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Legal View with Ashleigh Banfield

Latest on the Paris Terror Attacks; New Pictures of the Hostage Drama

Aired January 14, 2015 - 12:30   ET

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


ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: This is east Paris, in which Amedy Coulibaly was holding all of those hostages. They blew through those glass windows. Inside those windows and inside that market were surveillance cameras.

The surveillance cameras captured a number of images and those are the images we're about to bring you on CNN as we continue to process them. We have them in tik (ph) we like to call it. This is sort of, you know, we're looking very carefully at them to make sure the images that can be aired without anything that's -- it's difficult to process clearly.

So what happened was the images caught a few things that are of interest and that is number one, that Coulibaly was apparently holding a handgun, whether yet other weaponry unknown at this point that as the hostages escaped. We now know four people were dead and the images that we're about to show you apparently do show bodies on the floor, but also on the floor, what appeared to be people huddled, whether they were workers or customers at the Hyper Cacher (ph), I don't know.

Also, you could clearly see in these images the clothing that the killer was wearing. Apparently fatigues and a bulletproof vest that seems to be known because the description that had come in from the traffic stop in which Coulibaly had killed a female police officer and shot her partner, was that he was dressed all in black like the killers of the Charlie Hebdo magazine also what appeared to be a bulletproof vest.

You can also see the market employees who seemingly may have been ordered to take down those surveillance cameras. There's also a stroller that was abandoned and grocery items littering the floor.

So as we continue to get those pictures for you, stay with us and be patient if you would, please, we're going to bring those to you just as soon as possible. But these attacks in Paris certainly do have a lot eerie similarities of what happened at the Boston Marathon bombing.

Two brothers raised in Western countries, only they spew terrorist speech and become tangled in accusations of heinous killings after violent shootouts and a manhunt, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the surviving suspect in the Boston bombing is preparing to go on trial. It is underway, folks. And the jury selection for Tsarnaev trial started last week. It could be a really tough job to find an impartial jury in this one.

The Paris attacks might just be making selections more difficult or maybe just more daunting. As a result, Tsarnaev's defense team has done something perhaps unusual. They've asked for a month-long delay, all because of what happened in Paris. These attacks in Paris that seemingly are similar.

But Judge George O'Toole made a pretty quick decision, frankly denying the Tsarnaev request for a delay and that just happened a few hours ago, this morning in Boston.

Joining me now to talk about it this is CNN legal analyst, Mel Robbins who is also Boston resident. I'm not sure what to make of that because on one hand, I get it. These are frightfully similar. I myself have broadcast several scripts connoting the similarities between the brothers in Paris and the brothers here. And there are a lot of people watching TV right now and many of them are in the jury pool.

MEL ROBBINS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: That's true, but you only need 18 jurors, Ashleigh. And they've got several million folks that they can pool from in the jury pool in Greater Boston. And basically that's the grounds for which the federal judge denied this motion and he not only denied it, he denied it within hours of getting it.

The defense was arguing that because of the news coverage and because of the similarities reported in the news coverage that the jury pool would be tainted and interestingly in denying the motion. The judge said, "Well, I've looked at all of the pages and pages of questionnaires that the potential jury pool has filled out, and I feel more confident than ever that we can find in partial jury and impanel them, we're going forward."

BANFIELD: And make no mistake, it's -- it is not an issue, if you ever sat on a jury and if you ever gone to (inaudible) you'd be interested in this. It's not about whether you've seen any of this stuff because clearly everybody had seen the O.J. coverage pretty much.

ROBBINS: Right.

BANFIELD: Not about whether you've seen it. It's how you react to it. It's how you can actually listen to perhaps refuting evidence and that sort of thing. But will there be additional questions added to the (inaudible) now given what happened in Paris? Might they actually start asking about what do you think about these brothers in Paris?

ROBBINS: Absolutely. So not only all of these jurors had to fill out a very lengthily questionnaire, but now when we resume questioning of the jury tomorrow, you better believe that the defense is going to be asking as well as the prosecution questions about the terrorist attack in Paris. Has that changed our mind here? Do you want to kill all terrorist? Do you think you can be fair and look at the Boston case on its own?

The prosecutors, of course, are kind of hoping that they get jurors that start to think that this is all part of a larger terrorist narrative because that would make it easier for somebody to vote for the death penalty in this case.

The defense, however, is fearing that because people are going to start to connect the dots and see this is part of a larger narrative, Ashleigh. It's going to be difficult for them to argue, "Hey, look, he's guilty, but he was overly influenced by his brother. He didn't orchestrate it. This was a lone wolf attack." And there are some differences.

BANFIELD: Less anybody watch and think, you know, how frustrating this is, and how this was just a store for the prosecutors in the case.

Ironically, down the road, could this not give sort of a wind beneath the appellate wings for Tsarnaev? Look, we tried to head this off early in the process.

ROBBINS: Right.

BANFIELD: We trirf to make sure we had a good jury and the judge took only, you know, a matter of hours to mix our efforts. So the record is preserved for this kind of (inaudible).

ROBBINS: Yes. And also you can appeal on the law. You can appeal on the facts. You can appeal for constitutional violations and we've seen a judge denied change a venue. We see them deny the request to delay the trial so that they could continue to prepare. There's almost 1,200 witnesses that could be called and thousands and thousands of different pieces of evidence. And now he has denied summarily their request to delay the jury selection for a month.

Is it material on the facts? I don't think so. I do think that they will get an absolutely fair jury that will look at this case and look at the case, you know, separately. However, they are now creating a procedural kind of evidence. So three things that we know already that they will absolutely appeal on.

BANFIELD: Just real quickly before I let you go. Is it grievous error if the prosection brings up Paris during the trial, outside of -- once you've impaneled jury, bringing up that sort of thing as a greater narrative of this global effort that's inspiring even American (inaudible).

ROBBINS: Well, listen, what you are going to hear is -- there are going to be pre-trial motions, Ashleigh, and if you're the defense attorney, you're going to argue in front of the judge without the jury present, I want you to inform that prosecutor, they're not allowed to bring up or reference...

BANFIELD: Yes.

ROBBINS: ... Paris.

BANFIELD: Yes. ROBBINS: And depending upon what the judge rules, that's going to inform whether or not the prosecutor brings it up in the conviction stage or whether we're talking about the separate trial that's going to happen when we decide whether or not he's going to get the death penalty.

BANFIELD: Mel Robbins, thanks for that. Keep us close to these things. Seem to change day to day.

ROBBINS: Yes they do.

BANFIELD: The Boston clearly what was happened overseas. Thank you for that. I want to remind you, we are still working on getting those images for you from inside the kosher grocery in Paris. There are still images that are coming out from the surveillance cameras. We're still processing those images. And we'll have them for you just as soon as they are available for air.

In the meantime, if you can believe it, there is a woman who CNN has spoken with, who said the slaughter of those cartoonist at the office of Charlie Hebdo was justified. First of all, how could you think that? Second of all, how can you say that? You'll find out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Just a reminder, we're still working on our Breaking News right now regarding those images that are coming from the Daily Mail, the British newspaper, has apparently been able to get these images inside the kosher market. That kosher grocery in which so many people were held hostage. 10 escaping, 15 -- 10 escaping, 15 surviving the hostage ordeal, four dead, and apparently images that include those bodies on the floor and the terrified hostage huddling. We're working to get those pictures to you, again, courtesy of the Daily Mail.

In the meantime, France, as the nation remains on the highest level of national alert, there are 10,000 of these troops deployed all over the country today. Famously walking beneath the (inaudible), the Eiffel Tower. They're guarding schools, they're guarding public places. And of course those major tourist spots in France and they are keeping their eyes open for any sign of Islamic extremists are coming out of hiding or awakening from any kind of sleeper activity.

CNN's Arwa Damon met a young woman in Paris who blends in perfectly, but says, "She is ready to fight for her fate."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The way she's dressed right now in skinny jeans, hair flowing is, for her, a costume. Indira, not her real name, asks that we conceal her identity and her voice. Her Twitter profile picture is of two Moroccan women with ISIS. Pulled from an article she read, one of the small fragments that mold her current state of mind.

"They are brave, I don't have this courage," she says, pointing to her other Twitter photographs. It's a screen grab of armed women who pledged allegiance to ISIS. If it was up to her, she would also wear niqab, banned in France.

"I don't want to be judged if I walked outside in niqab. I don't want people to turn around and look at me. I want to be where I'm not going to shock anyone." And shock not just with what she wears, but with what she says. Indira believes the slaughter of Charlie Hebod cartoonists is justified, though not that of the others who were killed.

"I prefer to think that they are people that -- yes, they wanted to avenge the prophet, but then they took it too far." She also posted a video of Amedy Coulibaly, the third gunman as he is killed by police in the hail of bullets.

"I can't really tell you why I cried for them so much. I was so angry that they were dead. Why? Why kill them? Indira's path to extremism was forged slowly. She used to drink, smoke, she even has a tattoo.

For people that share Indira's hardline religious views, it's not just about whether or not women can legally wear the niqab here. The ongoing public debate in France about national identity has left them feeling rejected by France and closer to the religious lifestyle promise of the so-called Caliphate.

Indira plans on leaving the comforts and modernity of life in Paris behind. France, she says, is for the French. She feels her place is here, ISIS territory in Syria. She looks forward to the hardship, lack of amenities, and life among those who she believes are like- minded, immersed in religion. She shows us recent messages exchanged with "a brother". He writes, it's his back up account in case his main is shut down, and "we can talk here in private."

"If my fiance doesn't want to come with me, I love my God more than I love him. I will leave him. He's not the one who is going to open the gates of paradise for me"

Arwa Damon, CNN Paris.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Great reporting from our Arwa Damon. What was it like in the Charlie Hebdo offices when the Kouachi brothers broke in before they began their murders? Next, a maintenance worker who first encountered them -- it was his first day on the job. He tells what it was like when he looked right into the eyes of the killers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Some heartbreaking new details on the first person who was killed by the terrorists last week in France. Frederic Boisseau was one of the building technicians who was in the reception area of the Charlie Hebdo offices. He was 42-years-old, a husband, a father. He had two young sons. His friends and family carried signs with his name on it at Sunday's march in Paris.

His work partner, Jeremy Ganz, was there. He gave his first international interview with CNN's Jim Bittermann and he described exactly what happened, along with Boisseau's brother, Christophe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM BITTERMANN, SENIOR EUROPEAN CORRESPONDENT: Much has been heard about the cartoonist and police who were among the victims, but little about the first person the terrorists killed. A maintenance technician named Frederic Boisseau.

He and his partner Jeremy Ganz were looking over the Charlie Hebdo building for the first time at the start of a maintenance contract, the first to come face to face with the killers. A week later, Boisseau's brother Christophe and Ganz have began telling their story.

JEREMY GANZ, CHARLIE HEBDO MAINTENANCE WORKER: (Speaking in French).

BITTERMANN: And were your frightened?

GANZ: (Speaking in French).

BITTERMANN: You had a good view of the gunman?

GANZ: (Speaking in French).

BITTERMANN: What feelings do you have towards the gunman?

GANZ: (Speaking in French).

BOISSEAU: (Speaking in French).

BITTERMANN: Jeremy you called his wife?

GANZ: (Speaking in French).

BITTERMANN: Unfortunately not.

GANZ: (Speaking in French).

BITTERMANN: Jim Bittermann, CNN Paris.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: A reminder we're continuing to process some brand new images out of the kosher grocery store in which those hostages, many of them were held and then fled but four were killed. Those images that we'll be bring to you shortly.

In the mean time other major news search crews have found the fuselage of Air Asia Flight 8501 at the bottom of the Java Sea. And this is the photographic evidence of the body of the plane resting on the sea floor.

And this is a very significant development because it is thought that this is likely the scene were many of the bodies will possibly be found. Indonesian officials are also reporting that they have now successfully downloaded the contents of both the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder. I want to bring in CNN Aviation Analyst and Former Transportation Department Inspector General Mary Schiavo. Mary it's hard to look at those pictures because I'm sure with your skills and expertise you know full well that that is the very likely site of a mass grave.

MARY SCHIAVO, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: It is. Most likely, these seats with the passengers still tightly strapped in because of the very bad weather they would have really been buckled down. And most likely the majority of them are still in the fuselage. If they had come free they would have floated. By now of course the remains would have, you know, sunken back down. But I think that's for most of the people probably still are sadly.

BANFIELD: Mary what will the forensic processing entail then, will they actually send the divers and do the work while it rest on the sea floor or just lift it?

SCHIAVO: Well on this point because they have both black boxes and they were successfully able to download the information. The actual committed condition of the plane wreckage is not going to be as important as getting the bodies out. Now in United States what happens is the divers usually try to bring the bodies up first before they put the grapples around the wreckage or the cables et cetera and try to lift that because in doing so often the remains are damaged. And there's risk that they could be lost.

However, remember there's just -- there's literally hundreds of miles of the wiring and other cables in an aircraft. And it can be pose a risk to the divers. So if they can do it safely they usually bring them up otherwise they will have to come up with the plane because we certainly wouldn't want to loose any divers in the process.

BANFIELD: And it such a very sad image to realize what it is we're actually looking at. Mary Schiavo thank you, I appreciate your insight as always. Mary Schiavo joining us live.

And a reminder to our viewers as well that we are still awaiting those new images from the attack on the kosher market in Paris, France. We're going to bring in those to you just as soon as they are available. Please stay tuned, my colleague Brianna Keilar is sitting in for Wolf and it starts right now.