Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Letter to President Obama; Arizona Mom Jailed; Benefits Behind Bars; Letters to NYC Mayor Tainted with Ricin; Economy Grows at Sluggish Pace; Unhitched Trailer Slams into Minivan; Midwest Severe Weather Risk Rises; Cleveland Hero Gets New Job; Obama to Nominate New FBI Director

Aired May 30, 2013 - 13:00   ET

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

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: A suspicious letter sent to President Obama. We are live at the White House with the very latest.

Plus, speaking out for the first time, this mom of seven begs for her freedom from inside a Mexican jail.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I need to be back with my family. I need to be out of here. I need help.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: And prisoners in New Jersey received unemployment benefits while they were behind bars. Inmates were mistakenly given more than $23 million in benefits.

This is CNN NEWSROOM, and I'm Suzanne Malveaux. Here's what we are working on. We begin with breaking news. This is out of Washington. Now, authorities have intercepted a suspicious letter that was sent to the president. A law enforcement official says that the letter looks similar to two threatening letters that were sent to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Those letters to Bloomberg apparently contained the deadly poison, Ricin.

I want to bring in our Jim Acosta. He's covering the story from the White House. We've got Deborah Feyerick who is in New York. Jim, let's start with you. What do we know about the suspicious letter sent to the president?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we know that this letter was intercepted within the last 24 hours, Suzanne. It was intercepted at an offsite mail sorting facility where letters that go to the White House are typically screened for this sort of thing. And I can tell you, from talking to a law enforcement official, in the last hour that because of this heightened sense of awareness that is related to the Bloomberg letter that was received, I guess in the last several days, in addition to that letter that was also sent to the Mayors Against Illegal Guns group, that because of that heightened sense of awareness, officials were able to spot this additional letter that was mailed to President Obama. And at this point, it is too early to say according to these officials, whether or not Ricin was found in the letters sent to the president. That letter is going to be screened for analysis by the Joint Terrorism Task Force as is always the case. And keep in mind, a lot of times these letters can test positive at the screening facility, but they have to be sent through I guess the laboratory that is used by law enforcement officials with the FBI to make absolutely sure that there was Ricin in that letter.

From what we understand at this point, the president is still making his way back from Chicago. He wasn't even here when this letter was intercepted. And there was never any threat to the president -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Real quick here, Jim. Is there any connection, do we know, from the letter that was previously sent to the president that was believed to be laced with Ricin?

ACOSTA: No, at this point, law enforcement officials are fairly confident that this case is not related to that Mississippi case last month where a man was charged with sending threatening letters that were tainted with Ricin, not only to the president but to Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker.

They do believe that this letter that was sent to the White House just in the last 24 hours is connected to the letter that was sent to Mayor Bloomberg. And, again, as I said a few moments ago, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, all three of those letters were postmarked Shreveport, Louisiana, and so that is one red flag at this point that they're looking at. But as I've talked to one law enforcement official about this, they're starting to believe -- investigators are starting to believe that there are copycats at work.

MALVEAUX: Right.

ACOSTA: And in the words of this one law enforcement official, people are just getting some bad ideas -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right. Jim, thanks. I want to bring in Deb real quick here from New York. And, Deb, you are learning more about these letters that were sent to Mayor Bloomberg as well as the president. Specifically that -- the threatening language inside the letters, what do we know?

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What we do know is that the letters appear to have been written by the same person. And the reason, the motive behind it, apparently anger against efforts to create gun control. A source who was told in the content of two of the letters, the ones that were sent to Michael Bloomberg and his organization, say that the letter lashes out at those he perceives is going to confiscate his guns. And that's a big fear among certain gun owners. Well, the person writes, you will have to kill me and my family before you get my guns. Anyone wants to come to my house will get shot in the face. The right to bear arms is my constitutional god given right and I will exercise that right until the day I die. Now, the three letters, as you heard Jim Acosta mention, were all postmarked Shreveport, Louisiana. They were sent to three individuals who are at the forefront of the gun control debate, President Obama, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and also the head of the group he founded, Mayors Against Illegal Guns. And, Suzanne, the first was open Friday in New York, the second, Sunday in Washington D.C., the third today at the offsite White House mail processing facility. Only the one letter sent to the gun control group was actually opened by the intended target. President Obama and New York City's mayor never in any immediate danger -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: And, Deb, real quick here. Do we have a sense of whether those responsible for these letters, are they in custody? Do we know anything about the individuals or the organization?

FEYERICK: No, we don't. We know that the JTTF, the Joint Terrorism Task Force, is investigating. We're told that they were on their way to Shreveport, Louisiana where the postmarks are. From -- otherwise, we don't know. I've been inquiring to try to find out whether anyone of interest has been questioned, you know, not just sort of random people but somebody who may be sort of at the center of all this. But right now, I'm not getting any information on that -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right, Deb, we'll get back to you as soon as you have more information on that. Obviously, a developing breaking news story out of Washington. Deb, Jim, thanks very much.

We're also keeping a close eye on the stock market. It really has been on a roll. The housing market hot, but the economy grew just a little more slowly during the first quarter than actually a lot of folks thought.

I want to bring in Alison Kosik at the New York Stock Exchange with -- what is the story behind the numbers here? You look at the GDP. It gives us the big picture. Are we doing any better?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: We're not doing any better. We're pretty much just holding steady. So, we're talking about growth in the first three months of the year, January through March. And what the government says is that the economy grew at a 2.4 percent clip. So, that came in a bit weaker, a bit worse than the first estimate of 2.5 percent. Keep in mind, this figure comes out three times. This is the second time this figure has come out for the first quarter.

But I want to show you what made this number worse. Government spending cuts, remember those? They're still the biggest drag on the U.S. -- on the U.S. growth, you know, for the economy in the first three months of this year, those automatic spending cuts that took effect at the beginning of the year. Interestingly enough, consumer spending was actually revised higher, but part of the reason for that was that we had to spend more money on our household utilities, you know, heating our homes. Not such a huge surprise since we look at the month of March. It was actually the coldest March since 2002 which drives up heating costs -- Suzanne. MALVEAUX: And we see that there's a poll -- there's a new poll that actually shows a lot of folks a lot more concerned about the economy than the political controversies that folks have been talking about in Washington. This is a Quinnipiac University poll, 73 percent say dealing with the economy is the higher priority than all those other controversies out there. Specifically, what should we be focusing on? And what are Americans focusing on when they look at that number?

KOSIK: Yes. So, when you look at these numbers, you see what's important. So, these scandals that we talk about that President Obama's in, whether it's the IRS scandal or Benghazi, you know, they tend to gain more attention, this survey basically says. They tend to -- these scandals tend to gain more attention when there's less concern about the economy.

But right now, with the economy kind of muddling along and high unemployment sitting on us at 7.5 percent, people say, to heck with the scandals, to heck with the controversies, no matter who's in the White House, no matter which party is there, we care more about the economy than these scandals. You know, it's all about, you know, what matters in Americans lives, you know.

And for many of the -- for many of us average people, the scandals don't touch us as much as, let's say, difficulty getting a job or paying the bills. So, you know, the bottom line with this is that the economy is still issue number one, especially when it's not doing well. And although we are seeing improvement in the U.S. economy, it's not going gang busters, there are still a lot of people out of work and a lot of people having trouble paying the bills -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Yes. Alison, well put. To heck with all that other stuff. A lot of people still really focusing on how they're doing in their own lives. Alison, --

KOSIK: Right.

MALVEAUX: -- thank you. We really appreciate it.

Investigators in New York, they are looking into -- this is a tragic accident. It left seven people dead including four young children. This happened near Syracuse. Police say a minivan that was carrying eight people on a rural highway when a tractor trailer heading in the opposite direction had a major malfunction. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT DERKSEN, CORTLAND COUNTY, NEW YORK: The trailer became unhitched from the tractor. It struck the minivan. We have multiple fatalities. In the 13 years I've worked with the sheriff's office, and I'm on the accident investigation team, I've never seen an accident along these lines.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: That is so sad. There was one survivor in the minivan. He's hospitalized. Two people in the tractor trailer, they were actually not hurt.

Arizona mother jailed in Mexico on drug charges. She is now making an emotional plea. Yanira Maldonado spoke to CNN from a jail cell, this is in Nogales, Mexico. Authorities are accusing her of smuggling marijuana. Well, listen to what she told our own Rafael Romo about what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

YANIRA MALDONADO: They mentioned that there was drug in the bus under the seat, but then they never accused me like that. They told me that my husband was in trouble. That he needed to stay. And I said, OK, I'm not going to leave him. I'm going to stay. And then the soldiers said, OK, and then you both are going to stay and the bus driver.

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And, in the meantime, you -- you're thinking to yourself --

MALDONADO: Yes, this is just a process. They're going to let us go, you know? Maybe they're going to do a report or something. I never knew that I'm going to be here a week later behind bars.

ROMO: What do you want people to know about you?

MALDONADO: That I'm innocent. That I'm innocent. And I'm a good mom. I'm very -- I love the gospel. I'm LDS. And we work hard to have what we have. You know, we're not rich but we're very honest. And we also do our best to help other people.

I'm not a criminal. I'm not a criminal. I'm scared (INAUDIBLE) because people are not doing their work. This is not right.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Casey Wian, he is following this case. And he's joining us from Goodyear, Arizona. Casey, you can see her emotional plea there. I imagine her family also is seeing that. Have they had any kind of reaction to her being in her cell crying and just pleading for mercy?

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They certainly have, Suzanne. I spoke with several members of Yanira Maldonado's family this morning. And all of them expressed a lot of emotion over seeing that interview, but all of them also said they were encouraged because it appears that Yanira's in very good health and she has been treated well while in custody in Mexico.

They were also very concerned yesterday when they learned that she spoke to CNN. They were very afraid that she might say something that could jeopardize what they believe will be her ultimate release from a Mexican jail. But after seeing the interview, they don't think she said anything that could do that. Obviously, they're on pins and needles. It's a very sensitive, delicate situation at this point. But all of the family members we've been able to speak with say they're very encouraged by what they've seen and heard from Yanira so far -- Suzanne. MALVEAUX: Casey, is there any sense that, perhaps, her attorneys or her legal team believes that that was a good idea, for her to go forward on the cameras, to tell her story, to be emotional about this, that this will sway anybody, any Mexican authorities in this case?

WIAN: Well, I'm not sure about that. They do -- they did express some reservation about her doing on-camera interviews. But now that it's happened, they don't think it has done any harm. What is more critical from their attorney's perspective is the evidence that they are going to introduce in court today. And this information is just coming to me from my colleague Rafael Romo who spoke with Yanira's attorney a very short time ago. He is going to introduce evidence in court today that first shows video surveillance of Yanira and her husband, Gary, boarding that bus in Mexico. They were carrying nothing according to the attorney but her purse. Her purse was too small to carry the marijuana that was allegedly found underneath her seat.

So, they do believe that that is a very important piece of evidence that they are going to be able to bring before the judge today. The attorney also telling Rafael Romo that the judge will have to make a decision tomorrow. Tomorrow is the deadline for him to decide whether she will be held for a formal charge of drug trafficking or if there's not enough evidence and her family is adamant that there's not enough evidence, they must release her tomorrow -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: And, Casey, if she is held, could she be held for weeks or months before a formal trial?

WIAN: That's the worst case scenario here is if, in fact, that judge does find that there's enough evidence to charge her with drug trafficking, should -- she could be held under Mexican law for between three and four months before there's a formal trial. Family's hoping it doesn't come to that, obviously.

MALVEAUX: All right. We're going to be paying close attention. Obviously, developments going to be happening tomorrow to see whether or not that happens. Thank you, Casey. Appreciate it.

Here's also what we're working on for this hour. We're looking at hail, wind, possible tornadoes. That is a severe weather threat again today. We are chasing the storms, that's in the Midwest.

Plus, they are locked in prison, but some New Jersey inmates are collecting millions in unemployment benefits. And remember the hero who helped rescue the three women who were held captive in Cleveland? Well, Charles Ramsey, he's got a new job.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: A Muslim rights group wants an independent investigation into the shooting death of a man who was friends with the Boston bombing suspects. An FBI agent shot and killed Ibragim Todashev in Orlando, Florida. That happened last week during the questioning about his relationship with Tamerlan Tsarnaev. So, Todashev was a Muslim and from the same part of Russia as the bombing suspects. Sources now tell several news organizations including a CNN affiliate that Todashev was not armed at the time. The FBI is not commenting -- FBI rather not commenting. It is up to say that they are investigating.

We now know the name of the man charged with setting off a small explosive inside Disneyland this week. He is a Disney employee. Police arrested 22-year-old Christian Barnes, a couple hours after something blew up inside a trash can. This was in part of the park called "Mickey's Toontown."

Nobody was hurt but plenty of people were scared of course. And, that part of the park was evacuated for a bit. Barnes was a vendor inside Disneyland. And, police say the explosion was caused by dry ice inside a plastic bottle. Barnes is being held on a million dollars bond.

In Oklahoma, back where it does not want to be. We are talking about the target area for a round of severe, potentially dangerous weather. Chad Myers has been chasing the storms in Oklahoma all day. He joins us by phone. So, Chad, first of all -- I mean, obviously, this is not good news for folks here, a second straight day of bad weather. What have you seen so far?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, we've seen it warmer today than it was yesterday. And, that warmth -- the sun, seems like a good thing. But, in fact, when you're talking about severe weather, it's a bad thing. The skies are brighter. The sun's coming through and the area, right where I'm standing is 7 degrees warmer than it was yesterday, which means that the storms are going to be stronger than they were yesterday.

It also means because we know where the jet stream's going to be that tomorrow is also going to be another day where Oklahoma is in it to get storms. Now, today, we're not only talking Oklahoma, we are talking Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, all the way up even into the Great Lake states. But, the biggest potential for tornadoes will be here across the plains from about the Ohio Valley right down into North Texas. That's where we're expecting it the most.

MALVEAUX: And, Chad --

CHAD: The sunshine, the severe weather will pop up in about an hour or two and we will bring it to you live.

MALVEAUX: Chad, I understand you're also seeing hail as well in some areas, some counties?

CHAD: Oh, we've had some hail yesterday, but we were actually being chased by the storm rather than us chasing the storm. As we looked our way from Wichita back towards Dodge City and into Amarillo, eventually the storms did fire out there in Amarillo and then started moving to the east.

We had to stay away from the hail core. At some point in time, all the roads in Oklahoma and Texas go pretty straight. Well, the storms don't go in those straight lines. They go diagonal. The storms were taking the hypotenuse, and we really got into a hale core yesterday.

But, I'm surprised -- I am literally surprised that all the windows stayed in the vehicle because we were getting hit so hard by this hail. And, I -- It was at least ping-pong ball size big outside. There are few dents in the vehicle, but I tell you what? All in all, we were actually pretty lucky. We got out of the hail pretty quickly, but it was big at the time.

MALVEAUX: All right. Stay safe, Chad, all right? Take good care of yourself. Thanks again. There is more aid that is on the way to the victims of last week's deadly tornado out of Moore, Oklahoma. Some big-name stars performed a relief benefit concert. That was last night in Oklahoma City.

It was organized by singer Blake Shelton, who is from Oklahoma. And, he performed along with Usher, Reba McEntire, and Shelton's wife, Miranda Lambert. Lambert could not hold in her emotions while she took to the stage. Just watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIRANDA LAMBERT, AMERICAN COUNTRY MUSIC ARTIST: (Singing)

(CHEERING AND APPLAUDING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: That is so nice. The audience cheering her on as she really struggled to sing her hit "The House That Built Me." All that money raised from the telethon concert's going to benefit the united way's Oklahoma tornado relief fund. Good for them. From Cleveland hero to media star. We are talking about Charles Ramsey. He's got a new gig, watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLES RAMSEY, CLEVELAND HERO: I leave from McDonald's. I come outside. I see this girl going nuts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: All right. So, from now on, if you want to hear him speak, Charles Ramsey is going to cost you. We're going to tell you how Ramsey is fighting to control his image.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: We have new pictures of the Cleveland backyard. This is where Ariel Castro allegedly held those three women captive for nearly a decade. As you can see the yard in total disarray. Windows, doors, boarded up. And, children's toys scattered everywhere. Now, Castro remains in jail on an $8 million bond. His attorney says he plans to plead not guilty. Well, you might recall Charles Ramsey, he's the man who became the hero, right? -- during the rescue of the three Cleveland kidnapped victims. Well, now, he's about to make some serious money. He has been invited to be a part of this elite speakers group, but the downside of all of this newfound fame is many have already used his name and likeness without his permission. Carol Costello has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: When did you realize something was wrong?

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Charles Ramsey, you know, the former Cleveland dishwasher who saved Amanda Berry and launched a thousand unintentional one-liners.

RAMSEY: I was barbecuing with this dude. We eat ribs and whatnot and listen to salsa music.

I knew something was wrong when a little pretty white girl ran into a black man's arms.

My father would have whooped the hell out of me if he had found out that I was coward out.

You got to have to have some cojones, bro. That's all it is about. It is about cojones.

COSTELLO (voice-over): Ramsey, that Ramsey who is already getting free McDonald's hamburgers for a year. Well, now hit the speaker circuit to share his story for $10,000 a pop. He just signed with Bruise Merrin's Celebrity Speakers and Entertainment Bureau in Las Vegas.

BRUCE MERRIN, PROFESSIONAL PUBLIC SPEAKER: He is so charismatic. I just totally adore him. His charisma just shines through. And, I think he has a very touching and emotional message. He had the courage and the motivation to go and help somebody out when they were in a disastrous situation. And, I really admire and respect that.

COSTELLO: Ramsey told us through his attorney and a friend, he wants to take ownership of his own name. Ever since he rescued Berry, Ramsey has become a cash cow for everyone but himself.

Youtube has dozens of Ramsey videos online complete with advertisements. There are Ramsey action figures for sale online at $19.95 a piece. A Taiwanese company was selling a cheesy videogame depicting a McDonald's-eating Ramsey throwing hamburgers at the alleged kidnapper.

And, a consortium of Northeast Ohio restaurants was selling Ramsey burgers. Ramsey says I never told these people they could use my name for this. But, as motivational speaker, Ramsey will use his own name. Yes, to make money, but to inspire too. And, perhaps raise money for Amanda, Gina and Michelle as well. Carol Costello, CNN, Atlanta. MALVEAUX: President Obama plans to nominate James Comey as the next FBI director. We have details of his past up ahead, including how he rushed to the aid of a very ill attorney general.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)