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Did U.S. Drug Agencies Warn Mexican Authorities About Guzman's Prison Break Preparations?; Iran Nuclear Deal Done; Interview with Madeleine Albright. Aired 6:00-6:30a ET.

Aired July 15, 2015 - 06:00   ET

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


[06:00:00] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Is caught to be facing some say nervously in his cell before he steps into a blind spot in his shower disappear because that's where the escape hole was.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: All right. So how did the notorious kingpin remove a tracking bracelet before escaping through a mile long tunnel? We will show you more of this startling video.

Also, there's new information suggesting U.S. drug agents knew a prison break could be in the works. And they warned Mexican authorities about it as early as last year.

CNN's National Correspondent, Polo Sandoval is live from Mexico with all the developments this morning.

Good morning, Polo.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Alisyn, good morning. These images of the federal government releasing here in Mexico extremely critical to the investigation as they essentially show the moments leading up to El Chapo Guzman's incredible escape.

This newly released surveillance video shows the second brazen prison escape of infamous drug lord Joaquin El Chapo Guzman. Watch as Guzman is still in prison uniform calmly walks over to the shower in his cell, he bends over and then seemingly vanishes into thin air.

Mexican authorities say Guzman exploited two blind spots in his maximum security prison cell which is under 24 hour surveillance slipping through a hole under the shower to make his elaborate getaway. Guzman's tracking bracelet that monitored his every move left behind.

To see somebody escape from supposedly the top security prison, but through a tunnel a mile long light, with an air vent, with a motorcycle and rails, it makes the government look useless.

These images showing the escape tunnel and a motorcycle on the track inside the tunnel Guzman used to escape. According to Mexican officials the bike was slightly used to remove dirt during the excavation and transport the tools for the dig. The tunnel stretching for about a mile and ending inside a half built house. El Chapo, a menacing marijuana, heroin and cocaine kingpin and head of

a multibillion dollar Sinaloa drug cartel is described as a complete savage with powerful ties spanning across Mexico and the U.S. And now, details emerging that after Guzman's first recapture in early 2014, U.S. DEA agents received information suggesting that Guzman's relatives and associates were looking for ways to break him out of prison.

Again, passing this information along to Mexican authorities, a claim Mexico's government has denied.

And the director of the prison here just about an hour's drive from Mexico City, off the job now as well as several guards at the facility. We also know that the state prosecutors are interviewing even more of them, Chris.

So, this is clearly feeling the frustration for the people, not just here in this part of the country, but really throughout Mexico. They are concerned that the - some of the officials that were in charge of keeping this high profile cartel figure may have played a key role in his escape.

Chris?

CUOMO: Well, the question seem to have a good basis at this point. Polo please stay on it for us.

And we are going to get deeper on what was known and feared before this escape and a surveillance video. Are there clues in there? We'll get an experts take.

CAMEROTA: Well, the Iran nuclear deal is done. Now, President Obama readies himself for a two-month fight with congress over its implementation. Republican leaders already vowing to kill the President's signature diplomatic achievement before the - their review even begins this morning. The president begins a full court press to defend the deal.

And in a New York Times interview and an afternoon news conference, our team coverage begins with CNN's Michelle Kosinski, she is live at the White House on the show down ahead. How is it looking there this morning, Michelle?

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi Alisyn. Yes. We had to use that word a lot lately, right. But President Obama got his Iran nuclear deal. Now the top job is not just defending it, but selling it. He's been making phone calls to members of congress, world leaders.

Today, he's going to have a press confidence while the Vice President heads to the hill to talk to democrats. And President Obama also sat down with the New York Times, and he responded to some of the criticism. That, here, you have the U.S. and five other countries. So couldn't everyone have insisted that Iran dismantle its nuclear capability all together? But the president called that criticism misguided. Listen. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: The notion

that the world signed up for these sanctions in order to either achieve regime change, to solve every problem in terms of Iranian behavior or to say to them perpetuity they can never have peaceful nuclear power. That was never something that was in the cards.

KOSINSKI: So if congress did vote a disapproval of the deal and to keep congressional sanctions on Iran, that could potentially cause the deal to break apart. But keep in mind, they have still would have to override a presidential veto and that is, by all means certain or even likely at this point.

Chris?

CUOMO: Man, even if they did override the veto, this is a multinational agreement.

KOSINSKI: Of course.

CUOMO: What would be the practical impact here, it's probably more political than anything else, but still important. Michelle, thank you very much. So the Iran nuclear deal, as we were just talking about in congress many reading the riot act before they probably even read the actual deal.

[06:05:00] And in broad, the response is mixed, you have dancing in the streets in Iran, literally. You have a fury in Israel, literally and the rest of the Middle East at this point circumspect.

So let's get to CNN's Nic Robertson her has that part of the story live in Vienna. Nic?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Chris. Well, President Obama, clearly sees a potential discomfort and disquiet among his allies. He is already hearing it. He called yesterday to the Saudi King and he called the crowned prince in United Arab Emirates, he was to call the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

What we have heard from the Saudis is that they broadly support this agreement, but they say it has to be backed up by robust inspections regime and they have a warning for Iran as well, saying that Iran should spend its money that it gets from the lifting of sanctions on its own people rather than funding terrorism around the world.

And Iran, this was being sold as a success that sanctions were being lifted forever. Of course the details of the deals said, sanctions will be lifted in a phased approach and that they can be snapped back on, however, they will be lifted completely after eight years.

But it is in Israel, where the strongest criticism has come from - from the Israeli prime minister calling this essentially as a bad gamble. This is what he said. BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: The leading

international powers of - bet our collective future. On a deal with a formal sponsor of international terrorism. They have gambled that in 10 years' time, Iran's terrorist regime will change while removing any incentive for to do so.

ROBERTSON: Now, once the sanctions are gone, Iran has the world's largest combined oil and gas reserves. Can expect to see a huge boost to its economy. And on the concerns about that, Israel and Saudi Arabia both have the same concerns.

Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: Nic, thanks so much for all of that. So is this a new chapter between Iran and the U.S. or is this a historic mistake as Israel says.

Let's ask former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. And secretary thanks so much for being here.

MADELEINE ALBRIGHT, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: Very good to be with you.

CAMEROTA: Thanks for being here. Great to have you in the studio. What do you think of this deal?

ALBRIGHT: I think it's a good and important deal. It is a very complicated one that everybody is going to have to study. I really welcome the discussion about it because, to your question, I think it is historic. And changes the relationship between the United States and Iran that has been very bad since the hostage crisis in 1979.

And so, I think we have to understand it as a significant, important change in our relationship and something that has to be talked about.

CUOMO: Let's deal with the reflexive pushback that is negative right now. The first is that the U.S. got the short end of the stick, that it's not if, it's when they get the bomb in Iran and they are going to get their money and the U.S. really just has a promise of them trying to be better.

ALBRIGHT: As you put it, it's reflective. I think it is made in a way that is supposed to be negative and take down whatever has been said. I think it's very, very important to study it and for people to just flat out say this doesn't work or that they are going to derail it in our congress. I hope people don't mean it. Because what they need to do is study what is a really important agreement.

CAMEROTA: Well, let's look at some of the specifics in that case. The reason that the critics think that the U.S. got the short end of the stick is because they can see the U.S. conceded on a few things that they start. The point at which they started with is not where they ended. I know that's all negotiations. But let's look specifically, arms embargo, lifted. U.S. didn't want that. Sanctions, lifted. Inspections, the U.S. wanted anytime, anywhere, they didn't get those.

ALBRIGHT: Well, let me just say, I think that on the embargo, there are limits. I mean, there's certainly a timing aspect to it. It's not going to be - they are not going to be lifted right away. They are also, the sanctions, if there's any violation, they are an automatic setback and that will be dealt with I think in a, in a very concerted and clear way.

I think, also, on inspections, the IAEA is the one that's in charge. They are the ones that is are going to be in there looking and they are going to make very clear when something isn't working right.

CAMEROTA: So you are comfortable with the concessions the U.S. has to give?

ALBRIGHT: I wouldn't out it as concession. I think that the issue here is this is a negotiation and the Iranians gave up a variety of aspects in terms of shipping out two thirds of their centrifuges, 98 percent of their enriched uranium. They have given up. That's what a negotiation is. And I'm not saying it is a perfect agreement. It is a very important agreement. It changes the relationship and does, I think, make it very important for Americans to understand it and for our congress to discuss it in a responsible and respectful way to really get at the facts.

[06:10:00] CUOMO: It is meaningful at this point that we are hearing from a lot and we'll hear it today at the show because people are saying, well, I haven't read the whole thing yet but let me tell you why I don't like it. And that's a valid point. I spent over five hours going through this. My advice to anyone who wants to do it. Start with the annexes because that's what teaches you, these five annexes about the how it works.

But two other points of obvious pushback. The first one is that, a lot of it got motivated politically. But the president talking about for that and that they have this secret underground place where they are doing all this. I think they got to keep that. And that doesn't smell good.

ALBRIGHT: Well, they are going to have to change it in some way and they are going to - and verification is the answer here. I think that this is a negotiation. I do think that there have been various aspects that will be submitted to verification in a very tough way. They have given up a lot of things.

I think the other part we have to understand is there clearly is cheering in the streets and Iran. We are going to have to understand their domestic politics. They have to understand our domestic politics. This is going to be a very long and important discussion that involves not only us, our congress, but the international players in it, the United Nations, the Iranians, you already talked about the reaction in the region. And so, this is one of the more complicated foreign policy issues that I have seen.

CUOMO: And the idea that the - that we could have - the international community or the U.S. could ratchet up sanctions and brought them to their knees even more, and could have gotten a better deal, we didn't have to do it this way.

ALBRIGHT: I think if they could have gotten a better deal, they would have. Because we had some of the toughest negotiators, ever. I think Secretary Kerry who really and by the way, the presence of the Secretary of Energy there was a I think a very important addition. He's a physicist and he really has been able to get his head around what is allowed and not allowed.

And I think that we have gotten a good deal. Is it, as I said earlier, a perfect deal? There is no such thing.

CAMEROTA: What don't you like?

ALBRIGHT: Well, I think that one - some of the questions that are still out there that have to be answered. But I, I actually think it's good. I think that the verification aspects of it have to be clarified in some way that there are - it goes back to it there's a whole series of steps that have to take place at the United Nations. We are counting on the IAEA.

But we are also counting on the international community to make sure as the sanctions are removed and they are going to be removed sequentially. People don't get ahead of themselves. We are in step in terms of sanctions removal and the Iranians have to really comply with various parts before the sanctions are lifted.

So, the thing that I think we are going to have to do is pay attention all along. This is not, OK, we have done it, we either like it or don't like it. This is something we are going to live with for a long time.

CAMEROTA: Very quickly, what do you say to Israel that hates this deal?

ALBRIGHT: I think that they are wrong in the way that they have stated it. I do think that Israel also has to understand that the United States is supportive, very supportive of Israel. There's has been an awful lot of security equipment that's been given to Israel to maintain their qualitative edge. That we believe in the security of Israel and that will always continue.

CUOMO: And the president alluded to that, saying there's a new phase of how the United States will help Israel in terms of its ability to defend itself, but he's not ready to give details.

CAMEROTA: Secretary, thank you very much.

ALBRIGHT: My pleasure.

CUOMO: Always a pleasure.

ALBRIGHT: Thank you very much.

CAMEROTA: And stick around. In our 8:00 hour, we'll be joined by U.S. Energy Secretary, we were just talking about who was Secretary Kerry's right hand man during the Iran negotiations. And we'll ask him how it all came together. Thanks so much.

CUOMO: All right. We do have some breaking news out of Germany. A court there convicting a 94 year old former Nazi guard for the Auschwitz death camp. The so-called bookkeeper of Auschwitz, Oskar Groening sentenced to four years in prison. He was an accessory to the murder of 300,000 Jews and was responsible for keeping track of personal belongings.

CAMEROTA: And more breaking news out of Washington State. Search crews finding plane wreckage near a wooded area where that teenager miraculously survived a crash on Saturday. The 16-year-old Autumn Beach is now out of the hospital and we are hearing her heroin 911 call.

CNN's Sara Sidner is in Bellingham, Washington with the latest. Good morning, Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. We are outside Beach's home where her and her father live. But her family and her friends have said this is an absolutely unbelievable story that she made it out alive and survived a few days in rugged terrain.

Overnight, search crews locating the wreckage of a Washington state plane crash where 16-year-old Autumn Breach emerged as the sole survivor. The state department of transportation says crews can't yet reach the crash site located deep in the rugged north cascades.

[06:15:00] Family and friends say it's a miracle that Autumn was released from the hospital on Tuesday, just three days after surviving the crash.

911 OPERATOR: This is (Michael), 911. What is your name?

AUTUMN BEACH, PLANE CRASH SURVIVOR: Autumn Beach.

SIDNER: On Saturday, Autumn took this selfie just before flying in a small private with her step grandparents, (Liman) and (Sharon Bowman).

BEACH: I was riding from Montana to Bellingham, Washington and about, well, I don't know where, but we crashed and I was the only one that made it out.

911 OPERATOR: OK. What made it out from the collision?

BREACH: From the plane.

911 OPERATOR: Or survived?

911 OPERATOR: Yes, the only one that survived.

SHERIFF FRANK ROGERS, OKANOGAN COUNTRY: So it came out of the clouds and she said all she saw was trees. SIDNER: Autumn said, they crashed into the side of a mountain.

The sheriff says she tried to pull her grandparents out of the plane, but it was on fire.

911 OPERATOR: Are you injured at all?

BEACH: Yes. I have a lot of burns on my hands and I'm like kind of covered in bruises and scratches and stuff.

SIDNER: After waiting for help for nearly a day, Autumn hiked her day out of the treacherous terrain following a creek downstream until she reached a trail, and then the highway. A driver, bringing her to the store.

RICK LEDUT, STORE OWNER: It's amazing that she, she was able to accomplish what she did.

SIDNER: Her father speaking about Autumn's resilience.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's had to deal with a lot of loss. She's an amazing kid.

SIDNER: The state's Department of Transportation says that they will be out again and when it gets light here in Washington. They will be looking at this crash site from the air to try to figure out when and how to get in crews on the ground to try and assess the situation there. They still have not identified the two people who are supposedly dead at the crash site, according to Autumn's own statement.

We should also mention, this is kind of happy note, when she finally made it to a safe place and made it to the hospital, the first thing she asked for was McDonalds. There's a twitter picture of her showing her holding chicken McNuggets, happily eating them and smiling.

Chris?

CUOMO: Well, good for her. Talk about beating the odds. Sara, thank you so much for bringing us this story.

Another news, President Obama is calling for sweeping changes to the U.S. criminal justice system during a speech at the annual convention at the NAACP. Among his biggest ideas reducing or eliminating mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug crimes and reconsidering solitary confinement. The president also says, prisoners shouldn't be forced to identified as criminals when applying for a job and they should be able to vote after serving time.

CAMEROTA: We'll be talking about that with Joe Johns later in the program.

Meanwhile, El Chapo's escape from prison captured on surveillance video. The Mexican drug lord steps into a shower stall in his cell. Then we'll show you what happens next?

So what can investigators learn from this stunning new video?

[06:20:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: Joaquin El Chapo Guzman remains at large this morning after bolting from that Mexican prison Saturday night. That escape caught on video. So let's see what it can tell investigators. Let's bring in Joan Grillo, he is our journalist and author of El Narco inside Mexico's criminal insurgency and Matthew Jorges, he is a former agent for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

Great to have both of you with me. Matthew, let me start with you. Let's look at the video, it is pretty telling. Let's start with El Chapo in his cell. There he is. He appears to be pacing around. Some have said that this means that he's nervous because he knows he's about to escape. Do you see anything in this little clip?

MATTHEW JORGES, FORMER AGENT BUREAU OF ALCOHOL TOBACCO AND FIREARMS: No, not really. I mean, it's just showing he is walking back and forth, but clearly, he is going to do something prior to making his exit.

CAMEROTA: OK. And now, here is the moment where he walked behind that little hidden wall. It's obviously not a full wall. But then he vanishes, like a magician. So, there's a moment where he comes back out. That's where that tunnel was built. So, what does that tell you, as an investigator?

JORGES: Well, it tells me he had no compulsion whatsoever. He had a plan. He knew what he had to do. It was prearranged, it was prefabricated and he made the move when he had the opportunity.

CAMEROTA: Johan, you have been studying this. You have been in Mexico and you are a journalist there. How was it that Mexico thought that they would be able to hold El Chapo?

JOAN GRILLO, JOURNALIST & WRITER: Well, I mean, you would expect to be able to hold any prisoner in a top security prison, the same as in supermax in the United States. You have a high level prisoner from all over the world and capable of keeping them in the cells. I think we see clear mistakes from Mexican authorities.

CAMEROTA: Such as?

GRILLO: I mean how, when this whole - when this hole was opened, how come nobody heard anything? Now, to break open that hole into the tunnel, there must have been a lot of noise. This is a prison. It should be silent. Somebody should have heard. Nobody did. Another thing, how did they make a tunnel. Imagine making a tunnel underground to the very spot where the guy is.

Even a map won't help you there. You might need GPS systems inside that can guide you there. It's a question of corruption here of people involved that helps Chapo escape.

CAMEROTA: Well, certainly. I mean, look at this tunnel, it's sophisticated, Matthew. I mean, this is no average tunnel you are digging out with a spoon from the commissary. This is a tunnel that had a rail system and a motorcycle placed in there that he could use to get out. It was a mile long. My point of how did they think they could hold him given the level of corruption, they seem naive or they were all in on it. The idea this tunnel could have been burrowed to his cell.

[06:25:00] JORGES: Well, at this point, no one should be surprised it happened and it happened exactly all the way it is. I think hopefully, we will see the United States leverage some sort of diplomatic collaboration with Mexico and hopefully they will prioritize this as much as the United States would like to see it prioritized, given the impact.

CAMEROTA: Joan, there's this other detail, he had a tracking device. He wore it all the time. That was found left in his cell. Do they have any idea how he got that off?

GRILLO: Well, again, the question of corruption is there. The issue of corruption, though, imagine if you are a prison guard working in a prison with Chapo. His people could go to a house, could say they know where your family is, they know where your children go to school.

So, the fear that people have is extremely strong and that's what they are up against. That's why the cartels were a real threat to the Mexican government. We have to wake up to that.

CAMEROTA: Joan, I want to stick with corruption. You have been in Mexico 15 years. You have been studying the corruption. You say it still blows your mind, the level of corruption you have seen in Mexico. How high up does it go?

GRILLO: I mean, historically, corruption has gone to the very top of the government. In this case, and I don't believe the president was involved in this because this was very painful for him. Corruption is at all levels and you never know if an official is working for the cartel. An example, there was a police officer that used to be very friendly with the press, seemed like a good guy. Then it turned out he was cutting people's heads off for the cartel. He came out on video confessing to this. You never really know what you are dealing with.

CAMEROTA: That is staggering. That is an incredible illustration. This is a huge embarrassment for the president of Mexico. So, what does he do about this?

GRILLO: Well, the first thing you have to do to get any credibility is recapture Chapo Guzman. He has to really take security issue seriously. When he took the presidency, he thought, if he changed the conversation, people careless about drug cartels and violence.

Mexican officials said, look, why are you always putting this on the front page? Why are you putting massacres on the front page. Mexico has a lot of good things, a growing economy, millions of people making money. We have to answer, if this violence goes on, they have to confront it. We have to cover it as journalists.

CAMEROTA: Matthew very quickly given what you know about the escape, how hard will it be to capture him?

JORGES: That's going to be difficult. He is in Mexico. It is where he wasn't to be. More than likely, this is security 101. A compromise of major proportions. Hopefully law enforcement will come and deliver him back where he should be.

CAMEROTA: Joan Grillo, Matthew Worth, thanks so much for the information. Let's go back to Chris.

CUOMO: The nuclear deal with Iran, a big story this morning and bringing out doomsday scenarios. Much remains to be seen. What are the real concerns at this point? As we digest what just happened, is this helpful to ISIS? Is it a blow to Israeli security? We have answers for you, ahead.

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