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Legal View with Ashleigh Banfield

Thirty-One-Year-Old Kate Steinle Dies During Walk In San Francisco At The Hands Of Undocumented Immigrant; The Good And Bad Of "Sanctuary Cities"; Welcome Home, David Sweat; Greek Voters Celebrate In The Streets While Wall Street Has Jitters Over Financial Crisis. Aired at 12:30-1p ET

Aired July 06, 2015 - 12:30   ET

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

[12:30:02] LIZ DOZIER, PRINCIPAL, FENGER HIGH SCHOOL: What has happened at the court and the root of that? I think that's why it's so important that we invest within our school and we invest within our communities. Someone doesn't pop up like that. There's obviously a history and a root to that that we need to stamp out permanently.

BANFIELD: Liz, it's good to see you again. I hope the next time we talk it's going to be about something more positive.

DOZIER: Me too, Ashleigh, me too. Thank you for having me.

BANFIELD: Best to you. And nice to see you again, Liz Dozier.

In the next hour, we're going to hear from the parents of the young victim of gun violence right there in Chicago. And for more on gun violence in America, I invite you to visit our website cnn.com and click on the Guns Project.

Coming up next, are you familiar with the so-called "Sanctuary Cities" where local police don't enforce federal immigration laws? Wait until you happened or until you hear what happened in San Francisco.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: You can hardly imagine what it must have been like for a father who was just on a lovely walk on Pier 14 in San Francisco with his daughter and seemingly out of nowhere, she was hit by a bullet and fell to the ground.

Thirty-one-year-old Kate Steinle died during surgery right afterwards last week. Her mother says when Kate was shot, she just kept saying, "Dad, help me, help me," but there was nothing that he could do. Police say the bullet came from Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, an undocumented immigrant and repeat felon, who's been deported five times back to Mexico.

[12:35:06] In an interview with our affiliate, KGO, he admitted to the shooting, but says it was an accident.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED RERORTER: Did you shoot Kate Steinle? The lady who was down on Pier 14?

SANCHEZ: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: You did shoot her?

SANCHEZ: Mmm-hmm

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Where did you get the gun?

SANCHEZ: In the ground, when the -- when the --over there in the bench. I put my leg and I see the one T-shirt and then see over there something like that. Then suddenly, I heard that, "Boom, boom," three times.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: His test has ignited the debate over immigration and GOP Presidential Candidate Donald Trump has used it to support his position. The discussions entering on so-called "sanctuary cities" which are state haven for undocumented immigrants where local police do not enforce Federal Immigration Laws for them.

The dark blue states on your screen represent statewide Sanctuary Law. California is one of those states.

Lopez-Sanchez could have been deported six times but the feds instead turn him over to San Francisco authorities, who wanted to test him out of a drug warrant, but then San Francisco ended up dropping those charges and Sanchez was eventually let go against the wishes of the fed.

The feds wanted to keep them in. Local said, "We don't have the authority to do so. How did he walk? How he shot?" and now you know the event that followed.

For the legal view, I want to bring in CNN's Commentator, Mel Robbins, and CNN's Legal Analyst and Defense Attorney, Danny Cevallos.

So, Mel, I'm going to start with you. I'm not sure I did this justice by saying, "The sanctuary cities allow undocumented workers." Sanctuary and nobody can enforce it, it's just sounds terrible. But it's not necessarily terrible what the sanctuary cities have done. There's a reasons for why the locals have said, "We can't do defense work for them."

MEL ROBBINS, CNN COMMENTATOR: Yes, Ashleigh, you're right. And let's separate that from this particular case and talk about why. What are the three main reasons why is city would even pass a law like this.

First of all, it's the cost. There was a study done in 2009 on the cost of holding somebody. And what is a hold? It's not a warrant. It's not an order from the Federal Government. It's a request to the local authorities basically saying, "There's somebody in your system, please hold them or notify us." And San Francisco is one of those places that have said, "We're not going to do that." So, one of the reasons is cost. It cost the State of California $65 million every single year to comply with this hold because the cost falls on the local jail to pay for the extra time.

The second reason, as crazy as this sound, is public safety. One of the things that San Francisco cites in this ordinance is the fact that you have public safety. You have to have trust and cooperation between the community and the police. And their concern is if folks that worried about deportation are not offered this sort of sanctuary protection, they will not come to the police in domestic violence such as ...

BANFIELD: With any ...

(CROSSTALK)

ROBBINS: Absolutely. Finally, liability. If, for example, the city of San Francisco were to hold somebody beyond the limits and there was a lawsuit for damages, guess who ends up ...

BANFIELD: The city.

ROBBINS: ... it's the city. Exactly.

BANFIELD: So Danny, it seems that those make sense. Those reasons make sense. But ultimately, you have a situation like this. It seems to me, call me crazy, but one phone call to the feds, "We're going to release Mr. Sanchez tomorrow. If you would like to be in our front doors, you can pick him up there." Why is that not a viable solution to this?

DANNY CEVALLO, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: It does seem easy if we were talking about a single instance. But, as a city wide, a statewide policy, it's much more complex and constitutionally so.

Understand that under the 10th amendment, what we call the anti commandeering doctrine, the Federal Government cannot force State and local agencies to carry out Federal Law. A silly stupid example would be that the Federal Government couldn't demand that the New York City police Department help the Federal Government invade Greenland or invade Canada. You cannot come into your local agencies into enforcing Federal Law.

So while, in one instance, a phone call seems like an easy thing to do, holding these individuals in State custody beyond the time that they should have been released for any period of time raises very serious constitutional 4th amendment, right, the reason that we're able to stop and hold individuals, 4th amendment concerns and other constitutional concerns because you're essentially holding people pass the time that they should be held.

ROBBINS: You know, another interesting thing in this case, Ashleigh, is that he was actually in Federal prison, serving time because he had re-entered the country after being deported.

[12:40:02] BANFIELD: And that's felony. ROBBINS: Correct. So, if you've got somebody like that in jail, why is the hold not happening at the Federal level? That is one way to close this loophole. And hopefully, we'll never see a tragic like this.

BANFIELD: I think that tragic, that drug incident might have happen after the fact that after he actually got out. That's just my guess because this all seems to be sequential and horrible all at the same time, especially if you're Steinle family.

Danny and Mel, thank you both. I really appreciate that.

Coming up, killer David Sweat has a brand new place to call home, and it is not a friendly place in the list. The new prison he is sent to is going have him in a box, literally a box. Wait until you find out what his everyday is going to be like.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Welcome home, David Sweat. A brand new prison, a brand new life. And it's not really probably what's he were wanting. He is, of course, the surviving escapee from a prison break in a three week man hunt. He was serving life for murdering a sheriff's deputy when he busted out of New York State Clinton Correctional Prison one month ago. Today, he's now been moved to a brand new maximum security prison in the Central New York Town of Romulus. It sits between the Cities of Syracuse and Rochester, and it's no picnic.

New York's Five Points correctional facility much, much newer built in 2000. Fancy yes, comfortable no. He's going spend 23 hours a day in the prison special housing unit. That's the euphemism for awful. It's where each inmates sleeps, eats, washes and spends nearly all of his time in solitary, 23 hours a day alone, a 105-foot-square cell with a bed, a writing platform, a toilet, a sink and a shower. You don't get to control the shower through, the jail does.

Out of the cell for only an hour a day to exercise, and that's in small cage.

[12:45:04] And the Corrections Department has put the 35-year-old, Sweat, on suicide watch probably because he thought he was free, and now he's not.

Boris Sanchez has been covering the story.

And again, we're talking about a month ago, he's out. He's right back to a new place.

So effectively, what else will change for him other than brand new environment, and it's not like the old Honor Block.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORREPSPONDENT: Yeah, this is a very different situation now, where David Sweat was facing at the Clinton Correctional Facility.

Number one, as you mentioned, this a new prisoner. It was built in 2000. Clinton Correctional Facility was built about 170 years ago. Also it's a much smaller prison, about half of the inmate population that there is at Clinton Correctional.

And on top of that, the hallways of the prisoner, one with metal detectors, there are about 1100 cameras watching all of the activity of the prisoners are doing.

Also keep in mind, Sweat, very far from the Honor Block that he was on at Clinton Correctional Facility where he can cook for himself, this is, as you mentioned, solitary confinement, a 105-square-foot-cell with nothing but a toilet, a bed, a table to write on, and that facility controlled showers will end 23 hours confined to that cell, with only an hour of exercise to get out.

You can imagine that he's not going to have the ability to develop the relationships he did that helped him escaped at Clinton Correctional Facility with Richard Matt led along with someone like Joyce Mitchell, who works for him.

BANFIELD: And then, you know, the authorities were talking about additional charging and the process against him and it's sort of what makes you wonder, "Why bother? He's in for life?" What do they have in the pipeline for him now?

SANCHEZ: Right. Well, in the coming days, it's not clear exactly when it's going to happen. But it's thought that in the coming days, he's going to go to a judicial hearing, where the Department of Corrections will essentially sentence him to -- and determine the amount of time in solitary confinement. There's no limit on what amount of time he can spend there.

We were told by our source that typically for inmates who plan or try to escape, they get up to 10 years in solitary confinement. David Sweat, as you know, actually got out of the prison. You have to imagine he likely will face more time.

BANFIELD: Yeah, very uncomfortable time being in solitary.

Thank you. I appreciate that Boris. That's just great work out in the field as well. I know it wasn't very comfortable out there, so thanks for doing it. I appreciate it.

Coming up, will Greece's debt problems affect your 401(k)? You may want to check in on your numbers. And we're going to check in with Wall Street next to see a little bit that job for you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:50:58] BANFIELD: This is a muted reaction on Wall Street today after Greek voters rejected the latest bailout offer that was courtesy the European Union. It may look like they're celebrating in the street of Athens right now, but really nobody knows what's going to happen next. And investors they don't blow horns. They hate uncertainty.

Just our CNN Business Correspondent, Alison Kosik, who is live in the New York Stock Exchange.

I mean that's really what this is all about. Really, no one knows what's going to happen. Banks have been closed for a week now, so why does it seem that people are celebrating over there while Wall Street has the jitters?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wall Street did have more jitters, Ashleigh. When the opening bell rung, we saw the Dow's fall into the triple digits. But now, we're seeing, you know, no Armageddon. There's no panic here. There's no Greek drama going on. We're just not seeing the market in free fall over this because U.S. investors have little direct exposure to Greece because for years now, investors, they knew that something like this could happen, so over time they pulled their investments out of Greece.

Also you look out how European banks are doing, they're better prepared for this kind of financial crisis in Greece compared to when this first started coming out in 2011 and 2012. So, you're really not seeing the worries that we saw years ago that Greece's problems could hit the global economy in a big way.

But just a word of warning here, I'd say keep those seatbelts fastened because volatility is expected to hold on because we really don't know. As you said, we don't know how this is all going to end. We don't know if Greece is going to leave the Euro. We don't know if Greece is going to get that emergency funding that it needs.

So as these headlines come out of Greece, expect to see Wall Street reacts with some wild swings, Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: Even if that was -- that's what I mean. It just seems so bizarre that Europe is freaking out over this. Because on one hand, if Greece decides to just head out, they could default completely on everything they own, not just restructure their debt, they could walk and that sets a horrible president for all the other little nations that have big debt problems too.

So, why isn't there more of a concern? I heard people screaming from the rooftop last week. Now, all of a sudden, it's not so loud.

KOSIK: Right. Well, when we did see the market react last week, we saw of a Dow's biggest drop this year when Greece actually defaulted and didn't pay its bills. And Europe is freaking out because Europe is more heavily invested in Greece. But here in the U.S., investors are kind of discounted the worst that could happen. One traitor (ph) told me, "We're numb to it now," that even if Greece were to leave the Euro this traitor told me, he doesn't think you're going to really see strong market reaction to the downside that he doesn't think that reaction would actually stick. Because Greece is a tiny economy, it's only a small piece of the global economic picture.

And you're -- what you're really seeing happen now is Wall Street focus on the broader economic picture. You know, this week starts earning season. And China is a huge concerned, Ashleigh. China's main stock index has -- have plunged more than 30 percent from their highest because Chinese stocks are in a bubble. China is really on the radar as the number one concerned here on Wall Street, Ashleigh

BANFIELD: So here's the -- you're the business correspondent, but I got to ask you the political question because it was a concern, I think, of a lot of people that if Greece wasn't getting any love from Europe, it might just look east to Russia. And haven't there been some cozy phone calls going on between those two nations now? Is Russia looking to step up its love and maybe take someone on board?

KOSIK: Reportedly that is the case. Here, if you talk to everybody here at the stock exchange, they say, "You know what, if Greece wants to leave the Euro, have that it. Let it happen already." There's some really little concern here about if Greece would go ahead and leave the Euro and, perhaps, you know, getting cozy with Russia.

BANFIELD: Yeah, interesting. All right, Allison Kiosik watching it for us. Thank you for that. Nice to see you.

KOSIK: Sure

BANFIELD: Coming up next, the search is on for a man in the surveillance video. Take a close look. Recognize him? Because that guy walked into a Walmart and left with $75,000, cool cash, and he did it without even using a gun.

[12:55:06] Wait until you hear how he pulled it off.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: ... into the hospital with a condition that's stabilized. Amazingly, the driver of that car, Austin Dillon, just walked away from the crash.

No guns, no force just a simple disguise helped an Oklahoma man pulled off a massive Walmart heist. The man seen in the surveillance images right here told the police that he worked for Loomis, the armored car company. And he just walked right out of the store with $75,000 in cash. Incidentally, the FBI is still searching for him. So if you know him, or you recognize him, please call the police.

Selfies in an operating room. A doctor sued for medical malpractice in the death of Joan Rivers says, "No," not in her operating room, at least not that she's aware of. Dr. Gwen Korovin is speaking out in response to the documents filed last month that accused her of allowing pictures of Rivers during surgery. Korovin, who has several superstar patients, says she was unaware of any photos being taken.

[13:00:13] That's all the time we have, thank you so much for watching. My colleague, Brianna Keilar, is going to take it from here.