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Suspects Says He Killed More Than 30 People; Murdoch, Wife Splitting Up; Anthem Singer Gets Encore

Aired June 14, 2013 - 13:30   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For more than half a dozen years, the 2006 killings had gone unsolved.

DET. T. J. WATTS, MARION COUNTY, FLORIDA SHERIFF'S OFFICER: It was a cold case.

ZARRELLA (on camera): No leads?

WATTS: No leads until we started going back through the case.

ZARRELLA (voice-over): That was a year and a half ago when Marion County Detective T.J. Watts began taking a fresh look at the evidence. A cigarette butt was the gotcha moment.

WATTS: It was inside a Mountain Dew can.

ZARRELLA: DNA was tested and linked the cigarette to this man, Jose Manuel Martinez. Watts caught up with Martinez in an Alabama jail where he was awaiting trail for a murder there. He had been captured in Arizona, crossing the border in to the U.S. from Mexico.

(on camera): Watts says Martinez confessed to the Florida killings right away. And there was more. Detective Watts said he told him he killed more than 30 people since he was 16 years old. Why? It was, he told Watts, his job.

WATTS: That's how he fed his family. It's how he explained it. If he didn't do the job, someone else would do it.

ZARRELLA (voice-over): Martinez's story, he was a debt collector for the Mexican drug cartels. He would pocket 25 percent of what he collected from the overdue dealers, then he killed them. He told police he made $210,000 just from the Florida hits.

WATTS: Throughout my career, I've never sat across from a guy like Martinez. He's definitely a coldhearted killer.

ZARRELLA: In the Florida case, authorities say Revas (ph) was just Juerta's (ph) friend and may have tragically been at the wrong place in the wrong time.

Besides the Florida killings, authorities have linked him to at least 11 killings in California, one in Alabama and possibly one in Chicago. There may be more. According to Watts, Martinez is still talking.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: That was John Zarrella reporting. We're going to continue to follow that story.

Jurors in the George Zimmerman trial will be sequestered. The trial is expected to last two to four weeks. That's the latest word from the judge and attorneys who are in the case. So far, 25 potential jurors have been questioned individually and have moved on now to the next round. All 10 are minorities. Zimmerman is charged with second- degree murder in the shooting of Trayvon Martin.

The murder trial of James "Whitey" Bulger started this week in Boston. Some people might want to get seats in the courtroom for other than personal reasons. Why? Bulger, he's charged with 19 murders dating back to the years he ran the Irish mob in Boston. Reporters covering the trial say that Oscar-winning actor, Robert Duvall, has been requesting a seat in the courtroom. We are guessing he wants to watch the judge for research because he's making a movie called, "The Judge," and it's being shot in Boston.

Billionaire media mogul, Rupert Murdoch, is splitting up from his third wife, Wendy, after 14 years of marriage.

Alina Cho has a look at the power couple.

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ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The marriage of Rupert Murdoch and Wendy Ding was a partnership in every way of the word. He, the 82-year-old chairman and CEO of News Corp, with holdings that include FOX News and the "Wall Street Journal," one of richest men in the world. She, age 44, nearly half his age, a glamorous third wife with a taste for fashion and high-powered friend.

This is what made her internationally famous.

(CROSSTALK)

CHO: 2011, snapping a protester who tried to throw a shaving-cream pie at her husband as the media tycoon testified about his newspaper's practice of phone hacking. The video went viral, earning her the nickname Tiger Wife.

Now they are divorced. First reported by deadline.com, is front page news.

This is Rupert and Wendy Murdoch in happier times, talking to our Piers Morgan at this year's Academy Awards.

PIERS MORGAN, HOST, PIERS MORGAN LIVE: How do you feel about CNN going so well against FOX at the moment?

RUPERT MURDOCH, CHAIRMAN & CEO, NEWS CORP: I think we're OK.

(LAUGHTER)

CHO: The Murdochs met in 1997 at a News Corp party in Hong Kong where the Yale-educated Wendy worked at Murdoch properties' Star TV. Two years later, the coupled married on his yacht in New York harbor. They have two young daughters and all the benefits that come with being super rich.

No word on what Wendy could walk away with but Murdoch, worth $11.2 billion, paid his last week $1.7 billion in what was billed as the most expensive divorce settlement in history.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Alina joins us live.

Hey, Alina. Good to see you.

What more do we know about this?

CHO: Suzanne, those who know them well say Wendy was a huge influence on her husband, everything from his friend to his politics and even down to what he wore. Those friends say they do believe Rupert Murdoch genuinely loves his wife, Wendy. And to quote one, "Everyone is now wondering what went wrong."

As you can imagine with a story like this rumors are flying of infidelity but, at this point, nothing and I mean nothing is confirmed -- Suzanne?

MALVEAUX: OK. Alina, thank you. Appreciate it. We wish you well.

An 11-year-old boy sings the national anthem at the NBA finals. Some criticized him online for wearing a mariachi outfit. He defended his Mexican-American heritage and now has something to celebrate. We'll explain, up next.

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(SINGING)

(APPLAUSE)

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MALVEAUX: I love this kid. This is 11-year-old Sebastian de la Cruz. He brought down the house again last night at game four of the NBA finals between the Heat and the Spurs. This was an encore performance after he became the target of racist taunts.

Our Mark McKay, he's got the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JULIAN CASTRO, MAYOR OF SAN ANTONIO: Please help me give a great welcome.

MARK MCKAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After being introduced by San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro ahead of the game four of the NBA finals on Thursday, Sebastian de la Cruz did what he does best.

(APPLAUSE)

(SINGING)

MCKAY: It's rare that the same performer sings the national anthem in back-to-back playoff games. The Spurs didn't hesitate tendering another invitation to this talented 11 year old.

SEBASTIAN DE LA CRUZ, SINGER: When they told me I was going to be doing the national anthem and my father told me, I was like, yes, another chance to show San Antonio what I have to give them.

MCKAY: De la Cruz's first appearance saw him targeted with taunts not from the crowd but on social media. "Why they get a Mexican kid singing the national anthem," Daniel Gilmore tweeted. "How are you singing the national anthem looking like an illegal immigrant," tweeted Andre Lacy of Augusta, Georgia. Matt Cyrus added, "Who let this illegal alien sing our national anthem"?

A popular social media blog highlighted more than two dozen other hateful tweets.

De la Cruz, who was born in San Antonio, was not going to let the negativity get him down.

DE LA CRUZ: I think the people were talking bad because of what I was wearing. It's not my fault. It's what I love. I'm just proud to be a mariachi singer. Like, it's their opinion. If they don't like mariachi, that's their problem, but I love it.

(SINGING)

(APPLAUSE)

MCKAY: It was an encore that brought down the house, followed by handshakes from the two head coaches.

All this for a young man who sent out his own tweet this week, telling the world, I'm an American, living the American dream.

Mark McKay, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Good for him. I love that kid.

Coming up, how celebrity obsessed teens stole bling from the rich and famous. Now they are getting a little of the fame they wanted. Their Hollywood crime spree is now on the big screen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PARIS HILTON: I was just really upset and mad that these kids had done this to me. They also violated -- what they did was so wrong.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Remember this? A group of teens made headlines for stealing from celebrities, including Paris Hilton. They stole jewelry, clothes, beauty products just to become close to fame. If you sum it up in one word, it's obsession. That's what the director of the film "The Bling Ring" calls it.

Margaret Connelly has a look at the new movie about what Hollywood what was experiencing, a crime spree.

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UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: Oh, my god.

(LAUGHTER)

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MARGARET CONNELLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Paris Hilton's expensive closet raided in a glamorized movie version of real life crimes.

UNIDENTIFIED ANCHOR: Police are investing the connection of the Hollywood Hills burglaries.

: For nearly a year a group of southern California celebrity obsessed teens targeted the Hollywood home offense their favorite stars and stole more than $3 million worth of cash, clothes, jewelry, art and even underwear.

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UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: I think we wanted to be part of the lifestyle, the lifestyle that everybody kind of wants.

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CONNELLY: This stolen lifestyle story has been made into a film by Academy Award-winner, Sophia Coppola. "The Bling Ring" is based on the Hollywood crime spree that took place in 2008 and 2009.

SOPHIA COPPOLA, DIRECTOR: It seemed out of hand compared to the things when we were a kid. It's timely. It's our obsession with this pop culture, realty TV.

CONNELLY: For "The Bling Ring" that pop culture was the powerful motivation for their theft, according to psychotherapist, Stacy Kaiser.

STACY KAISER, PSYCHOTHERAPIST: They wanted to wear the things the celebrities were wearing. They wanted to be in the homes that the celebrities were in. It made them feel like they would have a chance to become famous if they were connected to that famous stuff.

CONNELLY: The teens used social media to track the celebrities they targeted, sometimes burglarizing them repeatedly.

HILTON: I was really upset and mad that these kids had done this to me and felt so violated. What they did was so wrong. Watching it was just very bizarre to know that was real life.

CONNELLY: In real life, the Bling Ring's crimes caught up with them, sort of. Four defendants served brief jail sentences and the others were placed on probation.

Will "The Bling Ring" movie give them the spotlight they were craving all along? The film maker hopes not.

COPPOLA: I wanted to make it seductive enough to that you understood how they get into this world but then you want to make it clear you don't want to be encouraging.

CONNELLY: A provocative look at extreme celebrity obsession.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: I've spoke to all of them.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: Really. What did Lindsay say?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CONNELLY: Margaret Connelly, CNN, Hollywood.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Coming up, young people giving up plastic. Why more people under 30 are saying no to credit cards.

And I wonder if the person charged this. This is a pair of seven-by- nine-foot parking spaces going up for sale. How much do you think they sold for? It might shock you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: A recent survey showed almost half of Americans have more credit card debt than emergency savings. They may be one reason a lot of young people are choosing to pay cash instead of credit.

Here's Christine Romans.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Suzanne.

The under-30 crowd is ditching credit cards. The new report from FICO shows, among 18 to 29-year-olds, 16 percent of them don't have a credit card. That has doubled since the recession.

Young people are dealing with high unemployment and student loans. They're also delaying big purchases like cars and homes. Another factor, the emergence of prepaid cards, the cards that require you to have the money first before you spend it.

Also the Card Act of 2010 passed by Congress requires anyone under the age of 21 to have a co-signer on a credit card if they don't earn enough money to make full payments.

But the pullback means credit scores for 18 to 29-year-olds is improving. Credit scores for the 60 and older crowd have gotten worse thanks to still high levels of auto and mortgage debt -- Suzanne? .

MALVEAUX: Thanks, Christine.

Check this out. This is the most hard to get real estate in the city of Boston. You might find this surprising. Take a look at this. Well, pretty nice. This is what more than half a million dollars looks like for somebody desperate for parking spaces. This is in the wealthy Back-Bay neighborhood of Boston. Two side-by-side spaces went up for auction yesterday. The auctioneer called them the prettiest parking spaces he'd ever seen. The winning bid, $560,000. Pretty incredible stuff.

A programming note. Watch out for this. In three days, CNN's all new morning show debuts. Chris Cuomo, Kate Bolduan, Michaela Pereira going to host "New Day." Make sure to watch that. Tune in Monday morning at 6:00 eastern. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: As you might have heard, it is a "New Day" on CNN. We'd like to introduce you to our team for our new morning show starting early Monday.

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MALVEAUX: All right. We got all three of them on the set.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I need to get a new suit.

(LAUGHTER)

MALVEAUX: Great to see you guys. Michaela Pereira, Kate Bolduan, Chris Cuomo all there on the set there.

The "New Day" -- you guys have a hot promo there. I wake up singing that song now. I can't get it out of my head.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sorry about that.

MALVEAUX: No, no. I love it. It's got flavor and everything.

I want our audience, of course, to get to know you all.

Of course, I know Kate very well.

I want to start off with you, Michaela.

You're bringing flavor from the west coast. Been in L.A. For nine years. Excellent journalist. Something people don't know about you. You love to snow board and work with teens who are at risk. Tell us about some of your passions.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's interesting growing up in Canada, I'm adopted. You guys have I know heard this story. Suzanne and our viewers that are listening. I'm adopted so I've always been a huge advocate for kids that are sort of the forgotten kids. That's something I've used to spend my time. The little time I have when I'm not doing the news.

When I can, I head to the mountains. Head to the mountains to do a little snowboarding. Before the knees got bad.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We'll find you something else.

CUOMO: While she's transitioning into her life in New York, she can transfer the passion for helping needy kids on to my kids.

(LAUGHTER)

Who are also very needy.

MALVEAUX: Chris, tell us about your kids. Tell us about your family. Tell us about your kids a little bit. You have an hour.

CUOMO: Best part of me. Best part of me. Three kids, Christina, my wife, and I have, 10-year-old Bella, 7-year-old Mario, 3-year-old Catalina, who we call Cha Cha.

(CROSSTALK)

MALVEAUX: They're up earlier than you are. Getting you out of bed.

CUOMO: No.

MALVEAUX: What time do you have to get up?

BOLDUAN: About 5:00.

CUOMO: I'm going to be getting up early. Probably about 5: 45.

(LAUGHTER)

Come in red hot. Wear the same suit every day.

BOLDUAN: I'll be like, we're starting the show?

CUOMO: Kate's in training. She's been waking up at 2:30 every morning with nothing to do from then until we rehearse.

BOLDUAN: Spring training. That's what we do.

MALVEAUX: Spring training. I saw the clips of you guys repelling down a building, of course.

Kate, you know, I know you very well. You've covered the Hill many years. You're with Wolf Blitzer in "The Sit Room." This is another gig for you. Really amazing. Tell us a little bit about you and Chris here. I know you've got now a TV husband to deal with. I know what that's like. I've got Michael Holmes on my hands.

BOLDUAN: Exactly. Very much a similar partnership. I wouldn't call him my TV husband. The brother I never had and sometimes I don't want him now.

(LAUGHTER)

Just kidding.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: He's so funny. He's so funny.

No, it's been great. We've had a lot of time to get to know each other, all three of us off camera, before we were pushed on the set together, which really helped. We know each other really, really well before we see the red light turn on. It's been amazing transition from Washington to New York. We are very excited to not be talking about it anymore and --

PEREIRA: Finally get to do it.

BOLDUAN: -- we'll be starting to do the news and get the show on the road.

MALVEAUX: Can you give us --

(CROSSTALK)

PEREIRA: Rehearsing live TV is really hard to do.

MALVEAUX: A tease of the show?

BOLDUAN: Yeah. Give us a little tease. A little flavor of what we might see.

You're seeing more of the set than we've shown anyone, Suzanne. That's for you and all our viewers.

There is going to be a lot of news. We have three hours in the morning. We're going to pack a lot in. We'll start with big stories, obviously. We're going to have a lot of international news in our show as well. A little bit for everybody. Kind of a broad, wide range, wide variety of news. Going to pack a lot of it in.

With these three wilting flowers of no personality, you'll have a lot of us as well.

PEREIRA: She called us wilting flowers. CUOMO: Suzanne, I saw on the reaction shot, you were startled by we're going to have a lot of international news. They did tell you you're going to have a hit with us every morning, right?

(LAUGHTER)

(CROSSTALK)

MALVEAUX: Do I really need to get up that early?

CUOMO: You do know that, right?

BOLDUAN: Suzanne's like, I did that shift when I was covering the White House many years.

MALVEAUX: Exactly.

CUOMO: I saw her face. She was like international news? Does that mean I'm going?

MALVEAUX: You know it's not pretty in the morning for me.

BOLDUAN: You're always pretty, Suzanne. Don't believe that for a second.

MALVEAUX: I understand a big gets, one of the big gets you guys had, Michaela, Chelsea Clinton.

PEREIRA: Had a great conversation. We flew to Chicago yesterday. Had to compete against Mother Nature trying to get into Chicago which was a challenge. We did have a wonderful sit-down with this woman who has a lot of passion, a lot of drive. We've really watched her grow up. It's been interesting to see now that she's 33, married, what she is kind of thinking about for her own future. We talked a little bit about that. We talked about the work the foundation is doing as well.

MALVEAUX: OK. We're actually going to see a little bit more of that in about 30 minutes or so.

It's great to see all you guys. I'm going to be watching. Of course, I'll be up. I'll be watching.

(LAUGHTER)

CUOMO: Sure.

MALVEAUX: A little international news as well.

We've got to hand it over to Brooke. Good luck.