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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
"You Already Got Your Monster"; O.J.'s Fight For Freedom; Prince Harry Visits the U.S.; Tiger Woods Wins Players Championship; Spring Chill in Dozens of States
Aired May 13, 2013 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Caught on tape. Cell phone video captures the moment three women in Cleveland escape their ten-year captivity.
ZORAIDA SAMBOLIN, CNN ANCHOR: And breaking their silence. More of CNN's exclusive interview with the brothers of accused kidnapper and rapist, Ariel Castro.
BERMAN: And O.J. Simpson back in court. He wants a new trial. We're going to take you live to Las Vegas for the details here.
SAMBOLIN: So much going on this morning. Welcome back to EARLY START. Glad you're with us. I'm Zoraida Sambolin.
BERMAN: And I'm John Berman. As we said, a lot going on. We're going to start in Cleveland.
They thought police were pulling them over, instead, two young women who happened to be driving by Seymour Ave. last week when officers rushed in to suspected kidnapper, Ariel Castro's home. They wound up witnessing and videotaping the final chapter of a ten-year horror story.
Susan Candiotti live from Cleveland. Amazing pictures, Susan. These two young women have quite a story to tell.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. What timing, can you imagine? They just happened to be driving down the street, just turned down, and they see the flashing lights from a police car behind them and they think uh-oh, as you said, we're the ones in trouble, so they pull over. And then, they look in front of them and they see that they're not the ones being pulled over at all.
They see Amanda Berry holding her little girl in front of her and walking by saying, "I'm Amanda Berry." They immediately recognize her as the person who's been missing for ten years. Everyone practically knows her name in the Cleveland area. And then, they fumble with the cell phone and they start rolling that video and see the cops rush up to the front door trying to rescue the other two women who eventually would come out.
And then, the phone battery died. So, they don't have very much video. But they saw quite a lot, and something they said they will never, ever forget, John.
BERMAN: Manic about it with the police rushing in. Also something so mundane, just another house on the block just imagining what went on in there for ten years. Susan, Ariel Castro, we heard bail set at $8 million for him last week. What is next for the suspect?
CANDIOTTI: That's right. Well, he's certainly not going to be back to this house again. You can see there's still a police car sitting out in front of that place. It's boarded up, sealed off as a crime scene, while he is sitting in a jail cell all by himself under suicide prevention, waiting for the next shoe to drop, and that is expected to be a number of indictments, charges from a grand jury -- John.
BERMAN: And Susan, the victims, they now have lawyers, they now have public relations representations, when do we think we might hear from them?
CANDIOTTI: Well, that's hard to say. This public relations team that is taking care of them at no charge is guiding them through the system. And they are saying that it's unlikely they are going to talk until all the criminal proceedings are through. You can imagine they still have a lot to get through physically and emotionally.
And they've read brief statements from them in which all three of the young ladies were thanking everyone for their support but saying we need time to gather ourselves, and eventually, reconnect with all of our family members and friends -- John.
BERMAN: We certainly hope they get every bit of the time they need. Susan Candiotti in Cleveland for us. Thanks so much, Susan.
SAMBOLIN: And now a CNN exclusive, Pedro and Onil Castro breaking their silence about their brother, Ariel, and the unspeakable crimes he allegedly committed. Pedro and Onil were initially arrested along with their brother for the kidnapping of Amanda Berry, Michelle Knight, and Gina Dejesus. And even though they were quickly cleared by police, the brothers tell CNN's Martin Savidge they're feeling very much like victims, too.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ONIL CASTRO, KIDNAPPING SUSPECT'S BROTHER: I want this to be true. Like I said earlier, I want to wake up out of this nightmare.
PEDRO CASTRO, KIDNAPPING SUSPECT'S BROTHER: I want to say that I don't want to be hunted down like a dog for a crime that I did not commit. I don't want to be locked up in my house because somebody out there is going to do harm to me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAMBOLIN: And there are real concerns about that in that community. The entire interview with Pedro and Onil Castro airs this morning at seven o'clock eastern on "Starting Point," including the final words Ariel Castro said to each of his brothers in jail last week. And I know on "Starting Point," you're also going to talk to Maria Castro. She's the cousin that was one of their first concerns when those two brothers were let go.
That they cannot move back into the community because they will be hunted down. They're very worried about that.
BERMAN: This interview is riveting. Do not miss it.
We have other news right now. In just a few hours, O.J. Simpson will be back in court trying to convince a Nevada judge that his 2008 robbery and kidnapping conviction should be thrown out, and that he should get a new trial. Simpson claims his former attorney mishandled the case. He's expected to testify, O.J. is, at some point this week.
CNN's Paul Vercammen is following developments for us this morning live in Las Vegas. Good morning, Paul.
PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. O.J. Simpson's going to enter this courthouse in a prison uniform around nine o'clock Las Vegas time. Look at this, to borrow a football term, as a legal Hail Mary.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VERCAMMEN (voice-over): These are the last images of O.J. Simpson in public, being led out of a Las Vegas courtroom to prison in late 2008. Simpson was convicted of kidnapping and armed robbery for leading armed men into a hotel room to try to settle a dispute over sports memorabilia he wanted back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were just robbed at gunpoint by O.J. Simpson.
VERCAMMEN: Simpson was secretly recorded during the confrontation, which became part of the 2008 trial testimony.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (EXPLETIVE DELETED) still (EXPLETIVE DELETED) out here.
VERCAMMEN: Simpson's new lawyers will argue their client was so horribly represented in that kidnapping trial, he deserves a new trial and freedom.
PATRICIA PALMS, SIMPSON DEFENSE ATTORNEY: We firmly believe he did not get a fair trial. I think that's going to bear out during the hearing. We want the judge to take a fresh look at this, what should have been presented before, what wasn't presented, what was said, what wasn't said.
VERCAMMEN: Simpson is expected to take the witness stand this week, something he never did in the Las Vegas kidnapping trial or his sensational televised trial in 1995 where he was acquitted of murdering his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman. Other witnesses expected this week are now retired prosecutors in the Las Vegas case and Yale Galanter. He was Simpson's lead attorney in the kidnap trial and a former ally.
(on-camera): Simpson's new lawyers will argue that Galanter had a conflict of interest in part because of his business dealings with the football star. Simpson has been housed at the lovelock correctional center in Northern Nevada. His lawyers call him a model inmate.
PALMS: It's common in the prison for there to be different factions that don't get along with each other, and because of his status as a celebrity and his personality, he's sometimes mediates between different groups when they're having conflicts.
VERCAMMEN (voice-over): Simpson is now hoping his new legal team will spring him from prison for good.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VERCAMMEN (on-camera): And he is serving a long sentence, 9 to 33 years, John.
BERMAN: It's been 4 1/2 years or so since anyone has seen O.J. I mean, what do his lawyers say he's like these days?
VERCAMMEN: Well, they say O.J. is noticeably arthritic. They say he has turned gray. He's a little bit heavier. They say he's sort of slow of movement, but he's still, they say, rather sharp. So, I'll see all of this when he takes the witness stand possibly Wednesday of this week -- John.
BERMAN: That will be fascinating. Paul Vercammen in Las Vegas. Thanks so much, Paul. Appreciate it.
Attorneys for James Holmes will ask a judge today to change their client's plea to not guilty by reason of insanity. The suspect in the Aurora movie theater massacre is facing possible death penalty. A mental evaluation could take weeks or even months. Holmes accused of opening fire in a crowded theater, killing 12 people, wounding 70 others.
SAMBOLIN: And coming up, a Mother's Day surprise in the form of an eight-foot alligator saying good morning on her front porch.
BERMAN: Happy Mother's Day!
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAMBOLIN: Welcome back to EARLY START. It is 41 minutes past the hour. Just call him the "warrior prince." Britain's Prince Harry bonding with war veterans while here in the United States. CNN's Max Foster is covering this royal visit.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There we go, you're under way!
MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The American public have their first chance to get up close to Prince Harry at this weekend's Warrior Games.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's something different that we don't have here. We have celebrities that are in Hollywood, and they're the royal family. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. It's definitely -- definitely unique, and you know, he has an accent which makes him automatically cooler than us.
(LAUGHTER)
FOSTER: And he's not married.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And he's not married. That's a big part of it.
FOSTER: The closest Harry came to marriage, though, was kissing the winners.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A kiss from the prince.
FOSTER: The announcer suggesting that these women won't be washing their faces for a while. Prince Harry may be flattered by all the attention, but it's not something that he's looking for on this tour. His deep suspicion of the media makes him wary of the cameras. He's happy to have them on board for events that he wants to promote.
PRINCE HARRY, GREAT BRITAIN: It's not always great having them around, but today, it's fantastic to get the message across to every other country.
FOSTER: And these games, for wounded war vets, were something that he does want people to hear about.
(on-camera): Prince Harry's probably talking to the cyclists. They're involved in the race here. This is the event that he wants to take around the world, and throwing himself in, as usual.
PRINCE HARRY: He's fantastic. (INAUDIBLE). Why not?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'll tell you one why not, 300 days a year of sunshine here in our beautiful Colorado. Why don't you move here?
(CHEERING)
PRINCE HARRY: Because it's not always sunny.
FOSTER (voice-over): He would also have to get more used to football, American-style. Harry's a rugby fan but gave the U.S. version a go. Was he targeting the media pen, you wonder?
On the next leg of the tour, to New York, Harry takes on another iconic American sport, baseball. He's been given some tips on throwing the ball or pitching. Just as well, baseballs could be more dangerous than footballs. Media, beware. The prince will also meet up with Governor Chris Christie in New Jersey to see a neighborhood torn apart by hurricane Sandy.
The governor said he was grateful to the prince for putting the rebuilding effort back on the news agenda according to someone close to harry on the tour.
Max Foster, CNN, Colorado Springs.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BERMAN: Can I tell them what you said about Prince Harry before the piece?
SAMBOLIN: Sure. What did I say?
BERMAN: He's such an adorable young man.
SAMBOLIN: He is, isn't he?
BERMAN: He's such an adorable young man.
SAMBOLIN: And such goodwill. So, he's moving to the United States?
BERMAN: Oh now, you make it about goodwill.
(LAUGHTER)
BERMAN: Now you make it about goodwill. That's not what she was saying before.
SAMBOLIN: Adorable. No, very motherly adorable young man. I did not mean anything else.
BERMAN: That's even creepier.
All right. Forty-four minutes after the hour. After an exchange of show of force between Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia, the world's number one golfer let his clubs do the talking at the Players Championship. Woods finished in the final round 70 yesterday, including this clutch birdie from the bunker on the par 5 16th to capture a two-stroke victory. This is his fourth win of the year. It is quite a year for Tiger.
Still, even with that, it was anyone's tournament until Sergio Garcia came to the fight famous island green at 17. He promptly dumped two balls into the water for a quadruple bogey. That hole is famous and it is tough. Garcia and Woods were paired together Saturday with the Spaniard suggesting Woods intentionally caused a distraction that disrupted one of their swings. Both players acknowledged later they do not like each other.
SAMBOLIN: Wow. Really?
(LAUGHTER)
BERMAN: Sergio Garcia actually said -- he basically said he's not a nice guy of Tiger Woods. They really don't like each other at all.
SAMBOLIN: Yikes.
All right. Forty-five minutes past the hour. A family in Parkland, Florida, got a scaly Mother's Day surprise, waking up to find an eight-foot alligator on their front porch. Take a look. At first, the mom thought it was some kind of elaborate Mother's Day sprank.
(LAUGHTER)
SAMBOLIN: Seriously? No, no, no, this was no joke. They called in some local professional known as -- they're known as the Gator Boys. Have you heard of them? -- movie "Alligator." They soon bagged the gator, took it back to Holiday Park.
BERMAN: Oh, my!
SAMBOLIN: In the Florida Everglades.
BERMAN: That's big. I mean, that's --
SAMBOLIN: That's very scary. This is a regular neighborhood and it just kind of sauntered over to the porch.
BERMAN: And what kind of kids must she have that she thinks it's a prank when there's an eight-foot alligator on her doorstep?
SAMBOLIN: Oh my goodness.
(CROSSTALK)
SAMBOLIN: Everybody's OK there, right?
BERMAN: Everyone is OK.
SAMBOLIN: Terrible.
BERMAN: Even the alligator, by the way, is OK. We will see the alligator live on STARTING POINT.
SAMBOLIN: Live?
BERMAN: Yes. Not in studio.
SAMBOLIN: Oh!
BERMAN: Live by the magic of satellite.
SAMBOLIN: You flew me the alligator --
(LAUGHTER)
BERMAN: He's in my office right now.
(LAUGHTER)
BERMAN: Coming up next, new information this morning about the woman in Bangladesh who survived. She survived 17 days in the rubble of a building collapse. EARLY START back after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAMBOLIN: Welcome back to EARLY START. It is 49 minutes past the hour. Here are your stop stories.
SAMBOLIN: New video of the moment. Police rushed in to Ariel Castro's Cleveland home, shot by two young women in a car just down the street. They witnessed Amanda Berry clutching her daughter and identifying herself to police last week in the moments after her escape from ten years in captivity. All three victims are asking for privacy in order to recover.
BERMAN: Leila Fowler's family asking for privacy now that Leila's 12- year-old brother has been arrested for killing his eight-year-old sister. Their step-mother, Crystal Walters, posted a message on Facebook saying, quote, "Thank you to those who are standing by us in this devastating time for our family. And thank you for respecting our privacy during this time. We need a little space. Happy Mother's Day to all," she says.
SAMBOLIN: And a massive house fire in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, claimed the lives of two adults and four children. This was Sunday night. A neighbor alerted police that people may be trapped inside, but the fire had already engulfed that home. Take a look at this. It's massive. No word on what caused that fire.
BERMAN: The unlikely survivor of the Bangladesh building collapse is said to be fragile but improving steadily this morning. State-run media says the 19-year-old mother named Reshma has started eating regular food. She'll be in the hospital for a few more days. She was trapped in the rubble for 17 days.
SAMBOLIN: That is unbelievable that she survived.
BERMAN: Seventeen days before the rescuers found her. Amazing.
SAMBOLIN: President Obama meeting up with British prime minister David Cameron at the White House. That's expected later this morning. They're expected to discuss possible ways to jump-start the global economy and strengthen Syria's opposition.
BERMAN: Barbara Walters is calling it a career. Legendary journalist plans to retire next summer. She's expected to make the announcement later this morning on "The View." In a statement released by ABC, Walters says, "I'm very happy with my decision and look forward to a wonderful and special year ahead, both on "The View" and with ABC News."
Walters will remain executive producer of "The View" which, of course, is the show she created in 1997.
SAMBOLIN: Quite a career the woman has had. All right. So, just when we thought we were done with winter, freeze warnings and watches are in effect for at least a dozen states.
BERMAN: Meteorologist Jennifer Delgado is following the brutal spring chill. She is in Atlanta this morning. Good morning, Jennifer.
JENNIFER DELGADO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, guys. You know, you were thinking that, wow, we are going to enjoy the warm temperatures. You're right. It is cold outside, but let's start off with some amazing video coming out of Canada. And this is after a weekend where temperatures started to warm up a bit and some very strong winds. You're looking at ice, Zoraida and John, taking over a house. Twenty homes were damaged.
This is what we call ice heaving. It's basically like tsunami-like wave that took over. So, back over to our graphic there, yes, it's certainly cold in Canada, but it is cold across parts of the U.S. Temperatures right now in the 30s and the 40s. We'll see some of those dropping down into the 20s, and that is why we actually have a freeze watch and warning in place across many parts of the Midwest all the way over towards the northeast.
And with these cold temperatures, of course, this could be potentially dangerous to that vegetation out there. On a wider view today, high temperatures are going to be cold running 10 to 15 degrees below average across the east. And then, in parts of the plains and down towards the south, temperatures flirting right near the 100-degree mark in some parts of warm and the mid part of the U.S. that's certainly cold in the east.
But that video coming out of Canada, incredible. Can you imagine all that ice just taking over your home like that and damaging all those homes?
BERMAN: And we learned a new term, ice heaves.
DELGADO: Ice heaving.
BERMAN: Ice heaving. Thank you, Jennifer. Appreciate it.
DELGADO: You're welcome.
SAMBOLIN: All right. Coming up, it's being called the first music video ever recorded in space. You're going to have to see this. It's coming up next. Berman's been playing it all morning.
BERMAN: It's kind of cool.
SAMBOLIN: Plus, Chris Brown's home life just got a bit more complicated, if you can believe it. Why his neighbors are now up in arms?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BERMAN: Welcome back, everyone. Fifty-six minutes after the hour. Trending on the web this morning, Chris Brown's neighbors say some of the singer's artwork is scaring local kids. They say goblins painted along a retaining wall of his Hollywood Hills home are frightening and an eye sore to boot. What do you think? Do you think they're scary?
SAMBOLIN: I've got to see them up close. Oh, yes, I would say so.
BERMAN: Look at those teeth.
SAMBOLIN: Although I like the color. BERMAN: They're not friendly teeth. And the bleeding eyeballs, I don't know about those either. L.A. city code officials cited Brown $376 for unpermitted and excessive signage and ordered him to remove the paintings within 30 days.
SAMBOLIN: Why does he have those there?
BERMAN: Decoration.
SAMBOLIN: Who knows?
All right. So, get ready for late night with Seth Meyers. NBC has confirmed that the "Saturday Night Live" weekend update anchor will replace Jimmy Fallon next year when Fallon takes over "The Tonight Show." Meyers' SNLs longtime head writer will be formally introduced to advertisers today when NBC presents its new programming lineup. Well, Fallon and Meyers are expected to start their new shows next February.
BERMAN: Seth Meyers' big-time Red Sox fan.
SAMBOLIN: Oh, really?
(CROSSTALK)
BERMAN: An important hiring --
(CROSSTALK)
BERMAN: He's fantastic. All right. Ground control to astronaut Chris.
SAMBOLIN: This is cool.
BERMAN: Canadian, Chris Hadfield, has been working on the International Space Station, but before heading back to Earth, he did his own cover version of the David Bowie classic, Space Oddity. Look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: I think he's easily the most talented Canadian musician since Gordon Lightfoot. I would say. No, but this is a really great video.
SAMBOLIN: Really cool.
BERMAN: Highly style --
SAMBOLIN: Look at that. That's my favorite shot right there.
BERMAN: It is being called the first music video ever recorded in space. No word yet from David Bowie about what he thinks. SAMBOLIN: What do you think?
BERMAN: I think it's awesome.
SAMBOLIN: Oh, absolutely.
EARLY START continues right now.
