Obama Meeting with Cameron; Ariel Castro's Brothers Speak Out; Obama and Cameron to Hold Press Conference
ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Ashleigh Banfield, reporting live, and right now, the president, President Obama, is meeting with the British prime minister, David Cameron, at the White House. This is video that's just come in. It was shot right before they began their meeting. They are expected to speak live in the East room. That's happening about 15 minute from now. The topics on their agenda, they're quite varied. They include the civil war in Syria all the way to the economy. And we're also hearing that they will take questions from reporters as well. There is so much to ask of these very important world leaders and our special coverage is going to get under way live in just 10 minutes. And as we wait for the start of that event, we've got other top stories that we're following closely at this hour because Republicans on Capitol Hill are really stepping up their attacks against the Obama administration, all over that IRS extra scrutiny of conservative groups. A report by the inspector general indicates that agents with the IRS began targeting conservative groups who were applying for tax-exempt status, going back as early as March of 2010. CNN has obtained a copy of the report which is due to be released this week. The House Republicans are urging President Barack Obama to condemn the IRS for targeting groups. The groups apparently had either the words "tea party" in their names, or "patriot," or other kinds of conservative labels, all of this on their applications.</s>SENATOR SUSAN COLLIN (R), MAINE: This is truly outrageous, and it contributes to the profound distrust that the American people have in government. It is absolutely chilling that the IRS was singling out conservative groups for extra review.</s>BANFIELD: President Obama mentioned this controversy right before the start of his meeting with the visiting British prime minister -- as we mentioned, David Cameron sitting down with him -- and here's what he had to say just a few moments ago.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir, any comment on the IRS?</s>PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: (Inaudible).</s>BANFIELD: And as mentioned, the president and Prime Minister Cameron are expected to speak live with reporters and take a couple of questions, all of it just getting under way just a few moments from now. We've got our teams scrambling. Everybody is getting ready, and that will be live for you. We're going to bring it to you just as soon as they begin actually speaking. In the meantime, again, other major news that Detroit, a city that is dysfunctional and wasteful -- those are quotes -- after years of mismanagement and corruption, a very bleak assessment coming from the city's emergency manager in a report on his first 45 days in office. That report is due out today. His name is Kevin Orr. And his report says that city will finish its current budget year with a $162 million cash flow shortfall. The details on how Orr plans to steer that major city out of its financial crisis expected to come in the coming months. Again, that's Detroit, a major city on the verge of bankruptcy. Also to tell you about a Mother's Day celebration suddenly becoming a mass crime scene in New Orleans, Gunfire erupting. Take a look at the video. Just remarkable, this all during a Mother's Day parade. Real chaos. Police say shots rang out from different guns. Nineteen different people were wounded. Three different suspects were seen running from that scene of the crime. The FBI says this was, quote, "strictly an act of street violence," end quote, and that there was no case of terrorism involved. But again, Mother's Day parade. We also have a very sad and tragic story, a Mother's Day story coming out of California. Crystal Walters is pleading for privacy the day after the arrest of her 12-year-old stepson in the death of her 8- year-old stepdaughter, Leila Fowler. That brother is now charged in the homicide of Leila. Leila was stabbed to death in April in the family's home, and the young boy initially told police that he had seen an intruder leaving the house, even gave a description. And now he, himself, 12-years-old, is under arrest. I want to take you now to Cleveland where the nightmare on Seymour Avenue ended one week ago today, except for these two men, Pedro and Onil Castro. They are the brothers of the man accused of holding three young women captive for over a decade for nine-to-11 years. In an exclusive interview with CNN, Onil and Pedro say their nightmare began the day that Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight were actually freed and rescued. All three Castro brothers were arrested together. And, though Onil and Pedro were publicly cleared, they say they're being threatened, they're being harassed, all for crimes they say they knew nothing about, allegedly committed by a brother they knew nothing about at all and never want to know anything about again. It's a remarkable interview. Just listen to Onil Castro's answer to a question from my colleague, Martin Savidge.</s>MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What is your brother to you now?</s>ONIL CASTRO, ARIEL CASTRO'S BROTHER: A 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 to my life and my family's.</s>SAVIDGE: To the both of you now, he no longer exists.</s>PEDRO CASTRO, ARIEL CASTRO'S BROTHER: Right.</s>O. CASTRO: Yeah.</s>SAVIDGE: He is gone?</s>O. CASTRO: He's goner.</s>SAVIDGE: Almost as if he were dead.</s>O. CASTRO: The monster is a goner.</s>BANFIELD: Martin Savidge had a chance to speak extensively with those two brothers, both of them surprising him by saying they want nothing to do with him ever again. And they were not able to speak with him even while they were being held in those holding cells and that the only thing they saw their brother do was walk past them to use a bathroom and flash them the peace sign. Just really remarkable information. But then also the older brother, Pedro, was talking about the DeJesus family because they actually knew the DeJesus family. Marty joins me live now from Cleveland. Martin, I have been watching with such interest the interview that you were able secure with these two men and it is so vast. I'd like you to touch on that last aspect for me if you could, the fact that the Castro family was actually quite close to Gina DeJesus' family.</s>SAVIDGE: Right. And that's something that I had heard before, we had discussed before, but once we got into this interview and there was so much we wanted to talk about. I had sort of lost track about that, and then it was Pedro that begins to allude to it. And it was like suddenly my mind snapped into recognition that that's right. These families knew one another. Pedro knew Felix. That's Gina's father. And then it was like, oh, my gosh. That even makes this worse. Listen.</s>PEDRO CASTRO, A. CASTRO'S BROTHER: Felix, I knew him for a long time, and when I found out that Ariel had Gina, I just, I just broke down because it's shocking. Ariel, we know this guy for a long time, Felix.</s>SAVIDGE: This is Gina's father.</s>P. CASTRO: Yeah, Felix DeJesus. And you got his daughter? And you go like it's nothing. You even went to the Pedros. You had posters. You gave his mama a hug and you got his daughter captive?</s>SAVIDGE: Of course, they were horrified for all the girls, but Gina was the one that they personally had the connection to the family. And you heard Pedro, he was just -- he could not believe it. He could not believe it was his brother.</s>BANFIELD: And I know, Marty, we're going to hear a lot more of your interview, but just quickly if you could, it's critical here that these men still are associated, so many people still feel some kind of suspicion. But did the police get clearance from the victim, themselves? Or do we know that? That these men had nothing to do with it from the mouths of the victims?</s>SAVIDGE: Right. And, you know, I cannot say for certain because authorities have been very tight lipped on exactly what the girls have said to them. We've seen in the initial police report. But it has been reported that, yes, the girls said these men did not have anything to do with it, that they were specifically asked about the brothers. And you would have to almost assume that because authorities did clear them completely and made that widely known at that arraignment that was held for their brother Ariel, that they had communicated with these women and the women had cleared those brothers. So it seems, at least for now, the investigation in no way covers them.</s>BANFIELD: And so often, Marty, we don't get that opportunity, especially when there is murder victims. You don't get to hear that kind of thing, so that will be critical. Marty Savidge reporting live, excellent -- just an excellent interview, and thank you for that. We're going to play more of that interview, as I promised. We're also going to take you live to the White House where, just minutes from now, the president and the British prime minister are going to be addressing the media. We have been told that they've been discussing global and regional concerns. And when we come back, our Jake Tapper is going to lead our coverage live from Washington