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Two Men Arrested After Flight Diverted; Drivers Plunge As Part Of Bridge Falls; New Jury To Decide Jodi Arias' Fate; A 5.7 Magnitude Quake Rocks North California; IRS Non-Profit Chief Placed On Leave; Runways Reopen After Emergency Landing; Rain For Memorial Day Weekend; Funeral Today For Tornado Victims; Tornado Survivor Thinks About Neighbors; "You Can Close Guantanamo Today!"; Obama Defends Handling Of Guantanamo

Aired May 24, 2013 - 10:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello.

We want to get right back to that breaking news out of Britain this morning. A Pakistani airplane was diverted to a smaller airport in Essex by a British fighter jet. These are new pictures that we just are getting in from Reuters. This is over Stansted Airport. This is where that Pakistani airliner eventually had to land as it was being escorted in by that British fighter jet.

We understand two men aboard the plane have been taken into custody. Nick Robertson has more information. Nic what more can you tell us? What are these men accused of?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): We're not aware of what they have accused of yet, Carol. However, what we have heard from a senior British source is that at this time, at this early stage, they say, they don't believe that the incident is terror-related.

Two men taken from the aircraft, arrested by Essex police, we believe there were close to 300 people on board the aircraft when it was diverted, escorted by a fighter aircraft and brought in to land at Stansted Airfield. The fact that the police have been able to move into the aircraft and arrest people so swiftly does seem to indicate that whatever the incident, it did not have a huge security -- immediate security implication.

That meaning that there wasn't some sort of standoff situation. Of course, the police at the Stansted Airport, the airport itself is an airport used for just that sort of eventuality. To the police, they would have been -- been experienced in dealing with these situations.

But the fact that two men arrested already does seem to indicate that there wasn't a hostile standoff of any sort. Again, the details are just coming in. We don't know precisely why there's an arrest. A disturbance possibly of some kind on the aircraft -- Carol.

COSTELLO: I just want to be clear, have authorities rolled out terrorism?

ROBERTSON: They haven't said that, precisely. What they have said is, at this early stage, this doesn't appear to be terror-related. Possibly, the authorities are acting on an abundance of caution here because of the terrorist killing just a couple of days ago in London. Certainly, the security services here have been put on heightened alert.

More police on the street. Increased security around military bases and possibly the fact that this airliner, this Boeing 777 en route from Lahore, Pakistan, whatever incident on board, an abundance of caution giving it an escort and diverting it to an airfield where the counterterrorism police have practiced, rehearsed and executed counterterrorism activities in relation to aircraft that have been hijacked or otherwise taken control of -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Nic Robertson reporting live for us this morning. Now, let's head back home to the investigation, to a near tragedy in Washington State that could raise questions about your own safety when you get behind a wheel. This crumbled heap of twisted metal used to be a part of Interstate-5 Bridge over the Skagit River near Mount Vernon.

Somehow, all three drivers who were on the bridge at the time it collapsed survived. You can see this man on the right, right here. You will hear him relive his terrifying plunge into the water, but first the moments leading up to it as he followed a tractor-trailer with an oversized load.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAN SLIGH, INJURED IN BRIDGE COLLAPSE: When the dust hit, I saw the bridge start to fall at that point. Forward momentum carried us right over and as you saw the water approaching, it's just one of those -- you hold on as tight as you can and just a white flash and cold water. God, it was definitely cold this time of the year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Before that dust even settled, the vehicles were in free fall towards the river. Katharine Barrett is at the scene along with lots of investigators. Katharine, if witnesses say the truck slammed into the structure. What more are they looking for?

KATHARINE BARRETT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're going to be looking at exactly, first of all, how it happened, perhaps also the structural integrity of the rest of the bridge that is still standing. It's not clear whether something, whether a truck hit part of the bridge and knocked it down or perhaps the bridge fell down from the weight of the truck.

There are a lot of questions. There are a lot of witnesses that they will probably want to speak with. The truck driver of the oversized rig that is suspected to have contributed in some way to this is cooperating with authorities. But again, the causes are not known.

We did speak a moment ago with U.S. Congresswoman Susan Dell Vetti who represents this district. She said regardless of the precise causes, it does point up the need for a national conversation about investments in infrastructure. But again, NTSB investigators will be here looking to explain how a rolling freeway turned into this wreckage.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARRETT (voice-over): A dramatic scene north of Seattle, two vehicles were crossing the I-5 Bridge when it collapsed, three people in those cars were tossed into the river. Fortunately rescue teams arrived quickly plucking them from the fast moving waters. This man was on the bridge when it folded.

SLIGH: There was a big puff of dust and I hit the brakes and we went right off the bridge.

BARRETT: Washington State Patrol says right now their investigation is focused on an 18 wheeler.

CHIEF JOHN BATISTE, WASHINGTON STATE PATROL: For reasons unknown at this point in time, the semi-truck struck the overhead of the bridge causing the collapse.

BARRETT: A team from the National Transportation Safety Board is being sent to the scene to help authorities determine what happened. Authorities say the bridge was inspected twice last year and they say it was in need of repair. This survivor says he is grateful to be alive.

SIGH: I'm surprised to be here this evening and glad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BARRETT: Well, even more miraculous, when you look at the trucks and one truck and car that are under the bridge tangled up in the wreckage half sunk in frigid, frigid water, one of those trucks is making sort of ghostly emissions every now and then. Its horn apparently short circuited by the water and it blares about every once an hour, calling attention to itself, again, sitting there, tangled in the wreckage. That's all going to have to be cleared out to see if it can be repaired if fought replaced.

COSTELLO: All right, Katharine Barrett reporting live for us this morning.

After nearly five months, Jodi Arias still does not know her fate. The convicted killer held back tears that the judge declared a mistrial after the jury could not agree on a sentence. In the meantime, the victim's family wept openly as that announcement was read in court. A new jury will be called in to decide Arias' fate.

Ashleigh Banfield is in Phoenix. It's just unbelievable. We did hear from the jury foreman this morning on ABC. He called jury discussions gut wrenching, but did he say why jurors could not come to a decision?

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, he alluded to it. He mostly spoke about his own opinion, which tells you that this is a very responsible juror. He did speak about what he thought about Jodi Arias' 18 days on the stand, didn't think much of it. But also tellingly, Carol, he did say that he, at least in his opinion, believed the stories that Jodi Arias was, in fact, the victim of physical and mental abuse.

His name is Bill Zervakis and he agreed to do the interview. Again, with an 8 to 4 split, it's hard to know just why certain people felt the way they did. But he specifically pointed out that you'd have to be pretty tough inside if you could stand 6-feet away from someone and not feel something. Pretty important stuff when you talk about being in a courtroom compared to watching this sort of thing play out on television. Have a listen to how he put it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL ZERVAKIS, JURY FOREMAN IN JODI ARIAS TRIAL: I think 18 days hurt her. I think she was not a good witness.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because?

ZERVAKIS: We go into -- we are charged with going into presuming innocence, right? But she was on the stand for so long, there were so many contradicting stories. I don't think it did her any good, no, that length of time, no, I don't think it did her any good at all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: No, he went on, Carol, to say that have you no emotion and no soul if you weren't able feel something being about 6-feet away from someone speaking with you. Carol, do not forget here that, during her allocution, she was so close to that jury. She chose not to get up on the stand, instead deliver an allocution, wandering even away from a podium, standing very close to these jurors.

So now, here we go again, so to speak. It's a mistrial only for the penalty phase, Carol. It means the judge could empanel a new set of jurors. That's scheduled for mid- to late-July. But you know what, even though the county attorney has said we intend to go forward and retry this phase, you just never know.

You just never know whether this family will beg and plead to have it all stop or they will beg and plead to make sure they get what they want, which is death penalty according to many.

COSTELLO: Regardless, though, the trial won't resume until what, mid- July?

BANFIELD: Yes. We got a status conference coming up towards the end of June. I think it is June 20th. It's set with regard to what that county attorney did say. Lord, I don't think it happened so quickly, it was just within an hour after all of this transpired in the courtroom, Carol. The county attorney put out an official statement saying at this time we intend to proceed with the plans of retrying the penalty phase.

But, you know, there has been no conference, no discussions so early on with the family, et cetera, with the prosecutor. I want to remind everybody watching that the prosecutor in this case has already put one woman on death row. She is one of three sitting there right now. So a lot of people say she has nothing to lose. He wants what he came for and has worked five months for, which is a death penalty.

COSTELLO: OK, we will see. Ashleigh Banfield reporting live from Phoenix, thanks, Ashleigh.

Coming up next in the NEWSROOM, we are going to head back to Oklahoma as heartbroken families bury the tornado's youngest victim.

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COSTELLO: It's 13 minutes past the hour. It's time to check our top stories. Aftershocks still rattling North California this morning after a 5.7 magnitude earthquake. No injuries are serious. Damage reported. CNN affiliate KTVU reports the initial quake was felt almost 150 miles away in Sacramento.

The head of the IRS' Tax Exempt Office has been put on administrative leave. Lois Lerner first revealed the IRS had targeted conservative groups applying for tax exempt status. Lerner also told the House committee she hasn't broken any laws or IRS rules and then she invoked her Fifth Amendment rights and refused to answer any more questions.

London Heathrow Airport returning to normal after an emergency landing closed both runways. This video was taken from inside the British Airways plane. Officials say an engine problem forced the plane to return to London less than 30 minutes after taking off for Norway. Seventy five passengers and five crew members have evacuated on emergency slides. Three people were treated for minor injuries.

Many of us could see a rainy Memorial Day weekend. Showers and thunderstorms expected from the northeast to the Ohio Valley and into the south. East coast beaches will see clear skies and summer-like temperatures, though. Most of the west coast will be dry.

The grieving, of course, continues in Moore, Oklahoma. Two young tornado victims will be laid to rest today. Brooke Baldwin is in Moore to tell us more. Good morning, Brooke.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, good morning. We are here day two of this particular neighborhood. Where I'm standing, I'm standing, staring at a home. Actually, it was to be supposed to be his closing day. He had signed papers to sell his house. I am going to guess that may not happening across the street here.

We have a tighter shot if you guys want to go in. You can see what is left of people's lives here. This is Memorial Day weekend. This is the beginning of what should be celebrations and a happy time, and now you just see pieces of lives and the tangible mementos that remain.

I should tell you, you know, we've seen folks from the National Guard, of course, here each and every day this week. It is their job, but we have just now also seen men and women from the local air force base, Tinker Air Force Base. These are the folks who have decided to give up their own Memorial Day weekends to come out here to volunteer, to help the people move forward.

You mentioned the funerals, Carol, just yesterday, funerals began for some of the 24 victims of Monday's tornado. Today, 9-year-old Nicholas McCabe will be laid to rest. In just about an hour from now, friends and family will be gathering to remember Kyle Davis. That 8- year-old died inside the Plaza Towers Elementary School Monday along with several of his classmates.

I should tell you, though, that students and teachers from that school, they did hold a reunion, where they had a chance to come together for the very first time since Monday's tornado. It was a great opportunity for a lot of these little people to talk to one another, say hello and, you know, yesterday was supposed to be the last day of classes.

So they got that opportunity to say goodbye to their classmates. Also, high school graduations, they will continue tomorrow in Moore. And on Sunday, the president will be visiting the tornado ravaged area.

Back here in this neighborhood, I met someone yesterday who absolutely took my breath away. His name is Jackie Sing. He is father of two. You know, he is dealing with a loss of his home. It's not a total loss. This was us as we were heading inside. He pointed out this one tiny tree remained despite everything inside, inside the home is a total loss.

But he was in an incredibly selfless way talking to me. We got to the inside of his home. No electricity. Though you see the brick walls remain. We got to his back yard. This was the part of the interview I wanted to play for you because he was wishing his home was blown away and he would have exchanged that for his neighbor across the street.

You see, that neighbor, they're new parents of a newborn and their home behind me is gone and he wishes fate had been reversed. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JACKIE SING, TORNADO SURVIVOR: I almost wish I was on that side of the street and everything was gone and they were over here because of their brand-new babies, I mean.

BALDWIN: You wish your home was destroyed?

SING: Yes, it might be better to have those people over here and us over there because we have -- we have something and they have brand- new babies and -- sorry. I don't know what to say. Help me, Lord. Help me, God. I'm sorry. BALDWIN: Don't apologize. Don't apologize.

SING: It's been a rollercoaster for the past 72 hours. I walked into our house the past couple days makes us realize what is valuable and what is replaceable. Beyond all the sorrow and grief and hurt I feel, I feel this ray of sunshine in here right now.

BALDWIN: A ray of sunshine despite the thunder?

SING: Yes.

BALDWIN: Despite the storms.

SING: It's the hope and what God has for us.

BALDWIN: Thank you, Jackie, so much.

SING: You are welcome. I appreciate the time. I appreciate the outpouring of love. There have been so many people come through that have been so friendly and so giving and their hearts are wide opened to help all of us. They're devastated and it's a tremendous feeling.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: I mean, Carol, it was just an incredible interview. An incredible moment to speak with this man who I should mention is a father of two. He has a 13-year-old and a 14-year-old girl. I talked to the 13-year-old a moment ago. She is petrified. She wants to get out of Oklahoma as quickly as she can.

A final note, I know you have been here a couple times to Oklahoma, the hospitality, when we were walking first into Jackie's home. Do you know what he said to me? He said to me, pardon the mess. A tornado had hit his home. You got to be kidding. That was one example of how hospitable these people are offering us water. They've lost their homes. It's incredible.

COSTELLO: I like how he is looking at it, though, he sees love coming in. He doesn't see the other side. He sees love. I think that's great. Good for him. Brooke, thanks for sharing his story. We appreciate it.

Coming up in the NEWSROOM, Code Pink in the spotlight. This time blasting President Obama for his approach to the war on terrorism in the middle of the president's speech, but could interrupting the commander-in-chief backfire? I will walk the Code Pink activist Medea Benjamin next.

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COSTELLO: President Obama is speaking out on his national security strategy as his administration fights the war on terror included in the president's remarks, the challenges to closing the detention center at Guantanamo Bay. And he pointed the finger at Congress for that, but one audience member, a Code Pink activist had a bit of a different perspective. More now from White House correspondent, Dan Lothian.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The pressure to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay didn't let up even when President Obama was delivering his highly anticipated speech on national security.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You are commander in chief. You can close Guantanamo today.

LOTHIAN: Heckler Media Benjamin, co-founder of the anti-war group, Code Pink, interrupted the president repeatedly.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Once again -- today. I'm about to address it, Ma'am, but you got to let me speak.

LOTHIAN: The president said the issues she raised are worth paying attention to, but made sure to point the finger at Congress for creating hurdles.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: I have tried to close Gitmo. I transferred 67 detainees to other countries before Congress imposed restrictions to effectively prevent us from either transferring detainees to other countries or imprisoning them here in the United States.

LOTHIAN: The president first pledged to close Gitmo during his 2008 campaign and again, when he took office in 2009. But it remains opened, the situation is more urgent than ever as the detainees continue a hunger strike. To ease the way to closing the facility, President Obama announced he is lifting a ban on detainee transfers to Yemen.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: I know the politics are hard, but history will cast a harsh judgment on this aspect of our fight against terrorism and those of us who fail to end it.

LOTHIAN: But Republican Senator John McCain, as the president likes to remind Americans, also supports closing Gitmo, suggested there is a lot more to it than just shutting the door.

SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: The administration never came up with a coherent or a cohesive plan to close Guantanamo Bay. That's why it is still opened.

LOTHIAN: Other top Republicans labelled the administration's detainee policy a failure. The heckler whose organization praised her in a tweet for quote, "speaking the truth of Barack Obama" seems to want the same thing as the president, but has apparently grown tired of waiting.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love my country. I love the rule of law.

(END VIDEOTAPE) COSTELLO: Dan Lothian joins me now from the White House and I'm just wondering. How did this heckler get into the speech in the first place because wasn't an invite only?

LOTHIAN: It was and it's based on the full reports that we received. She had some sort of credential similar to what the reporters covering the event would have. How she was able to get the credential on the list unknown at this time -- Carol.

COSTELLO: OK, well, I am going to ask her that question directly then. Dan Lothian, thank me because joining me now is the woman who made headlines along with President Obama after yesterday's big speech. Her name is Medea Benjamin. She's an activist and co-founder of the group, "Code Pink," an anti-war group. Welcome, Medea.

MEDEA BENJAMIN, ACTIVIST, CODE PINK: Hi. Thanks for having me on the show.

COSTELLO: So how did you get in?

BENJAMIN: First I want to take objection with the term "heckler." Because I actually had an invitation to get in and I felt compelled to speak out. I waited until the end of the speech. I didn't hear what many of us thought we were going to hear, which significant policies --

COSTELLO: You clearly interrupted the president, though, that would be heckling.

BENJAMIN: Well, I don't call it heckling. I call it speaking out because the president is not implementing policies that we need to see changed. I've written books on these issues, including one called "Drone Warfare." I go around talking to people around the country, around the world. I went to Pakistan --

COSTELLO: But it seems the president was changing his tone on Gitmo and on drones, so you were kind of getting what you wanted anyway. So why go into this speech and heckle him when he's kind of talking in a way that you should welcome?

BENJAMIN: Well, we didn't hear the policy changes that had been predicted, for example, that he would take the drones out of the hands of the CIA, a non-military organization that has been killing so many innocent people that he would stop the authorization of signature strikes, which means kick people on the basis only of suspicious behavior that's led to the killing of many innocent people.

He did not say that he was going to begin the release immediately of the 86 people who have been cleared for release by the Department of Defense, Justice, FBI, CIA, homeland security. He --

COSTELLO: They don't have simple solutions. The president just can't act on his own.

BENJAMIN: Of course, he can. They do have simple solutions. If 86 people have been cleared, he could say tomorrow I am beginning the release of these people. There is a waiver system that Congress put in place that the president has failed to use. He could immediately release those 86 people and he needs to do that. He could immediately save the CIA has been misusing the drones and I am now making sure that it will only be the military that uses them. He can say, we are going to account for all the --

COSTELLO: Again, he was going down that -- OK. Let me ask you this again, it sounded to me like the president was going down that road, anyway. He was giving this important policy speech that, frankly, Americans needed to hear. So again, you know, I ask, I posed the question on my Facebook page and asked them what I wanted to ask you. A lot said you were hurting your own cause because one, you appeared rude to the president of the United States, and two, you just seemed a little crazy.

BENJAMIN: Well, I've gotten a fabulous response. I think killing innocent people with drones is rude. I think keeping innocent people in detention for 11 years is rude. I think not respecting the lives of Muslim people who are killed is rude. There are a lot of rude things about our policies, speaking out is actually not rude, but it's the basis of a democratic society where people use their voices to try to make our country better and our policies more in lean with the rule of law.

COSTELLO: I don't think many Americans will disagree with you. I would think that some Americans at least would say there is a time and a place.

BENJAMIN: Well, exactly. I have been waiting for over five years when the president said he was going to close Guantanamo. The time for words is over. It's time for action. He is the commander-in- chief. He can do this on his own.

COSTELLO: All right, Medea Benjamin with Code Pink, thank you so much for joining us.

BENJAMIN: Thank you for having me on.

COSTELLO: And for a look back at Code Pink's protest in Washington, visit cnn.com because Medea has been protesting in a lot of meetings in Washington, D.C. and beyond. We'll be right back.

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