[Piers Morgan, Cnn:] This is PIERS MORGAN LIVE. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. Tonight exclusive, three suspects in Ohio, accused of keeping a mentally disabled woman and her daughter slaves in an apartment with the snakes, dogs and the Iguanas. I'll talk to one of the suspects' mothers. And a shirt with the trouble. You know how I feel about guns but should the boy who wore this NRA T-shirt go to jail? His father joins me exclusively. Plus the government says the NSA snooping stopped 50 terror plots. I'll talk to Glenn Greenwald. He, of course, is the reporter who broke the NSA leak story and the man who made history when he leaked the Pentagon papers, Daniel Ellsberg. Also a Hollywood plot so crazy it has to be true, and indeed it is. Star crossed teenagers robbing celebrities' homes. Real-life victim Paris Hilton is in "The Chair" with me tonight. But I want to begin with a shocking story out of Ohio. A mentally disabled woman and her young daughter allegedly held captive for two years in an apartment full of dogs and snakes. Prosecutors say they were forced into manual labor, beaten and given dog food to eat while the animals got table food. Three people, Jordie Callahan, Jessica Hunt and Daniel Brown, have been charged in the shocking case while authorities said they expect to arrest a fourth person. Joining me now is Scott Taylor, an investigative reporter for our affiliate WOIO in Cleveland. Scott, this is a pretty awful story. Tell me what we know.
[Scott Taylor, Woio Cleveland:] Well, right now we know, Piers, that back in 2011 it looks like Jordie as well as Jessica who live together with their four sons invited this mother who is 28 at the time, now 30, and her daughter into the home. They quickly, according to the FBI, put them down in a basement, let them sleep on the cement floor, eventually moved them up into bedrooms, and this is eerily similar to the Ariel Castro situation, if you remember that last month. Then they made her basically become a slave, Piers. She cooked, cleaned, actually went out in the yard and did yard work, and then eventually let her go out and shop, but they made sure they timed her, I believe, on a stopwatch to come back, never let her take her daughter, either and they watched her, Piers, in the bedrooms upstairs in a video monitor, much like a baby monitor to make sure that she wasn't trying to escape and believe it or not, and this gets even more disturbing, I am being told that Jordie and Jessica actually tied up this mother's little girl at night to make sure she didn't get out to get any food or anything to drink.
[Morgan:] Absolutely appalling. The situation was only discovered in October when the woman who we only identified at the moment as S.E. was arrested for stealing a candy bar and asked to be taken to jail in what seems to be a deliberate attempt to escape captivity.
[Taylor:] Yes, I think you hit the nail on the head. Investigators, the FBI believe that's exactly what happened. She eventually told police over time that somebody at the house where she was living was being mean to her. Then they continued to ask questions, and the floodgates just opened. She said that she was threatened with guns, threatened with attacks of numerous pit bulls that were in the house. They had 130-pound python there. They had supposedly a poisonous corral snake, and they would bring those out in front of her and her daughter, try to scare her, I guess to maybe condition her to stay there, and it was truly horrendous, if you believe all of this coming from the mother.
[Morgan:] And the motivation appears to be financial, is that right?
[Taylor:] Yes, I think you're right. The FBI says that Jessica Hunt had all of her government assistant cards, her PIN numbers, and Daniel Brown according to documents told the FBI that they called her their bank. In other words, kind of a street lingo saying that they could scam her out of the money, didn't give her very much of her government assistant payments and used the money for themselves.
[Morgan:] Scott Taylor, thank you very much indeed for that report. Joining me now exclusively is the mother of one of the suspects, Jordie Callahan. She's asked us not to use her last name. I'll just call her Becky and she's joining me by telephone. Welcome to you, Becky. Can you tell me what your reaction is to this shocking story?
[Becky, Mother Of Suspect In Slavery Case:] Well, I know, you know, how it was down there because I was there quite a bit. There is so many lies going on and mainly by Detective Baker here in Ashland. He's just been telling one lie after another, putting his name up in highlights, I guess, because there is never been a big case in Ashland. And he hasn't been a detective very long and
[Morgan:] So when you say lies, I mean when you say lies, are you disputing that your son along with the other suspects kept this woman who is, we know, mentally disabled and her child captive for two years?
[Becky:] Yes, that's wrong.
[Morgan:] What is what is
[Becky:] And she's not really mentally disabled.
[Morgan:] OK. What is wrong about it?
[Becky:] What is everything is wrong about it. The girl that is supposedly a victim had went where she wanted to go wherever she wanted to go. I've seen her in stores many a times by herself, all the time. It's all lie.
[Morgan:] The police have come out with a the police have come out with extensive and categoric details of a litany of abuse bordering on torture and captivity, and have made charges to that effect. So are you saying that absolutely none of this is true?
[Becky:] Absolutely none of this is true, no. She is
[Morgan:] Why would
[Becky:] Excuse me?
[Morgan:] No, after you.
[Becky:] What was that?
[Morgan:] No, you say what you want to say, Becky.
[Becky:] Supposedly victim has been over at my house many times for birthday parties, Thanksgiving, Christmas, you know, there is no, none of this happened.
[Morgan:] If none of this happened, why are the police taking this dramatic action of charging your son and his partner and the third person and potentially a fourth with extremely serious offenses?
[Becky:] Because Jordie and Jessie heard the little girl crying a lot in the bedroom that they were at. Not basement, she had a bedroom. And so they and they would ask her why the little girl was crying so much and she'd make up different excuses. So they did put a monitor in there so they could see what was going on, and they used the cell phones so that they can, you know, record it off the cell phone from the monitor, and they seen her kicking the little girl in the head and they called the police and turned the cell phone over to the police so they could see what she had done to her little girl. And then since the supposedly victim was put in jail for this, she knew she was in a lot of trouble, so she turned the whole story around making them think that Jordie and Jess had made her do all this and that wasn't true. They turned over the cell phone so they could see what she was doing.
[Morgan:] Who was taking her money that she was getting for her disability?
[Becky:] She was giving them a couple of hundred dollars a month for staying there and she was getting her own food. They weren't being starved. She was going and buying what she wanted from the store. She was even taken to the grocery store to buy what she wanted.
[Morgan:] Have you spoken to your son Jordie about this since he was charged?
[Becky:] Yes.
[Morgan:] And what does he say?
[Becky:] He's devastated that all this is being said about them. You know, and then they are making it like OK, they have some pit bulls and snakes so they are making them out to be evil because they have that. A lot of people have them. He loves reptiles. He always has since he was a kid. I mean, they have them in zoos and stuff, you know, what you know, there is nothing wrong with that. It doesn't mean
[Morgan:] You say that you you have had this woman and her daughter at your house in the last two years several times, is that right?
[Becky:] Yes, yes, I have.
[Morgan:] And she gave no suggestion to you that she was being held captive or being abused in any way?
[Becky:] No. No.
[Morgan:] Did you have any way of did you have any way of proving that she was at your house?
[Becky:] Yes, I do.
[Morgan:] How would you prove it?
[Becky:] I've got plenty of pictures proving it.
[Morgan:] Of this woman in the last two years inside your property?
[Becky:] Yes.
[Morgan:] So you believe that your son and the other suspects who have been charged are being framed and that this woman herself has been guilty of abusing her child, is that your position?
[Becky:] Yes.
[Morgan:] Why I come back again just one more time but why would the police do this? It doesn't make much sense to me that the police would simply believe her word against three other people if, as you say, there has been absolutely no abuse whatsoever?
[Becky:] Well, you know, this is a little town of Ashland, and they do know Jordie and they know Jess and they are just trying to make a big case out of what Shannon did. I mean, Shannon already the supposedly victim had already admitted to it and they already charged her for it and only gave her 150 days in jail, and let her go. And then they are trying to frame Jordie and Jess for the whole incident when they already proved and Shannon already admitted she is doing this to her daughter.
[Morgan:] Well, Becky, I appreciate you calling in. It's a fascinating story. It's an extraordinary twist if what you say has any credence. We'll obviously go back to the authorities who made these charges against these men and presume that the truth will out the further this investigation goes on. Thank you for joining me.
[Becky:] Thank you. Bye.
[Morgan:] Extraordinary tale. Now I want to turn to another extraordinary take which you just have to see to believe really. Take a look at this. That's 14-year-old Jared Marcum wearing an NRA T-shirt, the same shirt that he wore to Logan Middle School in Logan, West Virginia, back in April. School officials asked him to change the T-shirt. Jared refused and things escalated to the point where police were called. Jared was charged with obstructing an officer and if convicted could face a year in jail and a $500 fine. Well, joining me exclusive is Allen Lardieri, he's Jared's father, also Jared's lawyer Ben White. Welcome to you both, gentlemen. Let me start with you, if I may, Mr. Lardieri. This is your son, he's 14. You're both members I believe of the NRA and he has worn this T-shirt to school. Did you at any point think that this T-shirt would breech any of the school's regulations?
[Allen Lardieri, Son Arrested After Wearing Nra T-shirt:] No, because we knew that there wouldn't be an issue, you know, especially and particularly here in southern West Virginia where we're primarily I mean, basically we are a gun culture here. Even the kids in November, they get a two-week vacation just because of hunting season and itself. So that sort of thought really doesn't cross anybody's mind, not in this particular region. Maybe in some other places but it never really crossed our mind here.
[Morgan:] So what was your reaction when he when he was arrested by police? We should make it clear. He wasn't arrested for wearing the T-shirt, he was arrested because of an altercation with police who who were brought to the school because a teacher had protested in seeing your son wearing this shirt in, I believe, his lunch break.
[Lardieri:] Yes, I've come to find out, I was at work when I was informed, and I was like I said here, you hear these stories going on and no matter where it happens, it's always it's always a shame that it happens but here to have that happen was a shock. Like I said, I was at work. I got the phone call, and I made it to the station, and that's pretty much where I linked up with him and my wife.
[Morgan:] Let's play a clip from an interview that your son gave. This is just a brief summary of what he said.
[Jared Marcum, 14-year-old Student:] There's nothing wrong with it, and it doesn't violate the policy in any way, and things got out of hand. Educational process is not lunchtime in my opinion and if anyone disturbed it, it was definitely the educator and not me.
[Morgan:] That was Jared there. He's 14 and wearing the shirt. Let me go to Ben White now. You're the attorney for the family. It's a fascinating case. I mean people know my view about gun control but that doesn't extend to a blanket hatred of all things NRA. I have a problem with the NRA leadership and the rhetoric they use and I don't like the way that they're exploiting gun manufacturers. And I know that you're both aware of my position on that but you still come on the show because my view about this is he's entitled to freedom of expression, freedom of speech. If he also wear a T-shirt supporting the fact he's a member of a perfectly legal organization, I don't really have a problem with that. Why, Ben White, do you think the school or does the school it's an interesting question. Is it just a rogue teacher or does the school have a real problem? Because he went back and wore it again after his suspension ended.
[Ben White, Lawyer For Teen Arrested For Wearing Nra T-shirt:] Absolutely he wore the shirt again and, Piers, 100 additional students wore that same shirt throughout the entire school system, grade schools, middle schools and the various high schools in the county without incident. I did meet with the local attorney for the school board and we went through the policy ourselves with her, and they concluded that there wasn't an issue with the policy. The principal actually went through the policy with Jared after he was physically brought to the principal's office and she learned that there wasn't anything wrong with that shirt under the current policy. The teacher just clearly didn't understand the policy and I've advocated through the bored through the attorney the teachers that are going to enforce these rules should understand the rules at least read the rules and the regulations to understand what they're trying to enforce on these little kids. These are 5th, 6th, 7th and eighth- graders and to come as a student.
[Morgan:] And I've read the I've read the policy quite carefully. There is one reference to not wearing anything which has imagery of violence. And you could argue a gun in itself is always an image of potential violence. I mean, you could take that position. Let me ask you
[White:] You could take that. I mean, my view is not. I mean, this was clearly a hunting rifle, and it was an NRA branded T-shirt. Jared is an avid hunter, so is his father.
[Morgan:] Right. But I think you're missing my point. Ben, you're missing my point. I'm not disputing
[White:] I'm
[Morgan:] I wasn't disputing the fact it may be for hunting, but even hunting is a violent sport. A gun that goes off is a violent thing. And I suppose you could argue if you were playing devil's advocate here that the fact the school had a policy of no violent imagery could extend to a gun used for hunting.
[White:] It could, but it doesn't. It clearly doesn't. We've gotten the input from everybody from the principal up to their attorney, and it doesn't in this case, Piers. I mean, we could argue that. We could argue a lot of things, but it clearly doesn't. And the proof in the pudding per se is when 100 other students wore the same shirt, there was no incident. In fact, my six-year-old wore the same shirt kind of as a joke, and there was no incident anywhere. Not even with the little kids, the high school kids. So, if it violated the policy or if anybody believed that would be an argument, we would have heard of that clearly by now, and we haven't.
[Morgan:] Okay. Adam, final question for you. Having said that I respect the right of NRA members, including your son to wear T-shirts to support the organization that they are a legal member of and I do there is a different point, which is I guess, a more sensitive point, really. Which is in light of the fact of the massacre at Sandy Hook. Is it really judicious for any school child to go to school wearing any kind of T-shirt which has any kind of gun imagery? Would it not be best to have the debate about gun control and guns and the NRA out of school classrooms and school playgrounds?
[Lardieri:] Well, you may have an argument there in certain places, Piers. But again, back in the particular area that we have, the imagery of firearms is certainly nothing that is usually perceived as being menacing. You'd also want to look in front of the school. There's a large statue that firearms are not an evil thing because it's a World War I Doe Boy with a fixed bayonet on an '03 Springfield rifle who is shown quite proudly right in front of the school. And additionally, our own state flag has two rifles on it, as well. You know, the firearm is merely an implement. It's a tool how it is used, you know, perceives is it a weapon or is it an implement to feed your family? That's done on an individual basis. You've got to keep in mind, these sort of horrendous acts are done by individuals, and I just see more and more people are prone to legislation that removes the human element out of it. They want to blame an inanimate object instead of put in personal human accountability in everything.
[Morgan:] Well, you make some points there. I don't agree with all of them, but I respect the fact you have come on the show knowing my position on these things. And it's an interesting argument. To you, Allan Ladieri and to Ben White, thank you both very much.
[Ladieri:] Thank you, sir.
[White:] Thank you.
[Morgan:] When we come back, the government says more than 50 terror plots have been foiled by surveillance. But does that mean that leaks make you less safe? I'll talk to Glenn Greenwald and the man who leaked the Pentagon Papers, Daniel Ellsberg.