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Legal View with Ashleigh Banfield

Human Smuggling Pipeline; DEA Looks at Prescription Pain Meds in NFL; Boston Marathon Bombing; Pistorius Gets in Argument

Aired July 15, 2014 - 12:30   ET

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

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN ANCHOR: Now, let's turn to some major developments in the unfolding humanitarian crisis at our southern border.

First, two Texas lawmakers, Republican Senator John Cornyn and Democratic Representative Henry Cuellar are cosponsoring a bill to make it easier to send migrant children from Central America back to home countries.

Meantime, America's most well-known undocumented immigrant, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas, has been detained by authorities at an airport in McAllen, Texas. He is being held at a detention center there. Vargas wrote and directed the CNN film "DOCUMENTED."

And a new national poll shows a majority of Americans disapprove of how President Obama and Congress are handling the border crisis. Only one-third of those questioned gave the president a thumbs-up on how he's handling the situation, and just 23 percent approve of how congressional Republicans are dealing with the crisis.

The first plane full of deported undocumented immigrants, 40 mothers and children, touched down in Honduras early this morning. It was the first of dozens of flights that U.S. immigration officials have chartered in the coming weeks to deliver them back to not only Honduras but also El Salvador, Guatemala, and other parts of Latin America.

Most of the undocumented immigrants from Central and South American are traveling north through Mexico to cross the American border.

CNN's Gary Tuchman is following their path, looking at the human smuggling pipeline at work in Mexico and meeting with those who are making this long, expensive and dangerous journey north.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the Southern Mexican border city, we've explained that for people that want to cross United States going from Guatemala to Mexico is relatively easy. This is where the serious business starts. Illegal immigration business is very open. Look at this explicit sign, it says in Spanish. Welcome to the coyote pass.

Coyotes are the human smugglers and this is where people come to find human smugglers to get to the United States border. There are people up there, when we looked at them, they saw we had cameras, many of them scattered.

Passenger vans that snake through the border areas are all part of the equation.

These vans are often very crowded as this one is, also very hot. There is no air conditioning. Mostly commuters who are going about an hour drive to the southern portion of Mexico. Often undocumented migrants are on this bus so they can get services, food, medical care while they plan their journeys up north.

Often, undocumented migrants have no money and can't afford these vans. They have to figure out how to start their journey. We found a man who wants to get to the United States, but didn't have enough money to get on this van.

This is Luis Moreno. He is 33-years-old. He doesn't speak any English, but we've been talking to him a little bit. This is a man from Guatemala. He's here in Mexico right now.

He wants to go to the United States, and as a matter of fact, he's been there. And he's been caught three times by authorities and sent back to Guatemala.

But also very interesting about Luis, he's been caught five times here in the nation of Mexico not on the border, but in other cities. Four times he was on "The Beast," a train where so many people get hurt. He was riding on top of the train, tied down so he wouldn't fall off.

In eight times he's been sent back to Guatemala, he still says he's ready to go back.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (via translator): I want to go to the U.S. and work and help out my family. I can't do it where I'm from.

TUCHMAN: One of the places that migrants come to for medical help is this Catholic Church and clinic. This is when you're seriously hurt or sick, for example, this man right here, you can see his foot. He was in the United States, got kicked out, came back to Mexico and got hit by a car while crossing, really messed up his ankle.

He says he still wants to go back to the United States, but won't be able to walk for a couple weeks. This baby was born here, six days ago, and this woman right here, this is Malitza -- she's 20 years old. She is the sister of the baby and this is her daughter. Her mother's here too. Her mother gave birth to the baby.

They have come from Honduras. They hope to get to the United States someday. That's what Malitza just told me, but right now, they are here for the medical care of the baby being born, also some food and hoping to get some good shelter for the next few days before they continue.

The journey to the United States is long and dangerous. Success is anything but assured. Gary Tuchman, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: Not an easy solution.

Well, football and pain seem to go hand-in-hand, but what about football and painkillers? Some players say that combo became all too familiar.

Now the Drug Enforcement Administration is getting involved. We get the real story from the doctors and former players, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: The NFL is refusing to comment on a federal investigation into teams pumping hurt players full of pills and painkillers.

But plenty of players, they're talking today, and they say the team and team doctors loaded them up with medication, ignoring serious injuries to keep them in the game.

Some of them are suing the league over it, and now the Drug Enforcement Administration is investigating.

So could people face criminal charges and go to prison over this? Are these teams facing serious problems?

Joining me to talk about this investigation and the potential fallout is CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, and former NFL player and Fox Sports analyst, Coy Wire.

First question to you, Sanjay, some of these players say there was no accountability. They were taking as many as a hundred pills every month.

Is there -- should there be a paper trail of at least prescriptions?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: There probably is some sort of paper trail because these types of narcotic prescriptions, you know, you have to have a -- multiple versions of the prescription that are kept in different places.

Having said that, we've got a lot of stories on this, Deb, and there's no national database. It can be hard to trace. People can doctor-shop and get prescriptions for multiple doctors and multiple pharmacies. So there are ways and there are abuses of the system, for sure.

But if someone -- you know, if this investigation carries forth -- and, as you said, we don't know for sure -- but if it does, there should be some paper trail of exactly what prescriptions were obtained, who they were intended for and what happened to them.

FEYERICK: What's fascinating is that, when you read this complaint, a lot of players feel they were used and abused and then they were sort of tossed aside. The ramifications of long-term opiate use is very serious, Sanjay.

GUPTA: Yeah, you know, this is kind of the amazing thing, and I'm glad you asked that, because I think it gets lost in this, is that the idea of using these opiates long term just isn't -- there's very little data to show there's any benefit.

In fact, after a few months of using these types of medications the way that you were just describing, hundreds of pills, you probably have a counteractive effect. So instead of relieving pain, it actually induces or create these pain syndromes in people.

And one of the things that happens is people start taking more and more, thinking that they can somehow get some relief. And that's where you get into real trouble.

Deb, a person dies in this country every 19 minutes of an accidental prescription drug overdose, and typically it's a scenario I just described. They keep taking more and more, get reckless, combine it with alcohol, and that's a real problem.

FEYERICK: And, Coy, listen, you played with the NFL. First all, were you ever offered pills so randomly? I heard stories where the doctors and trainers were walking up the aisle going, hey, what do you need, what do you need?

COY WIRE, FORMER NFL PLAYER: Well, the serendipity behind your question is pretty amusing to me. Just three days ago, my wife threw away a coke-size bottle of codeine pills that had a hundred pills in there that I had received years ago. It was just in the back of the medicine cabinet, and there it was.

And, thankfully, I didn't take those pills. I was able to cope with the pain, and, had I taken that bottle at will, who knows how it would have affected me? Maybe it would have affected me to this day.

And Sanjay brought up a couple of interesting points, and I'd like to, you know, talk about some of the things that I have gathered from the players to whom I have spoken.

One is, you know, you talk about the paper trail. I talked to one player, guys, who said he remembers a doctors carrying around cups of Gatorade filled with Toradol pills in each cup, and he would just pass them out at will, not asking if the player has symptoms or how they're feeling. Just taking it, here, take it.

And another player also said about the lineup in front of a doctor who had stacks of needles that are filled with Toradol that they would give, at will, before games without asking any questions.

So I think it would be tough with the paper trail about which you were speaking.

FEYERICK: It's incredible to me because it really seems they're just numbing players so they can play at any cost. And it seems like this lawsuit, although a trial date hasn't been set, these teams are going to be held accountable, finally, for the way they're treating their players.

Sure, they're paying them a lot of money, but at the same type, there's the long-term consequence of this alleged prescription drug use. It's something that definitely has to be looked at closely.

All right, Sanjay Gupta, Coy Wire, thank you so much.

GUPTA: Thank you.

FEYERICK: And at the time, he was the most wanted man in America, but check this out. New video of Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in the hours after the fatal attack shows him smiling, casually going to the gym. There he is in that hoodie with his friend.

The video was released in court in the conspiracy case against that friend. Could this video impact Tsarnaev's case? We're going to talk about that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: New video of accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. The day after the bombings, Tsarnaev did what a lot of college kids do, he went to the gym with a friend. A friend now on trial for conspiracy, getting rid of evidence and obstruction of justice. Federal prosecutors played this video in court yesterday. Tsarnaev's friend, Azamat Tazhayakov, is the first to go on trial in connection with the marathon attack. He's charged with obstruction of justice and conspiracy. Prosecutors say he and another friend ditched Tsarnaev's backpack, which was filled with fireworks, empty fireworks, as well as a laptop. And this happened after the FBI had released photos and identified the suspects but still did not know their name. Tsarnaev's trial is scheduled for November.

I want to bring back CNN legal analyst and defense attorney Danny Cevallos and HLN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney Joey Jackson.

OK, so there's not just video, there are text messages as well that were entered as evidence. One is about an hour after the bombings and Tsarnaev texts his friend who says, hey, did you hear about the bombings? And Tsarnaev says, "don't go thinking it's me." There's a second one on the evening of April 12th, where Tsarnaev texts his friend saying, "if you want, you can go to my room and take what's there." And it ends with a smiley face.

So there's a lot of stuff that's going on right now about all this. When you think about this, the friend is trying to say, I had no idea it was him. We were just helping a buddy out. What is your feeling on that, Danny?

DANNY CEVALLOS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, the federal government is increasingly becoming better and better at criminalizing lies and deceit and that's what this defendant is on trial for, deceiving the federal government and going and destroying evidence. This is actually a provision of Sarbanes/Oxley that he's being prosecuted under. So the question becomes whether he knowingly was aware that he was

destroying evidence or instead was he just replying to a friend saying, hey, take whatever you want out of my apartment. But make no mistake about it, the federal law and the federal government in general is increasingly prosecuting people, defendants, who would lie or conceal evidence. You may remember Martha Stewart. She was not convicted of securities fraud.

FEYERICK: Absolutely. It wasn't the crime, it was the lie.

CEVALLOS: Rather, she was convicted of destroying documents to conceal evidence.

FEYERICK: Right.

And, Joey, you know, one of the prosecution's main case, and it's that these -- this friend knew -- when he saw those images, he knew that his friend was involved. And instead of calling authorities, instead of calling the FBI, he waited and, in fact, got rid of that evidence. How powerful of an argument is that?

JOEY JACKSON, HLN LEGAL ANALYST: You know, it could be very powerful, Deb, and here's the point. The point is that you don't have an affirmative duty, really, to be a good Samaritan to say, hey, guess what, I know where he is. But when the federal government comes and they investigate, you certainly cannot obstruct justice by getting rid of a backpack and you certainly can't lie to the FBI. That's a crime as well.

Now, he's charged with the hindering of the obstruction of justice charge, which is major, but he's also charged with the conspiracy charge, meaning he conspired with the other roommate to get rid of it.

FEYERICK: Right.

JACKSON: And, of course, which is not uncommon, I think Danny would agree with this, is that while he's on trial now, he's saying, I didn't get rid of a backpack, he did it. It was that other roommate who did it.

FEYERICK: Right.

JACKSON: I didn't know what was going on here. And so it all comes down to, Deb, what the jury believes. What's reasonable? And were you friends with him? And would you be motivated to do what he asks you to do, which is to get rid of that backpack and to assist him. And that's what the prosecution is going after.

FEYERICK: Absolutely. And the interesting thing is it's a he said/she said and he actually took -- he denied taking a plea deal from prosecution.

Danny Cevallos, Joey Jackson, stick around.

JACKSON: Indeed. FEYERICK: We have something just in right now. An Israeli volunteer hit by a mortar shell while delivering food to Israeli soldiers has now died of his wounds. This happened at the Araz (ph) Crossing. It is the first Israeli fatality since the start of Operation Protective Edge. More than 190 Palestinians have so far been killed in Gaza.

Well, tweeting Bible verses and an alleged bar fight. They're apparently all part of the life of Olympic Athlete Oscar Pistorius as he stands trial in the shooting death of his girlfriend. Details on these new developments coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: Maybe one of the last places you would expect to see Olympian Oscar Pistorius is in the middle of a bar during his murder trial, but that's indeed where he was. And let's just say it did not go well. Remember, prosecutors say that he intended to kill his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, on Valentine's Day. A lot of people believe that that's the story, including the guy who went up to Pistorius at the nightclub and, according to the blade runner's own spokeswoman, quote, "started to aggressively interrogate him on matters relating to the trial." Well, no surprise, an argument ensued. Pistorius asked to be left alone. Soon after that, he left the club. CNN legal analyst and defense attorney Danny Cevallos and HLN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney Joey Jackson both back with me to talk about this.

Joey, you first. He was in a VIP section and he had some expectation of privacy. Should he simply maybe not have gone?

JACKSON: I think that's the answer to the question, Deb. I get that it's a VIP section. I don't care what section it is. When you're during the trial for your life, when you could be incarcerated for the rest of your life, stay out of the spotlight. I understand, Deb, there's no jury, OK. It's the judge. The judge will make a decision and will predicate that decision on the facts that came in that courtroom. But you don't need to bring undue attention to yourself or otherwise undo a lot of great work that your defense lawyers have done. And why allow the world to speculate, is he really a hot head? Is the judge now speculating? Are all the things that were said about his character, could they be true? Just avoid it. Stay low. Everyone could relax and enjoy themselves, but not during a murder trial.

FEYERICK: OK, he did walk away. Let's just go to that. He did walk away. But he also went back to tweeting. And this is kind of interesting. It's the first time in almost about a year. It's near closing arguments. The first tweet that he put is, quote, "the Lord is close to the broken hearted." That's a Psalm. The second one he also said was targeted to disabled children and he put out an entire montage and he said, quote, "you have the ability to make a difference in someone's life. Sometimes it's the simple things you say or do that can make someone feel better or even inspire them."

You know, he also, it was interesting to me, did a quote, did a tweet from an Auschwitz survivor, an Austrian psychiatrist, would basically says, you know, "even in the darkest moments, there is some brief love."

So let's talk about that. Do you think, given the fact that he was at a bar, given the fact that he is now back on social media, do you think that he is trying to maybe find some normalcy? The trial itself is done in terms of all the evidence. Now it's the closing arguments. Do you think maybe he's thinking, this is my last month? Let's go to you, Danny.

CEVALLOS: If you're asking me -- yes, if you're asking me, my answer to that is, to a client, find some normalcy in your living room with a book. Don't find it online. And whatever you do, please, you couldn't possibly be thinking about going out clubbing and boozing when you're on trial for your life. You know, there's probably nothing as frustrating as a defense attorney than when a client, for whom you have argued to the court and secured their release pending trial, goes out and commits shenanigans while they're on pre-trial release and threatens that very freedom. It's amazing because as a defense attorney, you give up your life to try a case. The only thing a defendant has to do is sit there and do nothing but look not guilty. And whatever you do, please, now is not the time to party.

FEYERICK: All right, Joey, (INAUDIBLE). I'm going to give Joey the last word. Joey - Joey, do you think he was throwing it in everyone's face or do you think he was just trying to be normal? Very quickly, yes or no.

JACKSON: I think, you know what, Deb, I think certainly you want to get some normalcy. But to Danny's point, I mean, listen, do it in the privacy of your home.

FEYERICK: Right.

JACKSON: Have some friends. Go on to your porch. And don't tweet. What do we always tell people, Deb, we don't want our clients talking about anything and so that's the deal.

FEYERICK: But if you don't tweet, you don't exist. OK, Danny Cevallos, Joey Jackson, thanks, gentlemen. Really appreciate it.

JACKSON: Thank you, Deb.

FEYERICK: Thanks for watching. I'm Deb Feyerick. Wolf Blitzer starts right now.