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Al Qaeda Magazine Boasts Bombings; James Taylor on Boston; Letter To Obama Tested for Ricin; Arrested Mom in Mexico

Aired May 30, 2013 - 14:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Tonight, more than a month after terrorists attacked Boston, the city is coming together in this building to remember, to honor. And they are doing it all through rock and roll.

I'm Brooke Baldwin. Special CNN coverage starts right now.

One of the voices Boston hears tonight --

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(SINGING)

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BALDWIN: I'll talk with James Taylor about the moment he heard about the bombings and what he'll say to the victims.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YANIRA MALDONADO, JAILED IN MEXICO: I love them very much. (INAUDIBLE). And they know that I'm innocent.

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BALDWIN: The American mother behind bars in Mexico opens up to CNN and begs for her freedom.

Plus, the terrifying moment a train hits a truck.

As the feds intercept letters, possibly laced with ricin, targeting Michael Bloomberg, new details about the threats inside.

Good to see you. I'm Brooke Baldwin. It is so great to be back in the city of Boston. You are watching special coverage here on CNN where, in a matter of hours, some of America's biggest named performers will be taking to the stage in that big building behind me. This is the TD Garden here in Boston.

Why are they here? It's a huge night because it's all in tribute. Six weeks after those two explosions really just rocked the city forever.

What happened in those moments and in the days following the attacks at the finish line there of the Boston Marathon on Boylston Street quite literally brought this city to a halt. Not just for the manhunt for the suspects, but for the victims, some of whom lost their lives, many, many more lost their limbs, wounded and forever baring the scars of this senseless act.

Tonight, though, it is a night of celebration. It's a relief concert, "Boston Strong," and those words carrying so much meaning for this city. And I just have to say, if you've checked out the lineup, it's pretty impressive.

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BALDWIN: You have Aerosmith, New Kids on the Block, Carole King, Boston, James Taylor, Jimmy Buffett, you know just to name a few. In fact, I just walked out of the TD Garden moments ago. I got to sit down with the legendary James Taylor, and we'll play that interview for you in just a moment. He talked about, you know, just being born in this city in a hospital where now so many of those survivors were treated and he'll talk actually a little bit about some of the songs he's playing tonight.

But first, before we get to that, let me get you an update here on the Boston bombings. Actually some news just in to CNN. It is absolutely unthinkable. This al Qaeda magazine, it's called "Inspire," once dubbed the "Vanity Fair" of terrorism, is devoting its latest issue to the Boston bombings. I want you to take a look at this leaked excerpt. Let me quote, "American people, your security will not be attained by denying security to other peoples, attacking them, or oppressing them. Your security is in the hands of the fools among you who rule you with oppression and aggression. Know that oppression and aggression come back upon the heads of those who use them."

CNN terrorism analyst Paul Cruickshank joins me now live from Washington.

And, Paul, we talked so much in the weeks around the Boston bombings when I was here, I know about the "Inspire" magazine, about the article, basically a how to on the pressure cooker and how to - it was how to build a bomb in the kitchen of your mom. What is the readership of this kind of magazine?

PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: The readership of this magazine, Brooke, are followers of al Qaeda, people sympathetic to al Qaeda's ideology in the United States in the English-speaking world. They're putting out a message to that following that they should launch attacks in the west. They shouldn't travel to places like Yemen or Pakistan. That they should stay home and launch attacks there. And that they are going to put out the bomb making guidance, recipes and so on, to help them with that. And that seems to have been the case with the Boston bombings. So there's sort of opportunistically taking credit for this. They're saying, we encouraged these guys, we gave them the instructions and look what happened. And they're trying to inspire others to do the same, Brooke.

BALDWIN: It's disgusting. And I know, as we mentioned, in this issue specifically of "Inspire" magazine, there is a reference to what happened in Boston. What specifically is the reference, other than taking credit, I suppose? CRUICKSHANK: Well, they're taking credit because these brothers actually downloaded a bomb-making recipe from the first issue of "Inspire" magazine, an issue that came out in the summer of 2010. They were also inspired by the rhetoric of one of the clerics linked to this group, Anwar al-Awlaki. So what they're doing is saying, yes, we helped this. you know, we helped make this happen. And they're trying to inspire others to do the same, Brooke. But this is opportunistic. It's not like they had any actual physical connection to these two brothers.

BALDWIN: And this is the kind of thing, this is the magazine, that people can't shut down, can they?

CRUICKSHANK: It's very, very difficult to shut down, because they can put it online and it's causing increasing concern on both sides of the Atlantic. The magazine and its bomb making recipes have been linked to multiple Islamist terrorist plots, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Paul Cruickshank, thank you so much.

But I want to talk not as much about that, but really the reason why we're here in Boston. Again, TD Garden hosting something like 10 different bands and surprise guests, we're told two comedians, all talking about surviving and healing. And one of the biggest names to hit the stage here tonight is Boston native James Taylor. And in the days following that attack on Boylston Street, he was a huge inspiration for folks here. If you remember, he played "Shower The People" among the thousands at MIT in memoriam of Officer Sean Collier, who was shot and killed during the hunt of the bomb suspects.

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JAMES TAYLOR, MUSICIAN (singing): You can play the game, you can knock out the part, though you know it wasn't written for you. Tell me how can you stand there with your broken heart, all ashamed they --

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BALDWIN: And just about a half hour ago, I talked to James Taylor. Actually talked about that moment specifically. And he told me a little bit about the message he has for this city and what tonight's concert, what these moments tonight here in Boston will mean for him.

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BALDWIN: You're a Massachusetts General baby?

JAMES TAYLOR, SINGER-SONGWRITER: Uh-huh. I was -- actually, I think I was born in Boston Lying In (ph), it was called in those days. And it may have morphed to Brigham & Women's in this day. But my dad was at Mass General and Boston City Hospital when he was doing his internship and residency. So, we lived here. I was born here. And we lived here until, I think, '51. And then we moved down to Chapel Hill where you went to school.

BALDWIN: Chapel Hill. That's right. So, little would you know that many years later, fast forward to six weeks ago, that those hospital and amazing doctors and nurses and staff treated so many people who survived the bombings. And you're here for the concert. How do you just - how do you feel with all these bands coming together for such a big night?

TAYLOR: You know, I think it's the way we respond. I think Don Law (ph), who's sort of a fixture, an institution here in Boston, he's - it's -- Boston is his turf, and, you know, Don called and said that he was putting together a concert, was I interested in playing. I said, sure. And I'm sure that, you know, I was talking to Jimmy Buffett earlier and he said, you know, Boston's been good to me and I didn't hesitate. And I'm sure that that's the way everybody who's on the bill tonight responded. You know, just --

BALDWIN: No hesitation, just yes.

TAYLOR: Absolutely, yes. And, you know, the other thing is that you mentioning the hospitals and the -- all the first responders and the community really -- everybody in Boston just feels so bad about what happened and so concerned and so, you know, just like you get the feeling that anybody that you asked would do whatever they could to try to help the people who were injured and to try to sort of heal. Try to help heal the town after this and the area. You know, Boston's so -- so special. And the marathon, too.

BALDWIN: Quintessential Boston experience, right?

TAYLOR: It really is. Yes.

BALDWIN: Sox game during the day. Come to the finish line.

TAYLOR: That's right. And it's such an inclusive and, you know, sort of global event. It seems just, you know, how you could possibly want to target the Boston Marathon, where we cheer the plucky Kenyan who overcomes the stacked deck of life and makes it over the finish line, or grandpa who's just made it through chemo and he's back on the -- in his running shoes again, or, you know, parents watching their children finish or children watching their parents finish. It's just - it's just -- really was the most inappropriate and really unfathomable kind of thing. Just so wrong.

BALDWIN: I was in Washington for the inauguration. That was a celebratory event. I understand that you reached out to the people in Newtown and played a private concert there. And here you are in Boston. I mean it's you, it's music. What is it about that that helps heal?

TAYLOR: Yes, I don't know. You know, a lot of my songs were written to make me feel better, sort of as a -- and sometimes that resonates with other people, too, you know. So you write a piece of music or a song that sort of has the purpose of seeing you through a tough time or putting something out there that you feel internally. And so it starts by something that basically a conversation with yourself and, in some cases those, you know, songs like that resonate with other people and are useful.

BALDWIN: Just a few other people.

TAYLOR: Well, that's good.

BALDWIN: I've been humming "Shower The People" all day because I'm here, I was here covering the bombings, and I remember you playing at Officer Collier's memorial with the thousands from all around the country, the officers that came to remember him.

TAYLOR: Yes.

BALDWIN: You're here tonight with a long-time friend, Carole King.

TAYLOR: Yes.

BALDWIN: "You've Got a Friend." She wrote it. You made it a hit. Can you give me -- what will you be singing tonight?

TAYLOR: Yes, we'll sing "Sweet Baby James" because it's got that line "Stockbridge to Boston."

BALDWIN: "Stockbridge to Boston." Yes.

TAYLOR: Yes. And we'll do "Shower The People." We'll do, "How Sweet It Is," which is a Holland-Dozier-Holland song that was originally done by Marvin Gaye. A great song. And then Carole and I will play "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow." We'll play "You've Got a Friend." We'll play "Up On the Roof." She'll do a couple songs of her own, "Sweet Seasons," and "So Far Away." And then we'll -- my last presence on stage is to sing "Mexico." And since Jimmy Buffett covers that song, that will -we'll bring Jimmy out to sing that song.

BALDWIN: Wow.

TAYLOR: And then I'll hand it over to him. So that's our plan. You know, got to stick with it.

BALDWIN: Got to stick with the plan. James Taylor, it's truly a pleasure.

TAYLOR: Brooke, my great pleasure. Thank you.

BALDWIN: We will see you tonight. Thank you so much. "Boston Strong."

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BALDWIN: Welcome back. I'm Brooke Baldwin, live in Boston for a special night here. I'm standing in front of the TD Garden, which normally you see screaming basketball or hockey fans. Tonight, though, it's a much different occasion. It will be full of 15,000 people here in the city of Boston paying tribute to what happened here in the city six weeks ago and helping heal. We're going to get to that, more of that, here in just a moment. More special guests here live on this show. But I want to turn to this. Now it turns out another letter mailed to the president may have contained deadly poison. About 90 minutes ago the Secret Service confirmed the letter was intercepted today at an offsite mail facility. A Secret Service spokesman says it is similar to a suspicious letter, actually letters, mailed to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, also to the head of Bloomberg's gun control group. At this hour, we are getting new details about a threatening message contained in those possibly poisonous letters. So for that let's go to CNN's Deborah Feyerick live in New York.

Deborah, what are you learning today?

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brooke, the messages in the letters received by New York's mayor and his Washington, D.C., gun control group, they are threatening and they are frightening. According to an individual who saw what was written, the sender says, quote, "you will have to kill me before you get my guns. Anyone who 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'll exercise that right until the day I die," unquote. Well, here's what Mayor Mike Bloomberg had to say.

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MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, NEW YORK: The letter was, obviously, referred to our anti-gun efforts, but there's 12,000 people that are going to get killed this year with guns and 19,000 that are going to commit suicide with guns and we're not going to walk away from those efforts.

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FEYERICK: Now, police say the two letters appear to have be written by the same person and sent to Shreveport, Louisiana. The third letter, which you referenced, Brooke, which was sent to the president, also came from the same postmark. Letters to the president and mayor were intercepted at these off-site sorting facilities, but the head of the gun control group opened the letter addressed to him personally, according to a police report, and he sent a message to friends saying that he's fine, but he can't comment. The mayor's office says that the envelope was, when discovered, put in a special biochemical containment box by the mail room staffer. It was then taken away by NYPD and DEP hazmat units for testing. We are told it did test positive for traces of ricin. The mail room right now being cleaned by the Department of Environmental Protection.

Brooke.

BALDWIN: OK, Deborah Feyerick, thank you so much for that.

Coming up next here live in Boston, we're going to tell you a little bit more about that American mom being held right now in a Mexican prison. She now has opened up to CNN.

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YANIRA MALDONADO, DETAINED IN MEXICO: I need to be back with my family. I need to be out of here. I need help.

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BALDWIN: A judge is considering whether or not to set her free, let her come home. Our conversation with this mother in 90 seconds.

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BALDWIN: I'm Brooke Baldwin, live here in Boston. Back to our special coverage in just a moment.

Here in the United States, yellow school buses, they are a common sight. But in some countries, the lack of transportation can make it pretty tough for kids to get to school. The CNN film "Girl Rising," airing June 16th deals with the challenges that a number of girls face with getting education. And today we want to introduce you to a young girl from a small mountain village in Peru.

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EULALIA (through translator): My name is Eulalia. I have six brothers and sisters. Where I live, there are no schools. Every Monday we ride a motorcycle to go to my school. When my dad is not home, I walk to school. It takes two hours.

EDWIN, EULALIA'S FATHER (through translator): I want to help Eulalia go to school because I want her to have a better education than mine.

EULALIA: I like math, especially multiplying. During the week, I sleep in the school dorms. For me, it's difficult to be far from my parents. When I'm with my classmates, they make me smile. On Saturday and Sunday, when I'm at home, I do my homework with my mother.

MARUJA, EULALIA'S MOTHER: She teaches me addition, subtraction, things like that. I can't read very well either, so she shows me how to read.

EULALIA: I want to be a teacher.

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BALDWIN: If you'd like to learn more about the organization that helps this young girl attend school and the Ten Times Ten Fund for girls' education, this is what you need to do. Go to cnn.com/girlrising. And our film, our CNN film, "Girl Rising" premiers on June 16th, 9:00 p.m. Eastern here on CNN. We're back in 70 seconds live from Boston.

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BALDWIN: Still in prison, but hoping, desperately hoping, to get out. This Arizona mother detained in Mexico on drug trafficking charges tells CNN there is video proving she is innocent. She says that her lawyer will present it this afternoon to a judge and he will decide tomorrow if Yanira Maldonado should go free.

It has now been one week since soldiers arrested her at a military checkpoint in Mexico. They allegedly found 12 pounds of marijuana under her bus seat. But her attorney says surveillance video of Maldonado and her husband boarding the bus, because they were down there for this family funeral, shows them carrying no packages, only Maldonado holding a purse. What's more here, the soldiers were a no show for a court hearing yesterday.

And as her case strengthens, so does Maldonado's resolve to keep praying. Inside the jail, she sat down with our senior Latin America affairs editor, Rafael Romo, and talked to him about just the toll, the emotional toll this time in prison has taken on her.

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YANIRA MALDONADO, DETAINED IN MEXICO: They don't care. I'm like, I'm not a killer. I'm not a criminal. I'm just here by mistake because people are not doing their work. This is not right. I need to be back with my family. I need to be out of here. I need help.

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SENIOR LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDITOR: How are you holding up?

MALDONADO: Reading the scriptures. Reading the book of Mormon. Praying. Fasting. I know the support that I've been getting from my family, my husband, my children.

At the checkpoint, (INAUDIBLE), they ask us to get off the bus and they were checking for drugs or I don't know what else, and they say they found something under my seat, but I never saw anything.

ROMO: What would you like to tell to people who may be thinking about coming to Mexico? Any advice that you would give --

MALDONADO: I don't want to give advice anymore, because I used to tell people, come to Mexico, it's not true what they're saying. I come, I drive myself, nothing happens. It's good. I've been telling people say, no, you're crazy, you're this, you're that, and look what's happening to me now.

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BALDWIN: And look what's happening to this mother of seven, grandmother of two. CNN legal analyst Sunny Hostin is on the case with me now in New York.

And, Sunny, we had mentioned earlier this surveillance video, right, that apparently shows this couple boarding this bus with Yanira merely carrying her purse. Her lawyer also says he also has documents that he's going to show this judge, you know, showing how the Maldonados have a clean record, they hold jobs, that they're good people. Is that enough?

SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: I think it's significant, there's no question about it, because that's the question that I've had in my mind from the very beginning, well, how do you bring in 12 pounds of marijuana? I mean that's the equivalent to I guess a thousand --

BALDWIN: That's a lot of marijuana. HOSTIN: A thousand joints to one pound. So we're talking about 12,000 joints. I mean, how do you bring that much in without anyone seeing it? And that has bothered me. So now there's evidence of surveillance video that she's carrying a purse. You just don't -- there's not enough room in a purse for that amount of marijuana. And I think she doesn't really fit the traditional profile of a mule, of a drug mule. She's married, a mother, she just doesn't fit that profile. And so I think in combination, the fact that these officers never showed up for the hearing and you combine that, Brooke, with the fact that there's this surveillance video, I think she has a pretty good chance of being released.

BALDWIN: So, hopefully, you know, they can prove all of that and she can, you know, go home to her family, if that's the case. The husband, you know, he says that he was told it will cost $5,000 even to free his wife if the case is dropped. I mean, I know this is Mexico, but is that a normal thing overseas?

HOSTIN: You know, unfortunately, we do have something called a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in large part because there is corruption overseas and these bribes, unfortunately, are a part of doing business in parts of the world. And so is it unusual, is it rare? No, not at all.

BALDWIN: OK. Sunny Hostin, we'll follow it. We'll see if she does get to return to her family once they can prove she is, in fact, innocent. Appreciate it so much.

Coming up here live from Boston, again, we're standing in front of the TD Garden. Normally home to the Celtics, the Bruins, but it's a special show tonight. Fifteen thousand people, musical and comedian ambassadors here really to Massachusetts. This "Boston Strong" concert taking place. This is our look behind the -- on the stage, I should say. We were able to get in a little earlier. On the stage tonight, Jimmy Buffett, Aerosmith, James Taylor, New Kids on the Block, so many more performing on the stage. We're going to take you inside the TD Garden coming up next.

Plus, I have just gotten word that severe weather is heading into the Oklahoma City area. Chad Myers is chasing the storms. We'll check in with Chad next.

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