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EARLY START

New York Prison Break: Arrested Worker Visited By Husband; Texas Facing Dangerous Threat; Warriors Win NBA Title. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired June 17, 2015 - 04:00   ET

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


[04:00:13] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Stunning, stunning new details in the New York prison break. Was the woman accused of helping two dangerous killers escape, was she having a romantic relationship with both of them? Her husband now visiting her in jail. Are they still together? This as the search widens for the escaped inmates.

Tropical Depression Bill barreling across an already water-logged Texas this morning. The threat of dangerous flooding rising.

And the King conquered. The Golden State Warriors winning their first NBA title in 40 years. We are live in Cleveland.

Good morning. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans. John Berman is off this morning. It is Wednesday, June 17th. It is 4:00 a.m. in the East.

Let's begin here -- Joyce Mitchell and her husband coming face-to-face behind bars. Mitchell is the prison worker who allegedly helped two coldblooded killers escape from a maximum security facility in upstate New York. Investigators believe she may have been plotting to have her husband murdered.

Mitchell's lawyer insists that is not the case. Her lawyer claims his client is devastated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Could you tell us how your client is holding up, Joyce Mitchell?

STEPHEN JOHNSON, JOYCE MITCHELLS' ATTORNEY: Well, as I said, I mean, I didn't talk to her yesterday. But as of late yesterday, she was pretty distraught.

REPORTER: Elaborate on that. I mean, she had a visitor today, her husband, correct?

JOHNSON: That is correct.

REPORTER: Can you explain how that visit went?

JOHNSON: I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Let's get the latest on the investigation and the search for these escaped inmates and that search has basically gone cold. CNN national correspondent Jason Carroll.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christine, we are learning a little bit more about Joyce Mitchell and her alleged role in all this and why she may have initially agreed to be the get-away driver. A source telling CNN that she did have some sort of an inappropriate relationship with both Richard Matt and David Sweat, and that same source telling CNN that there may have been some sort of a murder plot to murder Mitchell's husband Lyle and perhaps she felt threatened herself at some point, and that she may have been coerced to being the getaway driver.

Investigators are looking more closely at Lyle Mitchell to see if he knew anything at all about the escape plan, his attorney telling CNN on Tuesday that he knew nothing about the escape plan or the murder plot.

We could also tell you, Christine, that Lyle Mitchell did visit Joyce Mitchell when she was in custody out here on Tuesday. That visitation lasted for about an hour. There was no physical contact between the two of them. They were separated by a glass partition and spoke over the phone.

Joyce Mitchell, as for her, she was being held here not too far from where we are, but she was moved to another facility to the south near Albany. And as for that massive manhunt, that is still very, very much under way. More than a thousand leads, but still no sign of these two men. Christine, it seems the trail has gone somewhat cold.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Jason Carroll, thank you for that.

Let's go to Texas where they are taking a beating from Tropical Storm Bill. The storm rolled in Tuesday afternoon, high winds taking down trees and power lines, four to eight inches of rain swamping the eastern half of the state.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The roads are gone. The big rock piles, the dunes down the beach side, they are nonexistent. This water is just pouring in and flooding.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Officials are calling for voluntary evacuations in parts of Houston, where residents are still reeling from Memorial Day floods that swept away hundreds of cars and homes. We get more from CNN's Sara Sidner.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are Seabrook, Texas, that this is a very low-lying area. We need to be fair about that because this is not what it looks like everywhere. However, there is some trouble from Tropical Storm Bill. A boat sitting here, you know, near the water where it should be, but we're actually in a parking lot and next to us are homes.

And these homes are kind of used to it because on the one side, they have the Galveston Bay, which is kicking up on the other side, an estuary. And so, they are getting water and in a low-lying area.

The water has made it into the garages of these homes here, but the folks here say, look, we are used to this. The worst we ever had was Hurricane Ike back in 2008. After that, they said the rest of this they said we can deal with this and know not to put things in their garages, they know to lift things up, and that's exactly what they've done.

Most folks here are taking it in stride. There has been a warning -- a tornado warning that has been in effect throughout the evening and into the night to midnight. But, so far, this storm really hasn't done much damage. There is still always a concern about flooding, and it's supposed to last at least through Wednesday, so everyone is waiting and watching to see what happens with Tropical Storm Bill -- Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[04:05:00] ROMANS: All right. Sara, thank you for that, Sara.

And now, the Obama administration Middle East strategy goes under the microscope today when Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and Joint Chiefs chairman, General Martin Dempsey, appear before the House Armed Services Committee. They're expected to be grilled about the war on ISIS, and the Pentagon's plan to set up training basis in Iraq man by hundreds of U.S. troops.

Meanwhile, ISIS has lost control of the northern Syrian town of Tal Abyad, to Kurdish fighters.

CNN's Jomana Karadsheh is tracking that story live from Amman, Jordan, for us.

Good morning.

JOMANA KARADSEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine.

A very significant setback for ISIS with the loss of Tal Abyad. This could be their biggest loss in months really after we saw the group really on the advance, whether it was in Syria where they gained control of the historic city of Palmira, or in Iraq where they gained control of Ramadi. A real significant setback here for ISIS. Now, this is what we know is that the YPG Kurdish fighters, along with

some Arab-Syrian rebel groups making advances with the support of the coalition air strikes and they managed to take control on of more than 40 towns and villages around that area over the past month. And it was just this week. In a few days, they managed to gain control of that border crossing with Syria that was under the control of ISIS, and, yesterday, they announced full control of the town of Tal Abyad, a very strategic town.

This was the first ISIS-controlled town past the Turkish border. It was pretty much a life line for ISIS for smuggling across that border from Turkey, whether it was supplies, and also very significantly foreign fighters they were funneling foreign fighters into ISIS-held territory into Syria, and it's about 50 miles from their de facto capital of Raqqa and now these fighters are in control of that strategic route to Raqqa.

So, real major setback it seems at this point after ISIS did look like it was gaining ground in both Syria and Iraq. And lots of questions about why they did not put up a real fight but they did seem to lose that town within two days and pull back into Raqqa. Lots of questions about whether they are planning any sort of counterattack as we have seen ISIS in the past, a very capable group -- Christine.

ROMANS: That's right. And, Jomana, there'd be lots of questions today for the U.S. military chiefs on what the next strategy is to fight ISIS. Thank you for that, Jomana, in Amman for us this morning.

Now, NATO condemning Russia for building up its nuclear arsenal. Russian President Vladimir Putin announcing his country is modernizing its military by putting 40 new intercontinental missiles into service this year. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg called the move unjustified, destabilizing, rather, and dangerous. He says Russia's nuclear saber-rattling leaves NATO countries no choice but to increase military readiness.

Secretary of State John Kerry says the U.S. is prepared to ease sanctions against Iran, even though there is evidence suggesting Iranian scientists are working secretly on nuclear weapons. In his first State Department news conference since breaking his leg in a bicycle accident, Kerry says the U.S. is not fixated on Iran's past activities, but rather on his conduct moving forward.

Millions of federal employees' records were not encrypted. They were not encrypted when they were allegedly stolen by Chinese hackers and security software that could have prevented this breach was never installed. That admission coming from the Office of Personnel Management, the federal government's human resources agency. Intelligence officials are concerned the big breach could be used to blackmail Americans or recruit spies.

Dozens of new e-mails between former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her confidant Sidney Blumenthal could be released, quote, "sooner rather than later". That's according to the top House Republican investigating the 2012 Benghazi attack. Blumenthal turned over the emails yesterday before appearing in a close door deposition with Benghazi House committee members.

Time for an early start on your money. U.S. stock futures higher this morning. We will hear from Fed Chief Janet Yellen later today. No action on interest rates is likely, but we will look for any clues a rate hike is coming in September as many people expect.

Yesterday, stocks rose. The Dow climbed 114 points despite concerns about those higher interest rates and Greece's debt crisis.

The president's historic free trade package on a life support in Congress. The House voted to extend a deadline to a resolution until the end of July. The measure failed dramatically last week with House leader Nancy Pelosi leading a rebellion by Democrats.

Hillary Clinton isn't offering the president any help later either. She praised Pelosi and said Obama should listen to her concerns. This extension may just delay its inevitable death. Top lawmakers saying they don't know how to change the outcome.

The Golden State Warriors are your 2015 NBA champions. Steph Curry and Andre Iguodala scoring, wow, 25 points apiece to lead the Warriors to a 105-97 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers in game six of the finals lasted night.

[05:10:10] Iguodala earning MVP honors for the series. LeBron James poured in 32 points and pulled down 18 rebound for the Cavs in that losing effort.

Donald Trump running for president with some tough talk for his opponents as Jeb Bush breaks out his late night slow-jamming skills. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: So, what's your next move after finally announcing you're running for president? Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush stopping by "The Tonight Show" Tuesday to slow-jam the news with Jimmy Fallon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yesterday, in Miami, I formally announced my candidacy for president of the United States. I thought long and hard about this decision. And after careful consideration, I determined that now was the right time to launch my campaign for the Republican nomination.

JIMMY FALLON, THE TONIGHT SHOW: Oh, yeah. The governor thought long and hard about joining the GOP race. After months of being a total caucus tease, Jeb finally made up his mind and quit beating around the bush.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jeb really wants to get in the White House but as not as bad as Obama wants out --

(END VIDE OCLIP) ROMANS: It was the first-ever late night appearance for Jeb Bush and most likely won't be his last. Some great moments from that. We'll show you some more a little bit later.

The Donald presidential kickoff announcement was pure trump. The billionaire jumping into the Republican race for president with a rambling steam of consciousness speech, taking direct aim at some of the Republican rivals, firmly staking his claim as an outsider-in- chief.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: All of these politicians that I'm running against now, they are trying to -- I mean, you looked at Bush. It took him five days to answer the question on Iraq. He couldn't answer the question. He didn't know. I said, is he intelligent?

Then, I looked at Rubio.

[04:15:00] He was unable to answer the question. Is Iraq a good thing or a bad thing? He didn't know. He couldn't answer the question!

How are these people going to lead us? How are we going to go back and make it great again?

We can't. They don't have a clue. They can't lead us. They can't. They can't even answer simple questions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: He says the American dream is dead and he can make America great again.

We get more on trump's big announcement from CNN senior Washington correspondent Joe Johns.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Christine, Donald Trump heads for New Hampshire today after making his first campaign stop last night in Iowa. He's been flirting with a run for president for decades, but finally made it official on Tuesday. His kickoff event was about as raw and an unfiltered as it gets for the modern American presidential candidate, saying what is on his mind and not letting the script for his kickoff speech get in the way and not shy either about his wealth.

For other candidates like Mitt Romney, last cycle, it was a delicate issue. For Trump, it's a selling point. By any standard, an unusual kickoff speech, moving back and forth between prepared text and extemporaneous remarks, jumping from topic to topic, issue to issue.

Trump was clear who he sees as bad and good, starting with the current occupant of the White House. He called the president a bad negotiator and called the president's signature health care plan a big lie. He also went after some of the Republican contenders, including Jeb

Bush and Marco Rubio.

His challenge will be his low approval ratings, 58 percent of Iowa Republicans who responded to a poll said they would never vote for him. The Trump campaign says that dynamic will change now that he's in the race. They expect his approval ratings to rise.

A Trump campaign was welcomed by some who said they hoped he would make the race more entertaining. But some Republican strategists fear it could turn the race into a reality show -- Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Thanks, Joe.

Now, as Donald Trump hits the campaign trail, rocker Neil Young is blasting the billionaire for using his classic song "Rockin' in the Free World" without his permission. In a statement, Young's longtime manager says Donald Trump is not authorized to use "Rockin' in the Free World" in his presidential candidacy announcement. Neil Young, a Canadian citizen, is a supporter of Bernie Sanders for the president of the United States of America.

This morning, building inspectors in Berkeley, California, are trying to find out what caused a fourth floor apartment balcony to collapse during a party, killing six people. Five of them were Irish college students on a summer visit to the U.S. Seven other people injured in the accident remain hospitalized.

One of Sunday's shark attack victims in North Carolina is speaking out from his hospital bed. Sixteen-year-old Hunter Treschl had his left arm amputated below the shoulder. He describes the moment a shark first begun to attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTER TRESCHL, SHARK ATTACK VICTIM: I was in waist-deep water, I would say, playing with my cousin, like I said. I felt this kind of hit on my left leg, like I felt like it was a big fish coming at you or something. Then, I felt it like one more time and then it just hit my arm. It was -- that was the first. I saw it was biting up my left arm kind of, then it got that off eventually and it swam -- I don't know if it swam away, but I was able to move and I got out of the water with the help of my cousin and got to the beach.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: It just bit it off. Twelve-year-old Kiersten Yow also had her left arm amputated, but her parents say should be able to keep her left leg which was also bitten.

New data collected by NASA says the world is running out of water. More than half of the earth's 37 largest underground aquifers are being depleted at alarming rates. That's according to information collected from the Grace Satellite System. The issue is something scientists long suspected, but this is the first detailed assessment showing the major aquifers struggling to keep up with human demand.

All right. Their dream season is complete. The Golden State Warriors winning their first NBA championship in 40 years. Andy Scholes in Cleveland for the clincher. He's got the highlights and the bleacher report, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:22:50] ROMANS: No crown for the king. The Golden State Warriors overcoming LeBron James and the Cavaliers with a 105-96 game six win in Cleveland last night. The Warriors capturing their first title since 1975 and party still going on in the Bay Area.

It's a different story in Cleveland, that's where we find our own Andy Scholes.

And, you said from the very beginning, Andy, that LeBron was not going to be able to lift this up on his own. He was going to need his team to step up.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Christine. And, you know, LeBron didn't end up getting the help he needed and you can't really blame the Cavs right now in this series.

And out here, I have to tell you, is a sea of sadness of fans leaving the Quicken Loans Arena last night. The 51-year championship drought continues for the city of Cleveland. The fans, of course, hoping they would force this to a game seven back in the Bay Area, but the Warriors once again proving that they are the best team in the NBA.

Last night, Golden State jumped out to a 15-point lead in game six in the third quarter. LeBron and the Cavs, they made a late run at this one but didn't have enough. Warriors would end up winning this one 105-97. Andre Iguodala was named the finals MVP.

After the game, CNN's Rachel Nichols caught up with Warriors superstar Steph Curry to talk about winning his first championship.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN SPORTS: What does it feel like to reach this after everything you've been through?

STEPH CURRY, GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS GUARD: This is amazing. All those things you just talked about, the injuries, the underdog stories, it makes this moment so much more special. Having just to fight your way every single year and get a little bit better, have a great group of teammates that this is a bond that we will have forever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Pretty cool moment before the game, 19-year-old Marlana VanHoose that singing one of the best national anthems in sports history. Take a listen.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS) SCHOLES: Social media went absolutely crazy! Praising her performance and rightfully so. Marlana suffers from cerebral palsy and is blind. She wasn't even supposed to live a year, but now, she is an inspiration to us all.

[04:25:01] I witnessed that live. It was incredible!

All right. U.S. women's soccer team is headed to the knockout stage of the Women's World Cup. Team USA beat Nigeria last night 1-0. Captain Abby Wambach scored the game's only goal. Team USA's next game going to be Monday night, but they don't know who they'll face in the next round until after today's games.

All right. We could have one of the biggest sports scandals in history on our hands. The FBI is currently investigating whether the St. Louis Cardinals hacked into the Houston Astros computer database that house the team's evaluations of players and trade discussions!

Current Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow used to work for the Cardinals. He is known for using what some call extreme money ball to evaluate players. Major League Baseball, the Astros and Cardinals all say they are fully cooperating with the FBI investigation.

And, Christine, I have to tell you, the Astros, they used physicists, they used people who used to work for NASA to come up with all of these complex algorithms to evaluate players, and if the Cardinals intentionally went in there to hack the Astro system to steal this information, I mean, this could be huge. It depends on whether it was one rogue employee for the Cardinals or this was a widespread attack on the Astros' system.

I mean, I can't even tell you how big this is going to be if the FBI finds it was a coordinated effort.

ROMANS: That is indeed a big story. I know you're going to keep following it for us. Thanks so much, Andy Scholes.

Stunning new details this morning in the New York prison break. New accusations against the worker arrested in the case as the search for two killers grows cold, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)