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Suspect Arrested in Etan Patz Murder Case; Jury Deliberates in John Edwards Trial; Clinic in Georgia Attacked; New Orleans Times- Picayune to Cut Newspaper Release this Fall

Aired May 25, 2012 - 15:00   ET

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

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: So, top of the hour. That means NEWSROOM. And I'm not Brooke Baldwin. I'm Ashleigh Banfield sitting in for Brooke Baldwin. It's very nice to have you here.

A lot of news today. He lost five years of his life in prison for promising -- well, and a promising football career as well, all of that derailed and because of a crime he did not commit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... dismiss the case pursuant to section (OFF- MIKE)

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: That is Brian Banks overcome with joy, emotion, when he hears the judge throwing out a conviction of rape.

When Banks was 16, he was a rising football star. He had a full ride to the University of Southern California, and then one day, in the year 2002, a 15-year-old classmate accused him of kidnapping her and of raping her. Her word against his word.

And instead of realizing his dreams on the football field, he instead ended up in a prison cell. And that was his home for five years, five long years behind bars. And that wasn't the end of it, another five years as a parolee, and not just any parolee, a registered sex offender. So then out of the blue, Banks gets a message on Facebook from his accuser. And wouldn't you know it? She admitted that she lied and she kick-started a chain of events that finally, finally cleared his name.

And I'm happy to say Brian Banks joins me live now. He's with the Justice Brooks, director of the California Innocence Project, which did a lot in the effort to get him out and clear his name.

Brian, it's nice to have you. This is a crazy question, but I'm going to -- how do you feel, my friend?

BRIAN BANKS, CLEARED OF CHARGES: Ecstatic. Today, it is starting to sink in a little bit more. I'm just -- I'm overwhelmed. I'm just -- I couldn't be happier. I feel great. BANFIELD: I watch these pictures of you in the courtroom, and your head fell on to the table in front of you. I could see the tears falling, literally falling off your face.

You knew you were going into that courtroom. You knew this was happening and still it had that effect on you.

BANKS: Yes.

It was one of those situations where I was overcome with relief, but still reminded of just the pain and the suffering that I went through the whole time with prison and parole and just all the false accusations made against me. It's just -- it's a tough reminder.

BANFIELD: Brian, there's so many things for you to be angry about. I have to be honest, I watched part of your "Today Show" interview. And you are such a magnanimous person. I heard you you're looking forward and you want to be positive.

But there's a lot of wrong that went on here, one Wanetta Gibson for starters admitting that she lied and caused this horror in your life. Do you really not want to go there. Do you not want to see justice? Do you not want to see her charged?

BANKS: My main focus has been just being free, being a regular citizen in America.

And now that I have that opportunity, I'm just overwhelmed with that. And that's my sole focus. From here, it's just forward progression, playing football, getting a tryout for the NFL, and just doing what I can do.

BANFIELD: And do you have any inclination to having further conversations with this woman?

BANKS: No, none whatsoever. My life is just moving on and moving strong. And I'm just -- I'm thankful.

BANFIELD: Maybe not a conversation, but what about a civil lawsuit? Because God knows, you're owed.

(LAUGHTER)

BANKS: You know, for me, it just -- like I said, I just want to be positive and I just want to be -- I want to be in a better position than what I was yesterday. And the only way that that can happen is by just eliminating any negative ill will or feelings towards anyone.

As far as any compensation goes, I haven't really given that any thought. I'm just on cloud 10 right now and just being free and I'm really thankful to Justin and the California Innocence Project for all that they have done for me.

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: Yes. Listen, tell me how many more Brians are out there. How many other people have been falsely accused and for whatever reason, maybe an unjust verdict or maybe they did what Brian did and they took the deal because they feared the 41 years?

JUSTIN BROOKS, CALIFORNIA INNOCENCE PROJECT: Yes.

Brian has realized what a lot of my clients have when they get exonerated, and that that anger is just going to eat you up. And they don't want to lose any more of their life to anger.

Brian's case, there are a lot of guys out there in that situation. The plea bargains have become the 95 percent solution; 95 percent of cases are adjudicated by plea. And there's a lot of guys who get in a situation like Brian where they're told, look, somebody said you did it, you're saying you didn't do it. You can go into court and roll the case and you may die in prison. Or you can take this deal.

And on top of it, Brian is a 17-year-old kid sitting there making that decision on his own. So what's tragic about this case is, if we hadn't gotten that recantation, Brian would have gone through this the rest of his life. And there's a lot of other guys in the same situation as him.

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: And had that hanging over him, because the registered sex offender doesn't go away easily.

(CROSSTALK)

BROOKS: Exactly. That's why we took this case.

BANFIELD: So, Brian, tell me about your five years behind bars. And this is going to sound like a weird question, but did you learn any lessons that you can now apply in your life as an innocent man locked up?

BANKS: Most definitely. Just to never give up in your dreams and passions.

For me, my passion and dream were to be free. And my sole focus was to be free. And that's all I worked on for these many years that I have also suffered, as well as wanting to better myself and become an active member in society by giving back from my hardship and my story.

I hope one day to be able to help someone or show someone that no matter what you go through, you can get through it and you can be a better person than you were the day before by just staying positive.

BANFIELD: And what do you think about your hopes and dreams when it comes to playing football and playing in the NFL? Where might that take you?

BANKS: Oh, you know what? I hope it takes me far. I feel very confident in, you know, getting that tryout and producing on the field. I have been working extremely hard for this opportunity. And I just pray to God every day that, if given that opportunity, I'm prepared to meet you halfway with a blessing. And I'm just confident and I'm ready to play. I'm ready for an opportunity.

BANFIELD: Hey, Brian...

(CROSSTALK)

BROOKS: Any team would be lucky to have Brian on.

BANKS: Most definitely.

BROOKS: He's got unbelievable heart.

BANKS: For sure.

BANFIELD: I hear you. I want you on my team. I don't play football, but I would love to work with you.

(LAUGHTER)

BANFIELD: Brian, you heard what Justin just said about the work that he does.

And I'm curious. I have done a lot of work in criminal justice. And I have got to be honest with you. I don't know very many inmates who tell me they're not innocent. So while you were in there, how many people did you really believe were innocent?

BANKS: You know what, I rarely would enter in any discussions with other inmates of what they were incarcerated for or -- just because I didn't want to really indulge my own personal information for my own safety reasons.

But I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one that has gone through something like this or something similar.

BANFIELD: You know what, it's good to see you.

And I'm glad that this has happened. I'm a better person for seeing you speak and for seeing just how forgiving you are. And I wish you the best luck as you move forward with your life. And good luck in the NFL. You will turn me into the football fan if you get on the field.

BANKS: Thank you so much.

Hey...

(CROSSTALK)

BANKS: ... jersey for sure.

BANFIELD: All right, now you're talking. Brian Banks, Justin Brooks, thanks for joining us, you two. And good luck to you both. BANKS: Thank you for having me.

BROOKS: My pleasure.

BANKS: Thanks.

BANFIELD: I want to turn to another story. This is just into CNN, Vice President Joe Biden making some very emotional comments.

You can see the look on his face, comments about suicide, comments about being in a dark place. You're going to hear what he had to say and who he was talking to in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: some very moving words from Vice President Joe Biden to the families of troops who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.

The vice president appeared at the TAPS National Military Survivor Seminar in Arlington, Virginia, and he opened up about the very dark days after his wife and his 1-year-old daughter died in a car crash. That happened back in 1972. And the vice president confided that it brought him to thoughts of suicide.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSEPH BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: For the first time in my life, I understood how someone could consciously decide to commit suicide, not because they were deranged, not because they were nuts, because they had been to the top of the mountain and they just knew in their heart they would never get there again.

It can and it will get better. There will come a day, I promise you and you parents as well, when the thoughts of your son or daughter, or your husband or wife, brings a smile to your lips before it brings a tear to your eye. It will happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: So moving. That is the vice president in Arlington, Virginia, today.

Now to New York and the arrest of a man in a decades-old missing child case. We are waiting for this man to be arraigned on murder charges in connection with a 1979 disappearance of a child named Etan Patz.

That arraignment could come at any moment, so we're standing by. And this picture of Pedro Hernandez appeared on "Inside Edition." The New York Police Department saying that he confessed to killing that 6- year-old boy.

Etan Patz became a national obsession after his vanishing on his way to school 33 years ago this very day.

I want to bring in Gil Alba. He's a former detective with the NYPD. And, Gil, I have been looking at the headlines today. Our newspapers here in New York City, "Daily News," splashed right across the front, "The Post" saying Etan case solved.

I'm not so sure that the arrest of one man who gives a confessions means solved. Are you?

GIL ALBA, FORMER NEW YORK POLICE DEPARTMENT DETECTIVE: Not at this particular point, but being in the system, NYPD system, and interviewing that person, after a while, you bring them to the scene and he will show you what he did, and you keep talking to him, and you will find out whether he's telling the truth, whether he's lying, whether he's making up stuff.

And I think the detective that did this and took him with them felt confident that he was telling the truth.

BANFIELD: So you're saying you start to get a different Spidey sense if you get them out of the interrogation room and out into the field?

ALBA: Definitely.

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: Why is that?

ALBA: Because he will show you exactly where he was, what he's doing. He took them down to the basement.

BANFIELD: That was 33 years ago. This thing isn't even a bodega anymore. It's an eyeglasses store.

ALBA: Yes, because the whole neighborhood changed.

But, still, just showing you where he was at the time and reenacting that whole thing, not many people could do something like that and tell that same story. He's been actually telling this since 1981, that he killed a kid in...

BANFIELD: To family members, right, friends.

ALBA: Yes, to family members, yes, that he did this.

BANFIELD: And yet that never made that back to the NYPD?

ALBA: I'm not sure if it made it back or they -- whoever went -- and if anybody ever complained or something to this effect. But since they did the search, I guess that's when it really came out.

BANFIELD: You worked on the NYPD during this time and this choked the department. They were transfixed by this.

ALBA: Yes. This was a big deal at the time, because a kid is -- that's a big deal in New York City or in any city, a kid just waiting for a bus and then he disappears. And where does he disappear? Nobody knows. (CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: Well, remember Elizabeth Smart. This whole country was transfixed by Elizabeth Smart, a little kid who just should not have disappeared from her bed and she did and then reappeared.

(CROSSTALK)

ALBA: Right, from her bed. Yes. And that was really -- that was really...

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: The boogeyman.

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: It literally seemed like...

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: You were on the major case squad with the NYPD. It was the missing persons squad that was dealing with this case. And yet you would walk into work every day and see Etan's face posted up on the walls.

(CROSSTALK)

ALBA: His picture was all over the walls.

This is -- when you have a kid missing in any police department, but especially the New York City Police Department, you get obsessed with that, because everybody has kids and you really do everything. All your efforts are into finding this kid.

But the big thing why this kept going -- and I have to say this -- is the parents really kept pushing. They never stopped. They kept, you know, finding out, you know -- what happened to my son? And that's what really kept the case going all these years.

BANFIELD: Let me ask you something. I think a lot of people would be astounded to hear that there have been people who have come to the NYPD before and have confessed to this killing, not just one, but several. And this is the kind of thing that actually happens all the time. How do you know when you really got the right guy and it's not just some crackpot?

ALBA: Yes, well, that's why the police department many times says we can't talk about that or we have certain things that we don't want to talk about and they hold information , specifically for that reason, to find out who's who.

But after a few minutes, you can tell who's telling the truth and who can't. There's a lot of sociopaths out there who can lie easily. And they could fool anybody.

BANFIELD: Remember John Mark Karr, JonBenet Ramsey.

ALBA: Right.

BANFIELD: He was nutty.

ALBA: All those guys, yes. And you believe them after a while.

BANFIELD: Hey, let me ask you something.

I know you didn't work on the case, but your friends did. Do you think the NYPD held back one -- at least one detail that only the killer would know?

ALBA: I'm sure they at least tried to do that.

But you got to remember he disappeared off the street. What kind of detail? You don't have a body, you don't strangle -- you don't have a murder -- you don't -- DNA. You don't have any evidence, especially at that time. They didn't have anything.

They only did canvases around the area, talked to everybody. They didn't even talked to this 19-year-old kid that was in the bodega at the time. They...

BANFIELD: A tough case.

(CROSSTALK)

ALBA: They had the names, yes.

BANFIELD: It's going to be a tough trial if it ever gets there.

ALBA: Yes.

BANFIELD: Gil Alba, thanks. Good to see you.

ALBA: Yes, thanks for having me. Appreciate it.

BANFIELD: Thanks for coming in.

And we have this just into CNN, a huge brushfire sending up heavy smoke near major attractions in Orlando, Florida. Take a look at this video, pretty remarkable stuff. It's thick like fog. That's a live picture for you courtesy of our affiliate WKMG.

You can see the traffic moving along, but, wow, brushfire smoke, you never want to hear about that, because it can get thick and fast. Just ask Chad Myers about that. And it's caused serious problems in Florida in the past, traffic accidents that have piled up and killed a number of people as well. So we're watching I-4 there near World Center Drive. That's near Disney, folks. We will keep an eye on it for you.

Also, we have word of an active hostage situation as well. Very busy day. It's inside the Prudential Building, a man apparently holding two people hostage there. Feverishly working to get some details for you, so I will take a quick break, collect what I can, come right back, and I will see what I have got for you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: All right, I promise you I would get you some details on that active hostage situation and I do have it.

Happening right now, this hostage situation unfolding in Valparaiso, Indiana. We have been told that a man walked into the Prudential Building. It's located in downtown Valparaiso. Apparently, he was looking for someone who owed him money.

He pulled a gun. And he's currently holding at least two people hostage. Again, this is in Valparaiso, Indiana, in the Prudential Building. Police are in touch with him, we are told. So it's good that communication is happening at this point.

We're monitoring the situation. And as we find out more, of course, we will bring it to you right away.

And there's more news unfolding right now, "Rapid Fire." Roll it.

The FBI is questioning a man who apparently tried to storm a cabin door or an American Airlines flight. The jet was landing in Miami today from Montego Bay, where the disoriented man, 24-year-old Ryan Snider of Canada, refused to take his seat when told.

According to the airline, when Snider moved towards the front of the aircraft, that's when he was detained, passengers watching all of this go down on the plane.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RONALD WEBB, PASSENGER: It was frightening because the way terrorism is these days. And his luggage was still sitting in the seat, you see, so we were a bit worried.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Also making news, Hurricane Bud spinning towards the west coast of the Mexico as we speak. Take a look at the picture. Yes, it looks ugly, looks big. But it's actually losing some steam. It's weakening to an 80-mile-an-hour Category 1, just enough to really wreck your vacation there.

It's going to bring some heavy flooding and some rain when it makes landfall. And there is also another system that could turn into a tropical storm. That's along the East Coast. And that could affect the East Coast, including Florida, by Sunday.

Scandal at the Vatican, of all places. A Vatican spokesman telling CNN that a man is under arrest. It's believed he apparently leaked some information, confidential stuff to the media. And get this. The Italian media is reporting it's not just any person. It's the pope's butler.

We are told that he was actually caught red-handed with some illegal and very private documents. So there's that.

After months on the loose and plenty of people around the world trying to track him, watch him, Japan's fugitive penguin -- that's him, that's the offender right there -- he's back in custody, darn it. The 1-year-old Humboldt penguin escaped from a Tokyo aquarium in March. Somehow he scaled a 13-foot wall and barbed-wire fence. I think I see a new episode of "Madagascar" coming out. He was captured last night. And there you have it, hopefully safe and sound.

All right, so the brushfire, we want to keep an eye on that, take you to those live pictures down to Orlando area. That's near Disney World, thick smoke over I-4. You can see the traffic. It seems to be moving along OK.

(WEATHER UPDATE)

BANFIELD: We have got this just into CNN as well, a development.

Did I say it was Friday and that often verdicts come on Friday? We have got some breaking news in the John Edwards corruption trial.

You will want to come back for this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Another sign that newspapers may be on life support. Also, NASA hailing the capture of a dragon. True.

And fleet week hits the big apple. Hello, sailor. It's time to play "reporter roulette."

We begin with some pretty serious problems facing major newspapers. "The Times-Picayune" in New Orleans which is the deadly one in pollster for hurricane Katrina coverage is no longer going to be in print every day. And that is catastrophic.

CNN Alison Kosik has the story.

So, this is one of four newspapers, Alison, that made an announcement like this, big, big cutbacks the last couple of days.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. This is kind of a sign of the time, isn't it Ashleigh? We're talking about the New Orleans "Times-Picayune" cutting back to three days a week beginning this fall. The same thing looks like that it is going to happen other papers at the new house family group owned in Huntsville, and Mobile, in Birmingham as well.

You know, sadly, this is really the trend for newspapers in these smaller cities. As we watch this ad revenue in print plummeting because people are getting their content in digital form, you know, online and not in paper and ink. So the focus for this newspaper actually is really going to be putting content online.

BANFIELD: OK. And Warren Buffett just making a big investment in newspapers wants to buy more. So, that does not equate. KOSIK: Yes. This is sort of he's doing the opposite. He is going in the opposite direction. But hey, it's Warren Buffett; he can do what he wants, right? So, what he is doing is he's investing in small town papers. So, keep in mind he does own a stake in a big paper, in "the Washington Post." But what Warren Buffett just did actually, he just bought 63 papers from media general. And that includes more than 20 local daily newspapers. And Buffet rooks like he wants more, too. But interestingly enough, he really seems more interested in keeping these small town newspapers alive more than the big ones. He says he favors the small cities, the sense of community. It sounds like he's doing it out of the goodness of his heart, but it certainly is a smart business move as well. Local advertising is still pretty lucrative.

BANFIELD: Alison Kosik, is there someone singing behind you at the New York stock exchange? That's the weirdest sound I have ever heard.

KOSIK: They are - it sort of the beginning of the cheer. It's traditional here at the New York Stock Exchange when there's a long weekend, they sort of go nuts on the floor. They start making sounds like you hear and there's actually a cow bell that they start ringing. It's quite interesting. In about 2 1/2 minutes they're really going to start. There you go.

Yes, I hear it.

BANFIELD: You know what; I think they're listening to you live. You set it off, girlfriend. Probably. Have a good weekend. Enjoy yourself this weekend, a match deserve rest.

Alison Kosik, live at the crazy New York Stock Exchange. Go figure.

All right. So, this next one, a geek alert, serious geek alert. First time a commercial spacecraft has linked to the international space station. The "Dragon" capsule made by space act and it is now in placed to unload its cargo. I'm not kidding you when I say, I've heard word.

Lizzie O'Leary, you can back me up on this, that there may actually be underwear onboard for the astronauts onboard the international space station. And you are our aviation regulation correspondent. So, prove me wrong.

LIZZIE O'LEARY, CNN AVIATION & REGULATION CORRESPONDENT: I'm going to side step that saying they have a lot of things for the astronauts on the space station including some personal things. There are actually some science experiments that are on board the "Dragon" capsule as well, a bunch of stuff, basically cargo heading up to the international space station.

But this is an historical flight. This is the first cargo flight by a commercial company up to the international space station, thus of course retired at shuttle program last year. This is a private company doing this founded by Elon Musk, a billionaire, head of Tesla motors. And there were cheers, not quite like the ones behind Alison, but there were certainly cheers in Houston mission control out in California, the company's headquarters when the "Dragon" capsule was grabbed by the robotic arm of the international space station today and then it did that birthing move, got hooked up to the space station itself. They will probably open up the door and start removing the cargo. We just leave it at that tomorrow, Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: All right. Lizzie O'Leary, thank you for that.

And speaking of awesome hook-ups next on "reporter roulette," a sea of uniforms in New York city. Officially, fleet week has begun.

CNN's Richard Roth is in the middle of it all. And who better to report on this than Richard Roth. Hello.

RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR UNITED NATION CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Ashleigh. Of course, you just mentioned, space. Well the "enterprise," well, a former space shuttle is going to be here on the intrepid next month. Modern machines, and men and women here for fleet week, 25th anniversary. This called mars, it is an armed robot. But I'm always better talking to people or when you are talking about the armed forces. We've got three branches represented here. Navy, Coast Guard and Marines.

Thomas (INAUDIBLE), when you came into town onboard the eagle, the sailboat, you went down to the 9/1 1 memorial. Why did you do that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's been 10 years as a volunteer as a firefighter during 9/11. And I hadn't been back to the city since then. And it's a perfect opportunity to go down, remember everything and also take some shipmates down to teach them.

So Johnson, you're on the wasp. What does fleet week mean to you? A lot of partying? You are getting to New York.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fleet week to me is actually a big chance to show everybody out here whose been supporting the armed forces what we do and to show them our appreciation. So, it's very amazing to be out here for fleet week.

ROTH: What do New Yorkers ask you on the street when they see you out here on your whites?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It really relaxes anything. Hey, let's take care of you. So, it's more of less questions, more doing for us.

ROTH: But when people in New York tell me, say let's take care of you, they mean another thing After the ship leave here. Mr. (INAUDIBLE), you are also on the wasp. What about the fleet week? How would be receiving and that does it means to you here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of people have been hospitable to us. And we like to thanks all the people of New York as long us to be here for this fleet week and giving us the hospitality they have been.

ROTH: Well, thank you all, gentlemen. Of course, it's memorial day weekend. So, there's a lot of solemnity, for course, for the weekend and some celebration as the fleet comes in on this 25th anniversary of such an occasion here. It's also the bicentennial of the war of 1812, actually. That was before CNN went on air. Back to you.

BANFIELD: That was before you and I were born, little bit anyway.

Richard Roth, thanks very much. Nice to have you.

That's today's "reporter's roulette."

And I've got some breaking news. We can do the breaking news today, I tell you. This one involve in the John Edwards case. I told you that we were looking into it. There's a development. Here's what it is.

It's a little unusual. The judge has cleared the courtroom. Apparently, there is a personal matter which regard to the jury. That's what we have been told, some personal matter. Not only has the judge cleared the courtroom, but she is also speaking with the attorneys in the case, very curious. Not sure if John Edwards himself is allowed to be present while the judge speaks with these attorneys and I can't tell you what the personal issue is with the juror or jury.

But I can tell you this. They're at six days now. They got this case a week ago. It's a four-week case and the rule of thumb typically, about one day of deliberation for every week of trial. Four weeks trial, six days of deliberations. And that's why you have people of me asking very smart lawyers and analyst. Are we at a break in the case or are we at a standstill? Perhaps a hung jury in the case. But we do know this. A personal issue relating to the jury.

I'm going to see what I can gather on this. Let's take a quick break. Be back, right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Welcome back. By now, you probably heard of the "Stand Your Ground" law. The defense of George Zimmerman is employing in the Trayvon Martin case in Florida, more than likely.

How about the make my day law, though. Ever heard of that? Colorado? Police say a University of Colorado student, Zoe Ripple (ph) was shot in the hip after she drunkenly entered a couple's home through an unlocked screen door.

I want you to listen to what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE CALLER: College Avenue, somebody came in our house. She's awake. She looks fine. But she's shot. She walked into our bedroom and we told her, we were looking at her, she kept coming in the bedroom and we shot her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: There's no mention yet of a weapon, yet they did shoot her. At this point, Zoe is alive and talking on the cell phone. That's when the operator suggests that the woman on the phone question her. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you have any weapons on you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why did you just walk into our house when we were screaming at you to get out?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She seems kind of stoned or something.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Seems kind of stoned or something. For heaven's sakes, she was shot. Police say her alcohol level was 0.2 when she entered the house. The attorney for couples say the make my day law applies. That it will exonerate their clients.

Defense attorney Joey Jackson is on the case.

OK. There's some weird ones out there. But when you have case a Stand Your Ground doctrine, or make my day doctrine, whatever you want to call it, you don't usually have the two parties talking to each other while 911 is on the line.

JOEY JACKSON, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: It's really crazy. I mean, listen. It's a fortunate thing she's not dead. And it is just a compliment of circumstances. What happens, this girl, she is drunk, she has a 0.20 of alcohol. That's more than three times, Ashleigh, the legal limit. She stumbles into a house. She is looking the screen door happens to be unlocked. And guess what she does at 3:30 in the morning when it was dark, walks into the bedroom.

There's a warning her listen, I don't know who you are. And so there's justification as far as the home owner, Ashleigh, in terms of firing the shot. And so, I don't see a prosecution here. And just briefly, the castle doctrine, about 27 few more states have this doctrine and pretty much it says your house is your castle, right? Your home is your place of living and if anybody tries to come on to that property, then you have a right to use deadly force if you fear for your safety.

BANFIELD: And for people who want to make the difference between Stand Your Ground and Castle, flash make my day," castle came first. And what they did was, some state extrapolated and took castle out on the street.

JACKSON: Exactly.

BANFIELD: Come into my face and I'm scared, I have the right to defend myself.

JACKSON: And that's right. And that's the danger because that's what's being really looked at by legislation throughout the country of whether "Stand Your Ground" outside of the home. I think we could appreciate and understand if someone walks into your home. Obviously, you don't feel safe. You are going to do something about it. But when you get on to the street, now there's a question of, you know, is it just shoot first law?

BANFIELD: But Joey, we always had that notion, well, I should say many states have always had that notion that you should try to get away first. And they call it a duty to retreat.

JACKSON: Yes. That makes a lot of sense. Because then, what you're doing is you are trying to defuse the situation. You're not escalating it because you are not saying listen, I have a right to shoot you at first. If it's a duty to retreat, you're going to try to go safely away from the scenario. But the "Stand Your Ground" law, that's the danger.

BANFIELD: Let me read you --

JACKSON: "Stand Your Ground," pow!

BANFIELD: Let me read the make my day law, just because it's sort of the interesting to actually hear the statue itself. The law stipulates the homeowner/occupant who reasonably believes, and I wish we had a different kind of print for that. This isn't the one. There it is. That's not it either.

Well, let me read the one I have here. Reasonably believes that an intruder will even use the slightest degree of physical force is entitled to use deadly force against that intruder.

Does that mean shooting somebody in the back?

JACKSON: Well, you know what, if you shoot somebody in the back that sort of implies that they're not as dangerous as you would expect.

BANFIELD: Yes. But they're in your castle.

JACKSON: So, they are in your castle. So, I think that's a question that certainly would be subject to jury review because I don't think prosecutors would be so quick to let someone off the hook who shoots someone in your back. It's more designed they're in your face, they are coming toward you, you feel threatened. This case, 3:30 in the morning, its dark, the couples say, who are you? She's drunk. Horrible situation.

BANFIELD: It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

JACKSON: NO doubt.

BANFIELD: Joey Jackson, always good to see you. Thanks for coming in. Have a lovely holiday weekend.

JACKSON: You too.

BANFIELD: We have an update for you in a story I was talking about a few moments ago in Portland, Oregon. These three beautiful faces, these little children ranging in age from 18 months to, I don't know, around four, but no one is quite certain because they couldn't find the parents. These kids were abandoned in a shed.

We are being told now that the police in Oregon, even since our interview moments ago have been able to track down the mother. Got more news about that in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: OK. We have a development in that story that we have been bring to you the last two hours. We have been telling you about police in Portland, Oregon, were desperately searching for the parents of these three babies, all under the age of about four, not knowing their exact age because they were abandoned in a shed.

Now, they're telling us they have located the mother of these three children. Again, abandoned in a shed is frequented by homeless people. Uncertain of their ages still, but that one way on the right, as young as 18 months, and the little girl in the middle, possibly as old as four, maybe three.

Police, telling us that they looked as though they had been cared for. They were dressed and they weren't crying. They weren't exasperated when police found them. Don't know if that's because the homeless people who were nearby were looking after them.

But at least we know now that the mother of these children has been found in Portland, Oregon. All of this, not even an hour after an interview with Robert King, the public information officer of the Portland police. Good news, at least for now.

Some free advice now, money advice for Poppy Harlow at the CNN help desk.

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMOEY.COM CORRESPONDENT: Hey, there. On the help desk today, we are going to talk about credit cards because this affects every American in some way or another.

With me, Ryan Mack is the president of optimum capital management. Stacy Francis is a financial advisor and president of Francis Financial.

All right Ryan, a question came into us from California. She keep wrote in, "I just finished paying off my credit cards. When will this all be reflected in my credit report?

RYAN MACK, PRESIDENT, OPTIMUM CAPITAL MANAGEMENT: It's a big myth. A lot of people think if you carry balances on your credit, actually helps your actually helps your fico score, that's a myth and a misconception.

HARLOW: Right.

MACK: Paying down your debt, 20 percent of you fico score is your balance to total line of credit that you actually owe. So, the faster you pay down your debt, the faster corporation takes a snapshot from month to month. So, the next month, he should see a dramatic increase in terms of his credit cards. HARLOW: The next month.

MACK: Exactly.

HARLOW: What about closing out those credit cards. These days, for a lot of folks that have a number of different credit cards, they want to get rid of them. Also closing them can affect their credit score negatively.

STACY FRANCIS, PRESIDENT, FRANCIS FINANCIAL: Yes, and when we say close a credit card, go ahead and cut it up but don't close it because it will hurt your credit score. If you have two cards and each has a $5,000 credit limit and you have $10,000 in total, you close one, and maybe $5,000 is left on this one you're using $5,000 of your total credit limit of $5,000. Before you were only using $5,000 of $10,000. So don't close your credit cards.

HARLOW: Just cut them up.

FRANCIS: Cut them up and have a ceremony and feel great about it. Don't let them get you and hurt your credit.

HARLOW: All right. Great advice, guys. Thank you.

If you're watching and you have a question, you want out expertise, send us an e-mail at CNN help desk at CNN.com.

BANFIELD: Thank you, Poppy.

One of the smartest men in TV gives his best advice to young people as they get ready for the real world. You're going to hear the inspiring words from Fareed Zakaria, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: You know, with all the bad happening in the world, would you believe that the world is actually more peaceful than it's been in centuries? And some even say more peaceful than it's ever been.

Our own Fareed Zakaria said just that at Harvard's commencement. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN HOST, FAREED ZAKARIA GPS: The world we live in is, first of all at peace, profoundly so. The richest countries of the world are not in major geopolitical, geo-military competition with one another. No arms races, to proxy races, no wars, no cold wars among the richest countries of the world. You would have to go back hundreds of years to find an equivalent period of political stability.

I know that you see a bomb going off in Afghanistan or hear of a terror plot in New York and worry about the safety and security of our times, but here is the data. The number of people who have died as a result of war, civil war, and terrorism is down 50 percent this decade from the 1990s. It is down 75 percent from the proceeding five decades. It is down, of course, 99 percent from the decade before that, which was World War II.

Steven (INAUDIBLE) argues that we are living in the most peaceful times in human history and he should know because he is a Harvard professor.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Fareed Zakaria.

A series of attacks on women's clinics triggering an alert right across the country. It's news that's unfolding now. We've got it after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: A handful of arsons and burglaries in Georgia are making some people wonder if abortion advocates are under attack. What is certain is that the crimes are now putting women's clinics throughout the country on alert. One of the arsons took place at an OBGYN's office in Marietta Georgia, where police were able to capture this surveillance picture of someone they're calling a quote "potential witness."

Anti-abortion activists are condemning the actions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRISSELLE BAZZANI, ANTI-ABORTION PROTESTER: What we just do, we just pray.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: CNN's David Mattingly is on the story. And we should be very clear David, that not all the clinics that are in Georgia that have been hit are even performing abortions.

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. The two clinics that were hit, these women health's clinics, one of them provides abortions, one of them does not. But everyone wondering, could this be part of a trend. And the national abortion federation says they've been watching an escalation in what they describe as an escalation of events that have been going on this year.

The state of Georgia this year passed a law banning most abortions after 20 weeks. During that period, the doctors who were speaking out against this bill were some of them were targeted with threats. And now the federation's saying those threats were escalating into a series of a handful of break-ins at abortion clinics and now the two cases of potential arson.

BANFIELD: All right. David Mattingly reporting live for us. Thank you for that.

And that wraps it up for me. But Gloria Borger takes the baton. She is sitting in for Wolf in "THE SITUATION ROOM."

Hello, Gloria.