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Legal View with Ashleigh Banfield

Powerball Frenzy Yields Three Winning Tickets; Drug Lord El Chapo Done In By Text Messages; U.S. Officials Had Eyes On Sean Penn Before Meeting; Arrest In Strangling Death Of Ashley Olsen; Iconic Actor Alan Rickman Dies After Battle With Cancer. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired January 14, 2016 - 12:30   ET

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

[12:30:01] ASHLEIGH BANFIELD: We don't have those exciting crowds in two other stores but my guess is we're going to find out pretty soon.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Ashleigh, and my producer-colleague describes it best. This town of Mumford, Tennessee is a place where you probably would want to move to if you were lucky enough to win that jackpot. It's quiet. It's out of the way. And let me tell you, word spread very quickly.

The town's 6,000 residents we saw, are waiting very anxiously to see and to find out if that ticket was bought at this counter the last couple of days. We spoke to the owner of the store, Mr. Balbil Atwal a little while ago, he's waiting very anxiously for that phone call from the Tennessee Lottery Commission right now to confirm those reports that are circulating here on the ground, Ashleigh, that that ticket was, in fact, sold here.

I checked in with neighbors. I checked in with people, and nobody seems to know who that person or persons is or are that actually made that purchase. But I can tell you at this point, people here waiting with bated breath, anxiously waiting for word on who those lucky people or person (of the ticket)(ph)

BANFIELD: Does that guy you just showed me was -- is he the owner of the store? I mean, is he the one that could get that million dollar claim if its in fact, it's his the -- this winning ticket was sold there?

SANDOVAL: You know, he is actually, Ashleigh. I asked Mr. Atwal if he's -- what he's been told at this point. And really, a lot of residents and media have been dropping by to speak to him. But at this point, he has not been told exactly how much he would get. Some reports were circulating it could be about $25,000, obviously very different from what we're hearing on the West coast. But again, he's has that phone in his hand right now waiting to hear what that final decision will be and of course that final confirmation if his store did in fact sell that Tennessee winning ticket.

BANFIELD: It's so exciting. I wish him luck. OK, well, come back to us if that phone rings, Polo. Hold on because I want to scoot away from you in Tennessee and we'll head down to Melbourne Beach in Florida.

Again, I see the Publix behind you, we're told the ticket was sold in public. But do we know it was the one that you're standing right now for sure?

ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. At least part of the mystery here in Melbourne Beach, Florida has been solved. And that answer is that this is where the ticket in Florida, the winning Powerball jackpot ticket was sold. Now we still don't know who bought that ticket. Was it somebody who lives in this sleepy beach town, or was it somebody who was just stopping by on vacation with their family or with friends and decided to stop by and purchase a ticket, and check it out? They might live in Florida. They might live in another state, Maybe they live in another country. We don't know. We walked inside the Publix and a lot of people were talking about this record jackpot and the fact the winning ticket, one of them, was sold here. Here's some of what people had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I live here. I was shopping here yesterday, grocery shopping. So I was wishing I'd bought my ticket here. But I bought it at a gas station.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you were saying?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're from Ohio and I just let all my friends know this morning we were in Melbourne Beach where the winning lottery ticket was sold but it wasn't us.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

MACHADO: Now, a lottery spokesperson tells me that the winner of this ticket, the person who purchased this ticket, still has not come forward and it could be some time before they come forward.

We're told they have up to 60 days to claim the ticket if they're going for the cash payout, if they decide to go with the annuity, they have a little more time. They have up to 180 days to claim the prize. And we're told they're not expecting this person to come forward any time soon, Ashleigh, because typically when the jackpot is this high, people like to take their time, get all their ducks in a row before they come forward.

BANFIELD: Oh, yeah, I mean, if they follow the advice of Christine Romans and everybody on the news, they're assembling a team akin to Donald Trump's advisers to make sure they manage this money appropriately.

All right guys and I'm sorry to say that our office pool yielded only about 4 bucks and if you split that up between all of us, they don't make that kind of coinage. So you got to keep working. But I thank the both of you. And Polo, make sure you let us know if your friend over there gets that phone call. I want to see his reaction and obviously the people in the store too. Still an exciting day, thanks guys.

And by the way, if you're out there and you bought a ticket and you are as depressed -- I don't know why I woke up upset about this because I actually thought I had a shot. But you still might. And a lot of people don't actually look at their tickets if they find out that they aren't the big winner. But there are really big winners still. There's like 80 tickets still out there that matched five numbers. And that's a million bucks. I mean, there are 80 millionaires out there somewhere. So check your ticket, check it twice, run the scan, go back to the store. Usually you have to check it in the state where you bought it. But, look, you could be like us too, you might win 4 bucks, how about that.

[12:39:46] Coming up next, flirting with an attractive woman via text message has yielded plenty of trouble for guys before so you would think one of the world's most notorious drug lords would know better. Coming up, how El Chapo's coming fascination with the lovely lady on the left, a popular actress, may be the reason he's back behind bars.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:39:14] BANFIELD: It now seems that a flirtatious bond between a Mexican actress and a man we've come to know as El Chapo was what led to the drug lord's recapture. Authorities are telling us now that they have been tracking that T.V. star Kate del Castillo. You may remember that she's the one who actually brokered the interview between El Chapo and American actor Sean Penn.

And now we're getting a brand-new look at the affectionate texts that were going back and forth between here and the kingpin. They were published in a Mexican newspaper. Buckle up on this one, folks.

El Chapo wrote to del Castillo, "Let me tell you that I'm more excited about you than the story, my friend". The actress then replies with, "Ha, knowing that makes me really glad, you make me blush". And that's just the tip of a steamy iceberg if there is such a thing.

[12:40:05] In the meantime, U.S. investigators said that they have been keeping tabs on Sean Penn well before his now infamous meeting with El Chapo. It's a little confusing. So, CNN's Nick Valencia has this to sort out.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: CNN is learning the shocking visit by these two famous actors to the most infamous drug lord in the world came to the attention of U.S. law enforcement long before their October encounter. This, as sources also say, U.S. officials were alerted about Sean Penn's meeting with Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman soon after he arrived.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LORETTA LYNCH, ATTORNEY GENERAL: We're tremendously gratified the capture was successful and we look forward to having El Chapo face justice in an American court.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: Mexican officials say they intercepted text messages between El Chapo and this Mexican actress, Kate del Castillo dating back to September of last year. El Chapo writing, "I really want to meet you in person, friend". The actress replies, "Well, me too". Texted El Chapo, "You are the best of this world. We will be great friends. I'll take care of you more than my own eyes". del Castillo later asks El Chapo's associations to have Penn accompany her on the trip.

To which he writes to them, "Have her bring the actor, and if she sees the need to bring more people, let her bring them if she likes. After the meeting in Mexico, del Castillo text, "I haven't been able to sleep much since I saw you. I'm very excited about our story. It's true, it's the only thing I can think of".

On Wednesday, the actress took to Twitter defending herself, writing, "Many have chose be to make up items they think will make good stories and that aren't truthful. I look forward to sharing my story with you.

Since the drug lord's capture, Guzman has been moved from cell to cell. Mexican officials hoping that will ensure the two-time escapee from turning into a fugitive once again.

BANFIELD: And Nick joins me live now from Mexico City. Nick, I can only imagine the newspapers are flying off the shelves there because Kate del Castillo was big deal, she's really popular and I'm sure people are pretty excited to read these dirty details. What's the reaction though, considering this is a relationship with somebody who is bad?

VALENCIA: Well, Mexicans are very interested in it. But at the same time, Ashleigh, they feel this has turned into a bit of a side show, a bit of a "telenovela" if you will. And it's overshadowing more relevant and important issues in this country such as ongoing government corruption, the tens of thousands of lives that were lost in the drug war -- ongoing drug war here,

The disappeared students, a case that's still unsolved from September of 2014. Even still just because of the sheer salaciousness and the flirtatious nature between the world's most notorious drug trafficker and one of the country's most famous actresses It's getting a lot o attention, and, of course for good reason, Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: And then of course, on the U.S. side of things, it's still a little complicated as to why American officials decided to start tracking Sean Penn. And you can just throw there for good measure. The little detail that El Chapo didn't seem to know who Sean Penn was and how to have it explained to him. You know, he was that celebrity, that actor in "21 Grams," that popular drug movie. It just remarkable to be but what led American connections, what led the Americans to tag on to Sean Penn?

VALENCIA: Well, Mexican authorities had long been tracking the attorney of El Chapo. And as he began to have this ongoing conversation with del Castillo, and then del Castillo folded in Sean Penn, because, of course they were trying to make this movie. And her reasoning behind it was that Sean Penn has a deep connections has connections Hollywood, produces a lot of movies. But you make a great point, and have perhaps the most interesting point out of all these text messages that -- El Chapo didn't even know who Sean Penn was. You know it appears that del Castillo could have brought anyone along.

And, in fact, you read that in these text messages. El Chapo saying, "Let her do as she pleases". And reading through it appears that it's not only flirtatious, salacious over the top. It is almost as if El Chapo had this fan boy crush on this popular Mexican actress and was willing to make himself vulnerable and susceptible to capture. I mean, of course, he should have known and had to have to have known the delicate nature of this all and how much this could have jeopardized his freedom after he escaped from prison last July.

The (bet) as it appears from this text messages that were revealed by Milenio, the newspaper here -- highly circulated newspaper here in the country, that he was willing to do just about anything just to see her in person, Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: Well, love and hubris will do that. They will jeopardize all of the better sensibilities of people, even the criminals among us. Thank you, Nick Valencia, nice to see you again .And I hate to chuckle because it is a serious story, he is a bad man, but strange circumstances.

Coming up next an arrest in a mysterious death, an American artist is found dead in her Florence, Italy apartment. There is here is new and disturbing evidence on the person they think is behind it.

[12:49:55] We'll fill you in, in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: A murder mystery involving an American artist living in Florence, Italy, with a familiar name, Ashley Olsen. She's not one of the Olsen twins, she's not related to the Olsen twins but her death is making headlines and it's certainly puzzling authorities.

Until last night, in fact, because they now have a break in that case. Italian officials are now telling the press they've got a suspect. The man is from Senegal. Police say he met Olsen at a nightclub on Friday night and that the two of them together went back to her place where they say they had consensual sex. But by 9 o'clock in the morning, something might have changed because her phone was shut off. And the next day, she was discovered dead in that apartment, apparently strangled with a rope or a cord. Just not hands, that's according to Italian media reports.

[12:50:00] Our Barbie Nadeau is with us from our Rome Bureau and she joins me now with more on the details.

So, what other kinds of forensic details or evidence have they been able to cobble together on this suspect that they brought in?

BARBIE NADEAU, CNN CORRESPONDENT. Well, there are still a lot of gaps to fill, where the prosecutor in the case told reporters this morning that there were two primary pieces of DNA evidence. The DNA from the suspect is a 27-year-old man from Senegal, was found on a condom in her apartment and on a cigarette in her apartment. But it remains to be seen just how something that appears to have started consensual could end up in such a drastic murder.

She was strangled to death but she also had two fractures in her cranium and it's very -- those gaps, how things went that way have not been filled in yet.

They started to interrogate him and perhaps he'll be cooperative. That we don't know yet.

Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: So, listen, at first blush, those are the kinds of pieces of evidence that sound extraordinarily pejorative but if that's consensual sex, then a condom and a cigarette and fingerprints mean nothing in a murder case essentially to the actual motive here. But there's this phone issue, Barbie. What can you tell me about the sim card of the suspect and the phone of the victim?

NADEAU: Ashleigh, Olsen's phone disappeared. It was turned off around 9 o'clock on Saturday morning. And investigators searched the house for it, searched the area for it. They found it on the suspect. He had actually taken out Ms. Olsen's sim card, put in his own sim card, and he was using his victim's telephone as his own phone when police investigators arrested him last night.

BANFIELD: That's a lot more curious, that detail. But to put this another piece that I'm not quite able to understand, the authorities say they think the sex was consensual. I'm not sure exactly why that would be. If she were drugged and didn't know what was going on, it's certainly not consensual. But the idea that they say there was no sign of a struggle. This woman was strangled but there was no sign of a struggle?

NADEAU: Well, some of the information they're basing on this idea of consensual sex comes from surveillance video of the two as they left the nightclub together and as they went to her apartment. That is all very circumstantial. Obviously, that could be interpreted any number of ways. So that video hasn't been released yet but the prosecutors in the case say that that is going to prove their point.

BANFIELD: Really odd. All right, Barbie, thank you for collecting the details for us live from Rome, our Barbie Nadeau.

Coming up next week, CNN has something sort of unusual to present to you. Our anchors, myself included, are taking a look back at the people who changed our lives the most. And you're going to find out who the influencers were, who changed us who made us what we are today.

And I've got a sneak peek for you. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My son helped make me change.

I have been hopeless and I've had my faith, all of these moments showed me the way, they'd have gone. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These people changed lives.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you believe we're back here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Join the familiar faces of CNN as they share their special someone with you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The voyage that your suggestion sent me on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I learned this from you. You have to ask important questions on the most important issues of the day.

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD: And without my mom, I am certain I would not be where I am.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you were to ask them how important is a mentor and if they told you not that important, it probably means they've never had a great mentor.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I found it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You find it? And his lullabye (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very few people will tell you the truth. And you do that.

[12:53:48] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Person Who Changed My Life, a week- long CNN event, starting Sunday on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:58:08] BANFIELD: He was Professor Snape, he was Hans Gruber from Die Hard, he was the sheriff of Nottingham. Just a few of the iconic film roles portrayed by actor Alan Rickman.

And sadly, this star who brought those characters to life lost his battle with cancer this morning. Rickman, most remembered for his smooth and distinctive voice, was a titan of the stage and of the screen. Here's a look back at his long and amazing career.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALAN RICKMAN AS PROFESSOR SEVERUS SNAPE, HARRY POTTER: If anyone here has any knowledge of Mr. Potter's movements this evening, I invite them to step forward. Now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Almost finished.

ALAN RICKMAN AS HARRY, LOVE ACTUALLY: Almost finished? What else going to be? You need to put in your output (ph) and cover it with chocolate buttons?

ALAN RICKMAN as HANS GRUBER, DIE HARD: If I wanted this to be a professional, efficient, adult, cooperative, not a lot you ask. Alas, your Mr. Takagi did not see it that way, so he won't be joining us for the rest of his life. JASON NESMITH: You will go out there.

ALAN RICKMAN as ALEXANDER DANE, GALAXY QUEST: I won't and nothing you say will make me.

JASON NESMITH: The show must go on.

ALAN RICKMAN AS SHERIFF OF NOTTINGHAM, ROBIN HOOD: Cancel the kitchen scraps for lepers and orphans. No more merciful beheadings. And call off Christmas.

MARIANNE, SENSE AND SENSIBILITY: Shall we continue tomorrow?

ALAN RICKMAN AS COLONEL BRANDON, SENSE AND SENSIBILITY: No, for I must away.

MARIANNE, SENSE AND SENSIBILITY: Away? To where?

ALAN RICKMAN AS COLONEL BRANDON, SENSE AND SENSIBILITY: That I cannot tell you. It is a secret.

MARIANNE, SENSE AND SENSIBILITY: You will not stay away long?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[12:60:03] BANFIELD: Rickman died while surrounded by his family in London. He was just 69 years old.

Thank you so much, everyone, for watching. My colleague, Wolf Blitzer, starts now.