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Legal View with Ashleigh Banfield

Latest on Orlando Shooting; Stanford Rape Case Discussed; "The Hunt" Preview. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired June 17, 2016 - 12:30   ET

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


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[12:31:03] ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: As chaos erupted at Pulse nightclub, police officers with little regard for their own safety rushed towards a mad man with an assault rifle. They were outgunned and they were unaware of exactly what they would face inside that club but they pushed forward anyway and their actions saved many people. And eventually took down a mass murder.

SWAT Chief Mark Canty the man who made the decision to break through a wall to rescue those hostages takes us inside the siege now in this remarkable interview with my CNN colleague, Brooke Baldwin.

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CPT. MARK CANTY, ORLANDO SWAT COMMANDER: There's patrol officers engaging him. There's other patrol officers running inside and pulling out victims.

So, while gunfire is still going on, you know, or just as our officers are engaging him, other police officers are running in there, you know, with no disregard -- with no regard for their safety, and they're pulling some of those victims out.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tell me how large of an area where the gun fire was taking place and how those officers were then able to grab people and get them out.

CANTY: The club is pretty small. And when you kind of went back into the bathroom, they had kind of the rest of the club. So, there's a larger dance area and then a smaller kind of bar, small dance area, where one of our lieutenants was engaging him while he was down the hallway to the bathroom. And while he's doing that, the officers are going in the main part of the club and they're pulling them out through the main part of the club.

BALDWIN: How did you fine out he had hostages?

CANTY: We kind of knew (inaudible) weren't sure. We started getting -- our communications center started text messages and phone calls from people inside.

BALDWIN: So from within the bathroom, they were communicating with 911?

CANTY: Right. Correct.

BALDWIN: Saying what?

CANTY: They're saying, hey, we are in here. There's this number -- there's three of us in here. We're in this location. So that's what they were doing.

BALDWIN: Were there negotiations that took place?

CANTY: From my understanding, yes, there were, that they were trying to talk to him on the phone.

BALDWIN: Was the negotiation between the shooter and 911 or the shooter and you all?

CANTY: The shooter and 911.

BALDWIN: Shooter and 911.

CANTY: Kind of what we're doing when we're trying to get there, we are trying to make our position better, make sure that we were in a good position to react if he does anything.

Kind of what's key and what a lot of people don't realize is, while we're doing this, we're also rescuing other people.

BALDWIN: All the while?

CANTY: Right.

BALDWIN: All the while?

CANTY: The entire time, there's -- I think there was at least four people in the dressing room that they were able to get to and get out of a door on the north side.

There was another I think -- up to like eight people that were in another dressing room that we were able to actually tap on an air conditioning unit, pop the air conditioner out of the wall and pull them through the hole that that left.

BALDWIN: So then walk me through the decision to breach.

CANTY: Obviously...

BALDWIN: ... the bathroom.

CANTY: you know, our goal, our main goal is to try to save lives.

And when he started talking about the bomb vests, kind of the average or normal inclination of people is once you hear that someone has a bomb is, you want to back up. And our normal protocol is back up 1,000 feet.

(CROSSTALK) CANTY: But my officers knew that they had to stay there, even though they were in jeopardy, because there was a chance that we could get some of us those people outside.

On the west side of the building, what our goal was is, we knew -- we knew the suspect was in the north bathroom and we knew there were some additional hostages from some of the text messages and phone calls that were given.

BALDWIN: In an adjacent bathroom?

CANTY: Right. So, it was a bathroom just south of him. And we knew there were probably anywhere from 10 to 15 people in that bathroom alive. So the decision was made, hey, that's -- we need to try to get them out as quickly as possible.

BALDWIN: So, you're hearing that he is making these threats to put vests on people and put them in the four corners of the club to maximize casualties. You immediately realize we will risk our own lives and not back up 1,000 feet because we have got to get in there and get him.

CANTY: Right.

BALDWIN: So then the explosion?

CANTY: Right. They go in and set the charge. I get approved from the chief to go ahead and initiate our plan. And they let the charge go off. The charge detonates. It's only partially effective. So, it kind of creases the wall or partially breaches the wall.

BALDWIN: So, you couldn't fully get in the first explosion?

CANTY: Couldn't get inside at all. So, we have a BearCat, Lenco BearCat armored vehicle which has a ram on the front of it. I immediately told the guys go ahead.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Ram it in.

[12:35:05] What's the gunman doing, obviously, as he's hearing this noise?

CANTY: Right. At first, he's not doing anything. As he starts to realize kind of what's going on, I think he fired a couple shots.

BALDWIN: Within the bathroom?

CANTY: Either within the bathroom or outside the bathroom. That, I'm not sure of that yet. We threw a couple of our distraction devices in the hallway just to kind of distract him so we could finish getting all the hostages out.

BALDWIN: Gas? CANTY: No gas, because we had people in there. Then, as they were preparing to breach another wall, another part of the wall, he came out and engaged our officers.

BALDWIN: On his own volition?

CANTY: On his own volition.

BALDWIN: So, he is -- where is he exactly? I mean is it a small, tight space where he is, outside of the bathroom?

CANTY: He comes out into the hallway between the two bathrooms.

BALDWIN: How far is he from your officers? Feet?

CANTY: I would say within probably 10 to 15 feet.

BALDWIN: And then what?

CANTY: And then they engaged. He fires. They fire. And it's kind of...

BALDWIN: That's where he was taken down in the hallway?

CANTY: Right. Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Orlando SWAT. Chief Mark Canty with just an incredible story of bravery on the first responders. Still ahead this hour, new insights into the rape sentence that infuriated the nation. Prosecutors wanted six years. The judge said six months. And now we know from his own words exactly what Judge Aaron Persky was thinking.

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[12:40:50] BANFIELD: It has been a horrific week in Orlando and we're going to have more on that in a moment but we want to update you on a case of the young woman raped on the campus of Stanford University. Judge Aaron Persky continues to face backlash for the six month sentence that he gave the attacker, Brock Turner. Prosecutors in California successfully removed that judge from a brand new sexual assault case. That happened just a little earlier this week.

Turner's sentencing cited as a cause for concern in that request.

In the meantime, more than a thousand Stanford alumni urged the California commission on judicial performance to remove Persky from the bench and another million signatures were forwarded from an activist organization to that commission.

I want to discuss what's happening in this case with CNN's Kyung Lah along with CNN legal analyst Paul Callan and former Florida Circuit Court Judge, former T.V. host Alex Ferrer.

Kyung, first to you, as some of these new documents that are getting us inside the head of Judge Persky, as to what led him to make the decision to sentence this young man so lightly.

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Getting inside his head is the exact perfect explanation for why these transcripts that were recently released are really so revealing. These are transcripts from the June 2nd sentencing hearing. We are only just recently coming across this, this week these transcripts recently being released to the media.

What I want to specifically focus on our a couple of phrases. There's one phrase that comes from Brock Turner's attorney, Mike Armstrong. He says, yes, his client admits to the assault but then says this. Quote, "In his drunken state, he remembered consent." Now, the judge in his statements at that very same hearing does appear to believe what Turner says. The judge saying, "I mean, I take him at his word that subjectively, that's his version of events." The jury clearly didn't see it that way but the judge did sentence Brock Turner to six months behind bars when the state maximum could have been 14 years.

This follows what has been a very busy week. A lot of outcry on this story, Ashleigh. You mentioned a lot of it. There were 20 jurors who said they simply didn't want to serve on a jury with this judge citing the judge specifically as a hardship. There is that more than one million signatures on that petition to try to get him recalled and then the D.A., Ashleigh, as you mentioned, asked that the judge be removed from one of the potential judges who might hear a sexual assault case, Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: Kyung, stand by. I want to get deeper into all of this with my two guests.

So, Paul and Judge Alex, I am trying to figure out what the community can do about this. There's the recall effort and that is, you can elect judges and you can unelect judges. And then this other pressure that's coming down on this judge from the prosecutor saying, we want you off the next case and that was successful. To the community putting forward signatures saying we want to review with the California Commission on judicial performance. Let's start with that. Because as I see it, you're not going anywhere with that.

PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: No, you're not. I mean that's essentially saying that the judge did something illegal or unethical as a judge and should be removed from the bench. People may disagree with this sentence, but it was a legal sentence. Now, in terms of how the judicial systems handle this. We've seen it in New York a number of times, a judge does a sentence or bail that's inappropriate. A lot of times, they're moved from the criminal side over to the civil side where they just handling cases involving money damages and to get them out of the public spotlight. And there are a variety of ways that, internally, a judge can be handled.

BANFIELD: So Judge Ferrer, the thinking that now we're starting to get clarity on from Judge Persky comes from his own writings. And one of them, I am fascinated by. And I just want to read a few things for you, if i can. One of the things that Judge Persky said about his decision to sentence only six months.

[12:45:07] He said that the letter that one of the friends of the rapist put forth to the court as a character reference, her name is Leslie Rasmussen and had said in her letter, "In all honesty, if I had to choose one kid i graduated with to ben the position Brock is, it would have never been him."

The judge hung on these words of Leslie Rasmussen who since by the way has pulled that letter back and apologized and doesn't feel as though she should have said the things she said because she also said rapists are some kind of pushers, they're not these kids being kids sort of thing. But Judge Persky said of her words, it sort of corroborates the evidence of his character up until the night of this incident which has been positive.

So, as a judge, when you drink and drive, it doesn't matter what kind of great guy you are. If you drink and drive and you do damage, you're going down for that. It doesn't matter if you're a fellow judge. So why should that have mattered in Brock Turner's case that he might have been a good guy before he did something absolutely illegal and horrifying and a jury decided that?

ALEX FERRER, FORMER TV HOST, "JUDGE ALEX": That's the problem with the judge's decision. He is rightly considering all these factors, he's wrongly giving them a lot of weight. Those factors don't deserve a lot of weight. He do considered the fact the person is under the influence of alcohol because it's a fact you consider in determining is this his character, is he a serial rapist, does he do this all the time or was this just as a result of this alcohol?

Now, that might leave if I were inclined to give somebody a 10-year prison sentence, that might leave me to give him a 9-year prison sentence but certainly wouldn't leave me to give him probation. And you also consider, is he the kind of person that like his friends are saying, this is so out of character for him. But the bottom line is he raped this girl. This is not something other than a rape. It's not anybody else's fault other than his that he decided to step up to the plate in the major leagues on his first offense. It is still a rape.

If somebody murders somebody and it's totally out of character, they still murdered somebody. So that -- the problem was not he consider these factors, the problem is he gave them so much weight. His age, he focused on his age. Well, you know what, he was 19. He wasn't 11. And 19, I was a police officer. And at 19, he was yanking a woman behind a dumpster and raping her. And we both know what we were doing at 19.

BANFIELD: Yeah, and you can fight in a war and you can vote.

FERRER: Absolutely.

BANFIELD: And you can be adjudicated in adult court.

FERRER: And he should have been sentenced to prison.

BANFIELD: We've decided that.

Judge Ferrer, thank you. Paul Callan, as always, thank you for your insight as well. This is not going away. There's still a lot to try to figure out.

Kyung Lah, thank you for your reporting on this as well. Appreciate it.

Coming up, The Hunt is back. A brand new season is kicking off this weekend right here on CNN. And after a break, host John Walsh joins me with a preview of the first case and the guy he needs you to help find.

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[12:52:02] BANFIELD: On the Season Three premiere of CNN series, the original series "The Hunt", John Walsh is on the trail of William Greer who is charged with killing his girlfriend. Police got involved after Greer's truck was found in a ditch. He appeared to be drunk and very confused when he started babbling about a gun.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He seemed very panicked, wild-eyed. And we put him in the back of the car, tried to keep him warm and try to figure things out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have any idea how you got here in the ditch?

WILLIAM GREER: Oh yeah, I did it at 50 miles an hour. I was going to see my wife.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right.

GREER: It was an accident and I love her with all my heart. I would give my life right now to have her back. The gun just went off.

PAUL LASCO, LIBERTY COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: He kept repeating himself that the gun just went off. I think he even mentioned I watched her die or something along those lines.

GREER: I love her so much. I love her so much. I can't believe it. But there's a divine reason for this. She's in heaven. She was ready. But I'm not ready for her to go. I love her with all my heart.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is her full name, sir?

GREER: Tammy Marie Meyers.

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BANFIELD: You heard it right there in that clip, William Greer talking about an accident with a gun. But he later took those statements back. And then he just vanished. I sat down with John Walsh for more on The Hunt for William Greer and just how close police have come to catching him.

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JOHN WALSH, CNN HOST, "THE HUNT": He recanted a few hours later when he got a little bit more sober because he was coked out and drunk obviously with his pants off in the middle of the street. I really don't know what happened but I do know that his two sons who his ex- wife got custody of but he had visitation 10 days later were dropped off by his ex-wife. And on the way to Greer's house, the boys said you know that night we were there, stayed overnight with our dad, well, he was in a room with that lady that he is married to. We heard a gunshot, terrible screaming, and we think our dad killed his wife.

BANFIELD: The first tip they got what that he was in New Orleans and he's been setting up a life there in America's most-wanted does the first send up on him and tips out the production on this guy and the tips flood in.

WALSH: He left in such a hurry that he left his favorite hat, the stupid cowboy hat that he wore all the time. So we missed him by 15 minutes, the U.S. Marshals. The next time, he is with another lady. He always picks women, you know, gracious and charming for a couple months before he starts to beat them and he lives off their money. You know, he might work part-time.

Next time, I'd say, we were a half hour behind him and we found his fake I.D. and the third time, we almost caught him, it was a woman who saw him on America's most-wanted and said that's the guy because he's missing a toe off of his foot and I've been sleeping with this guy and living with him. And thank God I'm alive because he started to get drunk and abuse her. So we missed him three in a row.

[12:55:16] I believe he is probably living with a woman somewhere, in plain sight, he, you know, would change his I.D. but this guy is right on the top of my 10. I have my own personal 10 most-wanted. And this guy should have been caught years ago.

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BANFIELD: Thanks to John Walsh for this. And also, don't miss his premiere of "The Hunt" at Sunday at 9:00 p.m. Eastern right here only on CNN.

Thanks so much for watching today. I appreciate having you with us. And coming up in the next hour, Florida Senator Bill Nelson gives us an update on the Orlando shooting investigation and he also tells us what it was like personally to meet with the families of the victims along with President Obama.

My colleague, Wolf, starts right after this break.

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