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Legal View with Ashleigh Banfield

Military to Allow Openly Transgender Servicemembers; New Trial for Convicted Murderer; First Openly Gay Miss America Contestant. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired July 01, 2016 - 12:30   ET

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

JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: -- the political affiliations or -- is that he believes that this matter it should be handled without regard to politics. And he believes this investigation should be conducted based on facts not based on the political affiliations or the political standing at anybody who may be involved in it.

[12:30:18] That's -- that is the way that these kinds of investigations have been held -- have been handled in the past. And so at these kinds of investigations have been handled throughout President Obama's tenure in office. And to the expectations that's how these kind investigations should be handled in the future.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that suggesting that he would also be supportive of her decision that she has articulated today that she will accept the recommendations of the FBI and not attempt to overrule?

EARNEST: Well, I think the president's feels strongly that that's the decision that she should make without regard to his opinion. This is - these are independent decision that should be handled by the Department of Justice. And it is appropriate for the attorney general to determine what her role is. And she has spoken to that today. And that is appropriate for her to do.

And frankly, my view of that matter or even the president's view that matter is not relevant. And this is an independent investigation that is intentionally being shielded from any sort of political interference.

UNIDENTIFED MALE: All right, moving on to the next week. The president will be campaigning with Secretary Clinton ...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: OK, they moved on. But there you have it. That's how Josh Earnest in the White House qualified and categorized the comments from Loretta Lynch today and also this meeting.

I want to move on to this another barrier falling in the United States military and suddenly, doors are open for transgender soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines.

I am joined by Kristin Beck, she is a former Navy SEAL but also transgender advocate. She's going to join us after the break to talk about this really monumental shift in military policy.

We are also waiting on Donald trump. He is going to be speaking live at a conservative conference in Denver. You're going to hear the presumptive GOP nominee in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:36:36] BANFIELD: The U.S. military is on a roll with history- making breakthroughs. You might remember last year, two women graduated from the army's elite ranger school. And then, the senate confirmed the first openly gay service secretary. And then the Air Force promoted a woman, four-star general to lead a war-fighting command. That is a first. And then, this happened just yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ASH CARTER, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Now, as a result of this year-long study, I'm announcing today that we're ending the ban on transgender Americans in the United States military.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: And just like that, "bam", one more barrier to service in the American military is gone.

Joining me now, Kristin Beck, retired U.S. Navy SEAL, 20-year combat veteran and subject of that incredible CNN film Lady Valor if you haven't seen it, see it.

Kristin, thanks so much for taking the time to join me on this today. You were the first person I thought of to react to what we just heard of. It seemed like a very thirst announcement but it is a big old deal.

KRISTIN BECK, U.S. NAVY SEAL, RET.: Thank you, Ashleigh. It was a huge deal. It is a victory for all of America that we are living the liberty that we fight for. So this is all about liberty and justice.

BANFIELD: So take me to the fight though. You, you know you became public as a transgender woman after your Navy SEAL service. And I want to know if you would have been able to integrate the person who you are with that person that you were when you were in fighting mode. Do they work together?

BECK: I mean it does. There are 15,000 people who are transgender right now serving in uniform. And they're serving just fine. They're totally capable and they're doing a great job. So I can totally be worked out together.

BANFIELD: I'm not sure of maybe Navy SEAL that is the right example. I mean I think you would have to give me some examples of what, you know, how you physically changed, you know, certainly with the hormone regimen and the changes you underwent. Would that be congruous with serving as a Navy SEAL?

BECK: It's doable. I mean my bench press is down about 250 now. So I've got - I've lost a little bit of strength.

BANFIELD: A little? That's pretty impressive. I can't bench press my kids. Wow. So that walking me to a little of the logistics, so Kristin because I think if anyone knows the best, it's you. The service is ripe with, you know, shared community environments, bathrooms, locker rooms, change rooms, bunks, dorms, you name it. So what do you think would happen in a lot of circumstances when a transgender person is openly then serving with his or her counterparts in these environments?

BECK: It's been a case by case basis. I mean we can start up troopers that they had all kinds of people all mixed up. It doesn't matter the gender, because we're professional, because we serve.

And so it's totally doable. It's going to be up to the person now to step forward and try to educate their peers and the people they work with. It's going to be a little bit of difficulty but it's totally doable. And its really can be up to the person in education.

BANFIELD: You know, within that the LGBT community and sort of the incremental fights all the way along the way for equal rights, there - it has been said that the transgender community is following up behind trying desperately to sort of get the same rights that the lesbian and gay counterparts have been able to achieve but that it is still a long way. There is still a lot there. And there's still a lot there, they're try to overcome and to educate et cetera.

[12:40:03] And when you're talking about the military, the super entrenched environment. So you seem so positive but somewhere deep down, do you sort of realize this is going to be a massive wall to climb and to try surmount?

BECK: I wouldn't say it's a wall - I mean it's a speed bump that we're going to need to overcome with the medical practitioners, all the nurses, doctors, on a medical side alone. There's going to be some work to do. Then you have the legal side and then, I mean there's going to be some work. But it's totally doable.

I'm very confident for this victory to be a great celebration.

BANFIELD: It starts from the leadership as they always say, right?

BECK: Leadership, yeah.

BANFIELD: Kristin, I say it all the time when you are on. I said all kind - and I will continue to repeat it, thank you for your service. I so appreciate you showing up today as well and I wish you a happy 4th as well.

BECK: Thank you, Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: Kristin Beck, always good to see you. I appreciate it.

Still we had this hour the power of the podcast. A story downloaded 100 million times. That is not misstated. 100 million times, a podcast downloaded. And that helps a convicted murderer win a new trial and possibly an acquittal. The story is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:45:34] BANFIELD: A bombshell decision in a decades old case is proving the power of the podcast. A judge has ordered a brand new trial for Adnan Syed whose murder conviction in the death of his ex- girlfriend was examined during the first season of that podcast "Serial." The rulings follows arguments from Syed's new attorney that his trial attorney back in the day overlooked a potential alibi witness and some of the really interesting stuff that might have come from that person.

That's also claiming that cell tower evidence linking Syed to the burial site was not reliable and that lawyer should have known such. These issues were brought up in the pod cast which has been downloaded now 100 million times. Syed's attorney is telling CNN that Serial's popularity played a big role in getting them this far.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUSTIN BROWN, ANDNA SYED"S ATTORNEY: Without "Serial" and without other investigation from even other podcast like undisclosed, I don't think we would have gotten as far as we did get.

We're here today in this position in a large part. Thanks to "Serial," undisclosed and other people that have investigated this case.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Pretty astounding stuff and joining me now to talk about it CNN Legal Analyst, Danny Cevallos and Paul Callan. And just so that we're clear, you two have listened to it all and. You've been transfixed by it all just like those other hundred million people I'm assuming in those downloads. But are you surprised by this?

PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yeah, I am, I'm very surprised because people have to understand this is a very rare thing to happen in a murder case.

Murder cases are filled with problems. I've been a prosecutor. I've been a defense attorney. And a lot of times it comes down to whether a jury believed one witness on the prosecution side as opposed to defense witnesses

So you don't see them reversed very often. This was reversed because the podcast created enormous public interest. And this young man got the benefit of lawyers across the country analyzing his case and then find appellate lawyers stepping up to the plate and really helping him take a second look at it.

BANFIELD: So counselor, you are way better at the stuff than I am. But I will say I see infective assistance of counsel fairly regularly, maybe because it makes a big headline. By the time I see it, it has made a big headline.

And Danny in this particular instance, people who listened to that Serial podcast said, "Oh, my God, that was a lawyer defending him at trial level?"

There were some serious missteps. I mean there was an alibi that was just overlooked to Asia McClain. And then this whole notion of cell tower information that it was -- need some science back then in 2000. And he seems he even said as much with the document and that lawyer didn't do much with that?

DANNY CEVALLOS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, you have to realize that ineffective assistance of counsel claims to make up that legal claim is very difficult and it's very rare. The reality is no two lawyers are alike. They're like snowflakes. And they all make different decisions in the course of the trial.

So it's one thing to look back and say I might have gone in a different direction. It's entirely another thing to make out a claim for ineffective assistance of counsel. You have to show that first, the attorney was constitutionally, objectively deficient. But that's not enough. You also have to show that that deficiency prejudiced the trial.

So for example, if there had been a mountain of evidence otherwise supporting this conviction, then maybe this claim would not succeed. But in this case, Attorney Brown successfully argued I think that, this case was based on a witness and this cell tower evidence which ultimately was unreliable.

BANFIELD: So we should just explain if you haven't watched "Serial," and bare with me if you have, at the time, AT&T said to the police, incoming calls are not super reliable to determine where somebody is. Outgoing calls are.

And what do they use at trial? Incoming calls, which are not reliable. So the question would be, is that something that might have actually changed a jury's opinion of Adnan's guilt and given them a reasonable, you know, a reasonable element of doubt.

CALLAN: Well, yes, it could change their opinion and the appellate court said as much. The timeline in the case was very, very important and the cell tower information put Adnan in a place where he could have committed the murder. And if that evidence was unreliable, that could be reasonable doubt.

[12:50:00] But of course, you know, the family of the deceased, they're really -- I'm sure distraught by this decision.

BANFIELD: Are they ever?

CALLAN: There was an eyewitness in the case who claimed that he saw the young woman's body in the back of a car that Adnan, you know, had possession of and linked him definitively to the crime.

Now, of course many people say that his testimony was not believable. So, the jury did believe that testimony that much.

BANFIELD: I can't imagine with 100 million down loads getting another injury. Everyone's would have overheard about this. If you can find a jury for O.J., I think you can find a jury for anybody, Casey Anthony, same thing.

Let me -- didn't you mentioned the family I have to wrap it there but I do want to give you the statement that the family put out. It remains hard to see so many run to defend someone who has committed a horrible crime and destroyed our family, who refuses to accept responsibility when so few are willing to speak up for Hae. And they're referring Hae Min lee who was murdered in 1999.

I'm going to leave it there. But it ain't the last of it because presumably they're not going to trial again. They're going to let that one rest, I'm sure. Danny thank you. Paul, thank you and happy 4th.

We are still waiting for Donald Trump to take to the podium live to speak at that conservative conference in Denver. Lots of warm ups speakers give ones too. You're going to hear the presumptive GOP nominee very soon live right here on CNN.

And also ahead it is a first in the 95-year history of the Miss America pageant. There she is, the first openly gay contestant. Lovely, smiling beautiful and willing to talk to us about what this all means. Miss Missouri, joining us next.

(COMMERILA BREAK)

[12:55:48] BANFIELD: This year's Miss America competition is going to be one for the record book. Erin O'Flaherty was crowned Miss Missouri early this month. And in coming September, she is going to be the first openly gay Miss America contestant in that pageant's 95-year history.

And I want to show you this picture from this past weekend. It was the gay pride event in St. Louis Missouri.

There she is, surrounded by rainbows and lots of drag queens and a lot of smiles.

Erin, kind enough now to go on the crown and join me live to talk about the experience.

Congratulations first of all on winning your state crown, making it to the big contest.

ERIN O'FLAHERTY, MISS MISSOURI: Thank you.

BANFIELD: And making such a headline too because NEVILLE: is is very significant for a lot of people. I just want to know what it's like for you personally to be doing this and to be and the vanguard of this movement.

O'FLAHERTY: It's overwhelming in the amount of love and support that I've received. Not only on from the LGBT community but from so many others as well.

And really, I still just feel like just Erin. So, not much has changed other than now. I guess it'd be someone that's in a public position of influence for my community. And I'm really excited about that. BANFIELD: Tell me a little bit about the contestants themselves. Because I just sort of wondered what would have been like in your -- again, your commons spaces like dressing rooms et cetera. Were there any contestants who weren't comfortable with it or was everybody sort of like, they're nobody.

O'FLAHERTY: No, the pageant world is an interesting one and everybody just accepts everybody backstage. It's such a rush anyways and all of the contestants are so nice. By the end of the week, we're all very friendly with each other and, you know, we become lifelong friends bonding through this process. So, there were no problems I ever ran into with that.

BANFIELD: So, no problems you ran into but had you ever heard any whispering rumors about others who either didn't agree with you being there or were nervous themselves about being there, et cetera. Anything like that that at least was whispered rumored?

O'FLAHERTY: I really can't say that I had. The Miss America Organization has done a great job of wrapping their arms around me, the contestants, directors. Everyone that I've come in contact with has been nothing but supportive. And I think that's a really strong testament to the Miss America Organization and how diverse and inclusively really are.

BANFIELD: So I'm super curious about how you're going to be on the stage when you undergo those question and you talk about the things that you stand for. And I know on Good Morning America, you said you what you just said. And that is that you're under representative in public position of influence the LGBT community.

So, you also are a firm backer and a supporter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, and they do mash. They really do mash specially with the Trevor project et cetera. Is this going to be something that with you're going to bring to light on the national stadium be able to speak about not only in support of LGBT people but also those who maybe thinking of taking their lives through whatever reason whether it's depression or any other reason.

O'FLAHERTY: Yes, absolutely. Suicide prevention is my personal platform. So I really hope to be a champion throughout my year. I like to be trailblazer on the front of suicide prevention.

I lost somebody to suicide when I was 13. And it changed my life. And so I hope that by sharing my story I can inspire others to speak out on their experiences because suicide is a subject that is often taboo. People don't speak about it, because they feel shameful or guilty. Because of the stigma attached with this.

So, I'm really excited for my partnerships with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and the Trevor project. But of course that's something I'm looking forward to greatly to be able to speak about it on a national level on the Miss America stage and with you here as well.

BANFIELD: Well, good luck in September. I think a lot of people are going to be watching and wondering and rooting for you. And I can't wait to talk to you when you have another crown. How about that?

O'FLAHERTY: Thank you so much.

BANFIELD: Thanks for joining us Erin, happy 4th and good luck to you.

O'FLAHERTY: Thank you. Happy 4th too.

BANFIELD: All right, take care.

O'FLAHERTY: Thank you.

BANFIELD: Thank you so much and happy Canada Day for all our Canadian viewers as well. Like me. It's a wonderful birthday for me to celebrate as well.

[13:00:00] And happy 95th birthday to my step dad as well yesterday. Thanks for watching Legal View, everyone.

Brianna is in for wolf. She starts right now.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there. I'm Brianna Keilar in for --