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Legal View with Ashleigh Banfield

Shiite Militia Seize City; Looming Civil War; ISIS Hit List; Medical Students in Syria; Tsarnaev Trial; Durst Bond Hearing. Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired March 23, 2015 - 12:00   ET

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

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: That is all for us AT THIS HOUR.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks for joining us. "Legal View" starts right now.

[12:00:18] RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Randi Kaye, in for Ashleigh Banfield today. Welcome to LEGAL VIEW.

We begin the hour with a nation once held up as a model for U.S. counterterrorism efforts, now in the words of a U.N. special envoy, on a rapid downward spiral. That would be Yemen, where today we found out the Brits have followed the Americans in pulling out all of their special forces. Over the weekend, the Shiite militia that overran the capital and toppled Yemen's president in January pushed into another major city in that Sunni majority country. Our coverage begins with my CNN colleague Nic Robertson.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Shiite Houthi rebels now in control of the international airport in the south western city of Taiz. The U.N. envoy warning that Yemen is at, quote, "the edge of civil war." This sectarian violence between Shiite rebels and a Sunni majority government spreading across the country where Houthis, who control the capital of Sanaa and areas of the north, are now advancing south into Taiz, the country's third largest city.

The mounting unrest pushing the U.S. military to pull out over the weekend, following the U.S. embassy evacuation last month. ISIS claiming responsibility for this suicide attack on two mosques on Friday. More than 130 killed, hundreds more injured.

JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We're seeing extremists try to capitalize on the chaos and instability inside of Yemen to carry out these acts of violence.

ROBERTSON: The nation now in an especially perilous position, caught between the Houthis' violent rivalry with the Sunni AQAP terrorists, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. But now growing concerns. U.S. withdrawal is a serious blow to the counterterrorism mission.

REP. MICHAEL MCCAUL (R), TEXAS: Without, you know, good intelligence stops (ph), plots against the homeland, without that intelligence, we cannot effectively stop it.

ROBERTSON: This region home to violent al Qaeda offshoots, the terrorist organizations responsible for plotting several attacks against Americans, including the 2000 attack on the USS Cole, leaving 17 sailors dead, and the underwear bomber attempt on the U.S. airliner in 2009.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON: So the real concern is with those special forces gone, al Qaeda and ISIS can do what they did in Syria, which is try to take advantage of the civil war to create bases for training, bases for operations, which will become bases from which they can export terror to the United States and to Europe in the future. And we've just heard in the last few hours from the foreign (ph) minister of Yemen, the internationally recognized foreign minister, saying that he's calling on the Arab countries in the Gulf to assist Yemen with military intervention, Randi.

KAYE: All right, Nic, thanks very much.

And stick around because I want to bring in Michael Weiss. He's a fellow at the Institute of Modern Russia and co-author of "ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror."

Michael, I want you to listen first to what President Obama said about six months ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This counterterrorism campaign will be waged through a steady, relentless effort to take out ISIL wherever they exist using our air power and our support for partners forces on the ground. This strategy of taking out terrorists who threaten us while supporting partners on the front lines is one that we have successfully pursued in Yemen and Somalia for years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: So what happened? You listen to that -

MICHAEL WEISS, CO-AUTHOR, "ISIS: INSIDE THE ARMY OF TERROR": Yes.

KAYE: And that's the only question you can ask is, what happened?

WEISS: Woops.

KAYE: Yes.

WEISS: Well, this is another, I think, JV team kind of statement. I wish - I think the president probably thinks he should have, you know, never said. Look, what's happened in Yemen now is, broadly speaking, you have four competitive factions. You've got the Houthi rebels. They're flying aircraft, bombing, you know, the capital, the presidential compound. You've got ISIS, which is now, I mean in a stunning debut, this horrific bombing of the - of Shiite mosques, killing hundreds of people. Probably their most successful, spectacular attack outside of Syria and Iraq. Then you have Sunni tribes that are fighting the Houthis. And, you know, I mean - and, of course, al Qaeda in the Arabian peninsula, which was seen as one of the most formidable franchises of global al Qaeda.

KAYE: So, but was all of this unexpected?

WEISS: I mean, look, the problem with what's happening in the region right now - and this is a geopolitical crisis - Iran's hegemony is spreading. They are behind the Houthis. They deny that they are, you know, arming them, that there's credible western and regional intelligence which suggests otherwise. In fact, if you listen to the clerical leadership in Iran, they're praising the Houthis as sort of an extension of the (INAUDIBLE) project.

This is bleeding out, you know? In Iraq you've got the IRGC, the Revolutionary Guard Court's Quds Force as the vanguard fighting force, the overseer, if you like, of all the Shia militia groups fighting ISIS. ISIS is capitalizing on this because, for them, they are - they have a genocidal project.

[12:05:13] KAYE: Yes.

WEISS: They want to kill all the Shia. So the more that Iran - the more than it's influence and its military might sort of bleeds out and spreads throughout the region, the more the rise of these ultraist Takfiri (ph) terrorist groups is going to occur.

KAYE: Nic, let me let you weigh in here because with the U.S. gone, I mean the question is, you know, will the Houthis be an even bigger problem for AQAP?

ROBERTSON: Well, AQAP is already targeting the Houthis and they're proudly promoting that on any forum that they can. You know, barely a day goes by when they're saying, you know, we killed 20 of them here, we killed another bunch at another checkpoint. But really it just speaks to, you know, the growing instability in the country, the difficulty for the government to remain in control. It was a very interesting dynamic now. You have the government, the internationally recognized and U.S. supported leader, President Hadi and Aiden (ph) in the south who are fighting - extensively fighting the Houthis. But so is AQAP. So is the government of President Hadi on the side with AQAP? Well, no, because until a few weeks ago, even now ostensibly (ph), you know, he's supposed to be supporting us as we help him and his forces target AQAP, yet al Qaeda has reportedly busted - busted its prisoners out of two significant jails. How does that happen, you may ask? Well, certainly they're going to go out and fight the Houthis. So the mix of what's happening here is a very, very troubling one.

KAYE: Yes, it certainly is. Nic Robinson, Michael Weiss, thank you both very, very much.

There is word today from Tunisia that a half dozen police commanders are fired in the wake of last week's massacre at the Bardo Museum. Nineteen foreign tourists were among 23 people killed when three gunmen burst into a complex that also houses Tunisia's parliament. Two gunmen were killed as well, a third still on the loose. Tunisia's president telling CNN, the men wore suicide vests but didn't have the time to set them off. A museum visitor who survived that attack returned home yesterday to Florida and told our affiliate she did here an explosion.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GLOVANNA GONZALEZ, SURVIVOR OF TUNIS MUSEUM ATTACK: It was a tragedy. It was something that it marked - it marked my life forever. You know, we have to like run like crazy.

The first thing that we heard, it was a bomb, and then him shooting. And thank God that I'm here to just - just go ahead and have my family and see my mom, see my daughter and I'm happy to be home. I'm happy to be home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: ISIS claims responsibility for that rampage and claims it is just the start.

Up next, 100 U.S. troops put on a hit list. Their names, addresses and pictures posted online by a group claiming to be ISIS hackers, coming your way next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:11:22] KAYE: This hour we are following two major developments in the fight against ISIS. A previously unknown group claiming a link to ISIS releasing a hit list of some 100 American troops, posting names, addresses and even pictures of the service men and women online and calling for attacks against them.

In the meantime, an American is said to be among 11 medical students believed to be in Syria working in ISIS controlled hospitals. A Turkish official insists they may have been brainwashed into switching sides after originally going to Syria perhaps to help fight ISIS. We have all the angles covered here for you. Join me now is CNN's Pamela Brown, along with CNN's Nima Elbagir in Abu Dhabi.

Pamela, to you first. Where is this alleged ISIS group getting their information now about our military personnel?

PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Randi, law enforcement officials, Pentagon officials say it appears this was all publicly available information, that at this point it doesn't appear to be any sort of data breach or a hack. That this group actually, despite its name, the Islamic State Hacking Division, seemed to have gleaned information from the service member's social media pages and then, in some cases, cross-referenced their names with the white pages in order to get their addresses. So they compiled this list of 100 or so military members, including captains, commanders, major generals. It's interesting to note, a lot of pilots were included on this list. And given the air campaign, I think that could be something to focus on here. But essentially, Randi, this was all public information officials say

and that's why they're continuing to encourage military members to scrub their personal - their social media pages of any identifiable personal information. They've been doing this for months out of fear that this would happen, that their personal addresses would be listed.

Randi.

KAYE: Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. And I guess in terms of this being a credible threat, I mean what are officials actually saying about it?

BROWN: Well, the Pentagon is saying, Randi, that there is no eminent threat. But I can tell you, despite the fact that we don't know if this group is legitimate, the concern among law enforcement is that this could inspire a lone wolf. Someone who is - sympathizes with ISIS, who could be influenced by the propaganda to then go to some of these addresses listed and try to target the service members and their families. So while the Pentagon is saying there's no eminent threat, the threat is still there, the concern is still there. And I can tell you, the FBI, the Department of Defense is taking this seriously.

KAYE: And, Nima, let me turn to you now. What do we know about these medical students who we're learning are in Syria now?

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we know that they all went to the same university in Kartoun (ph). We know that nine of them are British Sudanese. One, as you said, is an American. There's also a Canadian Sudanese in there and two Sudanese who hold no other passports.

And this is really where it becomes concerning for intelligence agencies where you have people who clearly have been in some way radicalized. Islamist groups have managed to have some kind of influence on them in terms of the etiology that they're turning to. And then, at the same time, they have this ease of movement. They hold the passports. They are citizens of both the U.K. and the U.S. And then you start hearing concerns about, what does that mean in terms of their broader movement if and when people don't decide that they want to come to Syria. What if people decide that they want to come to the U.S. or to the U.K. We're hearing all of this from intelligence organizations on background.

But what we're hearing from the families, Randi, is that they are still receiving messages from their children. That they are in touch with their children. And that they want to believe that they have been told by their children that they are only going out there to help the refugees, that they're going out there on a humanitarian mission. But there has been a broader sense in the contacts that we've been speaking to in Sudan that this has been a long radicalization process that's coming now to fruition, Randi.

[12:15:11] KAYE: Yes, and to think of these families camped out on the border there, refusing to leave until their children return home is very, very difficult. Our thanks to Nima Elbagir in Abu Dhabi and Pamela Brown as well. Next, what was on Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's computer? And how could text messages he sent right after the bombing help prosecutors put him on death row? We're live in Boston coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev knew he was a wanted man. His face was all over the news. And today, in the Boston bombing trial, the jury got to see text messages that he sent to a friend four days after that attack. Tsarnaev told his buddy he could go into his room and take what he wanted. Alexandra Field is live outside the courthouse in Boston for us.

Alexandra, what else did authorities find on Tsarnaev's computer?

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Randi.

Dias Kadyrbayev had actually pleaded guilty to obstructing justice for removing Dzhokhar's computer from his dorm room after those bombings. And that computer, as you suggested, is incredibly important to this investigation. That's why we're been hearing from an FBI agent who did the digital analysis in this case, poured through the hundreds of thousands of files related to the computer and cell phones, hard drives and numb drives.

What we' heard for the last two days that this witness has been on the stand has been some of the densest, most technical testimony, but it gets to very important points for both sides. The prosecution trying to highlight that there were a number of different jihadist documents that were on Dzhokhar's computer. They're trying to prove that he had done his research in the marathon bombing and that this was something that he was thinking about for an extended period of time, days, months, years.

[12:20:13] The defense is also spending hours cross examining this witness because they want to talk about how these files were found and what they represent. So they're bringing up questions about whether Dzhokhar's devices were connected to Tamerlan's devices. Whether files were shared. How you can be certain who downloaded what and who was looking at what, even if those files come up on a certain computer.

They're also trying to make the point that while some of these documents do exist on Dzhokhar's various devices, the defense is saying that these documents are not representative of the majority of the content that was on Dzhokhar's computer. You'll have to see how much that really matter to the jury, though, Randi.

KAYE: And, Alexandra, it seems the prosecution is moving quickly. What do we expect next after all this computer testimony?

FIELD: OK. Well, once we wrap up the computer testimony, they're going to move to a counterterrorism analyst who will talk about what some of this material means because you had these copies of "Inspire" magazine. They had directions for how to make a bomb. You had another document called "Join the Caravan: Exalting Jihad." So you had the FBI agent who talked about how these items were recovered. You'll have the counterterrorism expert who talks about the significance of these various documents.

Beyond that we understand that we'll next move to some of the ballistic evidence. We're talking specifically about the bullets that were recovered at the MIT campus after Officer Sean Collier was found shot to death. The prosecution is going to link those bullets to the 9 millimeter Ruger that a witness had already testified to giving Dzhakhar Tsarnaev two months before that marathon bombing, Randi.

KAYE: Certainly a lot of evidence there to keep track of. Thank you, Alexandra Field.

Up next, prosecutors say he's a flight risk. The defense say he's very sick. Millionaire murder suspect Robert Durst may need doctors as much as he needs lawyers right now. A lot happening in today's court hearing.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:25:35] KAYE: Right now prosecutors in New Orleans are arguing that millionaire Robert Durst is as big a flight risk as anyone can possibly be. Durst is charged with the murder of a female friend in California 15 years ago. But today's bond hearing pertains to weapons charges. Durst was arrested at the J.W. Marriott under a different name. And according to a search warrant of his hotel room, he had a whole lot of items that indicated that he was not planning on staying here in the U.S.

I want to bring in Jean Casarez in New Orleans. She's joining us on the phone. And also here with me, HLN legal analyst and defense attorney Joey Jackson, and former prosecutor Dan Shore.

Jean, let me start with you. What exactly did investigators find in his hotel room?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, they found a lot of things. And I do want to tell you, I'm right outside of the courtroom. There's a very short morning break and I may, at any time, have to go back in because this is getting to be a very lengthy, complex and we're learning a lot of new information.

As far as what they found in his room, it involved everything from a lot of cash money, 47 $100 bills, a 20, a 10, adding up to over $47,000 in cash. They also found several books, which they did not list in court. They found a mask for the face and the neck. We learned today, salt and pepper hair was attached to that mask.

But I think one of the most important things that we're learning today is the defense stood up saying that a prosecutor and a detective from Los Angeles drove to New Orleans and the morning after Robert Durst was arrested, they interrogated him personally, out of Los Angeles. We're also learning that the FBI began to track Robert Durst from cell phone pinging. They knew he was in Houston, but they also then got pinging on March 9th near Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Beaumont, Texas, I should say. And so that told them that he had left Houston.

They were able to track him to New Orleans but couldn't find out where he was. But he called his voice mail on his phone from his New Orleans hotel, and that's how they knew he was staying at the J.W. Marriott. FBI went to his hotel. They couldn't find a Durst or an alias that he goes by registered at that hotel. But they saw him near the elevators. They move in, talked to him, asked him for identification. He said I don't have any, but I have my passport in my room.

They went to his room. He showed them his true and honest passport, and that's when they started to do an inventory, Randi, of everything that you just mentioned.

KAYE: All right, Jean, I'll let you get back to court and pick up the conversation here with Joey and Dan.

So it sound like this guy is clearly on the move, right?

JOEY JACKSON, HLN LEGAL ANALYST: Right.

KAYE: Prosecutors, Joey, making a pretty good case for keeping him locked up. As a defense attorney, what's your argument?

JACKSON: Sure. Well, what the defense is going to attack, Randi, is the sufficiency of the arrest in the first instance. And they're going to argue something that Dan and I talk about a lot, and that is fruit of the poisonous tree. What does it mean? If the arrest is not predicated upon probable cause, that is, for example, one know that he's wanted and he will be extradited ultimately and eventually out of there to California. However, in the event that that arrest is not predated upon reliable and proper information, there is no arrest. If there is no arrest, there's no basis to search. If there is no basis to search, anything that was found as a result of that search has to be thrown out, suppressed and doesn't see the light of day. And so the defense is really banking upon that.

DAN SHORE, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Right. It's very unlikely, though, because you had this warrant in California for a murder. So that's the premise for the arrest. And then there's what's called a search incident to a lawful arrest where you can then take possessions that someone has when you have a lawful arrest.

KAYE: Right.

JACKSON: Right.

KAYE: But really what does it mean for the whole murder case in L.A., Dan, because I mean this certainly is going to give prosecutors more time to prepare, right?

SHORE: Yes, it will give them more time to prepare. But you can imagine, they wouldn't bring a charge like this unless they had some evidence that they thought was powerful, after all these years to finally bring charges. And these cases move very slowly anyway, so I don't think they're going to be really rushed.

KAYE: But doesn't it seem a little bit to you like maybe they're just trying to put him in jail based on the weapons charges and all of that? I mean as felon? JACKSON: Well, it does, Randi, but there are two separate instances,

of course. We know that in New Orleans, because of their findings, that is investigators when they searched, right, you can't have a weapon, you certainly can't have it if you have a felony conviction.

KAYE: Right.

JACKSON: And you can't have the marijuana next to it because that elevates the charges.

KAYE: So this would be enough really for the feds?

JACKSON: So, yes, certainly in New Orleans. But the issue about California, remember what his attorneys are attacking. They're saying, really, you're arresting me based on a documentary. Do you have something more than that confession or is it a confession or were they ramblings of a person who has