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LEGAL VIEW WITH ASHLEIGH BANFIELD

Edward Snowden's "Manifesto for Truth"; 2 Sky Diving Planes Collide Mid-Air; Report: Doctors Aided Terror; Emergency Injection Helps Drug Addicts Survive.

Aired November 4, 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: The American who exposed NSA spying secrets has more to say today. Edward Snowden pointing more fingers at his -- in his so-called "Manifesto for Truth." We'll find out more about that.

And also ahead, two planes carrying sky divers collide at 12,000 feet. Debris raining to the ground. Everyone on both planes survived. Yes, you heard right. Take a look at that.

And Dr. Sanjay Gupta shows us the emergency injection that's helping addicts survive what could otherwise have been fatal overdoses.

Hello, everyone. I'm Ashleigh Banfield. It's Monday, November 4th. Welcome back to "Legal View." Good to have you with us.

NSA leaker, Edward Snowden, is speaking out, yet again. This time, in a letter said to be written by Snowden, titled "A Manifesto for the Truth." It was published by the German magazine, "Der Spiegel." Among other things, he's calling on the U.S. government to drop all of those espionage charges against him.

Our Barbara Starr reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STAFF, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If Edward Snowden has any thoughts he might be forgiven, the White House says think again.

On ABC's "This Week," White House senior advisor, Dan Pfeiffer, was asked if there are conditioned under which President Obama would consider clemency.

DAN PFEIFFER, WHITE HOUSE SENIOR ADVISOR: None that have been discussed.

UNIDENTIFIED ANCHOR: None at all?

STARR: The chatter about forgiveness has been sparked by this cover in the German magazine, "Der Spiegel," which published Snowden's "A Manifesto for the Truth," in which he says he's seen a positive reaction to the disclosure and he wants the U.S. to stop treating him like a criminal. Snowden says, quote, "The people must fight against the suppression about information about issues of public significance. Whoever speaks the truth is not a criminal."

Snowden's fate is one of the few areas these days where both parties seem to agree. On CBS's "Face the Nation," the Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee says clemency is a terrible idea.

REP. MIKE ROGERS, (R-M.I.), CHAIRMAN, HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: If he wants to come back and own up to the responsibility that he took and stole information, he violated his oath, he took -- he disclosed classified information that, by the way, has allowed three different terrorist organizations, affiliates of al Qaeda, to change the way they communicate because of that, I would be happy to have that discussion with him.

STARR: For now, Snowden stays in Moscow. There has been discussion of his traveling to Germany, but Snowden also wants assurances that the Germans won't turn him over. Of course, German's Chancellor Angela Merkel's government is furious at finding out the U.S. was spying on it, another Snowden revelation.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BANFIELD: Our Barbara Starr joins us live now from the Pentagon.

Barbara, honestly, what are the odds that Edward Snowden will ever step foot back on American soil again?

STARR: Well, if he does, it seems clear that the U.S. government is going to go after him with charges. In his view, and the view of his supporters, he's a whistleblower. But what officials are saying is he followed no legal channels for reporting what he believed was wrongdoing. There are very legal methods of becoming a whistleblower. He didn't do that. Their view is he took the classified information and made a run for it. And he faces charges for doing that -- Ashleigh?

BANFIELD: And you can't just ask for leniency when it comes to something that serious.

(LAUGHTER)

All right, Barbara Starr, thank you for that, live from the Pentagon.

STARR: Certainly.

BANFIELD: Always good to hear from Barbara.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Saudi Arabia this morning. It's all part of a big Mideast swing. He met with Saudi officials hoping to smooth some strained relations. The Saudis have expressed displeasure with Washington's positions on Syria and Egypt and, of course, Washington's warming realizes with Iran. Secretary Kerry is stopping in Israel and Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, Nigeria and Morocco. It is a whopper of a trip, nine days. Four people were charged today with alleged involvement in the four- day siege on the Westgate Mall in Kenya. Take a look at these pictures. Each of these men pleaded not guilty. Each of them denied bail. And altogether, they're expected to go on trial -- are you ready for this? -- next week. Talk about swift justice. At least 67 people were killed in the mall attack in September. The Somali terror group al Shabaab claimed responsibility.

Cleveland's kidnapping survivor, Michelle Knight, will be on the "Dr. Phil Show" this week, revealing details of the abuse that she endured locked up in the home of Ariel Castro. Here's a quick look from Dr. Phil's website.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. PHIL MCGRAW, HOST, DR. PHIL SHOW: Did you have any idea when you walked through that front door that it would be 11 years before you would walk back out it?

MICHELLE KNIGHT, KIDNAPPING AND HOSTAGE VICTIM: I picked the lock and I tried to escape, and he said, now you're going to be punished.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Our Anderson Cooper is going to talk to Dr. Phil about that interview with Michelle Knight. You can watch it tonight on "A.C. 360" at 8:00 eastern tonight.

Two planes carrying sky divers. They're all strapped up and ready for a beautiful dive. Look at the debris that ended up being the real story. Those two planes crashed midair. The amazing survival story coming up after the break.

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BANFIELD: Sort of picture this for a moment. Two planes filled with sky divers just on the verge of dropping their payload on a beautiful day. This was supposed to be an awesome experience. Then the two planes collided and one of wings got severed. And the sky divers and one of the pilots were sent crashing towards the earth. And now, what was supposed to be a jump for fun, is a jump for their lives.

CNN's George Howell has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Flying in formation some 12,000 feet in the air, two planes had just reached they've targeted altitude carrying nearly a dozen sky divers when something went wrong. One of the pilots remembered hearing a loud bang. Then the windshield shattered, the moment both planes collided in mid-air.

According to one of the men who was on board the plane, it turned out to be a jump for their lives.

MIKE ROBINSON, SKY DIVER: Four jumpers in the lead plane get out of the airplane and are on the step, hanging on to the strap. Then they leave. Meanwhile, the jumpers on the trail plane have done the same thing. They're on the step. So when they see these jumpers leave, then they leave. We're not sure why they collided, but they did.

HOWELL: You can see from the pictures how the lead plane was left mangled.

ROBINSON: The wings came off. They were on fire. The pilot got out safely. Used his emergency parachute and landed.

HOWELL: The pilot of the trail plane also survived, landing his aircraft safety. Firefighters say, when they arrived on scene, jumpers were still making their way to the ground. Amazingly, everyone made it off the planes safely.

For something that's so routine for these sky divers, have hundreds or even thousands of jumps under their belts, this accident served as a reminder.

ROBINSON: It can be a dangerous sport. It usually is not. Unfortunately, in an airplane crash, you know, you take what you get.

HOWELL: This time, they all got very lucky after a terrifying scare in the sky.

George Howell, CNN, Chicago.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BANFIELD: Former Republican governor of Florida, Charlie Crist, plans to run for his old job. He says he'll lead the state on a journey to help all the people of Florida, especially the middle class.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLIE CRIST, (R), FORMER GOVERNOR OF FLORIDA: To take a journey, a journey to take back our state's destiny, to chart a new path, one that is built on the foundation of an economy that is fair for the middle class, where hard-working Floridians have every opportunity to get ahead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: You'll recall Crist's falling out with the GOP, culminating last year when he decided to back President Obama for re-election.

A major win for the abortion rights community. The Supreme Court has decided to drop a controversial abortion case in Oklahoma. The justices say they will not review an appeal to limit abortions performed with medicine instead of surgery. It would effectively have banned all medical abortions in that state.

And this news just in. Health care giant, Johnson & Johnson, has agreed to pay more than $2.2 billion to settle claims that it marketed three drugs for unapproved uses. The drugs in question are Risperdal, Invega and Natrecor. The payout also covers claims that the drug company paid kickbacks to doctors and at least one pharmacy. The Justice Department call this one of the largest health care fraud settlements in United States history. Again, that is a lot of money, $2.2 billion.

We expect our medical doctors to heal us and not hurt us, right? But a brand new study is detailing the torture of inmates and terror suspects post-September 11th, and that doctors may have actually played a part. And details in another story after this quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: The first rule of medicine is supposed to be "do no harm." But it is becoming more clear than ever that medical ethics may have been one major casualty on the war on terror. There's a new report out from Columbia University and the Open Society Foundation that accuses military doctors of aiding interrogation methods that did harm detainees, and sometimes very much.

I want to get insight from former CIA operative and CNN national security analyst, Bob Baer.

Bob, this is not the first time that there's been reporting. In fact, back in 2005, the "The New York Times" did an extensive series of reports based on what former interrogators had said, that doctors, in fact, were involved in different kinds of ways in helping to break these detainees. "They're purpose was to help us break them." Is there any circumstance in which this can be ethical or legal?

BOB BAER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST & FORMER CIA OPERATIVE: Oh, Ashleigh, absolutely, not. I think it was a huge mistake for American psychiatrists to go along with this -- you know, condoned these interrogations, hostile interrogations. And as the Senate Intelligence Committee has come out and said, there's been no evidence at all that torture, enhanced interrogation, waterboarding, any of it, broke anybody or led to the saving of American lives. It's just a fact.

BANFIELD: And just the notion that it's being couched as behavioral science, not necessarily medicine, meaning any doctors who are allegedly involved weren't actually in the room and conducting these tests, but they were part of the planned programming. Does that help in the Pentagon in separating itself from any kind of liability here?

BAER: No. It doesn't help at all. They consulted psychiatrists before they went ahead with this. But, I mean, they didn't know what they were doing. They lowered standards. Standards were established a long time ago. I think it's a horrendous mistake. And the American medical community has got to take a look at itself and not ever go along with it.

BANFIELD: Bob, the report said that the Pentagon undermined and distorted depositions on the standards of the ethical principles in dealing detainees. But I want to know, if you're a doctor, you're no idiot. So what is the responsibility of the doctors involved compared to the responsibility of, say, the military that hired them? BAER: Well, I think the doctors are most, most guilty in this, because they said this was permissible. It was effective. And the Pentagon went out and asked them a question, which they wanted a certain answer to, and that's the answer they got. And it was a mistake. I just think this really has to be investigated. The Senate report has got to come out, has got to be made public to explain to Americans that enhanced interrogation -- call it torture, if you like -- does not work. That's what I really think we need to do now. And I think the White House should stop bottling this up and just go ahead and just clear the decks.

BANFIELD: And I should just say, on the Pentagon's part, they told CNN that these claims have been subject to numerous investigations, "Those investigations which had access more information than the authors of this report -- have never substantiated these claims." For their part, that's their thought.

Bob Baer, thank you. It's good to see you. We appreciate your perspective.

BAER: Thanks.

BANFIELD: There is an epidemic in this country of people abusing prescription and illegal drugs. And more people die from overdoses than car accidents. Could another drug actually help stop the epidemic? Dr. Sanjay Gupta weighs in next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Drug overdoses are a leading cause of death in the U.S. And our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, is investigating how a simple drug called Naloxone may be able to help stem the tide.

A warning to our viewers. This next video includes a woman in the midst of a heroin overdose.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What you're looking at is shocking. A heroin addict overdoses. Her name is Liz. She's been using drugs since she was 11. Today, she's 29.

(CROSSTALK)

GUPTA: Adam Wigglesworth and Louise Vincent were with her that night in August. They both volunteer with a program in Greensboro, North Carolina, which provides clean needles and other assistance to addicts.

ADAM WIGGLESWORTH, SAVED FRIEND WITH NALOXONE: She seemed to be pretty unresponsive, and we were noticing a bluing of the lips, lack of oxygen, so her breathing had become quite shallow.

LOUISE VINCENT, SAVED FRIEND WITH NALOXONE: Once someone is not breathing and not responding to any sort of stimulus, you give them breath and, at that time, I usually administer this drug.

GUPTA: Watch what happens next.

WIGGLESWORTH: We gave her about 60 units of Narcam.

GUPTA: Narcam, also known as Naloxone, can reverse an overdose from heroin and other drugs, such as Oxycontin.

(CROSSTALK)

GUPTA: Another external rub, another shot of Narcam.

(CROSSTALK)

GUPTA: And finally, Liz begins to come to.

VINCENT: Liz? Are you OK? You went out.

We're giving you mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. We're giving you Narcam. You had an overdose.

Can you stand up?

All right, come on.

GUPTA: When someone takes heroin, the drug locks on to receptors in the brain, it slows the body down. And lock up too many, and you stop breathing. Naloxone can free up those receptors, essentially bringing you back to life.

You might wonder, that video of Liz, is that real? Well, we showed it to four emergency room doctors, who all said, yes, this is what a recovery with Narcam looks like.

LIZ, DRUG ADDICT: I can't believe that somebody cared about me enough or loved me enough to bring me back.

GUPTA: Back to right a life that somehow went wrong. We met Liz on the day she checked in to rehab, packing up her things, taking another look at the album of her 19-month-old daughter.

LIZ: I had felt so separated and just like dissociated from my daughter. Because I felt like, you know, basically, like I wasn't good enough to take care of her. I can't finish school. I can't hold down a job. I can't -- you know, do any of this, like, normal stuff that every day people have absolutely no problem, like, it's not a challenge for them.

GUPTA: Naloxone gave Liz a second chance.

It also gave Linda Wohlen a second chance. She remembers the day she found her son, Steve, face-down in the front yard.

LINDA WOHLEN, SAVED SON WITH NALOXONE: My husband ran out and started rescue breathing, and I ran in and got the Narcam. Right here. He was laying on his back, totally blue. So the Narcam, as soon, as it got into his nostrils, he started to stir and wake up and -- he came to.

Thank god for Naloxone.

GUPTA: Narcam, or Naloxone, is distributed as part of Massachusetts Opiate Overdose Pilot Prevention Program and Dr. Alexander Walley is the medical director.

DR. ALEXANDER WALLEY, MEDICAL DIRECTOR; MASSACHUSETTS OPIATE OVERDOSE PREVENTION PILOT PROGRAM: Initially, this program was targeted towards high-risk injection drug users. We soon started to hear about parents going to needle exchanges.

GUPTA: Today, the program distributes Naloxone to addicts, first responders and Learn to Cope, a support group for parents of addicts.

Linda has been going to Learn to Cope meetings for the past nine years.

LINDA, LEARN TO COPE MEETING ATTENDEE: Nasal Naloxone, Narcam, the overdose reversal antidote is available weekly at all LTC meetings. If you're in this room, you should have Narcam.

GUPTA: Learn to Cope has distributed hundreds of Naloxone kits to its members, who have managed to reverse at least 0 overdoses.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Changing of the lips, fingernails, anything like that also if you can arouse them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's ready to administrator. It will go up one nostril.

WOHLEN: Must, must, have Narcam if you have an addict. You must. Absolutely. Because the whole trick of it is, to keep them alive until they finally get it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BANFIELD: And you should note that in the initial rescue video, no one called 911. It's imperative, whether you have Narcam, Naloxone, or not, you've got to call 911.

Thanks for watching. "AROUND THE WORLD" starts now.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: A gunman opens fire, killing a TSA agent and wounding three other people at Los Angeles International Airport. Today, we hear from a friend of the shooter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FRIEND OF LAX SHOOTER: At the moment that they're seeing this on the TV, their third roommate comes back, saying, Oh, I just dropped off Paul at LAX, he's going home. They knew. I think that he just dropped off Paul to a shooting. (END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Plus, we learned police were just minutes from stopping the attack.