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Legal View with Ashleigh Banfield

Ohio Mass Murder Discussed; Clinton Speaks in Delaware; Prince's Estate Examined; Settlement in Death of Tamir Rice. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired April 25, 2016 - 12:30   ET

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


[12:30:02] ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: -- the numbers of pieces of evidence and just over a dozen, very little for this number of crime scenes and this kind of a grizzly act.

But there was something that stuck out and it was the sheriff when he gave a live news conference and he was asked by one of the reporters. Did you know this family? Specifically, he was asked, did you know them in a criminal sense? And this was his answer.

Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was law enforcement familiar with the Rhoden family prior to this event?

SHERIFF CHARLES READER, PIKE COUNTY, OHIO: Yes. We have a small family and we're familiar with most people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In terms of the criminal sense or that just?

READER: I won't comment on that. I have never been involved in that family in a criminal nature and I've been in law enforcement locally for 20 years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Tom Fuentes, 20 years in law enforcement. Never been involved with that family in a criminal offense and then we hear large scale marijuana growing operations at all four crime scenes. What am I missing?

TOM FUENTES, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, I don't know. I think we're all missing something, Ashleigh. If those marijuana growing operations had not come to the attention of the authorities, then obviously, the name of the Rodens wouldn't come in a criminal sense.

So, that's the possibility here that it's a rural enough area that they would know people from just being out and about in the community but not know what they're doing on their land that's not in the main view of the public.

BANFIELD: You know, Pike County may be rural. But they didn't just fall off the turn up truck there and usually you see law enforcement going right to the video tape, the surveillance tape to try and find some kind of a trail of evidence. But they've really seem to be stumped with very few pieces of evidence at this point and an appeal to the public to help. Again, my question is, what am I missing with four grizzly crime scenes and eight bodies?

FUENTES: Well, the crime scenes are at private residences. So we don't know if any of the residents had alarm systems or camera systems there. The authorities would know and aren't saying. So we don't know if there's some other clue that way. And some of the other facts that we don't know for example, and that will be determined after the autopsies when they remove the bullets from the victims and analyze them at the crime lab, do the ballistics analysis, whether how many guns are involved. That each residence had a separate gun which indicated a separate shooter were there multiple guns at each residence, would indicate a team of shooters at every location?

So that's to be determine and I think the authorities will know those answers pretty soon even if they don't release it publicly. But that's another fact as well. If the shots were fired from semiautomatic weapons, pistols, or rifles, were the bullet casings found at the scene or they collected by the shooters before they left the scene? So there's more facts to be comment ...

BANFIELD: That's a great point you just made because Mike DeWine the attorney general said that these sophisticated killers did everything to cover up their crime. But I got to ask you. The sheriff said there, I think I heard him say 30,000 or so residents in the community he's served to protect.

And he said, I do everything in my decades of serving to protect everyone. But I'm going to tell you right now, I can't be there for all of you at this time. I don't think I've heard a law enforcement expert say something publicly. Meaning, this is brutal. This may not be over.

FUENTES: Well, this is what people talk about in many rural areas that if you call the police, if something happens on your property, it may be a half hour before a deputy gets there. So, you know, we see militia groups being formed that are basically like neighborhood watch on steroids. Not necessarily to overthrow the government but to help people who live in areas like that. How are going to have a long response time.

And even if it's just his family being targeted, are more members going to be targeted and if so, what if the shooters go the wrong address and show up on something who has nothing to do with any of this and kill that family? So yes, he's basically telling the residents of that county that this is a fact of life. We'll get there as quickly as we can. It may not be quick enough. So you'll need to defend yourself in those early moments if someone attacks your home.

BANFIELD: Frightening for the people of Pike County. Tom Fuentes, thank you for that.

FUENTES: You're welcome. BANFIELD: Coming up, some disturbing details about the condition of Prince. The musical genius that suddenly dropped dead last week and that emergency plane landing that he made just a few days before he died. Also, what's going to happen to hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars in his estate and all of the future earnings that he could generate? Who gets it? We're going to dig through all of that coming up next. >

And also, we're monitor two live events right now. You can see Hillary Clinton speaking to voters in Delaware and also, Donald Trump set to speak to voters soon in Rhode Island.

[12:34:57] We're covering them both live and you'll see them both live after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Got some live pictures for you of Hillary Clinton. She's speaking live at an event in Wilmington, Delaware. Delaware is on the list for voters tomorrow, as our five big eastern states.

Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And how would it affect me and my family, my job, my community. I have a plan for more good jobs. Infrastructure jobs. Our roads, our bridges, our tunnels, our ports, our airports, our water systems.

And these are good jobs that can't be exported. They've got to be done right here in Delaware and across America. And then I want to do more to bring back advanced manufacturing.

[12:40:04] There are 1.2 million jobs right now in America for people with skills. Welders, tool and dye machinists and other that are not being filled because we haven't done enough to help -- for those jobs. Here's I want more apprenticeship programs and we're going to provide businesses with the incentives to have those.

I want to support what unions are doing what their apprenticeship programs. I want more high schools working with community colleges to provide more technical education. Because there's also a lot of jobs for computer coders. And other more high-tech kinds of jobs that require skills.

So think about what we could do if we actually take this seriously. And then I want us to make sure that we fight climate change by investing in more clean renewable energy jobs.

Now, you know, it's a little bit discouraging when you hear other Republicans. If they're asked about climate change, you know what they all say. They say, well, I don't know, I'm not a scientist. They all say it. And so, my answer to that is, well, go talk to scientist. There are a lot of them at the university here. You could go find a scientist at the high schools here who can explain climate change to you.

But what's really sad about their denial is there are good jobs. Some country is going to be the 21st century clean energy super power. It's either going to be Germany, China, or us. I want it to be us. We have the know-how. We have the technology. And I have set some big goals. I want us to deploy a half a billion more solar panels by the end of my first term and enough clean power electricity for every home in America.

Again, these are good jobs. Jobs that can't be exported. We also have to do more to support small businesses because that's where most of the good jobs are going to come from in the future. And I am particularly focused on helping small businesses that are started by and run by young people, minorities, and women.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: As Hillary Clinton making her case to the voters in Wilmington, Delaware, ahead of the five contests tomorrow and I'll remind you. Connecticut, Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. Donald trump is doing the same. Both fresh off lots of stumping in Connecticut yesterday.

The Donald now set to speak to voters in Rhode island. You can see the mikes are ready to go. The people seem quiet and ready for his appearance in Warwick, Rhode Island. Just as soon as the Donald takes to the mike, we will of course bring that to you, especially since what happened last night caught everybody by surprise. His two opponents have decided to, how do we say, join forces a new bizarre alliance at least for a couple of state, three states up coming.

Donald Trump had a lot to say about that on the Twitter but I'm sure his going to have a lot to say about it on the open mike. So that's going to be live for you as soon as he takes to the microphone.

In the meantime, we've got some strange and troubling new information that's coming in today about those days that led up to the death of the artist, Prince. And the incident that forced his plane to make that emergency landing just days before that death.

While not naming names, quad cities airport in Moline, Illinois has confirmed that there was an unconscious person on board a private jet in the early morning hours after April 16th. That just five days before Prince died.

Ryan Young joins me live now outside of Prince's Paisley Park Studios in Chanhassen, Minnesota, and CNN Legal Analyst Paul Callan is here to talk about the estate and where it all stands now. Ryan if I can start with you just on the developments that we're learning and the mystery that still need to be solved. We still don't know, why that 57-year- old died.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No. And that's the big question everyone has. Even here at the memorial side, they want to know why Prince died. We know the five days before, there was an emergency landing. We did know he cancelled those concerts in Atlanta to flu-like symptoms according to his publishes at the time. What we did not know about the emergency in terms of how fast and how that plane had to get down to the ground. We hearing the new information and the audio that was just released today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's the nature of the emergency?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Unresponsive passenger.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was it a male or female passenger?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a male passenger.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[12:45:06] YOUNG: And Ashleigh I also want to make a point here. After the emergency landing, we do believe there was some medical aid rendered but we've talk to people in the community who saw Prince on the same day. In fact he went to a record store and talked to people that he always talked about Tweeting about being there and then held a party here at Paisley Park that night.

So it's unbelievable that after that situation, he was able to have then a party here at his place where people said he showed up for about five or ten minutes, played audio from that Atlanta recording, and then said, don't worry. You don't have to pray for me. And then just some astonishing new details in terms of putting the timeline together even though as we wait for the autopsy results to come out.

BANFIELD: Right. It is just so perplexing how that sort of timeline could have been as it were. Ryan Young continuing to watch for details as they emerge in Minnesota. Thank you for that.

Speaking of Minnesota, what is the law saying in Minnesota Paul Callan about the hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars that Prince is currently worth, and the hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars that he could be worth in the future? Where does that money go?

PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: You know Ashleigh, we could be actually be talking about billions of dollars worth of assets considering how popular Prince was. How his estate is handled will be governed by Minnesota law because he was a resident in Minnesota but the real thing is did he have a will or not? If he had a will, that will can specify who's going to get the money and who's going to manage the estate but frankly, a lot of celebrities who kind of have this feeling that they're going to live forever don't wills and they're not good about planning their future life. So that remains to be seen.

BANFIELD: He is one of the most meticulous businessmen in the industry, or he was. He was fiercely protective of his copy right. It's hard to believe a man like that wouldn't have thought ahead for the unforeseen.

CALLAN: I would agree with you on that. BANFIELD: But if he didn't, he's got no children. He has one full sister. Several siblings. Some have died. Half siblings. What does Minnesota law say about that?

CALLAN: And he's got some ex-wives as well. Minnesota law says that the heir to the estate, the living heirs to the estate would inherit. So we would have to know, and by the way, the closest sibling, a full sister is Tyka Nelson. She's the most likely person to inherit if there's no will but of course, we have to find out how many other siblings. Some of them were half brothers and sisters as you've mentioned. Also, how will this conflict with any existing written agreements that are in place and then there another thing.

BANFIELD: Charity.

CALLAN: Well, it's not only charity but it's what I call the unknown relative. Now let's say there's somebody out there who claims to be a son or daughter of Prince by a relationship. If that were to occur, we have no evidence that it will, but it has in other cases, that person could inherit. So it's a complicated situation.

BANFIELD: And then there's the IRS, which is going to play a very large role there as well.

CALLAN: Well, they're going to get 45 percent to 50 percent. You can be sure of that.

BANFIELD: Paul Callan, we'll continue to watch. There's a lot of mysteries about Prince's life and I think he wanted it that way but state law comes in when the mystery of a will isn't there and revealed. Thank you for that.

Coming up, we'll turn our attention to a police shooting of a 12-year- old boy. You may well remember he was waving a pellet gun but shot dead by police who mistook it for a real gun and now the city of Cleveland has decided to settle with his family.

[13:48:36] How much? And does that put an end to everything when it comes to the controversy over Tamir Rice? Not in your life.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:52:41] BANFIELD: We're following the breaking news about a heartbreaking chapter in the case of Tamir Rice. It's effectively come to a close with the city of Cleveland agreeing to pay $6 million to settle that wrongful death lawsuit that was brought by Tamir's family.

The city is not going to admit any wrongdoing in the shooting incident that cost Tamir his life. You may remember that he was shot and killed by an officer who mistook the 12-year-old's pellet gun for an actual gun. Grand jury had declined to indict the officers involved in this case.

CNN Senior Legal Analyst Jeffrey Toobin is back with me. I'm not sure if it's surprising to see this settlement but effectively this ends everything for the family in terms of pursuing the city. JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, in terms of a civil settlement, it does. In a very controversial decision, the district attorney in Cleveland decided not to prosecute the officer for any sort of criminal offense in connection with Tamir's death. The federal government is following up but those sorts of civil rights violations rarely lead to criminal charges. So likely, this is the end of everything.

BANFIELD: You think that that's the end even with the federal government looking with the microscope at this incident prior to Tamir dying they were looking at the Cleveland Police Department and had found infractions there. Does that mean that the DOJ has sort of done its duty with the officers working for department and then being more myopic on this case is unnecessary?

TOOBIN: No, I think they're separate things. You have the institutional problems of the Cleveland Police Department and you also have an investigation of this particular shooting. They really are not directly related and it is possible that the federal government could file charges against the officer who fired the shots. It just that it's unlikely that when the local district attorney fails to file charges ...

BANFIELD: The DOJ finds any different.

TOOBIN: You're right.

BANFIELD: OK. And then there's the issue of the money. I think a lot of people wonder, will they really see that $6 million. How soon would they see the $6 million, will it get chop down for any particular reason what happened ...

TOOBIN: No, in a settlement they will get the $6 million.

BANFIELD: The check is written almost as ...

TOOBIN: That's right. Usually, the plaintiff's lawyers take a third, so that's a big chunk right there, but in a settlement, there are no appeals. This money goes to the family.

[12:55:08] Now, it is worth keeping in mind that these horrible police shootings in addition to being tragic are incredibly expensive to these cities. That money is coming from the taxpayers of Cleveland.

In Chicago where there have been any number of settlements like this, it has become a huge drain on the budget. So, you know, when you have these bad police shootings, it's not just a family tragedy, it is also a community tragedy ...

BANFIELD: It's a community before the money even comes in it's a community tragedy

TOOBIN: And it's a lot of money when you add it all up.

BANFIELD: Yeah, well, then that speaks volumes how communities react to these things as well adjust, you know, traumatized by them. Jeffrey Toobin, thank you for that. I do appreciate it. Thanks folks.

And coming up next at any moment we're still waiting to hear from the GOP front-runner, Donald Trump to see if he talks about the brand new surprising team-up that just was announced last night between Governor John Kasich and Senator Ted Cruz.

They're basically going to work together when it comes to three states but not the other state. Donald Trump's been loud on the Twitter but he's about to get an open mike. You're going to hear his remarks. They're expected at the top of the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)