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Legal View with Ashleigh Banfield

President to Pick New Attorney General; McStay Press Conference Reveals Name of Suspect; Philly Kidnapper Extradited to Virginia

Aired November 07, 2014 - 12:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Ashleigh Banfield. And welcome to LEGAL VIEW.

President Obama just may have his pick for the next attorney general of the United States, and there she is, folks. United States officials telling CNN that Loretta Lynch, a U.S. attorney in Brooklyn, will be the president's choice to secede Eric Holder. She would be the first African-American woman and the second woman to hold that position. Joining me live from Washington is CNN's justice correspondent Evan Perez.

So give me the lowdown on Ms. Lynch. What do we know about her?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ashleigh, you know, she's a bit of a surprising pick because, you know, there's a lot more higher profile people who were being considered for this job. She's very popular inside the department, but she's not very well known. As you know, Pete Bharara, across the river in Manhattan, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, is much higher profile. He gets a lot of magazine covers.

She has done - quietly has done a lot of big cases. She did HSBC, Citibank. She did the Azazi (ph) case, if you remember from a few years ago, a terrorism case. So she's got all the credentials that make her perfect for this job.

She's also not going to be controversial because simply, you know, nobody really knows her here in Washington. And that's going to be big. As you know, the Republicans are now going to be in control of the Senate and we expect that a vote will probably come sometime probably in February when the attorney general is going to step down, Attorney General Eric Holder. He's waiting until they confirm her for the job so that he can step down.

BANFIELD: You're just one of those guys who is so ahead of the story, you're already talking about the vote. We don't have the announcement yet.

Evan, when do you expect the president's actually going to say something and utter the name and then Eric Holder actually chime in on it as well?

PEREZ: Well, you know, he has one day before he leaves for Asia on Sunday. So, possibly maybe mark your calendar for tomorrow. Don't sleep in. maybe the president might be addressing that before he takes off. If not, it's not going to be another -- for another week when he gets back.

BANFIELD: So this is the CNN schedule for Saturday and, guess who's on it, you, my friend. You will be working. Don't sleep in.

PEREZ: Right.

BANFIELD: Evan Perez, great work on your team getting that information and breaking that story. Thank you, Evan Perez. Nice to see you. Have a good weekend.

I want to bring in three CNN legal analysts that all know and have worked either directly or with someone who has worked with Loretta Lynch, Jeffrey Toobin, Paul Callan, Sunny Hostin.

Jeffrey Toobin, I'm going to begin with you because you actually have the most direct contact. You all were like cubs together in this business.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: That's exactly what we were. In 1990, we both started in the U.S. attorney's office. We both had offices in the basement of the courthouse in downtown Brooklyn. She was a line prosecutor, just like I was, but she stayed. She has spent almost her entire career in the Justice Department. What's unusual about her career is, she was the United States attorney under Bill Clinton in Brooklyn, as well as Barack Obama. Most people --

BANFIELD: So this is her second go around?

TOOBIN: Her second tour. Most people only do it once. She is not a high-profile figure. She is not the best known prosecutor in the United States. She's not even the best known prosecutor in New York. But she has an impeccable record, no scandals, no corruption. She's from North Carolina. You can still hear in her voice a little bit of North Carolina. But, you know, an uncontroversial choice.

BANFIELD: She may not be - she may not be that well-known, but she is known to the lovely and talented Sunny Hostin. You interviewed with her.

SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: I sure did. I mean, you know, it's interesting because the southern district of New York, which is in Manhattan, there are two U.S. attorneys' offices in New York. There's one in, of course, Brooklyn, and then one in New York. And the New York one is sort of the show stopper, right? That's the one that everyone talks about. But the eastern district of New York, in Brooklyn, Staten Island, Long Island, has all of the airports, jurisdiction over the airports, so there are a lot of drug smuggling cases.

And when I was coming from the U.S. attorney's office in D.C. and thinking about moving to New York, what I was told was, if you want to do the work, the hard work, be the workhorse, you go to the eastern district. That - you go to the Brooklyn office. It's not the show pony, it's really the real deal. So I had the opportunity - I actually thought Jeff Toobin worked for the little ditty (ph) southern district of New York and I'm pleased that he -- he didn't.

TOOBIN: No.

HOSTIN: That he worked for the eastern district. But when I met with her, it was a really tough interview. And I knew that going in and prepping for it. I was told that she was very, very smart. I believe she went to your alma matter, right, Harvard, undergrad. Harvard Law School.

TOOBIN: Harvard Law School.

BANFIELD: Harvard, yes. But she was fair.

HOSTIN: And that she was very fair but extremely pointed in her questions. Very, very knowledgeable. And she did not give me an easy time, even though I was already an assistant United States attorney with a pretty good track record, I might say.

BANFIELD: So, Paul, you're the Brooklyn guy. I know you know just scads of people who have either worked with her, know her personally, intimately, and this, I thought, would be a bit of a surprise to you, but maybe not so much?

PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: No, I wasn't surprised because I think she's known in legal circles and respected in legal circles. And, you know, I was -- I had a long talk with somebody who had worked with her for a long time, who will remain anonymous, but he described her as somebody who is gracious, tough and smart. And he said she was a wonderful person to work for and despite her ivy league credentials, much like Mr. Toobin's, she happens to -

TOOBIN: That doesn't make you a bad person.

CALLAN: I'm sorry. I didn't mean -

BANFIELD: Some people get (INAUDIBLE) or U.S. attorney.

CALLAN: I did not mean to suggest that.

She's a -- he described her as a regular person who can relate to regular people. So, you know, if you just want to talk about how the lawyers who work for her view her, it's a pretty good opinion (ph).

BANFIELD: Yes. OK, so -

TOOBIN: The southern thing is not minor.

BANFIELD: Yes.

TOOBIN: I mean she does have a certain southern graciousness about her, notwithstanding the fact that her entire professional career has been in New York. And I think when, in a political environment, as she apparently soon will be, that will stand her in good stead. BANFIELD: So do you think that whole grace thing will play in when southern congressmen and congresswomen are firing off questions in those confirmation hearings?

TOOBIN: Yes.

BANFIELD: Are we still going to see all that southern grace?

TOOBIN: Yes, you will. Absolutely. Absolutely.

BANFIELD: You think? Really?

HOSTIN: I think - I think so. And I think we - what's also very important is that she would be the first African-American attorney general, at least an African-American -

BANFIELD: No, woman.

HOSTIN: Woman, rather, of course. And I think in -- she's very well- known with African-American female attorneys. I mean she is revered in my community. And I think this would be really historic and I think she's a terrific --

BANFIELD: But that doesn't mean anyone would go soft on her during confirmation hearings.

HOSTIN: No. No.

BANFIELD: This is the ugliest, you know, relationship between the administration and Congress. I can't imagine that that would play in.

HOSTIN: Well, I'm not suggesting that, but I do think that it's a very historic moment. It's an important pick. And I think the fact that she is so very graceful and the fact that she's so -- just uncontroversial.

BANFIELD: Yes.

HOSTIN: I mean there just isn't anything, to my knowledge, in her background that would be prickly (ph).

CALLAN: And, you know, one other thing that I think is very interesting, given what's going on in Ferguson, Missouri, and the controversy involving the Michael Brown shooting, the Justice Department is investigating that case. She became famous in New York for her involvement in a case called the Abner Louima case -

HOSTIN: True.

CALLAN: Which was one of the most brutal police brutality cases in memory. This suspect was sodomized by New York City Police officers and she was heavily involved in that prosecution. So she'll have sterling credentials in terms of having investigated the police --

BANFIELD: Well -

TOOBIN: I don't -- I don't envision -

CALLAN: Yes.

TOOBIN: Any substantial policy departures from the Eric Holder administration.

BANFIELD: Yes.

TOOBIN: If you look at her background, civil rights, voting rights, which Attorney General Holder has focused on, I imagine she would continue that.

HOSTIN: Drug prosecution.

BANFIELD: So all of the - I just got a note -

HOSTIN: Wondering about drug prosecution?

TOOBIN: Yes. Yes.

BANFIELD: I didn't know this, but I just got a note that all of these southern members of the judiciary are all Republicans. So we'll -- I'm going to hold you and the tape to this whole grace conversation with those hearings because, ah, who knows.

TOOBIN: You can be sure she'll mention she's from North Carolina many times.

BANFIELD: Many. Early and often.

HOSTIN: (INAUDIBLE).

BANFIELD: Early and often.

TOOBIN: Yes. Yes, (INAUDIBLE).

BANFIELD: Paul, Sunny and Jeff, thanks so much for that. Appreciate it.

Straight ahead, a murder case that is as baffling as it is tragic. A California family, an entire family, kids, parents, all disappear and a grieving grandfather is waiting and waiting for justice and now, years later, there actually might be a break in the McStay case. That's ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: I want to get you to some breaking news right now in southern California. A live news conference updating you on the missing and murdered McStay family. Let's listen in.

SHERIFF JOHN MCMAHON, SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY: There's no information to suggest there were any other suspects involved in this crime. Chase Merritt was a business associate of Joseph McStay. The cause of death was determined to be blunt-force trauma. And based on the entire investigation and the evidence obtained, investigators believe these murders occurred at their residence in Fallbrook.

Investigators are not disclosing the motive for the murder at this point. Merritt was arrested on Wednesday, November 5th, without incident, transported and booked at our West Valley Detention Center, where he is currently being held.

I want to thank all the investigators who spent countless hours in this case. Less than a year ago, I made a promise to the family that our department would do everything in our power to solve this case. And although we can never bring them back, I hope that this provides some level of closure.

It's now my honor to introduce the district attorney of San Bernardino County, Mike Ramos.

MIKE RAMOS, SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Thank you, sheriff.

My condolences to the family.

In this county, San Bernardino County, we never give up. We continued to pursue and investigate until we solve. We solved the crimes that are committed. This morning we filed four counts of murder on the defendant, Charles Ray Merritt, for the murder of Joseph McStay, his wife Summer, and their children Gianni and Joseph Jr. We filed a special circumstance of multiple murder, which makes him eligible for the death penalty.

I don't need to tell you that this is a cold and callous murder of an entire family. There is no reason, no motive. We won't talk about that for that ever, ever to occur, especially for the young children, the most vulnerable victims. He is in custody. There's a no bail warrant and he will be arraigned at 1:30 this afternoon in the Victorville courthouse.

Finally, I am blessed as a district attorney of this county to have the best sheriff's department in the nation. These gentlemen that you see here work with my lawyers, my major crimes unit, my cold case unit on a daily basis to solve these cases. And as I said before, they don't give up. Thank God for Sheriff McMahon and his team because we are able now to at least get some justice for the family.

Thank you.

MCMAHON: Thank you, Mike.

I would now like to introduce Joseph Russell, who would like to say a couple words.

JOSEPH RUSSELL: I just -- on behalf of my family and the McStay family, I just want to publicly thank this team and the sheriff's department for all their hard work and dedication they put to this case and we are very, very grateful. So thank each and every one of you guys. We very much appreciate it. Thank you.

BANFIELD: Very grateful family and friends and those who have been involved in the McStay family since they disappeared almost five years ago. It was February of 2010 the family of four simply vanished. Strange clues along the way, but still no clue as to who could have been involved. But when four skeletal remains were found near the U.S./Mexican border, well, you can imagine the investigation went into overdrive and today the results of that investigation, four murder charges against Charles Ray Merritt with special circumstances, those circumstances elevating those crimes to be eligible for the death penalty. There's the picture of the man known as Chase Merritt.

Our Randi Kaye has been on this story since the beginning. You've run specials on this. You have doggedly pursued what I'm only assuming the investigators have been pursing as well. And then today, this.

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. And, Ashleigh, we are just five days shy of the one-year anniversary of that family's remains being found when we're getting news of this arrest. This case has been going on now for nearly five years. We have been following it along the way. And for those of you who haven't been following it as closely as we have, here's a brief catch up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATRICK MCSTAY, JOSEPH MCSTAY'S FATHER: From day one, I just had this gut feeling that I was never going to see them again. I just - I just knew. Something told me I wasn't going to see them again.

KAYE: Four years ago, Patrick McStay lost everything he loved. Four years ago, his son Joseph, daughter-in-law Summer and their two little boys, four-year-old Gianni and three-year-old Joseph Jr. vanished.

MCSTAY: I don't think they knew what was coming. I really don't.

KAYE (on camera): How did you find out that they had gone missing?

MCSTAY: Friday I tried calling him. Couldn't get him. Sunday I tried calling him and I couldn't reach him. Now I'm getting a little worried.

KAYE (voice-over): Worried since Patrick says he rarely went a day without a phone call from his son.

MCSTAY: Every time I talked to him, the last words out of my mouth when we -- before we hang up the phone is, I love you, son.

KAYE (on camera): If he was in trouble and had the ability to reach out to you, do you think he would have called you? I mean don't you think he would have?

MCSTAY: Oh, absolutely.

STEPH WATTS (ph), INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST: This case is unique. I've never seen anything like it.

KAYE (voice-over): Freelance investigative journalist Steph Watts has followed the case closely from the beginning.

WATTS: They just literally disappeared and nobody noticed for days.

KAYE: Thursday, February 4, 2010, began as an ordinary day in the McStay home.

MCSTAY: That morning I spoke to Joey on the phone.

KAYE (on camera): But he didn't let on anything was wrong in your last conversation?

MCSTAY: No, nothing was wrong. No, everything's fine.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was planning on having a lunch meeting with a business associate around noon, so he had to quickly wrap up and get out of the house.

KAYE (voice-over): Summer spent the day caring for the kids, overseeing their home renovation.

KAYE (on camera): Did they have any plans for that weekend?

MCSTAY: Yes, they had little Joey's birthday party scheduled for that Saturday, the 6th.

KAYE (voice-over): But little Joey Jr. never made it to his third birthday party.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: And Randi's back with me. It's just so disturbing when you see that family video. What may be even more disturbing, Randi, with that announcement from the sheriff in San Bernardino County is that you have interviewed Chase Merritt.

KAYE: Yes, for our documentary that we did for CNN. I mean he was one of the key people that we interviewed. Never, of course, suspecting that he may have been involved. And, of course, we don't know that yet but when -

BANFIELD: He was a friend. I mean he was Joseph's friend.

KAYE: He was a friend. He was a business partner. And he was one of the -- as far as we know, the last person possibly to see him on the day that the family disappeared. We talked about that. We talked about many different subjects. He was working on a book on the McStay family. But when I asked him about that day, he had met Joseph McStay for lunch, and I asked Chase Merritt what they talked about and whether or not he does believe he was the last person to see Joseph McStay alive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: Sir, you said you cooperated a great deal with authorities. You were questioned by detectives. What did they ask you?

CHASE MERRITT, SUSPECT/FAMILY FRIEND: Of course. The standard questions. You know, just, do I know anything about them disappearing. Did I have anything to do with it? Just the standard questions, you know, probably that they asked everybody.

KAYE: As far as you know, you were the last person or at least one of the last people to see him, right?

MERRITT: Yes. Yes. Yes. When he left Rancho Cucamonga, nobody else - although I think somebody -- there was another person or two that he talked to. I'm not sure.

KAYE: But you were the last person he saw?

MERRITT: I'm definitely the last person he saw.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Oh, that's such a poignant comment. It could have very well been the last person the whole family saw.

When you were speaking to him - I was trying to look in his eyes. I always want to get a look at someone's eyes to see, are you being truthful?

KAYE: See the body - the body language.

BANFIELD: Yes, what did you -- did you get a sense about his -- his capacity for truth?

KAYE: I did. I mean I enjoyed our conversation. He was warm. He was friendly. He was extremely relaxed and calm during our interview. And he looked me straight in the eye the entire time.

BANFIELD: How about with authority? The same thing?

KAYE: Absolutely. Uh-huh. Absolutely.

BANFIELD: Did he ever take a polygraph?

KAYE: He did take a polygraph. We actually talked about that. He took a polygraph. And I asked him, well, what were the results of it? And he said, well, I don't know. I haven't heard anything. So I'm assuming that, you know, the results were OK or otherwise they would have come wanting to talk to me again. So that was a long time ago.

BANFIELD: Yes. No news is not always good news.

KAYE: Not necessarily I guess in this case.

BANFIELD: A circumstance like that.

Well, you know, congratulations for working so hard on this.

KAYE: Thank you.

BANFIELD: It's very John Walsh-esque. I mean you stayed on it, you stayed on it, and look what the result has been. So, by the way, big props to you, Randi Kaye, because we're going to be airing "Buried Secrets" again. KAYE: Yes. Updated.

BANFIELD: Obviously very updated. "Buried Secrets," the story of who murdered the McStay family. That's coming up Tuesday night, 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time, here on CNN. Make sure you set your DVR for that. We're also going to take a closer look at the killing and hear exclusively from Charles Chase Merritt. Again, Tuesday, 9:00 p.m. Eastern on CNN. Thank you so much, Randi.

KAYE: Sure.

BANFIELD: Appreciate it.

A kidnapped woman safe and sound. The suspect in jail. And now police say they are connecting him to another case. Why the police are calling Delvin Barnes a vicious, vicious predator.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: You know how some people don't like all the surveillance cameras and people tracking that's out there? Well, in this next story, this kidnapping in Philadelphia, people are plenty happy that all that tracking is out there because it actually was technology that led police right to a suspect and may have saved a woman's life. The woman in the center of the screen.

Last Sunday, a man snatches a woman off the sidewalk, sticks her in a car, drives away, all of it caught on camera. The next day, same guy uses the kidnapped woman's ATM card, goes to a store, everything is recorded and he keeps dropping these electronic bread crumbs everywhere he goes. Here's what else he didn't think about. His car was beeping out a GPS signal the whole time. Police put a few things together and, boom, they got him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPT. JAYSON CRAWLEY, CHARLES CITY COUNTY, VA., SHERIFF'S DEPT.: Well, in the onset of the investigation, we had very limited information about a suspect due to the traumatic injuries of the victim. Several weeks later, we were able to develop DNA response from the state lab of DNA that was submitted a week after the attack in Charles City County that led us to Barnes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We also found what appeared to be some stickers from an auto local dealership here in Virginia. From prior investigations, we just remembered that the potential of a GPS could be there. So we made a phone call and, in fact, it was.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: And, in fact, it was. The man they're talking about is 37- year-old Delvin Barnes. Our Alexandra Field is in Philadelphia following this case.

Alexandra, how much trouble is this man in? ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A whole lot, Ashleigh, and he's

sitting behind bars right now and, frankly, police are happy about it. Before he responds to the federal charges, which will be launched in this case, he's got to answer charges in Virginia. So he's in jail there on suicide watch.

And, Ashleigh, just last year, this man was released from prison after serving out a sentence for a conviction of aggravated assault on his estranged wife. Now police linking him to two crimes against women he didn't even know.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHARLES RAMSEY, PHILADELPHIA POLICE COMMISSIONER: He's a vicious predator. He's off the streets and hopefully he'll be in jail for the rest of his life.

FIELD (voice-over): Delvin Barnes, under arrest, accused of snatching a woman from a Philadelphia street corner. Now investigators are releasing new details of another vicious attack allegedly perpetrated by Barnes.

Barnes will face federal charges in the abduction of 22-year-old nursing assistant Carlesha Freeland-Gaither. The violent crime caught on tape. But first he's being extradited to Virginia to face additional charges, including attempted murder related to an attack last month on a 16-year-old Richmond girl. Police in Charles City County say Barnes hit the teen in the head with a shovel, put her in the trunk of his car, and took her to his parents' Virginia home where he raped and tortured her.

CAPT. JAYSON CRAWLEY, CHARLES CITY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: He proceeded to douse her clothes in gasoline and also douse her in gasoline and bleach and then he proceeded to burn her clothing.

FIELD: Officer says Barnes asked her how she wanted to die and at one point showed her pictures of other girls he claimed he attacked.

CRAWLEY: He was attempting to dig a hole but somehow he got distracted from her and she proceeded to flee in the woods.

FIELD: The victim ran two miles away to this business, where she was discovered naked with third-degree burns. Police say DNA tests led them to name Barnes as their suspect. Barnes has a lengthy and violent rap sheet, officials say, including dozens of charges from armed robbery to aggravated assault and false imprisonment. Barnes' former father-in-law says his daughter married but quickly divorced the suspect.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I knew him. I knew he was going to get in trouble. I knew he was going to get in trouble again. I just knew. That's the kind of person he is.

FIELD: A friend of Barnes describes an entirely different person.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's always looking to help somebody, always looking to bend over backwards. He'll give the shirt off his back if he could.

FIELD: Carlesha Freeland-Gaither is now back in Philadelphia, her family at her side. Officers who worked for days to find her, relieved she's finally home.

ED HANKO, FBI SPECIAL AGENT: It felt extremely personal. After seeing the video, it struck a chord with just about everybody who saw it. And we just made it a mission that we were going to find her and we were going to find her OK.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FIELD: Ashleigh, a lot of good police work in this case, no doubt about it, but there was also key help from a good Samaritan. This is a guy who actually witnessed Carlesha being stuffed into that car. He did the right thing. He stayed at the scene. He called police. He waited for them to get there. That's why they were able to get their hands on that surveillance video so quickly. And we know that video really became key to bringing this young woman home.

BANFIELD: OK. Alexandra Field with some -- a poignant comment about the police working hard. Appreciate that, Alexandra.

I want to turn now to my legal panel on this one. Joey Jackson and Danny Cevallos are both here.