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Dead End In Hunt For Hoffa; TWA Explosion Cause Questioned; Obama Calls For Reducing Nukes; Hit Man Testifies Against Bulger; Wildfires Scorch Western U.S; Men Disappearing In workplace; Jury Selection Continues In Zimmerman Trial; Paris Jackson Takes The Stand; Obama Speaks At Brandenburg Gate

Aired June 19, 2013 - 13:00   ET

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

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.

Another dead end in a search for teamster's boss, Jimmy Hoffa's remains. So, does this mean that the hunt for Hoffa is over?

Then, was the TWA flight explosion caused by a wiring problem or sinister forces? Well, a new documentary claims it had proof that the explosion came from outside the plane.

President Obama plans for the U.S. and Russia. He wants to cut nuclear stockpiles.

This is CNN NEWSROOM, and I'm Suzanne Malveaux. We start with this. Retired disaster investigators, they are now saying that the government's explanation for a major airline crash is a lie. They are talking about TWA flight 800. It is a 747, as you recall, exploded over the east coast. This happened back in 1996. All 230 people on board died from that. And a new documentary now interviews -- has these interviews with investigators who say they were told what to report.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What would your analysis have been?

ROBERT YOUNG, TWO ACCIDENT INVESTIGATOR: The primary -- the primary conclusion was the explosive forces came from outside the airplane, not the center fuel tank.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would that statement have been in your analysis?

YOUNG: If I got the right one.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The agenda was this was an accident, make it so.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: The investigators who are breaking their silence, well, they're now all retired. They say that evidence has always shown external force, an explosion outside the plane caused that plane to go down. And after two days of digging, this is in a Detroit field, the latest search for Jimmy Hoffa's remains turned up nothing. That's right, again. Even so, the FBI says that the 40-year-old case remains open. An alleged mobster tipped them off that the former teamster's boss may be buried on this property.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT FOLEY, SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE, FBI: I can tell you that any time we get any information, we vet it, we double check it and we consider other sources. And in doing that, in this particular case, we led -- we were led to the conclusion that there was enough probable cause for us to continue with the investigation and to conduct our efforts here over the past couple of days.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Poppy Harlow, she is joining us from Oakland Township, Michigan where that dig took place. I guess they were quite disappointed. Is the search over or do they continue?

POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The search for Jimmy Hoffa, I think, Suzanne, is never over until they find him. I mean, it goes on and on (INAUDIBLE) decades in a search that has just absolutely confounded the FBI. Why can they not find the body of Jimmy Hoffa who disappeared on July 30, 1975. They used cadaver dogs. They used huge back hoes and bulldozers in the field behind me about an hour out of Detroit because they got a tip from an alleged mobster, Tony Zarrelli, an 85 year old. A tip that law enforcement sources told us was highly credible. Frankly, the most credible tip they've gotten this entire time. They dug for two plus days on about a one-acre property, that's what they had a search warrant for. And they said they are absolutely confident they came up with no human remains -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right. So, the search continues, huh, Poppy?

HARLOW: Right, the search definitely, definitely continues. And what's interesting, Suzanne, is this tip being so, quote, "highly credible" because it came from man, Tony Zarrelli, who said he was very good friends with Hoffa who said Hoffa was brought here, hit over the head with a shovel and buried alive. They say they vetted that time and time again. It checked out but no Jimmy Hoffa.

MALVEAUX: OK. It -- they will not give up, I know. Thank you very much, Poppy, I appreciate it.

The reputed mob boss, James Whitey Bulger, well, he's in Boston in in a courtroom. He is on trial for murder. Deborah Feyerick, she was in the court. And, Deb, this is another day of damning testimony from the prosecution's key witness. Tell us about some of the details that have emerged.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, it was really interesting because Whitey Bulger's lawyers on cross examination did exactly what they are supposed to do. They tried to undermine the credibility of the government's star witness, hammering away portraying him as a liar, a mercenary, a man completely without remorse.

And as the cross-examination went on, it was rapid fire questions, one after another, bringing up inconsistencies or at least trying to bring up inconsistencies so that the jury will think twice about what John Martorano, Bulger's hit man, is actually testifying about. They showed that he was a liar. And in one story, they said, well, listen, you lied to your friend, John Callahan, before you killed him and that brought the following response of John Martorano. He says, well, that was a necessity. I told John I wanted to see him. I couldn't tell him I wanted to shoot him.

So, his reasoning, his logic, in terms of how he answered this question, very clear and straightforward. But they also -- the -- Bulger's lawyers try to cast doubt on the plea deal as well, saying that he was there, that he would testify to anything. But what he wouldn't do is testify against his brother, James Martorano. You know, Martorano, at times, really looked a little bit confused, didn't understand the questioning and said, look, I'm happy to look at a piece of paper to refresh my memory.

But in the end, prosecutors really did what they needed to do. And when they came for redirect, they listed a number of names of the victims, saying, isn't it true that you and Whitey Bulger were involved in the murder? And then, listed name after name after name after name and that really resonated with that entire courtroom -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Wow, dramatic moments inside the courtroom. Deb, thank you, appreciate it.

Hot temperatures making it pretty tough for firefighters in parts of the western U.S. as they are fighting several big fires. You see it there. One of the worst. This is near Prescott, Arizona. It has burned more than 5,000 acres. Now, in California, a big fire near Yosemite National Park has burned almost 2,000 acres. It is threatening hundreds of homes. About 500 homes are now under mandatory evacuation orders. But the firefighters, they are finally starting to get a handle on that fire. Right now, it is about 40 percent contained.

The FBI director, he is getting questioned about those surveillance programs that are causing so much debate. Robert Mueller defended the program in a hearing. This is before the Senate panel. It happened earlier today. Now, he says it's crucial in helping connect the dots about possible terrorist plots.

I want to bring our Crime and Justice Correspondent Joe Johns to talk a little bit about what he said in this hearing and how did he defend some of these surveillance programs? A lot of people a little bit worried about this.

JOE JOHNS, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's true. The outgoing FBI director, Robert Mueller, appearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, possibly for his last time while holding this job. He has gotten a lot of kind words today but also some tough questioning, especially about that secret government data collection program that -- it was revealed, of course, by suspected and alleged leaker Edward Snowden. Mueller, once again, defending the programs as necessary in the fight against terrorism. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT MUELLER, DIRECTOR, FBI: You never know which dot is going to be t. What you want is as many dots as you can. If you close down a program like this, you are removing dots from the playing field. Now, it may make that decision that it's not worth it, but let there be no mistake about it, there will be those fewer dots out there to connect if you do not have that ability to go back in records.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: Mueller also gave an example. He said that in 2003, authorities investigated a guy in San Diego for allegedly providing assistance to the militant Islamist group, Al-Shabab in Somalia but they couldn't get the goods on him. So, in 2007, Mueller said they went back with use of the data program, they were able to get the evidence they needed. The suspect was arrested, pleaded guilty, about to be sentenced -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: And, Jose, there's been a lot of controversy, too, about the use of drones and getting information from drones as well as using them as targeting -- for targeting enemies. Did he talk about that at all?

JOHNS: He did. Mueller said the U.S. does use drones domestically for surveillance. He says the footprint of it is very small. They do it in a very minimal way, very seldom. He said they only have a few of them actually. He doesn't know what happens to the pictures they take -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right, more questions than answers it sounds like, Joe. Thank you. We appreciate it.

I want to add as well, Mueller mentioned that he believes that cyber threats will, quote, these are his words, "eclipse terrorist threats in coming years." He believes that is going to be a big problem.

And we are also following the economy and whether or not it's looking up. There are really mixed opinions on a new poll here.

Plus, men disappearing now from the workplace. We're going to take a look at the job market. That's happening up next.

And then this, the jury selection continues in the George Zimmerman trial. We are hearing from Trayvon Martin's parents. They are sitting in the same room as their son's alleged killer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is difficult sitting there and seeing the killer of our child sit there with this -- with this big stare as if he did nothing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: And she didn't want to testify but she did. Just two weeks after her apparent attempted suicide. Paris Jackson says she's a daddy's girl. She's been devastated and lost since Michael Jackson's death. We're going to have the latest on her condition, her testimony, that is in the wrongful death case against her father's promoter.

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MALVEAUX: President Obama calls for freedom, equal opportunity and a reduction in the world's nuclear stockpiles. This is in a historic speech in Germany. This happened earlier today. The president spoke at the economic Brandenburg Gate in Berlin that once symbolized the divide between east and west. His speech took place almost 50 years exactly after another U.S. president delivered these words.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN F. KENNEDY, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As a free man I take pride in the word (INAUDIBLE.)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: That, of course, John F. Kennedy declaring, I am a Berliner. The Brandenburg Gate is also where President Ronald Reagan said this back in 1987.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RONALD REAGAN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: In his speech today, President Obama called for the U.S. and Russia to reduce their nuclear arsenals. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm announcing additional steps forward. After a comprehensive review, I have determined that we can ensure the security of America and our allies and maintain a strong, incredible strategic deterrent while reducing our deployed strategic nuclear weapons by up to one-third. And I intend to seek negotiated cuts with Russia to move beyond cold war nuclear postures.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: I want to bring in our Chief Political Analyst Gloria Borger. Gloria, first of all, the president obviously touching a lot of broad themes but about reducing nuclear weapons. What do you think he accomplished in the speech? GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: I think this was a legacy speech for this president. I think he had to look back to the speech he gave five years ago in Berlin and expand upon it as somebody who has now served as the president of the United States. But it was a broad-themed speech. He talked about speech with justice. That was his sort of overarching theme here. And I think he tried to remind people who were there what we've been through in this world and what we are still going through, and the fact that there is no more wall there, he said, doesn't matter, we still face enemies.

And that was his opening, to talk about the balance between liberty and security, which is so important to people in Germany, and also nuclear disarmament, which is also important over there and around the world.

So I think this was an opportunity for him, which, by the way, Suzanne, you know, he doesn't get these kind of moments at home very often. He gives these speeches on particular issues. He's in fights with Congress constantly. He's in a position of explaining and explaining and explaining, as he is with the National Security Agency controversy.

This was sort of a moment for him, out of the country, to take a place on the world stage, which is exactly what he did.

MALVEAUX: Yes. And those are the kind of moments I think that the president, the administration really wants.

BORGER: Sure.

MALVEAUX: But you do have these news conferences that happen, and you get these questions that, of course, you and I and other people want to know about, and that is the NSA surveillance programs, the controversy around that, whether or not there are more details that are going to come out about it.

And so he was asked at that press conference. And here is how he responded in part.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We know of at least 50 threats that have been averted because of this information, not just in the United States but, in some cases, threats here in Germany. So lives have been saved.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Gloria, how far did he go really in quieting a lot of questions, the uproar around the surveillance programs?

BORGER: Well, we don't really know yet, Suzanne. But we know that he spoke with Angela Merkel about it privately. Don't forget, she's running for reelection. She told people she had to raise it because it's a very unpopular thing right now in Germany. I think pointing out particularly that terrorism was thwarted in Germany may have gone some way towards solving the problem. But don't forget, it's German citizens who are worried that they're the ones whose phone calls are being listened in to. They're not American citizens, right? So they are worried and concerned about this.

So I think he did speak about it openly, and he did speak with Merkel about it. So I think he probably has gone some way towards explaining it, although of course you can't just do that in one speech or one press conference.

MALVEAUX: All right.

BORGER: It's not easy. She may have to explain more about what she learned from the president when she spoke with him.

MALVEAUX: OK. Gloria, good to see you as always. Thanks.

BORGER: Good to see you.

MALVEAUX: And we're following this story as well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX (voice-over): Trayvon Martin's father, he is speaking out about sitting across from George Zimmerman in court, what he is saying. Plus the latest on the jury selection in the Zimmerman trial, up next.

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MALVEAUX (voice-over): There were more victims in that Cleveland house where three women were -- abducted women were found, that is the question. The man accused of holding them for a decade faced a judge this morning.

Ariel Castro -- and you see him there -- appeared at a pretrial hearing. Police labs, they are running DNA tests to see if there were other victims that were actually inside of that house.

Castro already faces 328 counts of rape and kidnapping and one of murder. You see him there. He allegedly punched one of the women who was pregnant at the time in the stomach, forcing her to miscarry.

This is out of Ashton, Ohio. Police have found a case of what they call modern day slavery. They arrested three people accused of holding a disabled woman and her child for more than two years against her will.

In that time, authorities say, they were forced to clean, do laundry, care for animals. Police say that those three kept them in a padlocked room and only fed them canned food and table scraps. STEVEN DETTELBACH, U.S. ATTORNEY, NORTHERN DIST. OF OHIO: This case is nothing less than a case of modern day slavery. They treated her worse than they treated the animals that were in that house.

MALVEAUX (voice-over): And inside that house -- you see if there -- police say the alleged captors threatened the mother and child with large snakes and dogs to keep them in line. Investigators called their living conditions, quote, "subhuman."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: In Sanford, Florida, the second round of jury selection is now underway.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX (voice-over): This is in George Zimmerman's murder trial. He is the former neighborhood watch captain, as you know, accused of killing teenager Trayvon Martin last year in a case that he claims was self-defense. He is charged with second-degree murder.

Now Martin, who is African-American, was shot to death. Zimmerman is Hispanic. Martin's killing set up a national debate about race relations and gun laws. Now after the first phase of jury selection, 40 potential jurors have now moved on to the second round.

George Zimmerman's family is coming to his defense today. In a statement, his brother, Robert, says -- and we're quoting here -- "We're all sympathetic to the tragic reality of outliving a son or a daughter. However, George acted in self-defense.

"Self-defense should not be criminalized and we stand by George because he told the truth."

Now Trayvon Martin's father, Tracy, he is in the courtroom as his son's accused killer faces his trial. Now he says he is hoping jury selection will end with a panel that is fair. Martin spoke with our sister network HLN's new show, "HLN After Dark," and here is what he had to say about George Zimmerman and about his son's killing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is it difficult to be in the room with George Zimmerman?

TRACY MARTIN, FATHER OF TRAYVON MARTIN: Very. Yes, very. It's difficult sitting there and seeing the killer of our child sit there with this fixed stare as if he did nothing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: You can watch the full interview at 10:00 pm Eastern on our sister network, HLN.

And Katy Perry says her secret to good health, taking vitamins and supplements. But are they really good for you? The dangers of supplements up next.

And Paris Jackson, she did not want to testify at Michael Jackson's wrongful death trial, but she did. And in her testimony she reveals how the nanny was obsessed with her father. You're going to hear from her, coming up next.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PARIS JACKSON, DAUGHTER OF MICHAEL JACKSON: My dad didn't like her, so he tried to like keep her away from us.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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MALVEAUX (voice-over): This is what Washington's Skagit Bridge looked like on May 23rd. This is less than just a month ago. It collapsed, sending cars plunging into the river. Well, today, a temporary bridge is open that will finally restore the main route between Seattle and Canada.

Before the collapse, the Federal Highway Administration listed the bridge as functionally obsolete. The Transportation Department is planning to restore and not fully rebuild that bridge, meaning that the rating is not going to change even when the permanent replacement goes up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: And in positive news, Wall Street might not actually be making its way to Main Street. There's a new poll that finds Americans not feeling so good about their own personal finances.

I want to bring in Zain Asher in New York and our financial lifestyle coach, Clyde Anderson, here with us in the house in Atlanta.

Zain, start up with you here. What is the general mood, the feeling about that people have about their own situation?

ZAIN ASHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. So this poll surveys 1,000 people. And what it does show is that most Americans -- 65 percent, in fact -- still think the economy is in poor shape.

But the number of people actually saying the economic conditions are actually good is steadily improving, 35 percent up from 26 percent in December.

Now this is important because when people feel good about the economy they do tend to go out and spend more and, of course, all of that does contribute to economic growth. On a personal level, Suzanne, only 36 percent saying that they are personally better off; 44 percent say they are financially worse off now than they were one year ago, which of course doesn't bode well for this recovery.

Do also want to mention that there are still 12 million Americans out of work right now. And in terms of the future, well, Americans are pretty much split, 50 percent say their economic conditions will be good in the summer of 2014; 49 percent say they will be bad, which is less optimistic than they were one year ago. Suzanne?

MALVEAUX: All right, Zain. Thanks. Hold on there. I want to bring in Clyde.

Good to see you as always.

How do we feel better? How do we make ourselves feel better about our own financial situation?

CLYDE ANDERSON, FINANCIAL CONSULTANT: Well ,the thing is, we have got to be realistic but we also have to not listen to the naysayers. And we're hearing it coming from every direction.

MALVEAUX: Oh, that's hard.

ANDERSON: It's coming from every direction that everything's bad. If you're hearing that it's bad, you're going to start believing that it's bad. But again, like recession is a person. You know, if I've lost my job and my neighbor hasn't lost their job, I'm going to feel it a lot different than they have.

And so I think when you look at the poll, a lot of people that say maybe it's better probably either still have their job or they got new streams of income, additional employment or a raise.