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Legal View with Ashleigh Banfield

Race for the White House; Trump Settles NBC Feud; Ex-Cop Speaks in Court. Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired September 11, 2015 - 12:00   ET

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

[12:00:00] KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: On Wednesday. CNN's debate coming up in California, 6:00 p.m., 8:00 p.m. Eastern. I am very much looking forward to seeing what Carly Fiorina has to say when she is on stage just podiums away from Donald Trump.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks so much for joining us "AT THIS HOUR."

BOLDUAN: LEGAL VIEW with Ashleigh Banfield starts right now.

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

Yes, it is still early and, yes, a potential challenger may not even run at this point of the game, but for someone who just a couple of months ago seemed a shoe-in for the Democratic nomination for president, Hillary Clinton has a fight on her hands and it is official. I want you to check out our latest poll of Democratic voters nationwide. Clinton still holds the lead, but that lead is now just 10 points over Bernie Sanders. And there's a five-point margin of error, too. So if you do the math, they're pretty much neck in neck.

Vice President Biden, whose candidacy is still a big question mark, is a very close third. Biden, actually, is outpolling Secretary Clinton in hypothetical head-to-head matchups against both Donald Trump and Jeb Bush. The secretary also ties Trump and loses to Bush, though, again, there is that five-point margin of error to take into consideration.

And here's another look at Clinton's summer-long slide. But if there's any confirmation for the former first lady, former senator, former secretary of state, is this, Democratic voters, by a huge margin, are still expecting Hillary Clinton will be their nominee. Just one in five are expecting that Joe Biden will jump in and actually grab that nomination and just one in 10 actually expect that that win will go to Bernie Sanders.

And yet if you compare all those numbers to July, there is quite a different picture that emerges. On the Republican side, the stage is set for next week's CNN debates. Plural. Eleven of the top polling candidates get the prime slot on Wednesday, and five of the others, they get that other table, kids table. They try to make their marks at a separate event two hours earlier. One of those is going all in with attacks on the undisputed GOP front-runner. Have a listen to Bobby Jindal on CNN's air this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. BOBBY JINDAL (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I like the idea of Donald Trump. I think it's very entertaining when he takes on the D.C. establishment, when he says politically incorrect things. I think he's right we need an outsider. What worries me is however that as conservatives we have a choice, do we turn to our principles, do we turn to a man who believes in nothing but himself? Look, he has no ideology. He doesn't believe in anything other than Donald Trump. He's a narcissist. He's an egomaniac. Let's not waist this opportunity. He's not for limited government. The only thing he is for is for Donald Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Well, guess what? Jeb Bush is siding with Jindal. Maybe no surprise. And he spoke on "The Lead" with Jake Tapper.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think he believes that he can insult his way to the presidency and I don't think history's a really good guide for that. I think he needs to begin to say what his vision is for the future. And up till now, I think Governor Jindal is absolutely correct, that he's not a serious candidate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Of Governor Jindal, Donald Trump says, and I will quote The Donald, "to people that register more than 1 percent in the polls, I only respond" - "I only respond to people that register more than 1 percent in the polls. I never thought he had a chance and I've been proven right." I could go on, believe it or not. There are even more tweets. But I want to bring in CNN's senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny.

There's a lot of reverberations from what Bobby Jindal is saying. Because he didn't just say it on CNN this morning. He said it yesterday. He's saying it often. And a lot of people are saying, why aren't other people saying it and saying that sort of stridently? Because after all, Donald Trump is very strident.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Sure. I mean Bobby Jindal is just the latest in a series of Republican candidates who have tried doing this. We saw Rick Perry, obviously, try this, didn't get him very far. Rand Paul tried it, didn't get him very far. Jeb Bush, of course, has been going after Donald Trump. But I think we're entering a different phase of the campaign.

You see - I think the - the substantive attacks or criticism that may have been more successful this week against Donald Trump came from Ben Carson. He questioned Donald Trump's - his faith, his morality, his character. So I think, you know, the Republican establishment is waiting for the moment when Donald Trump is going to suddenly collapse. That's clearly not going to happen. We've seen his lead grow. We've seen Republicans rally around the idea of him. But I do think the open question here, Ashleigh, is, if - is Donald Trump able to sort of expand his candidacy? Is he able to grow as a candidate into becoming a more serious candidate?

[12:05:14] Voters look at things in different measures. And at some point he'll have to answer more questions about what he's going to do and he'll have to stop insulting people. I think Jeb Bush is probably right on that. Right now it sounds good, but I think we'll just have to wait and see what next week brings, but -

BANFIELD: To those insults -

ZELENY: Yes.

BANFIELD: To those insults, let's just stop right there. I want to talk about that flap over Donald Trump's unprovoked diss of Carly Fiorina.

ZELENY: Sure.

BANFIELD: It's making a lot of headlines. Of course you'll remember yesterday, and for our viewers, Trump told our Chris Cuomo that he was referring to Fiorina's, quote, "persona," when he made these remarks that were quoted in "Rolling Stone." And this is what he said. "Look at that face. Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president? I mean, she's a woman and I'm not supposed to say bad things, but really, folks, come on, are we serious?" Those were the comments of Donald Trump.

Now, the writer of that piece - remember, Donald Trump said, oh, I was talking about her persona. So the writer who was actually in the room, he was interviewed by Anderson Cooper on "AC 360" last night and I want you to hear what his impression of what Donald Trump meant was.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL SOLOTAROFF, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, "ROLLING STONE": Donald, for all of his energy, for all of his wayward charm, has this 12 to 14-year- old boy sort of permanently affixed to his inner life. And in moments, you know, where he's sort of flush with success, we'd just come from this enormously impactful and successful rally, 2,500 people in a tiny little school, he was positively floating and so he was feeling loose and playing to the room and the rook was these six or seven people sitting behind him at the conference table.

ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, CNN'S "AC 360": So for the record you're saying absolutely he was not talking about her persona?

SOLOTAROFF: He was not talking about her persona.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Well, there you go, straight from the person who was there. And for days and days on end, too. So it wasn't like he just showed up and heard that one comment.

But what about that? It's not a secret that Donald Trump, Jeff, has been speaking in the language of a 14--year-old girl on Facebook for the last couple of months and nobody seems to care other than Bobby Jindal and anybody who's upset about the magazine, but it doesn't show in the polls.

ZELENY: It doesn't show in the polls necessarily but polls are not a - people sort of get their information over time. So this comment about her face, that was done before any of these polls were taken. A poll does not - it takes some time for information to seep into voters' minds. They process it and then it shows up later in the polls. So we'll see what happens next week at the debate when Carly Fiorina is standing on the same stage as Donald Trump. She is one of the 11 candidates in that primetime debate. Will she say directly, "Donald, what's wrong with my face?" Perhaps she'll have something to say about his face. I mean -

BANFIELD: Can I just say for the record, by the way, I think she's beautiful. I don't even know what the hell he was talking about. I like looking at Carly Fiorina's face. I'm actually quite jealous of the way she looks.

ZELENY: Well, and a - and a bigger question - and a bigger question here is, she was able to answer all of the question on Hugh Hewitt's radio show last week.

BANFIELD: Yes, thank you. Exactly.

ZELENY: He said they were, you know, unfair questions. So I think, look, no one -

BANFIELD: But you know whose fault that is, Jeff? That's the media's fault. That's the media's fault, because that's the way it always comes across. If he gets stumped, it's the media's fault for the - for the gotcha questions or the tough questions about, you know, terror or stuff.

ZELENY: Sure. I can tell you, Ashleigh, I've spent some time on the road with Carly Fiorina. She gets big crowds. People are very impressed at her command of issues. She's a very serious presidential candidate. Is she going to be the nominee? I think that's probably a stretch at this point. But it is going to be interesting to see her on this stage next week at that debate and Donald Trump better be ready for it because -

BANFIELD: Well, maybe she'll be the tipping point, you know? Maybe she'll - let me move to another topic here -

ZELENY: Sure.

BANFIELD: Because I, you know, my ire gets up and I just don't want to lose it right now when people go after women for their ankles or their looks or their hair or their face when they're competing for, you know, the nation's highest office and stuff. But let's go to Hillary Clinton because there has been this shift. Her campaign even kind of announced that she was going to go towards, you know, being more humanized on the campaign. And she stopped by Ellen DeGeneres' show -

ZELENY: Right.

BANFIELD: Did a little dance and then talked about her granddaughter. So, have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm fine with grandma. I'm fine with Madam President. I mean whatever -

ELLEN DEGENERES, TALK SHOW HOST: That's a mouthful for a child.

CLINTON: Yes.

DEGENERES: That would be great if that - those are her first word is "madam president."

CLINTON: Yes. Well, I - I don't know. I have to wait.

DEGENERES: Do you - do you sing? Do you read to her?

CLINTON: I am singing to her just like I sang to my daughter. I sang to my daughter until she was about 18 months old and with our little ritual I'm singing to her before I put her to bed.

DEGENERES: What would you sing? What was the song?

CLINTON: Oh, I sang all kinds of thing. You know, old favorites. I think at that time I was singing "Moon River" because we were looking out the window, we were looking at the moon. And she reached her little finger up, she goes, "no sing, mommy. No sing."

DEGENERES: Oh.

CLINTON: She finally developed an ear.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[12:10:03] BANFIELD: Super cute, "no sing, mommy," because my kids say the same thing to me, Jeff. And, actually, that is a nice moment to see when - when candidates are human and not sort of just, you know, doing their talking points and Teleprompters.

ZELENY: Sure.

BANFIELD: And I want - speaking of human. Wow, if you didn't see Stephen Colbert last night, I'm talking to the viewers, because, Jeff, I know you've seen this, there was such a poignant moment last night -

ZELENY: Right.

BANFIELD: When Stephen Colbert was interviewing Joe Biden. I thought they'd stay funny but Colbert went right to the tragedy, the elephant in the room, the loss of Beau Biden.

ZELENY: Right.

BANFIELD: And then said, you know, how are you doing in terms of the big decision? And so I want to play that and then talk to you about it. Have a look. ZELENY: Right.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't think any man or woman should run for president unless, number one, they know exactly why they would want to be president and, two, they can look at folks out there and say, "I promise you, you have my whole heart, my whole soul, my energy and my passion to do this." And - and I'd be lying if I said that I knew I was there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: You know, you can say what you want, critics have called Joe sort of the avuncular fellow who just gaffes and says what, you know, whatever's on his mind, but that is the Joe Biden that I can only imagine people will fall in love with if they haven't already.

ZELENY: No question, Ashleigh. I mean that is genuine. That is authentic. That's what a lot of voters are actually looking for, a lot of Democrats are looking for. But this is operating on a couple tracks. It is true that the vice president is seriously looking at this. At the same time that he's raising these questions, he is instructing his aides to chart out a plan. Say, if I decide to do this, how would I do Iowa, how would I do New Hampshire? He is having those conversations.

But at the other same time he wants to run no question, but he's being very real with himself, can I do it. And I think by the fact of just openly discussing this, this is sort of like, you know, he's having this discussion in real time with Stephen Colbert, with others. It's not the first time he's said this. He said this a couple of days ago, actually last week in an audience in Atlanta. This is real for him. He's trying to process this.

But at the same time, I talked to his - some advisors of his this morning. I said, hey, what should we read into this? And they said, you know what, it's - he's definitely still thinking about it. This is part of it. But he said something else last night. He's like, "my dad would want me to get off the mat." So, you know, it's - it's easy to read sort of both ways into this, but I think the best thing to do here is let him make his decision. He'll do it in three weeks or so. We can all wait for that. He deserves that time, so let's just give him some space.

BANFIELD: Yes, he deserves the time. He deserves the space.

Jeff, thanks so much, appreciate your insight today. Have a good weekend.

ZELENY: Thanks, Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: OK, coming up, of course, you know the Republican debate is going to air next Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. eastern time. There are the face, folks, all the faces in their glory. You'll see them all on the stage. And speaking of those faces, one of them, Donald Trump, has just

settled his summer-long feud with NBC over that Miss Universe pageant. We've got the details and what it means, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:16:39] BANFIELD: We've got some pretty big news from Donald Trump that's breaking this hour. You will probably know there's been one whopping pubic feud that he's had with NBC. Used to be his best friend, not now, because NBC cut their ties to Donald Trump. The presidential candidate just tweeted out a short time ago, and I'll quote The Donald, "just purchased NBC's half of The Miss Universe Organization and settled all lawsuits against them. Now own 100 percent. Stay tuned."

So what does all this mean? Let's bring in senior media correspondent Brian Stelter and also with us our legal analyst Danny Cevallos and criminal defense attorney Remi Spencer.

So, Brian, first to you with the news. For those who might not remember, it wasn't just NBC that said we're not going to air the Miss Universe Pageant, it was also Univision -

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: That's right.

BANFIELD: That said we're not going to air the Miss Universe Pageant, and that was over the comments about Mexican, they're sending the criminals, the rapist, the killers, et cetera. So what's this about?

STELTER: Yes, at the start of the summer. That's right, all those companies that broke off ties with Donald Trump, he sued Univision over it. He couldn't sue NBC, though, because they were in business together. They were joint ventures of The Miss Universe Organization and there was a clause in the contract that said you can't sue us, you've got to take us to arbitration. So that was going on all summer, this back-and-forth. Trump eventually did a deal with NBC, announced it a few minutes ago, where he is going to go ahead and buy the stake from NBC. That means NBC doesn't own any of the Miss Universe Pageant any more. Trump owns all of it. But Trump has to go find a TV partner, you know, in order to air these pageants in the future.

NBC's confirming to me that this deal was just signed. They're not revealing how much it costs. For Trump this is more about pride than about money, I think. This might be a $10 million or $20 million deal. Probably not much more than that. But he now is able to say he's the sole owner of these pageants.

BANFIELD: So, Danny, just legally speaking, because as Brian just reported, this was a forced settlement. I mean he had to go to arbitration, effectively. I suppose this isn't a surprise that there's some resolution to it. Are you surprised that it's this kind of resolution?

DANNY CEVALLOS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, arbitration is just a form of alternative dispute resolution and it's a smart move with big companies like this. They can agree to arbitrate if they want in their contract. In fact, the big question to me is, why didn't Univision have an arbitration clause in a contract with Donald Trump to avoid the publicity and the public effect of a filing in federal or state court, which is exactly the situation that they're in now. So when it comes to arbitration, it's usually a less expensive way of resolving claims.

Trump may still have the exact same claims against the - against NBC. The only difference is, both parties have agreed that, hey, instead of going to court where everyone can watch us, we are going to go to a private arbitration. It's cheaper, more efficient, and probably better overall for all the parties.

BANFIELD: So does this have any effect at all, Remi, when he has to still deal with the Univision issues? I mean do -- will Univision look to what happened in the arbitration or is that all private? I mean is there something that either side can benefit from going into the next battle?

REMI SPENCER, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I think it's safe to assume that Donald Trump is going to benefit from this deal and he is going to be shouting from the rooftops that this was his deal, this was a great deal, that he wants, that -

BANFIELD: Yes, like - like he quit "The Apprentice." Isn't that the only thing that he said? That I quite the -

SPENCER: That's exactly right.

STELTER: Right. Right. Right.

BANFIELD: Wasn't it not quite "I quit 'The Apprentice'."

STELTER: Because now with this - that's right.

SPENCER: That's right.

STELTER: Now with this (INAUDIBLE) he's on the side of the beauty pageant (INAUDIBLE).

SPENCER: You know that - that - that well-known saying, he who frames the issue wins the debate. And we know that that's what we're going to hear from Donald Trump. This arbitration was very smart on the part of NBC. It's probably going to remain confidential. We probably won't know the details.

[12:20:05] BANFIELD: Yes.

SPENCER: But Donald Trump, interestingly, can still go after Univision. He still has -

BANFIELD: Yes.

SPENCER: Legitimate claims for their failure to air the beauty pageant.

STELTER: Right. SPENCER: Which they were obligated to do.

BANFIELD: Their failure, their decision not to.

SPENCER: That's right.

BANFIELD: Yes.

SPENCER: And what we know is that there was one-fourth the viewership when it went from NBC to the Reelz Network, which most people either don't know about or don't watch.

BANFIELD: I was just going to ask you -

STELTER: Yes.

BANFIELD: And this is kind of a tricky question for you because I know you're not a lawyer, Brian, but you'll know about the dynamics with Univision. They have a predominantly Hispanic audience, right?

STELTER: That's right.

BANFIELD: So couldn't they make the argument, look, Donald Trump, you insulted our entire audience, almost our entire audience.

STELTER: Yes.

BANFIELD: By business, we could not do this.

STELTER: We could not stay in business with you.

BANFIELD: You change the game. Yes, you changed the product.

STELTER: That's exactly what they said. Yes.

BANFIELD: It was no longer the same product because you are the brand of the product and you've completely changed your brand.

STELTER: Yes, that's right. That's exactly what they said. In fact, you think back to June. It wasn't until Univision dropped out of the pageant that we all started talking about those comments he made about Mexican immigrants. It was because Univision was offended. It's because their employees were offended that Univision backed out and, as a result, weeks of coverage of Trump's offensive remarks about Mexican immigrants.

That suit, by the way, is going forward. I just checked in with Univision. They have no new comment on this today. But as it stands now, that suit goes forward.

And the timing of this is so funny because tonight what's Donald Trump doing? He's going on an NBC late night show.

BANFIELD: An NBC show.

STELTER: He's going on Jimmy Fallon. BANFIELD: It's crazy.

STELTER: His first time doing late night. Maybe he'll talk about this deal.

BANFIELD: Sunday at 11:00 a.m. Going to be a busy boy, aren't you?

STELTER: I will see you there.

BANFIELD: Yes, "Reliable Sources." Thank you for that. So rival sources. More on this story.

Would you please remind everybody, too, about who actually is behind the decision for Donald Trump no longer be on with "The Apprentice." Because on the campaign trail he constantly says, "I quit." I walked away from those people. (INAUDIBLE).

STELTER: Yes, NBC Has a different story. Let's put it that way.

BANFIELD: They do. They have a different story. So maybe if you could just let people know that again because I hate it when that just gets its own legs and off they go.

Thank you to all of you, Remi and also Danny.

SPENCER: Thank you.

BANFIELD: Coming up next, a highly emotional moment as the former South Carolina policeman who shot an unarmed man in the back walks into a courtroom after being in solitary and speaks and says what it is he wants.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:25:49] BANFIELD: An ex-police officer charged with the murder of an unarmed black man says that he wants to be released on bond so that he can see his newborn son and his family. Earlier this morning, a judge gave Michael Slager the chance to address a South Carolina courtroom himself in his own words. CNN's Nick Valencia was there when that former officer stood up and spoke, dressed in his jailhouse clothing. He's been spending a lot of time, Nick, in solitary since this happened. Tell me what he said. What was the appeal that he made, other than the fact that he wants to see his family?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ashleigh, today's procedural hearing was a bit of a surprise to a lot of the local media and national media. We were here yesterday in place for his procedural bond hearing that lasted for several hours without resolution. Today, again, no resolution given. But we did get a chance to hear from Michael Slager, who addressed the court for the first time. He looked a little bit drained, Ashleigh. He's shackled by hands and feet, wearing a prison jump suit, and he addressed the court asking the judge to be given bond. One of his reasons, he wants to see his newborn son.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MICHAEL SLAGER, FORMER SOUTH CAROLINA POLICE OFFICER: I'm not a flight risk to the community or a danger. I have a newborn son who I'd like to see and a family I'd like to spend some time with. Give an opportunity to (INAUDIBLE). I'll also follow any side items that the court puts on the bond.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: No decision was given by Judge Clifton Newman, a judge who was brought in from about an hour and a half away for this proceeding for Michael Slager. The court did spend a lot of time talking about when this would go to trial. The judge asking the defense and the state solicitor when they thought that they could reasonably try this. The defense said sometime spring 2016. The state saying because they're also trying the case for Dylann Roof, who, of course, is the accused shooter in the Emanuel AME church shooting here that happened earlier this year, that she couldn't, you know, very well go - it wouldn't be fair for her to go from that trial to start this one. But, again, no bond given. So far no decision on that bond hearing, though the judge did say that he would rule expeditiously. For now, Michael Slager returned to his isolation in the county jail.

Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: So, yes, no indication from the judge when he might actually rule on this. Who was in the courtroom? I noticed him looking around after he went through the door, took his seat. You can see the shackles here on our screen. Were his family member there? Did he get a chance to see that wife and baby, at least?

VALENCIA: Yesterday there was over 100 people. The public was here lined up. Media was here. We actually weren't allowed to get inside. They only took a handful of reporters. Today a much different scene. It was a relatively empty courtroom, much of that having to do with this surprise hearing being called last minute at 10:00 a.m. Eastern.

We didn't see any of the members of the Walter Scott family and it's unclear if any members of Slager's family were in the courtroom. It was, from what I could tell, just a lot of reporters and some for the local community who were very interested in this trial in hearing whether or not Slager would be granted bond.

We have heard from people in this community say that if it was anyone else other than a police officer, bond would not be considered in a case like this. But, again, the judge has this in his hands now and he told - he told those in the courtroom that he would rule expeditiously, but, still, no timetable given on this, Ashleigh. It could be this afternoon. It could be sometime next week. We just don't know.

Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: Well, intense interest in this case. I mean that video is really awful to watch and a lot of court watchers just - they just can't see this resolving in his favor, that's for sure.

Nick Valencia, thank you for that. Do appreciate it.

Coming up next, an investigation into the shooting death of an Illinois police officer taking a sort of strange twist and creating a big rift between the sheriff and the man who examined that officer's body.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)