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A-Rod Facing Suspension; Castro to be Sentenced Tomorrow; Husband Forgives Woman Convicted of Wanting him Murdered; Bradley Manning Faces Sentencing Today; 17-Year-Old on Trial for Murder

Aired July 31, 2013 - 11:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHN BERMAN, ANCHOR, "CNN NEWSROOM": Hello, everyone. I'm John Berman in for Ashleigh Banfield today, and we start with the clock fast approaching midnight for more than a dozen Major League Baseball players.

They face suspensions at any moment for their connection to a Miami clinic that doled out banned performance-enhancing drugs.

It was just a week ago that Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun, a former MVP, became the first player suspended because of a connection to that clinic. He'll miss the rest of this season.

And now Major League Baseball has reportedly informed the players union about who else will be suspended. Here are some of the expected names, perennial all-star Nelson Cruz of the Texas Rangers and Jhonny Peralta, the shortstop for the first place Detroit Tigers among the names.

Then, of course, there is Alex Rodriguez. He really is the marquis name on that list. A-Rod's attorney says they'll fight any planned suspension.

Joining me now to talk about all of this is CNN Sports' Joe Carter, live in Tampa, Florida, where A-Rod is rehabbing from an injury, also here, Chris Stone, managing editor of "Sports Illustrated," and also legal analyst Beth Karas because there are some legal issues here.

Joe, let's start with you down in the A-Rod rehab, physical image rehab and some image rehab, if that's even possible. What's the buzz down there?

JOE CARTER, CNN SPORTS: Well, John, I can tell you that the feeling is that this decision, this suspension, is looming ever so close.

Of course, several media outlets reporting that a decision on a suspension will come down this week, MLB.com reporting that the decision is imminent.

With so much controversy looming, Alex Rodriguez continues to show up to his rehab assignment here in Tampa, Florida, the Yankees spring training facility, as usual. He arrived about an hour ago, took some b.p. in the batting cage. He's headed out to the field now to do ground balls, his typical, normal rehab assignment to get himself healthy and prepare to return to the Yankees, John.

BERMAN: Meanwhile, however, his representatives have made clear all over the media that they will fight any suspension.

Why fight it? Why not just accept the penalty like Ryan Braun did last week, and Ryan Braun will be playing again next season?

CARTER: You know, John, Alex Rodriguez and his attorneys have said that they plan to fight this, and their goal is no suspension whatsoever.

Alex Rodriguez has denied any involvement with Tony Bosch, he's denied any involvement with that Biogenesis clinic that's now closed in south Florida.

And he has said that baseball is his first love, and that he plans to get back to the game and he's working to do everything possible to not only repair his body, but as you said, John, repair his image.

BERMAN: All right, Joe Carter, thanks so much.

Chris Stone, we're hearing that other players on this list might very well accept the penalties from the commissioner like Ryan Braun did.

This is fascinating, a fascinating change for anyone who has covered performance-enhancing drugs in sports over the last 10 or 15 years.

The players union doesn't seem to be putting up much of a fight in this case. Why is that?

CHRIS STONE, MANAGING EDITOR, "SPORTS ILLUSTRATED": Well, I think, you know, since the last collective bargaining agreement you've seen a spirit of collaboration between the union and management that hasn't existed before.

And frankly, you know, how quickly Ryan Braun accepted his punishment indicated that there was probably a pretty strong body of evidence against him, and I don't think the players union wants to be seen positioned as being resistant to reform as far as MLB's drug policy goes.

BERMAN: Right. We're not even at the trade deadline. The trade deadline is midnight tonight, not even the dog days of summer. There are still pennant races going on here.

So why issue these suspensions now? Why not wait until the end of the season so it doesn't affect the pennant race in the post-season?

STONE: The news is already out there, and it's going to hang over the narrative for the rest of the season, so think they want to adjudicate it as quickly and as cleanly as possible, and by all indications from the reports in the last 24 hours, they're going to be able to do just that.

Now, obviously, the big impediment here is going to be Alex Rodriguez because, if he doesn't accept whatever terms that MLB is putting in front of him, it's going to really complicate the narrative.

It's going to hang over the narrative for the rest of the season, and I think that's what baseball really wants to avoid here.

BERMAN: That could be a circus, no doubt about that.

Also interesting, Chris, that some of the teams seem to be preparing already for suspensions. The Detroit Tigers just traded for a shortstop overnight, seems to be they're already thinking about replacing Jhonny Peralta.

Chris Stone from "Sports Illustrated," thanks so much. Joe Carter, thanks to you, too.

That's the sports side of it. There is really is a legal side to this. A court ruling this week that says baseball can go after this Biogenesis clinic,. It can sue them.

That means getting testimony or depositions from former workers, also from A-Rod's cousin who is also listed in the Biogenesis records.

Joining me now to talk about this angle of it is legal analyst and former prosecutor Beth Karas.

Beth, explain the significance of this court decision, the ability to sue Biogenesis. Since, apparently, Major League Baseball has already decided to suspend and for how long, what are the other implications here?

BETH KARAS, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Well, you know, it's a warning to any other company that may be out there doing what is alleged, and that is a conspiracy to solicit players basically to breach their collective bargaining agreement.

There's been a provision in the agreement since 2003. It's a drug prevention and treatment provision, and soliciting players, allegedly, to buy these drugs is a violation of the contract.

So Major League Baseball says they've lost revenue, profit, goodwill. They're not specifying the damages they want to collect from Biogenesis, but they're saying, look, you can't go and do this to our players.

They are bound by a contract that says they are not going to take drugs like this, and if you're going to knowingly sell them drugs and package them with fake names or partial names, we're going to come after you. We're not going to let you do it.

So it's not just Biogenesis that may be hurt here but any future company that thinks they're going to engage in this kind of conduct with a Major League player. BERMAN: Let's talk about A-Rod for a second here because there are talks of a major suspension, even whispers of possibly some kind of ban from baseball.

What kind of recourse does he have? What appeals process does he have? Is it limited only to baseball and the collective bargaining agreement, or does he have legal recourse here to fight back?

KARAS: Well, his next step would be to appeal to the arbitration panel. These appeals aren't often won under facts like this by players, but it has happened in the past. So it's a three-person panel. He would appeal to that.

Now, I believe this is a binding arbitration, which means that's it for him. So he has to hope that this arbitration panel will see things his way.

Now, he's adamant, right, that he's innocent and he wants to protect his own reputation, so good for him if, indeed, that's the case, and maybe there isn't a lot of evidence against him. Perhaps there's more against other players. We just don't know everything that they have.

He couldn't go outside unless there were, I don't know, some problem with the collective bargaining agreement itself, and I'm sure that Major League Baseball is pretty protective there. So it looks like the arbitration panel is probably all he's got.

BERMAN: He has maintained his innocence, but I should note that Ryan Braun maintained his innocence until he agreed to that suspension just one week ago.

Beth Karas, thanks so much. Great to see you. We appreciate it.

Kidnapper and sexual abuser Ariel Castro will be sentenced in Cleveland tomorrow. Last week Castro pled guilty to 937 counts related to the three women he had held in his home and abused for 10 years.

We're expecting him to speak at the sentencing tomorrow. It's not known if Amanda Berry, Michelle Knight or Gina DeJesus will be there, but we will be there.

You can watch the sentencing live tomorrow starting at 9:00 in the morning, Eastern time, right here on CNN.

On now to our next case, a woman tries to hire a hit man to kill her husband. Now the husband begs the judge not to send her to prison. Yes, I said begs. The husband begs the judge not to send her to prison.

We'll tell you the details, next.

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BERMAN: OK, our next story sounds like the plot of a TV soap opera, a good one, too. A woman is convicted of planning to kill her husband for the insurance money, but the good husband forgives her and asks the judge not to send her to prison.

So did the judge say yes? Michaela Pereira has the details.

Michaela?

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, Julia Merfeld had no idea the man she was talking to was an undercover cop and the conversation with him was being caught on tape.

Incredibly, before she was sentenced, her husband forgave her and even asked the judge to show her mercy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JACOB MERFELD, HUSBAND OF WOMAN WHO HIRED HITMAN: I would like to ask you to forgive my wife for all she has done in this act of hatred.

PEREIRA: The act of hatred? Plotting his murder. Twenty-one-year- old Julia Merfeld was caught on camera twice in April trying to hire a hit man to kill her husband, 27-year-old Jacob Merfeld.

JULIA MERFELD, HIRED HITMAN TO KILL HUSBAND: Let's just make it painless. I don't want him to suffer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm just going to take him (inaudible) and I'm going to shoot him right in the face.

JULIA MERFELD: OK.

PEREIRA: Why did she want him shot in the face? She told an undercover Michigan state police detective she'd rather kill her husband than break his heart by leaving him.

JULIA MERFELD: It's easier than divorcing him. I didn't have to worry about the judgment of my family. I didn't have to worry about breaking his heart.

PEREIRA: But authorities say she was actually motivated by money, planning to cash in on her husband's $400,000 insurance policy, $50,000 of which would go to the hitman.

Now she's traded her superhero sweatshirt for jailhouse blues, pleading guilty to solicitation of murder.

Just before her sentencing Tuesday, Merfeld begged the judge for leniency, saying she's already been punished.

JULIA MERFELD: Honestly, it could have been worse. The crime I attempted could have been carried out, and that alone, honestly, is the worst punishment anyone should ever have to endure and I will endure it for the rest of my life every single day.

PEREIRA: A far cry from the same woman who was seen laughing as she told an undercover cop she wanted her husband killed in the front yard.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don't want it done in the house, then?

JULIA MERFELD: Because it would be messy in the house.

PEREIRA: And her husband, not only does Jacob Merfeld forgive his wife, he told the judge he didn't want her to serve any prison time.

JACOB MERFELD: Before this, she's been a wonderful person, a wonderful wife.

I'm sure, as you know, we have two young children. I just ask for a lighter sentence, if you could, please, sir.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PEREIRA: The judge sentenced Merfeld to at least six years in prison. She could, however, serve as long as 20 years behind bars.

John?

BERMAN: Wow. That is one forgiving husband.

Michaela Pereira, thanks so much.

At this hour, Wikileaker Bradley Manning is learning just how long he will spend behind bars just one day after a judge found him of guilty of espionage, a live report coming up next.

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BERMAN: Right now a military judge is deciding just how long Army Private Bradley Manning will spend behind bars. Yesterday the judge found manning not guilty of the most serious charge he face, aiding the enemy, but he was found guilty of 20 other charges, which taken together carry a maximum sentence of 136 years in prison. All stemmed from Manning releasing hundreds of thousands of military and diplomatic videos and documents to Wikileaks for publication on the internet. This next video in particular really shows what can go on in war, the dark side. A U.S. helicopter gun ship firing on people believed to be Iraqi insurgents.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're still firing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Those fired on were not insurgents but civilians. Nine were killed, including a photographer and driver for the Reuters News Agency. Barbara Starr joins us now at the Pentagon. Barbara, first, what's the latest from this morning's proceedings?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, right now they're starting the sentencing phase. The judge is going to listen to both sides on the key question of much damage did Bradley Manning's leaks really cause to national security? And it really goes to what you just showed in the video. Was it damaged to national security? The prosecution, the government, says yes. The defense says look at things like that video. It's all about embarrassing the government. Manning was disillusioned with the war, he was troubled by what he saw, like the matter in that video, and he wanted the public to know what was going on. That's the defense's case. The prosecution sees it very differently.

BERMAN: Is Manning really looking at 136 years in prison, or in the end, could it really be a much shorter time?

STARR: Well, that would be the maximum. You know, there is an interesting wrinkle in that question, because the judge has already said she will knock off about 112 days off any sentence he gets because of the time he served at a military prison here in the Washington area in which he was held in solitary confinement, stripped naked. The government again said that was because he was a suicide risk. The judge found suicide risk or not, that was not the correct or appropriate condition for him to be held in, so she's already going to take time off for that.

I think the issue is the government will go for the maximum, and the defense will have to convince the judge that national security was not harmed by what he did and that he did not have the intention to harm the country.

BERMAN: All right. Thanks, Barbara Starr at the Pentagon. We should say that decision being made right now. Joining us now for more on this case, criminal defense attorney Jeffrey King. He's also a former judge advocate general in the U.S. Marine Corps. Thanks for being with us. Really appreciate it. The judge said the prosecution failed in proving the most serious charge here, that Manning aided the enemy. What did the prosecution do wrong in its case?

JEFFREY KING, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, I think, really, they just overreached and they went a little bit too far. Because essentially, I mean, he pled to nearly half of these charges under the Espionage Act to be included. So he admitted to the military judge he was also the trier of fact in this case that he did these things. And the government decided they were going to go one step further and not only show that he disseminated this information, but that he intentionally tried to aid the enemy and assist them and show them where our troops were and things like that to kill American forces, and the judge decided that was a hurdle that was too high for the government to overcome.

BERMAN: A legal bridge too far. As a former JAG, do you think what manning did harmed servicemen and women, particularly those overseas serving in combat?

KING: Everyone is going to speculate what happened inside that courtroom, and the only person who can really weigh in on that is the trier of fact, in this case the judge. And so, I don't know because I don't know because I don't know all the facts behind that. I do know that even if the evidence comes out that he did harm national security, the point was with the aiding the enemy that the government failed to show that was his intent, that was his purpose in doing that. So even if he had released this information and that caused harm to our national defense, our national security, that still doesn't rise to the level of aiding the enemy. So if they're able to show that, then certainly that will affect his sentencing case, but again, that is why the judge found him not guilty of aiding the enemy.

BERMAN: The judge clearly looking for some kind of middle ground there in the verdict. It will be interesting to see if the judge seeks a middle ground in the sentencing as well. Jeffrey King, thank you so much. I appreciate you being with us.

At this hour in a Kentucky courtroom, opening statements by the prosecution and defense as a 17-year-old is on trial for killing his stepbrother.

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BERMAN: Welcome back, everyone. A 17-year-old boy is on trial in Louisville, Kentucky accused of helping his father beat his 14-year- old stepbrother to death. The defense just wrapped up its opening statements and the prosecution just called its first witness, Molly Varner. She's an art teacher at Liberty High School and she was on a walk with her students when they found Trey Zwicker's body. Joshua Young is charged with complicity of murder and complicity to tampering with evidence. His father, Joshua Gouker, already pled guilty to murder. He received a life sentence, but this morning the prosecution told the jury, Young was also a killer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIN WHITE, PROSECUTOR: Trey Zwicker afraid of the dark, and it was in a dark ditch where was brutally murdered by Josh Gouker and Josh Young. Where he was found, face down. covered in blood; where he was found with his face smashed in and teeth chipped; where he was found with his skull bashed open, his head and neck having been struck multiple times, maybe with a bat? Maybe with a metal pipe?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: The prosecution painting a grisly picture for that jury there as the prosecution often does. Joining me now, legal analyst and former prosecutor Beth Karas and criminal defense attorney Courtney Pilchman. Thanks for being with us on this subject, guys. Beth, what evidence, as a prosecutor, would you point to to show Josh Young not only helped kill his stepbrother but that possibly also actually killed him, too?

KARAS: You know, there isn't a lot of evidence here, but Joshua Young did speak to the police several times and the police will use his statements which have been found admissible against him. There will be inconsistencies. But the critical witness is a cousin, a cousin to his father, also a Joshua, who will testify against him and say that the Young Joshua, Joshua Young, awakened her in the night and said, I need you to help me get rid of some stuff.

And she helped him or drove him to dump the murder weapon. A pipe or a bat or whatever it was, which was never recovered. The area they dumped it in, a dumpster, was never searched. She didn't believe her young cousin at first, but she will be a critical witness in his statements. But the weapon has never been recovered, there is no DNA at the scene to link Joshua Young to this.

However -- and his father says his son had nothing to do with it and that he sent his son as a decoy to the cousin to get rid of the bag while he, the father, got rid of the actual murder weapon. So, I mean, there may be a problem here for the prosecution.

BERMAN: As far as the defense goes, the defense seems to be putting all the blame on Joshua Young's father, Joshua Gouker. Let's listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE SCHULER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: He was the fall guy. He was set up by his father to take the fall for this crime for something that his father did do. Joshua is not guilty of murder. He's not guilty because he didn't do it. He wasn't there when it happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Courtney, this seems to be the key here. It was all the father's fault, says the defense.

COURTNEY PILCHMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: And that's the thing. I mean, you have a 15-year-old, Joshua was 15 at the time, and clearly he has had a traumatic life up to that point. I think what the father was trying to do realistically is he was trying to manipulate Joshua and the criminal justice system by having his son take the fall, because he thought his son would be tried as a juvenile and not suffer as much custody time, when in reality, that's not what the prosecutors chose to do. They chose to charge him as an adult which made the father come forward and take responsibility.

So there are all sorts of questions in the air in regard to who did it, why it was done. And the cover-up, as Beth mentioned, there were so many different stories. I think the prosecution will have a very difficult time proving that Joshua had anything to do with this murder. I think what they're going to have is a lot of sympathy for this young, young child who was manipulated, who has had a terrible life and is only trying to do by his father what he wants his father to do for him, which is love him. And so it's a sad situation for sure.

BERMAN: The jury will need to hear from the father to get the facts of the case, Beth. But isn't there a risk for the prosecution in that by hearing from the father at all that he comes off as particularly unsympathetic and it may create sympathy for the son, Joshua Young?

KARAS: Yes, indeed. And, you know, keep in mind that if a jury does find that Joshua Young is not guilty, it doesn't mean he had nothing to do with it. It just means there are too many questions about exactly what happened and what his role is. And that's reasonable doubt. So jurors may find that they can't figure it out and they're not going to send this boy to prison for the rest of his life.

BERMAN: Beth Karas, Courtney Pilchman, thank you so much for that. Stay with us. We'll come back to you in a second.

We're going to talk about other top stories right now. We have an update on a story we brought you yesterday about a gay woman who was refusing to testify against her wife in a murder trial. Geneva Case wants spousal privilege since she and Bobbi Jo Cleary entered into a civil union in Vermont.