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Legal View with Ashleigh Banfield

El Chapo Raid Video; Philly Gunman Tied to Radical Group; Presidential Race Headlines. Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired January 11, 2016 - 12:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:00:18] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN ANCHOR: And, hello, everyone. I'm Deborah Feyerick, in for Ashleigh Banfield. Welcome, everyone, to LEGAL VIEW.

We begin with new video that you have to see. Unbelievable, the images from the network, Televisa, shows the Mexican navy in their raid to capture escaped drug kingpin El Chapo. It shows the navy attempting to enter the apartment where he was staying. And it also shows the exchange of gunfire with El Chapo's security men. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): take it easy, take it easy.

More grenades, more grenades.

Grenades, let them loose, fast!

We have an injury, we have an injury. Watch out, watch out, watch out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: Several people were killed during the capture. Those images coming as the Mexican government announces that it is starting extradition proceedings in order to bring El Chapo to the United States. If he is sent here, El Chapo faces numerous drug trafficking charges.

CNN's Rafael Romo and Nick Valencia are following this breaking story for us. We begin with Rafael, who has much more on this dramatic video.

Rafael, the government making it very clear that they were heavily involved in this capture.

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SENIOR LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDITOR: Yes, that's exactly right. And this is an incredible video because it not only offers us a glimpse as to what happened the day of the raid, but it takes us right into the action. Remember, this happened on Friday morning at 4:30 in the morning in the city of Los Mochis (ph) was where this happened. And the video shows the moment the soldiers going into the home that El Chapo was using as a hideout. They knocked down the door with a battering ram, and they go in. There's an intense firefight for about ten seconds, then all of a sudden you hear soldiers saying, "they got me, they got me." Moments later, you see these images that show the different rooms in the house that had to be cleared one by one. Soldiers going through belongings, going through bedding, going through closets looking for El Chapo.

Deb, by this moment, El Chapo had already fled using a manhole, and he was in the process of stealing a car and getting out of town. But as you know, he was caught later on a highway in the outskirts of Los Mochis and eventually detained. But incredible piece of video showing this firefight and how five hitmen - five hitmen working for El Chapo were shot and killed. One Mexican soldier injured, Deb.

FEYERICK: And it's remarkable. It sounds like the plan was, make sure whatever you do, provide cover. Let El Chapo get out. And the fact that he was arrested, taken into custody away from his security team is very interesting.

All right, Rafael Romo for us there. Thank you.

Now let's talk with Nick Valencia, who is live outside the prison where El Chapo is being held. Nick, another important factor is this whole extradition process. What is the latest that you're hearing from the Mexico side?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I just spoke to a senior Mexican law enforcement official who tells me - tells me, Deb, that this extradition could be as early as this summer, but it's more likely that it could take up to a year. This all is dependent on just how many injunctions El Chapo's defense attorney files. This source telling me that they expect the attorney of El Chapo to fight this extradition to the very last minute. A CNN Espanol crew caught up with that attorney and spoke about why he doesn't want his client extradited.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE, (through translator): Mr. Guzman Loera should not have been extradited to the United States or any other country. What's the reason? Because Mexico has just laws that are detailed in the general constitution of the republic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: Of course, this huge concern, especially on the U.S. side, as well as the Mexican side, that El Chapo could escape the Altiplano (ph) Penitentiary again. This is the same penitentiary that he escaped last summer. The same penitentiary that he was brought back to. That raised a lot of eye (INAUDIBLE) that tells me that El Chapo is being heavily guarded. They wouldn't go into specifics about exactly where he was in that prison, only to say that he's being watched 24 hours a day.

[12:05:13] Deb. FEYERICK: Remarkable because one of the things about El Chapo is, you just don't know how many people that he has working on the inside for him. You know, this whole interview with Sean Penn has exploded, raising so many questions. Tell us a little bit about what - it seems like he confessed to the being this drug kingpin.

VALENCIA: Well, we hear in this two of minute clip the little bit of the bravado of El Chapo, his ego. He talks about supplying half of the world's methamphetamines and marijuana. He also seems to excuses himself from the violence, the tens of thousands of people, innocent lives that have been lost in this drug war here in Mexico that El Chapo is certainly to blame for, as well as the Sinaloa federation.

But in this two minute clip, he distanced himself - distances himself from that, saying that he has only been violent when he needed to, never excessively. But, of course, that has really caused a lot of people to just shake their head, the fact that this interview was conducted in the first place, the fact that "Rolling Stone" allowed El Chapo the last word on this - on this article, that they allowed him to be the copy editor in this essentially. Sean Penn scooping many journalists that had been trying to get the same interview. Some journalists, though, may not call this journalism. The fact that they were allowed to screen this product before it was published.

Sean Penn, of course, is wanted by the Mexican government to question. Whether or not that will be the case, that is unclear at this moment. But this meeting between El Chapo and Sean Penn was brokered by a famous Mexican actress named Kate del Castillo, who had established a relationship with El Chapo back in 2012 after a series of tweets critical of the Mexican government, critical of the president, seemingly praising El Chapo. It was that relationship that eventually led to the meeting between El Chapo and Sean Penn in an undisclosed location. Now, whether or not the Mexican government's going to get that opportunity to question both Sean Penn and Kate del Castillo, that's unclear at this point.

Deb.

FEYERICK: Yes, absolutely. Clearly Sean Penn, I'm sure, interested for questioning by both U.S. authorities and Mexican authorities as well. We will see whether that happens. Nick Valencia, Rafael Romo, both of you for us there on the capture of El Chapo.

Let's discuss this case further with CNN legal analyst Paul Callan, along with criminal defense attorney Alex Sanchez.

Paul, what is so fascinating to me is that El Chapo has always described himself as a simple farmer, but talking to "Rolling Stone" he actually tells Sean Penn that, "I supply more heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana than anybody else in the world. To me, that is an admission. Will the U.S. government call Sean Penn to testify, if he's successfully extradited here, or will the Mexican authorities try to call him as a witness if, in fact, trial is held there? Paul, to you first.

PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, that's a great question, and, frankly, there's no other way to get a confession into evidence except by calling the person who heard the confession. Now, usually it's a cop in a precinct after the Miranda warnings, but here it's Sean Penn. So, yes, Penn will have to be called as a witness to the confession. And most certainly U.S. authorities would be that testimony against him. It would be maybe the most important piece of evidence against El Chapo.

FEYERICK: So, Alex, you know, it's interesting because the U.S. has a number of extradition cases against El Chapo. He's wanted in California, Texas, New York, Illinois, Florida, Arizona. So how does the justice - bring us inside the Justice Department. How do they decide which case is truly the strongest so that no mistake is made with respect to this alleged drug kingpin?

ALEX SANCHEZ, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Oh, you're going to - you're going to have prosecutors in each of the jurisdiction evaluating which case in their particular jurisdiction is the strongest, present that evidence to the Mexican authorities. But I wonder whether or not there is any case which could be properly prosecuted against El Chapo and whether there's any case which could result in his extradition.

Remember, Mexico has a lot of corrupt officials that were on the take in Mexico. We're talking about military people. We're talking about security officer. We're talking about government officials. These are the people you have to rely on if you're going to try to prosecute El Chapo or even try to extradition - extradite him. And now they're relying on two criminal brothers, the Flores (ph) brother, and one wonders whether or not this is going to be enough for the governments to use to extradite him here when they - their hands are dirty and they're bloody. Why would you rely on people like them to extradite him or even to prosecute him?

FEYERICK: And Sean Penn makes that point in the article saying, look, Mexico has two presidents, one of them is the one that's elect and the other one is El Chapo. And so one of the reasons the actress sort of made his favor was because she acknowledge, look, this guy's dirty, I get it, but at least he's honest about it.

Paul, let me ask you, there's something called the SDN, which is the specially designated nationalist. El Chapo is on that list and effectively what it means in DOJ speak is, if you're on that list and you engage with a known terrorist or fugitive or criminal, you can technically be charged if you benefit from this. It looks, if you read between the lines, that - that Sean Penn was very careful and most likely consulted a lawyer. Do you think he's at risk for simply meeting with El Chapo?

[12:10:30] CALLAN: Well, this list, the SDN list, essentially is the U.S. listing terrorist-connected organizations and individuals and saying, you can't, if you're an American citizen, do business with designated SDNs. It was used against Iran, for instance, for a long period of time and other terrorist-designated nations.

All right, El Chapo was on this list as an SDN. He's a terrorist.

FEYERICK: Right. CALLAN: He's really been listed as that. If Sean Penn is doing business with a terrorists, he is violating U.S. law. But the question is, if he is interviewing and publishing in "Rolling Stone," is that doing business or is that acting simply as a journalist in the operation of his profession?

FEYERICK: Right.

CALLAN: That's the argument.

FEYERICK: And the whole aspect of the First Amendment, obviously, comes in.

So, Alex, you talk about the fact that the Mexican government is corrupt. There are a lot of people there who you don't know whether they're on the take or not on the take. So how do El Chapo's lawyers try to fight the extradition and try to essentially convince both the U.S. government that, no, there's no way he's going to come there?

SANCHEZ: First of all, they're going to contest every - they're going to contest the application made by the United States government. That's number one. And they're going to bring up information based upon their investigation that the information provided by the government and/or informers has no value or they're - they themselves are on the take and they're not providing accurate information.

FEYERICK: Right.

SANCHEZ: And, by the way, regarding this so-called interview with Sean Penn, it should be taken as an absolute joke. Sean Penn is an actor. The woman is an actor. This guy, El Chapo, has a million lawyers.

FEYERICK: Right.

SANCHEZ: Why would he go and make a public confession unless he's going to try to bid himself to get a part in a movie.

FEYERICK: Well, it looks like the authorities were always one step behind him, and who knows, Sean Penn may not be in favor with El Chapo's men right now.

Paul Callan, Alex Sanchez, thank you so much for a fascinating conversation.

SANCHEZ: Thank you so much.

FEYERICK: Really appreciate your insights.

And right now breaking news out of Houston, Texas. These are live pictures of window washers trapped on the Chase Tower. That's according to our affiliate KTRK. You can see what looks like two people trapped on the hanging there in the window washing basket. We're going to be having a lot more on this coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [12:16:58] FEYERICK: And breaking news out of Houston, Texas. These are live pictures that you're looking at of a high-rise rescue, window washers trapped on the Chase Tower. That's according to our affiliate KTRK. You can see what looks like those two folks in there dangling there. Usually they're tethered into the basket. The basket no longer level. One side hanging dangerously there to the left, at a 45-degree angle. We've seen rescuers on the roof of the building. Also people watching from the floor where - where those people are hanging. I'm sure they're doing everything they can to save those window washers. And, of course, we're going to continue to follow this breaking news. They do have access, it appears, to a window. You can see some men, probably first responders there, off to the left and just behind them trying to fix the situation. Of course, we're going to bring you a lot more pictures as this story unfolds.

And our other big story this hour, Philadelphia police and the FBI are trying to get to the bottom of the potentially unsettling new tip in the shooting of a Philadelphia police officer last week. Edward Archer is accused of shooting an officer several times at point blank range. He told authorities that he did it in the name of ISIS because he follows Allah. Now authorities are investigating a claim that the suspect may have had ties to a separate group with radical beliefs.

And CNN's Jason Carroll joins us with more. And, Jason, it was a woman who approached a police officer. What did she tell him?

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, certainly. And certainly a disturbing development if this tip ends up being true. Here's what happened, Deborah. It was actually on Saturday that that woman approached an officer there in Philadelphia telling him that Edward Archer was somehow affiliated to a radical group, people more radical than - even more radical than he was. What police now have to determine is, is this just street talk or is this a credible tip? Is this a credible allegation? Well, police have released a statement about it saying, "the Philadelphia Police Department and federal partners take this type of information very seriously, particularly after the recent attack on Officer Hartnett. Therefore the department, along with the Federal Bureau of Investigation is actively investigating these allegation in an effort to verify the credibility of the information given."

So what investigators are going to do is they're going to circle back. They're going to interview all those people who are closely associated with Archer. They'll pay a visit to his mosque, see if they can get any information there. The FBI has already confirmed that Archer did travel to Saudi Arabia and Egypt. In Saudi Arabia in 2011 and Egypt in 2012. So a few red flags here, Deborah, but whether or not this tip can be confirmed, that is not something that investigators are able to do, at least not right now.

Deborah.

FEYERICK: Yes. And, interesting, apparently it became public because the police report appeared online.

CARROLL: Yes. FEYERICK: It was subsequently taken down. But according to some of the reports, which I know you've read as well, the woman said, well, everyone knows.

CARROLL: Right.

FEYERICK: Is this somebody from the community? Is this - is there - she's anonymous, but where - what's the connection?

[12:20:07] CARROLL: Well, I think this is what - some of the things that investigators are going to try to determine. You know, she says, this woman, apparently says that everyone in the area knew it. But, you know, once again, is this just street talk? Is this just urban myth, things that just sort of start to, you know, percolate as something like this happens, or is it valid? And what investigators have to do is, they've got to go back. They've got to continue to interview those people who are closest to Archer to try and determine whether or not this is - this is valid.

FEYERICK: All right, Jason Carroll, thank you so much. And clearly the FBI going back to see whether any of their open cases might have new red flags given what happened.

Jason, thanks so much.

And up next, three weeks until the Iowa caucuses. And if you're under the impression that Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are dominating the polls, we've got some news for you. Wait until you see what's happening in the Hawkeye state, New Hampshire, too, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:25:15] FEYERICK: And we continue to follow breaking news out of Houston, Texas. Take a look. If you look at the upper third of that building, you can see that scaffolding. These are high pictures of a high-rise rescue. Just moments ago, rescuers pulled in the two trapped window washers on the JP Morgan Chase Tower. That is downtown Houston's tallest building, standing at 75 stories. That's - to put it in context, that's about just shy of three and a half football fields. The left side of the basket seemed to have fallen. And rescuers were able to open the window and pull the rescue workers to safety. Right now, all is well with them.

And we are just three weeks away from the Iowa caucuses, and the races in both political parties in a dead heat. In the Democratic race, a new NBC News/"Wall Street Journal"/Maris poll shows that Bernie Sanders is just three points behind Hillary Clinton in Iowa. That's 48 percent for Hillary Clinton, 45 percent among likely caucus goers for Bernie Sanders. The difference is really the poll's margin of error, certainly within the margin of error. In New Hampshire, Sanders remains ahead of Clinton 50 percent to 46 percent among likely primary voters, still also within the poll's margin of error.

Well, hoping to cut into his lead, Clinton has been hammering Sanders on his more conservative record on gun control. She's even released an ad saying she's the one who can beat the Republican candidate. Sanders is responding. He just told a crowd of high school students in Iowa that he favors background checks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is a very, very difficult issue, and it's not going to be easily solved. But that doesn't mean that we don't do everything that we can so try to solve it. So what does it mean? It means that if you buy a gun in America, you should have to go through a strengthened and improved instant background check. And what that background check will determine is, are you a criminal, are you involved in domestic violence, are you somebody who is mentally unstable. And if the instant background check picks that up, you do not get to buy that gun.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: And the battle is just as tight on the GOP side in Iowa. In the same poll, Texas Senator Ted Cruz holds a slight lead in Iowa at 28 percent, to Donald Trump's 24 percent. But that's also within the poll's margin of error. The two are trailed by Florida Senator Marco Rubio at 13 percent, Ben Carson coming in fourth at 11 percent. In New Hampshire, well, a different story. Donald Trump dominating with 30 percent in the NBC /"Wall Street Journal"/Marist poll. More than double his closest competitor, which there is Marco Rubio at 14 percent.

And a Monmouth University poll released just minutes ago gives Trump an even bigger lead in New Hampshire, 32 percent. The third poll in a row showing that Trump's support is above 30 percent.

And the other big headline is a big jump by Kasich over Rubio. Trump's campaigning in New Hampshire right now. That's where we find CNN chief political correspondent Dana Bash.

Dana, Trump has been on the attack, hitting Cruz at every turn about his citizenship. What's Mr. Trump saying today?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: He's keeping it going. You know, he is doing it in the context of insisting that he is just trying to help his friend Ted Cruz because if Cruz is the nominee, he should be prepared for legal battles. It's something he's been saying since last week and continued just moments ago when he spoke here. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Ted Cruz is a problem. I mean, he's got a problem. If you know Congressman Allan Graceson (ph) said he's going to bringing a major suit. And the suit is going to say that he wasn't born in this country. So, whether you like it or not, Ted has to figure it out, because you can't be having a nominee, if he got the - I think we're going to win very solidly, if you want to know the truth. But if you get the nomination, you can't have the person that gets the nomination be sued, like Hillary might be sued. She might - has a different kind of (INAUDIBLE). She'll be sued on the e- mails.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: So the question is whether or not this is going to take hold either here in New Hampshire or maybe more importantly in Iowa. I was with Ted Cruz in Iowa last week when Trump started to talk about this issue. As people say, he started to birther Ted Cruz. And at that point it didn't seem to be an issue percolating very much. And I can tell you, Deb, just even at this event, I spoke to several voters before Donald Trump spoke asking if they thought it could be a potential issue, and I didn't find anybody who said yes. So that is - that's sort of where we are on that issue.

[12:30:08] But you mentioned the poll and, in fact, the newest poll that just came out just minutes ago showing Donald Trump doing incredibly well here