Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Photos Leaked in Pistorius Case; Interview With Congressman Patrick Meehan

Aired May 31, 2013 - 15:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: We continue onto hour two. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thanks for being with me. We begin with two fast moving stories, one in Texas, one in California.

Let me begin with one in Houston, Texas, we pull this out. Let me show you the pictures in full and tell you what is happening in Houston. There has been this hotel called the Southwest Inn in Houston, Texas. It has been on fire and the smoke is huge, the response even more tremendous.

At last check, it was a four alarm fire. That, of course, could have changed, but we have some video. We have some video we're going to work on showing it to you. You see the firefighters on the scene.

We know that firefighters -- firefighters have been injured. And we have seen them being taken off on stretchers just because of the enormity of this fire at the Southwest Inn on the Southwest Highway in Houston, Texas. We're watching this.

We're also watching another fire farther west. It is a race against time. This is the Powerhouse fire. This is north of Los Angeles, a wildfire, 1,500 acres, 15 percent contained there. We're watching those two stories. We will bring you updates through the hour.

But I want to take you to West Virginia, because there is a shocking twist here in the disappearance of a teenager by the name of Skylar Neese. She is a teenage girl, lived in the tiny town of Star City. This is near Morgantown. Police at first treated her as a runaway. Then one of Skylar's closest friends led police to her body and confessed to killing Skylar with the help of another girl.

CNN's Randi Kaye has the mind-boggling details here.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Skylar Neese was a straight A student, a 10th grader at University High School in Star City, West Virginia. She loved spending time with her dog and played the flute in the band. Skylar's father says she had dreams of going to law school.

DAVE NEESE, SKYLAR NEESE'S FATHER: She wanted to be a lawyer and to hear her argue, she could have been a very good lawyer.

KAYE: But Skylar's story took a tragic turn July 6 last year when she disappeared.

NEESE: She got home at 10: 00. She got home from work, came in and said I love you, mom, I love you, dad, and she went to her room and we never seen her again.

KAYE: Skylar's father realized the next day something was wrong when he found Skylar's bed empty.

(on camera): When she first disappeared, what did you think had happened?

NEESE: She had run away. If she had run away, she would have took her cell phone charger and hair curler and all the other stuff kids take. That's pure hell because you don't know where your baby is, you don't know what has happened.

KAYE (voice-over): An open window in Skylar's bedroom offered a clue.

NEESE: Here's the one she went out of that evening. She used that black stool over there and put it at the bottom of the window, left the window open about that much when she crawled out.

KAYE (on camera): Investigators pulled the security camera video from Skylar's apartment building and saw her jumping into a car parked near her window. That seems to make sense, considering Skylar's best friend, a 16-year-old classmate, had told Skylar's father that she and another girl and Skylar had gone joyriding that night. Trouble is, that girl said they picked up Skylar around 11: 00 p. m. the security camera video shows Skylar getting into the car much later than that, around 12: 30 a. m.

(voice-over): That timeline only added to the intrigue. So for months, investigators tried to piece together clues, friends of Skylar's rallied together to comfort the family. They hung missing posters. There were hundreds of leads, but nothing panned out. Then in January, six months after Skylar disappeared, a stunning admission. The 16-year-old Rachel Shoaf, seen here in this picture from "The Examiner" smiling along with her friend, Skylar, admitted she killed her, but she said she did not do it alone.

(on camera): Rachel Shoaf told investigators she and another classmate who is 16 lured Skylar out of her bedroom that night and into their car. She said they then drove her here, to this spot in rural Pennsylvania, about 30 minutes away, and then just as they planned, the two girls attacked her, stabbing Skylar to death. Rachel Shoaf told investigators they were going to bury Skylar, but when they couldn't, they left her body here on the side of the road and covered it in branches.

(voice-over): The other girl's name hasn't been made public since she's charged as a juvenile, but Skylar's father says she is the same girl who told him she picked up his daughter for a joyride. Investigators searched that girl's car after Rachel Shoaf's confession and found Skylar's blood.

(on camera): What was your daughter's friendship like with these two girls? How close were they?

NEESE: Inseparable. They were together all the time especially the one that hasn't been named yet. She had just got back from vacation with her a week before this. She had been best friends with her since she was 8 years old. I mean, it's sick.

KAYE (voice-over): And remember those friends who helped and comforted the family? It's almost beyond comprehension, but Dave Neese says one of them was the unnamed alleged killer.

NEESE: She was finding out from us every week exactly what the cops knew because they were telling us what they knew, of course, we were telling her because we thought she was so upset and missed Skylar so much, and to find out she murdered her, it makes me sick.

KAYE: It's not just their behavior that's so troubling. Rachel Shoaf actually left for church camp the day after the murder. Her family issued a statement to Skylar's parents. It reads in part, "We are at a loss for words to comfort your pain. We were shocked to learn of our daughter's involvement in Skylar's death. We know her actions are unforgivable and inexcusable." So why did they do it? Why kill Skylar? The reason Rachel's given is simple and sickening.

NEESE: Because they didn't want to be friends with her anymore. Which is sick, you know, if you don't want to be friends with somebody, leave them alone, but don't murder them.

KAYE (on camera): What do you want to say to these two girls?

NEESE: Rot in hell. How's that? That's exactly what I want them to do. I want them to go through that pain and agony my daughter went through. I want them to have no life because Skylar doesn't have one.

KAYE: Sixteen-year-old Rachel Shoaf had been charged with first- degree murder. But after leading authorities to Skylar's body in the woods, she entered a guilty plea to second-degree murder as part of a plea deal, though she still stands to spend the next 40 years in prison.

As far as the other unnamed girl, she's been charged as a juvenile with first-degree murder. A judge will decide if she does want to charge her as an adult. There is no word on whether a plea deal is in the works for her either.

Randi Kaye, CNN, Star City, West Virginia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Want to talk about this story a little further.

Want to bring in HLN legal analyst Joey Jackson.

And, Joey, you heard the father. First, you hear him say if he were speaking to the girls, rot in hell. He also said, as far as the motive goes, that these girls, they didn't want to be friends with his daughter anymore, so they killed her. My question to you is this. In cases like this before these best friends are the suspects, how do police go about questioning these girls?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, you know what, Brooke?

First, from a nonlegal perspective, just from a parent perspective and a human interest perspective, this is just chilling, it is horrible, it is miserable. And you could see what his sentiment was. Any father, any mother, any parent having lost a child would, you know, certainly have a like response as he did about rotting in hell.

BALDWIN: Yes.

JACKSON: But in terms of what the police are going to do, I think the police as far as conducting an investigation do what they normally do, as they did here. They put the pieces together. They interview friends, They interview family, they check cell phone records, and then ultimately what they do is they go to people who are around her, who would have knowledge of her whereabouts, what she did, what she was doing, what her activities were.

And, of course, in this instance it was kept secret from July until January. I mean, there was an extended period of time until of course she came forward and said, you know what, I did it, just a compelling tragedy.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: I'm glad you brought that up, because I want to talk about the time, because we know that police spent six months treating Skylar's disappearance as if she were a runaway.

On the night she disappeared, her friends admit that they took her out for this joyride. Then one of the friends leads them to Skylar's body in January, doesn't plead guilty until May. Does that seem unusually slow to you?

JACKSON: No. What ends up happening is in our system of justice, it is a process. And even though you may come forward, you may give information, what happens is after you give that information, a number of things are set in motion. Like what?

What happens is that there is a proceeding, and at that proceeding you have a right to have counsel present and to defend your interests and to enter a plea of not guilty and then the proceeding takes its course. You give information. You negotiate in terms of a plea. There is a negotiation as far as where is the body if you were involved, taken -- of course, she took them to the body, the police and the authorities.

She was able to negotiate down from first-degree murder, which is premeditated, to second-degree, which is any other type of murder, which is not premeditated, but certainly deliberate. And that's what happened here. And so in terms of the process, believe it or not, that may be on the quicker side of how these things are usually adjudicated, Brooke.

BALDWIN: On the quicker side. Joey Jackson, wow. Thank you. Appreciate it.

JACKSON: Thank you, Brooke. Be well.

BALDWIN: Now to the bloody crime scene photos that could make or break the case for Olympian "Blade Runner" Oscar Pistorius. Take a look for yourself.

These are the photos posted from that tragic Valentine's Day showing the bathroom at Pistorius' South African home where his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp was shot and killed. You can see it is on the bottom of the screen there. It looks to be some sort of carpet and blood splattered. Pistorius admits he was the one who shot his girlfriend, but he says it was by accident.

In an affidavit, Pistorius said he thought an intruder was hiding in the bathroom and fired shots in fear of being attacked himself.

Robyn Curnow joins me now live from Johannesburg.

And, Robyn, tell me why these photos are so significant to this case.

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, get this.

Those photos, evidence from the crime scene, visual evidence, had not yet been handed to Oscar Pistorius' defense team yet. That's what I understand. So the fact that a policeman -- it appears to be someone within the police force -- has leaked these photographs indicates that the investigation is not just messy, but potentially corrupt.

What are the implications of that in terms of the trial going forward? Well, Oscar Pistorius' team says, listen, we need to push forward. We don't want to delay, if there is a sense that this is going to be delayed because they might just hold the news organization that accessed these pictures as well as anyone in the police force who leaked them, might hold them accountable for bribery, for corruption charges, for contempt of court, so decision is no doubt being made from the Pistorius' camp side of whether they just say, listen, these were going to come out in the public area, into the public sphere at some stage during the trial.

Let's just move on and try and get this to trial. But already it is delayed. The state says is already saying they are not ready, it needs to be postponed, they don't have enough information to give the contents of the charges, so, indications the case's state is a bit wobbly, a bit weak.

BALDWIN: Not only that. Let me add this, that you, Robyn, are the only journalist who has actually visited the home that Pistorius has been sharing with his uncle the last couple of months. What did the uncle tell you about Oscar Pistorius?

CURNOW: Well, actually I saw Oscar when we were invited into the house. He has been staying there, as you say, for the last three months since released from police custody. He has grown a beard.

He just appeared very, very sad. He's obviously not giving interviews, so his uncle was speaking for him. And there really was a sense that Oscar was housebound, he was still very traumatized, very heartbroken by what he did. This is what his uncle had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARNOLD PISTORIUS, UNCLE: He's got photos in his room. He's got photos all over the place. And what can you say if you're -- if the person you love the most die and you were the instrument? How would you feel? It is unthinkable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: OK. And I know a lot of people have been wondering, there has been a lot of speculation about just when Oscar Pistorius might run again, because he can effectively take to the track.

But those around him say he's just not emotionally and mentally ready to be in any competition. He might still go for a run or a jog around the track, but he's certainly not going to compete in any track or athletics meetings until after the trial.

BALDWIN: Robyn Curnow in Johannesburg.

Robyn, just a reminder to all of the viewers who has been following this case so, so closely, tune into CNN next Friday for a special documentary on the case. It's "Pistorius: Brutal Murder or Grave Mistake?" It airs next Friday at 10:00 p.m. Eastern time.

We are getting updates on that Houston, Texas, hotel fire. So, let me just let you know, as you are looking at these pictures, this is the first time we have seen firefighters on stretchers. We can now confirm that affiliates in Houston, Texas, as these men and women have been responding to this Southwest Inn fire, four firefighters were injured.

And so they have to be taken to the hospital, treated, because we have seen the massive plumes of smoke here out of the Southwest Inn. It has been upgraded to a five-alarm fire. It was once a four, now five. That means that the response has been so tremendous because of what you're looking at, these live pictures, massive plumes of smoke. We have seen flames shooting out of this particular hotel-motel, so trucks from five different fire stations in and around the Houston area responding to that.

Coming up next, do you remember this little girl? We introduced you to her earlier this week. She is 10 years of age. She needs a pair of lungs to live. But she might not get them in time because of her age. Got a lot of updates on this story. I know there is a huge, huge interest. So many of you tweeted me, how can you help? Told you about the petition on Change.org.

Well, we're talking today in a matter of minutes with a congressman who is trying to help this family out of Pennsylvania.

Plus, a woman from Michigan killed in Syria. That country's government says she was fighting for a group linked to al Qaeda. Well, CNN spoke with her family in Michigan, who say they saw warning signs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We can't control what she believed in. We can try to maybe help her. But when she set her mind to something, that was it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Now to an update on a story I know a lot of you have been asking about. It is about this little girl and about the life- threatening deadline hanging over her head here. She is Sarah Murnaghan. She is in dire need of a pair of lungs, a lung transplant.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARAH MURNAGHAN, 10 YEARS OLD: I'm not going for easy. I'm just going for possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Going for possible. Sarah's family is taking on what seems like an impossible quest to get her a transplant with adult lungs.

You see, lungs from a child are not available right now. But adult lungs are. However, because Sarah is only 10 and not the minimum age to be considered an adult at the age of 12 to receive adult lungs, she can't get the adult lungs. She has to -- she is basically at the end of the line. Adults come first and then her, even though some of the adults aren't quite as sick as she is.

On Wednesday, I talked to her father, and he explained to me the process and just really how dire this family's situation is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRAN MURNAGHAN, FATHER OF SARAH MURNAGHAN: How the system works is, if there is an available set of lungs from an adult, they go through the entire adult list, no matter what severity the various adults are at, and then once everyone on the adult list has passed them up, then they're offered to the children.

Her lungs have deteriorated significantly. And we're saying a few weeks. So if we don't receive a pair of lungs in the next few weeks, then she will die.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: The group that oversees lung transplants says it won't change the rules for Sarah, explaining in a statement that it -- let me read this for you exactly -- "cannot create a policy exemption on behalf of an individual patient, since giving an advantage to one patient may unduly disadvantage others." That's a quote from them. But now two senators and a congressman representing Pennsylvania, where Sarah is from, are stepping in to try to help. Senators Pat Toomey and Bob Casey and Congressman Patrick Meehan have all reached out to Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, to try to get her to change the rules.

It is her department that oversees the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network. And so now Congressman Meehan joins me live from Philadelphia.

Congressman, welcome.

Like I told the dad earlier this week, I hate the circumstances under which I'm speaking to you. This is a tough one. I know that you have reached out to President Obama's inner circle, Secretary Sebelius, writing a letter.

Where do things stand right now?

REP. PATRICK MEEHAN (R), PENNSYLVANIA: Well, I'm not a congressman in a deal like this. I'm a father. And I think about what this family is going through.

So we are appealing to the secretary. We have been able to get to her attention the issue. She has asked for an opinion to be given to her by the head of the transplant organization with regards to what policies have been in the past and whether there is a basis for exception.

But I believe there is, because, frankly, you identified the fact that she's sicker than most on the list who would qualify, but for her age. But it doesn't seem to me that there is a reasonable basis for why that has stopped at 12. The other criteria is effectively likelihood of some success, and the doctors think there is a likelihood of success.

BALDWIN: So, Congressman, let me -- is it an exception that you and so many others including the parents here are asking for, or is it a rule change?

MEEHAN: Well, there is not going to be time for a rule change. And certainly in Congress, we will be able to ask for an evaluation of the whole process.

But with respect to Sarah, there would have to be some kind of a recognition. I wouldn't even call it an exception. I think it would be a recognition that the second criteria is, you know, effectively the viability. How likely is she to prosper with that new lung? And that isn't tied -- that is an arbitrary thing. You could see if she was 6 years old. You would say no way.

But she's 11, effectively, and the doctors believe that she could be successful.

BALDWIN: Here's my one question that I just have to ask, and then I told this dad I want this whole story to have a happy ending. I want her to get her this pair of lungs.

But when you think of the other -- other adults who are -- some of whom are not as sick, would this then be asking for an unrealistic precedent to be set here in cases like this?

MEEHAN: Yes.

Well, I appreciate that may be the case. But the precedents changes because the policy isn't -- you know, doesn't make sense in this application. I shouldn't say it doesn't make sense, but you see the injustice of this policy.

There's two criteria. She's on the top of the line on one, and on the other, the only way, it seems arbitrary, if, in fact, you're talking about the likelihood of success. That isn't because she's 12. It is because she can take that adult lung. It can be done at a tremendous hospital like CHOP, and she has a high likelihood of success if she gets it.

BALDWIN: Congressman Patrick Meehan, we wish you the best and hopefully that some solution can come as expediently as possible and we can all talk about this new set of lungs and a very healthy 10-, going-on-11-year-old girl. Congressman, thank you.

MEEHAN: Thank you, Brooke.

BALDWIN: An Arizona mother of seven spends more than a week in a Mexican jail, claiming she was set up. And a judge finally agreed with her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YANIRA MALDONADO, JAILED IN MEXICO: I'm home, finally.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: CNN was there when she walked out of jail a free woman -- what she told us about her ordeal behind bars next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: From desperation to jubilation.

An Arizona mother of seven, grandmother of two, is now a free woman after spending a week in a jail in Mexico. She didn't want to let her husband go. Can't say I blame her. These are her cries early, clearly this morning from Yanira Maldonado as she walked into the long-awaited embrace of her husband, Gary.

She was freed after a Mexican judge saw video of the couple just last week boarding a bus carrying just a couple of blankets, bottles of water, her purse. And that video was enough for this judge to drop the drug-smuggling charges against Yanira Maldonado, a U.S. citizen born in Mexico.

You see, Mexican soldiers had accused her of sneaking 12 pounds of marijuana under her bus seat as she took this ride after a family funeral in Mexico back home to the States.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MALDONADO: I'm free. I yelled, like, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free. I was innocent. So I was very, very happy to be out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Maldonado's family believes the soldiers were seeking a bribe, but she says she loves Mexico and doesn't blame her native country for the acts of just a couple of individuals.

Coming up next, CNN has obtained video of the two Boston bombing suspects just days before the blast. You see the two brothers jumping rope, working out. Well, we talked to the manager who was on duty when this video was shot here, why he says he tried to get one of the brothers banned from the gym.

And we just told you the story of a 10-year-old in a hospital in Pennsylvania wanting a pair of lungs. As I was talking to the congressman, we have an update from Kathleen Sebelius, from the office of Kathleen Sebelius. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)