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Legal View with Ashleigh Banfield

Some San Bernardino Massacre Victims Urge Apple To Work With The FBI; GOP Rivals Gearing Up For Nevada Fight; GOP Rivals Set Sights On Super Tuesday; Sanders and Clinton To Face Off In South Carolina Saturday; Wife Camille Cosby Deposed Today. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired February 22, 2016 - 12:30   ET

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

[12:30:04] ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Judge Larson, forgive me, I'm definitely up against a mind greater than I am in the law, but it still comes back to the idea that warrants have been issued time and time again for existing evidence.

This is evidence that doesn't yet necessarily exist without work product, which is forcing the hand of a company. This is very different than your run-of-the-mill, garden variety warrant for data. There is a clear difference. I know you understand that.

STEPHEN LARSON, ATTORNEY FOR SOME SAN BERNARDINO VICTIMS AND FAMILY MEMEBERS: Well, there's no question that the information exists, it's stored, it's secreted on a phone. No different than when information is in somebody's house or in somebody's bank account, and there needs to be access to it.

Technology certainly has raced ahead of current statutory schemes, and that needs to be addressed by Congress an ongoing forward basis. But it's not different in a situation where evidence is being stored some place and secreted, some place. And we need the cooperation, as we have received in the past from various institutions, to obtain that, under the limited circumstances and with all of the prophylactic measures we have in place in this court order.

BANFIELD: Yeah, this is sure to be a Harvard law course, this particular case in the future. Steven Larson, I so appreciate your time. I would love to have you back, as well. Thank you, Judge.

LARSON: Thank you.

BANFIELD: We're going to switch to politics, because why not. Because what happens in Vegas could make all the difference for Republicans hoping to parlay a strong finish in tomorrow's Nevada caucuses into big momentum ahead of next week's critical Super Tuesday votes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:36:04] BANFIELD: All right. We're going to be in politics now. Fresh off a big win in South Carolina, Donald Trump is hoping to ride the momentum and hit the jackpot, heading into tomorrow's Nevada caucuses. Senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio also rallying voters across that

state, hoping to get an edge, while Governor John Kasich is campaigning in Fairfax, Virginia, today. Whoever wins Nevada could get a solid boost going into the big contest on Super Tuesday. It's just over a week away, when at least a dozen states hold primaries and caucuses on March 1st.

I want to begin our coverage with Chris Frates, who is live in Las Vegas right now. And we're hearing wind that Donald Trump has been talking to former New York Mayor, Rudy Giuliani. I'm trying to get a read on how Rudy Giuliani is characterizing those conversations.

CHIRS FRATES, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'll tell you, Ashleigh, what Giuliani is saying is that he has an open line to Donald Trump and that they've talked, you know, about three times or so. What's really interesting about this, here you have another New Yorker who ran for president, Rudy Giuliani, back in 2008. He made an unsuccessful bid but was a very popular mayor of New York City after 9/11.

And he's been advising Donald Trump. And what is so interesting about that is he's not the only Republican from the so-called Republican establishment starting to talk to Donald Trump. Giuliani saying other Republicans are reaching out, and now he's essentially part of Trump's kitchen cabinet. And why that's important, it shows that Donald Trump, as he coalesces and wins more and more states, Republicans are starting to turn to him and council him seriously about how to be a contender.

Now, Giuliani says he doesn't agree with everything that Donald Trump says. In fact he lets Trump know when he's going too far. And he also provides him some council. So this is really interesting, Ashleigh, just another indication of the kind of coalescing of the establishment that we've seen from Donald Trump, as he talks to Rudy Giuliani here.

BANFIELD: OK, Chris Frates got the assignment in Vegas and a whole bunch of days before you actually have to, you know, do the work. I'm kidding, he does the work the whole time.

Thank you, Chris Frates.

Let's talk a little bit more about this race and the Republican strategy going forward, joining us, Katie Packer, she's the former deputy campaign manager for the Romney campaign and she supports Marco Rubio and she runs an anti-Trump Super Pac.

And also joining me, Scottie Nell Hughes. She's the chief contributor and news director for the Tea party News Network. It's fair to say, you're backing Trump, right, Scottie?

SCOTTIE NELL HUGHES, CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT USA RADIO NETWORKS: Yeah, that's pretty safe to say.

BANFIELD: So the first question is going to be for you, then. Because I want to just put up a delegate count and the map of it, because the delegate count is where it's all at. And if you look at this count right now, you can see Trump has 67, Cruz is way back with 11, Rubio's got 10, Kasich, 5, Carson, 3, others, 7. But that 67, while it looks huge, they're heading into Super Tuesday. There are 14 contests on Super Tuesday, Scottie. And Texas alone has 155, I think, if I remember my Math.

So, look, while it looks great right now, can Donald Trump really do well enough to be able to go -- to pull in those 155 in Cruz country?

HUGHES: Well, yeah, absolutely, because if you add in Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama, plus Massachusetts, all four that he's polling very well in, he's over the 155 of Ted Cruz. And that is assuming that Senator Cruz gets completely 100 percent votes there, which Donald Trump is polling just as well Ted Cruz might be great in his home state.

But here's the funny thing when you look at that. Let's talk about investment per dollar. I think there's a lot of investors in these political campaigns of Rubio and of Cruz that would probably like to get a refund right now. I mean, you've got Cruz who spent close to $34 million. Rubio has spent close to $25 million, and for what? Second and third place?

You've got Donald Trump spending a third of that and staying a solid first place. And obviously, three times ahead of the delegate count. So it's all about, right now, about these investors and are they going to continue to fund these campaigns that are obviously not winning.

[12:40:04] BANFIELD: All right, Katie, I want to talk about that money then, since Scottie brought it up, and I'm not going to talk about what they've spent. I'm going to talk about what they have left to spend right now, the cash on hand. Cruz is way ahead of the pack with $13.6 million. Rubio is next with $5.1 million. Carson, $4.1 million. Trump's is weird, because he's financing his own campaign, let's skip over that one ...

KATIE PACKER, FORMER DEP. CAMPAIGN MANAGER FOR ROMNEY: Well, maybe, maybe not.

BANFIELD: For me I don't mean so much skip over it, he's got plenty of dough, just that particular map, it's a strange number, only because he's been financing his own campaign.

But you know, here's the story, that's a lot of money until you start to realize that all the people who are dropping out had lots of money, too, Katie. And everyone wants to know where the Bush money is going to go. Because there's plenty of money in Bush country, and if that goes to say, I don't know, say a Rubio, he could do very, very weld going ahead.

PACKER: Well, I think that we can expect a lot of those donors can redirect their resources other places. One thing just to clarify, Donald Trump isn't completely self-funding his campaign. He's raised upwards of $9 million, so this claim that he doesn't raise money from people is a bit bogus.

But going back to the money issue, the really important point to make here is $215 million have been spent in this Republican campaign and only about four percent of that has gone to highlight Donald Trump's record and his inconsistencies. And that is, I think, what's been so remarkable about this campaign, is I've never really seen a campaign, in my 30 years, involved in politics, where nobody has really attacked the front-runner with any kind of sustained, you know, protracted effort to highlight why he's wrong for the Republican party.

I do expect that that's going to start to happen. That these other campaigns are going to step up. Our group is continuing to step up. There's a lot that voters don't know about Donald Trump. He has had a huge advantage with the media, almost completely touting him, you know, every minute of the day on Cable News. And that's worth a lot of money. But I do think that donors are going to step up, because there is a real concern that this sort of conservative of convenience that adopted in recent months isn't something that is going to be good for our party.

BANFIELD: I have to wrap it there, but I do have to add that, yes, he's had an advantage with talk time on TV, but so much of that talk time on TV and the front pages of the "Daily News" have been -- I mean, they just been sordid (ph)

HUGHES: Negative.

BANFIELD: The guy has been ripped to shreds.

PACKER: And he's still number one.

No such thing as bad press.

BANFIELD: I got to leave it there guys. Thank you though, I appreciate it, will you both come back?

HUGHES: Sure.

PACKER: Of course.

BANFIELD: All right, Katie Packer, Scottie Nell Hughes, good to have you. I want you to be sure to join in. CNN's got the last Republican debate before Super Tuesday. My colleague, Wolf Blitzer, best in the biz, will moderate live from Texas on Thursday. It's going to be huge. 8:30 p.m. right here on CNN.

Up next, South Carolina, round two. It's the Democrats' turn. Bernie Sanders doing all he can to make sure that his big dreams campaign translates into big turnout on Saturday. But turnout for him, all of this as Hillary Clinton tries to sharpen her message to cut into those big dreams momentum.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:47:10:] BANFIELD: Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders facing off next in South Carolina which holds its Democratic primary on Saturday.

CNN's latest poll of polls shows Clinton with a-- I think you can call that a commanding lead, folks 57 percent after her win in Nevada.

Her campaign is now delivering a sharper, clearer message, and taking on voters' trust issues, as well. Just listen to what Hillary Clinton said over the weekend, as she tried to define her rival, Bernie Sanders.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't think it's right to look a person in the eye who's hurting, and needs help, and tell them that if they vote for you, you will get $5,000 of healthcare, but only have to pay $500 for it. You shouldn't say that, unless you can really deliver it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: There is also a brand-new Bill Clinton add that is touting Hillary as a change maker.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL CLINTON, FORMER U.S PRESIDENT: She is the "what can I do" candidate. She is a walking change maker. You heard the president to make something happen for you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Joining us, CNN Political Commentator and also change maker, Errol Louis is with me now, live. I always love the opportunity to talk to you. You live and breathe this stuff.

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes.

BANFIELD: You love this stuff.

LOUIS: I do.

BANFIELD: You're like the walking Wikipedia for it.

LOUIS: I like politics.

BANFIELD: You do.

LOUIS: I always have.

BANFIELD: And I think it's fair to say South Carolina is looking like a walloping for Bernie Sanders.

LOUIS: Well that's right. In fact -- I mean look one interesting little clue was at the end when he gave his concession speech after the caucuses in Nevada, he never mentioned South Carolina.

And normally that's a prime opportunity. You're on national television, you're supposed to sort of fire up the troops, you supposed to predict victory. You supposed to, you know, sort of make the best of that time, and he only talked about Super Tuesday. I think he knows he's in, just as the polls suggest, he's in for a quite a hard time.

BANFIELD: So he's supposed to be the guy that in the caucuses was going to blow the doors off everyone, because it's his style. And yet he's lost two caucuses up until now.

LOUIS: Well he did-- let's be clear. Let's give him his credit. I mean he, very impressively, closed the gap in Nevada. I mean that was really quite something that he did. I mean he's down 20 points, and in the space of weeks, he nearly caught her and nearly overtook her.

And what we saw in the exit polls was, there was quite a lot of enthusiasm for what he was talking about, when he talks about jobs, when he talks about common equality.

BANFIELD: So, you know, when you go to words, Super Tuesday, 14 states, I'm not sure how many Democrats. It might be two less I think right?

LOUIS: Twelve.

BANFIELD: Twelve for Democrats, 14 for Republicans.

So you're looking at 12 states on one day. It is really, really hard to have a massive machine, an organization, a ground op, in place in that many states in one day.

And Hillary Clinton, let's put the cash on hand out, this is awesome, the numbers are just awesome. I don't know how else to say it. She's got $32.9 million. It's more than-- I mean all of the Republicans combined. It really beats Bernie Sanders. I mean look at that. By more than double.

[12:50:13] LOUIS: That's right.

BANFIELD: Is that the kind of thing you need to make that ground op work on a Super Tuesday?

LOUIS: Well-- I mean look, first of all, it's not so much a ground operation once you nationalize it. And that's really what Super Tuesday is about.

I mean, you know, if you're talking about Alaska, you're talking about American Samoa, you know, you're talking about Americans abroad as well as, you know, Texas and Georgia and Alabama.

You-- realistically, you're not going to have a ground operation in all of these places, unless you have support from the local party organizations. Then that, I think, even more so than the money, is going to be where Hillary Clinton has a distinctive advantage.

County organizations, local elected officials have already committed to you. Then that's money that the campaign doesn't have to spend, that partly accounts for some of the cash in balance.

But let's keep in mind also, that the difference between say 14 and 32, is not all that great when you're raising money at the clip that Bernie Sanders is. And when you can raise $20 million in a month, he's a few weeks away from sort of, at least, coming up with some of the raw dollars.

BANFIELD: He calls his speeches, his fund-raisers, you know, it's amazing. He could raise $10 million or something, you know, in one night.

LOUIS: Well that's right. I mean look, a lot of this is the calendar working against Bernie Sanders. Honestly, because, you know, a lot of Clinton's supporters have already maxed out. So she can't necessarily go back to all of them. That $32 million isn't necessarily going to change from those same people.

Bernie Sanders is collecting money, you know, 27 bucks at a time, 45 bucks at a time.

BANFIELD: I just got an e-mail-- that I get all the e-mails from all the candidates asking for 15. Just jump in, and throw your 15 down and help me, you know, get this party started.

LOUIS: Exactly right.

BANFIELD: It is more than just started. Errol, always great to have you come back, every day.

LOUIS: Very good to see you.

BANFIELD: Invitation's open every day.

LOUIS: You got it.

BANFIELD: Errol Louis, thank you for that, appreciate it.

Got a programming note for you all as well and this is good when you all. It t is the Democrats' turn to face South Carolina voters just days before the party primary, the candidates make their case at the CNN South Carolina Democratic Presidential Town Hall.

It is tomorrow night, 8:00 p.m. Eastern time. Set your watch. It's going to be moderated by our own Chris Cuomo.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:56:22] BANFIELD: Bill Cosby's lawyers tried to prevent this from happening, but his wife, Camille Cosby, is going to be deposed. In fact, it's happening right now, folks.

Today in Massachusetts, attorneys for the eight women who have sued her husband for defamation are getting a chance to ask Cosby's wife some questions.

The women claim that Bill Cosby let his defense team paint them as liars after they came out accusing him of sexual assault.

Jean Casarez joins me now live. She's been following this story from the get-go. This is sort of a classic defamation case. However, it's not normal to get a wife involved in a deposition. Is this because she was a business manager of some kind?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. And it's so ironic. And just as you said, the deposition, we believe, is going on right now inside a hotel, in Springfield, Massachusetts.

But how this all happened is really ironic because this was a straight forward defamation case from the eight accusers that believed that they were defamed by Bill Cosby, who allegedly through his people said, you're lying in what you're saying about us.

Well, Cosby turned tables Ashleigh. And late last year filed defamation claim against all these women. Saying, you're defaming me, actually. Because of that, they then called Camille Cosby, because she's his business manager. So if you're defamed, your business is going to go down, right? You're going to have damages.

BANFIELD: You could ask her questions about the conversations related to business that they had, but you can't ask her questions about their pillow talk.

CASAREZ: Well then you get into the nuances of Massachusetts law, confidential communications between a husband and wife. The judge actually originally ruled that some of the things she may be asked of and they won't become testimony in court. But it could lead to discoverable evidence for the plaintiff's attorneys.

In other words, maybe some of those questions that we believe would be off-limit, they're going to try to ask.

BANFIELD: Wow. So -- I hate to say this, but I almost think if this deposition is actually and we believed it is happening at this moment. You could actually have a drinking game with the number of times you're going to hear "objection."

I mean it would be insane.

CASAREZ: And the pattern to--

BANFIELD: (Inaudible) have walked that narrow line.

CASAREZ: The pattern to all of these depositions beginning with Andrea Constand in 2005. The majority of the questions were not answered, so then the plaintiff's attorney had to go to a judge, to get a judge to compel, and a second deposition took place to really get some answers.

BANFIELD: So these are truly two countersuits of defamation. All of these women have to not only act as plaintiffs to say that they were defamed when they called liars. And truth is the ultimate defense. So if at any point Camille Cosby says, well, these things might have happened boom, they've nailed their case. But then they have to be defendants against, against him?

The same kinds of conversations--

CASAREZ: That's right. BANFIELD: ... can depose her one more time?

CASAREZ: That's right. So you got defamation going both ways like this.

BANFIELD: (Inaudible) that would one cancel the other out if they were actually to prevail?

CASAREZ: I guess it becomes a chess game right?

But I guess it's scary what you might asked for because when Bill Cosby filed defamation against these women, that opened the door for his wife, who's 71 years old, going to be 72 years old in a month--

BANFIELD: Yeah my mom is 77, she could whip in chess. She's brilliant. I don't give that any -- you can whine and complain that somebody's a little old lady, but she's a very strong and able and smart woman and many people in their 70s are. But they are using that, didn't they?

CASAREZ: Yes.

BANFIELD: They did that use to the judge to say, we want to delay this.

CASAREZ: Yes, yes they did. They did but it was ...

BANFIELD: Huh, it's amazing.

All right well keep on it. And let us know if they--

CASAREZ: And the question is, is it going to be sealed, the answers that she gives.

BANFIELD: Of course you would have to say that. That you might not be able to see any of this after such an, you know, an exciting day effectively just try to move this case forward, get some resolution and get some clarity on what happened.

Jean Casarez, thank you for that.

CASAREZ: You're welcome.

BANFIELD: I appreciate it.

[13:00:08]Thank you for watching everyone. Nice to have you with us. Stay tuned, "Wolf" starts right now.