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Legal View with Ashleigh Banfield

PlayStation and Xbox Live Knocked Offline; Girl Says Father Gave Her to Boko Haram; Pope Francis: Big Moments of 2014

Aired December 26, 2014 - 12:30   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: PlayStation and Xbox live are starting to come back online after being the target of a cyber hack on Christmas. A scrooge came along. The group called Lizard Squad is taking credit for this take down.

By the way, the networks that were taken down are run by companies with a hand in streaming that controversial comedy movie "The Interview". But even stranger, Lizard Squad is not saying that they have a beef, not mentioning "The Interview" at all for the reason of the hacking.

In the meantime, this movie has been illegally downloaded about 750,000 times. That's more than 4 million dollars in lost revenue for Sony.

CNN Silicon Valley correspondent Dan Simon is following these digital stories very closely.

First and foremost, Lizard Squad, why exactly did they do this? Are they saying what their beef is or if they even have one?

DAN SIMON, CNN SILICON VALLEY CORRESPONDENT: Well, hi, Ashleigh. What they're saying is that they wanted to expose the security holes in these networks and I would say mission accomplished.

Well, you know, Ashleigh, as a parent myself, I can tell you, with very good firsthand knowledge, that there's nothing more frustrating for a child than opening that new toy, that new present and having it not function perfectly and now multiply that by a few million times and you have a lot of unhappy people out there.

As you said, this appears to be the handiwork of a notorious hacking group called Lizard Squad. Now, we should point out, as you said, this has nothing to do, apparently, with all of the issues surrounding Sony Pictures and "The Interview."

This was lizard squad just wanting to wreak havoc. If you were to use the freeway analogy, if you go on to a freeway do something and cause disturbance, you get a whole lot of congestion. This was not a typical hack where they infiltrated the server's networks. This was what's called a DDOS hack, a distribution denial of service attacks. So, all of the online networks were congested. But at last check, the Xbox platform seems to be operating normally while there are still lingering issues for the PlayStation, Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: So, our colleague, Brian Stelter, was reporting as well this morning, alongside these issues of trying to expose the holes and vulnerabilities of these companies, if that's really the motive for lizard squad, they are perverse in what they find fun. Messing with people and messing with companies and then getting the bragging rights to do so is also seemingly a motive. So, how close is anyone to finding out who these people, person, whomever this group is, who is behind this?

SIMON: Very good question. These hacking groups live in secrecy and they are very good at it. This particular group has been around for a while and they have gone undetected or at least nobody has caught them. So, I would imagine they are going to remain underground for a while, Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: I'm very sorry for your Christmas being disrupted and the gaming, because you are one of those millions. All of those kids, all those teenagers, all those grownups who got the games and couldn't play.

Dan Simon, merry Christmas, happy New Year. Nice to see you.

SIMON: Same to you. Thanks, Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: Dan Simon joining us live on that story.

And still ahead this hour, a teenager's story of horror. How she says she was recruited by terrorist for a suicide bombing but bravely refused to carry out those sickening orders.

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BANFIELD: As so many of us gather with our families and our children to celebrate this time of year, it is certainly very difficult to understand this next story. This comes to us from Kano, Nigeria, where a 13-year-old girl is now recounting how her own father turned her over to the militant group Boko Haram, who then strapped a suicide bomb on her.

We get the story from CNN's Jessica King.

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JESSICA KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): She's a young teenager and a few weeks ago she almost became a suicide bomber.

UNIDENTIFIED GIRL (through translator): My father took us to the bush, which was surrounded by gunmen. I was asked if I wanted to go to heaven. When I answered, they said I have to go for a suicide mission and if I attempted to run, they would kill me. So, from there, we were sent to Kano. When we came to the Kano market, one of us said we should go separately but I refused. After my friend detonated her own, I was wounded.

KING: Two girls set off hidden bombs killing four people. This teen says she would have been the third attacker. It's one of dozens of attacks by the militant group Boko Haram in recent years, attacks that have killed thousands of people. CNN has not independently verified the story and police imprisoned her without her parents or a lawyer present. Officials want to make clear, this attack was Boko Haram and not a tribal conflict.

ADENERELA SHINABAD, KANO STATE POLICE COMMISSIONER: We want to disabuse the minds of members of the public that no tribe, this is not an intertribal war. It's a terrorism act like we have had in the past. So it has nothing to do with any government. It has nothing to do with any tribe.

KING: Boko Haram wants to create an Islamic state inside Nigeria. They are behind the kidnapping of those nearly 300 schoolgirls in April, and hundreds more since then.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KING: And, Ashleigh, what is particularly startling, not only is the rise in attacks that we've seen and so many lives lost, but also the use of these young teenagers who are really pawns in Boko Haram. Now, moving ahead in the next few weeks, we have big elections in Nigeria. They are going to be very heated and there is some concern that Boko Haram could have a rise in attacks but we'll be watching -- Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: Boy, their cowardice knows no bounds, grabbing a little girl, putting a suicide on her, how about? Jessica King, good reporting. Thank you for that. Appreciate it.

Jessica reporting for us live.

2014, certainly, was a busy one for the pope. Pope Francis not only hosted a meeting for Middle Eastern leaders but he also played a major role in talks between the United States and Cuba. A look back at the banner year for the leader of the Catholic Church.

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BANFIELD: Well, there's no doubt about it. Pope Francis is certainly winning fans around the world and 2014, the pope's second year in the shoes, it's been huge. He certainly angered some but he's pleased a lot of others. And one thing is certain Pope Francis has not shied away from controversy.

CNN's Delia Gallagher reminds us of the things this pope took on in 2014.

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DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was a banner year for Pope Francis. Change, the pope says, happens in small steps. But this year, Francis has made some pretty bold moves. He inserted himself into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict during a landmark trip to the Middle East, touching a wall that divides Israel and the Palestinian territories, and bringing their leaders together for prayer back at the Vatican. He played peacemaker in an historic deal to open relations between the

U.S. and Cuba.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want to thank His Holiness, Pope Francis, whose moral example shows us the importance of pursuing the world as it should be.

GALLAGHER: Last year, he shook the church with a few simple words.

"Who am I to judge?" when asked about gay priests.

This year, he hosted a church meeting called the synod to discuss a more welcoming stance towards gays and divorce.

The pontiff is not afraid of friction. He thinks it's a sign of the kind of openness that can lead to making the right decisions. I would be worried and saddened, he said, if there weren't animated discussion.

Plan to see even more of the pope in 2015. Come September, Francis will visit the United States.

REV. THOMAS ROSICA, ENGLISH ASSISTANT TO HOLY SEE PRESS OFFICE: He's coming not to rally troops, to become crusaders, but he's coming to encourage those who are in marriage and who feel assailed from all sides, hey, I'm here to support you. He's not coming to condemn those who have failed, to condemn those who are living in other unions or relationships that are not traditional marriage. He's coming to give people hope.

GALLAGHER: The highly anticipated trip could include stops in New York, Washington and Mexico.

ROSICA: There is always the element of what I call the Franciscan surprise. I think we need to be open to that. Many things are at play.

GALLAGHER: But his first scheduled trip of 2015 is to Sri Lanka and the Philippines in January, once again, showing his compassion for the poor rather than the powerful.

So far, Francis has proven in big ways and small to be pope of the unexpected. No doubt in the coming year, he'll continue to keep everyone on their toes.

Delia Gallagher, CNN, Rome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BANFIELD: Yes, on their toes. But also on the tip of the conversation as well, I want to join up now with our CNN religion commentator, Father Edward Beck.

Father, I said merry Christmas before I've said and it's nice to have you back. I hope you had a lovely day yesterday. I want to get your top takeaway. If you look back in the last 12 months, what has stood out the most?

FATHER EDWARD BECK, CNN RELIGION COMMENTATOR: I think the most relevant to me, Ashleigh, has been all of these political ventures, but it has shown that the papacy is still very relevant. For anyone who thought that the pope is just an old man sitting in some ivory tower in the Vatican, I think this pope has proven that that is not true, from Syria to Palestine and Israel, even when he was flying to Korea, he did something that no pope in modern memory has done. He called the president of China and he gave a message flying over the airspace of China. And, again, we know there's no diplomatic relationship with China.

So, he's kind of broken all the boundaries, and we've seen him this year as diplomat, negotiator, peace broker, whatever you want to call it. But his political forays in my opinion, had been the most remarkable.

BANFIELD: So, what do you foresee? Do you think that this -- I don't know if it's fair to call it an aggressive agenda, it feels like an aggressive agenda, meaning a busy agenda. Do you think he's going to stay with that pace or have we seen the most of it and now, it will just be time to let it all sink in?

BECK: Well, you and others, Ashleigh, have said that maybe all of the image is fine and some of the symbolism is good. But what about some real change, right? So we have this synod coming up again in October, and there could be real change that comes out of that. We talk about divorce --

BANFIELD: How long does it take to -- sorry to interrupt. I wanted to ask you how long it takes to gauge the reaction to that change be it in membership or goodwill or any other kind of metric that the church I'm sure must be using to figure out where they stand.

BECK: Well, if his popularity is any indication, change has already occurred. I mean, this pope has popularity ratings that any population would kill for. So, he's certainly popular among most, maybe not the conservative element because they see his agenda as too progressive. But if we see some change come out of the synod for communion for divorce and remarried, for broadening the notion of family to blended families, same-sex couples, et cetera, and then on the agenda is also, what about this question of married priests? You and others have asked, can that possibly change?

Well, this pope, the only quote that he has made about the possibility for married priest was just that, it can change. So, I would not be surprised if somewhere in the coming year, we see that issue come up, too.

BANFIELD: Or perhaps the issue of women priests or gay priests and gay marriages, that as well.

I'm going to say it again, merry Christmas. It's lovely to speak to you. So glad to have these last two days with you. Have a wonderful New Year, Father Beck.

BECK: Same here, Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: So, every year at this time, we always take a look back at the work we've done and we try to assess who are the winners and who are the losers of the year. And on this show, we're going to take the LEGAL VIEW when it comes to those. Who our experts are saying had a banner year and then who had a not so good year. That's next.

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BANFIELD: The legal stories of 2014 will be etched into our hearts and minds for a long time. We won't soon forget these cries for justice.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

PROTESTERS: No justice! No peace! No justice! No peace!

What do we want? Justice! When do we want it? Now!

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

BANFIELD: After the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, protesters took to the streets, some of them violent, others peaceful. Relentless and determined to have their voices heard.

Right now, we're taking time to reflect on 2014. The legal stories -- the winners and the losers, the victories and the crushing defeat.

And for the LEGAL VIEW and their picks, I want to bring back HLN legal analyst Joey Jackson, CNN legal analyst Danny Cevallos, and criminal defense attorney, Midwin Charles.

Midwin, I'm going to let you start, ladies first. Winners and losers?

MIDWIN CHARLES, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: OK. For me, I'd say the winner is the Ferguson protesters because since the death of Mike Brown they have kept the police brutality and excessive force by police on the forefront of American dialogue, which I think is very important. I think that for the first time, a lot of Americans are starting to talk about this. It's an issue that I think has been around for a while and so, I applaud them for doing the work.

And, of course, I'm talking only about the peaceful protesters.

BANFIELD: Thank you. I was about to hit you up on that.

CHARLES: Of course.

BANFIELD: You better only be talking about the non-window breakers.

CHARLES: Of course. Those aren't protesters. Those are looters. Two different things.

BANFIELD: Top loser?

CHARLES: Loser -- North Korea. They come sliding in at the end of the year but I would say that they are one of the losers for thinking that they can tell Americans which movies we should see and which movies are awesome and which are not so awesome. And I think from a legal perspective, free speech reigns supreme in the United States of America.

BANFIELD: Hallelujah.

CHARLES: And they should not dare to come in here and tell us which movies we should see. Even if some movies aren't that great.

BANFIELD: You're getting a "Dead Poet Society" reaction.

But I'm going to keep you for a moment and I'm going to go to Danny Cevallos for your winners and losers.

DANNY CEVALLOS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Winner has got to be Uber. A year ago, Uber, the car service, right, a year ago, if you'd said that to me, I would have said what's Uber? Now, a year later, I can't live without it. I want Uber it in all parts of my life. I want a well- dressed gentleman to hand me a small water bottle every time they open the door for me.

If you haven't had Uber, it's amazing but it raises tons of legal issues. Liability, whether or not it overcomes taxiing livery, I can never pronounce that, and whether they'll be allowed to stay, what kind of liability issues arise with Uber.

But when it comes to losers, it's got to be Donald Sterling. People forget how --

BANFIELD: That was fishing in a barrel, or cheap fish in a barrel.

CEVALLOS: People forget how this dominated the news cycles just a few months ago and brought up so many legal issues. Can you record people on the phone and, if you do, what can you use that for and also if you have a contractual agreement with something like the NBA, can they take away your multimillion dollar business just because they don't like what you said?

And so, even though Donald Sterling may be a big loser, you know, on the other hand, he lost and retired, basically, with several million dollars. So, we should all have such a soft landing.

JOEY JACKSON, HLN LEGAL ANALYST: It might have been billions.

CHARLES: It might have been billions.

CEVALLOS: Well, I'm rounding down, Joey. I can't count all, I'm illiterate, I'm not numerate.

BANFIELD: Even losers can be wealthy, that's for sure.

All right. Joey Jackson, lay it on me.

JACKSON: So I say the cell phone. And what am I referring to? I'm referring to an obscure case called Riley versus California, wherein the Supreme Court indicated unanimously, that would 9-0, and that was what? That, you know what, police cannot search the cell phone that has our lives on it without first securing a warrant.

It used to be that you can conduct what's called a search incident to an arrest where you can go and attack all of your applications and everything in here and out for public view but the court said, no, get a warrant. That's a good thing for freedoms, protections and privacy. So, that's a big winner for me of the year.

BANFIELD: Not a good one for prosecutors.

JACKSON: No, no, no.

BANFIELD: You need that information.

JACKSON: I used to be a prosecutor but I say prosecute and prosecute the criminals, but just get it right and respect their privacy, always a delicate balance.

CHARLES: Or get a warrant.

JACKSON: Or get a warrant.

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: OK. Who possibly could your loser be?

JACKSON: The loser would be, sorry, Sony, OK? The hacking scandal was huge. And, look, if you look at the complaint and you read the complaint, I know it's only an allegation, Ashleigh. They'll have a day in court and they won't feel settle. But to leave your systems vulnerable and to have 15,000 current and former employees at risk with the most sensitive of personal information, Social Security numbers and, you know, just papers and salaries and bonuses and medical information, that's a problematic upgrade. That's a problem.

Upgrade your systems. Keep your systems impeccable so that they can be not breached, not penetrated, so we don't have to talk about, Midwin, "The Interview", and North Korea and that they can dictate our way of life. How about that?

BANFIELD: So, if I had to guess, one winner from this panel, it would be map, because you did 9-0 to explain unanimous on the Supreme Court, which I love.

I'm going to throw my own winner, it just sort of came to me as we were chatting. My winner is the exonerated, and I'm going to just say every year, because they show us how imperfect we are and how we nearly did something horrifying, about the worst that you can do in criminal justice. When we nearly execute innocent people in this country, and my loser is the death penalty because we're not perfect and it's proven over and over and over again.

It's not about the morality of the death penalty, trust me. That's not what this is about. It's about the morality of being wrong. And when you're wrong, you can't do something that can't get a mulligan. Do you feel the same way at your lawyers? Please tell me.

JACKSON: Feel the same way.

CHARLES: I do feel the same way. I do feel the same because it's irreversible error.

BANFIELD: It's irreversible error.

JACKSON: It can't be the cost of doing business.

But a big, big winner of this year, Ashleigh --

BANFIELD: What?

JACKSON: -- is you. A great show on LEGAL VIEW.

BANFIELD: You're adorable, and you're all invited back.

Happy 2015, y'all. Great to have you. Joey Jackson, Danny Cevallos and Midwin Charles, happy New York to you.

Thank you all so much for watching. Stick around. My friend and colleague Brianna Keilar is live and she's next.