said you know what waterboarding is? that was from from patrick alexander kept in the honor block. he goes on to blame a plastic black was placed over his head until he suffocated. this attributed to the new york times, cnn is working to independently verify these claims. very serious allegations. it as hard to do that independent verification. you can t just walk into a prison and interview different inmates to get their stories. but the times reporter said his interview spanned geographically large vast areas of the prison and the stories from people who ostensibly were on lockdown were similar to people a long way away who might not have had an opportunity to share details. that s why he believes these claims are credible. these inmates were so geographically far apart and the prison was on lockdown that it would have been made it very difficult for them to conspire with similar stories and injuries. 60 gredifferent inmates conspir so it lends credibility to their
he s an inmate on the honor block alongside sweat and matt. is it noos possible these prisoners are exaggerating or even lying? very good question, carol. however, the reporter behind the new york times piece says he saw some physical evidence of injuries on these inmates. because of the separation between them and consistency of their stories, he says they are credible reports. we saw some evidence of the injuries to some of the inmates we spoke to. certainly you have to take into account that these are inmates making these allegations. and it s been very difficult for us to get independent confirmation of a lot of these things.
some were transferred to other facilities without due process. and the claim that they were beaten during interrogations to try to get more information about the escape of richard matt and david sweat. one inmate telling the new york times his account of what happened writing, quote, an officer jumps and grabs me by my throat, lifts me out of my chair, slams my head into a pipe along the wall. then he starts punching me in the face. one officer pointed to a plastic bag hanging on some pipes and said, you know what waterboarding is. that s from patrick alexander, an inmate who was kept in a cell not far from richard matt and david sweat on the honor block. the new york department of corrections says they will fully investigate these allegations and pursue anyone who is proofed to have done something wrong to the fullest extent of the law. thank you so much, boris sanchez. good morning. i m carol costello.
together. you may have heard of honor blocks. convicted killers enmatt and sweat, escaped from one in new york in june. honor block was shut down across the country the so called honor yard at california state prison has been turned into a unique place for those seeking self improvement during a life sentence. this is it. if you look around at my surrounds, which are a stones throw either way. this is it. this is all i have. what can i do with my life? what can i do in here? should i allow what i can t change to drive me crazy or should i just continue to help the people i can, contribute where i can and do the best that i can in the life that i given? and that s what i do. toe tag parole to live and die on a yard follows 3 of the more than 600 prisoners living inside the walls. premieres tonight on hbo. thank you for being on the show.
congregate for hours with fellow inmates, which may have given matt and sweat the time they needed to plot their escape. and there you have one person that you completely trust and that you will do everything with. it s called go toe to toe with. go back to back with, knife to knife in the yard. it s that one person that if something pops off, you will hold them down. i believe that s the relationship they had after their cells got moved together. prisoners housed in the honor block are also allowed to wear civilian clothing instead of the traditional prison garb, which also may have allowed them to blend in easier once on the outside. their good behavior lands richard matt and david sweat jobs in the prison tailor shop. could that be where they accessed those tools needed to cut their way to freedom? it was truly extraordinary and unusual and almost impossible to duplicate but we want to find out exactly what