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LEGAL VIEW WITH ASHLEIGH BANFIELD

Boko Haram Releases Video of Kidnapped Girls; NFL Punishes Player for Anti-Gay Tweet; NFL Smackdown; Pistorius Trial

Aired May 12, 2014 - 12:30   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: For the first time since nearly 300 teenage girls were kidnapped from their boarding school in Nigeria three weeks ago today, their captives put out a video that shows some of them wearing a hijab and citing from the Koran.

We do not know when or where this was shot, nor whether these really are the girls who are now the subject of a multinational search. The video includes an appearance by the leader of Boko Haram, the terrorist group that's claiming to have abducted these girls.

And let's remind our audience, 90 percent of those girls abducted were Christian, and have now converted to Islam, whether by choice or not.

He also says that he'd be willing to trade the girls for Boko Haram fighters who are being held by Nigeria. But Nigeria says no deal. Much of what we know of that well orchestrated siege on April 14th comes from just a few students who managed to get away that night. One of them spoke to my CNN colleague Nima Elbagir.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is a road few are now willing to travel.

There's been one checkpoint after another as we have traveled north from the Nigeria capital of Abuja We've definitely seen evidence of the security reinforcements that the government has been talking about.

But as we got further north, as we got deeper into the Boko Haram countryside where they've been striking terror into the hearts of villages, much of that presence seems to have evaporated.

ELBAGIR: Attacks by the militant Islamist group Boko Haram are constant in this part of Nigeria. But what happened in Chibok put the world on notice.

In here, in these rooms, is where the girls were sleeping when armed men in what they describe as military uniforms came to their dormitory gate and told them that they'd come to protect them. The girls started to assemble in the yard as ordered to. They didn't realize who the men really were until it was too late.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He said, OK, we enter this lorry.

ELBAGIR: This girl managed to escape. She's now too fearful to show her face, too fearful to go back.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A big lorry.

ELBAGIR: Big lorry?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

ELBAGIR: They came with a big lorry?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

ELBAGIR: Was it one or more?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Seven.

ELBAGIR: Seven lorries.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

ELBAGIR: Trucks, motor bikes, residents here tell us this raid was effectively a shopping trip for Boko Haram, over 200 girls dragged from their beds to be sold off as bounty. A message that the militant group's edicts on female education must be heeded, but a way, also, for big men with guns to make money off terrified girls.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If in is Chibok, I'll never go again.

ELBAGIR: You'll never go back to school?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

ELBAGIR: Because they made you afraid?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

ELBAGIR: Before the militants left, they destroyed everything they could, textbooks, the library, the laboratory, their attempt to forever shutter this school.

Elizabeth and Mary are friends, members of the same church. Their daughters were also friends, hoping one day to study medicine. They and many of their classmates never made it home from school.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are pleading with them to leave our daughters. We don't have power to do anything that requires power.

ELBAGIR: They say they still feel powerless, no closer to finding their daughters nearly a month after they were taken.

Nima Elbagir, Chibok, Nigeria.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BANFIELD: Now to some of our other top stories today.

Searchers looking for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 may be doing what's called groundbreaking work with satellite analysis, but the man leading the search says it is still the most difficult in human history. The International Civil Aviation Organization will meet to consider if there should be an international standard for tracking flights, and a vote is set for tomorrow in Montreal.

Pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine's Donetsk region plan to ask Russia to let it join the Russian Federation, all of this coming after a weekend referendum in which pro-Russian organizers claim that voters overwhelmingly supported independence from Ukraine.

The CNN crews who were watching what was going on said that it certainly appeared some people were voting more than once.

Europe, the West and the Kiev government all say that the election was not legitimate.

The Washington Monument is back open, this after an extreme $15 million, three-year makeover. This is it in sped-up form. It's been closed since a magnitude 5.8 earthquake effectively forged about 150 cracks.

August 11, meet today. The ticketed public tours start in about half an hour. Looking great. Great work.

History is made at the NFL draft. Michael Sam becomes the first openly gay player to be drafted by an NFL team. So this was the emotional reaction, and look at that celebratory kiss for his boyfriend.

That kiss and the comments about it, what do they say about the state of professional sports and what do they say about tolerance? We're going to talk about that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: More now on the firestorm surrounding a sports figure and perhaps an ill considered set of comments on a pretty sensitive topic.

Guess what, I'm not talking about Donald Sterling right now. I'm talking about Don Jones, not the older man, the younger man. And by the way, that's not Don Jones either. But he's a safety for NFL's Miami Dolphins. And he's been fined and suspended for his reaction to a pivotal event in pro-football history.

You probably heard or seen something about this. On Saturday, the University of Missouri's Michael Sam -- and there's Michael Sam -- he became the first openly gay NFL draftee, and smooch-a-roo.

He was picked in the seventh round by the Saint Louis Rams, and the reaction might be the reaction anybody would do when you get to achieve your lifelong dream. You kiss the one you love. Just turns out that the one he loved is a man. Watching Sam kiss his boyfriend, Mr. Jones tweeted this, "OMG! horrible."

And then a retired Houston Texan, Derek Ward, went further. Ward tweeted in part, "For him to do that on national TV is disgusting, gay or not. Man, you got little kids looking. I can't believe ESPN allowed that to happen."

So Jones has since apologized for his "OMG horrible" thing. Ward says, for his part, he's been getting death threats, and he says his kids have too.

Wrong! Come on, people.

I want to talk about all of this with retired NFL offensive lineman Doug Dawson who joins me from Houston. We're also joined by the host of CNN's "UNGUARDED" With Rachel Nichols. It's Rachel Nichols herself.

The reaction to the tweets was swift. The NFL did not wait. They brought the hammer down.

RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN HOST, CNN'S "UNGUARDED": The Miami Dolphins organization did, absolutely. And, look, this is their right. He can speak whatever he wants.

But you know the expression, you don't have to go home, but you can't stay here? They said, you can say whatever you want, but not as a member of our team, as a representative of our team. So they have suspended him. They've ordered him to get some counseling.

And they have every right to do that, because let's face it. On that same Twitter account, Jones identifies himself as a member of the Miami Dolphins before he even says where he was born. The picture of him on that Twitter page is him in a Dolphins uniform.

And let's face it, this is a team that has gotten itself into trouble in the past year. They had the Jonathan Martin/Ritchie Incognito scandal. They have been known for insensitivity and intolerance.

They do not want to be the face of homophobia in the NFL, and they took a quick action to put a stop to it.

BANFIELD: And it's just fascinating how quickly it happened and what it says about teams today since this is such a watershed moment.

Doug, weigh in on this as a player, with your history. Do you see this having played out the same way when you were playing professional ball? How have things changed? And what's the same?

DOUG DAWSON, FORMER NFL OFFENSIVE LINEMAN: Well, I think the Miami Dolphins, like any great organization, are trying to create an environment that is inclusive and attractive for all high-performing employees, whether it's an athlete or another organization that just wants a great work environment for everybody.

And so when I played in college and in the pros, I played with a couple of gay athletes, and for the most part, none of us really cared. All we really cared about was if they could help our team.

All we cared about was how well they could compete and what kind of teammates they were, and we didn't really care if they were black, white, green, you know, what their sexual preference were, as long as they were a good teammate.

BANFIELD: So when you say creating an environment, that sort of just stuck out to me, that they're trying to create an environment.

Do they have to, Doug, create the environment, or does the environment of acceptance exist in professional sports, but it's more like a don't ask, don't tell? I'm fine with the way you are. Just don't tweet it out.

DAWSON: I think that with athletes, you know, forever, that's where nobody really cares what your personal life is like, as long as you're willing to, you know, play well on Sundays and compete.

So I don't think for the most part athletes care. I don't think most people are really worried about it. I think they just want you to be a good teammate and come and work hard and play hard. So I think the environment, at least the guys that I played with and the guys that -- and my teammates, none of us really worried about things like that.

BANFIELD: Well, and money talks, too, because, Rachel, the news is breaking this morning that even though this young man was a, what, 249th pick, his rookie jersey sales are behind only Johnny Football's, OK.

NICHOLS: Yes.

DAWSON: Oh, wow.

BANFIELD: And he's ahead of the number one draft pick, Jadeveon Clowney. So did that just - does that put rest to all of this?

NICHOLS: Well, I mean, look, you had Jason Collins in the NBA. The week he came out - not he came out, but the week he rejoined the NBA and joined the Brooklyn Nets, his jersey was ranked number one over LeBron James, over all the other stars in the NBA. And it shows that people are excited about this. You have 2,000 player in the NFL. You are never going to get all of them to think the same thing about anything.

BANFIELD: Yes.

NICHOLS: But I think we have seen there has been overwhelming support for Michael Sam. And he went to an organization that's a great fit for him.

BANFIELD: Right.

NICHOLS: Remember, that's where he played his college ball is Missouri.

BANFIELD: Can I just say this as well? Look, a lot of people tweeted out, what happened to free speech, what happened to the, you know, First Amendment? That stops you from going to jail and for the government coming after you. You can say whatever you want and then other people can weigh in and say what they want, financially, they can tweet whatever they want about you as well. And by the way, for anybody who put out a death threat to someone's children because of their reaction, please, come on, give it a rest. Cut it out.

NICHOLS: Well, the free speech argument is kind of what we've been saying about Donald Sterling, right?

BANFIELD: You just can't say, I'm going to kill your children. That's not fair.

NICHOLS: No. No.

BANFIELD: There's free speech and there's fair speech. I'm just going to leave it at that.

Rachel, great to have you. Thank you, as always.

NICHOLS: Thank you.

BANFIELD: And, Doug, very nice to speak with you. Thank you for your time and your input today as well.

DAWSON: Thank you.

BANFIELD: Another big story that we're following, Oscar Pistorius, the Olympian on trial for murder in the shooting death of his girlfriend. Today the prosecutors are asking for a psychiatrist to enter the picture, a new one, to evaluate this Olympic athlete. Could this delay the trial for a month or more? And, by the way, why are the psychiatrists weighing in now? We're at trial. Doesn't this usually happen well in advance of this stage? What's going on over there?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Like mother, like son. The defense in Olympian Oscar Pistorius' murder trial is pinning his extreme anxiety and hyper vigilant behavior on his now deceased mother. Today marked day 30 of the blade runner's trial for the shooting death of his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. He says he mistook her for an intruder. And the defense called a psychiatrist who testified that his mom, Oscar's mom, also kept a gun under her pillow every night and raised him to live in fear, to even perceive danger when perhaps danger didn't even exist. Robyn Curnow is live in Pretoria, South Africa.

Robyn, I was surprised to hear that this psychiatrist has examined him during trial, not before trial, and that the prosecutors haven't done their own analysis. Is this messing up the whole case?

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think this is probably the way things go. It's a bit different, of course, to the U.S. system. I think what has been crucial today about the psychiatrist evidence was that she essentially said she had diagnosed him with an anxiety disorder which played into the defense's case that - and his defense essentially that he was arguing putative (ph) mistaken self-defense. Basically saying that his anxiety, his venerability means that he would react differently to other people because of his disability and that's why he went towards the danger rather than running away from it, the perceived danger.

But what is fascinating about this is that it's all being changed now because the state has literally tried to outmaneuver the defense by throwing back another defense as an option for the court saying, well, if that's the way he reacts to situations because of his anxiety, then surely you need to be talking about a defense, an insanity defense. So really what we're looking at now is a stalemate. And this is going to be judged by the judge tomorrow about what happens next. Does he have to go into an institution for 30 months to be re-evaluated and then this assessment of whether or not the defense should be mistaken (ph) self-defense or insanity.

And, of course, if it's insanity, well then that means he's not guilty because of a mental illness. And then he could also possibly spend his whole life in an institution. So we've really had the waters muddied today, confusing not only for us watching in the gallery, but also for Oscar Pistorius' defense team when the state threw this out at them. So, at the moment, a lot in the air. Unclear how this is going to play out in the next day or two.

BANFIELD: Fascinating. Well, if there were an insanity issue at all in this in the United States of America, that would have been the very first thing uttered from his attorney's mouths. And that would have been the case, fighting insanity, not fighting all of the forensics and everything else. Robyn, I have to leave it there, but keep us posted on where this argument goes.

CURNOW: (INAUDIBLE).

BANFIELD: Quickly. Just quickly. Go ahead. Last word.

CURNOW: I just wanted to say, his defense deliberately didn't want to argue insanity because of the implications of it.

BANFIELD: Ah.

CURNOW: So this is what is so interesting. The state, the prosecution, is throwing a different defense at the defense, and they're asking the court to judge how the defense should defend the case.

BANFIELD: Oh, heavens.

CURNOW: It's really strange according to our analysts here.

BANFIELD: You'll have to come back and explain how this turns out. Robyn Curnow live for us in Pretoria. Thank you.

CURNOW: Yes.

BANFIELD: Wildfires rage, homes destroyed, hundreds of people forced to evacuate. We're going to take you live to the Texas panhandle to see how they're fighting this battle. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: We have another big story that's breaking in the news right now. An awful wildfire in Texas. Just take a look at the pictures. You'll get a very clear view. Flames in Hutchinson County, Texas, destroying 100 homes, forcing more than 2,000 people to run for their lives. We've been watching this carefully. This is -- these are some pictures that came in from Sunday. And the reason that the pictures show such an inferno is that it just started Sunday afternoon.

The cause at this point, they have no idea. That will come later. Right now the critical issue is getting it under control. Sunday afternoon, sadly, the winds were strong and they were shifting. So that makes it real tough to get a handle on where to go to fight it and where it's going to go and what people need to be evacuated. So, big swath of evacuations.

At this point, 2,200 acres of land in the panhandle are threatened. And if that's not bad enough, you're one of the 2,100 people who were told, pack up and get out now. In fact, don't even bother packing up. That's the state of affairs for the panhandle right now.

We were talking this morning about watching for the aerial drops that were set to take place in the panhandle. Let's zoom right in on that panhandle. In Fritch, Texas, is where we have our live location. We're waiting to see those aerial drops, the tankers and the flights coming through to drop the retardant on those fires. But apparently, so far, they haven't begun. It could be because of the winds. It could be because of the smoke. But at this point, those fires are getting their way.

There is one speck of good news in this very ugly, ugly story and that is that there is some cold that is coming. There's a cold front apparently on the way. And if you have ever been to Texas, especially the panhandle at this time of year, you know it can be dry as a bone. The earth cracks beneath your feet. Apparently the humidity is supposed to get better. That cold front is going to bring in some more humidity and it should help those firefighters in their efforts. But at this point, all hands on deck.

The other clear indication that we're wondering on here is, how many volunteer firefighters from out of county and out of state will be able to come in and help in this. What I can tell you right now is that this thing is only 35 percent contained. And our thoughts go out to those people who have been evacuated. Hopefully there will be no others. We also don't know about the missing, if there are any missing. But so far, and I'm glad to report this, we don't have any reports of death. But folks in the Texas panhandle could sure use your prayers right about now.

Thanks, everyone, for watching. It's been great to have you with us during LEGAL VIEW. I'm going to toss things over to my pal, Wolf Blitzer. His program starts now.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Right now, Donald Sterling tells CNN's Anderson Cooper his racist comments were a terrible mistake. Sterling also explains why he hasn't apologized until now. We'll have the exclusive interview.