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CNN NEWSROOM

Prison Escape Help; Jeb Bush Enters 2016 Race; Trump Announcement Today; Syrian Refugees on the Turkey Border; Double Shark Attacks in North Carolina; Can LeBron Carry the Cleveland Cavs to Victory? Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired June 16, 2015 - 09:30   ET

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


[09:30:00] PATRICK JOHNSON, FORMER WARDEN, CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY JAIL: And they start testing them. They start nudging them to see if they're going to, you know, break or, you know, commitment small rule violations. And if they see that, then they will try and get the officers or the staff to commitment further violations just to see how far they can manipulate them. And that's what happened to her. You know, there was probably small things in the beginning and then it led up to greater manipulations where she was bringing contraband inside the facility and to the point where she was part of the escape plan once they got out of the facility.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Well, if the prisoners could identify what you call a weak person, why didn't the warden in this case, or somebody who was looking over these prison employees, take note of Joyce Mitchell as a weak, vulnerable person?

JOHNSON: Well, you know, I see that there was an investigation earlier and, from my understanding, they didn't find her wrongdoing with being manipulated by the one inmate there. I believe Sweat. And so they just moved Sweat out of the area that she was in charge of supervising.

Now, you know, in our case, and we certainly have had that in the facility that I ran, and what we tried to do, if that's the case, if there's formal charges that we can place against a person, that's what we do. We want to get rid of people who are manipulated by inmates, plain and simple. They're not safe for the correction officers who put their lives on the line every day in these housing units watching inmates. They're not safe for the civilian staff that work there and try to help the inmates with their problems. And they're not safe for other inmates. They may harm them as well.

So if you have a weak link inside your facility, you have to get rid of it. And sometimes the problems are -- you know, we have contracts with unions and you have to honor those contracts and they have rights as employees under civil service that you have to take into consideration. It's just not real easy to fire these people that may fall victim to manipulation. There's a lot of legal processes that you have to go through in order to get rid of staff.

COSTELLO: I understand. Patrick Johnson, thanks so much for your insight. I appreciate it.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Donald Trump teases the political world with news of a big announcement. So, is he really going to run this time? We'll talk about that, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:36:50] COSTELLO: Jeb Bush is taking his bid for the White House to New Hampshire today, where he'll hold a town hall meeting with voters. Bush getting up close and personal with the people he needs to turn his presidential dreams into reality just a day after officially getting into the race. CNN chief congressional correspondent Dana Bash is covering Bush. She joins me now live from Miami.

Good morning.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

Look, Jeb Bush basically had to acknowledge in his speech yesterday what was painfully obvious over the past six months, which is that he has got to break out of the pack in a way that he hasn't done before by showing that he is not entitled. His mother was there, the former first lady, who was obviously very near and dear to his heart, and he made clear explicitly that he's going to have to work hard for this. Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Not one of us deserved the job by right of resume, party, seniority, family or family narrative. It's nobody's turn. It's everybody's test. And it's wide open. Exactly as a contest for president should be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now, Carol, one of the reasons it's wide open is because he has failed to break away from the pack, even scare any of the what now almost 15 candidates who are running away from the race. And, you know, one of the questions that I've heard many, many times, even in -- maybe even especially from people who want Jeb Bush to get the presidential -- Republican presidential nomination is, does he have the fire in the belly? Well, this speech was very energetic. He absolutely showed that he does have that and that kind of notorious Bush competitive spirt for sure kicked in.

But one other thing I want to note is that the teleprompter is not his friend and you mentioned that he is going to kind of go and speak to the voters he's going to need. He's going to be in New Hampshire today, followed by Iowa and South Carolina. He's going to have town halls, very much his comfort zone, where he could actually engage with voters, where he just delivers a better message than in this big venue with a teleprompter, Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Dana Bash reporting live for us this morning. Thanks so much.

A little later today, Jeb Bush and the 10 other Republicans already in the race could get even more company in the form of Donald Trump. Yes, he's supposed to make some major announcement at the Trump Tower here in New York around 11:15 Eastern Time. Everybody's expecting that, well, he may announce he's running for president.

And while Trump told an April gathering of Republicans that if elected he would, quote, "make America great again," some high-profile conservatives have a decidedly different opinion of. One of them, George Will, calling Trump an "ignoramus" who will get, in his words, "shellacked" if he jumps into the presidential race. Shortly after today's announcement, Trump is expected to head to Iowa for a rally, but the turnout may leave a lot to be desired if a recent Des Moines, Iowa, register poll is any indication. Fifty-eight percent of Republican voters in the state say they would never support the reality estate mogul and reality star. Just 28 percent say they could back him.

[09:40:03] Here to talk about this is Michael Warren, staff writer for "The Weekly Standard."

Welcome, Michael.

MICHAEL WARREN, STAFF WRITER, "THE WEEKLY STANDARD": Hi, Carol. Thanks for having me.

COSTELLO: Thanks for being here. So look into your crystal ball. What will Donald Trump say in about two hours?

WARREN: You know, that's anybody's guess. He could be starting a super PAC. He could be making a bid for the Republican nomination or maybe even an independent bid for the presidency. But, you know, the only reason that we're really taking him seriously, Republicans take him seriously is two reasons, actually, money and fame. He's got a lot of both. He's given to a lot of Republican candidates and committees. And I've been to a lot of these sort of candidate cattle calls where they all come and speak and talk to groups. Donald Trump puts butts in seats because he's entertaining and he's exciting and he's funny but he's not a really serious presidential candidate so we may see the beginning of a candidacy here but I don't think we should take it seriously.

COSTELLO: OK. So, he's funny and he's entertaining. Doesn't that mean he's making a mockery of the American political system and the Republican Party?

WARREN: Yes. Maybe this is like some long parity satire that we're going to see in some documentary in a couple of years about Donald Trump's run for president. I don't know, look, I mean he thinks -- he takes himself seriously and I think that is true. And he desperately wants other people to take him seriously. The problem is, he hasn't put out any sort of real, substantive policy issues, positions on any of these things that are actually facing the country. Other Republicans have. Even some of these lower tier candidates, like Carley Fiorina or Ben Carson. People like Trump, who don't have political experience, they're always talking about substantive issues.

I haven't heard Donald Trump say anything substantive about anything that's facing the country. I heard him once, I think in New Hampshire said -- answer to a question, what would you do about the national debt? His answer was, I would make the country richer than it's ever been so we wouldn't have to worry about it. I mean, come on, this is ridiculous.

COSTELLO: He says he's worth $9 billion. Maybe he could fund some of that himself.

I read an interesting op-ed in "The Washington Post" and it said if Donald Trump runs, he's so extreme and so kind of crazy that he'll make every other candidate seem same and that's his biggest like plus factor if he decides to run.

WARREN: Yes, that could be. And we have to look at the polls. Remember, he's actually polling at enough -- a high enough level that he could actually get into one of those -- one of these debates. I guess this upcoming Fox News debate where you've got 10 candidates and that's where the cap is. Right now he's making the cut. And, you know, I wonder if a lot of these lower tiered candidates who aren't making the cut are looking at Trump and saying, wait a second, that's a spot that's being wasted because essentially an entertainment candidate. I've actually asked some of those campaigns if -- what they thought about it. They haven't really responded. But I think they -- I think they are a little worried about this. So, you know, on the one hand, it could be something to distract people and, on the other hand, it could make a nice contrast for Republican voters. I don't know. But I think -- I think it's going to be entertaining one way or the other.

COSTELLO: OK, so last question, should the media pay attention to Donald Trump or should we all just ignore him?

WARREN: I don't know. I mean he -- look he -- we're talking a about him right now because he's entertaining and he's interesting. I think we should treat him the way he is, which is as a sort of joke candidate or joke almost candidate. He'll probably get really angry about this conversation, but, look, that's more clicks, more views. I say if we can get more clicks and views, that's -- we're doing our job, I guess.

COSTELLO: OK. Thank you so much. Michael Warren with "The Weekly Standard," thanks so much for being with me.

WARREN: Thanks.

COSTELLO: And a program note, Donald Trump will be Jake Tapper's guest this week on CNN's "State of the Union." That all begins 9:00 a.m. Eastern this Sunday.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, running for their lives. Syrian refugees crossing the border by the thousands, trying to escape the war and violence at home.

[09:44:01]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Dirty, thirsty, and desperate for a safe place to take their families. More than 23,000 refugees have already flooded the border gates of a northern Syrian town, some waiting for days to cross into Turkey. The place they called home first falling under the control of ISIS terrorists, and now the scene of intense fighting between ISIS and the Syrian Kurdish forces trying to win the town back.

CNN's Arwa Damon has more for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Through the haze of the heat, a glimpse of a few of those who are waiting for Turkish authorities to allow them through. The majority barely visible behind the berm, arms raising frantically the moment water arrives. Many have been here for hours if not days.

They are finally let through. A desperate scene the world has witnessed too many times yet done little to stop. Some parents lugging their children, others laden with all they have left in life.

Exhausted, angry, and dehydrated, most just want to keep going. Some have relative that is already made it to Turkey.

(on camera): This is a family that's just -- being reunited but they don't want to stop and talk, which is very understandable given everything that they have been through. A lot of people in those moments, when the gate was opened, were just phoning relatives they had on the other side, saying it's open.

[09:50:06] Come, cross quickly! Worried that it would close once again, and they would continue to have to wait on the other side.

ISIS controls the Syrian side of the official border crossing here and the town of Tal Abyad just on the other side, now in the crosshairs of advancing Kurdish fighters and Arab rebel forces. Capturing it means cutting off a major ISIS supply route to their stronghold of Raqqa. The majority of Tal Abyad's residents and those of the surrounding villages, an impoverished rural area, have gotten by day by day.

"We are normal civilians who have nothing to do with anyone. Whomever governs us, we just obey them," Halid al Ali (ph) says. "We just had to leave because of the clashes."

Many had chosen ISIS rule over losing the little they have in life, a choice they no longer have.

Arwa Damon, CNN, on the Turkey/Syria border.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Checking some other top stories for you at 50 minutes past. A source telling CNN that Lyle Mitchell has made a jailhouse visit to his wife Joyce. As you know, Joyce Mitchell is being held on charges of smuggling tools to two killers who broke out of a New York prison. Mitchell is accused of an inappropriate relationship with one of them and allegedly had a sexual relationship with the other.

Boats and a helicopter are monitoring the waters along Oak Island, North Carolina, following Sunday's grisly double shark attack. The beach is open to the public, but swimmers are encouraged to stay in shallow water.

CNN's Tom Foreman has more for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Even as helicopters patrol from the air and people watch from the beach, there is nervous talk about a third shark attack. It happened to a young girl on her boogie board just days ago, and while she escaped with minor injuries, the twin attacks that followed have horrified this community.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The left arm is completely missing and also a bite to the left leg, 13-year-old, weak pulse.

911 DISPATCHER: OK, left arm is completely missing, weak pulse and what was the other?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A bite to the left leg.

FOREMAN: This family witnessed the attack on a teenage girl and says that she walked silently from the water while others screamed.

PAM CAUSEY, EYEWITNESS: You could see her arm, and you could tell that the back of her leg that she had gotten bitten as well.

911 DISPATCHER: Do you know, are any of the fingers completely amputated?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It looks like her entire hand is gone.

FOREMAN: Onlookers jumped into action.

MARIE HILDRETH, HELPED SHARK ATTACK VICTIM: I decided to go ahead and put two tourniquets on her on two different limbs which then stopped the bleeding.

FOREMAN: Then, stunningly, it happened again only a couple miles away and just over an hour later.

911 DISPATCHER: What is it, a shark?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It bit his arm off!

FOREMAN: This time a 16-year-old boy was the victim. Witnesses say the shark was seven to eight feet long and also took that teenager's arm.

JASON HUNTER, EYEWITNESS: A kid is in shock. He was still coherent, lost -- took it clean off.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You saw that?

HUNTER: I saw what was left of what he had.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Tom Foreman reporting.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, can the Cavaliers pull off another upset? Oh, wait a minute, Andy Scholes, I meant to say can the best player in the whole world pull off another upset?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Carol. All eyes will be on LeBron tonight because we're all waiting to see if Cleveland's sports curse can finally be put to an end. We'll hear what the fans have to say about the Cavs team chances in this series when NEWSROOM continues.

[09:53:40]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: The Golden State Warriors are just one win away from finally winning an NBA championship, a prize that's eluded the team for 40 long years. But who cares? I'm a Cavaliers fan. I'm sorry, I have to be honest and transparent. LeBron James is my hero, and, yes, he is the best basketball player in the whole darn world.

CNN's Andy Scholes is live in Cleveland to agree with me.

SCHOLES: Of course, Carol, I definitely agree with you. Who is better than LeBron, right?

COSTELLO: No one.

SCHOLES: For your sake and all of the fans in Cleveland, I hope they win tonight. I don't want to see a bunch of sad Cleveland fans walking around here in downtown after the game.

And you know what I was surprised at, Carol? I got here and the fans, they're still optimistic. And if any fan base had the right to be pessimistic going into this situation, it's the ones here in Cleveland. They've had so many bad things happened to them sportswise over the years. They haven't won a championship in 51 years. They were the favorites to win the NBA championship when the season started, but then Kevin Love went down with an injury in the first round series against the Celtics. They lost Kyrie Irving the first game of this series.

But when I talked to fans last night in downtown Cleveland, they were still confident that LeBron is going to win these next two games and bring the Cavs their first ever championship.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's the best guy ever. I mean, even though there's like nothing there and everybody feels like, you know, we just got to bring up -- we just got to not get tired in the fourth quarter, that's all.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to win tomorrow. And we're going to win on Friday, and where are we going to be at California? We're going to go in Friday in California. We're going to party on Saturday. TEWAYNE WILLIAMS, CLEVELAND FAN: I got faith in them. Cleveland got

faith in them. We got this. Ain't no changing it. It's going down, you know what I mean?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: You know what I mean, Carol? It's all going to go down tonight. Tip-off for Game Six, 9:00 eastern. Of course, like I said, a lot of fans optimistic , but this could be a very gloomy scene if the Warriors are able to pull it off and win their first championship in 40 years.

COSTELLO: It could be, but there is intense interest in this game because couldn't it set viewership records?

SCHOLES: Every single game so far this series, Carol, the TV ratings has just been going up and up and up.

[10:00:00] I believe Game 5 we got a 14.2, it's the highest rated NBA finals game ever. Interest is just going up. Of course you've got LeBron just playing out of his mind. People are actually saying, Carol, that LeBron, even if the Cavs lose this series, could win the MVP of the NBA finals.

COSTELLO: MVP! MVP!

SCHOLES: And it's only happened once ever. So it would be incredible; he definitely deserves it. But, again, Steph Curry's also been playing pretty good for the Warriors.

COSTELLO: Yeah, whatever.

SCHOLES: You got to say that.

COSTELLO: OK, Andy, thanks so much.

The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.