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LEGAL VIEW WITH ASHLEIGH BANFIELD

Dow Drops More Than 200 Points; Stocks Tumble As Chinese Currency Lags; Cops: Video Shows Ferguson Teen With Gun; Inmates Allege Abuse After New York Escape; FDA Busts Kim Kardashian's Instagram Selfie; Kardashian Takes Down Selfie After FDA Warning. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired August 12, 2015 - 12:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:31:57] ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: OK, buckle up, because I got news from Wall Street and it's on your screen and those numbers are kind of ugly.

The Dow is down more than 200 points at one point, now it's down 186 but those numbers are just uncomfortable. That's the euphemism for what Alison Kosik says, "Get me on the air, I got a story."

She's at the New York stock exchange right now. So this is all about China, and China devaluing its currency. But can you make that make sense to people who aren't financially minded?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Sure. And this isn't just because China, you know, reduced the value of its currency once, it reduced the value of its currency twice, Ashleigh, twice in two days.

What it's basically trying to do, China, is save itself. It's trying to prop up its economy which has been slowing down quite a bit lately and by devaluing the Yuan does its currency what it does that make makes Chinese products more affordable and it makes U.S. products more expensive. And the reason you're seeing the market react the way it's reacting is because that cuts into company profits. People wind up buying less or fewer U.S. goods and they go for the cheaper goods.

So this is the reason you're seeing the big multinational companies with big exposure to China taking hit. We're seeing shares of the U.S. steel down more than 3 percent. That's a huge company, has huge exposure in China. We're seeing Yum! Brands, the fast food company with big exposure in China down almost 4 percent because once again a huge -- really a big significant chunk of these companies to have their sales happen in China. But if no one's going to buy their stuff that's going to hurt their profits and that's why you're seeing the adjustment happen in the market. Ashleigh?

BANFIELD: Al, what happens if all those neighbors of China decide that they need to do the same thing or they're going to suffer consequences? Then what happens to the rest of the world?

KOSIK: Well see what's happening here is China is kind of upsetting the apple cart here. It's causing turmoil globally so you hit on a really important point because this could start a currency war. This is putting pressure on other countries to maybe even weaken their currencies so they can compete with China. And this also may throw a wrench in the feds plans for a rate increase in September. You look at what it's doing to the ten-year treasury rate. Yields are sinking at the moment so we're seeing, you know, the good news with that is mortgage rates because of China could stay lower for longer. But this may delay that increase in an interest rate the fed was counting on that happen in September, Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: Yeah. But no to self, good to call the bank and find out about that refi regardless because who knows how this will end ultimately.

Alison, thank you.

KOSIK: You got it.

BANFIELD: Nice to see you.

For all the latest the institution (ph) to go to cnnmoney.com everything is very simple and clear right there on the website.

Coming up next.

[12:34:39] Close look at the newly release video from this week's shooting amid the protests in Ferguson Missouri, the gunman in critical condition facing a long list of criminal charges.

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BANFIELD: A piece of video released by police in Ferguson, Missouri shows a young man apparently holding a handgun shortly before he was shot by officers who were trying to keep the peace there.

I'm going to show you the video and you can see for yourself. People hear gunshots, they scatter back and forth except for the one in the middle, that's a teenager who's been identified as 18-year-old Tyrone Harris. Harris was shot. He did not die, he survived. But his family had originally said he never had a gun, that he was unarmed. The footage and even the man's own friends certainly are telling a different story. Want to see more?

CNN's Ryan Young is in Ferguson today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Dramatic surveillance video released by police shows people scattering after gunshots ring out in Ferguson late Sunday. Look closely you can see what police say is 18-year-old Tyrone Harris grabbing a gun out of his waist band.

UNINDENTIFIED MALE: Please get him some help.

YOUNG: Moments before being shot by police the teenager critically wounded. Police say he drew his weapon first, shooting a remarkable amount of rounds. From this angle you can see Harris running across the parking lot.

The individual identified by police as Harris crosses behind the darker-colored SUV and you can see what appears to be muzzle flashes coming from that area.

UNINDENTIFIED MALE: He was shooting back at them and he had a gun and all that (inaudible) and the police shot back get him.

[12:40:06] YOUNG: The hood and windshield of unmarked police vehicles peppered with bullets.

UNINDENTIFIED MALE: We got to wait till the bullets has get back from the bullets that had been hit the police car. We find out that's the same gun then, you know, we've got pretty much open and close case.

YOUNG: Police releasing the video to refute claims, the teen was not armed. Officials believe this Facebook photo is of the 18-year-old holding two guns in the air.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think that video is dispositive proof that Harris shot at those cops, you know, given the tension, given the distrust in that community, I think the community is going to want more evidence before they conclude that Harris, in fact, did shoot at the cops.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: That's Ryan Young reporting in Ferguson and he's live with me now.

That last comment you just heard, that that video does not necessarily say that the teenager was firing a shot, what's the reaction from people on the street there to the video? Is it at least tamping down some of that anger that, you know, emerged after he was shot?

YOUNG: Well, there is a two conversations going on here. One, you have protesters who are dissociating themselves with the shooting all together because they say, look, those people weren't there to be a part of the protest and the shooting happened alongside the protests.

And then you have the friend who came forward and actually told our Sara Sidner that it was Harris who was using that gun, pulling the trigger and shooting in that direction before police shot him.

So you have two stories going on here. Then here's a third fact, the people in the community already talking about that the people there were not there for the protest. They were actually there to sell a stolen television and when that sale didn't go well, the gunshots were exchanged between two groups.

BANFIELD: And what about sort of moving forward on this case and the larger issue of what people are frustrated about in Ferguson, plans for tonight? Gatherings? Marches? Protests?

YOUNG: Well, you know, what? We saw last night there were more police officers than protesters. But you hear through the community a greater need for change and what one thing they want to see is some people are asking for the Ferguson Police Department just to go away all together. They've asked for accreditation for police departments throughout the state and they want to see that enacted so they can see major changes throughout the structure. And that's going to take some time. Some laws have passed, but they haven't really seen the actions they want to see. So we can hear the frustration from the protesters.

BANFIELD: Yeah. Story is not over without question in Ferguson. Thank you, Ryan. Nice to have you.

YOUNG: Without question.

BANFIELD: Excellent reporting.

YOUNG: Thank you.

BANFIELD: Coming up next. The inmates claim it's the guards who are the criminals, an investigation into what happened inside that New York prison after that remarkable high-profile inmate escape. You know what happened to the inmates who were left behind? You might not believe what the reports are.

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[12:46:33] BANFIELD: We got an update. We want to bring you on something that we told you about yesterday kind of that remarkable story that keeps repeating itself. A young couple accused of plotting to get together and join ISIS, a young Mississippi couples.

This was troubling in a number of different ways. They allegedly planned to travel to Syria under the guise of being on a honeymoon. Didn't happen though, they were stopped at the Missouri airport last weekend.

The young bride, woman on your left, 20-year-old Jaelyn Delshaun Young is the daughter of a 17-year veteran of the Vicksburg Police Department. And that's not all. That dad also served 21 years in the military.

A short time ago, the department released this statement, "The family is devastated and it's our understanding had no knowledge of or involvement in Jaelyn's plans." Was on to say "We understand the Young's love their daughter and have supported her educational career and will stand by her through the legal process." "At this time," the statement says, "the Young family is going through in extremely difficult time and we would like to keep them in our thoughts and prayers."

Again, Jaelyn Young's father, a military veteran and an officer in a police department, both of the suspects, in case you're wondering, are being held without any opportunity to post bond. Perhaps, no surprise.

When a violent convicted felon claims that he's being abused in prison, you might have the tendency to dismiss it. But when 60 inmates come forward with very similar stories, it changes the dynamic a little, people take more notice, because that's exactly what's happening in the Clinton Correctional Facility.

Yes, it's familiar because it's in Upstate New York. According to the prisoners, legal services of New York, this is what's happening.

Do you remember that this was the place where those two inmates busted out? Yeah, Richard Matt, David Sweat breaking out in June and after their escape, the inmates had been telling the New York Times that they have been beaten into giving answers.

Some say they didn't have and in some cases they were threatened with waterboarding. All in an efforts to solve that crime and solve the great escape.

Boris Sanchez joins me now live.

This is a lot of inmates. I mean, this is an enormous number of inmates with several similar stories.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sixty different complaints against the corrections officers at the Clinton Correctional Facility. The interesting thing about this is that they say these corrections officers unleashed their frustration after Richard Matt and David Sweat escaped, physically abusing them.

They actually tell the New York Times among several claims that they were physically abused, some placed in solitary confinement for weeks at a time, stripped of their privileges. Some claiming that their cells were ransacked and property damaged and destroyed, also some claimed that they were transferred without due process to other facilities and, of course, the incendiary claim that some of them were beaten during interrogations to find out more information about the escape of Richard Matt and David Sweat.

Here's what one of them describes to the New York Times during one of those interrogations. He says, "An officer jumps and grabs me by my throat, lifts me out of my chair, slams my head into the pipe along the wall, then he starts punching me in the face. One officer pointed to a plastic bag hanging on some pipes and he said you know what waterboarding is?" That's from Patrick Alexander. He's an inmate that was kept in the honor block that Richard Matt and David Sweat were in. He also goes on to claim that a plastic bag was placed over his head until he suffocated. This, of course, attributed to the New York Times.

[12:50:06] CNN is still working to independently verify these claims from the inmates, very serious allegations against these corrections officers.

BANFIELD: So, look, it's really hard to do that, to do the independent verification. You can't just walk into a prison and try to interview all these different inmates to get their stories.

But what's interesting is that the Times reporter said his interviews spanned geographically large vast areas of the prison. And the stories from people who ostensibly were on lockdown were very similar to people who were along way away who might not have had such an opportunity to share detail.

SANCHEZ: Right, that's what he believes that these claims are credible. Because these were these inmates were so geographically far apart and the prison was on lockdown that it would have been made it very difficult for them to conspire with similar stories and similar injuries. 60 different inmates conspiring against this guard so it lends credibility to their stories.

BANFIELD: So what's going on? Like who's -- looking into it? Who in a government is it the feds? Is it the local authorities?

SANCHEZ: The New York Department of Corrections is looking into this. They are...

BANFIELD: With no oversight from the federal government? I mean it's kind of like the fox watching the hen house, isn't it?

SANCHEZ: As far as I understand right now it's only the New York Department of Corrections. They say they will prosecute anyone who they can find and proved that they did something wrong to these inmates to the fullest extent of the law.

BANFIELD: I wonder how much she said -- he said might go on in this one.

All right, well keep us up on that absolutely fascinating. I don't why the story is so incredibly gripping but it starts with that greatest escape and hasn't left, you know, our collective consciousness.

SANCHEZ: Just keeps unfolding.

BANFIELD: Boris Sanchez, excellent work. Thank you.

Coming up next, a drug manufacturer in hot water with the FDA over a social media post from stop, wait, that lady, Kim Kardashian.

This time she's making news. It matters what she did, she's got a lot of followers and it's about your health.

So hold on stay with me through the break and I'll explain.

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[12:55:33] BANFIELD: One of Kim Kardashian's selfies on Instagram is not going over well with federal authorities. It's because she was posing with a medication that she apparently took for morning sickness because she's pregnant and she posted a text that was promoting its benefits.

The problem is the FDA sent a formal letter to the drug's manufacturer saying in part "The social media post is misleading because it doesn't talk about the drug's risk information."

Miss Kardashian has since removed the post from Instagram, but is the damage done?

Joining me is now is senior -- CNN Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen.

Am I correct in that she was posting that this motion sickness drug helped her with morning sickness and that's where the trouble began?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: No, Ashleigh, that's not the trouble. This appears to be a pill that is for morning sickness.

BANFIELD: Oh, OK.

COHEN: But what she didn't do is she didn't talk about the side effects, the risks. She didn't talk about who shouldn't take it. And, you know, Ashleigh in those ads where everyone starts talking really, really fast. And all those things that they say when they talk really, really fast in the ads, she didn't talk about that all in her post.

So let's take a look at what she did say in her social media post. She wrote "My doctor prescribed me Diclegis," which is the name of the drug, "and I felt a lot better. I'm so excited and happy with my results."

Well then the FDA caught wind of this and wrote to the company that makes Diclegis and said the social media post is false or misleading. It entirely omits all risk informations. And then the company said in the statement "That they acknowledge that it's communications including in social media need to be in accordance with the applicable rules and regulations."

But Ashleigh, I'll tell you. I was talking so some experts about this and they said look, this company knew exactly what they were doing. These rules are extremely clear that you have to talk about risks et cetera and they -- and she didn't in her post and she's a spokeswoman for this drug. You know, but so they get a fine from the FDA, that pales in comparison to getting a nice social media post from Kim Kardashian.

BANFIELD: Yeah, but who is potentially in big trouble here? I mean, could Kim Kardashian be liable if somebody took this drug because they read her post and they have complications?

COHEN: You know, I don't think it would be Kim who they would go after, it would be the company that they would most likely go after.

And I'll tell you, Ashleigh, this happens quite a bit according to the experts I talked to. They said companies will do whether in social media or advertising to consumers that doesn't include all the information about risks and they get a fine from the FDA and they say "OK, sorry" and they pay it.

I think it would be tough to sue them if something went wrong because, you know, the doctor prescribed it and all the risk information is on the label. It is online if you choose to see it.

So I think someone would have with a tough time suing either Kim Kardashian or the company that makes this pill.

BANFIELD: So to be really clear, she took down the post, right? I mean, is she putting out a different post to clarify?

COHEN: She did.

BANFIELD: Is she apologizing? And has she made this -- it's not like -- I think what is it 23 million followers that she posts to?

COHEN: It's some huge number and as far as we know, she hasn't posted anything saying "Oh, I'm sorry what I meant was" or "Oh, here are the risks I forgot to include it." I don't think there's been a follow-up to this, to the original post.

BANFIELD: All right. Ay yai yai, I didn't think I'd be reporting on something as germane when it comes to Kim Kardashian, but here we go.

Elizabeth Cohen, nice to see you, thank you.

Coming up next, disco was on the top of the billboard charts in the late 1970s. But that reign did not last very long in a very vocal anti-disco movement sadly began.

Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is now officially the world's largest anti- disco rally.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In the late '70s at Comiskey Park during a double head. It was the White Sox. They had a disco demolition night.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We took all the disco records that you brought tonight. We got them in a giant box and we're going to blow them up real good.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And it turned into this mini-riot and they ended up not playing the second bowl game because people started fires, they were ripping things up, it got really out of control.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would like to say disco did not suck. Disco was a revolutionary force.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: I cannot wait. From disco to punk and everything in between, CNN's series The Seventies explores the music of the decade coming up tomorrow night at 9 P.M.

[13:00:08] Thanks for watching everybody.

Brianna Keilar is coming in next for Wolf.