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Obama Speaks About Massacre; Afghan Reaction To Massacre; GOP Dead Heat in Deep South; Teen Allegedly Shot By Watch Captain; Panetta: Suspect To Face Military Justice; Former Editor Arrested In Hacking Probe; Using Homeless As Hotspots For Wifi; Doobie Brothers Drummer Dies; Study: Retirement Saving Remains Low

Aired March 13, 2012 - 14:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: I am sitting in for Brooke today. I want to catch everyone up on the top stories making news. "Rapid fire." Let's go.

A soldier accused of murdering civilians in Afghanistan is not talking to authorities and he may be facing the ultimate punishment, too, execution, if he's found guilty of the crime. That's according to our defense secretary, Leon Panetta. But earlier today the president promised a thorough investigation when he made his first public comments about the mass killings.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The United States takes this as seriously as if it was our own citizens and our own children who were murdered.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: We have more new information coming on the suspect in just a few moments.

In the meantime, President Obama is also talking trade rights today and trying to level the playing field with China. Big sticking point? Beijing's restrictions on something called rare earth elements. They're used in green product and high-tech products, too.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: We want our companies building those products right here in America. But to do that, American manufacturers need to have access to rare earth materials, which China supplies. Now, if China would simply let the market work on its own, we'd have no objections. But their policies currently are forbidding that from happening. And they go against the very rules that China agreed to follow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: The U.S., the European Union and Japan have joined up to ask the World Trade Organization to intervene on this one.

Will the Federal Reserve rock the boat on interest rates? We're going to find out in about 10 minutes' time. But even if the rates stay near zero, investors are going to be keeping a close eye on the Fed's report to see if there's any kind of clue as to its strategy for the next few months.

That is the scene. Explosions, heavy shelling continuing in Homs in Syria despite opposition activists declaring today as a day of mourning across the city. They were asking for businesses and schools to close and for the street to be blocked. In the meantime, 36 people killed by security forces an opposition group is claiming. The United Nations General Assembly, though, is saying that more than 8,000 people have now been killed in this conflict and many of them are women and children.

Take a look at your screen. Delta Airlines, a jet veering off the runway. It had a couple of problems braking it seems, skidding off the taxiway in Atlanta. Ready for this one? Brakes on a plane. I said it. Luckily, no passengers on board, no injuries, but the plane does have some pretty significant damage they are attending to.

Also, airline passengers stranded as Direct Air canceled flights out of the blue. About 50 people stuck last flight at a local airport in Florida and the passengers are ticked.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People were very upset because they weren't giving us any information, and they still haven't. We can't get through to the lines or anything. And there's no one here today to help us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They don't answer the phone. And I think I've talked to one person in probably a dozen phone calls.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did that person tell you anything?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Well, CNN has just received a statement right from Direct Air. Direct from Direct Air, you might say. And they're saying that all flights are suspended until mid-May. They're calling it operational matters and that passengers with reservations should contact their credit card companies to get refunds if they so choose.

OK, so, lose your smartphone? Kiss it and your privacy goodbye. According to a new study, and this ain't pleasant, there's an 89 percent chance that whoever finds your phone is going to snoop through your private info. We're talking e-mail, photos, FaceBook, even your bank account. And what's worse, the study says there's only a 50 percent chance that the finder is going to return it to you. So, good lesson, lock your smartphone, friends.

Happening now. The prosecution in a suburban Atlanta murder trial is giving its closing arguments. Here's the story. The defendant is Hemy Newman. He's charged with killing businessman Rusty Sneiderman. And are you ready for where? The parking lot of Sneiderman's son's daycare. Newman has pleaded not guilty and he's using the insanity defense. His lawyers continuously suggesting that the victim's widow has a connection to this murder.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOUG PETERS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Andrea has said two things. Andrea Sneiderman has said two things. Number one, I didn't have an affair. Number two, I didn't manipulate Hemy. Now I suggest to you that it's up to you to decide who's telling the truth in this case. And you don't leave your common sense at home when you're trying to understand this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: The prosecution says that Newman is faking his mental illness symptoms. Something called malingering. The case is expected to be handed off to the jury sometime later on today.

The former editor of Rupert Murdoch's British tabloid "News Of The World" has been arrested, again -- it's the second time -- in connection with a phone hacking investigation. The former editor Rebekah Brooks was among six people arrested on suspicion of conspiracy. Her husband, Charlie Brooks, also arrested according to reports from "The Wall Street Journal" and "Sky News". "News Of The World" was accused of a wide-spread phone hacking last year. Ultimately the paper shut down in July.

We're getting some new information about the American soldier who was accused of just storming into homes and murdering innocent families, kids involved, in Afghanistan. That Army sergeant now refusing to talk. Protests are breaking out as well. We're going to take you to Kabul and to the Pentagon, coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: The Army sergeant held in Afghanistan for a brutal mass murder is refusing to talk to the interrogators. He is unnamed as of now, but he is a sergeant and he has been moved to Kandahar. It's about 15 miles, give or take, from the scene of the killings in the Afghan district called Panjwai. A military source tells CNN, the alleged killer is invoking his right against self-incrimination, but he could face the death penalty in all of this. And we're going to talk about that in just a moment.

But in the meantime, far away in Jalalabad today, hundreds of Afghans burning a U.S. soldier in effigy. The demonstration was pretty much peaceful. But a fierce spike in anti-American violence have not yet occurred. There is concern, however.

And near the scene of Sunday's killings, a memorial service today for the 16 victims was attacked by insurgents on motorbikes. Several Afghan soldiers were wounded.

You want to make sure you stick around as well because we've got a reporter in Afghanistan on standby to look into that story as well. But want to take you to Washington to start this story, where the president spoke just a short time ago. Once again, he's assuring Afghanistan that justice in this case will be served. And he called Sunday's attacks outrageous.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: It's not who we are as a country, and it does not represent our military. And for that reason, I've directed the Pentagon to make sure that we spare no effort in conducting a full investigation. I can assure the American people and the Afghan people that we will follow the facts wherever they lead us. And we will make sure that anybody who was involved is held fully accountable with the full force of the law.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Let's get you right to the Pentagon where our correspondent Chris Lawrence is standing by.

Sounds like the president is doing everything he can to try to tamp down any kind of violence like we saw in the Koran burnings, Chris.

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. I mean we've heard a steady progression of U.S. officials making apologies over the last couple of months actually -- I mean from the video, the Marines urinating on corpses, to the Koran burning, to now this massacre. But this was some of the strongest language yet from an American president. At one point, President Obama said he called President Karzai and said, the United States is going to take this as seriously as if the victims were our own citizens and our own children who were murdered. The use of the word murdered is very important, especially coming with the fact that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said that the death penalty is a possibility in this case.

Now, the United States hasn't executed a service member since 1961, but there are service members on death row for crimes they've committed. The interesting thing about this is, usually the process takes so long that it could be a future president that has to deal with this situation. The president himself must personally approve of the death penalty for that to be applied to a service member. But again, it takes so long, this could -- this might not come before a president's desk until well after 2016.

BANFIELD: And that's not unusual in the civil system, either, at least in our, you know, criminal system either. But I -- listen, when you're talking death penalty, you've got to have aggravators, you've got to have evidence. This is theater. They're doing the investigation in Afghanistan. Do we know any more details about what transpired that might actually help in this case or hurt it?

LAWRENCE: Well, we know that the Army -- a criminal investigation division is heading up this investigation now. Defense officials said they're talking not only to this soldier's team members, people on his squad, in his unit, but to a lot of those Afghan villagers as well. Those villagers who were witnesses to parts of this attack.

A Defense official was telling us that basically one of the key indications that something had gone wrong and the first indication that they had something that had gone wrong, was when the Afghan villagers started bringing their wounded to the combat outpost. Now, when the soldier walked off the base, the Afghan guards noticed, so they called their American counterparts. So as all of this is going on, the U.S. officials on that base is realizing that something has gone wrong, a soldier has gone missing. They did a head count. But by the time they actually scrambled a search team and started to get assets out there to try to find him, this soldier apparently walked back to the base on his own and that's where he turned himself in.

BANFIELD: Chris, this is mighty early to be asking this question, but it is going to come out at some point. Is there any talk from the Pentagon about where they want this trial? Because clearly, if he's under the uniformed code of military justice, he's got to be tried somewhere. U.S.? Somewhere else? One of our bases?

LAWRENCE: That's right. And we've seen this go a number of different ways, you know. There are certainly trials in which they take place in country. Crimes that were committed in Iraq. The trials were held on a military base there. Trials in Afghanistan.

What we are sure of is that despite a lot of the Afghan calls for sort of a public trial in Afghanistan, for Afghan officials to have a voice in this trial, the U.S. has been adamant from officials we've spoken to that this will be handled internally by the U.S. military, which means this soldier will have, you know, all the rights that any service member has, that it will not be handed over, so to speak, or allowed to be influenced by Afghan law.

BANFIELD: And what about representation at this point? This is, again, really early in the game to be asking these questions given the fact he's probably so holed up in Kandahar at this point no one can get access to him, but does he have a military lawyer at this point? And also, do we know anything about the possibility of an insanity defense?

LAWRENCE: Well, the insanity defense is a possibility. There are a number of -- you know, there are a number of troops who have attempted to use that, use PTSD as part of their defense. But again, usually it is a judge who can decide if there is a basis going forward for that -- for the jury, so to speak, in layman's terms, to consider that as a relevant defense. But, yes, he would have the ability to use that as a defense if possible.

BANFIELD: I guarantee you, my friend, that that head injury that he suffered would play front and center if that is going to be a defense of his.

LAWRENCE: Yes.

BANFIELD: But good reporting. Thanks. Thanks very much, Chris.

LAWRENCE: You're welcome. BANFIELD: Chris Lawrence live at the Pentagon for us.

And I promised that we'd get you the very latest from Afghanistan where CNN's Sara Sidner has been reporting. She's there today with reaction to that massacre.

Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ashleigh, we are seeing some fallout from the massacre that happened in Sunday in two villages in Panjwai district. What we're hearing from local officials in the two villages is that there was a funeral going on that included some high- level officials who had come to that funeral. And there were two blasts from a rocket propelled grenade, as well as some small arms fire. They believe that the officials were targeted, which included one of President Hamid Karzai's brothers. All of the officials are OK. However, we understand that several Afghan soldiers have been wounded in an attack there.

We're also seeing some protests in Jalalabad, which is quite far from this district in Kandahar. Kandahar in southern Afghanistan. Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan. But, anyway, there were 400 to 500 people who took to the streets in Jalalabad. Many of them university students screaming slogans such as "down with the U.S." and "down with Obama."

However, there was no violence that broke out there and there was no damage left behind by those protestors. They did manage to close the important Jalalabad/Kabul road for some time today.

We also heard a chilling statement from the Taliban. I received an email this morning from Taliban sources. And it said basically that it must seek revenge for these killings by a U.S. soldier. And it said that that will be -- that they will behead any American who is on Afghan soil.

Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: All right, Sara Sidner reporting for us from Afghanistan.

I want to get you live now to some pictures on Joint Base Andrews, Washington. That is the British prime minister, folks, and he's arriving here. David Cameron, with his wife Samantha, for a visit. And a little NCAA action as well. Because if it's March, it's a little bit of madness. And they'll be doing some business and a little bit of fun as well. So, some live pictures of their arrival on a British Airways flight, as you can see the big British in the background. Welcome, prime minister.

Like I said, it is mid-March. Still, though, no Republican favorite for president. But, tonight, Mitt Romney could certainly have a breakthrough in the unlikeliest of places. And that is where our Wolf Blitzer shines. He's standing by. We're going to ask him a couple of questions about the races in the south. Find out just how close Romney is to making a change, making a difference. Hey, Wolf, looking forward to talking to you in just a few moments.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Decision day for voters in Alabama and Mississippi. And who will come out on top is still anyone's guess. But the polls are giving a slight indication. Wolf Blitzer's following today's primaries from Atlanta.

So, here's my thing, Wolf. I've been looking at the polls and I've been surprised that I haven't seen Newt Gingrich higher in the polls. And I've been also surprised that Rick Santorum has been a little lower than I expected in those two southern states.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN'S "THE SITUATION ROOM": I know. A lot of people are surprised by these last poll numbers. And, obviously, it's trite to say it, but the only poll that really matters is the one we'll see later tonight.

But, you know what, it's possible. And I tweeted this earlier in the day. It's certainly possible, based on everything I'm hearing, Ashleigh, that Romney could surprise all of us and actually win in Mississippi and maybe even in Alabama, precisely because Santorum and Gingrich, they are pretty much evenly -- almost evenly -- a little bit more or less in each state, dividing up that social conservative vote, giving an opening to Mitt Romney.

So if Mitt Romney were to win one and certainly if he were to win two, that would really propel him and it would do some serious damage to the other two candidates, especially Newt Gingrich, who's counting on at least one win tonight in Alabama. Certainly he's counting on that win to keep his campaign going.

BANFIELD: So, if he does pull that off, and it's a big if at this point because it is still fairly close. Those numbers are all within the margin of error. But if Mitt Romney can pull off one or even two of those southern states, can we then stop all this conversation about, is he going to be able to clinch the ardent conservative vote? Will he, in fact, then be the ardent conservative's choice for nominee moving forward?

BLITZER: The answer is no. This will continue -- this will continue next Tuesday. A week from today is the Illinois primary. Even if let's say Newt Gingrich were to lose one or two of these states in the south today, and let's say if he were to drop out -- he says he's not dropping out. He's going all the way to the Republican convention in Tampa. But all the candidates always say that until they eventually do wind up dropping out.

So let's say, just hypothetically, Newt Gingrich were to drop out, Santorum certainly would not drop out and he would do everything he could to do really well in Illinois next Tuesday.

And then it will continue. They've got a few races in early April, Maryland, Wisconsin, the District of Columbia. There's a little lull in mid April. But then some of the really big states pop up, including New York and California.

So this is going to continue. Let's say even if Gingrich were to drop out, it would effectively be a two-man race between Santorum and Romney. Ron Paul is going to stay in because he's got other agenda issues out there. He wants to make sure his issues are discussed and debated. So he's going to stay in. But it would effectively be a two-man race, almost the way, you know, the Hillary Clinton-Barack Obama situation unfolded four years ago when, in the end, after all the other Democrats dropped out, including John Edwards and Chris Dodd and Joe Biden and Bill Richardson and Dennis Kucinich, you remember that, Ashleigh, they were all in there for a while, but eventually it became a two person race, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

BANFIELD: Yes, a nauseatingly long, as I recall. That finish line was battered bloody. But I want to --

BLITZER: It went till mid-June.

BANFIELD: Heck, I know, I had the bikini out for it. But I do want to ask you a two-part question since you're talking about a two part race. And that is, if Romney wins one or two of these southern states, and he's got that mojo, as I like to call it, the momentum of getting some southern states under his belt, and if Newt then has to pull out of this race, then is that why you're saying that it does -- it's all a bit of a wash, because if Newt pulls out and Santorum gets all his voters likely, right?

BLITZER: I don't think he would get all of his voters. I think he'd get a significant chunk of the Newt Gingrich voters. He certainly wouldn't get them all. Romney would get some and maybe Ron Paul would get a few others. So they would divide them up. And it's unclear how that Gingrich support would be divided up. I think it would be divided up different ways in different states, different regions of the country.

Newt Gingrich has always done much better in the South, especially in the deep South, than he has in the Midwest or the Northeast, for example. So we'll see what happens. But it would be divided up.

I think in the end, though, and if you speak to the Mitt Romney folks, they're pretty upbeat right now. They think they have it, although they acknowledge it's going to take a lot more work.

BANFIELD: You've got your decision day disco shoes on?

BLITZER: We're ready to go. Not only are we going to go until, you know, all night, but I'm filling in for Piers Morgan at midnight tonight. We'll do a live "Piers Morgan Tonight" at midnight until 1:00 a.m. with all the results.

BANFIELD: Oh, baby.

BLITZER: And, you know, we're waiting for Hawaii, too. Don't forget Hawaii and American Samoa.

BANFIELD: Yes.

BLITZER: They've got caucuses today as well. So there will be delegates distributed and given out in Hawaii and American Samoa.

BANFIELD: I didn't forget.

BLITZER: Don't forget them.

BANFIELD: You know why I didn't forget?

BLITZER: Why?

BANFIELD: I did not forget because I pitched the assignment going to Hawaii to do the coverage and I was nixed.

BLITZER: You know what, American Samoa is very lovely too.

BANFIELD: Oh, I'll take you up on that.

BLITZER: OK.

BANFIELD: Just you and me, off we go.

All right, Wolf Blitzer, thank you for that.

And by the way, I just can't promote you enough, my friend. You are so good at your job. In just a couple of hours, Mitt Romney is going to be joining Wolf in "The Situation Room." Make sure you catch that, 5:00 p.m. Eastern time right here on CNN. And now watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's just unbelievable to us that you can disregard the police and go confront this kid with a 9-millimeter gun and then try and claim self-defense.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: What's that all about? This. A neighborhood watchman shoots an unarmed teenager, and, so far, no arrest, no release of the 911 calls. And the outrage and impatience is only growing. So what is with the mystery? Do police know something about the suspect that they are not telling us? Coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: The Sanford, Florida Police Department is expected today to hand over the investigation into the death of a teenager to the state attorney's office there. Very few details are emerging in the killing of a 17-year-old named Trayvon Martin. He was shot and killed two weeks ago after an apparent confrontation with a neighborhood watch captain. Local police have been under immense pressure from the community to make an arrest. Gayle Paschall-Brown, of our affiliate WESH, has more on the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JAMES DAVIS, SANFORD, FLORIDA RESIDENT: And I see that white man, can I stop and detain that white man, get in an argument, and shoot that white man to death?

GAYLE PASCHALL-BROWN, WESH REPORTER: What do you think?

DAVIS: I'm saying, no, absolutely not! I would be in jail right now.

PASCHALL-BROWN (voice-over): Residents have been outraged by the killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. During All-star weekend, Trayvon Martin was walking to his step-mother's home in Sanford when the neighborhood watch captain, George Zimmerman, called the non- emergency line and reported the teen as suspicious. The two apparently got into a confrontation. And before Sanford Police arrived, the teen was dead, shot 70 feet from his step-mother's home.

NATALIE JACKSON, MARTIN FAMILY ATTORNEY: I think that it's been 15 days since Trayvon Martin was killed and I think that the family deserves answers. So it's not fair to keep everything secret. We're asking for the 911 tapes and the non-emergency record tapes.

CHIEF BILL LEE, SANFORD, FLORIDA, POLICE: In this case, Mr. Zimmerman has made the statement of self-defense. Until we can establish probable cause to dispute that, we don't have the grounds to arrest him.

PASCHALL-BROWN (on camera): Do you think this was a racial issue?

JACKSON: Um, I don't know if the whole thing was a racial issue. It may have been a "Zimmerman wants to be a hero" issue. It becomes racial because Zimmerman thought that black males with hoodies are criminals.

PASCHALL-BROWN (voice-over): George Zimmerman told police he shot the teenager in self-defense. The police chief says on at least 911 call, you can hear the confrontation and the fatal gunshot.

MAYOR JEFF TRIPLETT, SANFORD, FLORIDA: This is a tragedy. I hate it for the family, for the Martin family, and for the city of Sanford.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BANFIELD: And the city of Sanford manager says he has extended his condolences personally to the Martin family. CNN, by the way, has reached out to the neighborhood watch captain, George Zimmerman, but we have yet to have a response.

Up next, the United States says the death penalty is possible in the case of that soldier accused of killing civilians in Afghanistan, but there is a catch. The president has to weigh in on this one.

CNN's senior legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, we're going to break this down, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: The American soldier being held for that massacre in Afghanistan could eventually face the death penalty. We first reported the possibility yesterday, and now Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has said so himself, did it on a trip to Kerjistan.

Panetta said the unnamed soldier will face the military justice system and capital punishment is indeed possible. Joining us now is CNN's senior legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin.

It doesn't get more serious than this and they are never more careful, but it is hard to do an investigation in theatre when it is dangerous to be in theatre. What do you suspect is going on right now to try to put a case together?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, they have to get people on the ground there. They have to interview witnesses. They have to get forensics. They have to get, you know, the shell casings. They have to get photographs. They have to sort of see what order events took place.

BANFIELD: All of this while the Taliban is calling for beheadings.

TOOBIN: Exactly. I mean, this is incredibly dangerous. You know, the judge advocate general is the -- are the lawyers who will be on both sides. You know, they're both defense and prosecution, but there are the military police who will be doing the investigation. It's an incredibly difficult situation at every level.

BANFIELD: So it is difficult to secure a death penalty conviction in the best of times, anyway. It is the toughest standard. Does this make it even more difficult, and does that mean it is going to be one of the more difficult convictions?

TOOBIN: Well, I don't know about convictions. It will certainly, I mean, given the facts as we know now, and of course, everything is still developing, but this does not look like a who- done-it. It looks like, I mean --

BANFIELD: A why-done-it.

TOOBIN: Exactly, a why-done-it, which leads to mental issues, which leads to insanity defenses, diminished capacity, issues about intent rather than issues about what happened.

Those cases, you never know how a jury is going to react. The fact that this is a military case means that it will be a jury of officers. It's not a cross-section of the public, it will be military officers.

They are known to be less sympathetic to sort of softer defenses, but, again, this is likely to be years from now and you never know how they're going to react.

BANFIELD: I always get the statistic wrong, but I'm in the ballpark. An insanity defense is successful. It prevails less than 1 percent of the time.

TOOBIN: It's very, very low.

BANFIELD: And in this particular case, the minute I heard yesterday that he had a head injury, it tweaked something for me. That's critical in an insanity defense.

TOOBIN: Absolutely. You know, what a lot of defense attorneys who do death penalty cases now focus on is what's called mitigation, which is the study of the defendant as a human being, his history.

BANFIELD: As a piece of science.

TOOBIN: As a piece of science, and as someone who has had lots of experiences that may have led to this moment. Head injuries are a very big part of it.

If you can argue to a jury that there was an organic cause for this terrible event rather than a specific intelligent decision to conduct this massacre, you have a much better chance of avoiding the death penalty.

Now, remember, you can avoid the death penalty without an insanity defense. You can get life in prison, which is -- I mean, it's certainly better, but it's not great.

BANFIELD: This guy is not walking out any time soon, without question. So it also led me to wonder if the head injury, which as I understand came during one of the tours of duty, I'm not sure which, but there had been a succession of tours.

The head injury coupled with the trauma and the stress of being am theatre in Iraq and Afghanistan, being away from your family at this age, in his mid-40s, could that also heavily play in?

TOOBIN: It can, but here's where it gets interesting with a military jury. These military -- these jurors, they've been there themselves. They've probably had repeat tours. They know that there are hundreds of thousands of soldiers who have had repeat tours without killing people.

BANFIELD: Yes.

TOOBIN: So the idea of blaming the military somehow is definitely a double-edged sword here. That's why you have to -- you know, if you are the defense attorney here, get very specific in terms of what happened to him that might explain what made him snap.

BANFIELD: Don't you that could definitely go both ways? Meaning this military jury of his peers have also been able to witness all the people, all those fellow soldiers who have had extraordinary PTSD, extraordinary troubles reintegrating when they come back to the United States. So they might actually even more sympathetic to the possibility that that is a case of insanity.

TOOBIN: They might be more sympathetic, but they also might be less sympathetic because they say, look, all these people went through this without managing massacre 15 people or however many people it turns out to be.

So again, you never know in advance how that's going to work out. The most important thing for both sides to do in advance of a trial is accumulate as many facts as possible.

As you pointed out, doing that in Afghanistan, surrounded by the Taliban, is going to be incredibly difficult in and of itself.

BANFIELD: The uniform code of military justice, oftentimes it's said that it is as strict as the civilian code of justice here in the United States. What about the speed? I mean, is anybody going to be looking for resolution on this any time soon?

TOOBIN: No, particularly when you have issues of mental competency. That slows things down so much. I mean, look at Jared Laughner, the horrible shooting in Tucson. That case is nowhere near a trial because mental issues, they take so long to have people analyzed --

BANFIELD: You said a competency. I mean, we may not find that he's even he's even competent to get to a defense of insanity, right?

TOOBIN: So that's why all of that takes a long time. Now, the good news, I hate to use the word good here is that those sorts of investigations could be done in the United States, his mental state, so that can proceed.

He doesn't have to stay in Afghanistan. You don't have to bring psychiatrists to Afghanistan, you can do that in the United States, but it can certainly take a long time.

BANFIELD: I knew you would know the answers. Jeff Toobin, thank you. Always good to see you.

A former newspaper is being accused of bribing the police, hacking into celebrity voicemails. And today the red head who worked for Rupert Murdoch has been arrested for the second time.

And she is not the only one. We are live in London next with all the details. Stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: New arrests today in the ongoing British tabloid phone hacking investigation. Rebecca Brooks, the former editor of Rupert Murdoch's newspaper "News of The World" was arrested for a second time, and she is not the only one who was hauled in.

Matthew Chance is following all the details from Scotland Yard in London. Matthew, who else, what else and why today? MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's six people altogether, including Rebecca Brooks, the former chief executive of News International, former editor of "News of the World" and the "Sun" newspaper as well, both, of course, owned by Rupert Murdoch.

Her husband has also been arrested. News International has also confirmed that their head of security is amongst those that have been arrested, three other people as well in various locations.

As part of this operation, which is the British police investigation into the hacking scandal seizing newspapers from News International in particular, hacking into telephone calls, the answering machine messages of prominent celebrities, politicians, victims of crime and things like that.

So it's pretty significant, Ashleigh, because Rebecca Brooks is the senior-most figure who has been arrested as part of this ongoing investigation. She was the, as I say, chief executive of News International.

The other people who have been arrested in the past, and there's been some 44 of them now. They were mainly journalists at "News of the World," mid-ranking sort of managers and things like that.

But Rebecca Brooks has always denied any knowledge of phone hacking, you know, represents this kind of more culprit figure and there are a lot of questions, of course, over what she actually knew. We understand at the moment, Ashleigh, she's still in police custody in Oxfordshire.

BANFIELD: I want to ask you since you pointed out the fact that she is so high profile. There is another high-profile person who somewhat mired in this controversy.

Andy Colson, he was the former editor of "News of the World" and went on to become Prime Minister David Cameron's spokesman. And the prime minister has arrived actually just within the last hour here in the United States.

Is this a big embarrassment and I should point out, so far Colson has only been questioned, not arrested in all of this. But, you know, here's the prime minister arriving on the red carpet at Joint Andrews base, and all of this all breaking all in the same, almost the same hour.

CHANCE: Yes, I think domestically here in the United Kingdom, it will be quite embarrassing for him. This whole hacking is not just about the media, it's about the relationships, the inappropriate relationships between the British Empire and the police and politicians as well.

The front page of one of the popular evening papers here in London, "The Standard" saying, as Cameron flies out to see Obama, two of his friends are seized on suspicion of conspiracy.

Because there is this whole implication that these are elite figures connected to the police behind me but connected to politicians as well.

So there are I think questions being raised about David Cameron's choice of press spokesmen in Andrew Colson and his choice of friends as well.

BANFIELD: They certainly got that headline out fast. Matthew Chance live for us. Thanks very much for that.

All right, this is a really talker, homeless people walking about offering up Wi-Fi. It's all happening at the South by Southwest tech festival, and critics are not happy about it.

They're calling this tasteless and one of them is saying it's horrifying. I'm about to talk to one of the people behind it to find out how the company behind it decided to do this and how they chose who to hire to become homeless hot spots. It's all coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: South by Southwest's Texas's Annual High-Tech Festival prides itself on its internet activity, getting people connected in brand new way, but there's one program that's really standing out.

It's labeled not only innovative, but somewhat insensitive. It's called homeless hotspots. A band of homeless people wearing special devices that provide a 4G signal and they're approaching anyone at South by Southwest offering their clear connection for a suggested fee, $2 for 15 minutes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DUSTY WHITE, HOMELESS HOTSPOT PARTICIPANT: I'm with a company here -- it's a hotspot for the homeless. This is something they just did. You guys having problems with your Wi-Fi or anything like it. I've swallowed my pride. At first I was kind of embarrassed about it, but being homeless has changed me to a different outlook about people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Depending on how it goes, the "New York Post" is reporting that homeless hot spots could be headed here to New York. Just wanted to show you the cover of the "New York Post," just in case you were curious.

So if the homeless people involved are on board, why are some people walking away with a bad taste in their mouth about all of this? To talk about it, I've got with me Emma Cookson, chairwoman at BBH New York, the marketing agency that created homeless hot spots.

I'm glad you came to talk to me about this. My first inclination, Emma, when I saw this, was, my God, how could you exploit homeless people like this? But there is a lot more to it. Tell me, why is it not exploitation? EMMA COOKSON, CHAIRWOMAN, BBH NEW YORK: Well, I suppose the first thing I would say is it's not exploitation in the eyes of the people taking part who have been, all of them, the homeless guys -- it was mostly guys, one woman -- all of them has been heartwarmingly positive, enthusiastic and into it.

We did share with them, in the midst of all the comments and the negative feedback as well as positive feedback, you know, if you feel uncomfortable about this, stop doing it.

BANFIELD: Who started this whole thing in the first place?

COOKSON: The article came from a group of people inside the agency. I work for a communications agency, and inside the agency there are a lot of people who are just very interested and passionate about the homeless issue generally.

We are a communication agency, so a lot of us are always looking out for new ways that maybe we can create awareness or create support, so honestly, it wasn't like a person, it was a group of people.

BANFIELD: And did anybody at the time of the genesis of this say, yes, I can sense some blowback on this one?

COOKSON: Nothing like the scale of attention that has subsequently come our way, no. We knew, but obviously it's different and it's unusual.

So we certainly thought, yes, some people will comment, some people will notice, but we didn't think it would be quite such a deluge that it's been.

BANFIELD: It's huge. As I was reading some of the tweets from the people at South by Southwest, let me read a couple for our audience because they probably had the same reaction I did right off the mark.

Celine said, as if the homeless aren't demeaned enough, now they're being used as Wi-Fi hot spots at South by Southwest. And from Austin Annie, this tweet, anyone else finds using homeless persons as homeless hot spots at South by Southwest disturbing, dehumanizing, offensive?

And then from Melissa Geera, I'm not sure if I'm pronouncing that one right. It's just kind of right to the point, horrifying. Ultimately, the tweet was horrifying. So why is it not horrifying? Is there some great benefit? What do the homeless people get out of this that makes this actually --

COOKSON: Absolutely, yes and obviously, there have been quite a lot of tweets and other forms of support.

BANFIELD: Some of them we couldn't put on the air. You know that, right?

COOKSON: There's been some that were a lot more positive than the ones you read on the air. But anyway, I suppose explaining where it comes from explains what's in it for people. We've been long admirers of the street newspapers battle.

You know, the -- yes, exactly. So people sell the newspaper. So the whole thing was conceived, OK, we're in a digital age now. Is there a more modern digital version of that because the great thing about that model that we really, really admire.

And lots of people admire is not that it's just a source of revenue for the people selling the papers, but also that it's a source of connectivity, personal contacts, and personal talk.

So with this program, the idea was they're selling connectivity as opposed to a piece of content or a newspaper, and we did the whole program through the shelter in Austin. The thing they talk about most that they've most been proud of is the fact that they're based in Austin, and when the conferences come around each year, usually the conference goers just pass them by.

They don't stop to talk to them. Because of this program, people are having loads and loads of conversations about their background, about their situation. They're getting money, they're making cash --

BANFIELD: They get money from people who pay.

COOKSON: Every single dollar that comes in from this program is going direct to the person using the Wi-Fi device, 100 percent, absolutely no financial benefit to anyone else.

BANFIELD: So in essence, they're working?

COOKSON: They're working. One guy referred to it as his temporary little business. It's homelesshotspot.org. If anyone would want to make a donation, we would be grateful.

BANFIELD: But if I want the Wi-Fi, it's about what, $2 and so for --

COOKSON: That was just a suggested price. We made it clear. It's a free service. You don't have to pay, and certainly no cash exchanges hands. We gave guaranteed minimums to these guys.

BANFIELD: It is intriguing no matter how you slice it, but I think you're not done with the conversation yet. There is a lot of conversation out there. Emma Cookson, thanks for coming in. Appreciate it.

COOKSON: Thank you.

BANFIELD: And still ahead, it's no secret that many Americans are not saving money. But I've got a new report for you, and it is really disturbing. It is bad, folks, especially when it comes to your retirement.

We're going to have a little peek-see into America's bank accounts and find out where your friends, your relatives, your neighbors and you stand. It isn't pretty.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: That's a sweet sound, folks. And this is just in, the long-time drummer of the Doobie Brothers has died. Mike Hossack died of cancer in Wyoming. He started playing drums back at the ripe young age of 12.

He was determined to keep on playing with the band even though he was fighting for his life. We are thankful for that. Listen to that music.

And our economy is slowly recovering, but the effects of the recession still linger on and on. And according to a new study, most of us in America, we are not financially ready for retirement, so how much have people saved?

The study says 60 percent of workers have less than $25,000 in savings. Let's bring in Alison Kosik, at the New York Stock Exchange. What? Holy cow, that is crazy, Alison?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It is. It's pretty scary. You know what it should be, Ashleigh? It really should be a wake-up call to everybody who is working out there because think about it, $25,000?

Last time I checked, it doesn't last long. You know, what if you plan to retire in your 60s and you live well into your 80s or 90s? It's just not enough money, so it's no surprise, Ashleigh, people are worried about retirement.

Look how worried they are. Only 14 percent of workers say they're very confident about what they've got socked away for retirement, that they're going to have enough money to live on in retirement.

The 23 percent say they're not confident at all. Everybody else in the middle, they're saying, we're just not unsure, and that's understandable because everyone is worried about having a job, keeping a job, paying off their debts, paying for medical care.

You know, there are a lot of unknowns and it seems not enough people are socking away the money -- Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: So what are the older folks doing about it? The younger ones might be able to kick into gear and smarten up, but folks getting closer to retirement, what are they doing?

KOSIK: You know what they're doing, they're delaying retirement. They're working longer. And that's good in a pinch, of course, but it's not a sound strategy if you're young, because you could lose your job.

You'll have health problems, the medical bills, of course, will pile up. The good news in all of this, a little bright spot, is that more employers are automatically enrolling workers in 401(k) plans.

And actually some employees are contributing more to those 401(k) plans, but you know, when you look at it broadly, saving, saving for retirement, it shouldn't be an afterthought. Let me throw out something to help you here. At CNNMoney.com, it's got a great retirement calculator to help you plan. You know the old saying, the earlier you start, the better off you're going to be. Ashleigh?

BANFIELD: So, what were we all thinking in the last decade, Alison Kosik? Thanks for the bad news, I suppose I should say. Thanks a lot.