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Dow and S&P Open at Record Highs; One Rescued Woman Still Hospitalized; Escape from Captivity; Police Chief: Bury Boston Bomb Suspect; Congress Probes Boston Bombings

Aired May 09, 2013 - 09:30   ET

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


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Focusing on the work of law enforcement and emergency responders and events leading up to the attack. Lawmakers also want to know if there were any warning signs.

Two passengers from a Carnival cruise ship are missing off the coast of Australia. Police believe a 30-year-old man and a 26-year-old woman went overboard some 93 miles from the coast. The search is now on for the couple, who were not reported missing until the ship docked in Sydney.

The Michael Jackson wrongful death trial resumes this morning with Jackson's hair and makeup artist taking the stand. Karen Faye has been quoted as saying Jackson was in ill health the weeks before he died. Jackson's mother and his three children are suing the concert promoter in his death.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg says he will veto a bill requiring private employers to provide paid sick time. The New York City Council passed the bill by a 45-3 vote. The council can override the mayor's veto with a two-thirds vote. The bill exempts some businesses from paying workers for sick time, but they'd still have to provide workers off -- time off, rather, without penalty.

Minute ago the Opening Bell rang on Wall Street. And the Dow and S&P opened with record highs, both have surged since the start of the year.

Alison Kosik is at the New York Stock Exchange. Good morning.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Looks like the bulls are taking a bit of a breather today, despite a new report showing that first-time claims for unemployment benefits are holding at their lowest level in five years. But for stocks, it's been quite an amazing run. The Dow has already had 17 -- 17 record highs just this year.

Look at the average. We've got 15 percent, just this year, and we're only in May right now. Compare that up to 7 percent of last year. That's all the Dow gained in the total of last year.

Everybody wants to know what's behind this. Well, you know, it's not pure euphoria. Instead many investors see it as there are few alternatives out there with the Fed keeping interest rates low, savings accounts, money market funds, bonds that are at really low interest rates, so you're not going to get a great return on your investment.

Meantime, the Dow, 15,000, it's a huge milestone. It's been a long road to get here. Look, during the housing boom that the Dow hit 12,000, 13,000, and 14,000, and then with the housing bust, the Dow lost more than half its value, well, now recovery. That as we watch a little bit of red on the screen. Stocks are pretty much flat, though, Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. We'll get back to you, Alison Kosik, reporting live from the New York Stock Exchange.

Still ahead in the NEWSROOM, we'll take you back to Cleveland and hear from the mother of Michele Knight, who says all she wants to do now is talk to her daughter.

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COSTELLO: More special coverage of the rescued Ohio women and their accused abductor. Here are the latest developments out of Cleveland for you. Within the past hour, Ariel Castro faced a judge for the very first time where he was formally charged with kidnapping and rape. Bail set, $8 million total.

We're also getting a unique look at Castro inside the jail system.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Why are you covering your face? What do you have to say to those women? How could you do that? What kind of monster does this?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: CNN has studied the police report, though, the police report that states Amanda Berry's daughter, Jocelyn, was born in a plastic tub or swimming pool of some kind, and the baby was delivered by fellow captive Michele Knight. Knight also said, told police, that Castro threatened to kill her if Jocelyn, the baby, died. Knight also says Castro got her pregnant at least five times, and that he starved and punched her until she miscarried.

One of the three rescued women, Michele Knight, the girl I just referred to, she does remain in the hospital this morning but new details are emerging about her torturous time in captivity. An initial report says Knight became pregnant, as I said, at least five times, and you know the rest. Knight's mother still has not seen her daughter since her ordeal ended.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KNIGHT: Emotional. I have been, like, crying off and on and hoping that my daughter lets me see her. Because I would love to see her. And I didn't get to hear from her. The detectives who called me was supposed to give her my number. That way she could call me and let me know if that was her. Because just hearing the voice would have, you know -- because I didn't have no pictures or anything, because I gave the police department my last picture that I had.

If it wasn't for my older daughter, I probably would have been all over the place. Well, I was hoping and praying all the time and even though I didn't know if she wasn't, I looked up and down on Train Avenue, because somebody told me they'd seen her down there. At first I have just been quiet. It's like I didn't know what to think. I -- I just wanted to hear her voice. Just let her -- you know, just let me know that's her. You know, at first when I found out she was missing, the main thing I was worried about is finding her body.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: And you did. Alive.

KNIGHT: That's the thing that got me. I figured she would be the opposite. Because so many people, you know I've seen on TV and everything, they never got found or their bodies got buried. And I watch the news all the time, about everything. Just stay up to date to see who died and didn't. And there's like another Michele and I guess she must have been older than the one I have, and it's like, God, I'm glad it wasn't her.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Talk to me from the heart. What is going on inside you?

KNIGHT: I'm thrilled. And all I want to do is hugger and say I love you, and I'm glad it wasn't you that died. And it really hurts, because, you know, I haven't seen her in so long, and I can't wait to see her. Because she was my daughter and my best friend.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: She hasn't seen her yet. Her daughter, Michele, remains in the hospital. Reportedly in good condition. Now 32 years old, Knight was 21 when she was reported missing.

"You hang in there," that was the message from Amanda Berry's grandmother after she was released from a decade in captivity. Her grandmother's heartfelt words, next.

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COSTELLO: Forty-five minutes past the hour.

Moments after accused Ohio abductor Ariel Castro made his first court appearance this morning, we've learned he's now on suicide watch. Tory Dunnan joins us now live from Cleveland. And what struck me during this court proceeding I -- he had his head down the entire time, he's in handcuffed and he has a female public defender.

TORY DUNNAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes you know this is sort of an unusual situation there in the courtroom he walked in with handcuffs, but yes as you mentioned he kept his head down the whole time many people inside that courtroom watching all of this. Because today, we're finding about the charges, finding out more about what the next steps are but at the same time, we're hearing about some of the horrific details from inside that house.

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DUNNAN: Ariel Castro makes his first appearance before a judge. He's been charged with four counts of kidnapping and three counts of rape. His daughter, once a classmate of one of the alleged victims, Gina DeJesus, had this to say on ABC's "Good Morning America."

ARLENE CASTRO, ARIEL CASTRO'S DAUGHTER: I really want to see you, Gina, I want you to meet my kids. I'm so sorry for everything.

DUNNAN: Castro's brothers were also arraigned on unrelated misdemeanor charges. Police say there is no evidence they were involved in the alleged kidnappings.

A terrifying picture is emerging how three young women spent roughly a decade captive in a Cleveland home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What they told law enforcement was -- was key and that's going to be a key part in the case.

DUNNAN: According to an initial incident report, Michelle Knight said she became pregnant at least five times but was starved and punched in the stomach until she miscarried. But when Amanda Berry became pregnant a police says Castro forced Knight to deliver the baby and threatened to kill her if it didn't survive. That baby is the 6-year- old rescued along with the three victims. Berry's grandmother says she's looking forward to meeting the little girl.

FERN GENTRY, AMANDA BERRY'S GRANDMOTHER: The baby is my great grandchild and I'll love it. Because it's part of her, it's part of our life.

DUNNAN: A law enforcement source says Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight were kept in separate rooms and came to rely on each other for survival. Over the years they saw their families on television, praying for their safe return.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DUNNAN: And Carol just to give you a sense of what it's like here outside the courtroom, there was a car that drove by which had written on all of the windows, "We knew they were coming home, we love you." So, the community here in Cleveland, still coming together.

Also I want to point out that we've heard from hospital officials, that Michelle Knight is still in the hospital at this time. Her condition is listed as good.

COSTELLO: Yes some family members say she appears pale but it looks like she's going to be ok, at least physically. And just so our viewers know, bail was also set in the courtroom this morning. Tell us about that?

DUNNAN: Right, exactly. The judge set the bail at $8 million total. And what we know is that would be $2 million for each case. Now the next step in all of this process is going to be a formal arraignment hearing and we're told that that needs to happen within a 30-day period from now.

COSTELLO: All right, Tory Dunnan reporting live from Cleveland this morning. Of course we'll have much more out of Cleveland in the next minutes of the NEWSROOM.

But coming up now the latest from Boston where officials are still trying to find a place to bury that bombing suspect.

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COSTELLO: I'll take you back to Cleveland in just a minute, but at 51 minutes past the hour, let's check our other "Top Stories" this morning.

Authorities in Michigan say blood found in a gas station does indeed belong to a missing 25-year-old woman. Jessica Heeringa was kidnapped last month from this gas station. Now police say DNA tests confirmed the blood found there is hers. They're looking for a white man in his 30's, about six feet tall with wavy hair parted in the middle. They're also looking for a silver minivan.

In Utah, prosecutors want to charge a teenager as an adult in the death of a soccer referee. 46-year-old Ricardo Portillo died a week after authorities say he was punched in the face during a soccer match. They've asked a juvenile court judge to allow the case to move to adult court.

Marijuana for personal use maybe legal in Colorado but it won't be cheap. Lawmakers have approved a 10 percent sales tax on the drug. That's on top of the 2.9 percent state sales tax. They also set a 15 percent tax on the sale of raw pot to retailers, and lawmakers did set rules for who can sell marijuana. The governor is expected to sign the bills into law. Colorado, as you know, is the first state to announce such laws.

To Massachusetts now where officials are appealing for someone, anyone to bury the body of a suspected older marathon bomber. Tamerlan Tsarnaev's remains have been at that funeral home in Worcester since last week.

And right now on Capitol Hill lawmakers are holding their first hearing on the April 15th attack. The House Homeland Security Committee is expected to hear from the Boston Police Commissioner and former Senator Joe Lieberman.

Let's check in with CNN's Paula Newton. She's in Boston. Joe Johns is in Washington. Paula I want to start with you, I understand the police chief is pressing -- he's pressing hard for a solution with what to do with Tamerlan Tsarnaev's body. What's his idea?

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's such a bizarre situation in the sense that the funeral home wasn't getting any indication that there would be anywhere to lay this body to rest, and the police chief just having quite a fiasco in his hands in his hometown decided to really make the appeal public after backroom calls to the state, to the fed went nowhere. Take a listen to the police chief of Worcester. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GARY GEMME, WORCESTER POLICE CHIEF: Beyond this, there is a need to do the right thing. We are not barbarians. We bury the dead. So I am publicly appealing to those with authority to provide a burial site, do so and do so quickly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Now there has been some indication that there was perhaps some offer from the state about maybe putting him in a resting place that the Correctional Services uses here. We followed up the governor last night. And Carol just such a strange situation they say they didn't know anything of this. That kind of a person cannot be buried in correctional services.

I want you to listen to what Governor Deval Patrick told us last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. DEVAL PATRICK (D), MASSACHUSETTS: It's a little absurd, but I have to tell you that I don't take responsibility for that. Like I said, the family, as any family, has some decisions to make. And -- and I hope they will make them soon. I have a sense of what some of those options are and they seem to be perfectly good options, but I can't put myself in the place of the family and I'm not going to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: The Governor was confident, though Carol, that this whole situation would be resolved soon and that victims and their families can just stop all this distraction, because it is really hurting them to hear that this is even an issue right now -- Carol.

COSTELLO: I would suspect that it's costing the city of Worcester some money, because they have to guard this funeral home, right?

NEWTON: About $10,000 a day and you know Worcester could use that money in other places so yes many people wanting this whole situation to end very soon.

COSTELLO: All right Paula thanks. We want to turn now to the Homeland Security hearing. Joe Johns is in Washington. What do you expect to happen?

JOE JOHNS, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis, Carol, the key witness today. His prepared remarks indicated he was calling for a hardening of soft targets, in other words, expanded security around big public events like the Boston marathon. Let's listen to a little bit of what he said this morning so far.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ED DAVIS, BOSTON POLICE COMMISSIONER: There are going to be a lot of conversation about cameras and -- and other technical means. There's no technical means that you can point to, there's no computer that's going to spit out a terrorist's name.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: Surveillance cameras, of course, helped identify the suspects in the Boston bombing case, but he's also talking about the importance of preserving civil liberties, avoiding turning America's cities into police states.

We do expect somewhere down the road, talk of federal funding for homeland security. And they also eventually are going to get into the failure of the federal terrorism data bases to help identify suspects like Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who slipped out of the country to Russia for six months -- Carol.

Could the immigration policy come up too today?

JOHNS: See, part of the problem here is that it doesn't appear that there are any federal officials on the witness list today, so some of this obviously is going to have to be handled at a later date.

But there was some testimony from former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman, former chairman of the senate homeland security committee. He said the bombings were a failure of the system. He said it would have been hard, but not impossible to have prevented the Boston bombings -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Joe Johns reporting live for us from Washington.

The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM after a break.

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