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Legal View with Ashleigh Banfield

Naval Showdown off Yemen; DEA Chief to Resign; Boston Bombing Sentencing; Baltimore Eddie Gray Mystery. Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired April 21, 2015 - 12:00   ET

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


[12:00:17] ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Ashleigh Banfield. And welcome to LEGAL VIEW.

When it comes to projecting power to sending a message in a complex and chaotic place, there's still no better way, it seems, than this. That is the USS Theodore Roosevelt, a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, steaming into place off the coast of Yemen. Yemen, whose U.S.-backed government collapsed under a Shiite onslaught backed by Iran and opposed via weeks of air strikes courtesy of Saudi Arabia. The TR, as sometimes it's known, and a bunch of other ships as well in that battle group are heading into a head off. Basically trying to head off suspected influx of Iranian weapons.

We're going to get the details from CNN global affairs correspondent Elise Labott.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Obama administration deploying an aircraft carrier and guided missile destroyer in Yemeni waters, to join nine other American ships in the region, in a strong signal to Iran. All prepared to intercept Iranian vessels if they proceed into Yemeni waters, where countries like Saudi Arabia, Egypt and other partner nations have a presence.

The U.S. fearing the Iranian ships may be carrying arms for Houthi rebels fighting U.S. allies in Yemen. The heightened military response comes at a sensitive time in U.S./Iran relations, with delicate nuclear negotiations set to resume Wednesday and as Iran's foreign minister is calling for a diplomatic solution in Yemen in a "New York Times" op-ed.

JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: It's a little ironic for the Iranian foreign minister to be calling for a diplomatic resolution to that situation, while at the same time his country continues to supply arms to one party of that dispute.

LABOTT: All this less than a week after the United Nations Security Council approved a resolution to choke off weapon flow to Houthi fighters. Yemen continuing to descend into chaos. The scale of destruction widening as Saudi-led air strikes on a Houthi weapons depot tearing through the country's rebel held capital of Sanaa. The explosions that killed dozens of people and wounding nearly 300, flattening homes, gutting buildings, and sending plumes of thick smoke hundreds of feet in the air. A humanitarian crisis at the epicenter of the raging conflict. Thousands fleeing the country, as seen in this exclusive CNN video.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BANFIELD: That's our Elise Labott reporting for us.

And now I want to bring in the military minds. Mark Hertling is a retired U.S. Army lieutenant general, former commanding general of the U.S. forces, Europe, and also a CNN military analyst, and Rick Francona is a CNN military analyst and a retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force.

All right, to both of you, thank you both for joining me.

First to you, General Hertling, this sure looks like a show of force, seven different ships, roughly 10,000 U.S. personnel heading into the Gulf of Aden. It's hard to see that that's just a show of force. Should Americans start to think that this looks like the onset of some kind of war?

LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: No, I don't think so, Ashleigh. This is a -- you know, there is always a carrier strike group in this part of the world. Usually in the Arabian Sea. It's now transferred into the Gulf of Aden and the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb. But they are continuing to conduct maritime security operations. That is the mission that the captain of these ships have. So it's important that they are -- they're prepared to conduct any kind of operation. Ostensibly, they're going to attempt to interdict any kind of tracks and there are several tracks that they see right now with potential goods on them that would be dangerous if it reached the ports in Yemen. But that's their mission and they're always in that area.

BANFIELD: Well, yes, they are often in that area, but to have that aircraft carrier all of a sudden come significantly south from a place that was a very important place for fighting in Syria is very significant. I mean, you know, leaving the Arabian Gulf through the Gulf of (INAUDIBLE) to head down to Aden is significant and these things don't turn on a dime.

So, Colonel Francona, what does that say to you when you're sending the Theodore Roosevelt there?

RICK FRANCONA, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, they're just repositioning. I think, you know, the general's right, there's always a carrier strike group in that area. They're moving in close to where it might be needed. Of course, when they pulled it out of the Persian Gulf, it limited its ability, in fact, it ends its ability to conduct air strikes in Iraq and Syria, but much of that has been taken over by land-based aviation from the allied countries. So moving the aircraft carrier doesn't hurt our operations there and it gives the president and the secretary of defense the option to conduct any kind of operations they see fit in Yemen. Of course Yemen is a problem right now and we're very concerned about any influx of Iranian weaponry.

[12:05:12] BANFIELD: All right, so when you say moving to a place, and I'm going to quote you, "might be needed," I think that's where Americans start looking at this firepower and this show of force and -- and -- and start asking, what does that mean, "might be needed"?

General Hertling, what if -- let's just say what if the Iranian ships that are headed that way in fact do have weapons on board, then what does "might be needed" --

FRANCONA: Well, I think --

BANFIELD: What does "might be needed" mean for the next step?

FRANCONA: They can conduct any operation, Ashleigh. And what's interesting is the Theodore Roosevelt is relatively new to the area. They've only been there about two months. There is an in chop and out chop as the Navy calls it. But what's interesting is the TR's nickname by their crew members is "the big stick." So it is a show of force. It is --

BANFIELD: That's the aircraft carrier, TR, the Theodore Roosevelt, yes.

HERTLING: That's the aircraft carrier, right. And -- and it is part of a carrier strike group. There's a whole lot of equipment, a whole lot of ships in that area, to include the Normandy that came with it, but there's also seven other ships in the area right now to include a Marine amphibious readiness group expeditionary unit. So there is a capability to do anything we want it to do. And that could mean interdiction. But, again, you're talking about the legal implications of consensual boarding in international water. When it gets into territorial waters, Yemeni territorial waters --

BANFIELD: Yes.

HERTLING: You still have to have a consensual with a captain to board that ship if -- if that's the way you're doing --

BANFIELD: So a lot of analysts -- general, I completely hear you, a lot of analysts have already said, don't look for Americans to be stepping on to Iranian ships any time soon. That that's likely going to be the job of the other ships that are there. There's a huge international presence. The Egyptians are there. And that others may actually take that role. But what kind of weapons are really the concern here? Is it the anti-aircraft weapons that is the sticking point, meaning the kinds of weapons the Iranians could send down to those Houthi rebels to shoot up at the Saudis? Is that really what the issue is here, Colonel Francona?

FRANCONA: No, I think they're more concerned with the usual weapons that they've been getting all along. The rocket launchers, the artillery pieces and resupply. Remember, they've been shooting off a lot of weapons lately, so they need to be resupplied. And resupply is always the issue.

They already have some of the shoulder-fired missiles. They have an air defense system that the Saudis took apart quite effectively. So I think the concern is the -- is just more influx of more weapons that will allow the Houthis to continue this rampage they're on down toward the south. So I think that's the concern. BANFIELD: Well, I mean, it's a -- I mean it is a grave concern when

you see that much material, that much manpower all heading -- and, quickly, last thought, colonel.

FRANCONA: Yes. The more force you bring into the area as a show of force, the less likely you're going to have to use it --

BANFIELD: Yes.

FRANCONA: Because the Iranians do not want to tangle with this much fire power.

BANFIELD: I would say that's probably a very wise choice, although I sure hope there's a lot of diplomacy going on at the same time, which I'm pretty sure there is. Colonel Francona, thank you. General Hertling, as always, thank you. Excellent analysis from both of you.

The reach of ISIS terrorists is not just in the Middle East. It's also right here in the United States. In suburban Birmingham, Alabama, members of a Muslim community are lamenting the news of a 20-year-old woman named Hoda Muthana who left her town of Hoover, Alabama, and decided to move to Syria to join ISIS.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HASSAN SHIBLY, SPOKESMAN, COUNCIL ON AMERICAN ISLAMIC RELATIONS: She had withdrawn from the Muslim community over a year before she left to join ISIS because she knew that the community was not sympathetic to those extremist groups.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: This Alabama episode is also coming as the feds charge six Minnesota men with conspiring to join ISIS in Syria and Iraq. The court documents are alleging that the suspects, who range in age from 19 to 21, made repeated efforts to leave the U.S. and join the terrorist group. Their 10-month plot was foiled when a man who was initially working with them decided to do something different and work against them. And he talked to the FBI in doing so. The federal prosecutors say they were recruited by an 18-year-old friend who had left the United States last spring to join the terror group.

A day after cheering on the winners in this year's Boston Marathon, the city of Boston is beginning the final phase of the marathon bombing trial. The phase that will see some kind of sentence for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, whether it's life or death.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:13:11] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BANFIELD: Breaking news. We're just getting word that the head of the DEA is expected to step down and step down soon. All of this is happening in the wake of a scandal over DEA agents who were allegedly attending sex parties paid for by Mexican drug cartels. Sounds like the plot of a movie and it's not. It's the story that CNN justice correspondent Evan Perez is breaking. He joins me live now from Washington.

So this is Michele Leonhart and, Evan, she did not do so well before her House Oversight Committee critics when she had to step before them and answer questions last Tuesday. How did we spiral into now having to step down?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: You know, this has been in the works, Ashleigh, for some time. You know, there have been -- there's been dissatisfaction, frankly, inside the Obama administration with her performance at DEA, as the head of DEA, in part partly because she was -- been, you know, resisting some of the administration's efforts on marijuana. As you know, the federal government has kind of stepped aside to allow the states to expert with legalization of both medicinal and recreational uses of marijuana. And she has kind of been the stick in the mud on that effort all along. So they've been unhappy with her for some time.

The issue has been, you know, they could never find really the right time to get rid of her. This hearing that happened last week that you made reference to, which was an awful, awful performance by any standard, really kind of cemented the end of her tenure there.

BANFIELD: All right, Evan Perez, thank you for that and we'll continue to watch to find out exactly when that happens.

PEREZ: Sure.

BANFIELD: Excellent news breaking from our Evan Perez. Thank you for that.

PEREZ: Thanks.

[12:14:52] BANFIELD: Everything that's happened so far in the trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has been merely a prelude to what's going on right now. In fact, starting today. Because in the same Boston courtroom where Tsarnaev was convicted on every single one of the 30 charges that stemmed from the Boston Marathon bombings back in 2013, the federal government is making a case for the death penalty against him as the only punishment befitting someone of his evil. My CNN colleague, Deb Feyerick, is standing by outside the courthouse and CNN legal analyst and former New York City prosecutor Paul Callan joins me here in the studio.

Deb, first to you. It's day one and some pretty remarkable openings in this phase two, this death phase, which effectively is going to determine life or death. How did the openings go and what did we hear inside that courtroom?

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it was a very strong opening statement by the prosecution. They really came out hitting hard at Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. They said Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, quote, "was and is unrepentant, uncaring and untouched by the havoc and sorrow that he created." And then they laid out the criteria as to why he is so eligible for the death penalty. They said, quote, "killing innocence with a bomb? Done. Kill a police officer? Done. Kill a child? Done. All of these lines were crossed," said the prosecutor Nadine Pellegrini.

Now, the first witness that they called was a double amputee. A woman by the name of Celeste Corcoran. She described the horrible pain that she experienced when that first bomb set by Tamerlan went off near her legs. She was taken to the marathon medical tent and there someone wrote a number on her, not knowing whether she would live off die, but knowing that she had to be taken to the hospital straight away. That's how critical she was.

We've heard a lot of testimony from a survivor, but the dead have also played very prominently into the opening. Their faces, four large, smiling faces, beaming out at the jury. The prosecution saying, you need to know why their lives mattered and she also said, they had times of feel fear, they had time to feel pain, but they had no time to say good-bye. And that really seemed to resonate with the jury. They are listening very, very closely because his life or death, it is in their hands, Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: Deb, didn't they also close with a pretty poignant photograph taken in a holding cell at the courtroom back in 2013 when Dzhokhar Tsarnaev decided to pose for one of the security cameras by giving the camera the middle finger?

FEYERICK: Well, that's exactly right. And that really goes to their point that, in fact, he really doesn't care that he's been disengaged, that he's unrepentant, that he believed fully in what he was doing, that he did it of his own free will --

BANFIELD: Nice.

FEYERICK: That his brother may have taken the lead, but he was as much a player as anyone.

BANFIELD: Well, that's a pretty effective photograph to close your opening statement. Deb Feyerick, stand by, if you would for me.

Paul Callan, powerful stuff but probably nowhere as powerful as the people themselves and what they're going to say to that jury.

PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, the victims you're talking about.

BANFIELD: Yes.

CALLAN: Yes. I mean that was a very powerful opening statement and I mean what the prosecutor demonstrated is, every line of morality, every line of cruelty has been passed, has been crossed in this case. And if you're going to give the death penalty in a case, this is the case. What case would you get --

BANFIELD: Right. It's reserved for the worst of the worst. So who could be worse than -- yes.

CALLAN: What would you select? This is the worst of the worst. Nothing could be worse than this.

BANFIELD: Yes.

CALLAN: So that's what she said basically in a very compelling opening statement.

BANFIELD: Can I ask you, though, you know, in so many cases that we cover, the, you know, death penalty or not, you get victims' impact statements. Sometimes they come before sentencing, somewhere in the range of when sentencing is. Paul, in this case, there are hundreds of victims. There are those who died. There are those who were maimed. There are those who were left behind. And usually in these cases, they get to talk if they want to. Can you have a death penalty phase where hundreds upon hundreds of people file in one after the other and speak?

CALLAN: Well, in theory you could. There are three who were killed in this case. There are 260 who sustained serious injuries. So it's a huge number. What's going to happen is, the prosecutor is going to sit down with all of them and going to say, listen, I want to present, you know, a strong case to the jury and I want to limit how many people can talk because your message will be lost in the shuffle. So I don't --

BANFIELD: Which is devastating in itself. Remember the Warwick, Rhode Island, nightclub fire, the Station nightclub fire, where 100 people were killed, other wounded, and they had to limit those who wanted to give their testimony and they had to cut them off and it was devastating to see it in court. I mean it was heartbreaking just -- watching it.

CALLAN: I just hope it doesn't happen here.

BANFIELD: I know. I know.

CALLAN: I'd rather see selective people giving detailed statements --

BANFIELD: But how do you select?

CALLAN: Than cutting people off in the middle of talking about their families and how they've been affected.

BANFIELD: And how they have lost so much.

CALLAN: Tough -- tough stuff for the judge to decide.

BANFIELD: Deb Feyerick, thank you for that. I know you want to get back in that courtroom to report. And, Paul Callan, as always, thank you for your insight.

CALLAN: Thank you.

[12:19:39] BANFIELD: Coming up, there's some brand new video that could shed some light on that mysterious death of a man in Baltimore Police custody. The investigation into the Freddie Gray case, coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BANFIELD: The Oklahoma reserve deputy who thought that he was using his Taser when instead he pulled his gun and killed a suspect, has now made a plea in court and that plea, not guilty. Reserve Deputy Robert Bates was in a Tulsa courtroom this morning. He's facing second degree manslaughter in the April 2nd shooting death of Eric Harris. The judge did grant Deputy Bates permission to go to the Bahamas for a family vacation, but he is due back in court this coming July.

Well, the police have spoken but there are still a lot more questions than answers about what killed 25-year-old Freddie Gray in Baltimore. There is some new video that's come out, though, and it's giving us a closer look at how the police handled him, but the death is still a mystery. Suzanne Malveaux has more from Baltimore.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This latest video of Freddie Gray on the ground, being dragged by Baltimore Police, raising new questions about conflicting accounts from police and what bystanders say they saw.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They Tase you like that. You wonder why he can't use his legs.

MALVEAUX: The man recording says Gray was Tased, but authorities say he was arrested without the use of force and that a Taser was never deployed. And exactly how Gray sustained the deadly injury to his spinal cord, nearly severing it, has yet to be determined.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was no physical bodily injury that we saw, nor was it evident in the autopsy of Mr. Gray. None of his limbs were broken.

MALVEAUX: Baltimore's mayor suggesting Gray was injured during transport.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's clear that what happened, happened inside the van.

[12:25:01] MALVEAUX: At 8:39, police say they spotted Gray and give chase. By 8:42, police call for a transport van and Gray requests an inhaler. New details from police reveal that at 8:46 the van stops to complete paperwork. Gray is described as irate and placed in leg irons. About 30 minutes later, paramedics are called to transport Gray to a hospital.

The day of Gray's autopsy, police reveal this surveillance video. The camera constantly scanning the area is the only one believed to have captured a few seconds of Gray's encounter with police. Authorities say it shows no wrongdoing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tell the truth and stop the lie, Freddie Gray didn't have to die.

MALVEAUX: Each day the demand for answers and accountability grows louder as all six officers involved are suspend with pay. (END VIDEOTAPE)

BANFIELD: And Suzanne joins me live now from Baltimore.

And, Suzanne, as we all await whatever comes from the autopsy report, we are still learning some new things about those six officers that were suspended. What can you tell us about them?

MALVEAUX: Well, Ashleigh, I just got off the phone with the captain, the police captain, Eric Kowalczyk, of the Baltimore Police Department, and he tells us there are six police individuals that they can actually identify who were involved in some way in the arrest of Freddie Gray. They are 41-year-old Lieutenant Brian Rice, 30-year-old Sergeant Alicia White, 25-year-old Police Officer William Porter, 26- year-old Officer Garrett Miller, 25-year-old Police Officer Edward Nero, rather 29-years-old that is, and 45-year-old Caesar Goodson. You've got a mix of people who have been on the force. At least two of them 16 plus years. Others, relatively new, about five years or so.

I asked him, does he think this is a complete list? He said, in terms of their investigation where it stands now, they believe that these are the six that were directly involved in the arrest. We're talking about the three officers who are identified on bicycles who first approached Freddie Gray and another individual when they first came upon them, a fourth officer, the driver who was in the van, so all of those six individuals were, in fact, involved in the arrest. And they still, however, do not know and he's not saying whether or not there is some wrongdoing that occurred. But they were all involved in the arrest and they have been suspended with pay. We're going to get some more details later this afternoon, Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: I can imagine they either have representation already or are very soon to get such representation. So getting those conversations going could be a little trickier. Suzanne Malveaux, thank you for that, live for us in Baltimore.

We have news as well to report out of Ferguson, Missouri. A tree that was planted in honor of Michael Brown was cut down and a memorial plaque was removed. Michael Brown was unarmed when he was shot dead last August by a Ferguson police officer. A city spokesman is confirming the vandalism and says that it happened less than 24 hours after being dedicated over the weekend.

And not far away in St. Louis, we've got some live pictures for you outside of city hall. City hall was evacuated this morning because of several suspicious packages. The bomb squad deemed them to be harmless and secured the first one, which was a CO2 tank. They're working on a second canister right now. But before the employees can return back to work, police say they're going to sweep the building inside and out.

Coming up next, verdict watch in a sad and potentially precedent- setting trial of a man accused of sexually assaulting his own wife while she was suffering with Alzheimer's in a care facility.

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