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Legal View with Ashleigh Banfield

Robert Bates Murder Trial Examined; ESPN Fires Analyst Curt Schilling; US Currency Change Discussed. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired April 21, 2016 - 12:30   ET

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

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: ... a fair trial?

[12:30:04] ANDRE HARRIS, ERIC HARRIS' BROTHER: I do. It's just private people say that this man killed my brother in cold blood when he was already subdued on the ground. And he's 73. He shouldn't have been there if he wasn't qualified.

SIDNER: Bates has maintained he thought he was using his taser but instead pulled a gun.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This was not an intentional planning. I have no desire to ever take anyone's life.

SIDNER: But Harris family attorney, Dan Smolen says, Bates should never have been on the scene but was granted special treatment on the force because of his long-time friendship with now ex sheriff, Stanley Glanz.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's absolutely mind boggling that you have a wealthy businessman who has been essentially deputized to go play like he's some outlaw.

SIDNER: Now, Glanz is the ex-sheriff because during this investigation he was forced to resign after nearly 30 years as the sheriff because of an indictment by a grand jury. And part of the indictment was that he withheld information regarding his friend and the reserve volunteer deputy Robert Bates.

Now, as far as Bates, he faces up to four years in prison if he's convicted, he's been in the court today of course and he's been pretty calm the whole time. I mean he has had conversations at the beginning of the trial, before the jury came in with our sketch artist. He was making jokes, he even very early on before the jury was picked in court had a conversation with Mr. Harris' brother Andre Harris. He said to Andre Harris, "Hey, I like your bowtie." And Andre Harris turned to him and said "I like my brother, Eric Harris." Ashleigh.

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: It is amazing the drama that can play out in a courtroom before, during and after the gavel comes down.

Sara, thank you. Continue to report to us what happens today.

Criminal Defense Attorney, Doug Burns is also here. I want to talk about this jury that's been selected, the issues at stake for them. Doug, what's so fascinating, no one is contending that this accused man did this intentionally. Everybody has effectively stipulated with these charges was an accident.

DOUG BURNS, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: That's a great starting point because ...

BANFIELD: But what is the jury have to ...

BURNS: No, no, no. OK, anytime you make a culpable negligence, criminal negligence a crime, people are scratching their head, exactly as you say Ashleigh.

How can an accident be a crime? But there are theories of negligence. What the jury has to decide real simple, you can really almost throw the law books out the window and ratchet it down. Was it reasonable for him to have legitimately mistaken the taser for the gun? Or on the other hand was that unreasonable and therefore culpable negligence. And it's really going to be the jury deciding, is this man in good faith when he says, "Look, I honestly sincerely, reasonably thought I was reaching for the taser and not a gun." They're going to decide that, real simple.

BANFIELD: And 74 which is an issue for some. This jury is on the older side. It appears ...

BURNS: Right.

BANFIELD: Many appeared to be over 40. They're also all white.

BURNS: Yeah, that is right. I mean there is some racial dynamic in the case. Maybe not that pronounced hopefully would think.

The other thing is that the defense is insinuating this is interesting and I also think it's a mistake on many levels, Ashleigh. They're saying he didn't necessarily die from a causation standpoint from what happened with the weapon. He had heart problems. That's what he died from, a number of problems with that.

Number one, my understanding of the medical evidence in the case does not support that, OK. The medical report ...

BANFIELD: Enlists heart conditions doesn't ...

BURNS: Doesn't say that it was the cause of death.

BANFIELD: Yeah, yeah.

BURNS: And then number two, you know, trying a case is like being a football coach, seriously. You don't know what play is going to work and you know this better than anybody, all the trials you've covered, OK. But seriously, you don't know how a play is going to work until you run that play.

So to suggest, because also, come on, let's be honest, hanging in the rafters here is the fact that the victim was in the middle of perpetrating an alleged crime.

BANFIELD: There's that. BURNS: That is big.

BANFIELD: But he's dead.

BURNS: That is big with the jury. That doesn't mean he deserves to die, of course not. He should get the same treatment as anybody else. But it's a factor that any trial lawyer is going to tell you is lurking in the rafters.

BANFIELD: Doug Burns, I knew you'd put it in simple terms. I do feel for this jury though. It's not simple for them, it's critical.

BURNS: It's not easy.

BANFIELD: Thank you so much.

BURNS: My pleasure.

BANFIELD: Really appreciate it.

BURNS: My pleasure.

BANFIELD: ... good to see you.

Coming up next, going to really take a right turn here, former All- Star pitcher, Curt Schilling, he is now former ESPN analyst fired officially for an offensive social media post about transgender people and bathrooms.

[12:34:38] What's the real story behind this? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Did you hear the news? ESPN making a big high profile firing, the act Curt Schilling as a major league baseball analyst for that network because of a pretty offensive means that he put on his Facebook page, so offensive I actually can't even put it on the T.V.

It basically showed a man sort of frightening looking with his clothes all ripped up, they were women's clothes that he was wearing and a blond wig. He looks a fairy.

And then he wrote, "Let him into the restroom with your daughter or else you are narrow minded judgmental unloving racist bigot who needs to die."

Mr. Schilling decided to delete that message but it was too late because people could read it, capture it and then resend it. He did not delete his voice though. He kept on talking.

CNN Sports Anchor Coy Wire now joining me live with the fallout.

Other than the firing, story is not over. Go ahead.

[12:40:02] COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Hi Ashleigh. You know, Curt Schilling, you know, he released a blog post after that Facebook post. And he basically saying, "Look, I have my flaws as does everyone and I'm OK with mine. They're what make me unique." He said, "Also I have my opinion."

And he called those who are calling out for tolerance and acceptance that they are frauds. He said that they are not practicing those same principles themselves. But on that post he said "The latest brew ha, ha," of what you're speaking about there Ashleigh, he calls it, "Hilarious, I didn't post that ugly looking picture. I made a comment about the basic functionality of mens and womens restrooms, period."

So Ashleigh two things jump out, he says that he didn't post that picture. So does that mean that someone else logged into his account and posted it. You mentioned it was later deleted.

Also, he says that, it's hilarious. So this says that he is not taking this seriously, whoever this was very serious enough so that ESPN fired him. As you mentioned they released a statement that said, "ESPN is an inclusive company. Curt Schilling has been advised that his conduct was unacceptable and employment with ESPN has been terminated." Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: So Coy, just to that last part, he said in his blog post "I made a comment about the basic functionality of mens and womens restrooms, period." That was what he said. And it's all hilarious, because that's all he did.

I just want to remind everybody again what he actually wrote. "Let that man into the restroom with your daughter or else you are narrow minded judgmental unloving racist bigot who needs to die."

I don't know that that's a basic comment about functionality of a bathroom. And that's my next point. It is not the first time that Mr. Schilling has said things that upset a lot of people and caused him some angst at work.

WIRE: Ashleigh, it's a great point. You know, he has been bold and brazing with his comments for quite some time now. Look, just last year he was actually commended because he stood out against bullying when a bunch of Twitter trolls were making vulgar and sexually explicit comments towards his teenage daughter. Some even went so far to call him father of the year.

But now, those same bold and brazing actions have caused him his job. A year ago last year's MLB playoff he was pulled off the broadcast because he compared Muslim extremists to Nazis. He also said Hillary Clinton should be buried under a jail, Ashleigh.

So clearly he doesn't know how far is too far when it comes to making comments and voicing your opinion.

BANFIELD: You and I know it. We talk for a living, right.

WIRE: That's right.

BANFIELD: So he got to keep the talk in check if you want to keep on talking. And you're right, I mean we all go over a little bit. But when you go over too far several times it's not an obvious.

Coy Wire, nice to see you.

WIRE: You too Ashleigh, thanks.

BANFIELD: Thank you sir.

President Andrew Jackson, a slave owner being relegated now to the back of the $20 bill and replaced instead by a well-known abolitionist. We're going to introduce you to the new front man or should I say front woman next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:47:02] BANFIELD: The $20 bill that if you're lucky is right now in your pocket is about to get a major makeover.

The U.S. Treasury Department is making some history this week unveiling the newly designed $20 bill with the face of civil rights icon Harriet Tubman. She's not the first woman to appear on U.S. currency. But she is the first African-American person of either gender.

Treasury officials are excited they're saying this pays tribute to her legacy and sacrifice to help end slavery. You know who is not a fan of this change? Donald Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Harriet Tubman is fantastic. I would love to leave Andrew Jackson and see if we can maybe come up with another denomination. Maybe we do the $2 bill or we another bill.

I don't like seeing it. Yes, I think its pure political correctness.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Susan Ades Stone, fought for this and effectively won this.

She is executive director of Women on 20s. I'm not sure I knew about the group Women on 20s before this big news broke. I just love for you to react to what Donald Trump said about this, this morning echoing Ben Carson saying perhaps the $2 bill would have been more appropriate.

SUSAN ADES STONE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, WOMEN ON 20S: I think the $2 bill is usually used as an insult when people say, you know, it's like, you know, worth as much as a $2 bill or, you know, that's been my impression. So to me that's kind of an insult.

BANFIELD: I have to be honest with you, I immigrated to this country from Canada 20 years ago and I have not seen a $2 bill. So I had to ask someone in the NEWSROOM is there a such thing as an American 2?

There was in Canada when I live there. But I didn't even know it's existed. STONE: Yeah, I hardly ever seen them myself.

BANFIELD: So tell me a little bit about the choice of Harriet Tubman because there was public opinion that was sought after for this. And I don't think anybody expected the 20. Everyone was effectively thinking the 10 would get the makeover. It needed the most security change.

STONE: That's right.

BANFIELD: Walk me through how this happened.

STONE: Well our campaign started last March. We had 600,000 people who weighed in an online poll.

And Harriet Tubman came out on top of the 15 candidates that people, you know, had to choose from.

So, you know, the $20 bill is the bill that's, you know, we use the most often, it comes out of the ATMs that used internationally. The 10 is produced only -- it's only 5 percent of all of our bills.

So to us the $20 bill and it also had to do with Andrew Jackson who is on the $20 bill whose legacy of ruthless treatment of native Americans, as slave ownership and trading and his hatred of paper currency, those things, you know, all ...

BANFIELD: They relocate him to the back of the bill.

STONE: Well, yes, so he's going to the back of the bill, right.

BANFIELD: But you have heard others saying, "Look, he was a president, he was one of our first 10, he is the lion." I mean John Richmond wrote extensively about him. So regardless of these horrors and there were several presidents who had, you know, sort of that you can check a few of the negative boxes in their columns.

[12:50:05] STONE: Yeah.

BANFIELD: But Donald Trump said this is political correctness. And others just saying it's political correctness running amok.

STONE: Andrew Jackson's legacy has become tarnished to the point that he really shouldn't be a symbol of what we aspire to, what we represent in this country. We are about tolerance and inclusion; he was about exclusion and intolerance. So, to me it's time to update our image in the world.

BANFIELD: Going to take a few years before we actually start seeing all of these though, right. Does not happen right away, it's not an easy process.

STONE: No, but I think that they are really committed to speeding it up. So, rumors that it might not be until after 2030 have been dispelled. Treasury secretary tells us it will happen much sooner. We are really happy about that.

BANFIELD: Susan Ades Stone, nice to have you. Thank you. Congratulations on your work.

STONE: Thank you very much.

BANFIELD: Good to see you.

I'm going to move you to the Houston area now because there has been absolutely remarkable video coming out of Houston. Flooding that has been happening you probably saw it this week but probably don't know that this place that could least afford it is about to get deluged again. More water, more rain, more flooding, the mayor is live next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:55:45] BANFIELD: I got breaking news to report to you coming out of the Minneapolis area. There is an ongoing death investigation. Normally that wouldn't make national news unless it is a death investigation at a place -- the estate of Prince, the musician. That is where the sheriff's deputies apparently have been located. The estate of Prince whose real name is Prince Rogers Nelson. No one is confirming at any time right now who the person is who died at this estate of Prince in Minnesota. But this is the Carver County area in Minnesota. And the sheriff has been doing the best he can to update what they are doing but they are saying they are not saying at all who the person is who died at the Prince's estate until they are able to notify next of kin. So, we're going to continue to watch this very carefully.

For you there is breaking news to bring your way much farther south, a mandatory evacuation order, people in Houston specifically Wharton Texas. They're being asked to leave due to paralyzing and catastrophic flooding in their area that has claimed the lives now of eight people. Officials are also keeping an eye on the dams there. Those dams are aging and now the description is, "extremely high risk of breaching".

Also, today, the last thing Houston needs right now is more rain because an extra one to two inches are in the forecast right now and more than 1,000 homes have already been flooded. They can least deal with that kind of deluge, the cost of the damage now going over the $5 billion mark. Fortunate right now to be joined live on t telephone by the mayor of Houston, Sylverster Turner.

Mr Mayor, thank you for joining at this time. Can you give me your best as to what emergency officials are telling you about what you are about to undergo with additional rain? We are looking at pictures that are very clear. You can't afford another drop.

MAYOR SYLVESTER TURNER, ON THE PHONE: No. Usually, light (inaudible) going to pass to the area. Now, the city of Houston still suffering in the northwest part of the city in what we call the "Kinglwood" area because of the water that's being released from dams. More water has been released than we can get into the gulf. That is causing some flooding. And then out in the county we are having some flooding on the county. Right now other than the area the bayous within the city are within their banks but we certainly just don't need anymore rain in the region. BANFIELD: Mayor Turner, with those two dams in particular at 50

percent capacity and flash flood watches right now that affect nine million people, I don't know, where are these people going? Mandatory evacuation order is one thing. They all want to go somewhere. Where are they going?

TURNER: Well, again, we have a number of people that are in shelters right now. We have five area shelters that have been set up. And they're about 719 people in the current shelters. Other people are living with relatives. People who are living in facilities, seniors taken to other facilities and living with their relatives and family members. So people are pulling together. That's the good news. Hopefully, we'll be able to work them, the dams the (inaudible) and Parker dams. They are holding for now, the police and fire to look at them and they are structurally sound. It's just a lot of water coming in from the entire region and just trying to -- as they release that water and is flowing down. That is what is going to be an even major problem.

BANFIELD: Mayor Turner, our thoughts are with you as we look at the pictures and hear such a dire predicament. I hope that you are able to fare well, given what's coming your way. Thank you sir for ...

[13:00:17] TURNER: Let me just -- people from volunteers, non private based communities, the county has done an excellent job --