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Castro Brothers Speaking Out; Six Killed in Pennsylvania House Fire; IRS: "Mistakes Were Made"; Bloomberg Apologizes for Data Snooping
Aired May 13, 2013 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, a CNN exclusive. The brothers of Ariel Castro speaking out.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Did you in any way know, help, assist your brother?
ONIL CASTRO, ARIEL CASTRO'S BROTHER: Absolutely not.
PEDRO CASTRO, ARIEL CASTRO'S BROTHER: No.
COSTELLO: Onil and Pedro Castro and the red flags and warnings, and weird behavior.
P. CASTRO: I didn't go to his house very much. But when I did, he would let me in not past the kitchen.
COSTELLO: Also, breaking overnight, a huge fire, multiple fatalities. Now investigators are on the scene trying to find out how it happened.
Plus --
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: Protect the constitution.
COSTELLO: Tea Party targeted.
REP. MIKE ROGERS (R-MI), CHAIRMAN, INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: I don't care if you're a conservative, a liberal, a Democrat or a Republican, this should send a chill up your spine.
COSTELLO: A report about to be made public, agents singling out groups with Tea Party or patriot in their name. This is what they've said all along.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is absolutely no targeting.
COSTELLO: This morning the agency is apologizing.
And a community devastated. Walls of ice almost 30 feet high swallowing homes. Residents devastated in disbelief. How could this have happened?
You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM. (END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for being with me.
We begin in Cleveland this Monday morning. Anger, betrayal, maybe even hatred. The brothers of Ariel Castro want him to rot in jail. They finally break their silence in a CNN exclusive.
The moment the nightmare ended. We'll show you cell phone video of police rushing into the home and whisking two of the women to freedom.
And a monument to the women's triumph over one man's cruelty, Cleveland workers board up the so-called house of horrors and neighbors want it erased from their scarred community. Burn it, bulldoze it, even blow it up. They just want that house gone.
But first up, police have publicly cleared them, but Pedro and Onil Castro know they may be doomed to a lifetime of whispers and suspicion. Their brother Ariel Castro is accused of raping and imprisoning three women for years and is now one of the most hated men in the country. And his old brothers say they share the public's revulsion toward him.
They sat down for an exclusive interview with Martin Savidge.
And Marty, I know the brothers told you they're living in hiding now along with their mother. Are they worried about their safety?
SAVIDGE: They are, Carol. But the main reason that they wanted to have this interview, the main reason they want to speak out is that they wanted people to know how grateful, how happy, how very relieved they are that those three young women are finally free from the house of horrors that was owned by their brother.
But I have to tell you, it was probably one of the most remarkable interviews I have ever been a part of and it began like this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SAVIDGE: You all went to your mom's for dinner.
O. CASTRO: Yes, we went -- we went to mom's for dinner.
SAVIDGE: The first sign of trouble for you, when you were riding back in the car with Ariel, the first indication of a problem was what?
O. CASTRO: When he -- when he pulled in McDonald's. Around the -- not very far from momma's house. He pulled in McDonald's and I'm wondering, why are you pulling in -- in my mind I'm wondering -- I'm wondering why are you pulling here, we just -- we just ate. You have to go to the bathroom or anything? No, he says they pulled me over, they're behind me. I didn't know because it was bright and sunny. I didn't see no flashing lights. I didn't hear a siren --
SAVIDGE: The police were behind you. O. CASTRO: Yes, sir. And he says the cops are back there, he pulled us over. I said, what did you do, run a stop sign or a red light or something? He says, no, no, I don't know. And by that time, the officer was on his side asking for his I.D. And they took his I.D. and there was an officer next to me there and he hadn't asked me for my I.D. yet, but I figure he's there, so I go like this and I go, you want my I.D., too? And he went for his weapon.
And I gave him my I.D. and I said, what's going organization, I haven't done anything, sir, what's going on here? He says all I can tell you is that you're in for some serious allegations.
SAVIDGE: What was the first sign of trouble for you that day?
P. CASTRO: I was -- I was sleeping, and I don't -- I don't remember the police in my room. And I was thinking because I had open container warrant. So I didn't know what -- I thought they was taking me because of that.
SAVIDGE: Let me walk you through a bit of this so that everyone clearly understands. When you were arrested on Monday and brought in, were you told why you were under arrest?
O. CASTRO: Absolutely not.
P. CASTRO: No.
SAVIDGE: You had no idea.
P. CASTRO: No.
O. CASTRO: Not for 48 -- maybe 36 to 48 hours later.
SAVIDGE: Pedro, when did you become aware?
P. CASTRO: Well, there was an inmate that didn't speak English, so I translated for her. So then I asked her now that I help you, can you help me?
SAVIDGE: This is to the officer.
P. CASTRO: Yes. And she said sure, what do you want to know? I want to know what am I -- what am I being charged for? So she said OK, I'll go see. So she comes back and she's got a piece of paper written down whatever I was in for. And because I didn't have my reading glasses, I looked and I said, oh, open container. She said, no, read it again. And I said kidnapping? What's this kidnapping?
SAVIDGE: Could you talk? Were the two of you able to talk to one another while in jail?
P. CASTRO: No.
SAVIDGE: Couldn't communicate.
O. CASTRO: No. SAVIDGE: You were in separate cells.
O. CASTRO: They told us not to, so I didn't.
SAVIDGE: Where was Ariel?
O. CASTRO: Ariel was in the front, towards more -- toward the front on suicide watch.
P. CASTRO: He was in a cell, what they call a bull pen. How do I know this? Because I seen it. I seen it when they took me to get my medication.
SAVIDGE: Did he ever go past you? Did you ever see him?
P. CASTRO: I did. Because in -- where he was at, there's no toilet. So across from my cell, there was one open. So he came there and used it. And that's when I seen him. And when he came out, he said peace to me.
O. CASTRO: So evidently that happened with him and Ariel. When he walked past me, he goes Onil, you're never going to see me again. I love you, bro. And that was it.
SAVIDGE: So when did you become aware of what he did?
O. CASTRO: Just shortly after that when the detective took me into the room and then started asking me questions and showing me pictures of the girls. And when he showed me the pictures of the girls, he asked me, do you know these girls? Showed me first so I can't tell you which -- I can't even tell you which one he showed me first. But he said you -- have you ever seen this girl.
And I said no, I've never seen that girl. And then he showed me the other one, have you ever seen this girl? I said, no, I have never seen that girl. And he says that's Gina DeJesus. And Amanda Berry. And my heart fell. I just dropped not physically, but I just hit the ground. And after he said that's Amanda Berry and they were in your brother's house.
SAVIDGE: You knew who these girls were.
O. CASTRO: From the picture, I couldn't recognize them. I told him they don't look like the girls that have been pinned up and postered up. And he said, yes, that's how malnourished they are.
SAVIDGE: So you're in this interrogation room and suddenly the police officer is showing you these photos and said that they are in your brother's home and you were expressing how you felt. It was just a physical feeling?
O. CASTRO: It was just heart dropping. It was just terrible when they -- when they said that. When he said that it's Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus and they were in your brother's house, I just couldn't believe it because, you know, there was no signs of anything like that. I seen no signs. SAVIDGE: You had been to the house. You would go to the house.
P. CASTRO: Yes.
SAVIDGE: I mean, how often?
P. CASTRO: No. No. Not how often. I didn't go to his house very much. But when I did, he would let me in not past the kitchen. I would sit down and the reason why we go in the kitchen, because he had alcohol. He would take me in the kitchen, give me a shot.
SAVIDGE: But he was -- when you'd go in the house, you'd be specific then to stay in the kitchen or it just seemed that you stayed in the kitchen?
P. CASTRO: Yes. I wasn't -- I wasn't allowed past the kitchen.
SAVIDGE: Could you see anything beyond the kitchen?
P. CASTRO: No. Because there's curtains.
SAVIDGE: He had the house blocked off with curtains. Did he say why?
P. CASTRO: He told me that I think it was wintertime and he said he wanted to keep the heat in the kitchen because the gas bill.
SAVIDGE: And what about could you hear anything in the home?
P. CASTRO: No, the radio was playing all the time.
(CROSSTALK)
SAVIDGE: He would play -- he would play music all the time.
P. CASTRO: Yes. If not the radio, the TV, something had to be on at all times in the kitchen. So I couldn't hear nothing else but the radio or the TV.
SAVIDGE: Didn't any of that strike you as unusual or strange?
P. CASTRO: No, because Ariel was to me he was a strange dude. I mean, it didn't faze me nothing. And another thing, I seen Ariel with a little girl at McDonald's, and I asked him who is that, and he said this is a girlfriend of mine.
SAVIDGE: The daughter belonged to a girlfriend of his.
P. CASTRO: Yes. And I said, well, where is she at? She's at Mitchell's. She's taking care of something at Mitchell. OK, so I left it at that. And I left. Because he's with this little girl and they're going to have breakfast. Then about three weeks later, I seen him -- I seen his truck at Burger King and then again he's with this little girl. And then I questioned him where's the mother, oh, she had to do something. So I just let it go.
SAVIDGE: You believed him. P. CASTRO: I believed it. But I had no idea that that little girl was his or Amanda's.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAVIDGE: And that little girl is the one when Amanda Berry literally kicked and clawed her way out of that house a week ago today. She brought with her that little 6-year-old.
Carol, it's just astounding, the revelations and there is more to come.
COSTELLO: It's mindboggling. Let me ask you this, because we also interviewed Ariel Castro's daughter. She said that when she visited the home, she wanted to go up and see her old bedroom, and her father says, no, no, don't go upstairs. She also said she was never allowed in the basement. It was locked. She was -- I think she was in the basement one time as a child, but the rest of the time that basement was locked.
Pedro said he would go into Ariel Castro's home and wasn't allowed out of the kitchen and there were curtains covering the doorways and music always playing.
It's just mindboggling that the family didn't talk about these strange things in Ariel Castro's home and think that anything was awry.
SAVIDGE: Right. I mean, that's clearly the first thing that comes to mind. We all see, of course, these red flags, these warnings, these indications. But we also know in perfect hindsight what was going on and the horror that was allegedly happening inside that house.
This family is only glimpsing every now and then something unusual from a brother they always knew was slightly unusual. Tragically they never put that puzzle together. And we'll find out what they think of their brother, we find out also what they will say to the families of those young women in the next portion of this interview -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Yes, Marty, you're going to stand down for just a few minutes but you'll be back at the bottom of the hour to continue your interview with Pedro and Onil Castro.
Also in the news this morning, breaking overnight, a tragedy in Pennsylvania. Six people have died after a house goes up in flames. The fire started late last night. Four children among the victims. When firefighters got there, flames were shooting out of the second floor window. No word on what caused the fire.
Other stories we're following, police in New Orleans are lee leasing new photographs they hope will help catch those responsible for a shooting on a crowded street corner. It happened on Mother's Day in a parade in the Seventh Ward. In all 19 people were shot -- 10 men, seven women, and two children. Their injuries range from minor to severe, and New Orleans' mayor wants help in finding the shooters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MAYOR MITCH LANDRIEU, NEW ORLEANS: We have mothers that were shot, sisters that were shot, we have little children that were shot. These kinds of incidents are not going to go unanswered. And we're going to be very, very aggressive. There were hundreds of people out there today, so somebody knows who did this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Police officers were taking part in that parade. They were quickly on the scene when the shooting began.
In Canada, it's being called a tsunami of ice. Take a look. This is so strange. Giant walls of ice some reaching 30 feet high slammed about two dozen homes ripping off roofs and forcing people to run for their lives.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONNA BILLOWS, RESIDENT: I saw the ice just coming, just moving so quickly. The ice came right through the living room here. He said grab your purse, grab whatever you can, get the keys. We got to get out of here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Now, apparently the waves of ice built up along a nearby lake and powerful wind gusts pushed them into those lakefront homes. A local state of emergency has been declared. No reports of any injuries.
To Washington now where the IRS is admitting that, quote, "mistakes were made" as new details emerge about the agency's targeting of conservative groups for extra scrutiny. Now those groups and some Republican members of Congress want to know how and why this happened.
White House correspondent Dan Lothian has more for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(CHANTING)
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tea Party and other conservative groups that rose to power early in the president's first term were unfairly targeted for special scrutiny by the IRS. And some agency officials knew as early as June 2011, according to an IRS audit that sources tell CNN is expected to be released this week.
SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R), MAINE: This is truly outrageous. And it contributes to the profound distrust that the American people have in government.
REP. MIKE ROGERS (R), MICHIGAN: I don't care if you're a conservative, a liberal, a Democrat or a Republican, this should send a chill up your spine. LOTHIAN: The audit will show IRS agents singled out groups, some with "Tea Party" or "patriot" in their names, that had applied for tax- exempt status. Despite protests by these groups, the IRS had previously denied any unfair targeting.
DOUG SHULMAN, IRS COMISSIONER: There's absolutely no targeting. This is the kind of back-and-forth that happens when people applied.
LOTHIAN: The IRS now says its, quote, "senior leadership was not aware" of the special scrutiny at the time of that hearing. But with the results of the audit about to become public, the agency now says officials were just trying to deal with the large influx of new tax- exempt requests. Quote, "Mistakes were made initially but they were in no way due to any political or partisan rationale. We fixed the situation last year."
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney says the president expects swift and appropriate steps to address any misconduct if it is found.
JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: What we know about this is of concern. And we certainly find the actions taken as reported to be inappropriate. And we would fully expect the investigation to be thorough, and for corrections to be made, in a case like this.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Dan Lothian joins us from Washington. So when the president talks about swift and appropriate steps if these allegations are true, what is he talking about?
LOTHIAN: Well, I think he's at this point saying, let's wait and see what the investigation brings forward. The president has not spoken about this. Jay Carney, as you heard there, did address the issue on Friday. Although the president today will be meeting with the British prime minister, having a bilateral meeting, and then we'll be taking some questions in the Rose Garden. So, we expect that this is one of the questions that will be asked. And then we'll get a chance to see what the president specifically meant by that.
COSTELLO: Dan Lothian, reporting live from the White House.
In the next hour, we'll talk with the founder of the Cincinnati Tea Party. He says he was personally targeted by the IRS. His story coming up in the next hour of NEWSROOM.
The editor of "Bloomberg News" is apologizing for his reporter snooping into the restricted data of company clients.
Alison Kosik is following this story out of New York.
Tell us what happened, Alison.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, first I want to give full disclosure, Carol. I did work at "Bloomberg" for a short time. I never knew about this practice. I never did it. As far as the story goes, countless traders here at the New York Stock Exchange, they have these "Bloomberg" terminals, or basically computer terminals. Here is one here. Traders use it, regulators use it, central bankers around the world use it.
And what they use it for is for basically real time market data and news. Also, there is an instant messaging feature on here, as well. Thousands have prescriptions and they're not cheap. It costs $20,000 to have a subscription and to rent the machine.
Now, the fact that reporters at "Bloomberg" spied on how some people used the machines, it's raising a lot of privacy questions. So, "Bloomberg's" editor-in-chief Matt Winkler came out on Bloomberg's Web site, wrote an op-ed, what they could see includes the log-in history of members, help desk inquiries, how many times different programs users had access.
And for that Winkler said the error is inexcusable, but what he did go on to say is that never did private investment information was ever accessed. Winkler did go on to say, however, that at no time did reporters have access to trading, portfolio, monitor or other related systems. Nor access to clients' messages to one another, they couldn't seat clients that stories were reading or the securities clients could be looking at. Winker also said the newsroom will no longer have access to that data -- Carol.
COSTELLO: So how were the reporters snooping? Did they just walk by and look over someone's shoulder? How did they get caught?
KOSIK: Well, it wasn't just walking by. You can go in to these machines. These are amazing machines that you can get a lot of data out of them. And that's what these reporters did, that they were able to track some of the users' movements on these computers.
And how did this come to light? The interesting thing is Winkler in this op-ed on "Bloomberg's" Web site said this is has been a common practice at "Bloomberg News" for a very long time way back into the 1990s.
How did this come to light? A reporter was apparently interviewing a Goldman Sachs executive and the reporter was asking about the log-in habits of another Goldman Sachs executive. So, then, Goldman spoke up about this and that's how it came to light -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Alison Kosik reporting live from the New York Stock Exchange. Thanks.
O.J. Simpson has spent the past four years behind bars. Now, Simpson hopes to persuade a judge to grant him another trial. We'll tell you if that's possible, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Checking our top stories at 24 minutes past the hour. O.J. Simpson will be back in a Vegas courtroom today, pushing for a new trial as he tries to get his robbery, assault and kidnapping convictions thrown out. Simpson now claims bad legal advice from his lawyer led to his arrest and conviction following the 2007 confrontation at a Las Vegas hotel with sports memorabilia dealers. The Nevada Supreme Court has upheld his conviction. The disgraced athlete and actor has served four years of a 33-year-long sentence.
A northern California family pleading for privacy after their 12-year- old boy is in custody of accused of stabbing his younger sister. Police arrested the boy on Saturday, two weeks after he told police he saw an intruder leaving the family home. Eight-year-old Leila Fowler was stabbed to death and police spent over 2,000 man hours investigating her death.
Her mother is trying to understand what happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRISCILLA RODRIGUEZ, LEILA FOWLER'S MOTHER: He was very close to his sister. He went to every doctor's appointment with me, he was like all about his sister. My son loved his sister so much. And I know my son could never hurt his sister. He never (INAUDIBLE), you know? He never like, you know, pushed her around like normal big brothers and sisters do.
COSTELLO: We're still waiting to learn the exact charges the 12-year- old will face and when he'll appear in court.
A new report about Detroit's deep financial troubles will present to Michigan's treasurer today. The emergency manager appointed in March to take over operations compiled a report after just 45 days on the job. Detroit tweeted out late Sunday it's on the verge of running out of money by the year's end. And that means it could become the largest city ever to file for bankruptcy.
In sports, Tiger Woods won the Players Championship Sunday, his fourth title of the year and 78th of his career. Tiger took the win after Sergio Garcia's game collapsed giving up six strokes on the final two holes.
People on edge in a California community as homes sink into a hilltop.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Like a lot of the homeowners out here, we've got our lives invested up here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: And now there may be an answer to what's causing those homes to sink.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you for being with us this morning. It's 30 minutes past the hour.
Living in fear, and begging to have their freedom back. In Cleveland, the brothers of Ariel Castro say they hope he rots in jail, after being accused of kidnapping, raping and imprisoning three women for years. And despite police clearing them, Pedro and Onil Castro, Ariel's brother, say those horrific crimes have left them under a cloud of suspicion, as well, maybe for the rest of their lives.
They sat down for an exclusive interview with Martin Savidge.
And, Marty, I'm wondering, why did they decide to talk?
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Carol, I grew up in this town and I worked a long time in this town. And they knew me from that. And they know the work I do, they seem to like that, they said so.
But that wasn't going to get them any free pass from me, which is why I asked the next question that started off the second half of the interview.
