Return to Transcripts main page

Legal View with Ashleigh Banfield

John Kerry cites demand for Russia; Trial for the murder of Chris Kyle begins; Brian Williams apologizes for lie about his experience in the military; Morgan Spurlock learns the do's and don'ts at the zoo

Aired February 05, 2015 - 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 HOST: Secretary of State John Kerry says the fighting and the killing in Ukraine is Russia's problem, and ending it is Russia's job. Kerry is in Kiev right now and he just made the comments along side Ukraine's Prime Minister.

Kerry called on Russia to do three specific things, pull heavy weapons far from civilian populations in the occupied zone, remove all non- Ukrainian troops and military equipment, and once and for all, close the border between Russia and Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KERRY, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Russia and the (inaudible) are seizing more territory, terrorizing more citizens, and refusing to participate in serious negotiations. Let there be no doubt about who is blocking the prospect of peace here. They continue to refuse Ukraine to control of its border. Its own border.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: CNN's Jim Sciutto is live in Kiev right now. And you're along side Secretary Kerry. You are bale to actually fire off a couple of questions as well. A, what you asked, and B, did you get an answer?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, let me tell you, Ashleigh. This is a pretty powerful moment. I asked Secretary Kerry, I begin by asking him and telling that -- our CNN colleagues in Moscow reached out to the Kremlin to get a response to Secretary Kerry's statement earlier in the day that it was Russian forces, Russian weapons in Eastern Ukraine that are escalating the situation. Now the Kremlin's spokesman told CNN there are no Russian troops in Ukraine. There is no Russian -- there are no Russian tanks in Ukraine. This is a false statement.

Secretary Kerry, and I'll tell you, the Prime Minister of U.K. and Mr. Yatsenyuk, I could practically feel his blood boiling as he answered the question. Here's the moment here because Secretary Kerry took my question and turn to the Ukrainian Prime Minister.

(START VIDEO CLIP)

KERRY: Mr. Prime Minister, is it true that -- as the Kremlin just said today there are no Russians on the ground in...

ARSENY YATSENYUK, UKRAINE PRIME MINISTER: It seems to me that the only country who strongly denied (inaudible) military Russian boots on the ground is Russian Federation and personally, President Putin. If they need, I can give them my vote.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: He was biting at times later in the press conference. He said that he loves to get peace agreements from Vladimir Putin, very sarcastically, I would add saying that he finds it difficult to touch them. That really describes the way Ukrainians look at this situation. And frankly, Secretary Kerry there sharing that anger. He said, "Everybody knows that Russia is an Eastern Ukraine." He says "We have intercepted conversations between Russian commanders and troops on the ground that we have satellite photos," other means in the 21st century of confirming that.

But, you know, this is the counterpart that the U.S. and the West have now in peace negotiations, a counterpart who denies the facts on the ground. It is not a very promising (inaudible) to any peace negotiations, Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: All right, Jim Sciutto on the ground for us in Kiev. Excellent work Jim. Thank you for that.

Now for a quick look at some of the other top stories that are making news today. Stars and Stripes is reporting that the U.S. Navy is investigating a sailor accused of video taping female officers inside their bathroom. The incident allegedly taking place aboard the aircraft carrier USS John Stennis.

The 33-year-old suspect was on board, the ship on a temporary basis during flight qualification.

Today, at Staten Island, judges hearing arguments to unfill the grand jury records in the Eric Garner case. Grand jurors declined to indict Officer Daniel Pantaleo for putting Garner in a choke hold that ultimately led to Garner's death. The judge will decide whether or not to release those records at a later date.

Pope Francis will address a joint meeting of Congress on September 24th, the first Pope ever to do so. House Speaker John Boehner made the announcement on Capital Hill today.

American Sniper has earned almost $250 million and it's rendered moviegoers speechless or in tears as they exit the theater. And today, jury selection begins in the trial of the man accused of murdering the American hero in that film, of all the fame and attention. Is it even possible to get an impartial jury? We'll explain next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRADLEY COOPER, ACTOR, AMERICAN SNIPER: I got a military-age male that's on a cell phone watching the convoy, over.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you think he's reporting troop movement, you have a green light. Your call, over.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Maybe he's just calling his old lady.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: I probably don't need to tell you that that is American Sniper, which is the highest grossing war movie of all time now. It tells a story of a real Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, who's been credited with about 160 kills in four tours of duty in Iraq.

If Kyle wasn't a legend before, and he certainly was, he is most definitely a legend even outside of his circle now. And that poses quite a problem for this man, Eddie Ray Routh, a fellow veteran on trial for Chris Kyle's murder.

In the courtroom today in Stephenville, Texas, lawyers are trying to sit a jury that either doesn't know or has not been influenced by Chris Kyle's story or his violent vest on a gun range two years ago this week.

CNN's Ed Lavandera is watching the story in Dallas. The county where this case is being tried has about 40,000 people, do they know how many of the jury pool has actually seen the movie? My guess is that -- that was one of the top questions on any kind of questionnaire or even any kind of war (inaudible).

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well that process just started this morning, Ashleigh. And so, they sent out jury summons to about 800 different people to county clerk there in Stephenville. They says they hope at about 400 people show up, and that's one of the first process, one of the first steps that will be done here starting this morning is these potential jurors filling up questionnaires being interviewed by the jury.

We still have not had a chance to see what exactly is on that questionnaire. We're trying to get our hands on it. We'll see if we'll be able to get some insight into exactly what these jurors are being asked.

But it'd be hard to imagine that they wouldn't be asked about the movie and if they've seen it in and that's sort of thing. What kind of attention they've paid to Chris Kyle's story so far.

But this is a process that will probably last about four days. Today and tomorrow, they will be questioned by the judge in filling up these questionnaires. And then next Monday and Tuesday, the attorneys and the prosecutors in the case will have their chance to interview the potential jurors trying to whittle it down to 12 jurors and two alternates. And they're hoping that the case in opening statements would start next Wednesday, Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: And so the issue so often in these murder cases where it's very high profile is perhaps the change of venue might be better suited certainly for the defendants. That's often the case that it's the defendant that need to change to venue.

But in this particular case, neither the defendant nor the victims actually are from this county as I understand. So are they even discussing change of venue?

LAVANDERA: It's an issue that's out there. The judge is technically still hasn't ruled on it but it's hard to imagine that at this point and at this stage in the process that this will happen. We're just days away from this from the opening statements being made.

But, you know, this is town Stephenville, Texas which is about a two- hour drive southwest of the Dallas Fort Worth area. But interestingly enough, Stephenville is where Chris Kyle went to college. He went to Tarleton State there in Stephenville back in the early 1990s.

So there are great deal of people who either have connection or who have heard so much about his story over the last few years that obviously, it's a concern to the defense attorneys in this case.

But it's hard to imagine, Ashleigh, at this point that this trial would be moved at this point.

BANFIELD: All right. And I'm surprised when you said a few days away from opening statements, I kind of feel like jury selection on this one could take days and days and days and not just a few days but you'll have to update us, Ed. Thank you for that.

Ed Lavandera reporting live for us in Texas.

You know, it is really hard to imagine how someone can misremember a brush with death like say being on a U.S. military helicopter that took enemy fire during the Iraq war.

But NBCs Brian Williams has just apologized for making that claim on Friday because as it turns out, that brush with death did not happen.

Truth be told, he may have been apologizing for what he said Friday but he's been telling the story for years so what he's apologizing for and what about all the other times he said the stuff that wasn't true?

More on that in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: This (inaudible) CCN a shakeup at Sony Pictures Entertainment, the movie studio, just announced that their co-chair, Amy Pascal, stepping down.

You may remember she was one of the faces of last year's corporate hacking debacle. She even caught (inaudible) for taking some pretty cheap shot to Hollywood celebrities and even went even so far as a cheap shot towards President Obama. Sony said that Pascal plans to open her own production company later on this year.

And it's a harrowing story from the early stages of the Iraq War, a trusted American journalist, narrowly escaping death. NBC News anchorman, Brian Williams claimed in 2003, he was to board a U.S. military helicopter that was shot at and forced down by enemy fire.

Williams has retold the story for years in different ways. He even told the story again on Friday night as part of an on-air tribute to a soldier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN WILLIAMS, NBC NEWS ANCHORMAN: The story actually started with a terrible moment a dozen years back during the invasion of Iraq when the helicopter we were traveling in was forced down after being hit by an RPG. Our traveling NBC News team was rescued, surrounded, and kept alive by an armored mechanized platoon from the U.S. Army 3rd Infantry.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: That last part is OK. Yeah, they were surrounded and looked after but the rest of that story is simply not true. In fact it could be a complete fabrication and Williams apologized last night.

WILLIAMS: On this broadcast last week in an effort to honor and thank a veteran who protected me and so many others following a ground-fire incident in the desert during the Iraq War invasion, I made a mistake in recalling the events of 12 years ago, it did not take long to hear from some brave men and women and the air crews who were also in that dessert.

I want to apologize. I said I was traveling in an aircraft that was hit by RPG fire. I was instead in a following aircraft.

BANFIELD: And that may be just part of the problem. I want to bring in the host of Reliable Sources and CCN's (inaudible) correspondent Brian Stelter. A following aircraft that was following a long way back, like 30 to 45 minutes back that couldn't even have known, smelled, heard, or felt any kind of a verberation from that attack.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'll tell you, Ashleigh, that's why there's been -- it's one of the reasons why there's so much conservation about this in the last day or so, last half a day. Brian William's name is trending on Twitter for the all the wrong reasons. This has got a lot of attention.

But I spoke to the helicopter pilot, that Brian Williams is with, and he tells me, Ashleigh, Brian Williams was pretty close to the helicopter where this RPG was incoming. So, Brian was, you know, wasn't as far away as Stars and Stripes newspaper reported.

There's been a lot of confusion about the accounts. And this is why I think Brian William's apology yesterday seems so insufficient.

BANFIELD: I want to get full disclosure here. I worked with Brian Williams. I worked very closely with Brian Williams. I am friend. I like him. I admire him.

STELTER: In the television industry, yeah.

BANFIELD: It (inaudible) industry is loved by coworkers, you know, he's got a great following inside and outside of work.

STELTER: Yeah.

BANFIELD: I am astounded by this.

STELTER: Yeah.

BANFIELD: Because some of the people on board, both of choppers have weighed in.

STELTER: That's right.

BANFIELD: A guy on the chopper behind said, "He was on my chopper. We were 45 minutes away" and a guy on board the helicopter that did take the fires said, "Are you kidding me?"

STELTER: Right. So what happen here, according to the pilot is they took evasive maneuvers when this incoming started happen. They went off and they dropped off the supplies, the payload they were delivering. Then about 45 minutes later, they met up with all the other crew members.

But there was some resentment among these soldiers about the presence of this, you know, hotshot television reporter. It's not the first time or the last time that's going to happen in a war zone, but there was resentment and there was criticism of a man.

And I think what's happened over the years is as his story has grown, as you may call it a fish tail, it's grown over the years and it sounded more heroic. Some of these soldiers have really come to be critical of Brian Williams. They spoke out on Facebook and that's what (inaudible) Brian William's apology.

BANFIELD: The apology that though, he's apologizing through what he said Friday. And saying, you know...

STELTER: And not what he have said in the past, that's right.

BANFIELD: But look, I forget things that happened a year ago.

STELTER: Sure.

BANFIELD: So sure, we missed remembering something from 12 years ago. We can all do that. But on Friday it's the same story that was told 12 years ago. So what about the stuff he told 12 years ago? There's no apology for that.

STELTER: Everybody I talked with NBC except for the folks in the publicity department, do not believe that what Brian Williams says is enough. They believe it's insufficient and they have a lot of questions still. There are people openly wondering if there's going to be disciplinary action against Brian Williams. But he is the star of the network.

BANFIELD: Yes.

STELTER: The face of the network. I don't see any sign of that happening. But the fact that it's being asked about is very telling.

BANFIELD: It's always tough to hear journalism that's not quite on the open up. Brian Stelter, thank you for that.

STELTER: Thanks.

BANFIELD: I appreciate it. Morgan Spurlock is in the house. You want proof? He's right there. That's him. Tonight's episode of Inside Man is going to inside the zoo. And we're not talking about my show and the set of my show. Are the animals as happy to see us as we are to see them? Not, one way or the other. "Oh gees, clear it up after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Visiting a zoo is pretty much the only way most of us get to see exotic animals close up. But for those people who work behind the scene it's kind of a dangerous job if you think about it. You know, feeding the lions and tigers and bears. Oh my.

In today's episode of Inside Man, Morgan Spurlock learns the do's and especially the don'ts of feeding gorillas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MORGAN SPURLOCK, INSIDE MAN PRODUCER: Anything I should know before we get started of things that I should or shouldn't do?

STEPHANIE, ZOOKEEPER: Something really important is direct eye contact in primate culture is considered a threat.

SPURLOCK: OK.

STEPHANIE: So while you and I and talk with direct eye contact, it's actually a threat for them.

SPURLOCK: OK.

STEPHANIE: So you usually look just chest high on them or directly pass them. Always one that always seems to follow. The first thing we do we've -- I checked on the way down to make sure all the cages are locked.

SPURLOCK: OK.

STEPHANIE: They come into these individual (inaudible) and eat their dinner or breakfast (inaudible) time the day. I'll let you operate the door if you'd like.

SPURLOCK: And there he is. Whoa! He's piercing his lips. He's unhappy. STEPHANIE: That is a called the threat face.

SPURLOCK: OK.

STEPHANIE: They stand very rigid and very tall and then pierce their lips and really very tight.

SPURLOCK: Right.

STEPHANIE: And (inaudible) just be cautious.

SPURLOCK: OK.

STEPHANIE: And when you give them things you want to make sure that your fingers don't cross.

SPURLOCK: Yeah.

STEPHANIE: And they can just take it from you.

SPURLOCK: How about a banana? Time to move back (inaudible). Never been so happy to have fens next to me in my life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: You're still brave. I thought (inaudible) that close. You put your fingers right up there.

SPURLOCK: They can't really reach through and that's good. Believe me if you put your finger there, they'll grab it.

BANFIELD: So you're safe.

SPURLOCK: Yeah.

BANFIELD: Morgan Spurlock live on the set with me now. So, did you make eye contact? Yeah, I thought you were told not to do that.

SPURLOCK: I would make side eye contact. But never like direct eye contact where I would stare at them. But they're so beautiful like you see these creatures up close and you want to look at them but at the same time that's almost like a threat to them. So you can't kind of look at them, you look near them.

BANFIELD: I haven't seen the whole show. I've seen the clips.

SPURLOCK: Yeah.

BANFIELD: And when I saw that clip the first thing I thought was, "Yeah, of course the guy is mad. It's like a human and he's in jail."

SPURLOCK: Yeah.

BANFIELD: And that's leads to that whole debate about zoos are really jailed animals even when they're nice in closures.

SPURLOCK: Yeah.

BANFIELD: ... yet.

SPURLOCK: Yeah. And the question is should we have animals in captivity. I mean the zoo, Stephanie, the woman there who, you know, leads the gorilla to the gorilla sanctuary there, like she takes care of them. And they care about these animals (inaudible) does a good job. But at the same time animals in captivity are in captivity. They can never be released into the wild. So, now how do you provide for these animals in the best way possible knowing that this is what their lives going to be?

BANFIELD: That's not his lifestyle though. This is where he feeds correct?

SPURLOCK: It's just where he comes to eat. They comes in to eat to get medical treatment, like he has an area outside. It's probably about 2 to 3 acres where they ran around. So I mean they have some space, not like as much space as they want.

BANFIELD: No.

SPURLOCK: No, of course not.

BANFIELD: It's not the wild.

SPURLOCK: That's right.

BANFIELD: And yet the argument also is that there's so many positives. We get to experience these animals. We get to learn.

SPURLOCK: We got to see them. The educational aspect is huge for kids, like that's where that's where I saw my first animal, where my son saw his first animals.

BANFIELD: Breeding program, oftentimes, you know, endangered animals the zoo's are at the forefront of a lot of breeding programs as well.

SPURLOCK: That's right. So, I mean there are the upsides. But also at the same time what happens to the Detroit zoo, which is incredible, is they also look at are we doing the best thing for the animals, like that they had elephants there.

BANFIELD: Tell me about the elephant story, that was fascinating.

SPURLOCK: It's amazing. They had two elephants there called Winky (ph) and Wanda (ph) that every winter, you know, in Detroit, you know, just pours the snow, so they would have to put them in closure where they would stay out of the inclement weather. And they started to realize this is not the best thing for these elephants. And so they found a sanctuary in California where they shift them to and they've been living there ever since.

And I mean it's an amazing thing for a zoo to say we're not doing the best thing for the animals. And I think that's what makes the place special. BANFIELD: I think that -- I love that anecdote particularly because when I was in Sydney, Australia which is fairly warm ...

SPURLOCK: Yeah.

BANFIELD: ... you know, there's this massive enclosure with the bunch of the polar bears, outdoor enclosure with Polar bears.

SPURLOCK: In the middle of like 100-degree weather outside.

BANFIELD: Yeah. And (inaudible) pools and everything but, you know, what made me wonder is this really the best thing for a polar bear even though we're all getting an up close and personal experience.

SPURLOCK: Yeah.

BANFIELD: I can't wait. 9 o'clock tonight.

SPURLOCK: Thank you. You'll love the show.

BANFIELD: I'm loving it anyway, even -- you had me. Hello Morgan.

SPURLOCK: Hello.

BANFIELD: You had me. Can I have a Big Mac? Thank you Morgan Spurlock, I look forward to it. 9 o'clock tonight. Hey, thanks for watching everybody. I'm flat at the time but my colleague Wolf Blitzer is going to take over to (inaudible) right after this.