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LEGAL VIEW WITH ASHLEIGH BANFIELD

U.S. Law Enforcement Pledges To Rid FIFA Of Systemic Corruption; Cleveland and Justice Department Announce Changes In Police Tactics; Aurora Mass Shooter's Notebook Reveals James Holmes' "Obsession" With Killing; Data Thieves Hack IRS

Aired May 27, 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] EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: And also frankly go after some of those people that were involve in -- allegedly involved in this corruption, Ashleigh.

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN HOST: I can just say this it would've been nice to have the World Cup here. And if we lost it from scandal I think more Americans will be more interested in football/soccer than ever before.

Evan Perez, great work there in Brooklyn thank you for that. Paul Callan, as always thank you for your insight as well. You always know more about extradition than anybody I know.

So here is the weird thing. Sepp Blatter, you probably heard that name, he's president of FIFA. He's the man in charge of this allegedly corrupt organization. He was not one of those hold out of the hotel, he was not one of those thrown into the wagon and taken down for booking. But he is among those being investigated. And official say that part of the probe is still ongoing.

Mr. Blatter has served four terms as the governing bodies president and Friday, he could be elected to a fifth term. He has survived controversy many times in the past, he also been accused of making sexist and racist and homophobic remarks.

For example here is this little bitty from 2013. "We now have three ladies on the board. Say something, ladies! You are always speaking at home, say something now!"

That is not a joke. That's Mr. Blatter, this century.

OK, so we're going to continue to follow that story, for you we'll let you know what happens there in Cleveland, declares that it is making reforms and revamping at the police force. But is it ready to deal with the followup from the police shooting of this boy, 12 years old. A little boy has shot and the case just keep going and going and going with no answers.

We're going to dig on it, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [12:35:24] BANFIELD: Cleveland's mayor calls it a defining moment in the city's history. Changes to the Cleveland police force are here after a Justice Department report found that the police there had patterns of excessive force and civil rights violations.

The city, the Department of Justice together announced the changes that were coming yesterday. And that means virtually years of court supervised monitoring of the police department.

Other reforms in the 105 page report include commitment to "Biased free policing, new crisis intervention effort and changes to officer recruitment and discipline." Again that's Cleveland and you've heard the story before it happened in other city.

So how will the newly reformed police force in Cleveland be handling its next big test. It involves this boy Tamir Rice.

Police are still under pressure to explain why an officer shot and killed a 12 year old boy who was playing with the pellet gun. It was a toy but doesn't look like one.

I want you to look back at the case from the fact patterns, from the shooting of Tamir Rice. I want you to see about the officer and the investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Last November, 12 year old Tamir Rice playing with a pellet gun in a Cleveland park. A witness calls 911 believing that was probably the case.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And there's a guy in here with a pistol, and it's probably a fake one, but he's pointing it at everybody.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But that's not what the officers were told as they were dispatched to the scene.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everybody's tied up with priorities, there's a guy sitting on a swing pointing a gun at people.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So police say with those words in their minds, officers drove up to Rice while telling him to drop the gun and raise his hands.

Two seconds after exiting the car, Officer Timothy Loehmann, fired the shot that killed the boy. An orange tip on the gun to indicate it was a toy had been removed.

Almost two years earlier, Officer Loehmann resigned from another police force after a supervisor described him having "A pattern of lack of maturity, indiscretion and not following instructions."

Loehmann has not spoken publically during the Rice investigation. His attorney said that the investigation "Must not be influenced by outside commentary or news conferences." And that they will "Continue to remain silent, until the investigation is concluded." A month later the Cuyahoga Sheriff's Department is asked to takeover the investigation into that 12 year old boy's death. And although the medical examiner determined the 12 year old boy's death was a homicide, law enforcement is still investigating five months later.

SHERIFF CLIFFORD PINKNEY, CUYAHOGA COUNTY, OHIO: While a few more witnesses in which we interview and more forensic evidence that needs to be collected. The majority of our work is complete.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Six months after his death, Tamir's body was cremated after being held by police for that investigation. The family's patience is wearing thin.

SAMARIA RICE, TAMIR RICE'S MOTHER: Less than a second my son is gone and I want to know how long we'll got to wait for justice.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And they want their day in court.

BENJAMIN CRUMP, RICE FAMILY ATTORNEY: Until we do something about the sanctioning of killings of unarmed people of color by the people who suppose to protect and serve, you know, the community is going to have no trust that the system is fair.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Rice's family is hoping the system can restore that trust through them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: And our Jean Casarez joins us live now. You're the perfect guest on this because as an attorney yourself, you get that it's never easy to do this investigations that people freaked out that it was six months long.

You just talk to the attorney's for Tamir Rice's family?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I just got the phone with Walter Madison who is the attorney for the family. They have no idea at all when this investigation is going to be concluded. But procedurally, here's how it's going to go. Once the findings from the investigation are in, it will then go to prosecutor's office because it's with law enforcement now.

The prosecutor can decide it justified. And then it's over finish, done.

BANFIELD: Wait without say a grand jury or --

CASAREZ: Without a grand jury, under Ohio law the discretion with the prosecutor is, if they decide that it is a justified killing it's finished.

BANFIELD: One person?

CASAREZ: One person, yes.

BANFIELD: One prosecutor makes that determination on his or her own. CASAREZ: Yes, and that's the way it can be in some jurisdictions. Alternatively they would go to a grand jury. And then the grand jury would decide if there's probable cause and they would return an indictment.

[12:40:05] BANFIELD: So in this particular case with the officer in question, whether there's going to be any kind of criminal proceeding that comes out of it. Very civil proceeding already in works and has been for a while.

CASAREZ: That's right. But that impact and also because the investigation is not concluded, there's going to be a hearing on Monday for the wrongful death suit.

And since they don't have any information they are going to ask for a stay.

BANFIELD: Yeah.

CASAREZ: For that to stop at the moment. But that also tell you about the cremation of Tamir Rice because it happen just about a week and a half ago. The family has had possession of the body for a long time now and they were holding it because they wanted to the investigation results to see if they needed to do their own investigation. But with no conclusions, his mother finally said I've got to have a proper burial for my son.

BANFIELD: You know, we were under the impression that they did not have access to the body for a very long time.

CASAREZ: They have it for a while.

BANFIELD: That's a really new development. All right, Jean thank you I appreciate it Jean Casarez reporting for us live.

Coming up next it's crazy as it sound the prosecution has set out to prove that James Holmes is not insane. And they have a lot of evidence on their side.

And guess what might be the most intriguing piece of evidence to flash through the eyes of those in that courtroom. His own words, he may not testify. But make no mistake you're going to hear what he has to say. Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: All the warning signs seemed to be there, hidden in a brown spiral notebook.

We did not know all that James Holmes had written about the time he opened fire on a packed Colorado movie theater back in 2012. But we sure know about it now, if it unsealed.

[12:45:04] And it became unsealed as evidence in the fifth week of this trial that he's in. And finally the jury is hearing Holmes innermost thought leading up to that mass killing. And it's -- what on page 48 titled, "Case the place," that is, especially killing.

Let me run though this for you. Targets, Random. Method, bombs, with the word X out. And in parenthesis, too regulated and suspicious. Biological warfare, also crossed out. Too impatient, requires extensive knowledge, chemicals and equipment. Serial Murder again X out. Too personal, too much evidence, easily caught, few kills. Mass murders spree, check marked. Maximum casualties, easily performed with firearms although primitive in nature, no fear of consequences, being caught 99% certain.

He considered different venues as well for the murders, the killings, however you want to call them at this point. Airport or movie theater. Airport is crossed out. Substantial security, too much of a terrorist history, terrorism isn't the message, the message there -- the message is there is no message.

Holmes has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. And that's why you don't call these murders yet even call them his killings. You can't call them as murders until he's convicted, if he's convicted of them.

Joining me now is CNN Legal Analyst and Defense Attorney Danny Cevallos and Randy Zelin who's a defense attorney and former prosecutor.

When you vote her that list, that he wrote himself leading up to this whole horror show, was there something in particular that stood out to you when it comes to knowing right from wrong because that's all of this about right now?

DANNY CEVALLOS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: I think probably what attorneys are looking at is the word caught, at some point. Just on that list that we saw there however the planning, the detail demonstrates somebody that knows what he's doing, but that does translate to a lack of knowing right from wrong?

And remember, the prosecution in Colorado must prove. Colorado is in the minority of states that requires the prosecution to disprove his insanity.

And so, does it rise to that level when you read those words and talk about that level of planning? Because ultimately, all insanity defenses, with all the science, they are ultimately lay people, jurors who make that determination.

BANFIELD: Yeah. Not, they're hairdressers and mechanics and maybe a journalist or maybe an account or. So, here's the thing. For the prosecution, and yes, this a little flipped from what we're used to seeing, Randy, in the case as we cover, its the defense attorney that has to prove that he is insane knows no right from wrong.

But in this list, I saw something that was too regulated and suspicious, too much evidence, easily caught, no fear of consequences, substantial security aren't those all translatable into its wrong? Therefore, someone is going to come and get me so I better not do that method.

RANDY ZELIN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: It certainly creates an issue in terms of the standards, which is, do you know what you're doing is wrong? Can you appreciate the nature and the consequences of your action? But I take a step back.

First of all, what is that doing in evidence? That was a diary that was sent to his psychiatrist. There is a privilege. So I start there. I then continue won with -- if we were just having a conversation, and I was talking like that, I would suggest you, your visual reaction would be, "Zelin is out of his mind."

And then third, I think there is this -- I don't know. There's something about -- recently in our circum in the second circuit, fantasy. Fantasizing about committing a crime is not a crime.

BANFIELD: It didn't end up a fantasy. And that is a great point you bring up about the privilege. And I am trying to remember and I have to go back to the document to this now to your old case. What was the breaking privilege that he ultimately lost because his attorney fought valiantly to try to keep those words of his from seeing any light of day in the courtroom and they lost because it's out there?

CEVALLOS: It's been a while since I've read the motions.

BANFIELD: Yeah.

CEVALLOS: But it may have been an issue of that he placed his sanity at issue, and therefore, that's how they got him. But I'm just sort of --

BANFIELD: Yeah.

CEVALLOS: -- conjecturing because I know that absolutely the defense would have opposed that because these journals they've come into these cases all of the time, most notably in cases like Hinckley, right? I mean --

BANFIELD: Yeah.

CEVALLOS: -- they call in this journal, they read it and it's incredibly damning. And for the most part, defendants everywhere, your journal usually does not have helpful information in it for you.

BANFIELD: Right. And now, I would go on and on in this case but we're just -- we're out of time. We've got the breaking the news in the flooding, et cetera. So Randy and Danny thank you for that. But we'll continue to follow it and we'll dig it deeper as we learn more in this case. Thank you for that.

[12:50:00] Somebody got into the federal tax record and they got a sneak peak at about a 100,000 people's personal information. It could be you. It could be me. And I think the folks who did it are not particularly nice folks. But the IRS is saying about this breach of personal information and whether you need to be concern about this coming up next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Over 100,000 tax payers just had something really unpleasant happened and it wasn't paying their taxes. It was that their personal financial information was stolen by a sophisticated organization, an organized crime syndicate, taboo. The data thieves did not hack people's personal computers they -- instead, they just went right through Uncle Sam. They went right to the IRS, tapped in and got your information there.

CNN's Business Correspondent Alison Kosik is here with me to explain what, how does that happen.

You think if you're going to be electronic filling and the IRS is going to have your file --

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: You think you're safe.

BANFIELD: You think you'd be at least safe because there's nothing more personal than the info you give the government.

KOSIK: Absolutely. But what happened here is the IRS had this app on their website, called Get Transcripts. And what did this is allows you, as an American, to go and get copies of your past tax returns in case you want to, you know, get a mortgage --

BANFIELD: OK.

KOSIK: -- you know, college financial aide. Here's the thing. The crooks went in, they acted like legit tax payers and got in there, to get even more information, to download more information.

[12:55:06] And guess how they got in there in the first place. They already had tons of information from maybe previous hacks, or some other way. They already had social security numbers and birth dates and physical addresses. They even had those personal identifications, verification answers.

You know, when they say what's your mother's maiden name?

BANFIELD: They knew that too.

KOSIK: They knew that too. So they got all of these information. Here's what --

BANFIELD: Wait, they had to do this over a hundred thousand times each individual case?

KOSIK: So they've got 104,000 people's information. They compromised 200,000. Here's a little bit salt in the wound. 15,000 of those people they actually got the information of they actually stole their tax returns. And I'm not talking about small tax return big ones 5,000 to $15,000 in their refunds, I mean.

BANFIELD: Their cash. They got their money. KOSIK: They got their money. So now, those people whom they definitely got the money, in the future, when these Americans go to file their taxes, they're going to have to go through hoops and they're going to have --

BANFIELD: Oh, really quickly, I got 30 seconds left and probably less than that now. What do we do? How do we find out Uncle Sam?

KOSIK: OK. Here's what the IRS is doing. They're going to notify 200,000 people via mail, who definitely were affected. You're going to be on the list to say to the IRS your tax profile needs to be closely monitored. They're also going to offer monitoring service for 104,000 of those people.

BANFIELD: So we need to call somebody right now if we suspect, could be us or just sit here and wait.

KOSIK: Sit here and wait for that snail mail to arrive.

BANFIELD: Oh lord, I don't like that. OK. Well, at least there's something else in copy (ph). Thank you and I appreciate it.

And I am completely out of time. Thank you for joining us on this program. Wolf though starts right after this quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:00:13] WOLF BLITZER: Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer.