Inviting us. Fair, balanced and unafraid. Greta goes on the record right now. Right now an American Marine who served two tours in afghanistan is in a mexican prison. Frightened and terrified. And only on the record is taking you there. Were investigating, retracing Sergeant Andrews roots taking you along the identical roads he traveled the night he was arrested at the border. We are now live at the u. S. Mexican border. And we are just back from two days at the mexican prison where we were ready to interview the marine andrew. He wanted to talk with us. His mother and his lawyer wanted to talk to us. Even prison officials said we could interview the sergeant in the prison. But after we waited outside the prison for two full days, other prison officials decided to keep us out. Refusing to let us interview him. We are with the marines
mother and she got into the prison for a family visit to see her son face to face. More on our investigation. Our interview with the marines mother jill tam resty. Jill, you went inside today . I did. I did, greta. Is this the first time you have been to this prison. This is the first time. Andrew was in la mesa the first time i seen him april 14th. You have seen him since april 14th . No, i havent. But you get phone calls from him. Yes, i do. Tell me what happened. Take me stepbystep. You went inside the prison Security Check . Many Security Checks. First time experience. I was strip searched. It was a female officer in a private booth, but i had to completely strip down. I take it the woman was polite to you during the strip search. Yes. It was humiliating experience. I wasnt prepared for that but i was willing to do that in order that i could see my
son. So its not ever about me. Its about trying to gain his freedom back. So once i went through all of that, then there was an englishspeaking military guard or prison guard who escorted me through. And so then andrew was in this big open, like a gymnasium, i would call it, but not with gym equipment. So i saw andrew. Saw him from how far away . So it was a huge like gymnasium. So he was in the back. Alone or were there others . No. All by himself with about six or seven guards that i could count. He had six or seven guards . Yes. So in his proximity were six or seven guards. All the attention on your son . Yes, yes, yes, yes. No one else was there . No one else. A wig open gym. And so then they told him he could approach me. And he didnt have any shackles on but, you know, like a mother does, started looking at him from head to tow. I noticed he had red marks on his wrist. And i thought is that from
the shackles . He was shackles in 35 days from la mesa. He said, no, no, no. They just took these off. Wherever he was in his private cell they had to shackle him to get him to the open gym to see me. He wasnt shackled when i saw him. What was the first thing you said to him . So we hugged, we hugged. He said thanks so much for coming out. How does he pass the day . He told me today he sleeps a lot. I mean, its hard to maintain your positivity and your will, so he is sleeping a lot. But he says he tries to exercise and the portions are very very scant. So he is hungry most of the time. He had hoped that i would bring him food. And we did try it bring him food but they wouldnt let us bring any food into the prison. I had the food in my bag but they wouldnt let us bring it in. What were you trying to bring in . I was trying to bring in apples, fresh fruit, sandwiches, protein turkey to build him up, but i wasnt able to do that i was able to get him some more he only had one pair of pants. There is a bucket in his cell where he is he expected to wash his one pair of pants. So thank god i was able to bring him another pair of pants. So he have a pair of pants to change into while he tries to lawnder his other one. And i was able to bring him two books. What did he say about the way he is kept . He is in a single cell . Much improved from la mesa where he felt he was going to be executed by the general populace and his life threatened. Now, at least, he is in a private section where i didnt see it but he tells me there are 10 cells but they are all empty. He is the only one housed in this section. There is always a guard there. Outside his cell . He is just sitting
outside his cell looking at him. Yes, yes. One of the things always of concern when i used to practice law solitary confinement is a horrible punitive measure. Does he very a sense does he very that sort of frustration of being held alone or some what are the conditions . He hassen appreciation for the solitude right now because his life was threatened in la mesa by prisoners. And so he just knees to stay alive so that he can eventually have freedom. So i think he feels secure with not being around general populace. He is not a criminal. He made a mistake. Made a wrong turn. He said at the border i have got guns. I dont want to be here. I want to go home. He doesnt want to be with criminals. He is not a criminal. He does have access in that area to a phone call. So im always just so relieved when at least i am able to talk to him almost
on a daily basis he calls collect. And then i talk to him about everything thats being done to build his hope up so that he doesnt feel abandoned and hopeless. He wants to tell the american public, you know, what he is going through and how he is fighting for his freedom and please dont forget about him because he has he feels abandoned. Other than the legislators that are writing letters and there are plenty of legislators writing letters on his behalf. His attorney has not give him any promise of any immediate or even shortterm relief. So as you got up to leave what did you say to your son . We always pray and we always put everything back that gods hands to continue to protect andrew and to protect the officers and the jail that are protecting andrew. And just pray that, you know, well get that miraculous relief soon back to freedom. Of course, all of america is
supporting him. I tell him about the whitehouse. Gov petition because thats the only hope i have that the white house will acknowledge that andrew is in prison because that is a mechanisms if i get this 100 signatures. It requires the white house to respond. Even if its just we know andrew is in prison. To be able to tell him that his commander and chief. Is he still a marine. He is an inactive reservist until 2016. Grsh his commander and chief is president obama. I havent heard from president obama. If you could sign that white house dotted gov petition. I will get a response from the white house about andrews freedom. As i listen to you talk, i think what if he didnt have a mother . What if he didnt have a mother determined to come here and pound pavement. You wonder what would happen to most americans. I cant even imagine. I could only think they would literally be buried in this system. Its a foreign country. Its a foreign prison. Its a foreign legal system we still dont understand our rights and legal representation. What is still being asked of him by his legal representative we dont agree with not what we would do in america. Is he so frightened because i chose a mexican lawyer that i thought would be best for him one that there wasnt a language barrier. There is so much difference. Whats the story with the different statements that he has made are there some inconsistencies . Yes. What happened . He was directed on what to say. Not the part about getting lost and making a wrong turn. He was directed what to say. What do you mean . He got lost, made a wrong turn and ended up in mexico. Telling everybody that he had three guns thats in his statement. But what the attorney directed him to say was andrew, you dont know this system here. Have you got to trust me. We have got to make this simple and short. Youre going to say you just got here as if it sounded like you got here yesterday and. He Court Reporter that he had been to mexico for the first time. That he has never been to mexico. Did he correct that at some point. He has asked the lawyer to meet correct it because, when i got the phone call, greta, i got the phone call after he disclosed that false statement and he said mom, what lawyer did you get for me because he just made me lie . I said what do you mean he made you lie . He told me i had to say that i had just gotten here and i have never been to mexico and thats what i have to say and i said well im going to call him right now. Did i call him up and i said
what do you mean you told my son to lie . Its the whole truth, nothing but the truth so help you god. My son has nothing that would incriminate him what dlt you are lawyer say when you said that. This is america. We dont practice common law. We practice civil law. What did that have to do with the false statement. Everything is going to be about oral arguments. And the prosecutors arent going to trace back any records because i he said to i said to the attorney on the phone, and i emailed him and i said, its a lie. I said im pulling up his bank account right now. I can see can i see one time that he was in tijuana. I said certainly the prosecutors are going to get that. All right. One of the suspicions quite naturally would be whether or not he was trying to sell the guns in mexico or whether or not he was running drugs or something. Do you know his financial situation . Absolutely. When he got out of marine corps in november of 2012, active duty. He had more money than i did. He had 100,000 between a savings and his checking account. But andrew would not sell his weapons for any price because that was his selfdefense thats like a carpenter that carries a hammer. And a plumber that carries a rotor rooter. A marine owho served four years, four years in the combat duty in the Helmand Province as a 50 caliber gunner, biggest gun on the battlefield. He carried his gun for a purpose. And thats because it was selfdefense. It was u. S. Legal purchased. Second amendment right to carry firearms. He needed those firearms for his own sense of security. He never, not for any price would he have sold those guns he does not have the profiler of someone who needs to sell their weapons. There is natural love and sons will believe well always believe the best is there any suspicion at all that he is involved in any sort of drug running or i mean, just like step out a little bit. Is there anything he could have been doing he . Hasnt been arrested for any drug charges but this is a drug, you know, corridor. Absolutely clean whistle. Except for the fact that i started noticing him drinking vodka he wasnt reliant on that substance on alcohol. Was he ever arrested before . Never. Never . No conviction . Never n. Never, never, never. Never. Never. Meritoriously promoted on the battlefield just two years ago. In afghanistan . In afghanistan. And that is a very rare accomplishment. When he was in afghanistan and developed ptsd his car hit an ied . I believe one of many. One of many very violent
situations was that the the m rap that got blown up in the ied. He was the driver and got the most impact. They all walked away. It was the drivers side this was the worse. They all walked away. He also has a huge scar on the back of his head where he fell off of an m rat actually hit his head going back next to one. Hit his head on the way down on another mrat and out cold. So my husband always said angie, you need a brain scan. We think you have traumatic brain injury. Maybe that explains why you are agitated and anxious. You think you are under some kind of surveillance. Zu this hyper vigilance for selfdefense. You are starting to drink. Lets go get a brain scan. He was finally getting help march 12th at the v. A. Had he ever sort of waived since the time he came back from afghanistan, did he ever use his guns in a threatening way . Once in may, i want to say it was may 2013, there
were no charges. In the family home, he always carried his concealed weapon it was always in the back of his pants or in his pocket. My daughters boyfriend at the time. They got into an altercation. I dont know what it was about. But there was very he felt very threatened. He actually pulled his 45, but it wasnt loaded for selfdefense. He literally felt like he was gonna i know this gentleman had a knife. I dont know if it was in view or not. So anyway, yes, he did pull in his home his 45. And so, of course, the police came. I have that documented record cchings called incident record because there were no charges. When he felt his life was threatened that may 2013, he did pull out his 45 but the incident documents it wasnt loaded. And were going to take you back to mexico. Were going to travel the identical route the marine took. You will see firsthand how he ended ups croing the border and you will only see it right heres on the record continues live from the u. S. Mexican border next. Ameriprise asked people a simple question can you keep your lifestyle in retirement . I dont want to think about the alternative. I dont even know how to answer that. I mean, no one knows how long their money is going to last. I try not to worry, but you worry. What happens when your paychecks stop . Because everyone has retirement questions. Ameriprise created the exclusive confident retirement approach. To get the real answers you need. Start building your confident retirement today. [ male announcer ] since we began, mercedesbenz has pioneered many breakthroughs. Breakthroughs in design. Breakthroughs in safety. In engineering. And technology. And now our latest creation breaks one more barrier. Presenting the cla. Starting at 29,900. Starting at 29,900. Nowchoose one option fromith red lothe woodfire grill,trios one signature shrimp dish, and a pasta. All on one plate. Three delicious choices. All for 15. 99 for a limited time only come sea food differently today when folks think about wthey think salmon and energy. But the energy bp produces up here creates Something Else as well jobs all over america. Engineering and innovation jobs. Advanced Safety Systems technology. Shipping and manufacturing. Across the United States, bp supports more than a quarter million jobs. When we set up operation in one part of the country, people in other parts go to work. Thats not a coincidence. Its one more part of our commitment to america. For 175 dollars a month . So our business can be on at ts network yup. All five of you for 175. Our clients need a lot of attention. Theres unlimited talk and text. Were working deals all day. You get 10 gigabytes of data to share. What about expansion potential . Add a line anytime for 15 bucks a month. Low dues. Great terms. Lets close. New at t mobile share value plans. Our best value plans ever for business. We do . I took the trash out. I know. And thank you so much for that. I think we should get a Medicare Supplement insurance plan. Right now . [ male announcer ] whether youre new to medicare or not, you may know it only covers about 80 of your part b medical expenses. Its 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 doesnt pay and could really save you in outofpocket medical costs. Call now. With a Medicare Supplement plan, youll be able to stay with your doctor. Oh, you know, i love that guy. Mmhmm. [ male announcer ] these types of plans let you visit any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients. And there are no networks. You do your pushups today . Prepare to be amazed. [ male announcer ] dont wait. Call today to request your free decision guide
and find the aarp Medicare Supplement plan to go the distance with you. Go long. Were coming live to you from the u. S. Mexican border. We just spent two days at the mexican prison where American Marine andrew is being detained. He is accused of illegally possesses guns in mexico. Guns in his car as he drove over the border. He says he lawfully possessed those guns in the United States. Never intended to drive it into mexico. Just made a wrong turn. How can that happen . We went to the scene to investigate here is tijuana. Here is where people go to party. A quarter of a mile away. Here is where everybody parks. You park your car and then you go over to tee within a any to party. On the night of march 31st, the sergeant came out of here. Wanted to go back to san diego. So he pulls out and san diego is that direction. So naturally you are going to look for a turn in that direction. As he pills out, it looks at the sign mexico only. Thats not illuminated sign and only is rather faded. The other sign over here which says mexico only no usa there is graffiti over the usa. Not familiar with the area its really easy to make the wrong turn. If you want to go to san diego. If you go that direction, you are going to end up in mexico. The sergeant after he made the left turn to presumably return to san diego. He actually got routed into mexico. If you look there is all these lanes with barricades and the only option you have to get into the return to the u. S. Lane is if you can go over to that far left lane. But, he had all those barricades that he couldnt wouldnt allow him to get into that lane. So he drove in his lane. And its now the far right lane. If he wanted it return to the United States, he would have to get to the far left
lane. But its impossible with all these barricades. So there was no option but to drive into mexico. There was no option to make a uturn. And to show you how complicated it is to make the roads around there. We decided to drive the marines route ourselves. Were making the freeway entrance and we are north of the point where sergeant picked up the freeway idea what his options were freeway coming upon it we are headed south. We are headed towards mexico. And im going to get over into the far left lane. Because its only the far left lane where im going to have an option to turn around there is a reason why we didnt make the same turn as the sergeant did. And recreate it just exactly. Because if we had made his contact turn, we would have ended up in mexico, which is why we went a little bit north so that we could then get on the freeway and get over to the far left side. He just couldnt do that
making the turn he did. We are coming right up to where he got on. Right beyond this shrubbery. All right. Im staying in the left lane because i want to return to the u. S. A. You can see the return usa sign. And so i can stay in the left lane. But he is over here to the right. He cant get over here to the left lane im in so he can make the uturn. This is the only lane that you can make this uturn but you can see how he has got to cross which would be impossible all these barricades. This is where the uturn is right here. Im making the uturn. He co