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LEGAL VIEW WITH ASHLEIGH BANFIELD

Obama Shakes Hand of Raul Castrol; New Female GM CEO Named; Drone Shooting Legislation Postponed; Ben Affleck in Playboy on Paparazzi.

Aired December 10, 2013 - 11:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Want to give you breaking news. The administration has come out with reaction to that handshake seen around the world where President Obama shook the hand of Castro -- Raul Castro, the president of Cuba, in Johannesburg during the ceremony's commemorating the death of Nelson Mandela, the memorial today. Much has been said about this moment.

Say what you will, but here's what the administration is saying and I'll quote, "This wasn't a preplanned encounter. Above all else, today is about honoring Nelson Mandela and that was the president's singular focus at the memorial service. We appreciate that people from all over the world are participating in this ceremony. As the president said, we urge leaders to honor Mandela's struggle for freedom by upholding the basic human rights of their people."

But there you have it. That's a picture you are likely to see in your newspaper somewhere tomorrow.

Also, he may be half a world away from Washington but the president is still working and he says this, that he's pleased that one of his judicial nominees finally won Senate confirmation. Her name is Patricia Millette, an appellate lawyer headed for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. And that is generally seen as the second most important court in the country and seen as a breeding ground for Supreme Court justices. Today's vote is the first since Senate Democrats changed the rules for filibuster.

Caroline Kennedy, us the U.S. ambassador to Japan, today visited one of the two cities devastated by an atomic bomb during World War II. The daughter of President John F. Kennedy toured the Nagasaki Museum and met survivors of the blast and she laid a wreath at a park honoring the victims.

General Motors is announcing the promotion of Mary Barra as the company's new CEO. Yes, Mary. It's a lady. GM says she's going to take over in January.

And joining me is CNN's business correspondent, another lady, Alison Kosik.

It's a big deal. ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It is a big deal. Not just because she's going to be the CEO of GM but she's going to be the head of a major U.S. automaker for the very first time. This is a hugely male dominated industry. She's replacing Dan Akerson, who steps down January 15th.

A little background, she's 51 years old, been with the company 33 years and she's really moved up the ranks, become quite the super star. She started on the factory floor at the age of 18 to help herself pay tuition while she was getting an electrical engineering degree. And she said this year that being a car gal rather than a car guy, has never stood in her way. She said, quote, "It's about no kidding results," Ashleigh, and no kidding is right. She's been a huge leader in gm's turnaround since it emerged from bankruptcy.

BANFIELD: Did she really say like "car gal"?

KOSIK: She did.

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: It's like 1950s.

(LAUGHTER)

KOSIK: Talk about we're finally away from the 1950s and seeing a woman take a huge position.

BANFIELD: Well, good luck to you, Mary Barra. The microscope is on her.

KOSIK: It will be, absolutely.

BANFIELD: I want to talk about one other quick thing. It doesn't have to do with Mary as the U.S. Treasury selling off I think it's the rest of their GM stock, is that it?

KOSIK: The timing is kind of interesting about this CEO change. You see what happened yesterday, the treasury announced it's getting rid of its stake in GM. When it made this investment $49 billion, by the way, it was a bailout of GM so it pumped $49 billion into the automaker, it got back less, only $39 billion. Guess who got stuck paying the $10 billion? Taxpayer. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew says the alternative would have been much worse. And others are saying, look, it's a small price to pay for saving 1.2 million jobs, keeping the Great Recession from becoming the great depression. One of the big fears when you look back during the financial crisis was that GM's failure could have wiped out suppliers. That could have set off this huge train reaction where Ford, who did not get a bailout, Ford may have had to file for bankruptcy because of lack of auto parts. You're seeing this report come out and although you see taxpayers having to foot the bill $10 billion it could have been worse.

BANFIELD: A lot of people are saying this was a successful strategy after the moaning and groaning and wringing of hands.

KOSIK: The U.S. was never in it to make a profit. Exactly.

BANFIELD: Alison Kosik, thank you for the update.

KOSIK: Sure.

BANFIELD: I appreciate that.

A lot of people say they read "Playboy" for the articles, and this one might be one of the reasons why. Ben Affleck has come out in "Playboy" not about hunting drones, no, we have that story coming up but we also have the story about the paparazzi, band Ben Affleck just hammering away at those who take pictures of his kids. And we'll talk about hunting drones too, coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Remember that thing I told you about before the break? Hunting drones? I promised. Small town in Colorado is now putting off a vote on a measure that would allow its residents to hunt drones. Just shoot them out of the sky. This is not a joke. The mayor of Deer Trail, Colorado, says today's vote is being postponed until next year so that a court can look at the legality of the ordinance. A resident there drafted up that little piece of paper in response to the FAA's plan to create six drone test sites around the country, the locations of which are still a secret.

Joining me for the "Legal View" on so-called domestic drone hunting are the experts -- don't ask me why they would be the experts in this, but they are today -- criminal defense attorneys, Paul Callan and Joey Jackson.

I just have this to say, it's a federal offense to destroy government property.

JOEY JACKSON, HLN LEGAL ANALYST: It is.

BANFIELD: Doesn't matter if it's in the sky or ground.

PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: No.

BANFIELD: How could this have made it to paper?

JACKSON: I think it's a symbolic type of situation. I would hope they weren't looking to really implement this. Everybody knows there's a Supremacy Clause, not to get fancy with the law, but the federal government, of course, the supreme law. You cannot enact an ordinance to destroy federal property when there's a statute that says you can criminalize it. It's about privacy, drawing attention to this invasion of these drones.

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: They're serious. I think they are serious. They put a bounty on pieces like it's like a certain amount of money if you get a wing.

JACKSON: Licenses, permits, yes.

CALLAN: This is a Colorado town with 598 people in it and, you know, I guess using guns and shooting is a big sport there, and why not shoot down a drone. And they're talking about going drone hunting is what they're talking about. In truth, this is a serious issue. This is a $10 billion industry potentially in the United States. About 80 percent of drones, by the way, are used for agriculture purposes like surveying corn crops and that sort of thing. Start shooting those and there will be a farmer shooting back at you.

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: A lot of guys talking about this ordinance and support it. It's not that they don't recognize the value of drones. And there's a lot. There's been a number of search and rescues affected by the use of drones, and like you said, the agricultural purposes, but also that secrecy business. Six sites testing around the country.

(CROSSTALK)

JACKSON: The "I Spy" aspect.

BANFIELD: They won't tell us where they are.

CALLAN: This kind of issue has been decided long ago when the railroads when they originally went after the airline industry and saying that they owned the air rights above the tracks.

BANFIELD: Wow.

CALLAN: Because they wanted to shut down the airline industry and eventually we decided to have the FAA and --

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: Competition for some privacy.

CALLAN: Over 500 feet, you don't own the space.

BANFIELD: If I take my shotgun and blast a little piece of U.S. Drone out of the sky what happens to me?

JACKSON: You will be in a little trouble, Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: Will you be my lawyer?

JACKSON: Absolutely.

BANFIELD: How would you defend me?

JACKSON: I wouldn't need too because I know you know better, OK?

(LAUGHTER)

Because the federal statute that talks about the destruction of federal property, and it criminalizes it. Ten years in jail, massive fines.

CALLAN: You can do 20 years in jail because if you're a good shot, causes the drone to fall into somebody and hurt somebody it could be a murder case.

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: I went skeet shooting with my brother and they're awesome. And I officially stink I got one all afternoon. One.

JACKSON: We don't believe it.

BANFIELD: I put that on the TV on the CNN.

(LAUGHTER)

Joey and Paul, stick around. I have other stuff coming up --

JACKSON: Absolutely.

BANFIELD: -- down the pike.

Thank you.

Coming up, the other thing I told you about. Ben Affleck, you probably know him best as the husband of Jennifer Garner, and you probably know her best as someone who's really tired of the paparazzi and taking it actually to the government. They're speaking out, taking action, and now Ben is in "Playboy," not posing. He's railing on the paparazzi who stalk his kids and other actors' kids. Hear what he had to say in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: There could be a big clash on Capitol Hill over the nuclear deal with Iran. Secretary of State John Kerry is expected to meet with the bipartisan group of Senators. They want to add new sanctions to begin in six months, which, of course, goes against last month's deal. Iran agreed to limit its nuclear program in exchange for the easing of economic sanctions not new ones. Bill Clinton's former chief of staff will join Obama's team. Sources say John Podesta will take on the title of counselor to the president. Among his deputies, the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.

In North Carolina, there are some new questions about excessive use of force following the release of disturbing new dash cam video. Let me repeat, very disturbing and graphic. It starts at the end of a police chase where you see everything coming to a stop between a suspect and police. The authorities corner in on the suspect as his car crashes. He puts his hands up into the air and the dog just throws -- the police officer throws the canine dog in on the suspect's lap. The suspect says he was bitten on the shoulder. The officer was cleared of wrong doing but since the video more investigating going on. We'll keep you posted on what happens here.

You're going to love this viral video that I'm about to show you. Not just because it comes from Canada, but because it's just adorable. Canada's WestJet Airlines put together a surprise for some of their passengers supplying from Toronto and Hamilton to Calgary. Just before they boarded the aircraft, there was a virtual Santa they asked them what they wanted for Christmas in the airport. And they got on the plane and they flew and when they landed they actually got what they asked for coming out on the baggage carousal. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VIRTUAL SANTA CLAUSE: What would mommy and daddy like for Christmas?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Big TV.

UNIDENTIFIED BOY: Yeah. Big TV.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What I need is new socks and underwear.

UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: An Android tablet.

VIRTUAL SANTA CLAUSE: Ho, ho, ho. Merry Christmas!

UNIDENTIFIED BOY: No way.

VIRTUAL SANTA CLAUSE: Merry Christmas.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my gosh.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Oh. Thank god nobody asked for a pony. It took 150 staff members to pull this thing off because they had to scramble to buy, wrap and then actually deliver everything that was asked. That poor guy that asked for the socks and underwear, right? And the guy next door gets a big screen TV. Way to go WestJet. Adorable thing but very, very clever advertising. One of the best yet.

In a new interview with "Playboy" magazine, Ben Affleck has a startling revelation. A stalker got dangerously close to his family, and not just a stalker, a dangerous stalker.

CNN entertainment correspondent, Nischelle Turner, takes a look at the frightening run-in and how Affleck and his wife, Jennifer Garner, and are fighting back.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(SHOUTING)

NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Angry Ben Affleck is blasting photographers who he says constantly follow his family like in this video.

BEN AFFLECK, ACTOR: Don't talk to me. Don't talk to my kids. Is that clear?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No problem. AFFLECK: OK.

TURNER: In a new interview with "Playboy" magazine, Affleck says a man who was allegedly stalking his actress wife, Jennifer Garner, and his family for years basically used a crowd of paparazzi as a cover to stand outside his daughter's preschool. He says they used to take pictures of our children coming out of preschool and so this stalker who threatened to kill me, my wife and our kids showed up at the school and got arrested. I mean there are real practical dangers to this. In the 2009 incident, Stephen Burky was arrested for violating a restraining order when police caught him. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity and later sent to a mental hospital by a judge.

Garner has been a major force behind California's new anti-paparazzi law which increases the penalties for taking photos that invade a celebrity's right to privacy. She joined Halle Berry tearfully testifying in front of the state assembly.

JENNIFER GARNER, ACTRESS: I love my kids. They're beautiful and sweet and innocent and I don't want a gang of shouting, arguing, law breaking photographers who camp out everywhere we are all day every day to continue traumatizing my kids.

TURNER: She told CNN's Chris Cuomo she's hoping the new law will bring a change in her life.

GARNER: I'm looking forward to January 1st when the law goes into effect. No, so far I haven't seen a bit of difference. The threat of it is not enough. There are 10 cars outside my house every morning.

TURNER: In the article, Affleck says he can handle the attention but he says his kids aren't celebrities and they deserve a little privacy. He said the tragic thing is, people who see those pictures naturally think it's sweet. They don't see the gigantic former gang member with a huge lens standing over a 4-year-old and screaming to get the kids' attention.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BANFIELD: Nischelle Turner joins us live from Los Angeles.

That is such a great point that is brought up. The pictures may look adorable but what it takes to get those pictures is mayhem. What do they want other than this law? Is there something more they'd like to see done?

TURNER: First and foremost, they want when the law goes into effect for people to abide by the new law. Ben Affleck talked about a couple other things he would like to see done. He likes the way the U.K. system is set up, Ashleigh, where if they take a picture of a child in the U.K., they have to blur the face of that child. A paparazzi photo. He likes the idea of a bubble of safety like we have on the football field or even with politicians. There's this you capital get so close you know, if you're on a football field or if you're taking a picture of a politician and he says he believes that's how we should also practice when it comes to children of celebrities. And I just want to be clear. He's not saying don't photograph me because he knows that he's in the limelight. He says my kids off-limits.

BANFIELD: It seems to be the fair view. I don't understand why though there's just that much interest in doing so and consuming it. Everybody's looking at it in the supermarket checkout line.

Nischelle Turner, thank you for that.

There's this other thing that comes into play with in debate. And that is the First Amendment. It's a big deal. And is it a slippery slope when you start telling people what they can see and they can't see in America? We're going to weigh those two issues. Little kids, for crying out loud. First Amendment for crying out loud, coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: So as we said right before the break, Ben Affleck with a very telling interview in "Playboy" magazine, along with his wife Jennifer Garner have been fighting against the paparazzi and how oppressive they can be especially in photographing kids.

I want to bring in criminal defense attorney, Joey Jackson; legal analyst Paul Callan, who so happens to have clients like Leonardo DiCaprio and Quentin Tarrantino (ph).

You must have had an earful. Get ready. But you must have had an earful from them about this.

CALLAN: My story is it's great to be famous for about a month. After that, you know, the stuff they go through, the public never hears about, the harassment, the stalking. It goes with the territory. They don't complain about it because it goes with the territory. Affleck is not complaining about it either but when they're following his kids around and endangering his kids, I understand when he says that's a whole different cup of tea. We need laws to protect those kids. I don't care about the First Amendment.

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: It's like saying you're against freedom to say go ahead and photograph kids. There is the pesky constitutional issue of the First Amendment that comes into all this.

JACKSON: There is, Ashleigh. Like any other, Constitution it will protection, there has been a balance. You can't yell bomb or fire or something else because it endangers other people just like laws about paparazzi. When it gets to the point when they're chasing and following creating a public hazard and danger to individuals in general and the celebrity in particular, that's when the law has to step in and that's where the First Amendment even cedes to the fact.

CALLAN: Let's talk about children for a minute.

JACKSON: Sure.

CALLAN: Child pornography, we have absolute rules against it. People used to say it's art protected by the First Amendment, no.

BANFIELD: Not when it's kids.

CALLAN: The Supreme Court has said if it involves children, there are regulations and the First Amendment doesn't apply. I think we could kind of view this along the same lines that if children are endangered, we can have special laws to protect them.

BANFIELD: Maybe after January 1st, some successful prosecutions coming if they continue?

JACKSON: I think so. Absolutely.

CALLAN: I'd like to see it, yes.

JACKSON: I would.

BANFIELD: Guys, nice to see you. Thank you as always. Nice to have you both, Paul and Joey.

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: That's it. I'm out of time. Thanks so much for watching, everyone. AROUND THE WORLD starts right now.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: It's the handshake everyone is talking about. The brief moment shared between President Obama and Cuban president Raul Castro. Ahead, what does it mean in terms of a thaw possibly in relations?

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Plus, round two of snow and ice. Bad weather hitting the northeast. Even federal officers in D.C. Are shut down because of all of this. Also --

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UNIDENTIFIED CNN CORRESPONDENT: That was a -- oh.

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(SHOUTING)

UNIDENTIFIED CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm here, I'm here.

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MALVEAUX: That is our own reporter in the middle of all of that violent internal conflict raging in Central African Republic. Now world leaders are calling for calm.

Welcome to AROUND THE WORLD. I'm Suzanne Malveaux.

HOLMES: And I'm Michael Holmes. Thanks for your company today. For millions of people around the world, this day is all about Nelson Mandela.

MALVEAUX: Memorial service honoring is the global icon wrapping up a couple of hours ago in Johannesburg. Watch.

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(SINGING)

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MALVEAUX: Absolutely beautiful. As you see there the atmosphere --