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Greeks Deeply Divided on Terms of Bailout; Sex, Drugs, Corruption at Baltimore City Jail; World Cup Soccer: U.S. Faces Japan in Final at 7:00PM ET. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired July 5, 2015 - 07:30   ET

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


[07:30:00] ELINDA LABROPOULOU, JOURNALIST: Those voting no are voting no to a bailout, they're voting no to more austerity from their creditors. And those voting yes believe that this is the only way for Greece to remain in Europe.

Let's take a listen on what a couple of voters had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I believe yes should prevail. There is no other salvation. I hope things will improve. The situation right now is dramatic.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): No matter what the outcome is, the measures will be harsh. We should try something different anyway. We've already tried one option. So, let's try the other option now and let's see what happens.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LABROPOULOU: And so, really people here are very polarized in terms of which way they're likely to vote. They're turning out here in polling centers like this in large numbers simply because what is at stake is really immense. They're trying to decide on Greece's future in the Eurozone and Greece's general political stance.

Now, if the yes vote wins tonight, the finance minister has already said that he will be stepping down and there's going to be a lot of pressure on the government and the prime minister to do the same. If the vote wins, the government will go back to Brussels and try to negotiate, as they say, a better bailout for Greece.

But after months of negotiations, it's difficult to see what that better deal would be likely to entail and how far they'd be able to get along with the creditors. And, of course, this is all at a time when credibility between the country and it creditors is at the absolute lowest point we've seen in a very long time and the time that the banks have been shut for a week.

So, really the big here, is what's going to happen with the banking sector and will banks will able to open any time soon?

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, even a yes vote and a deal doesn't guarantee solvency and confidence.

Elinda Labropoulou, thank you so much.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: For more on Greece, I want to bring John Sitilides. He's an international relations expert and state department consultant on Greece-related issues.

John, good morning.

JOHN SITILIDES, TRILOGY ADVISORS, PRINCIPAL: Pleasure to be with you.

KOSIK: Thanks for joining us.

You know, these polls really appear to be split at this point on this yes or no. You know, it's unsure at this point, unclear which way this referendum is going to go.

What do you think? Which decision do you think is best for Greece?

SITILIDES: Well, on a personal level, it seems that you've got a choice between bad and worse. But the bad one is the yes vote. To give Greece opportunity and hope for some type of a viable future within the Eurozone that would be predicated on hopefully the creditors offering massive debt relief to Greece in exchange for deep massive structural reforms in the Greek economy.

If you have a no vote, you really have an area of such profound mistrust between the creditors and the current Greek government. Remember, this is a prime minister whose propaganda campaign has portrayed the German finance minister as a vampire, literally sucking the blood from the necks of the Greek voters for the last five years.

There's really no basis for negotiations if there's a no vote. But there's been very little real debate in Greece over the last week. It's been a very polarized environment. Even in the referendum itself, the language is unclear and people aren't really sure what they're voting for or against.

So, this is going to be a very uncertain day with the neck and neck polling that we've been hearing about these last several hours.

KOSIK: And that vote of no could very well happen and the Greek exit from the euro could become a real option here. If that happens, do they -- does Greece return to the drachma?

SITILIDES: Well, let's keep in mind first what the U.S. interests are. The European Union is America's fourth largest trading partner in the world. So, if you have Greece slipping out of the Eurozone and back into a drachma, you have considerable global uncertainty and viability of the euro as a currency. If that pushes the European Union into a recession, it will greatly hamper our ability to continue with whatever recovery we've had over the last five years.

And Greece itself is the only country that's in both NATO and the European Union that borders on the Middle East and Northern Africa where we're seeing all of these crises in recent months. So, we have a very strong interest and a strong prosperous and secure Greece in southeastern Europe.

If they revert to the drachma, we see the possibility of a failed state in Europe with tremendous poverty, misery, extraordinarily difficult challenges to overcome anytime in their foreseeable future. And again, if we don't have structural reform in Greece going forward, really a yes or a no vote will have very little difference in the future of the country.

So, ideal conditions are a yes vote and then agreement and national unity for strong reforms in exchange for strong debt relief.

[07:035:0] KOSIK: All right. John Sitilides, thanks for your perspective. It's going to be interesting to see how this referendum turns out.

SITILIDES: Thanks for having me.

BLACKWELL: Fighting over the flag. This week, lawmakers in South Carolina will debate whether or not to remove the Confederate symbol from state house grounds. Could supporters convince them to keep the rebel flag waving?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KOSIK: The fight against the Confederate flag is raging on on this Fourth of July holiday weekend in South Carolina. Ahead of this week's vote on the future of the controversial flag, hundreds rallied at the state capital calling for its removal.

We have this CNN report from CNN affiliate WIS.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(SINGING)

REPORTER: On the anniversary of America's independence, this large crowd faced one flag.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think this is marvelous. This is what true independence is all about.

REPORTER: While crying for this one to be taken down.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's been a long time coming. This flag belongs in a museum.

REPORTER: For opponents of the confederate flag, one that's flown on the South Carolina state house grounds for decade, the division comes from a difference of opinion. In Saturday, hundreds of critics, including members of the NAACP once again made their case on what the bars and stars represent.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's kind of a stain on our state. You can't really deny that's the only thing that it really symbolizes is racism.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was put up to represent segregation. And so, it represents segregation to me.

REPORTER: But supporters have said it's a symbol of southern heritage and a tribute to the Palmetto State's civil war dead.

[07:40:03] But that's a viewpoint many here said they still don't accept.

REP. JAMES SMITH (D), SOUTH CAROLINA: To honor the dead who fought under that banner, to honor the terms of surrender, it compels one to furl the flag forever.

REPORTER: Rather, flag opponents once again argued its connection to Dylann Roof, the man charged with gunning down and killing nine people at the Emanuel AME Church.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Decent people. Good fearing people.

REPORTER: Now, the question for this group: Will South Carolina lawmakers finally take action in the coming days?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm coming here a lot. I'm driving by her a lot. I feel awful. I really would like to see it come down this week. That would be great.

(SINGING)

REPORTER: A feeling shared on this Fourth of July.

(SINGING)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Well, this weekend, I spoke with contributor and former of the South Carolina House of Representatives, Bakari Sellers. And we spoke about this ongoing effort to take down the Confederate flag there ate South Carolina state house. He thinks it could be down as soon as next Thursday or Friday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BAKARI SELLERS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: This has become a very tense debate. Many legislators, including the governor herself has been receiving threats from around the country and throughout the South.

Many of my colleagues are just ready for the flag debate to come and for this flag to come down.

We anticipate next Thursday or Friday being the day in which we can finally lower the flag and place it in a museum where it belongs.

I think when that flag comes down, we'll be able to breathe a sigh of relief. But we also understand that the flag coming down is not the end of anything. It's just the beginning of a long journey we have in South Carolina for healing, reconciliation and moving our state forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: And you know the debate is not limited to South Carolina.

Let's go to Florida, Daytona Beach to be specific. This weekend, NASCAR is holding a voluntary flag exchange program. Here's how it works. Fans can swap their Confederate flag or any flag they choose for an American flag.

But there are some who are vowing to bring the Confederate flags no matter what. You see on Friday the rebel flags waved high before a practice run at the Daytona International Speedway.

KOSIK: A detention center now at the center of a federal investigation. But it's not the prison where two escaped killers broke out and remained on the run for weeks. Coming up, how a gang gained control of a Baltimore city jail through an elaborate scheme involving sex and drugs.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:46:00] KOSIK: As former escapee David Sweat recovers from his gunshot wounds, investigators are left to sort out what kind of relationship he and now dead inmate Richard Matt had with the prison seamstress Joyce Mitchell. It appears relationships, even sexual ones, between officers and inmates can and do happen behind bars.

CNN's Randi Kaye has a disturbing story of sex drugs and major corruption at the Baltimore city jail.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Before a sweeping investigation into the Baltimore city detention center, the inmates seemed to be running the place. A deadly gang called the Black Gorilla Family lorded over an empire of drugs and contraband in the jail, all at the direction of their leader, inmate Tavon White.

IAN DUNCAN, THE BALTIMORE SUN: Tavon White is wiretapped as part of the investigation and there's a quote that's really stood out where he said, "This is my jail," something along the lines of, you know, his word is law.

KAYE: So, how was White and his gang able to gain such a stronghold on the entire system? Largely through seducing its female correctional officers into sexual relationships.

According to the government, White even allegedly fathered five children with four different officers all while behind bars.

DUNCAN: The sexual dynamic of the corruption was really important. And what the FBI thinks is that that was a way to establish power over these women, to build these relationships, to really strengthen these bonds. They really had a playbook for how to use sex essentially to insure their dominance.

KAYE: This is one of those guards, according to the government, Tiffany Linder, seen here eight months into her pregnancy, got into an argument with another guard, who was also pregnant with White's baby.

According to court documents, she said, "Did he tell you we was having a son? Do you know about our baby?"

The other pregnant guard responded, "Don't give a (EXPLETIVE DELETED) about that baby. That's ya'll baby not mine. We having one, too. So what?"

Two of the pregnant guards allegedly even got tattoos of Tavon's name.

(on camera): Up until the scandal broke wide open back in 2013, 75 percent of the jail's 650 corrections officers were women and according to one inmate who was a witness for the government, up to three quarters of those female guards were involved in, quote, "contraband smuggling and/or having sexual relationships with inmates."

(voice-over): That all began to unravel when the FBI and other law enforcement began to investigate.

DUNCAN: They were able to tap the contraband cell phones that the gang members were using to build up a picture of the network, who was connected to who, who Tavon had control over and build the case that way.

KAYE: The head of Maryland's Corrections Department accepted responsibility when charges were first brought and said people will be held accountable, according to "The Washington Post".

More than 40 people were charged with racketeering-related charges, including Tavon White. He pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy, and this past February was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Twenty-four correctional officers were also found guilty, including Tiffany Linder and three other women who allegedly were impregnated by White.

Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOSIK: For more on this, I want to bring in HLN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney Joey Jackson.

Good morning, Joey.

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

KOSIK: What the heck was going on inside that jail? How could this happen? How could this continue for so long without anybody -- any of these officials finding out?

JACKSON: Sure. So say it's problematic is really an understatement. And, you know, in my other life as a defense attorney, I represent correction officers. And even before getting to the whole criminal issue, there are strict

rules and guidelines administratively concerning what they call undue familiarity with inmates. That has to that has to do with the communication with inmates whether you're inside the facility or outside the facility.

[07:50:03] No texting. No phone calls, nothing that could even be perceived as untoward or inappropriate.

And the reason they have that, Alison, is because oftentimes, and too much, it leads to this -- to bigger things, where there's full-blown relationships that are established, where there's introduction of contraband into a facility, which are things that don't belong there. And ultimately, the worst case scenario, as you see there, pregnancy.

And so, how it can happen, obviously people are asleep at the switch when it does happen. But there are rules in place to guard against it, nonetheless.

KOSIK: OK. And here we go with the lawsuits, because multiple inmates and corrections officers were charged in this investigation. But could there be civil suits from family members of the women who got pregnant by these inmates?

JACKSON: You know, it's very difficult, I think, Alison, to make that claim. I mean, obviously, if there were any civil suits it wouldn't be against the inmates. They're judgment-proof, meaning, they wouldn't have the resources to fund. If you're working at the facility, then what do you do, sue your employer?

Again, there are so many guidelines here, and regulations concerning speaking to inmates. The nature of communication, texting, phone calling, dealing with family members, dealing with their friends, that I think institutions protect themselves so that you could say, look, you as an employee were on notice that you should not engage in this relationship. And so, I think certainly while there could be suits against the actual, you know, facility, by these women who were impregnated, I think those suits are very difficult to overcome based on their participation and something that they know is inappropriate, improper, and presumably, illegal.

KOSIK: And, Randi, of course, just reporting on Baltimore. There were these alleged relationships going on between Joyce Mitchell and inmates Richard Matt and David Sweat.

Knowing that jail corruption has become a much bigger problem than maybe everybody realizes, how do you keep this from growing?

JACKSON: Sure. And you know, I think even in Baltimore, what they ended up doing was they put together a task force, which included, of course, local officials, state officials, federal officials. And they went inside that jail. And it's about changing the culture of it.

And you could relate, certainly, Baltimore and you could look at what was going on in Dannemora, New York, relating to Sweat, you know, and his escape, and inmate Matt's escape and it's about changing the culture, the environment.

How were these inmates supervised? Who were they being supervised by? How many times are they being checked on? Who is supervising the supervisors of the inmates?

And so, I think based upon, you know, a prison escape, based upon pregnancy, based upon drugs and other things inside the facility, I think authorities are watching and cracking down on this to prevent the worst of all possible scenarios.

KOSIK: Yes, I think eyes are really open now. Joey Jackson, thanks so much for coming on today.

JACKSON: A pleasure, Alison, great to see you.

BLACKWELL: Another combination in this war of words between two top presidential candidates on the GOP side. Again, Jeb Bush challenging Donald Trump on comments made about illegal immigrants. Bush says that he's just plane wrong. Trump calls out Bush for being out of touch and more. You'll hear that at the top of the hour.

Plus, it's a big day for U.S. women's soccer. Can they pull off their first World Cup title in 16 years? We'll talk about it going live to Vancouver, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:57:05] KOSIK: The Super Bowl of women's soccer just hours away. And Team USA is looking for payback against the team that beat them four years ago.

BLACKWELL: Yes, but there are some people who are going just for a good time.

KOSIK: Of course.

BLACKWELL: They're just there for the party.

Coy Wire, I don't know on which side of the line he sits there. If he's there for the game, if he's there for the party, or the match, rather.

But, Coy, a lot of excitement.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS: A lot of excitement, guys.

Look, Vancouver is usually a two hour, 45 minute drive north of Seattle. It took me and my producer over five hours to get here. Thousands of fans have made the trip to see if Team USA can win the women's World Cup final for the first time since '99 and do what no other country has done, win a third women's World Cup title.

This time around, the Americans are the favorites heading into tonight's match. Team USA has been on a mission. They've only given up one goal the entire tournament and they're peaking at just the right time. Confidence is high on Team USA. It's because they know what's on the line. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAUREN HOLIDAY, TEAM USA MIDFIELDER: We've prepared our whole life to play in a World Cup final. So, we're extremely excited. And I think what's so special about this team is that we've trusted each other. We've trusted our coaching staff the whole time.

JILL ELLIS, TEAM USA HEAD COACH: For me personally, I think it's an amazing opportunity for two great teams. And again, I don't look back. It's the opportunity for these players to have their legacy and write history. I think for both teams they want that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: Chance to make that history, guys. In just over 11 hours from now, kickoff is at 7:00 p.m. Eastern -- guys.

KOSIK: So, what do you think this is almost like a home game for Americans? But how excited are people in Vancouver, knowing this?

WIRE: People are pumped, including me. If I was only happier, there'd be two of me. It's a sea of red, white and blue here.

I checked out the fan zone yesterday. A lot of the fans we saw there, only two of them were wearing Japan jerseys.

Such good energy and spirit for Team USA. There were games, live music, food trucks. I even asked some of the fans to show me their best goal celebration and we had some good ones, including this fellow who channeled his inner Brandi Chastain.

It was so much fun, guys. I hope they score lots of goals so we can see more celebrations like these.

Tickets for tonight's game sold out months ago. But there are some going on the secondary market. StubHub this morning a ticket of a face value of $165 was going for almost five grand -- guys.

KOSIK: Wow, those fans are excited.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

And willing to pay.

KOSIK: Coy Wire, thanks.

And we've got more news coming up next hour.

BLACKWELL: Yes, it's starting in just a few moments. But, first, as we head into the next hour, a look at July Fourth fireworks from across the country.

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