the first nfl official. a good chance she'll make it happen. much more than sport. i'll talk to you tomorrow night. that's all for tonight. anderson cooper starts right now. will alex rodriguez fess up or keep fighting. and america goes on high alert. the latest on how real the threat may be. a chilling look through the eyes of an assassin. lost track of how many he's murders. an american teen takes us inside the ruthless drug cartel he killed for starting at just 15 years old. we begin with the biggest forced doping story since lance armstrong. alex rodriguez, the highest paid number 5 on the all-time home run list signing autographs today. once denied using steroids then denied using them after 2003 now suspended for using them since

then, accused of doping and having ties to a south florida anti-aging clinic biogenesis. a-rod drew a 211 game suspension without pay and today spoke to reporters. >> i'm fighting for my life. i have to defend myself. if i don't defend myself no one else will. >> the suspension takes affect thursday. he can play during his appeal. he's playing tonight in chicago. joining us in a bristol, connecticut, and the lead reporter on the story since its developed over the past few weeks. jason, a rough day for alex rodriguez and major league baseball? >> reporter: absolutely without question. we saw alex rodriguez, he was evasive in terms of answering specific questions. specifically whether or not he used performance-enhancing drugs. he's denied it before. asked about it again tonight. said he wasn't going to get into

it and didn't want it to disrupt the process going on but he did talk about, anderson what this entire ordeal has been like for him. >> the last seven months has been a nightmare. it's been -- probably the worst time of my life, for sure. i am thrilled and humbled to have the opportunity to put on this uniform again. to play major league baseball again. >> well, as humble as she, major league baseball was very clear why they handed out a suspension releasing a statement spelling out the details saying the suspension is based on his use, rodriguez' use and possession of numerous forms of prohibited performance enhancing substances including testosterone and human growth hormone over the course

of multiple years and that he attempted to cover up the violation, anderson and obstruct their investigation. rodriguez, once again, repeatedly said he did not use performance-enhancing drugs and wants everyone to "take a deep breath and have a time-out" so the ordeal can play itself out. >> t.j., a lot of people thought coming in to today he would be given an ultimatum, accept suspension or ban him for life. are you surprised that wasn't the case? >> not really, anderson. all along it wasn't clear that baseball really believed it could have a lifetime ban upheld by an arbitrator. whatever suspension they brought, unless alex rodriguez agreed to something ahead of time, it was headed to arbitration. he said he was going to fight it. an arbitrator new on the job. replacing the longtime arbitrator fired from major league baseball to take an unprecedented step. baseball hasn't had a case like this before.

the longest suspension anybody had with a drug policy was 100 games. this more than doubles that. >> you've seen some of the evidence against a-rod. how strong is it, t.j.? >> reporter: well, when we saw it, it was compelling. my colleague mike fish and i from espn.com have been working on it since last summer. we obtained documents from the clinic. some written by tony bosch, the founder of the clinic hems. just that was pretty compelling but probably not enough to, for baseball to lower the kind of punishment they did. what they needed was more to corroborate the relationship. from all the sources we have spoken to, tony bosch provided far more than baseball expected. texts, e-mails, voice records, what they can prove was a long-standing relationship where bosch treated a-rod but, you know, individually, would go to his home to inject him and in addition which is what brings us this case you know, to the side

of all the -- remember, there were 12 other suspensions announced today. all accepted by players. they said his efforts to obstruct this investigation. >> how great do you think are his chances at fighting the suspension based on what you've seen? >> well, i mean, you -- based on baseball's labor history. based on what we've seen of the evidence, based on how the rest has been described to us, maybe you would have some success in reducing it, but you've got a player who's 38 years old, at as he described in press conference, surgeries on both hip, on his knee. struggling to hit single a pitching recently trying to come back. even 100 game suspension. 150 games which would be massive. bring him close to 40 years old when trying to get back on the field. he's looking at the end of his career, even if he's successful in reducing it, seems like his

best shot, he doesn't have much left. >> and then how do you think -- this changes the perception of him. reminded of your investigation into lance armstrong, denied doping for years before finally coming clean. do you think people will end up labeling rodriguez the same as armstrong? a liar and cheater? >> it's a different case. with lance, his level of believers was something else. people inspired by the story how he overcame cancer, to succeed the way he did. with a-rod, different. always a man without a country. he left seattle, went to texas with that huge contract. he never really fit in there. he went to the yankees, obviously, and he was never considered a real yankee. whatever that means. even with the 2009 world series. so it wasn't like he had this beloved fan base out there to begin with. then in 2009 he admits or confirms a report that he doped when he was younger. he said it was for a limited time. if anybody felt they could forgive him then, he's blown that up now. >> and to the point, he's been combative throughout this process. part of the press conference

tonight, what was he like? >> well, he was really subdued. no other way to say it. i would not say he was combative. at least in this particular outing. he was not. seemed he was really holding back emotions. kept saying repeatedly that he would be able to say more at a later time. kept saying repeatedly that he didn't want to disrupt the appeal process and wanted that to play out. i also found interesting, anderson, the reaction outside here. to rodriguez. i heard you talking about the fans. you saw him sign some autographs before the game got underway here tonight, but the overwhelming majority of the fans out here tonight, anderson, say it's time for rodriguez to hang up his hat. >> t.j., if the suspensions are upheld, how much money is this going cost him? >> well, if it's entire 211 games he's looking at -- the number of, a number of factors that kick in. about $34 million. it's no small chunk of change. >> wow. there's an advantage, incentive

for him -- on many level, incentive to get this whittled down? >> plenty incentive and incentive with the end of a suspension he serves to get back on the field. he's owed a total of close to $100 million from this massive contract he signed with the yankees. >> a lot of money on the table. t.j., jason, thank you. and digging deeper into the access athletes have with performance-enhancing drugs and have had for years. started as a bat boy for the new york mets, when federal agents showed up at his door in 2005, supplying to hundreds of athletes. he tells his story in a new book, "bases loaded." thanks for being here. what was your reaction to what happened today? >> no problem. it's typically rod's typical superstar mentality. fight, fight, fight and let the lawyers take care of it. >> fight because of the money? >> yes. definitely. because of the money and an ego. these guy, ego-driven.

that's why they're good at what they do. >> how easy is it to get around testing? if you know -- talking before the show started. if you know your body and understand the testing. >> if you know your body, understand the reactions to your body, they have the money and access to doctors, it's not that difficult. if you really want to do something to give you that edge, it's out there. plenty of people that will help you. do routine bloodwork every day as you're in the off-season. learn your level and how fast it gets out of your system. >> they are doing routine blood work every day? >> yes. you have to monitor it every day and see how long it lasts in your body. the shelf life. the drug. hgh, they have no ideas about and, nfl has a problem. everyone has it, and it's a great -- it's something that helps your body recover.

that's the main thing that these ballplayers want. >> it's reported that you actually helped major league baseball with this investigation. i don't know if you can say anything about it, what you did? >> yeah, well, me and major league baseball are never on the same page, but one of the investigators that i grew up with is now part of the team, and as, you know, courtesy of growing up in the bronx, he turned to me and i led him in the right directions. taught him what to look for, what not, how to approach things and it looks like it's working. >> when you watch a ball game now, can you, do you have a sense how many -- how widespread is this? >> it's got a lot, a lot better. since the '90s and early 2000s. the whole problem, growth hormone is a major factor that back in 2001 i started to change all of those guys back then using anabolics, the hgh itself. >> why were you encouraging them to go for hgh? >> healthier. not detectable.

>> doesn't show up in tests? >> olympics and stuff, tested. it's hard. something that doesn't leave markers. i'm not a scientist, not a doctor, but i know so many people that have tested for drugs and never caught with it. it's just something that helps recuperation. when you add anabolics, you grow the muscle. >> that's the testosterone? >> yes. that's why the biogenesis was big. he used testosterone. peptides is huge. >> what are peptides? how is that different? >> a compound, a couple different compound they have of, say, growth hormones of testosterone and not the compound. it's missing a couple of things. you inject in your body it's supposed to fill in the markers and acts the same way. doesn't leave the testosterone. >> to really crack down on this, do you have to some somebody who comes forward?

is testing enough or do you have to have somebody on the inside who comes forward? >> well, baseball's doing a good -- the reason baseball is where its at right now is the union finally and the players, which i applaud them, that they're coming forward saying, enough, now. and as long as the union doesn't get in the way of the testing, the testing program will work. and the game will be clean. will it ever be clean? no. because there's always the next guy, the next chemist finding things out. there's always going to be, but if the two work together. i mean the program they have should work a lot, lot better now because the union is not fighting as much. listen, there's some errors on testing and they did not fight. but blatant like this, 12 guys, didn't even fight it. >> what about others? the national football league? are they -- i did pieces for "60 minutes" on players using and it didn't seem like they were proactive in testing? >> no. and i've met some nfl play talked to players. their problem is growth hormone.

they're huge, these guys. need recuperation playing only once a week. it gives them time and it works. i mean, they're trying -- these blood tests and stuff. i mean, i can't see it working. i don't understand it from a chemical, but as i'm talking to people and i've taken growth hormones. i know people that pass tests all the time on it. >> as i said, you were -- feds came knocking on your door. did you ever think you would get caught? >> when you -- >> did it seem kind of easy at the time? >> growing up the way i did, in the bronx. when you do something wrong, sooner or later, your time runs out. just a matter of time, and in a way i did, like -- when i wrote my book i said it was a comfort and relief. because it got so big for me. players were telling other players and other players telling other players. >> dealing with so many. >> my phone would never stop and i was hiding it from everyone. the only people who knew i was doing what i was doing were the players themselves.

and i would never tell on another player. and i didn't tell my wife. i didn't tell anyone in my family. people were totally shocked. like a secret. finally when it came to light in a way, like a relief. >> interesting. kirk, i appreciate you being on. fascinating stuff. this were just about baseball or a celebrity with credibility problems it wouldn't be half the story it actually is. the rest what do deal with non-athletes and non-celebrities using the exact same drugs, longer lives, bigger muscles. how do they use it without the trouble the athletes get in? the answer is steroids. >> reporter: this is the body of a man who uses performance-enhancing drugs, virtually the same ones connected to lance armstrong. olympian marion jones and baseball player alex rodriguez. but this man is not a professional athlete. jeffrey is 74 with a rock, hard body and, he claims, a mental

sharpness of a man half his age. >> everyone's going to age. i'm not against aging. i'm against getting old. >> reporter: and he claims no one has to, with daily, rigorous workouts, a strict low-carb diet and injections of testosterone and human growth hormone or hgh. >> what we use it for, to improve health. to slow and prevent disease and to improve quality of life. i like to think i'm kind of blazing a trail for the baby boomer generation. >> reporter: a journey that dr. life, a family physician, began years ago. this was him before exercise and supplements. this is him today. >> how does this 74-year-old doctor keep looking younger and younger as he ages? the answer is the elite health program. >> reporter: it's a company that runs a chain of clinics calling itself the nation's largest age management group. part of the exploding anti-aging industry relying in part on testosterone and hgh. last year the company reported

they made $100 million in revenue. the anti-aging industry targets america's about 80 million baby boomers looking for any way to turn back the hands of tile. the food and drug administration regulates the use of hgh stressing the hormone is not an approved treatment for anti-aging. so how does the company not break any laws? by focusing on a natural loophole of sorts. the natural depletion of hormones as we age. >> we are all about correcting deficiencies and getting people up to a healthy level. >> reporter: he suffered from growth hormone deficiency one of the few reasons for taking hgh. he says patients go through a pituitary gland to meet fda regulations. they told him that was his problem, like all patient who is take the hormones, he says he is monitored and tested four times

a year for his testosterone and hgh intake and now feels like he's 40. that comes with a hefty price tag. all this can cost up to $15,000 a year. cash only. >> my health restored. whatever it costs me, it's worth it. >> reporter: if you think this is too good to be true, you're not alone. many doctors agree. saying, sure, there may be short-term gain but there will be long-term cost. >> it's a fallacy to say that even in low doses that these drugs are not harmful. >> reporter: this doctor, a professor of medicine at boston university school of medicine would not talk specifically about the company but is a vocal critic of the anticipate aging movement. >> giving growth hormone in particular for anti-aging is quackery. >> reporter: he says there are no reputable studies saying hormones don't age, and it could cause high blood pressure and even trigger cancer. >> what do you say to the medical community who says you're just selling a bunch of

vudu and this is potentially dangerous because it's so untested. >> we do not know what the long-term consequences are going to be with testosterone and hgh replacement therapy. >> reporter: what's wrong with just getting old? >> an argument a lot of doctors use. who wants to get old if you don't have to? >> reporter: if next year for some reason you get cancer, will you blame the supplements? >> no. i will not. >> reporter: he will continue to be the poster grandpa of a company and a movement that believes the riskier move is to turn away from this fountain of youth in dumbbells, diet and drugs. for cnn, las vegas. >> fascinating stuff. let us know what you think. up next, the threat behind the massive terror alert and whether it's a sign al qaeda is gaining strength yet again. the ugly aftermath of that deadly incident on california's venice beach. one killed, 15 hurt by car speeding down the boardwalk. [ ship horn blows ] no, no, no! stop! humans.

one day we're coming up with the theory of relativity, the next... not so much. but that's okay -- you're covered with great ideas like optional better car replacement from liberty mutual insurance. total your car and we give you the money to buy one a model year newer. learn about it at libertymutual.com. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? bob will retire when he's 153, which would be fine if bob were a vampire. but he's not. ♪ he's an architect with two kids and a mortgage. luckily, he found someone who gave him a fresh perspective on his portfolio. and with some planning and effort, hopefully bob can retire at a more appropriate age. it's not rocket science. it's just common sense. from td ameritrade.

welcome back. an answer to what got americans officials spooked about a terror attack. closing a string of embassy and why lawmakers on both sides of the aisles spent the weekend on tv talking about how credible they believe the threat to be. cnn learned the deciding factor

was a message from al zawahiri to the leader of the yemen peninsula telling him to, quote, do something. u.s. officials saying there may be several sources of related intelligence including electronic intercept, web postings and interrogating couriers. bottom line, alert still on. 19 embassies staying closed the rest of the week and questions growing about al qaeda's reach. talking about it with former fbi and cia former official and a terrorism analyst. paul, start with you. what do you make of the latest intelligence between al qaeda's top leaders saying, "do something." >> very, very concerning when you have the top leader of al qaeda sending a message it would appear to the leader of al qaeda to do something. not clear what that something was, whether it's something in yemen against embassies there or something in the region. clearly it's led to great concern from u.s. counterterrorism agencies. >> peter, the guy ahead in the

arabian peninsula, wahishi, how dangerous is he? >> the former secretary. hi he's part of the inner circle. you can determine al zawahiri he's reaching out. there is no one else to appoint. the leadership of al qaeda central has been decimated. that's really with a very weak or non-existent bench. so you could sort of make another interpretation of this reaching out to yemen that we are so weakened that we have to look around the world for somebody else to step up to the plate. that group itself is very weak in yemen, they've tried to do numerous attacks outside the country and they've never succeeded. >> there have been expanding drone strikes in yemen? >> yeah, they've devastated about 30 of the top leaders in

yemen senior operatives. unfortunately, they've yet to find the extremely capable bomb maker, but this bomb maker has not been able to implement any successful attack against an american target. >> and yet despite what peter is saying here, you do have this travel alert, you have all these embassy's closing. you heard a lot of politicians over the weekend saying, the chatter is reminiscent to the chatter we heard before 9/11. from what we found out about the communication chain today, does that seem right to you? does that seem to be compared to the same chatter before 9/11? >> i don't think it's related at all. we have a serious threat because of the credibility of the information. i think it's fair to go out, despite the vagueness of this, it's fair to go out and say, you need to take precautionary steps. compared to what i witnessed in 2001 and 2002 when i sat at the threat table at the cia. in fact in 2005,' 06,' 07 at the

threat table at the fbi, to be in washington as a politician, and to screw americans into the ceiling about a threat that's comparable to pre--9/11, i don't buy it. we ought to be concerned but don't overreact. >> you hear president obama saying al qaeda is on its heels. i think that's the quote. do you believe that's still the case? is one interpretation, that peter -- one idea that peter forwarded, is that this is a sign of desperation on the part of al qaeda central, trying to tell al qaeda in the arabian peninsula to do something? is that your read on it? >> my read is that al qaeda is on a long decline, but americans perspective of time is short. we measure time in this country in terms of months, years. al qaeda, when i talked to people debriefing al qaeda detainees, al qaeda talks about time in decades and centuries. the decline is very slow. there will be episodic threats that we're seeing today. we should not confuse that, though, with the resurgence of the al qaeda organization.

>> so, paul, the white house today wouldn't say whether the u.s. homeland was a potential target. was that out of an abundance of caution? or wouldn't we be seeing amped up security here if that's the case? >> i think so, there's no indication from the administration that the u.s. homeland is a target. the epicenter of this threat seems to be in yemen and beyond that in the middle east. and south asia. >> peter, if benghazi hadn't happened, do you think the u.s. government would have responded the same way this time? closing all the embassies for this period of time? >> i mean, do we -- the thought experiment is, benghazi hadn't happened, clearly this reaction would be different. i mean, no one wants to sit at some congressional witness, you know, table describing an attack that could have been averted because there was information in the system. everybody -- the state department itself is saying, in an abundance of caution, we're closing these embassies. that doesn't mean there's some ultraspecific threat against 19

different facilities that are closed over the coming week. without benghazi, the reaction, i think, would be very different. the political costs of benghazi to the obama administration, as you know, was very, very large. and that is the political context here. >> and, phil, what happens now? does the u.s. wait this out? does the threat go away? at some point the embassies reopen? >> this is fascinating. from someone who once sat in the chair. when we're going to remember from yellow to orange back in '03, '04, '05, we used to sit there and watch the threat matrix drive us, to escalate the threat warning. and then you'd say, how do we get out of this, in this case, something we haven't talked about, the american government has said, at the end of august, the travel warnings will expire. that's the american government saying, we're not sure whether we can mitigate this strength, we're not sure whether this will

decline, we want a way out, and the way out is to say, there's an end date on the threat. >> appreciate you being on. thank you. up next a bride on her honeymoon killed. several others injured, a man plows a car into a popular california boardwalk packed with people. all of it caught on tape. the latest investigation ahead. a 360 exclusive, two americans, drug cartel assassins talked how they were recruited to kill. >> in all how many people did you kill? >> no idea. >> no idea? you lost track? >> yes. >> could you guess? talking 10, 20, 30 -- 50? >> basically 20 or 30. and i am so thankful to angie's list for bringing us together. find out why more than two million members count on angie's list. angie's list -- reviews you can trust.

wyuu1 0

welcome back. the man shown in surveillance video being held on a $1 million bond after using is this car as a high speed weapon on the venice boardwalk. video shows minutes before the deadly rampage. a newlywed on her honeymoon was killed. more than a dozen other people injured. it happened around 6:00 saturday evening. arguably, the worst possible time. the boardwalk was packed with tourists and residents out on sunset strolls. the timing and what witnesses told police raise the obvious question -- did the suspect plot the attack to inflict maximum damage? we have the report. >> reporter: surveillance video taken from a nearby restaurant shows the suspect's

car plowing into people on the crowded venice boardwalk and swerving around barriers. >> he just drove and took that left turning down the board walk. just started flying. bodies were scattering and bodies were flying in the air. people were screaming and it was absolute mayhem. >> reporter: a second camera angle shows the driver getting out of his car apparently casing the popular board walk. he gets back into the sedan and floors it. >> he had to have pressed his foot to the gas pedal -- pedal to the metal. his tires started screeching. i saw him, and he was looking for blood. that guy was -- that guy's intention was to kill people. >> an italian tourist on her honeymoon was killed and 15 others injured in a scene a quarter-mile long. police say that all of the wounded have been released from the hospital. and the suspect, 38-year-old nathan campbell of los angeles has been charged with murder. just two hours after this horrifying hit and run, campbell surrendered to police in neighboring santa monica.

police said he told them, i think you're looking for me. the woman killed, 32 years old from italy. the italian consulate says she and her husband were married july 20th, and that the new groom was by her side at the time of the accident and tried to pull his wife away from the speeding car. if there is a motive in this carnage, police aren't sighing saying right now, but they did say that campbell was bent on evil. paul vercammen, cnn, los angeles. >> that's unbelievable. there's a lot more we're following tonight. isha is here with a "360" bulletin. john mccain and lindsey graham are in cairo to meet with egypt's interim leaders as well as muslim brotherhood leaders. president obama asked the senators to make the trip. graham said the egyptian military can't keep running the country and pushed for democratic elections. several thousand supporters of morsi marched through downtown

cairo today, calling for him to be reinstated. republican national committee chairman rhys previous is threatening to keep nbc and cnn from hosting republican primary debates in 2016 unless the networks cancel upcoming specials about hillary clinton. both cnn and nbc say they will move forward with the special. and, anderson, meet the world's first stem cell burger. complements of london scientists. it took years of research and $330,000 to develop. volunteers said it's close to meat, but not really juicy. it needs fat, salt and pepper. the university researchers who invented it says he hopes it will hopefully put an end to animal cruelty. you are a fussy eater. i should ask you. would you -- >> sure. why not? i don't know. yeah. i, too, need fat, salt and pepper. >> you may be looking in the wrong place in that case.

>> isha, thanks very much. just ahead, what ariel castro's family salvaged from his house before demolition. plus a "360" exclusive. fascinating. first face-to-face interview with two american teenagers describing how they became hit men for the mexican cartel. one just 13 when he became a paid killer. >> i couldn't believe what i was seeing. people getting tortured, killed, decapitated. the usual, bob? not today. [ male announcer ] bob has afib: atrial fibrillation not caused by a heart valve problem, a condition that puts him at greater risk for a stroke. [ gps ] turn left. i don't think so. [ male announcer ] for years, bob took warfarin, and made a monthly trip to the clinic to get his blood tested. but not anymore. bob's doctor recommended a different option: once-a-day xarelto®. xarelto® is the first and only once-a-day prescription blood thinner for patients with afib not caused by a heart valve problem,

that doesn't require routine blood monitoring. like warfarin, xarelto® is proven effective to reduce the risk of an afib-related stroke. there is limited data on how these drugs compare when warfarin is well managed. no routine blood monitoring means bob can spend his extra time however he likes. new zealand! xarelto® is just one pill a day, taken with the evening meal. and with no dietary restrictions, bob can eat the healthy foods he likes. do not stop taking xarelto® rivaroxaban without talking to the doctor who prescribes it for you. stopping may increase your risk of having a stroke. get medical help right away if you develop any signs or symptoms of bleeding, like unusual bruising or tingling. you may have a higher risk of bleeding if you take xarelto® with aspirin products, nsaids or blood thinners. talk to your doctor before taking xarelto® if you currently have abnormal bleeding. xarelto® can cause bleeding, which can be serious, and rarely may lead to death. you are likely to bruise more easily on xarelto®, and it may take longer for bleeding to stop.

tell your doctors you are taking xarelto® before any planned medical or dental procedures. before starting xarelto®, tell your doctor about any conditions, such as kidney, liver or bleeding problems. ready to change your routine? ask your doctor about once-a-day xarelto®. for more information including cost support options, call 1-888-xarelto or visit goxarelto.com. in the paula deen case, tonight the latest. just ahead.

tonight a "360" exclusive. chilling is an overused word, but this story warrants it. you're about to see why. in 2009, we reported on child assassins. american teenagers acting as hit men for a mexican cartel. unbelievable, but it was very real.

two teenagers are now serving life sentences. they sat down with ed lavandera for their first face-to-face interviews. here's what they told him. >> reporter: look into the eyes of gabrielle, you see a babe baby faced 26-year-old, and then he blinks and you see something else. another set of sinister eyes staring back. these tattoos on his eyelids. these eyes are a window into the soul of a drug cartel assassin. >> in all, how many people did you kill? >> no idea. >> no idea? you lost track? >> so out of the world, man, when you're in mexico. >> could you guess, are we talking 10, 20, 30, 50? >> between 20 and 30. >> reporter: gabriel says he was 15 years old when a cartel recruited him to kill. he was part of a secret crew of hit men made up of american teenagers living in laredo, texas. along with this man retta. they spoke from texas prisons where they're serving life

sentences for murder. they both say they worked for miguel angel trevino. the ruthless, violent leader of a drug cartel recently arrested in mexico. >> i know this man. he's not going to tell you to do something if he won't do it, and that's why a lot of people followed him. >> how much control do you think he had of nuevo laredo? >> absolute control. >> reporter: he was 13 years old when two friends brought him to nuevo laredo, just across the border from texas. his friends took him to a ranch on the outskirts of town. he said what he saw changed his life forever. in an instant he went from being a 13-year-old to a killer. >> we pulled up, i couldn't believe what i was seeing. people getting tortured, killed, decapitated. it was kind of hard to believe. i knew that day my life had just changed forever.

>> reporter: he then says an argument broke out. miguel trevino wanted to know why retta was there. trevino handed him a gun, they stood over a man tied up on the ground. >> what did they tell you to do? >> to kill that person. i have to do it. what other option do i have? if i don't do it, i know what's going to happen to me. >> reporter: and then after did you it, you shot him? >> yes, sir. >> reporter: how many times? >> multiple times. >> reporter: a 13-year-old assassin was born. >> the first day i had to take somebody's life, that's a day i'm never going to forget. after that i had no life. >> reporter: but you kept on killing after the first time at that ranch? >> i had to. >> reporter: that's what a lot of people don't understand. that's what retta says now. in this police interrogation video, the young killer relished the deadly power he wielded.

he bragged to a laredo police detective, that killing made him feel like superman, taking the gun out of his hand was like taking candy from a kid. how in the world did it come to this for two american teens? cardona and retta grew up here on lincoln street, a few blocks away from the mexican border. this is the neighborhood where they became friends. like many people around here, they each had families on both sides of the border in mexico and the united states. they could easily move back and forth between both sides. and as it turns out, that's exactly what the zettas drug cartel was looking for. as a teenager, he started stealing cars and selling them in mexico, then he started carrying drugs and weapons across the border, working his way up the cartel ranks to become a hit man. cardona dropped out of school in ninth grade. >> it was great. >> reporter: did you feel like you could do whatever you wanted? you were untouchable?

>> yeah, it gives you that sense. you can do whatever without being touched or having that sense of power. >> reporter: he says cartel leaders supplied him with thousands of dollar as week, a mercedes and a house. the money was seductive and intoxicating for these teens who came from the ram shackled steets streets of a texas border town. >> reporter: you enjoyed the money, but did you enjoy the killing? >> we did enjoy the money. >> you don't enjoy what you're doing. >> it didn't seem to bother you that much? >> no. >> reporter: cardona and retta say they would wait for the phone to ring. a cartel member would give them a name and they went hunting. killing one rival in this car while the victim's wife and child watched. each time these men say they were paid 5,000 to $10,000, sometimes more, depending on how big the target was. >> did you think you were the king of the town?

>> at that time, you never think it's going to end because it keeps on doing. >> reporter: eventually laredo police caught up to them. arrested in a raid. the other turned himself into american authorities. >> i couldn't take it anymore. that's one of the risks i took. that i just couldn't take it anymore. it was real hard for me. i couldn't risk my life. >> it's fascinating to hear. they donl seem to show much remorse at ul except maybe for themselves. >> i expected to hear from them, when ever they would carry out the assassinations, they were well trained. both of them said there wasn't a lot of planning. they would get a call, get a name then go find the person. they weren't trailing the person. i think that should offer a lot

of pause to people. it's where innocent bystanders can be gunned down by accident, cases of misidentity. the other thing that stood out is they get what is essentially fan mail, young men who write to him asking how he got into the world, fascinated by it all, asking for recommendations and making connections for him out there in that world. that should leave a lot of people with pause as well. >> one guy smiling as he recounts the murders. paula deen's empire is safe from a would be extortionist trying to get a quarter million dollars from the chef. so much for that. thank you i think we should get a medicare supplement insurance plan. right now? [ male announcer ] whether you're new to medicare or not, you may know it only covers about 80% of your part b medical expenses. it's up to you to pay the difference.

so think about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement insurance plans, they help cover some of what medicare doesn't pay. i did a little research. with a medicare supplement plan, you'll be able to stay with your doctor. oh, you know, i love that guy. mm-hmm. [ male announcer ] these types of plans let you visit any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients. and there are no networks. is this a one-size-fits-all kind of thing? no. there are lots of plan options. it all depends on what we need and how much we want to spend. [ male announcer ] call now to request your free decision guide. it could help you find an aarp medicare supplement plan that's right for you. what happens when we travel? the plans go with us. anywhere in the country. i like that. you know what else? unitedhealthcare insurance company has years and years of experience. what do you say? ♪

i'm in. [ male announcer ] join the millions already enrolled in the only medicare supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp. remember, all medicare supplement plans help cover some of what medicare doesn't pay and could really save you in out-of-pocket medical costs. you'll be able to choose your own doctor or hospital as long as they accept medicare patients. and with these plans, there could be low or no copays. you do your push-ups today? prepare to be amazed. [ male announcer ] don't wait. call today to request your free decision guide and find the aarp medicare supplement plan to go the distance with you. go long.

let's get caught up on some of the other stories we're following. isha sesay joins us again with a "360" bulletin. isha? a man in pennsylvania killed three. several others critically wounded in ross township about 75 miles north of philadelphia. the gunman is in custody. the motive is unknown. >> a man has signed a plea agreement with federal

prosecutors. "allegedly gave threatening statements unless he was paid $250,000. no details on the terms of the deal. relatives of aerial castro removed musical instruments, tools and other items from the convicted kidnapper's house in west cleveland ahead of its scheduled demolition later this week. over the weekend, one of his captives, gina dejesus made a surprise appearance at a cleveland's puerto rican parade. >> isha, thanks. ed you to eat more fiber. chewy, oatie, gooeyness... and fraudulence. i'm in deep, babe. you certainly are. [ male announcer ] fiber one.

time now for the complex and confounding world license plates the system by which certain ones are rejected. our affiliate in tampa did an expose on this chock full of amazing examples of license plates that didn't quite make the cut. >> cu-nhel. rejected. rejected. sun safe, approved, but gun play, rejected. >> interesting.

i get the idea they don't want people in florida driving around with cu-nhel on license plates but these are trickier. >> what do you think about these plates? old fart and horn man. >> old fart, probably yes. >> got it backwards. old fart rejected. horn man approved. >> horn man, good. old fart, bad. got it? >> how about these? >> big turd and big jonson. >> big jonson approved. big turd rejected. >> i would reject big johnson. >> big johnson was approved by the state. >> who wants to drive around with that on your plate? there are a bunch of unique and some questionable license plates in the district of florida. >> see food on a save humanity. krakhed and i'm a spy.

help 2 p, possibly belonging to a yurologist. >> i don't want to think about that one. what's coming, play the "seinfeld" clip. you remember. i know do you. >> i got my new plates. somebody got mine and i got their plates. what do they say? >> assman. i'm cosmo kramer, the assman. >> can i help you? >> yeah. dr. assmo kramer. proctology. >> oh. okay. sure. >> thanks. have a good day. >> i wonder if that would have made it past the florida committee? and someone like you i could have a new start. >> well -- whoa. whoa. did you see my license plate? >> and so tobias, hoping to straighten out his image set out an a new start.

>> think about it for a minute, i'm sure you'll get it. here's to you, florida's department of highway safety motor vehicle. thank you for doing what you do. keeping the streets safe from big turds and old farts. we salute you. that's it for us. thanks for watching. "early start" begins now. breaking news overnight. three people killed, four more hurt when a gunman opens fire on a pennsylvania town meeting. terror threat. new information about the al qaeda plot that shut down more than a dozen u.s. embassies and consulates. who is behind it and how it was uncovered. >> the last seven months has been a nightmare, has been probably the worst time of my life. >> a nightmare for a-rod. the yankee's slugger suspended from hundreds of games.