to do is request specific information from the databases, but if it doesn't request enough information, individuals with those terror links could slip through and that's exactly what happened here.

These employees in question worked for major airlines, airport vendors, and other employees. They had access to commercial planes, the tarmac, as well as luggage. So that really speaks to this issue of the potential insider threat, and that's why this news is so concerning, Carol.

As you mentioned, there's a hearing on Capitol Hill. It's set to get under way shortly, and lawmakers will be dissecting the agency and its problems.

COSTELLO: All right, Rene Marsh, reporting live from Washington. Thank you.

More than 10 million people are now enrolled in Obamacare, most of them, nearly nine million, rely on federal tax credits in order to afford it. But the U.S. Supreme Court will decide later this month whether credits will be canceled for enrollees living in certain states. 6.5 million people who rely on those subsidies could have their credit stripped away along with their health insurance.

And the fight is all about four words. The court is deciding what drafters of the law meant by the phrase "established by the state." President Obama took aim yesterday at the potential outcome.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's a bad idea. It's not something that should be done based on a twisted interpretation of four words in, as we were reminded repeatedly, a couple of thousand page piece of legislation. What's more, the thing is working. I mean, part of what's bizarre about this whole thing is we haven't had a lot of conversation about the horrors of Obamacare because none of them have come to pass. You have 16 million --

(END VIDEO CLIP) COSTELLO: The president makes his case again today when he addresses the Catholic Hospital Association.

Joining me now to talk about the millions of Americans whose health care may be in jeopardy is former representative, Patrick Kennedy.

Welcome, sir.

PATRICK KENNEDY (D), FORMER U.S. CONGRESSMAN: Thank you very much for having me.

COSTELLO: Thanks for being here. I appreciate it. Your father, Senator Edward Kennedy, wrote a letter about the passage of the health care law. He wrote, in part, quote, "Today the nation takes another major step toward reaching the goals to which they, my brothers, dedicated their careers and for which they gave their lives. They strived, as I have tried to do, for a fair and more just America, a nation where every American could share fully in the promise of quality health care."

What would your father think of the battle raging over Obamacare today?

KENNEDY: Well, it's basic. It's a very simple thing, treat others as you would want to be treated.

[10:05:04] Do you want to live in a country where your -- the vagaries of the system leave you helpless and without any health care that could jeopardize your life, the life of your children? I don't think that's not only something that's undesirable for a family, it's undesirable for us as a nation. We've come too far as a country to now think that we're going to move backward.

For the Supreme Court to decide that this is a technical issue is ignoring the fact that we've had over 100 years towards this day when we could finally guarantee all Americans access to health care. That cannot be underdone simply by the technical review of this as simply a legal case. There is a moral contract that's involved here and we hope that the Supreme Court takes that into account because it's not just the legal contract. It's a moral contract. That's why I think the president is going to be speaking to the Catholic Hospital Association because --

COSTELLO: And your father --

KENNEDY: -- the moral issue here is treating everybody as we would ourselves want to be treated.

COSTELLO: And your father very much believed that. I mean, he wrote this letter while he was dying. It was his wish that this would be put into place because he fought so long and hard for such a law. How would he feel that it might be stripped and millions of people might lose their insurance?

KENNEDY: Well, just -- you can't imagine what this is going to mean to all of those families who are once again going to be thrown into the abyss, wondering if their child gets sick, what are they going to do? Can they afford to take their child to the hospital?

I mean, this is unconscionable in this great country of ours that we would let people die because of lack of access to health -- basic health care. It's just immoral and so I think that should be what is on all of our minds. We have to do always a better job of trying to implement access to health care for all, but the basic premise of this should not be in question, and that is that all human beings ought to have access to life-saving health care for them and their families.

COSTELLO: Well, many -- many Americans have problems with Obamacare, and that's just a fact. Some of their premiums are higher than they expected them would be. I think one of the major problems is no one seems to have a contingency plan if the U.S. Supreme Court rules against Obamacare and that includes President Obama. Why is that?

KENNEDY: Well, I mean, the fight for health care for all has been a fight, as I said, for over a century. It's not -- you know, the perfect can never be the enemy of the good. We have to make progress. It's not an easy process. You have a lot of entrenched interests who are at play here. But we ought to always understand the basic underpinning of this, and that is we ought to strive to make sure no human being is denied the dignity of life-saving care simply because they cannot afford it.

Not in this great country of ours. It's not, you know, in keeping with what we are as a nation to allow that to happen.

COSTELLO: Congressman Kennedy, thanks for stopping by. I appreciate it.

KENNEDY: Thank you for having me.

COSTELLO: An international manhunt intensifies for two convicted killers still on the loose. Right now investigators are trying to figure out whether a female prison worker may have helped these inmates break free from a super max prison in upstate New York. In the meantime, officials have released these photos hoping someone may recognize Richard Matt and David Sweat by their tattoos.

Earlier I spoke with a resident who lives near that prison. She fears both men could still be lurking in her neighborhood.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELIZABETH AHERN, COMMUNITY MEMBER: We are now closing our doors and locking them and, you know, making sure we have knives and guns ready to go just in case. Initially I thought they fled, but it sounds like from reports they are definitely hanging around. My worst fear is that they're terrorizing somebody somewhere.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: CNN's Polo Sandoval is on the ground in Dannemora, New York, with more. Good morning.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning. You know, despite this rain and extremely heavy fog here in upstate New York, the search seems to continue. We're seeing officials really come and go from the command post that's not far from where we're standing right here just outside the Clinton Correctional Facility.

Meanwhile, investigators today hope to focus more on this woman that they are questioning as a possible accomplice and that we're also learning more about what life may be like behind these walls here. We met up with a man who used to work there and he really shared some insight on what life is like, not just behind these walls but within them as well.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[10:10:05] SANDOVAL (voice-over): The intense manhunt is spreading. The fugitives could be anywhere from New York's North Country up to Canada or even south into Mexico where 49-year-old fugitive Richard Matt is believed to have connections.

COMDR. ROBERT FERNANDEZ, U.S. MARSHAL SERVICES' CAPITAL AREA FUGITIVE TASK FORCE: Anything is a possibility. We really need the public to call in.

SANDOVAL: A law enforcement source tells CNN an employee is being questioned as a possible accomplice. The woman who worked with inmates tailoring clothing knew Richard and 35-year-old David Sweat, but she hasn't been charged.

A man who claims to have confronted the escapees in his backyard talking exclusively to ABC News.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They were looking around a little bit. As soon as I came across, they ran out of my yard.

SANDOVAL: Many think the dangerous duo could not have done it alone.

RICH PLUMADORE, FORMER MAINTENANCE SUPERVISOR: They redid that wall twice since I have been working here.

SANDOVAL: Rich Plumadore worked behind these 60-foot walls for 3 1/2 decades. He says he retired from his job as maintenance supervisor of the prison. His daily duties included working in the hidden maze of walkways believed to have served as Matt and Sweat's path to freedom.

PLUMADORE: There is so many tunnels, all the attics, all the catwalks. It's a big maze.

SANDOVAL (on camera): They used that maze.

PLUMADORE: They used the maze. They knew exactly where to go.

SANDOVAL (voice-over): Plumadore suspects the escape plan took time and serious know-how to execute.

PLUMADORE: Inmates should never get that knowledge.

SANDOVAL: Cutting at the wrong stream pipe at the wrong time could have been deadly or at least blown the inmates' cover.

PLUMADORE: You had high pressure steam coming up this tunnel. You have low pressure. I believe they cut into a low pressure line because they couldn't cut into it twice.

SANDOVAL: Like the rest of his neighbors, Plumadore waits anxiously for the search to be over and a pair of cunning criminals to be back behind bars.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: And back out live here, the neighborhood just outside the Clinton Correctional Facility, I can tell you that again police still a heavy presence on their part. Meanwhile, Carol, we know that investigators are working around the clock going through at least 300 leads at this hour. Many of them coming in from the region, others from Canada and even from as far as Mexico because the reality at this hour, Carol, is investigators still don't have any idea where these two very dangerous men are.

COSTELLO: Polo Sandoval reporting live for us this morning. Thank you.

Coming up in the NEWSROOM, a Texas police officer accused of brutality, has enraged people online but some witnesses insist he did not do a thing wrong.

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[10:16:37] COSTELLO: Cries for a Texas officer to be fired.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: All lives matter. All lives matter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Hundreds demanding justice last night in McKinney, Texas. The reason? This disturbing video. A police officer slamming a young girl to the ground. Friends helplessly looking on.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAHDA BAKARI, WITNESS: You can actually see the pain on her face, how she was crying, and like how hurt she felt. And you could just see, like, all the black people were the ones that started running first. They're the ones started running because you know how things go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The officer involved in this, Eric Casebolt, remains off duty. He's on administrative leave while the department investigates.

For many partygoers like the one you just heard from, the incident is raising racial concerns. Several others support the officer's actions. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED WITNESS: That police officer along with everyone else, they were completely in the right and protecting everyone. I feel horrible for McKinney PD and the backlash that they're getting for this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Nick Valencia is outside the police department in McKinney to tell us more.

Good morning, Nick.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. The outrage is still very evident here in McKinney. Many calling for that officer in question, Eric Casebolt, to resign or to be fired.

We were there last night when hundreds of people marched through the streets going from a local elementary school to the site of Friday's incident, calling for his resignation, trying to highlight what they call police brutality and excessive force.

Even still, we spoke to many residents in that subdivision there in McKinney, Texas, who support the police officer. One going so far as to say that that officer deserves a medal for how he acted and what he did. The teens at the party, well, they just don't see it that way. Jahda Bakari, you just heard from her there a little while ago, she was one of the teens that was on camera there.

She says she was assaulted by the officer in question, hit in the face and arm, and she believes that she was targeted because she's black.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: When that gun came out of his holster, what did you think?

BAKARI: Fear. Like it was just -- because usually when someone pulls out a gun, they're intending to use it. They're -- it's not like you're just going to pull it out to scare people. You're intending to use the gun. So when he pulled that out, it was kind of like that's the only reason I did not run away because I was frozen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: Neighbors that we spoke to, residents in that community, Carol, say that this all started because there was a fight that happened. We know that that much is true. How it started or why it started, well, there's competing narratives as far as that goes.

Those teens say that they were being racially taunted and that people were hurling racial slurs at them. Residents that I spoke to who witnessed it from the start to finish say that that wasn't the case and it was just solely about these teens getting out of control -- Carol/

COSTELLO: Reporting live this morning. Thanks so much.

Checking some other top stories for you at 19 minutes past the hour. The U.S. Army's Web site is back online after a pro-Syrian group hacked. The Army had to shut down the site after Monday's attack to make sure there was no data breach. The Syrian Electronic Army claimed responsibility. The group has hacked other targets in the past including U.S. Defense contractors.

Today Lufthansa will begin returning the remains of victims from Germanwings Flight 9525. 150 people were killed when the plane crashed in the French alps. Investigators believe the co-pilot, who had a history of depression, intentionally crashed the plane while flying from Barcelona, Spain to Dusseldorf, Germany.

[10:20:05] A foreign policy test for Jeb Bush. The former Florida governor is now in Europe. The tour will bring him to Germany, Poland, and Estonia. Bush has not declared that he's running for president. He's expected to announce his candidacy, though, next Monday.

And the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team is off to a great start at the World Cup. They knocked off Australia in their opening match, 3- 1. They're looking for their third World Cup title and first since 1999. They will play again Friday against Sweden.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Dennis Hastert, once one of the most powerful men in Washington, now getting one of the city's most powerful lawyers to defend him against charges he paid hush money then lied about it.

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COSTELLO: Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert is due to appear in federal court in just a couple hours.

[10:20:04] He's expected to enter a plea when he's arraigned later this afternoon on charges he tried to hide hush money payments and then lied about them to the FBI. And he'll have his newly hired attorney by his side. A man with decades of experience representing members of Congress and public officials. I'm talking Whitewater and Watergate.

Joining me now to talk more about this legal analyst, Joey Jackson.

Good morning, Joey.

JOEY JACKSON, HLN LEGAL ANALYST: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: So first of all tell us -- tell us about this hearing and what it will entail.

JACKSON: You know, it's pretty routine, Carol. What ends up happening is in federal court you're presented with your attorney. At that time the judge says, look, has your attorney reviewed the indictment with you? Those are the charges that you face. Are there any issues with the indictment? Thereafter you enter a plea which, of course, is not guilty, and at that time conditions of your release are set.

And generally they're negotiated in advance. Your released on some what's called personal recognizance bond which is a fancy way for saying we're going to ensure you return to court under some conditions. So it's really a pro forma type of appearance. Not many fireworks generally at this time and then a date is set for you to come back in the future. That's when the fireworks occur, at the time of trial should there be a trial in this case, Carol.

COSTELLO: I think if he shows up and enters the courtroom that's when the fireworks will occur because there are many, many journalists waiting.

JACKSON: Yes.

COSTELLO: To go into that courtroom. Will any more information come out do you think?

JACKSON: I don't think so. You know, certainly I think people are very concerned and want to know about what's underlying these charges because generally when there's a crime, there's a victim of a crime. Now you can argue in this case, of course, the victims were those that were allegedly abused at his hands but he's not charged with that. He's charged with merely really lying to the FBI, which in the lie if you look at it, he's affirming what they're asking him.

Why are you taking out this money? What's the purpose? Do you not trust the banking system? Yes, I don't, it's my money, which technically is a lie, and it makes you, you know, responsible for up to five years in jail. And then of course when you structure transactions in a way to avoid the banking system, that's a problem because you're doing it to deceive.

Now the argument will be later on that that's really for money laundering purposes, it's really drug dealing purposes, it's not for really concealing your own money but technically under the statute you don't have to show money laundering. You don't have to show drug dealing. You just have to show scheming to defraud the government.

So with this appearance we won't hear much of that and, quite frankly, he doesn't have to say much of anything, so I don't know that --

COSTELLO: And his attorney probably won't either.

JACKSON: -- big of a deal.

COSTELLO: He's hired this high-profile attorney, but he just hired him like the other day.

JACKSON: Sure. Yale educated lawyer, apparently very well experienced. You look at his bio, you know, represented top public officials before, actually even represented the former governor of Puerto Rico. You see that there, Carol. Defended white collar -- you know, big white collar guy, but in the ultimate result of this case is that, look, did you lie or did you not? Did you attempt to defraud -- enter a scheme to hide the government reporting that you were taking out money or not, and so no matter how high powered the attorney, the realities are what they are.

Many wonder whether or not there will be some type of plea negotiation or whether he will move forward to trial. Maybe he will find a very sympathetic jury that says look, there's no victim here, it's your money, you can take it, and you really didn't lie. You just affirmed what the government told you but that's a very difficult argument to make under these circumstances.

COSTELLO: Joey Jackson, thanks as usual. I appreciate it.

JACKSON: Pleasure and a privilege. Thank you, Carol.

COSTELLO: Wow.

We are expecting community leaders in Cleveland to speak shortly on the Tamir Rice case. Now the group says they don't trust the justice system so they'll use this obscure Ohio law to bypass prosecutors and go straight to a judge. The group wants murder charges filed against two police officers involved in the 12-year-old's shooting death last year.

Coming up next in the NEWSROOM, a tuberculosis super bug has health experts worried. A patient carried the virus from India into the United States and she visited several states. We'll talk about the threat next.

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