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NEW DAY

Police Expand Search For Escaped Killers; NATO Slams Russia's Move to Beef Up Unclear Arsenal; MLB Hacking Scandal; Brother of Former NAACP Leader Speaks Out; Voters Talk About the Candidates. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired June 17, 2015 - 06:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:33:15] ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: The search for two escaped murders in up state New York expanding this morning with more than 1,000 leads. Authorities focusing on whether other prisoners or prison employees were in on this escape plot. Alleged accomplice Joyce Mitchell getting a jailhouse visit from her husband. She reportedly warned him before the escape that the convicts might try to kill him.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: NATO is slamming Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying his plans to beef up his nuclear arsenal are a mistake. NATO's secretary general calls Putin's move to put more than 40 new missiles into service this year, quote, "unjustified, destabilizing and dangerous."

What does Putin say? It's just a plan to modernize the country's military. Now, tensions have not cooled since NATO blasted Russia over its role in the deadly and often ignored conflict in eastern Ukraine.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: The first lady on a European tour. Her next stop, Milan, Italy. The first lady leaving London this morning, with her mother and daughters Malia and Sasha. They met Britain's prince Harry for tea at Kensington Palace Tuesday. We're told the prince and Mrs. Obama discussed her latest campaign, the global Let Girls Learn Initiative.

CAMEROTA: All right. Well, the FBI is investigating whether the St. Louis Cardinals hacked into the Houston Astros computer database to steal private information.

Andy Scholes is back with us for more on this morning's bleacher report.

Hey, Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, guys.

You know, the Cardinals are one of the most successful and respected organizations in baseball. But this could be a huge black eye. Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow used to work for the Cardinals.

And according to "The New York Times," someone with the Cardinals allegedly used Luhnow's old passwords to gain access to his new database that he built with the Astros.

[06:35:02] Now, this database holds very sensitive baseball information, including player evaluation, scouting reports and trade discussions.

No one is commenting on this right now. But Major League Baseball, the Astros, and Cardinals all say they are fully cooperating with the FBI investigation.

All right. Another sports news: the 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 score the game's only goal. Their next game is going to be Monday night, but they won't know who they will face in the next round until after today's game.

Back to hack-gate. For some background information, I want to let you know, the Astros, they employ a physicist, they employ a former NASA engineer to come up with complex algorithms and formulas basically to evaluate players.

So, if the Cardinals intentionally hacked into the Astros system to gain this information, I mean, you can forget about spygate, you can forget about the deflategate, this would be the biggest sports scandal we have ever seen.

PEREIRA: Chris, we were talking about it on the break, that, you know, cheating has gone on for a long time. But to see that they rebranded their methods, you know what I mean? Like come up-to-date with the technology. That's insane.

And also, they're getting it thrown into a different forum now. It's not just as Andy is saying, you know, what teams say, and what the media says. This is the FBI. This is a federal law. There's a problem here.

CAMEROTA: But is it the headline if they employ a physicist?

CUOMO: No, cyber metrics which is a fancy word for analyzing players is the new way. They are definitely doing it all by the numbers. But --

PEREIRA: Kind of like we do, right?

CUOMO: This could be a federal violation.

CAMEROTA: Or on staff, an astrophysicist.

(CROSSTALK)

PEREIRA: All right. Still ahead, we have been talking a lot about this. Rachel Dolezal, defiant in the face of claims that she lied about her race. What she is now saying about her parents. We are going to talk to her brother, Ezra. He joins us, once again, today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, NBC NEWS)

[06:41:19] RACHEL DOLEZAL, FORMER NAACP LEADER: I know who raised me. I haven't had a DNA test. There's been no biological proof that Larry and Ruthanne are my biological parents.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: That was former NAACP leader of Spokane, Rachel Dolezal, standing her ground against claims she's misrepresented her race. Dolezal telling NBC that she identifies as a black woman and that she has doubts over whether her white parents were actually her biological parents.

We have to ask somebody in the family about this. Ezra Dolezal is here. He is with us yesterday. He is Rachel's brother. They were adopted into -- well, he was into the same family.

How are you doing today, Ezra? It's been a big day for you and your family.

EZRA DOLEZAL, BROTHER OF RACHEL DOLEZAL: Oh, yes, definitely. It's been busy.

PEREIRA: Busy and I'm sure confusing.

DOLEZAL: Oh, yes.

PEREIRA: You just heard that sound byte from your sister saying she has no proof that Larry and Ruthanne are her biological parents. What did you think when you heard that?

DOLEZAL: She has no proof that they are not her parents. I mean, I guarantee she is not going to take a DNA test to prove they are not her parents.

PEREIRA: Why wouldn't she?

DOLEZAL: Because they are. She doesn't want to be caught going back on her story again, or have to go back in her story again.

PEREIRA: Is she just lying? Do you think she has a problem with the truth?

DOLEZAL: I think so.

PEREIRA: Is there anything truthful in what she's saying?

DOLEZAL: No. Pretty much everything she is saying is not true. I mean, she -- different forms of the truth, like, history like this story of going to Africa and all that. But --

PEREIRA: Your family was in Africa, but she was not there. DOLEZAL: Yes. She's actually been using the stories to actually

change it to help her out, I mean her story out. Like the whole, like several things like that, and being born in a teepee and all (INAUDIBLE).

PEREIRA: OK. So, do you have any family lore about a teepee ever? Because, you know, I can think about my family and I can remember stories being told around the family table before I was born. Were there stories like that that your parents talked about, I remember your dad put up a tepee? Was that a family story and she just sort of manipulated it to her narrative?

DOLEZAL: Yes, her parents lived in it a month after they were married. Yes, she never did. She used that story to actually help her story out, I guess, just add to it. So --

PEREIRA: Why do you think? I know that is something you are struggling to understand, Ezra, and I'm sure your parents are, too. This must be very mystifying to them. Why? What do you think is at the core of all of this for Rachel?

DOLEZAL: I think, she doesn't -- she's too nervous to admit that she's not been telling the truth, which is why she keeps on making up more and more lies to help fit the story as it goes, like, she was changing her story multiple times within the past week. Like, she did say a lot of things differently yesterday than she said before.

PEREIRA: Like what?

DOLEZAL: Like, originally, she said she was born black. And, yesterday, she was mentioning about being identifying herself as black. Originally, she said she was born black.

PEREIRA: In your experience, growing up in the Dolezal household, I know she was a lot older than you, and when she had already gone her way to college, she came back in the summers. Did you see evidence of that?

DOLEZAL: No, no, no.

PEREIRA: Was there pressure to fit in because we know your adopted siblings were African-American, was there a pressure to feel she need to blend in?

DOLEZAL: Oh, no, because up until she was 15, she was the youngest child. None of us were actually born until she was 15.

[06:45:02] So, she never really felt that, I don't think, pressure to fit with them, or any of us.

PEREIRA: Tell me about the dynamic. She talks about the fact she need to take on this identity in order to survive and that she need to represent the blackness. You grew up with a white mother and white father. Did they feel that similar kind of pressure?

DOLEZAL: Oh, no. No, they didn't. Not at all. I don't know why she would say she felt that because growing up -- I

mean, even later like in life, up until like 2011, she always identified herself as white. She was interested in African-American studies, and did a lot of work with them, like racism and stuff, but she never actually identified herself or tried to identify herself as black until 2011.

PEREIRA: She was talking about the fact that, you know, her parents aren't really her parents. This has been hurtful to your parents. Can I play the sound real quick of what they had to say on CNN last night?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUTHANNE DOLEZAL, MOTHER OF RACHEL DOLEZAL: It was disturbing because the false statements continue. And as much as we are concerned with Rachel's identity issues, we are also concerned with her integrity issues.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: For you, Ezra, is this an integrity or identity issue or a bit of both for you?

DOLEZAL: I think it's integrity. That's definitely what it is, because the fact of how she will change her story, the fact she's told so many statements that are not true in the past week. I think it's an integrity issue with her.

PEREIRA: Well, it certainly has the nation talking about race and identity and who we are as a people.

Ezra, thanks so much for coming in. This is putting your family business out there. And I know it's not comfortable to do.

Ezra Dolezal, really a pleasure to have you here.

DOLEZAL: Thank you.

PEREIRA: Chris?

CUOMO: The more you learn, the more you want to know about that story.

All right. We're going to take a break here.

Coming up, Trump says Hillary doesn't say, the election is supposed to be about you. We spotlight the peeps of New Hampshire who gives straight talk about what matters. I test and they take it to me. Here is a taste.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it is up to us, as citizens to attend those town hall meetings. I find town hall meetings very informative.

CUOMO: Nobody goes to town hall meetings. Nobody goes, in general.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What do you mean? We all do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:51:40] CUOMO: Tie good. This matters.

We tell you the election matters even 500 days out, but why?

Because of Trump, the GOP gotcha game, the Clinton machine and its machinations? No, it is you. It has always been you.

So, starting with the people in New Hampshire, long respected for their political interest and diversity of party and perspective. We went to find out what matters and why. Here is what they said.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLAIRA MONIER, NEW HAMPSHIRE VOTER: My major concern is the Social Security system.

CUOMO: Nyomi?

NYOMI GUZMAN, NEW HAMPSHIRE VOTER: Equal pay.

MATT WILHELM, NEW HAMPSHIRE VOTER: Expanding national service and making it in the way that people can afford college.

TED GORSKI, NEW HAMPSHIRE VOTER: A plan on terrorism.

TASHAWN BAKER, NEW HAMPSHIRE VOTER: I think that, you know, a lot of social issues that are coming into play. As a mother, I'm terrified. I'm very terrified. I want to see those matters addressed.

CUOMO: All right. So, what does it say to you, Tashawn, when I say, all right, I hear you, I'm going to make sure there are better paying jobs and I'm going to make sure that there's more opportunity and training, I leave it at that? What message does that send to you?

BAKER: I guess, in the beginning, I kind of think that everybody has a song and dance and they have a template. And everybody is trying to fit in.

MONIER: Well, I don't know. I think Bernie Sanders has come out with some different positions than a normal template.

CUOMO: What is his big idea?

MONIER: His idea of education being free. Education --

CUOMO: Free college, he says.

MONIER: Yes, he said that.

CUOMO: And they go like this when they hear it.

MONIER: That's all right. But at least discuss it, but you need to discuss it.

CUOMO: Elie, what's the most important issue for you?

ELIE CARUSO, NEW HAMPSHIRE VOTER: Probably the economy and taxes. Like my family is starting a small business.

CUOMO: A bakery, right?

CARUSO: Yes, exactly. That influences the way I want to vote is how the candidates play into lower taxes, keeping the same.

CUOMO: What do you hear?

CARUSO: I like Rand Paul's kind of, just lower taxes, all of that. I don't know if Carly Fiorina --

CUOMO: Because she ran a business?

CARUSO: Yes, exactly.

CUOMO: So, one of the things we are hearing is I'm on the Republican side. I know Hillary is the big dog on the other side. I will tell you why I'm better. She's got this e-mail scandal and has conflicts of interest. That's why I'm better.

Does that work?

GORSKI: I see that as an integrity issue. E-mails are one thing. When you stand for women's issues, but your foundation takes money from governments who have demonstrated anti-woman behavior, that's another integrity issue. What troubles me now is that she doesn't want to answer questions on it. If you want to be president, there's going to be issues like this.

CUOMO: You don't think she's waiting because it's too soon?

GORSKI: Maybe, she's waiting, but for people like me looking at this, it's -- I'm not the only person looking from that perspective. When you are delaying the response, it concerns me, is this what I'm going to see as president?

MONIER: I have talked to a lot of Democratic friends. They are looking at Hillary and they are not that happy with Hillary. But, when they look at the other candidates, whether it's O'Malley, Sanders or Jim Webb, they're not happy with those candidates, either. So, I really think that field of Democratic candidates is far more fluid than we know right now.

CUOMO: The poll numbers don't suggest it.

MONIER: Well, this far ahead, those polls are probably a mile wide and inch deep. Can they shift? Absolutely. [06:55:02] CUOMO: And then you'll have this other division that comes

up, which is, well, hold on, what matters more than that, I'm not an insider. Do anybody -- does anybody in this race right now qualify as an outsider for you?

MONIER: Probably, I would label Ben Carson.

CUOMO: Ben Carson, right? He's a brain surgeon.

MONIER: Yes.

CUOMO: Which makes you question his intelligence that he wanted to get into politics, when he's a brain surgeon.

MONIER: Right, but here again, I focus on an issue I'm concerned about, Social Security. I would like to ask him specifically, what he would do so the Social Security system is sustainable.

CUOMO: You have been coming out. You are meeting a lot of people. You want to meet everybody.

GORSKI: I know. When I go out to them, I make it to talk to them face-to-face.

CUOMO: You bring the game.

GORSKI: I bring the game, I bring the issue.

CUOMO: You don't want to hear the stump speech?

GORSKI: Well, I hear the stump speech it, but then go up and approach them about a particular issue. I want to look them in the eyeballs and hear what they have to say. That gives me a sense.

WILHELM: It's a privilege to be in this state where we get this front row seat to democracy, really. We get to shake hands with candidates, once, twice, three, four times, really as much as we want to be able to kick the tires and really feel like it.

CUOMO: How important is the shake itself, by the way? Does the actual grip, man, woman, whatever, do you -- does it matter, that moment?

WILHELM: Sure, I think the handshake matters.

BAKER: I think, for me, it's more the eye contact. I want to know that you are listening to me. It's not just a gesture. You are really listening to my concerns and issues.

CUOMO: And that I'm clicking with what matters to you?

BAKER: Exactly.

MONIER: They're already starting to differentiate themselves. It is up to us, as citizens, to attend those town hall meetings. I find the town hall meetings very informative. CUOMO: Nobody goes to town hall meetings. Nobody goes, in general.

MONIER: What do you mean? We all go.

CUOMO: They have to force people into them. They spend days getting people to go.

MONIER: Right, it's usually us. They don't force me to go. I go more than I'm invited to.

CUOMO: In general, people don't go? Do you?

GUZMAN: No, but my roommate does. So, that's something.

CUOMO: I don't think that counts. I don't think a roommate. You are getting credit for the roommate.

GUZMAN: Yes, I am --

CUOMO: My second cousin goes all the time.

(LAUGHTER)

MONIER: Community leaders in every small town community, there are community leaders. And people who vote talk to those people, who are you voting for? Who are you supporting?

CUOMO: You are doing the word of mouth?

MONIER: Word of mouth. There's a lot of it goes on in New Hampshire, at the coffee shops, tennis courts, college dorms.

CUOMO: This place is also unusually politically activated as a state.

MONIER: There's nothing wrong with that. The rest of the country should be like this.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PEREIRA: Good point, the rest of the country should be like that.

CUOMO: Oh, yes. She gave it to me with both barrels. That's what I wanted to do, I wanted to provoke them to get into the game about what really matters, have them defend the proposition and they did not disappoint.

Yes, it's New Hampshire and they are unusually savvy about these things, but they don't buy B.S. that they are hearing. They don't care what they think of one another. They have real problems. They want to see solutions, and I believe what's coming out of them. Hopefully, it shapes the debate.

CAMEROTA: You must have never been to a town hall in New Hampshire, those things are standing room only.

CUOMO: I have been to probably 50. (CROSSTALK)

PEREIRA: How do you replicate that across other states?

CUOMO: Other states, that was my point.

PERERIA: Elusive question.

CUOMO: All right, this is a big story. Obviously, we will continue to cover it for the next 500 days. But there's a lot of news this morning, so let's get to it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hundreds of officers on the move, combing a new area.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Joyce Mitchell's first jailhouse visit came from her husband Lyle. They can't say for sure if he played a role in the plot to help inmates Richard Matt and David Sweat escape.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She knew about the plot to kill her husband by the two men.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The roads are gone. Dunes down the beachside are nonexistent.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am running for president of the United States. I will build a great, great wall on our southern border and I will have Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words.

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota, and Michaela Pereira.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: Another beautiful morning here in New York. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to your NEW DAY.

After 12 days, police in Upstate New York standing their search for two escaped murders. They are looking inside the maximum security prison to see if other inmates or prison were involved in the plot.

CUOMO: And the latest twist in the intrigue, the prison worker who allegedly helped the killers escape, gets a jailhouse visit from her husband. How much did he know? Is it true his life was in danger?

CNN's Alexandra Field like from Dannemora, New York, with the latest.

It's like covering a crime and like a movie at the same time, Alexandra. What's the latest twist?