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Erin Burnett Outfront

New Audio Recordings Of Ohio Suspect Arrest; FBI On Castro: No DNA Match To Other Crimes; New Details In Ohio Missing Case; 12-Year- Old Accused Of Killing Little Sister; White House Responds to Justice Dept. Accusation

Aired May 13, 2013 - 19:00   ET

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

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next, the latest from the investigation in Cleveland, the FBI has run Ariel Castro's DNA across the national data base and we're going to tell what you they found.

Plus what we're just learning about the suspect himself from the man who grew up around him. More of our exclusive interview with Ariel Castro's brothers is OUTFRONT.

And first, the IRS is accused of targeting groups depending on their politics and now the Justice Department is accused of a massive and unprecedented snooping on America's journalists. What is going on in Washington? Let's go OUTFRONT.

And good evening, everyone. I'm Erin Burnett. OUTFRONT tonight, just in, we have new audio recordings of the dispatch radio communications moments after the police arrested Ariel Castro last week. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Adam 23. The neighbor rides motorcycles. He had like three motorcycles that he personally owns, the suspect.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We've got Onil Castro and Ariel Castro in custody here at McDonald's.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dispatch. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: And this comes as we're learning that the FBI has run the suspected kidnapper's DNA across the national data basement, a lot of people were wondering if there are other women linked to this so far though, no links to open crimes. Castro's DNA has been ruled out of other state or national cases that have DNA.

Now the former bus driver who is accused of kidnapping and sexually assaulting Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry and Gina Dejesus for a decade is in jail tonight. He doesn't have access to mail or television or anything like that.

OUTFRONT tonight, CNN's Pam Brown is in Cleveland with more details on the case. Pam, I wanted to ask you, I know you have new information about how authorities handled Michelle Knight's missing case. She's been sort of the crucial person, the woman that was there the longest, who may have been treated the absolute worst and what do you know about where she is and what's happening to her now?

PAMELA BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erin, we did speak to her stepbrother earlier today. We're told that family still does not know her whereabouts. We've heard from sources that she's in a safe place and is comfortable. But we're learning more about what happened when she was missing.

We've obtained her missing person's report. We've talked to the FBI and talked to Cleveland police. Here's what we know. Her name was taken off the NCIC data base. That is the National Crime Information Center data base maintained by the FBI. That distributes missing person's information to law enforcement agencies nationwide.

Her name was taken off that data base 15 months after she went missing. Police here in Cleveland kept her case open and checked every year. Then in January of last year, Erin, police were able to verify that Michelle Knight was still missing. They were able to contact a family member.

Her name was put back on that data base and then in November of last year her name was taken back off the data base because police were unable to reach a family member to confirm. Now, of course, the big question here, Erin, is if Michelle Knight was missing after 10 years and they couldn't reach her family, are there more steps you should take before you take her name off that data base?

But police are saying, look, we're just following protocol. We tried to reach out several different ways. We couldn't reach a family member so we just followed protocol.

BURNETT: Amazing, Pam, what we learned over the past few weeks with this story and Boston bombing story and missing person list and terror list and how we rely on these and how deeply imperfect they are. I know you've also been reporting on Ariel Castro's past and the possibility of future charges. Obviously, we know they would like to go for the death penalty. What you are able to tell us about him now?

BROWN: That's right, Erin. We've actually obtained several police reports involving Ariel Castro over the last several years to help paint a picture of who this person was? Sort of brings the question, were there missed opportunities along the way? We have at least six police reports where he was named the suspect.

There was one back in 1989, a domestic violence dispute with his ex-wife. This report says he slammed his ex-wife across the wall, slammed her across the washing machine, and slapped her across the face several times. There were no charges in that case. And then in 1993, threw his ex-wife to the ground, hitting her on the face and body, kicked her body.

It says in the report her son ran away and Castro chased him, and then police chased Castro. The wife had to have brain surgery a month before and was prone to seizures. This caused her several health issues. And then we did talk to police on these domestic violence reports and they say that the wife was advised to file charges with the prosecutor's office and that she never took those additional steps.

Then in '94, we're learning that a neighbor says that Castro attempted to hit him with a shovel when Castro -- when there was some discussion about a chain link fence and that the neighbor said that Castro was trying to hit him and that he said he's going to take care of you, saying that to the neighbor.

And then in '96, another dispute with a neighbor, in 2004, we're learning, Erin, that we heard Castro left a child on a bus. We're learning in this police report that he told the child lay down on the bus so that he could go into Wendy's to get food according to this report and interesting to note that he wasn't charged in any of these cases.

BURNETT: Which is obviously shocking to so many who watch this. Thanks very much to Pam. And 52-year-old Ariel Castro, as you probably aware, has been charged with four counts of kidnapping, three of rape, but about the allegations of physical abuse and the ones of forcing one of his captives to have multiple miscarriages?

OUTFRONT tonight, Ohio Attorney General Mike Dewine. Good to talk you to again, Attorney General. I appreciate you are doing this. You just heard our Pam Brown reporting, you know, Michelle Knight, the older of the three women, who we have not heard much from, not seen yet was put back on the missing person's list on January 2012 then taken off.

She was on it, off it, on it, off it. Is this something that was just done according to protocol or is some something that you look back and think that we need to make some real changes to how we maintain these lists?

MIKE DEWINE, OHIO ATTORNEY GENERAL: Well, I think we do need to look back and see whether the protocol we're using is really the best protocol. What we find with missing persons is if they do not have family that can be contacted or family that is close by, you know, good structure of the family.

Sometimes they do not get the attention and that's really not intentionally because of the police, but sometimes they just can't gather the information that they need. So I think it is, you know, we learn from examples like this and maybe we should take a look at that.

BURNETT: And what about last week when you and I spoke, you said when the grand jury looks at this and has all the evidence, I'm quoting you. "I would expect a lot of charges to come out", what other charges do you anticipate? We don't have any more now beyond the rape and kidnapping. Do you think there will be more, significantly more?

DEWINE: Well, I talked to Prosecutor McGinty this morning. We did not specifically talk about that. Ultimately, it will be up to him and his prosecutors and the grand jury. But from what we know, one would assume it will be multiple, multiple counts of rape. You know, from what we know this went on and on and on so I would anticipate a lot of charges being added when this case eventually come out of the grand jury.

BURNETT: All right, I'm going to guess if you charge for every time that he raped them, then over a decade, I mean, it's sobering number to consider.

DEWINE: It is sobering and is going to depend on what the victims will tell the police and that's obviously they're the key witnesses, they're the key people.

BURNETT: And what about the other people that at least appeared to be for a while involved, Ariel Castro's brothers. They've both been cleared, I know, with involvement with the kidnappings. But our Martin Savidge spoke to them exclusively. He asked them how it is possible they didn't know which sort of dumb found a lot of people. Here's how they answered that question. I want to play it for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PEDRO CASTRO, ARIEL CASTRO'S BROTHER: Those people out there, I'm telling you something. I had nothing to do with this. I don't know how my brother got away with it for so many years because that would never cross my mind.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He fooled you.

PEDRO CASTRO: He fooled me. I used to go there more than he did to work on cars, clean the yard. Help him out and stuff, but never went beyond the kitchen.

SAVIDGE: There was nothing?

ONIL CASTRO, ARIEL CASTRO'S BROTHER: Absolutely nothing that I could see that was unusual in that backyard. I can't say in the house because I haven't been in the house in years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: I'm just curious, a lot of people are wondering this, you know, you take the two gentlemen in. Authorities did because they thought that they could be related to this case. And now they seem to be completely exonerated and cleared yet they spent all this time with him. How can police and the FBI be so sure?

DEWINE: Well, again, I'm not, you know, in the minds of the FBI or the Cleveland Police Department. But I think clearly the prosecutor is going to be looking and the police will continue to look at who knew what. You know, did this guy really pull this off for 10 years with absolutely no one knowing about it?

It sounds, you know, hard to believe, but I suppose it's possible. This investigation is not over. No one said the investigation is over. All they have said is that no one else has been charged except the one defendant so far. Whether or not anybody else is charged or not will depend on what the police find and what the FBI finds and the prosecutor finds.

BURNETT: Attorney General Dewine, good to talk to you again, sir. Appreciate your time. Still to come, a 12-year-old boy allegedly stabbed his 8-year-old sister to death. An absolutely bizarre and incomprehensible ending to a horrible story, but the boy was 12 years old. Was the accused born a killer?

Plus, the Internal Revenue Service under fire for targeting conservative groups with audits. Just how much did IRS leadership and the administration know and when did they know it?

Plus, what O.J. Simpson looks like today and why he was in court?

And we have new information about the man who held those three women captive for a decade. You're going to hear the exclusive interview with his brothers later on in the program.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: Our second story, OUTFRONT, a kid, a child, charged with murder. Police have arrested a 12-year-old boy in the stabbing death of his little sister, 8-year-old Leila Fowler of Valley Springs, California. Police launched a massive manhunt for an intruder that the boy claimed killed his sister while they were home alone. He was babysitting two weeks ago and later proved to be a lie. Kyung Lah is OUTFRONT with the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So in my heart I thought it was him from the get go.

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This parent among those in the Central California town who had quietly suspected the unusually stoic brother of Leila Fowler had something to do with her killing.

The 12-year-old, emotionless, appeared before his traumatized town in a candlelight vigil amid a massive manhunt that terrified the community. The boy told investigators he is 6 feet tall, muscular, long haired man had broken into his home while his parents were out and stabbed his 8-year-old sister to death.

A story that authorities now say was fiction. The boy's biological mother shortly before his arrest told reporters he was protective of and loved his sister.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My son loved his sister so much. I know my son would never hurt his sister. They never even used to fight when they were little. He never pushed her around like big brothers and sisters do.

LAH: After the girth's death from multiple stab wounds, the town of 7,500 rallied around the family, covering the area with purple ribbons, Leila's favorite color. Now that the suspected child killer turns out to be a child himself, a sense of betrayal is beginning to take hold, says Jim Rebstock, who had to remove these flyers and cancel a fundraiser for the family.

JIM REBSTOCK, VALLEY SPRINGS RESIDENT: It was more shock than relief and sadness because it was actually the 12-year-old who had started all this stuff. And then people got angry with it, and then it just blew up.

LAH: Investigators would not discuss motive or evidence, but the middle school says the boy had been suspended for five days this school year after he brought a pocket knife to work. Penny Kilgore, whose daughter goes to school with the boy describes him as being distant, even glassy eyed at times. Very different from his bubbly 8- year-old sister.

PENNY KILGORE, DAUGHER KNEW VICTIM: I was devastated for the family and just for that little boy. My heart ached for him. Something inside him, he has to be so angry and mad to do something like that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BURNETT: And Kyung, this is just an awful story to imagine. I know the family called a press conference for tomorrow. Do you have any sense about why they would call it now? what they're going to be saying?

LAH: We only know what we've been told. We know it's going to be a prepared statement, not just to the press but to the community as well. We know it's being coordinated through the sheriff's office. It's in fact going to be right here in this parking lot where I'm standing. We don't know who's going to be involved. It is going to be the biological mother, stepmother as well as the father?

Independently though, Erin, we did hear from the stepmother through a social media website and she told us that the family simply needs time to process everything. You can certainly understand that. This is just horrific to imagine, what that family is going through.

BURNETT: Yes. Kyung Lah, thank you very much.

OUTFRONT tonight, clinical psychologist Jeff Gardere. Jeff, good to have you with us again.

This story is just impossible to imagine. You know, as you heard Kyung reporting about the boy's mother, he was so protective of her. He loved his sister. They didn't even fight like other kids would have done. Is that protectiveness a sign of something more sinister? I mean, how do you know?

JEFF GARDERE, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: It's always possible. It could be some sort of an obsession. She could have been the only person that he was tied into as far as society. Perhaps his link to reality. We really don't know at this time. And, therefore, if something untoward happened between the two of them, he may have had a meltdown, couldn't control himself.

But I think we need to look at a - BURNETT: But this is a kid that brought knives to school.

GARDERE: That's what we need to look at. There is a prior history here. Brought a knife to school. If he did this, he stayed quiet. He lied about what happened as far as an intruder. And then we hear from this woman that you had in the package about he often seemed distant and glassy-eyed. And all those things, I'm thinking red flag, red flag, red flag. Perhaps a young boy melting down, emotional issues and perhaps not getting mental help, treatment. Mental health treatment which is what he needs.

BURNETT: If a 12-year-old child kills another human being, this is a question with all these horrible things that have been happening recently in this country we've all been covering. Trying to understand what makes people do these things. If you're 12 years old, does that mean you were born to do those things?

GARDERE: Well, what we know about people who may be psychopaths or sociopaths is that they may be born with a genetic predisposition. We call that the genotype. But the phenotype, actually acting it out, only comes after there have been traumas or all sorts of emotional issues that may have affected that individual, and then they went from fantasy, holding onto a lot of rage to acting out.

You don't inherit it and act it out. You inherit it, but it takes several traumas to actually bring it out. That's what we'll be hearing about in the next couple of days, what happens to this child?

BURNETT: Thank you very much, Dr. Gardere.

GARDERE: My pleasure.

BURNETT: OUTFRONT next, the beating of a man caught on tape and why the men accused of doing it say they were absolutely justified.

And the IRS. So, the IRS is accused of targeting conservative groups. You have Tea Party in your name or patriot, they're going to go look at you. President Obama weighed in today. He said what he'll do if those claims are true.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: Our third story OUTFRONT, what looks to be a deadly police beating caught on tape. But now family members of the man who died are fighting for access to the video and the audio taken by bystanders at the scene.

David Silva (ph), the father of four young children died after police say they were responding to reports of public intoxication and that the 33-year-old resisted arrest. Stephanie Elam is in Bakersfield, California. And Stephanie, attorneys for the Silva family have surveillance video of what is allegedly the beating. But they say there is better video out there that is now not accessible. What is the story behind that? STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Exactly, Erin. If you take a look at the surveillance video, you can see it is grainy, it's a little bit far away. But what they're really interested in seeing are these two cell phone videos that were taken, we know there were at least two that were taken or confiscated, depending on who you talk to, by the police or that they could take a look at them as evidence. They're saying the police are saying that they will get the phones back to the judge, who will then get them back to the people who own them.

But what is at issue here is whether or not it was okay for them to take those phones in the first place in this case where a man was reportedly a call came in saying there is someone who may be drunk out here on the street. They showed up. One deputy with a canine. And then we know another deputy came in. On top of that, we know at least two CHP officers were also on the scene as well, Erin, to assist in this. And so some people around here think it was too much force in a case of just one man, Erin.

BURNETT: Obviously with saying, look, we're going to confiscate a video makes it even more difficult to figure out what happened. What kind of area is it where it happened, Stephanie? Were there a lot of people that would have seen it or no?

ELAM: Well, keep in mind this happened at around midnight. It was between midnight and 1:00 a.m. when this happened. On the side of street where we are, it is homes. There's apartments over here. But behind us that is actually the Kern (ph) Medical Center. That is where David Silva was taken after what the incident that occurred here right on the corner. So because of that, it was in the middle of the night, the sounds are what woke people up. In fact, we talked to one witness who did not want to be identified. Listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELAM: What did you hear the man on the ground screaming? What was he saying? Do you remember?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was asking for help. He was screaming with pain. And he asked for help. He only got to ask for help like three times. After that, I'm pretty sure he didn't recall like nothing like, 'cause those hits were brutal, you know?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ELAM: So now the other thing here is that the lawyer for the Silva family, they've now hired a lawyer. He says that there may be a history of intimidation here in Kern County, California. That's one thing they're looking into as well in this case, Erin.

BURNETT: All right, thank you very much, Stephanie.

Still to come, so the president called it a political circus today. Perhaps a political circus of his own orchestration. Has the tide turned against the White House on Benghazi? Plus, O.J. Simpson was back in court today. He looks extremely different than probably how you remember him. He has been behind bars. We'll show you what's that's done to him.

And they say they have nothing to do with the imprisonment of the three women in Cleveland. But they were arrested for that and then released. Do you believe them? Hear their side of the story from the men themselves. Our exclusive interview OUTFRONT next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What is your brother to you now?

ONIL CASTRO, ARIEL CASTRO'S BROTHER: Monster. Hateful. I hope he rots in that jail. I don't even want them to take his life like that. I want him to suffer in that jail

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: Welcome to the second half of OUTFRONT. We start with stories we care about where we focus on our reporting from the front lines.

So, I went to begin with Benghazi. President Obama responded to mounting questions today about why al Qaeda's involvement in the Benghazi attacks which was put in the talking points by the CIA was removed by the State Department or the White House. The president dismissed it, calling the matter a political circus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The whole issue of this -- of talking points, frankly, throughout this process has been a sideshow. What we have been very clear about throughout was that immediately after this event happened, we were not clear who exactly carried it out, how it had occurred, what the motivations were.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: He did not provide an explanation for, though, for why the final talking points put out a version of events that no one thought occurred in the CIA or anywhere else in the administration.

The president also responded to the release of internal e-mails, saying that members of Congress had reviewed them months ago and determined there was nothing afoul of the process.

Benghazi meanwhile is in shock today. A car bomb blew up near a hospital in a busy street on the busiest time of the day. Benghazi, of course, has become an increasingly violent and unsafe place. But until this time government agencies, western entities had been the targets, not civilians.

Sarah Leah Whitson of Human Rights Watch tells us this is the first time that they had heard of an attack at or near a hospital.

With the Iranian presidential elections only about a month away, the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was hoping a conservative candidate would be a shoo-in. Two candidates, though, may change the outcome. Current President Ahmadinejad has been grooming one of his top aides also described as his alter ego for the post.

And then there is someone else to watch, the long time Khamenei rival, former Iranian president Rafsanjani.

Kenneth Pollack of the Brookings Institution tells us that the other rival stands less of a chance, but Rafsanjani will be a much tougher problem for Khamenei if elected.

And now an OUTFRONT update. Philadelphia abortion Dr. Kermit Gosnell has been found guilty of first-degree murder. The conviction includes three counts of first-degree murder and the killing of three babies by cutting their spinal cords. Now, Gosnell was also found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and the death of a 41-year-old woman under his care as well as 21 counts of aborting fetuses beyond 24 weeks which is illegal in Pennsylvania.

Now, Gosnell could be sentenced to death and right now that trial will move into the penalty phase.

Well, O.J. is back. The disgraced football player in court this week pleading for a new trial in the robbery, assault and kidnapping case that sent him to prison for 33 years in 2008. Now you can see him then and now. He's new legal team claims Simpson was horribly represented in the first trial by an attorney they say had a conflict of interest.

But USC law professor Jody Armour tells us proving these claims is difficult and says his appeal is a long shot.

Simpson is actually expected to take the witness stand this week in prison.

Well, it has been 648 days since the United States lost its top credit rating. What are we doing to get it back?

Well, retail sales rose unexpectedly in April after a slump. And the drivers, pun intended, strong car sales and spending on building supplies, for that recovery we started to see in the home market.

And now our fourth story OUTFRONT, the brothers of Ariel Castro, the man charged with kidnapping three young women for a decade are breaking their silence. In an exclusive interview with our Martin Savidge, the two men insist they had nothing to do with the abductions of Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus, and Michelle Knight, even though they had been taken into custody regarding that. They've now been released.

They also spoke to martin about what happened after they were picked up by police last week.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Were the two of you able to talk to one another while in jail?

P. CASTRO, ARIEL CASTRO'S BROTHER: No.

SAVIDGE: Couldn't communicate?

O. CASTRO, ARIEL CASTRO'S BROTHER: No.

SAVIDGE: You were in separate cells?

O. CASTRO: They told us not to. So I didn't.

SAVIDGE: Where was Ariel?

O. CASTRO: Ariel was in the front, towards more to the front, on suicide watch.

P. CASTRO: He was in a cell what they called a bull pen. How I do know this? Because I seen it. I seen them where they took him to get my medication.

SAVIDGE: Did he ever go past you, did you ever see him or --

P. CASTRO: I did. Because where he was at, there is no toilet. So across from my cell, there was one open. So he came there and used it. I'd seen -- and that's when I'd seen him. And when he came out, he said peace to me.

O. CASTRO: So evidently that happened with him aware when he walked past me, he goes, "Onil, you're never going to see me again. I love you, bro." And that was it.

SAVIDGE: So when did you become aware of what he did?

O. CASTRO: Well, just shortly after that when the detective took me into the room and started asking me questions and showing me pictures of the girls. And when he showed me the pictures of the girls, asked me, "Do you know these girls?", showed me first. I can't tell you which one he showed me first.

But he says, "Have you ever seen this girl?" And I said, "No, I've never seen that girl." And then he showed me the other one, "And have you ever seen is this girl?" I said, "No, I've never seen that girl."

And he says, "That's Gina DeJesus and Amanda Berry" and my heart fell. I dropped, not physically, but I just hit the ground. After he said, "That's Amanda berry and they were in your brother's house."

SAVIDGE: You had been to the house.

P. CASTRO: Yes.

SAVIDGE: I mean, how often? P. CASTRO: No, no, not how often. I didn't go to his house very much. But when I did, he would let me in, not past the kitchen. I would sit down and the reason why we go in the kitchen is because he had alcohol. He would take me in the kitchen, give me a shot and --

SAVIDGE: But whether you go in the house, he would be specific then to stay in the kitchen or it just seemed that you stayed in the kitchen?

P. CASTRO: Yes, I wasn't allowed past the kitchen.

SAVIDGE: Could you see anything beyond the kitchen?

P. CASTRO: No, because there's curtains.

SAVIDGE: He had the house blocked off with curtains?

P. CASTRO: Yes.

SAVIDGE: Did he say why?

P. CASTRO: He told me that -- I think it was winter time. He said he wanted to keep the heat in the kitchen because the gas bill.

SAVIDGE: And what about, could you hear anything in the home?

P. CASTRO: No, the radio was playing all the time.

SAVIDGE: He would play music all the time.

P. CASTRO: Yes. If not the radio, the TV. Something had to be on at all times in the kitchen. So I could hear nothing else but the radio or the TV.

SAVIDGE: Didn't any of that strike you as unusual? Strange?

P. CASTRO: No, because Ariel was to me, he was strange dude.

SAVIDGE: What is your brother to you now?

O. CASTRO: Monster, hateful. I hope he rots in that jail. I don't even want them to take his life like that. I want him to suffer in that jail, to the last extent. I don't care if they even feed him for what he has done for my life and my family's.

P. CASTRO: I feel the same way.

SAVIDGE: To the both of you now he no longer exists?

P. CASTRO: Right.

O. CASTRO: Yes.

SAVIDGE: He is gone?

O. CASTRO: He is goner. SAVIDGE: Almost as if he were dead?

P. CASTRO: Yes.

O. CASTRO: The monster is a goner.

SAVIDGE: If you could talk to Gina, if you could Michelle, if you could talk to Amanda, and in a way you are I guess, what would you say?

P. CASTRO: I would tell her that I'm sorry -- I would tell them that I'm sorry that you had to go through this, that I was thinking about these girls being missing and I'm just grateful that they're home and, you know, out of that horrible house. I just -- I just tell them that I'm sorry for what Ariel done.

SAVIDGE: Onil, the same thing. I mean, if you --

O. CASTRO: The same thing. I just want also the families get justice to the fullest extent -- to the fullest extent. And I don't want ever to see anything like that happened to anybody in this world. I know that it's happening and we have no control over it. But if I can do something about it, I will, and to stop something like that. I would never let anything like that happen and go on to my worse enemy.

This has torn my heart apart. This has killed me. I'm a walking corpse right now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BURNETT: OUTFRONT next, first, the IRS targeting certain groups because of their political views. And by that we mean groups of Tea Party or patriot in their names.

And now, the Justice Department seizing the records in an unprecedented move of dozens of journalists without them knowing about it. What is going on with the administration?

Plus, Gitmo, the first series our live reports live from Gitmo tonight.

And "Consumer Reports" calls this the best car they have ever tested. We'll take you for a test drive, after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: And now, we're back with our "Outer Circle", where we reach out to our sources around the world. And tonight, I want to go to our special OUTFRONT series this week, the crisis in Gitmo.

Tonight, our Chris Lawrence is going inside the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. It is a place where few reporters have gone. He has a series of investigations this week. And tonight, there are 166 detainees in that prison. Despite President Obama's promise to close Gitmo more than 1,500 days ago. And of those detainees, more than 100 are now on a hunger strike. This Friday marks 100 days since that strike began. Dozens of them are now being fed with feeding tubes and our Chris Lawrence is live from Guantanamo Bay tonight.

Chris, I know you're going to have special reports on this -- what's going on with Gitmo, whether it can be closed, what it means for the war on terror.

But, first, what about this hunger strike?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: That's right.

We've now hit about day 100, Erin. And over the next few days, we're going to get access not only to the camps where the detainees are being held, but also the hospital facilities where they are treated. We'll actually get to see firsthand some of the equipment that is used to hold them down, restrain them and administer some of the nutritional supplement that are given to those who refuse to eat.

So that will be a big part of our focus. We'll also be looking at how much it costs to keep Gitmo operating and on the other side as well, what the U.S. men and women, some of the guards, what they have to put up with and what they're dealing with in trying to manage this hunger strike as well -- Erin.

BURNETT: And I know, Chris, you know, one of the big issues, of course, has been that there are people who are eligible to be released, that the president has chosen not to release. And there's reasons for that. What can you tell us about some of those detainees that are being held tonight, the 166 men who are still there?

LAWRENCE: That's right. Erin, some of them are some of the most high-value detainees that the United States has apprehended in the war on terror.

At the top of the list, obviously, is Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, from Kuwait, he's the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks. He's also reportedly was responsible for beheading journalist Daniel Pearl and has been linked to U.S. embassy bombings in both Tanzania and Kenya.

Also in the prison is from Yemen, Ramzi Bin Al-Shibh, also a key player in those 9/11 attacks. And also, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri. He's from Saudi Arabia and was accused of masterminding the USS Cole bombing.

Those are just some. But the thing, Erin, that we have to keep in mind is President Obama promises to go back at this issue and try to close go Guantanamo Bay is the fact that more than half of the detainees have already been sort of cleared for transfer.

But the majority of those who have been cleared for transfer are from Yemen. President Obama has said dispute what he says about going back and looking at this issue, he says the moratorium on putting detainees back in Yemen is still on, which means the security situation there won't allow it. So it remains to be seen how not only the U.S. is going to handle the hunger strike but how he plans to go forward in trying to close Guantanamo Bay.

BURNETT: It's very true. It's an easy thing to say and really difficult thing to do.

Chris Lawrence, thank you very much.

And as you see, Chris is there in Guantanamo Bay for OUTFRONT with a very special series of investigative reports all week long. We'll see you tomorrow, Chris.

And now, our fifth story OUTFRONT, breaking news: two agencies under fire tonight, the IRS and the Department of Justice. And both of these are shocking stories. Both of them are accused of unfairly targeting outside organizations.

Now, the White House just responded to accusations that the Justice Department secretly, secretly, everybody, obtained two months of telephone records for some of "The Associated Press's" reporters and editors. "The Associated Press", of course, one of the most important and widely read news organizations in the country.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said, and I'll quote him, "Other than press reports, we have no knowledge of any attempt by the Justice Department to seek phone records of "The A.P." We're not involved in decisions made in connection with criminal investigations as these matters are handled independently by the Justice Department. Any on going questions about the criminal investigation should be directed to the Department of Justice."

I think it's important to emphasize, everybody here, this story about "The A.P.", if true, is a shocking and unprecedented story. And as for the IRS, it's accused of going after conservative groups that were seeking tax-exempt status, groups that had the name Tea Party or patriot in their names. We're following both of these crucial developing stories tonight from Washington.

Brian Todd looking at the charges against the Justice Department and Jim Acosta has been working his sources in the IRS case.

And I want to go to you, Brian, first though.

"The A.P." is calling this massive and unprecedented, and it seems to be that way. You can't do this and take all these records without getting permission to do so. What was the Department of Justice doing?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Erin, this goes back to a story a year ago this month. "A.P." and other news organizations reported on a foiled terror plot, reports came out in May of 2012. They reported there was a mole recruited by the Saudis who infiltrated al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, was given a bomb to blow up an airplane, but instead gave the bomb to Saudi officials and reported details of the plot. Now "A.P." says U.S. government officials have said in public testimony that the U.S. attorney is conducting a criminal investigation into who may have leaked information obtained in "The A.P." story. U.S. director of national intelligence James Clapper even ordered a polygraph of some personnel in part because of the leak of that information about that story.

So, if the Justice Department was doing this, if they obtained these records as "A.P." says they did, they likely were monitoring who called "A.P." reporters, when they called them, the duration of those calls, all of that, and that's the kind of information they were after that might have given them some kind of road map into who might have leaked information at least to "The Associated Press" -- Erin.

BURNETT: OK. Thank you very much, Brian.

Of course, that would be a breach.

And now I want to go to Jim Acosta on the IRS targeting scandal because I know you have new information about who knew what, when, and who it was within the IRS, Jim.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've got to vote them out!

JIM ACOSTA, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Three years ago, just as the Tea Party was taking off as a political force in the U.S., conservative groups within the movement were being targeted by the Internal Revenue Service.

MATT KIBBE, PRESIDENT, FREEDOMWORKS: It's quite remarkable how long this was understood and how long the practice went on and the question is, how far up did somebody know? Did the president know about it?

ACOSTA: Insisting he just found out about it late last week, President Obama vowed to take action.

OBAMA: I will not tolerate it and we will make sure that we find out exactly what happened on this.

ACOSTA: According to an inspector general's draft report on the matter obtained by CNN, an IRS unit in Cincinnati issued a "Be On the Lookout" for Tea Party groups in 2010, zeroing in on organizations with the words "Patriots" in their names, groups that focused on government spending or making America a better place, or even criticizing how the country is being run.

But just last year, the IRS commissioner at the time flatly told Congress none of that was going on.

DOUGLAS SHURMAN, FORMER IRS COMMISSIONER: I can give you assurances, as you know, we pride ourselves on being a nonpolitical, nonpartisan organization. There's absolutely no targeting. ACOSTA: Over the weekend, the IRS released a statement admitting its own commissioner was in the dark. "IRS senior leadership was not aware of this level of specific details at the time."

But the woman in charge of monitoring tax-exempt groups at the IRS, Lois Lerner, was aware. The draft I.G. report says she knew about the targeting in June of 2011 and raised concerns internally. Still, six months later, members of the House Ways and Means Committee say when Lerner met with them, she did not bring it up.

Lerner has insisted her agents were not acting out of political bias.

LOIS LERNER, IRS DIRECTOR FOR EXEMPT ORGANIZATIONS: This was a streamlined way for them to refer to the cases. They didn't have the appropriate level of sensitivity about how this might appear to others, and it was just wrong.

ACOSTA: Lerner had few details on a conference call with reporters late last week, admitting at one point she was still trying to get her numbers straight.

LERNER: I'm not good at math.

COSTELLO: You're with the IRS.

LERNER: But I'm a lawyer. I'm not an accountant.

COSTELLO: Tea Party groups say the controversy confirms concerns they've had for years, noting it's something the president has joked about.

CONAN O'BRIEN, COMEDIAN: Now, I've made some jokes about the president this evening and I'm looking forward to my audit.

(LAUGHTER)

O'BRIEN: It's coming. I know, sir. It's coming.

ACOSTA: Matt Kibbe with the Tea Party group FreedomWorks predicts the IRS targeting will breathe new life into their movement.

KIBBE: People are pissed off about this.

ACOSTA (on camera): You don't have to be a math whiz to figure out how an IRS scandal could damage Democrats heading into next year's midterms. So members of both parties are calling for heads to roll, including perhaps the removal of the acting commissioner of the IRS, and hearings as soon as possible -- Erin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BURNETT: Well, even more people than usual are angry with the IRS today, saying -- some saying the entire IRS should be shut down. Hey, what's new? All right. But what would that be like? We're about to find out. And that brings me to tonight's number, 11. That's how many days until the IRS is going to be shut down, seriously. May 24th, the Friday before Memorial Day weekend, is the first of five scheduled IRS furlough days due to the sequestration cuts. On that day, every IRS office will be closed, nearly 100,000 workers will get an unpaid vacation, calls won't be answered, returns won't be processed, you will not get a refund.

So, guess what, Tea Partiers? For one day you're safe from getting an audit but don't worry, they're looking for everybody -- good, bad or otherwise -- because that's their job.

All right. Up next, "Consumer Reports" says this is the best car they have ever tested. Which? The answer might shock you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: Every night, we take a look outside the day's top stories for something that we call the OUTFRONT outtake.

And tonight, good news for electric car company Tesla. So, during the first quarter of the year, its Model S. I mean, it's a pretty sexy car, is outselling its German counterparts. I saw Tesla recently on the road. I looked and said, what is that car? I mean, it was an awesome car. I was jealous.

"Consumer Reports" calls it the best car it ever tested. That's a big, big endorsement. Despite a limited charge network, the Model S needs a network of charging stations to make a long distance trips and there aren't a lot of them yet. There are two in Connecticut and Delaware that connects the big corridor on the Northeast between Washington, D.C. and Boston.

CNN Money's Peter Valdes-Dapena recently successfully made that trip. He had to use both charging stations on the way. But when I watched his video, I noticed one very big problem with the Tesla: charging time. It took an hour to replenish the battery in the Model S.

So, yes, (INAUDIBLE) gone. No, not with battery. You might be OK if you're charging overnight but when you're on a trip that already takes seven hours like D.C. to Boston, why would you ever add another two hours?

Yes, that car was beautiful but I'm going to stick with what I've got. But we want to know what you think. Would you ever buy a Tesla? Let us know. Twitter @ErinBurnett, or @OutFrontCNN.

Anderson starts now.