Return to Transcripts main page

Legal View with Ashleigh Banfield

Discussion of Wetterling Sexual Assault Case; Discussion of Clinton Email Latest; Start of Hillary Clinton Remarks. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired September 08, 2016 - 12:30   ET

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

[12:30:00] JARED SCHEIERL, SEXUAL ASSAULT SURVIVOR LINKED TO WETTERLING CASE: Something I just felt the need to do in light of all the details that we gathered over the past few days. But that's why I just being from Painesville where his remains were found, I went out to the area and said a prayer, began my morning with a prayer and move on from there, and came here.

So -- but, it's a very personal journey for me myself, in having gone through what I did at an early age. So it -- that was someway of closure in a sense, I guess you could you say.

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: And I often hear that closure is the only word in the English language that exists and it doesn't suffice in any of these cases, but it's the best we can get to.

But with 20 years that Heinrich got -- he's not that old. He's only 53 and a 20-year sentence for what many people would say is murder and torture, suffering sexual assault. Is there justice there for you? Do you feel justice in this?

SCHEIERL: Heinrich was arrested about 10 months ago in regards to my case, and he's been sitting in jail since then. But for 27 years I didn't know who this person was. So in a sense I had to overcome a great deal of fear in trying to -- when I got acted in the case, about three years ago, noted some other details that I deemed necessary or relevant in solving my case and perhaps Jacob's.

BANFIELD: Doug, the legal system churns in unusual ways and I said yesterday to the prosecuting attorney in the case, I know you make deals with the devil so can lock the devil away from the rest of the flock.

In this particular case, it's extraordinarily frustrating to read the details about Jared's struggle with getting people to believe him, getting authorities to work harder to find that monster.

Here we are three decades later, and because of the length of time and because perhaps of the intransigence on the part of some of the authorities, we are only getting the best we can get, 20 years to lock away that monster. Can you help me get through that and understand how there's still some justice or closure here?

DOUG KELLEY, ATTORNEY FOR JARED SCHEIERL & WETTERLING FAMILY: Sure. Let me give you a couple of facts and Patty and Jerry Wetterling wanted me to let the people know that law enforcement, and that means Andy Luger, the U.S. attorney in Kendall, who was the Stearns County prosecutor who would have jurisdiction over the murder case both came to the Wetterling's and said, "We are not going to go forward with this deal unless you bless it."

And so the county attorney said, "Giving up a murder charge is a big deal, and I want to make sure you're OK with it." And The Wetterling said. "Yes, we are."

Andy Luger said, "20 years is the most we can bargain for here and are you OK with that?" And Patty and Jerry said, "Yes, it has never been about revenge. It is always been about finding Jacob." And so ...

BANFIELD: And getting the information, yeah.

KELLEY: And one thing you need to know, too, Ashleigh -- one thing you need to know is when we did that, I asked the county attorney, I said, "Do you have a prosecutable murder case against Heinrich?" And she said, "Absolutely not, not even close."

So I think when people look at this deal, this is the best possible outcome, and it would never have happened if it weren't for my client sitting on right here, Jared.

BANFIELD: Heroic.

KELLEY: Who stirred the pot and got it going.

BANFIELD: So, Jared, when I was covering this case I sort of implunge (ph) as a mother of two boys back into being fearful of letting them out the door. And then I found out you have a 12-year-old now, as well. You're a dad.

SCHEIERL: I have three children, yeah.

BANFIELD: So I don't even know how to ask this. How do you let them out the door, Jared? How do you manage being a father knowing what the bogeyman really looks like?

SCHEIERL: At the particular moment in my life when I got active in the research or investigation of this case, my case and other victims' cases as well that are seem to be associated, but I had just lost my father.

[12:35:04] My wife had just divorced me. The kids were out of the house. I actually, believe it or not, took some comfort in that knowing that by going into an investigation and then this guy threatened my life at the age of 12.

I went ahead -- I took some comfort knowing that if this guy did come back as I was pursuing the investigation -- my own research, I would be the only one at the house, you know. In other words, my kids weren't living with me at the time.

BANFIELD: Yeah. SCHEIERL: I said it before and -- but at that point in time, just being so low, I guess you could say I was prepared to die for these answers. And I started questioning people wouldn't normally talk to. And along those -- during that journey, I met some really interesting people with a lot of necessary details that helped put the puzzle together.

BANFIELD: You're extraordinary brave man. You are an extraordinarily brave child once upon a time and I'm very thankful that you spent some time with us today to get through this very uncomfortable and very sad episode in everyone's lives. Thank you, Jared Scheierl and Doug Kelley. Appreciate it.

SCHEIERL: Thanks for the opportunity.

KELLEY: Thank you.

BANFIELD: Thank you.

The Wetterling case was featured in CNN "The Hunt with John Walsh." The story hits close to home for him as well, because John's 6-year- old son Adam was abducted from a mall near their home in Hollywood, Florida, on July 27, 1981.

Adam's mother let him look in the toy department at Sears while she looked for a lamp and when she returned, Adam was gone. Two weeks later his family learned Adam was never coming back. He'd been killed.

John's heartbreak led him to dedicate himself to catching the bad guys and seeking justice for crime victims. He hosted "America's Most Wanted" for years and now we're proud that he's part of the CNN family and John is with me now on the phone.

John, when this story developed, I can imagine it plunged you back into your realities. It plunges every parent. It never goes away. There is no such thing as closure. But hearing Jared speak, it must give you some light on the horizon, at least in this case that is so dire.

JOHN WALSH, HOST, CNN'S THE HUNT: Well, Ashleigh, you're exactly right. There are so many similarities to Adam's cases. It clinches and it took at 27 years to solve Adam's case, just like Jacob Wetterling. But there are some real unsung (ph) heroes here.

In -- two years ago when Patty Wetterling on the 25th anniversary of Jacob's murder -- abduction, she didn't know it was a murder at the time, asked us to do it. An investigator at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Bob Lowery, Patty is a member of our board.

Bob Lowery came to me and said there is a blogger in Minnesota named Joy Baker and there is a victim named Jared who is one of the bravest victims we've ever dealt with. I believe that this guy is the same guy that kidnapped Jacob that molested Jared. And Jared had the guts to come on "The Hunt" and talk about this case and how much pain it had caused and how law enforcement didn't believe him.

And Jared went out and spoke to other victims and helped put the case together. There were other victims that never got justice, and Jared said this case which happened 10 months before - Jared's case happened 10 months before Jacob has to be linked and Bob Lowery believed that.

And I think Jared's got the perfect t-shirt on today, Captain America, because he's one of the bravest victims I have ever met. He helped break the case. He helped put it together. He had the courage to go through it. And as it relates to the sentence, you make a good point. Parents of murdered children want to see that perpetrator pay for it, but the not knowing where your child is, is the worst.

And they made that deal, and I've known Patty and Jerry for 27 years. They made that deal to get Jacob's remains back. Now they know where Jacob is, they can pray for him, put him to rest. They know where this perp (ph) is. They know that he killed their son. He admitted it in court. I don't think he will ever see daylight.

'm sure that victims like Jared and the other victims that this guy raped and there are many of them will come forward. If he ever comes up for parole, and there will be a (inaudible) of brave people led by Jared saying you can never let this animal, this coward child killer out and I think that Wetterling's got justice. And Jared, I am so proud of you.

BANFIELD: Well, you know, and John, you're just such an amazing citizen and we thank you so much for the work you're doing here and for all of those people, all of those victims out there who have been satisfied by your work in finding perpetrators.

[12:40:12] And, you know, god, Jared, thank you as well for the work you've done, for the heroic effort, Doug Kelley as well. John Walsh, Jared Scheierl and if there's any solace in this folks, 20 years is the sentence, but their civil commitment after. It doesn't mean he gets out after.

John hit the nail on the head when he said there's a lot more that goes into the cocktail of figuring out if that guy sees a light of day again. We're going to continue to watch the case, too.

Coming up next, she just landed in another battleground state, Hillary Clinton on the attack and on the defensive as well in her battle with Donald Trump as she deals with the latest email conflict once again involving Colin Powell, but this time, its Colin Powell's email that's making a big headline.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:45:14] BANFIELD: While we are waiting on Hillary Clinton to speak at a campaign events in North Carolina, this is brand new poll showing a very tight race in that battleground state.

According to Suffolk University, Clinton is up three points over Donald Trump, but don't go cheering if you're Clinton supporter that's well within the margin of error. So I want to bring back CNN Political Reporter Nia-Malika Henderson and CNN Senior Media Correspondent Brian Stelter.

OK, so the two of you, those are stats and here are developments of late and there are many, so buckle up, but this one has to do with email yet, again, but it's brand new and it is sort of information.

The Democrats and Congress released an email from Colin Powell to Hillary Clinton. I want to read a portion of it because it speaks to the whole notion where Hillary Clinton had said that she had learn some things in Colin Powell regarding for use email.

Colin Powell said to Hillary Clinton, "What I did do was have a personal computer that was hooked up to a private phone line, sound ancient. So I could communicate with a wide range of friends directly without it going through the State Department on their personal email accounts. I did the same thing on the road in hotels." In that email, it also mentions speaking to head of state.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Right.

BANFIELD: And so that's pretty significant stuff is on an AOL account you're chatting with the heads of state. That was the communication from Colin Powell to Hillary Clinton.

Today, Colin Powell putting out a statement in which she said, "Secretary Clinton had stated that she was not influenced by my email in making her decisions on email use. I was not trying to influence her, but just to explain what I had done eight years earlier."

Are we all clear now? I'm not. And Nia-Malika, why I present it to you that way, there is so much of that stuff coming down the chute that I think it's really hard for journalists to follow it every day. It must be devastating for folks out there who have three kids, got to get from the soccer practice and they try to follow the election.

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: I think that's right and I don't know that people are following it every iteration. Oh, it's fascinating to see this email exchange between Colin Powell and Hillary Clinton.

We had had some hint from Hillary Clinton that Colin Powell had some role in this. She had mentioned at some point that some of their discussions about email had came over a dinner and Colin Powell came out and said he had no memory of that. And so this is I think some clarification and gives credence to some of the things that she had said before.

But, listen, I don't think it really changes anything. I think it's always bad if you're in the Hillary Clinton campaign when anybody is talking about this email scandal. But, again, I also think people have made up their minds in many ways about this.

(CROSSTALK)

HENDERSON: Yeah. If you don't like Hillary Clinton, this is more a proof that she's corrupt, that she handled this carelessly. And if you do like her, you think, get over it. BANFIELD: OK, let me ask you a question about the president weighing in on all of this.

STELTER: Yeah.

BANFIELD: And the reason I'm asking you about this is, Brian, is because Matt Lauer is getting a lot of heat online, elsewhere, critics coming in saying he really went to town on Hillary Clinton and grilled her on emails for the majority of the time, didn't give her enough time to talk about foreign policy and commander-in-chief stuff, but then effectively moved the goal posts and gave Donald Trump more of a pass, didn't push him on this whole "I was always against the Iraq war."

By the way listen to Howard Stern 2002 interview where he said, "I guess so, I'm OK with the invasion." And so the criticism is coming in even from the president who is imploring the press to listen to what he is saying and question him about this.

STELTER: Yes.

BANFIELD: This whole movement of the goal posts and grading on a curve, are you seeing it, too?

STELTER: Yeah, he used that phrase, grading on a curve, which I think is becoming a common phrase, thinking about the media's treatment of Trump and politicians' treatment of Trump.

When we say grading on a curve, we all sort of know what that meant from high school, that, you know, people go easy on you, they give you a higher grade, you know, grade inflation, that kind of thing. I think it is true that Trump is held to different standards than Clinton on a number of different issues. That's what the president was trying to point out as well in his own way this morning. Obviously, he is a supporter of Hillary Clinton. He wants tougher coverage of Donald Trump.

Tough can mean many different things, but there's no doubt, at the forum, there was different treatment for Trump versus Clinton, and that's going to be a challenge for the debate moderators starting in two and a half weeks.

BANFIELD: All right, and one thing I need to do because I am always contrite when I'm making mistake. I made a mistake on the numbers. I want to flip them. When we told you that it was 44-41, it was 44 for Trump, 41 for Clinton and anybody now in the Trump camp who's jumping for joy, you can't jump for joy either, neither you can't, not when you're within the margin.

STELTER: Still pretty close.

HENDERSON: Yeah.

BANFIELD: You feel the same. That's what we call neck and neck. That's effectively how it works. Brian Stelter, thank you. Nia- Malika Henderson, thank you. I know you can't go to bed and have a long sleep because it's still going. Those events are still going late into the night.

STELTER: That's right.

BANFIELD: You've got to do early morning, too. Thank you both. Appreciate it.

Not to mention, Hillary Clinton just arriving in North Carolina where she's about to speak at a campaign event in Charlotte. That's a live coverage right ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[12:54:00] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Adorned in garb from around the world, Erykah Badu took the stage in Detroit last month as more than an artist. She stood as an activist.

ERYKAH BADU, SINGER & ACTIVIST: When one of us is victim, we're all a victim.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Badu was approached by concert promoters to make her Detroit show a benefit for the African-American 490 Challenge.

That group and the Michigan Women's Foundation hope to finish testing more than 11,000 rape kits found sitting in a police warehouse.

In a report last year from the National Institute of Justice, police said budget constraints and staff cuts led investigators to not follow through on tests of those kits.

BADU: When I learned about it, I thought it was very important. I thought it was, at this point in my life, my responsibility.

SHAHIDA MAUSI JOHNSON, PRESIDENT, THE RIGHT PRODUCTIONS: Erykah Badu as an artist is one and she's always demonstrated a great social consciousness. She brings that to her artistry.

BADU: Detroit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Badu and her fans raced more than $50,000 at the Detroit benefit.

[12:55:04] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were surprise that they cared so much about Detroit, but truly is that they care about these women and these children.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's more, donors were able to see their dollars go to something they could end now.

KIM TRENT, PRESIDENT, AFRICAN-AMERICAN 490: And this is a problem where people can see the end of the road. They know that their money is going directly to a cause that is fixable.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BANFIELD: Coming up, Hillary Clinton expected to speak live at any moment. She's in Charlotte, North Carolina. I believe she may be hitting the stage right now after her introduction.

We're waiting to find out if there is more to come from what happened on the tarmac just two hours ago. Attacks on Donald Trump for some of the things he said during the commander-in-chief forum last night. Will Donald Trump be taking notes on what you're about to hear live?

Let's not forget, she's in North Carolina right now where among likely voters. Trump right now is polling in a Suffolk University poll, 44 to Clinton's 41, well within the margin. Let's listen to Hillary Clinton.

HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Whoa, it is so great to be here. Thank you all so much. And I was backstage listening to Jordan Pope's story, and it was just so powerful and moving.

And her ability to stand up here, talk about her personal family experienced, coming out of Katrina staying strong, moving forward, being a student here at Johnson C. Smith University. I am so excited.

I want to thank her, and I want to thank, Dr. Carter, thank you for welcoming us here. You have welcomed two Clintons in the last year. There is something about this place that has attracted both my husband and myself.

I apologize for being late. We had a disabled airplane on the runway that had to get moved. It took a lot longer than expected. But I've been looking forward to joining all of you here in Charlotte.

I want to recognized and thank your mayor, Mayor Jennifer Roberts. There you are. Thank you, Mayor Roberts. I want to thank Trevor Fuller, chair of the Mecklenburg County Commission. I want to acknowledge Josh Stein, candidate for Attorney General and to all of you gathered here today.

It is 61 days until the election. And I think it's so appropriate to be here in the great state of North Carolina at a really well renowned H, you know, what I'm saying, HBCU, Historically Black College and University, that like so many others has played such an important role in our country's history, producing some of America's finest leaders.

And I am very proud I was just doing a phone call on the way here with a lot of my young organizers on college campuses across our country and I got a question from a young woman at another Historically Black College and University, Fayetteville.

And I told her that I have a plan to help all of you afford to go to college. I have a plan to help all of you with student debt to pay it down and pay it off, and I have a special plan of a $25 billion fund, specifically, aimed at supporting HBCUs because we need a lot of opportunities for young people from everywhere. It shouldn't matter what you look like, where you're from or who you love. You deserve to be in college if that is your choice. So right now we're up and running. We're organizing across America, and as Jordan said, this election has such high stakes, but the highest stakes are for young people, young people across America.

This election is going to determine in so many ways what kind of futures you will have. I don't say that lightly. Everybody always says every election is important. I happen to believe that. I think it's one of the great gifts of our democracy that we have the opportunity to choose our leaders.