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Arizona Mom Freed From Mexican Jail; Tsarnaev Brothers Worked Out Before Attack; Boston Globe: Fire Chief Threatens Suit; Obama To Speak On Student Loans; Federal Student Loan Rates To Double; 1000- Acre Fire Burns In Southern California; WSJ: Subaru Shortage Possible; Texan Questioned About Ricin Letters

Aired May 31, 2013 - 10:00   ET

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


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, free at last!

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank God that I'm free now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: An American mom released from a Mexican prison. We're there for the reunion.

Also, a newly shaped faith, intense workouts, a chilling new video of the Tsarnaev brothers allegedly prepping for the Boston bombing.

Plus, crash landing. Imagine wake up to this, or this. Small planes collide and not in midair.

And asteroid, Russian repeat? No, but close enough to pay attention. You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Good morning. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Carol Costello. This morning, the nightmare is finally over. An Arizona mom walks out of a Mexican jail into the arms of her husband. Right now, she is back on American soil, just hours after a Mexican judge threw out accusations of marijuana smuggling. Yanira Maldonado said she screamed when she was told.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YANIRA MALDONADO, RELEASED FROM MEXICAN PRISON: I am free! Like I am free, I am free! And I was innocent. So I was very, very happy to be out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Rafael Romo is in Nogales, Arizona where Yanira Maldonado spoke to us a short time ago. Rafael, what did she say?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SENIOR LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDITOR: Well, first of all, the first thing she wanted to say was that she is very grateful to all those people who prayed for her, who supported her and her family during the more than a week, the time she spent in the prison across the border here in Nogales, Mexico.

I had the opportunity to be one of a handful of reporters of attending a hearing yesterday during a very crucial moment. A moment that might have been the defining moment when the defense attorney asked the court to play a video showing Yanira Maldonado and her husband, Gary, board the bus in which you can clearly see that they only had two small blankets, two bottles of water and her purse.

No drugs, no other packages and so the defense attorney was trying to show with this video that it was impossible for the Maldonados to smuggle drugs onto the bus. It was a very powerful moment and it was perhaps the defining moment, Carol. Now was out of the prison last night. Once she crossed the border, one of the first questions she got asked was would you ever go back to Mexico? She still has family there, a family whom she loves very much and this is what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MALDONADO: I love Mexico. My family is still there. So Mexico is not Mexico's fault. It's a few people who, you know, do this to me and probably to other people, who knows? You know, so I probably will go back, Mexico is a beautiful country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: Now, Carol, Yanira has had a very difficult time the last two weeks. First of all, her aunt died. She had to go to Mexico for her funeral. On her way back, she got arrested and charged with drug smuggling. Then last Saturday, it was her first wedding anniversary. She and Gary had big plans to celebrate that and instead, she found herself behind bars -- Carol.

COSTELLO: So hopefully, they'll have a belated celebration. I am sure this one will be much more special. Rafael Romo, thank you so much. So the big question in everyone's mind is how exactly could sort of thing happen?

Joining us to lend some insight is Carlos Montero, a colleague, who is a well known anchor on CNN Espaniol. OK, so a lot of my friends say, you know, I'd love to go to Mexico. But after that, I am not going there. How did this happen?

CARLOS MONTERO, ANCHOR, CNN EN ESPANOL: I think it was an unfortunate situation. I got a lot of friends, they ask me the same. I want to go to Mexico. I want to go to Latin America. I want to give you my personal experience. I travel all over Latin America. I never have any problem, but there is a fact.

There are places. They are dungeons. You got to be very careful especially if you are a tourist. There are people waiting for an opportunity to take advantage. There is also here in the USA. They love Americans.

COSTELLO: A lot of Americans would take exception to that because Mrs. Maldonado's husband said when she was placed under arrest, police asked for him a $5,000 bribe. This is a normal thing that happens in this area of Mexico.

MONTERO: That is a particular situation because corruption is a problem. In Latin America, we improve a lot. Say for example, Chile not as corrupt as Germany. There is no corruption in Chile. Other countries, maybe Mexico, maybe Venezuela, even maybe my country, Argentina, it is still a problem. We are working. The government is trying to do certain things to avoid that, but it's a problem to normal people like her, like the police, like I was listening to CNN domestic.

One of your analysts was saying, it happened to me, I was in Mexico. I was crossing that red light. The police stop me and ask me for a bribe. It doesn't happen as much as in the past, but it's a reality. It is nothing that happens in the USA. Police never respond to a bribe.

COSTELLO: The other thing, Mrs. Maldonado said they chose to ride the bus in Mexico because she thought it was safer. We reached out to the State Department this morning. And there are warnings on the State Department web site never, never, never take a bus in Mexico.

MONTERO: Let me tell you something, when we were on the production team, I asked the same question. I'm from Argentina, I said, why? They have a certain economic situation. Why talk to us? Why drive over there? Some people, some co-worker from Mexico said because it's more dangerous if you drive in that part of Mexico. You don't know what you can find.

Those people that are Mexican, they say if you travel on a bus, it's safer. Definitely, it's not for her because she went through a big problem, but I laugh because she was on a bus and they found those 12 pounds, 6 kilos of marijuana. That's an unfortunate situation. Then the police, absolutely the bribe was something, but she was sitting in a hard spot in the room in the wrong place in that bus.

COSTELLO: She was, hopefully, we'll work those problems out. Carlos, thank you so much for joining us.

MONTERO: Thank you, Carol, my pleasure. Thank you.

COSTELLO: We have new video into CNN this morning. It shows the Boston bombing suspects together working out at a Boston gym. Now these images were taken on a surveillance camera 72 hours before the attack. Could the brothers have been prepping for the Boston bombing?

CNN's national correspondent Deborah Feyerick is in New York to tell us more. Hi, Deborah.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, there, Carol. Well, the video is a crucial piece of the timeline. It's also the first time that we actually see the two brothers together before the attack. It's amazing, they look relaxed. They looked calm. They don't look like they are thinking about what authorities are accusing them of having done.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) FEYERICK (voice-over): Seventy two hours before the bomb's detonated, almost to the minute, suspect's Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev worked out together in a gym in Boston. Security cameras at Y. Crew Mixed Martial Arts Center show the brothers arriving with a friend just before 2:45 Friday afternoon.

We spoke to the manager, who asked we only use his first name Michael. He says Tamerlan, who you see in the hat, looked different, noticeably missing Tamerlan's full bushy religious beard, which he had had for about two years. The manager describes Tamerlan as extremely opinionated and outspoken about his Muslim religion.

And says he didn't ask Tamerlan why he shaved because he didn't want to engage in what was likely to be a long heated debate. Now he wonders whether Tamerlan shaving the beard may have been part of an Islamic ritual purification prior to death.

PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERROR ANALYST: Shaving a beard maybe a way to blend in, not to attract scrutiny from security services in carrying out the Boston attacks.

FEYERICK: Tamerlan trained at Y Crew several times a month for free, a professional courtesy to the nationally ranked Golden Gloves boxer. Dzhokhar rarely came, showing just two or three times in roughly two years.

CRUICKSHANK: We've seen with western militants want to be Jidahist a real emphasis on physical training, physical fitness, wanting to be prepared for Jihad.

FEYERICK: Almost immediately the manager who is off screen to the right, asks the men to follow posted gym rules and take off their shoes. The younger brother Dzhokhar complies right away. Tamerlan does not, arguing, instead, not giving any ground. The manager later e-mails the owner asking him to ban Tamerlar calling him arrogant, selfish, never helping anyone else.

The argument doesn't seem to faze Tamerlan, who is the first one in the ring. His years of training are evident. Watch how skillfully he handles the jump rope. Dzhokhar has more difficulty, less stamina as he struggles to hold up the oversized shorts.

The manager says the man in the middle was introduced a friend. We've blurred his face. He was later questioned and released by the FBI. Tamerlan remains focused, barely missing or breaking stride. It's right here that the brothers interact.

They seem relaxed, Dzhokhar resting at times. Tamerlan moving, moving, working out, 72 hours before two bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston marathon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: Carol, the manager of that gym says the FBI did come. They looked at the under surveillance video. This is right at the beginning of the investigation. They took several screen grabs, more like still photos. The manager also says that FBI asked whether, who was known to these two brothers and one of the names the manager gave, Ibragim Todashev, the Florida man who knew Tamerlan Tsarnaev and who was killed during questioning by the FBI -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Deborah Feyerick reporting live for us this morning. A legal fight could be building between Boston's fire chief and his command staff. The 13 deputies sent a letter to Boston's mayor saying the fire chief, Steve Abera, showed no leadership after the Boston marathon bombings.

The group plans on testifying about that at a city council hearing next month. But the "Boston Globe" reports the fire chief is now threatening to sue his own deputies to stop what his lawyer calls defamatory attacks.

In just a few minutes, we are expecting President Obama is in the Rose Garden along with a crew of college students. They will be urging Congress to prevent student loan interest rates from doubling. Without action, interest rates on federally subsidized Stafford loans will jump to 6.8 percent on July 1st.

Let's bring in Christine Romans. She is the host of CNN's "YOUR MONEY." So Christine, what would this mean for the average borrower's bottom line?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It would mean for 7 million borrowers that they are going to have higher interest rates and higher student loan payments every single month. This would affect about a third of undergraduates. A third of undergraduates would face a higher bill to pay for college.

Let me tell you what that rate is right now. The interest rate now is 3.4 percent. These are the federally subsidized student loans. It would go up to 6.8 percent. That means, take a look, a bill right now, a monthly payment is $155 today, Carol, would be $206 a month under the new payment.

We should be very clear. These are for the loans that you take out for next year. So all of those undergrads who are freshmen, sophomore even juniors, seniors, who may be coming back next fall, their loans would be more expensive. Now, the president wants to keep these at a fixed rate. He does not want them to rise.

Others in Congress would like to see a rate that's tied more to the 10-year treasury notes. It would be kind of variable. A lot of people on both sides of the aisle are getting a lot of heat from their constituents about rising student loan bills. Here's why, Carol.

Because this is a really big part of young people's budget and it could hold back the economy for a very long time. Look, kids now have more student loan debt than we do credit card debt in this country. So when you are talking about higher interest rates for 7 million people. That's money out of kids' pockets, out of young adult's pockets that they aren't paying on something else -- Carol.

COSTELLO: OK, so I'm not going to ask you why they can't come to an agreement because we all know.

ROMANS: You know why they can't come to an agreement. They can't agree on anything.

COSTELLO: I know. Christine Romans, many thanks to you.

ROMANS: You are welcome.

COSTELLO: CNN of course will bring you the president's remarks live. He is expected to begin speaking in just about 5 minutes.

Coming up in the NEWSROOM, poison pan a Texas man, now a person of interest for sending ricin-laced letters to the president and New York City's mayor.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Just about 17 minutes past the hour. It's time to check our top stories. In Southern California, 500 firefighters are battling a 1,000-acre fire near Santa Clarita. Power lines have been damaged and at least one structure is burned while a nearby community is now under a mandatory evacuation order. Investigators don't know yet how this fire started.

Tornadoes ripped through the Midwest on Thursday. You are looking at a destroyed home in Garland, Arkansas. Nine people were reported injured in that state during yesterday's storms including two who were struck by lightning.

In money news, it soon could be hard finding a Subaru. The "Wall Street Journal" says strong demand for some of the popular SUVs could lead to a shortage. Right now, sales are up 20 percent this year and the Japanese car makers only had a 40-day supply here in the United States that is below the industry average.

This morning, federal investigators are converging on a small Texas town and questioning a man about potentially deadly letters sent to President Obama and the New York City mayor, Michael Bloomberg. Those letters appear to contain ricin. The latest ugly turn in the bitter debate over gun control.

CNN's Ed Lavandara is in the tiny town of East New Boston. Good morning, Ed.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. A tiny town and many people here waking up to the news that the house you see behind me is at the centre of this ricin investigation, where FBI agents have spent a great deal of time over the last 24 hours collecting evidence.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Law enforcement officials are questioning a man at this New Boston, Texas, home, about threatening letters believed to have contained ricin, sent to President Obama, New York City Michael Bloomberg, and a gun control group. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It kind of hits home a little bit more when it could be someone right down the street.

LAVANDERA: The three suspicious letters were postmarked in Shreveport, Louisiana. The one addressed to the president and Mayor Bloomberg never reached them. Both were intercepted at separate off- site mail facilities where letters are screened. White House Spokesman Jay Carney has emphasized this in the past when other threatening letters were sent to the president.

JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The mail is screened. The mail sent here is screened and that these tests are undertaken at remote sites to mitigate the risk both to those recipients and to the general population.

LAVANDERA: The FBI is now testing the letter sent to President Obama. Meanwhile, the New York City Police Department says that preliminary testing on the Bloomberg letter came back positive for ricin, a potentially deadly poison made from caster beans. The third letter sent to Washington, D.C. Office of Mayors Against Illegal Guns was opened by its director. A police report says that letter contained a whitish/orange substance.

The letters contained an ominous message, "You will have to kill me and my family before you get my guns," it read. "Anyone who wants to come to my house will be 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. What's in this letter is nothing compared to what I've got planned for you." Is the battle over gun control really behind these threats?

REPRESENTATIVE PETER KING (R), NEW YORK: Well, that's what that seems. Now it could also be somebody on the other side, you know, trying to make their point by blaming the people who believe in gun rights.

LAVANDERA: This latest round of threats has many wondering if ricin is becoming the weapon of choice for intimidation.

BILL BRATTON, FORMER NEW YORK CITY POLICE COMMISSIONER: Ricin is probably one of the worst ways to try and kill somebody. So I don't see it as a real threat as a capability to kill, but rather to intimidate and attract publicity.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA: Now we just got off the phone with an FBI spokesperson, who says that still, Carol, at this point, despite all of the activity we've seen here in the town of New Boston that there have been no arrests and there are still no suspects labelled officially. So we'll wait and see how that continues to develop throughout the day -- Carol.

COSTELLO: So, are authorities actively questioning the people who live in that house behind you and, if so, how long has that been going on? LAVANDERA: Well, that's our understanding. However, we have been trying to get details to what is going on around there. They are being very cautious, not offering a lot of details, investigators, exactly as to what they are doing, who they are questioning, and how they are going about that. So it is very difficult at this point to pass along the accurate information that we want be able to pass along. So at this point that's the best we have.

COSTELLO: All right, understand. Ed Lavandera reporting live from East New Boston, Texas. Coming up in the NEWSROOM, the president live in the rose garden. At issue, student loan, interest rates set to double if Congress doesn't act.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: It's a beautiful day in Washington, D.C., isn't it? Any minute now, we are expecting President Obama to step behind that podium in the Rose Garden. College students are already out. You see them standing awaiting the president's arrival.

The president will once again be urging Congress to prevent student loan interest rates from doubling. Right now those rates are 3.4 percent and if Congress doesn't act by July 1st, they could rise to 6.8 percent. This affects 7 million people, 7 million college students and as you might expect, if those interest rates double, can you imagine the student loan payments? Let's listen to the president.

(BEGIN LIVE FEED)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: -- one of my favorite things about the job is that I get to spend some time with remarkable young people from all across the country. It inspires me. It makes me feel good. Those of you who have had to put on suits and ties and show up at the White House first thing on a Friday morning may not feel the way I do. But I appreciate all of you being here.

You cleaned up very well and these students and graduates are here to talk about something that matters to millions of young people and their families and that's the cost of a college education because this isn't just critical for their futures, but it's also critical for America's futures.

Over the past four and a half years, we have been fighting our way back from a financial crisis and an incredibly punishing recession, the worst since the great depression and it costs millions of Americans their jobs and their homes, the sense of security that they'd spent their lives building up.

The good news is today our businesses have created nearly 7 million new jobs over the past 38 months, 500,000 of those jobs are in manufacturing. We are producing more of our own energy. We are consuming less energy. We are importing less from other countries. The housing market is coming back. The stock market has rebounded.

Our deficits are shrinking at the fastest pace in 50 years. People's retirement savings are growing again, the rise of healthcare costs are slowing. The American auto industry is back. So we're seeing progress and the economy is starting to pick up steam. The gears are starting to turn again. We're getting some traction.

But the thing is, the way we measure our progress as a country is not just where the stock market is. It's not just to how well the folks at the top are doing. It's not just the aggregate economic numbers. It's about how much progress ordinary families are making.

Are we creating ladders of opportunity for everybody who is willing to work hard? Are we creating not only a growing economy, but also the engine that is critical to long lasting sustained economic growth and that is a rising, thriving middle class. That's our focus. That's what we have to be concerned about every single day. That's our north star.

And that means there are three questions we have to ask ourselves as a nation. Number one, how do we make America a magnet for good jobs in this competitive 21st Century economy? Number two, how do we make sure that our workers earn the skills and education they need to do those jobs and, number three, how do we make sure those jobs actually pay a decent wage or salaries so the people can save for retirement, send their kids to college.

Those are the questions we got to be asking ourselves every single day. So, we're here today to talk about that second question. How do we make sure our workers earn the skills and education they need to do the jobs the companies are hiring for right now and are going to keep hiring for in the future?

We know that the surest path to the middle class is some form of higher education, a four-year degree, a community college, a degree, an advanced degree. You are going to need more than just a high school education to succeed in this economy and the young people here today, they get that. They're working through college, maybe just graduated and earning their degree isn't just the best investment they can make for their future.

It's the best investment that they can make in America's future. But like a lot of young people all across this country, these students have had to take on more and more and more debt to pay for this investment. Since most of today's college students were born, tuition and fees at public universities have more than doubled.

These days, the average student who takes out loans to pay for four years of college graduates owing more than $26,000. How many people are on track here for $26,000? That doesn't just hold back our young graduates. It holds back our entire middle class. Because Americans now more than on student loans than we do on our credit cards and those payments can last for years even decades.

COSTELLO: All right, we're going to jump out of this, but as you can see, President Obama appealing really to Congress to act to stop interest rates on some student loans from rising to 6.8 percent. Right now, they are 3.4 percent. If those college student loan rates rise, it will affect 7 million college students. We'll see if Congress takes the bait and acts. We're going to take a quick break --