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Arias Jury Deadlocked; Friend of Bombing Suspect, Dead After Shootout with FBI; More Severe Weather Headed to Oklahoma; Knifing Suspects Known to British Security; Obama to Deliver National Security Speech

Aired May 23, 2013 - 11:00   ET

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

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, ANCHOR, "CNN NEWSROOM": Hello, everyone. I'm Ashleigh Banfield, reporting live in Phoenix, Arizona, this morning, where a deadlock over the death penalty for Jodi Arias sends deliberations almost into overtime, but the judge is not letting the jurors give up.

We are watching their every move and we will bring it to you live.

And, also, President Obama under fire from the left, from the right, over U.S. drone strikes, making his case today, though, that they are, in fact, legal and necessary in taking out terrorists all around the world.

We are also live for you in Moore, Oklahoma, where the procession of funerals begins. The rain returns, but more incredible stories of survival emerge from miles and miles of destruction.

First, though, we lead with the case of "if only," if only police in Massachusetts could have cracked a triple murder there back in 2011, if only, then the Boston marathon massacre may never have happened.

We only know this now because one of the suspects in the bombing, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, is now implicated in that horrible triple murder as well. The connection made just yesterday in Orlando, of all places.

John Zarrella has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sources tell CNN that this man, Ibragim Todashev, knew Boston bombing suspects, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, and that Todashev confessed to being, quote, "directly involved" in a brutal 2011 triple drug-related murder in Waltham, Massachusetts.

A former law enforcement official tells CNN that Todashev also implicated Tamerlan Tsarnaev in the murders, but Todashev is now dead, shot during questioning by an FBI agent and two Massachusetts state police officers in the kitchen of his Orlando apartment.

Law enforcement sources told CNN Todashev had confessed to his role in the triple murder, then became violent and attacked the FBI agent. He was then shot and killed. A friend said Todashev knew the bombing suspects, but that was all.

KHASUEN TARAMOV, SUSPECT'S FRIEND: He knew him back like two years ago, back when he used to live in Boston. And he knew them. And he didn't -- he wasn't like real close friends. He just happened to know them.

And I guess that was his fault, mistake. But he had no idea that they were up to something like that, like bombing and everything, you know what I mean?

ZARRELLA: Now-dead Boston bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev knew one of the Waltham, Massachusetts, victims. The FBI is now checking to see if they can match his and Todashev's DNA to the crime scene.

There were other connections between the two men. Sources tell CNN they came from the same region of Chechnya. Todashev lived in Boston two years ago. Both men were in mixed martial arts at a studio in Boston and on a mixed martial arts website. Tamerlan Tsarnaev's phone number was found in Todashev's cell.

Earlier this month, Todashev was charged with aggravated battery after, according to Orlando police, getting in a fight over a parking space at a local mall. While it appears Todashev was a violent man, his connection to the bombing suspects may go no further than a drug murder case and friendship.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BANFIELD: And John Zarrella joins us live now from Orlando, Florida.

John, this is such an incredible twist to this story. Was there some kind of proximate move by this suspect that he was going to leave and that they'd lose him in this investigation?

ZARRELLA: Well, you know, they had talked to Todashev on more than just this one occasion because they had known about him and had been following him almost within a couple of days after the Boston bombings.

So at some point, according to Todashev's friends, the FBI told him, don't leave the country, because Todashev, according to his friends, had purchased a ticket to fly to Russia on May 27th and the FBI told him, make sure you do not get on that flight.

BANFIELD: And then what about this whole notion of the local investigation in Middlesex County because that was effectively a triple murder that most people knew nothing about, until there was that weird connection, that the victim was a friend of Tamerlan Tsarnaev.

Where does that go now? The local investigators, what do they do with all of this?

ZARRELLA: Well, now, not just the local investigators, but the FBI. I think, quite clearly, the first step will be going back, doing forensics back from the 2011 triple murders and seeing if DNA can, in fact, tie both Todashev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev to that crime scene.

You know, if they can do that, then they take another step towards certainly solving that crime, but it does not, at this point, connect Todashev to the Boston bombings, not at this point, at least.

BANFIELD: Unbelievable.

All right, John Zarrella, good reporting for us, live in Orlando, Florida. Thank you.

In a place where misery and jagged scraps of people's shattered lives just can't afford a mere whisper of a breeze, there is severe weather bearing down on more, Oklahoma, this morning.

Soaking rains really dashing hopes for the recovery of those priceless memories, the photos, really anything salvageable from that EF-5 monster that twisted that community into oblivion.

And adding to the misery, the heartbroken town is pausing for the first of many funerals still ahead. The number of dead now stands at 24. Ten of the dead are children.

George Howell joins us live now from Moore, Oklahoma. There was a lot of rain. There was lightning this morning.

Is there a break in this or are you worried for the rest of the day that it's just going to circle around you there?

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Ashleigh, from what we understand at this point, we are in the clear. It could be cloudy, you know, for the next couple of hours and we hope to see some sunlight, seeing hints of sunlight here on the horizon.

And that's good news, because, again, you know, people are going into those neighborhoods, as close as they can get, back to their homes, and, yeah, they're dealing with a mess.

They're dealing with wood that's all over the place, nails that are sticking up. They're dealing with mud and rain. It's just a really nasty situation out here.

And, you know, we also have some updated information, just as far as the number of injured. We know that 353 people were injured in this situation. You remember, there were six people missing the other day. Now we know that all six people have been accounted for.

And as you mentioned, you know, in the backdrop of, you know, trying to recover, trying to pick up and start over, we are now starting to see those funerals that will happen here, you know, in the next several days.

So a difficult situation out here.

BANFIELD: And, George, I want to bring to the viewers' attention, something that's just coming into CNN, some live pictures, apparently, of flooding in the Oklahoma area. As we were watching so many of the live reports this morning, Brooke Baldwin and John Berman, there was just torrential rain that was coming down. I can only imagine there are flash flood warnings when that kind of weather comes through.

But how many people actually have access to televisions or radios at this point to get those warnings?

HOWELL: Well, you know, I think people do. You find here in Oklahoma that people do have the NOAA weather radio.

People watch very closely to the local affiliates, and they do a tremendous job of keeping up with the weather out here. It's just what they do here in Oklahoma. This is the weather that they're prepared for.

You mentioned that rain. It was heavy rain this morning, flooding in some places, but the floodwater quickly subsides around here. What you're left with, though, is a mess.

You know, it is muddy again, and that's the problem because you have to go back into these communities where it was starting to dry out. That's not the case anymore. And, you know, we know that a lot of people will have a really nasty situation to deal with.

BANFIELD: It's just absolute insult to injury when this kind of weather comes in after people had thought maybe they had a chance at getting something back from their belongings.

George Howell, reporting live, thank you for that.

There are two teachers, as well, sharing their stories about how they helped to keep children safe during all of this. Just have a listen.

It is terrifying, but we're happy to report that all of the students in Briarwood, Elementary got out safely. We're going to bring you the teacher's stories of this phone call and this recording a little later on this hour.

And then this weekend, also, go along with our Anderson Cooper as he gets a close-up look at storm chasers, the storm chasers who risk their lives to bring you the pictures and document these storms, "Storm Hunters -- In the Path of Disaster," Saturday night, 7:00 Eastern time.

And if you would like to help out the victims of Moore, Oklahoma, you can visit our "Impact Your World" page. Happy to give you the address at CNN.com/impact, CNN.com/impact.

Coming up, a British soldier savagely killed in broad daylight and onlookers recording it, seemingly unafraid.

The woman who confronted the attackers, we're going to take you live to England, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BANFIELD: Some new developments in what you can only describe as a bizarre attack carried out in broad daylight in a place called Woolwich in England.

It's now understood that the two individuals who are suspected of carrying out a knife attack on a British soldier were known to Britain's domestic security service.

They had featured in previous investigations into other individuals, although they themselves were not under surveillance.

Just have a listen to what they said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I apologize that women had to witness this today, but in our land, our women have to see the same.

You people will never be safe. Remove your government. They don't care about you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Just remarkable. Suspects on camera, during all of this, bystanders even staying close by, as they butchered a British soldier with meat cleavers and knives on the street before they, themselves, were shot by responding police.

They now are under guard in hospitals there.

Atika Shubert is live in Woolwich, England, right now with more on the story.

Apart from the fact that this is just something so remarkable that was caught on cell phone video by innocent bystanders, what about these two people?

Are they radicals? Is it terrorism? What do we know about who they are and what they did?

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We really don't know that much at this point. All we know is that they're under arrest, they're in the hospital, they were seriously injured when they were shot by police.

But even though, clearly, the authorities know their identity, they have not released their names at this point.

We have this video where you see one of the suspects, his hands covered in blood, clutching a meat cleaver and a knife, clearly speaking in a broad London accent. This is somebody who clearly grew up in England and is very familiar here, but we don't know anything more than that, really.

And we're still trying to get more details, but it was really a surreal scene. And I have to point out, this video wasn't just caught on camera. The two suspects actually went out and asked people to film them.

They also asked them to call the police, telling them to bring the police to them. It was really, truly surreal.

And one of the most incredible parts about this was a woman, a mother. She's a Cub Scout leader, Ingrid Loyau-Kennett.

She basically pushed past horrified onlookers to go to the soldiers who was on the road. She thought it was a road accident, initially, and when she got there, realized he was dead.

When she looked up, she saw the killers and started to talk to them. Listen to what she told ITV news.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Were you not scared for yourself in that situation?

INGRID LOYAU-KENNET, EYEWITNESS: No.

REPORTER: Why not?

LOYAU-KENNET: Better me than the children. Because there were more and more mothers with children stopping around. So it was more and more important that I talk to him and asked him what he wanted. There was just this lady cradling the soldier and gradually people start to come. I mean, the soldier (INAUDIBLE) blood and attracting people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHUBERT: It was an absolutely incredible thing that she was able to do. She was trying to talk them down, essentially, and keep them from doing any more violence. It was just a short while later when police arrived and shot the two suspects and apprehended them. Ashleigh?

BANFIELD: Atika, one of the other aspects of this truly bizarre video, as we look at it and you see him making his appeal to this, you know, this cell phone-wielding passerby, there's a woman in the background who has her groceries. And she's just walking, right across the street, up to a murderer with blood on his hands, wielding a cleaver and a knife, seemingly unaware, as even she sees a body on the ground, that she's about to near brush up against a guy who had just perpetrated all of this.

These bystanders, what are they saying? Did they know what was going on? Did they think that it was something else to this? It just doesn't seem like anyone was afraid or running for their lives?

SHUBERT: No, exactly. There was a lot of confusion. A lot of eyewitnesses I spoke to said they thought, initially, it was a road accident because they saw a car up on the sidewalk and a body in the middle of the road in a pool of blood. And they presumed it was a road accident. They did not know that he had been hacked to death.

I've heard, basically, there are two phases to this, the beginning where he was hit by a car, and frenzied, crazed attack. And then they dumped the body in the middle of the road. It was at this point most people actually stopped, wondered what was happening, and tried to do something to save the man. And it was only until later that they realized what actually was happening. It was a very surreal scene.

BANFIELD: I think that answers the question why people weren't running for their lives when most people would think that would be the first thing that people would respond to.

Atika Shubert, live for us, thank you very much.

Here in Phoenix, Arizona, we're still waiting on a jury to arrive at this building and do a very difficult job: decide if the woman on your screen should live or die. Live for a long time in prison or live for a long time until the state kills her. But what happens if they can't make that choice? This case could go on for a long time. Explanation coming.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Seven hours and 11 minutes. That's how long the jury has been deliberating whether or not to give Jodi Arias a life sentence or a death sentence. It is now Day Three, may be seven hours and 11 minutes, but we're at the third day of it, and those jurors are set to get back to work, hard at work, in a little over an hour and a half. Does that mean, though, that we're going to get a decision anytime soon? It's a great question, usually one that no one can answer.

But HLN's legal correspondent Beth Karas knows more about court than anyone I've ever met, so she's kind enough to join me now. I want to ask you, Beth, about the very strange dynamic that played out. For people who don't watch court a lot, the jury came back after about 2 1/2 hours and said to the judge, "We're deadlocked, we just can't agree."

And she did that very common charge, some people call it an Allen charge, others a dynamite charge. But basically it's a charge to go back and work harder. And they effectively seem to be doing that, by the clock, don't they?

BETH KARAS, "IN SESSION" CORRESPONDENT: Yes, indeed, because we didn't hear anything more from the jury yesterday. They went home at the end of the day. They're supposed to be back soon to resume another day of deliberations.

So after a couple of hours, I was very suspicious that the jurors said they were deadlocked. At least, that's how the judge communicated it. "I understand that you're basically at an impasse." This charge is very common. We see it read often more than once to a jury, because judges, especially in a case of this length and expense, they don't want to call it a day and start all over again, even though this would be a do-over just for the penalty phase. They really want these 12 jurors, who know the case better than anyone else, to sit in judgment and encourage them to do so. So they apparently are working very hard. No more notes, doesn't seem to be a problem at this point.

BANFIELD: So I remember you and I covered another case that was five months long, and there was a deadlock in it, and there was a dynamite charge or an Allen charge read by the judge. And that charge was not just read one time when the jury came back and said, "We just can't agree." It was Phil Spector, the famous musical producer, in his first murder trial, and it was a case where that judge read them that charge twice.

KARAS: Right. Yes, they deliberated for 2 1/2 weeks. And that was not a death penalty case. It wasn't capital; it was second-degree murder and so it was on the guilt of second-degree murder that they were hung. And the judge ultimately granted a mistrial. That was September 2007, the end of September, when he granted it, and Phil Spector was retried. Retrials often work against a defendant and he was convicted.

But, yes, the judge really didn't want this jury to go away without a decision. They had been sitting since April of 2007, hearing evidence, and here it was September. Well, he was tried again and now he's sitting in prison for the rest of his life.

BANFIELD: Oh dear god, I do believe you just said they deliberated two weeks. I had forgotten that. I think I had wiped it out of my mind. It was a very long case and this one is proving the to be extraordinarily lengthy as well.

Well, we'll get our voter registration here, Beth Karas. Thank you for that. We'll talk to you a little bit later on in the day.

And also I want you to stay with me throughout the afternoon because as the Jodi Arias verdict continues there, deliberations, we're going to follow all the developments here and, honestly, every day, there has been one very bizarre development. When they reach a decision or there's movement, we will bring it to you.

Onto other news of the day. Drones, that's certainly one of the America's most effective weapons in the fight against terror. And now an acknowledgment that the United States drones have killed four Americans overseas. President Obama is going to speak about that specifically. It's a controversial policy. Where does he stand and where are we going with this kind of warfare? A live report, coming up next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Drones targeting Americans, killing Americans, and now for the very first time, the Obama administration is acknowledging that U.S. drones have killed four Americans overseas since 2009.

The use of drones has been one of the most contentious policies implicated by the U.S. government. In about 2 1/2 hours, the president is going to deliver his first major speech on counterterrorism of his second term. He's expected to refocus that whole drone policy, make it more transparent, shift the control away from the CIA, very secretive, and to the military instead.

Our White House correspondent, Dan Lothian, with more on this.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE) DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hours before President Obama delivers a major national security speech, his administration is now acknowledging that the U.S. killed four Americans in drone strikes. The government admitted to the killings in a letter Wednesday to Congress. Of the four, only Anwar al-Awlawki was actually targeted in September 2011 in Yemen. The others were in the wrong place at the wrong time. American drones have aggressively chased terrorists from the mountains of Pakistan to the desert of Yemen. High-tech warfare consistently defended by the Obama administration.

JOHN BRENNAN, CIA DIRECTOR: To stop plots, prevent future attacks, and to save American lives.

LOTHIAN: In his State Of The Union address President Obama laid out a broad legal justification for this use of deadly force.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Why my administration has worked tirelessly to forge a durable, legal, and policy framework to guide our counterterrorism efforts.

LOTHIAN: And the attorney general's letter also reveals this week, the president approved new standards for reviewing and approving missions to capture or kill terrorists. In his speech later today at the National Defense University, aides say the president will build on his State Of The Union message including providing more transparency on how terrorists are targeted and making the case that al Qaeda is weakened but new dangers have emerged.

PETER SINGER, SENIOR FELLOW, BROOKINGS: The longer that this program has gone on, the more controversial it's become, whether it's the concerns over civilian casualties, the blowback on American reputation.

LOTHIAN: All things the president said he wrestles with, in an interview last summer with CNN's Jessica Yellin.

OBAMA: That's something that you have to struggle with.

LOTHIAN: Another flash point the president will address, the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. Mr. Obama's first pledge when he took office in 2009 was to close the facility. After insurmountable legal hurdles it remains open.

JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: It is the president's view that we should be determined, as he is, to see the Guantanamo Bay detention facility closed. Keeping it open is not efficient, it's not affective, and it's not in the interest of our national security.

(END VIDEOTAPE)