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Stanford Rape Case Sparks National Debate; Fashion Icon Diane von Furstenberg's Take on Clinton's Historic Moment; Singer Madison McFerrin Talks Clintons Historic Moment. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired June 8, 2016 - 14:30   ET

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


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[14:33:09] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

One night, a swimmer at Stanford decided to rape a woman right on campus behind a dumpster while she lay unconscious. Two heroes saw what he was doing, chased him down until he was in custody. Fast forward to now, that rapist, Brock Turner, sentenced to six months behind bars, even after the woman wrote a long emotional letter, describing her pain, her sorrow, and being lost in life. That rapist's father pleaded with the judge not to ruin his son's life over, quote, "20 minutes of action." That father even says, "My son doesn't enjoy steaks any more."

This case has sparked a national discussion about sexual assault, about justice and the role of privilege and punishment.

My next guest is Brian Banks. He was as promising 16-year-old high school football player about to start his college career at Southern Cal until he was accused and convicted of raping a female classmate. Banks was tried as an adult. He got six years. And then more than five years into his sentence, a judge overturned his conviction, set him free, after his accuser admitted she lied.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The people's motion to dismiss this case --

BRIAN BANKS, RAPE CONVICTION OVERTURNED: One of the hardest days of my life, to keep cool and keep calm. All I've ever wanted was my freedom of, and I got that today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Brian Banks now works for the NFL after a brief stint with the Atlanta Falcons and is also a motivational speaker and volunteers for the California Innocence Project, the group that helped win his freedom.

And Brian Banks joins me now live from Los Angeles.

Brian, so nice to have you on. Thank you.

BANKS: Brooke, thanks for having me.

BALDWIN: Before we talk about the Stanford case, the pictures of you, Brian, at that defendant table, your arms stretched out, what, 13 years ago? Can you describe what you were feeling there?

[14:35:17] BANKS: You know, it's funny, a lot of people often take that image of me having my head on the table and crying but in fact my eyes were completely as wide as they could be. There was a sense of freedom, restoration being restored back into my body as I sat there and listened to a judge say the words that ultimately gave me my life back. It was the best thing I ever heard. It was the most amazing feeling that I've ever felt but it was also bittersweet to see it took an entire ten years of my life in order for someone to finally listen to the truth.

BALDWIN: So this is so personal for you, and you have paid very close attention to what's happened with this Brock Turner rape case. I know, knowing what you've been through, what was your reaction when you heard what happened to this young woman and that he got six months?

BANKS: I was disgusted. You know, plain and simple, appalled, and I'm just Brian Banks. I'm just a guy like everybody else who watches the news and we get caught up in current events, you know. I feel that the judge in this case totally mishandled this situation, and something has to be done about it. My heart goes out to the victim in this situation. I just feel that there's been a huge disservice to her. She's been completely undermined. And after going through something so horrific as what she experienced, for it all to conclude with Brock only receiving a six-month sentence, our system has failed her, and our system has failed our society as well.

BALDWIN: You have said that this -- you say that the judge mishandled this. I've read a number of your quotes saying this really boiled down to privilege. How do you mean?

BANKS: Well, it definitely boils down to privilege but different facets of privilege, not just privilege by race but privilege by money. You know, what's your economical background? What's your lifestyle? What's your upbringing? The sad thing about this is that Brock was sentenced based on his lifestyle, based on his upbringing and because of that the conclusion was prison would have a negative impact on him. But what about the children? I'm often talking about who have no choice into where they are born and who they are born to, and they may not have a fit parent, and they grow up in a get a fair education, and somewhere down the line they end up committing a crime, and when they stand in front of that judge, that judge sees all the negative. That's all they see when they do this.

BALDWIN: Did you feel like that?

BANKS: When they see a young kid --

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Did you feel like that? BANKS: I felt like that and even less. The fact that I was there

for something I didn't even do and that no one paid any mind to even pay attention and try to find out the facts. I was pushed along through court as if I didn't even exist. I was a number, and there were times where I would walk into that courtroom and I would literally look around the courtroom and see who would lock eyes with me and every time no one would. I came to the conclusion after talking to so many people it's a job. You sit there in a courtroom and while someone is risking their entire life in prison, the people inside the -- the courtroom, they are thinking about what are they going to do when they get off at 5:00 p.m., you know, what are they going to cook when they get home? Sitting there in that room and signature all along and like the world is coming down on you at the age of 16 and also let me say being tried as an adult, I think the real reason why I'm here today is really to focus on the unfairness and sentencing in America, how someone can receive a 10-year sentence for a drugs offense for six months for a blatant rape offense.

BALDWIN: What about this father, Brian, what he said about, you know, 20 minutes of action, translating to years from his son's life.

BANKS: You know, I really have no words for that. I can't believe that that even came out of his mouth. I don't know the man personally. I do know that parents would do and say anything at some point to try and save their child, but here's a situation where your son has to face the music. He committed the most criminalist act that you can do upon a woman and I -- unfortunately, to live with the consequences of those actions and I didn't even commit them so to see somebody else actually commit it and be caught in the act and somehow is deemed unfit for prison but a 16-year-old kid was deemed fit for prison, it's just not adding up to me.

BALDWIN: I respect you also for your compassion for this young woman who penned this extraordinary 12-page letter that she read aloud in court, that despite what happened to you and lives and years shaved off of your life behind bars, you're still compassionate towards her and what does happen each and every day in this country.

BANKS: We have to be.

BALDWIN: Thank you for coming on. Brian Banks, pleasure.

[14:40:22] BANKS: Likewise. Thank you, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Coming up next, Hillary Clinton has made history as the first woman to become the presumed nominee of a major political party. Coming up, fashion icon and pioneer for women's rights, Diane von Furstenberg, joins me live. Her take on this historic moment, next.

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BALDWIN: The "New York Post" recognized how Hillary Clinton has brought a whole new meaning to the title "first lady." One of the front pages marking the history Hillary Clinton has primaries in California, New Jersey, South Dakota and New Mexico.

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HILLARY CLINTON, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: Thanks to you we've reached a milestone. For the first time --

(CHEERING)

CLINTON: For the first time in our nation's history that a woman will be a major party's nominee.

(CHEERING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[14:45:12] BALDWIN: And the Clinton campaign also made the most of the moment by introducing Secretary Clinton at her victory rally with a video chronicling the fight for women's equality.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Those who think that the women's liberation movement is a joke, I disabuse you about that notion. It is about equal opportunity.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're really talking about humanism.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The time has just come when I was pushed as far as I could stand to be pushed. I would have to know once and for all what rights I had as a human being.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To create a better world it's about putting ourselves in the shoes of people who need a voice.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am part of the new generation of suffragettes. I will not stand silent.

CLINTON: Human rights are women's rights and women's rights are human rights, one and for all.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can't do this alone. Forward together.

(CHANTING)

CLINTON: This is what democracy looks like.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Women need to be represented.

ANN RICHARDS, (D), GOVERNOR OF TEXAS: Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did. She just did it backwards and in high heels.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: That was just a piece of the video that rolled out last night. You can hear all the cheers.

My next guest is among the many Hillary Clinton supporters, fashion icon, Diane von Furstenberg, who created a T-shirt for the Clinton campaign, she's the founder and chairwoman of the Von Furstenberg brand as well as the author of here autobiography "The Woman I Want to Be."

Always an honor to sit next to you and see you. The wrap dress has been a staple for years in my closet.

Let's being with, you were in Brooklyn last night. You were amidst that crowd.

DIANE VON FURSTENBERG, FASHION ICON & AUTHOR: I was, I was.

BALDWIN: What was that like?

VON FURSTENBERG: It was very impressive. It was very wonderful. It was very wonderful to see the -- entire all the people there and the excitement and you still kind of keep your finger crossed and you still can't believe it.

BALDWIN: You were saying it's crazy when you think about it. Tell me what you mean.

VON FURSTENBERG: It's crazy about it because we were just looking at the tape that in 1960 women could not $, have a bank account by themselves, or they couldn't apartment, and, you know, that's -- I mean, you know, we take it for granted, young girls take it for granted.

BALDWIN: I want to come back to that point because some young women do. On that point, having read your memoir and hearing Hillary Clinton talking about her mother -- you have that in common. Let me play a piece of her mom.

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CLINTON: I learned this a long time ago, from the biggest influence in my life, my mother. She was my rock from the day I was born until the day she left us. She overcame a childhood marked by abandonment and mistreatment and somehow managed to not become bitter or broken. My mother believed that life is about serving others and she taught me never to back down from a bully, which it turns out was pretty good advice.

(CHEERING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: And so to you, I think what a lot of people don't realized, your mother was involved in the Nazi resistance. She survived Auschwitz. At one point, she was 49 pounds.

VON FURSTENBERG: That's right.

BALDWIN: And was told she can't have a child.

VON FURSTENBERG: Yes. You know, we have that in common that my mother who survived and weighed 49 pounds but she survived and she taught me that fear is not an option and she tout me that no matter what never be a victim and she also right to trust myself. Hillary is an extraordinary woman because she is so strong. She is such a hard worker.

BALDWIN: How long have you known her?

VON FURSTENBERG: I knew her a little bit when e was first lady, and then I got to know her better because she found voices and I am on the board of that. I knew her work before I knew her. I knew what she did for women with vital voices for women. I knew of stories of people who tell me how they met her in the most mundane circumstances. They told about her problems and how she remembered and how she followed through and how she delivered and what I hear people say we can't trust her it just drives me crazy because I can't imagine somebody who deserves your trust most and who has devoted her life to civil servantcy (ph).

[14:50:04] BALDWIN: We have a cover, you on the cover of the 1976 "Newsweek" after you sold one million wrap dresses. And you billed this wrap dress as a symbol of power and independence for women. And as we talk about sexism, too, I'm just curious, you know, do you think that Hillary has had an uphill battle as far as being a woman? How difficult, especially in this particular milieu within the race?

VON FURSTENBERG: Well, I don't think Hillary spends a lot of time on worrying about the uphill bat. I think she just wants to do the job and gets the job done. I mean, she doesn't sit there thinking, you know, feeling sorry for herself that, you being sexist or whatever. That doesn't matter. You just -- you just go and do it, and -- and she is -- you know, that's what she does. She is a perfect "a" student because she studies and then she delivers and she chooses and all of that -- nobody is -- you couldn't pick a person that is better equipped to be president. It's like her entire life was training for it.

BALDWIN: Before I -- you go, just quickly, quickly, this is the T- shirt.

(CROSSTALK)

VON FURSTENBERG: Yeah. This is the T-shirt that I designed.

BALDWIN: This is your handwriting.

VON FURSTENBERG: This is my handwriting.

BALDWIN: What does it say?

VON FURSTENBERG: "Proud to support you, Madam President."

BALDWIN: Diane von Furstenberg, thank you so much. Thank you.

Coming up next, the general election begins. Find out which states Clinton and Trump will try to switch colors. Why Clinton says her first debate with Trump will be a singular moment in American history. Plus, the video is actually chilling. Look at this. This man is caught on surveillance video. He walks around the aisles and ultimately grabs this 8-year-old little girl. How this attempted abduction was stopped, coming up.

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(SINGING)

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[14:56:25] BALDWIN: Whoo! Madison McFerrin with her band, Binary Soul. The daughter of jazz musician, Bobby McFerrin. She got to witness in person Hillary Clinton's historic moment as she claimed her place as the first woman to be a major party's presumptive nominee. Madison sang the national anthem before Secretary Clinton took the stage.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SINGING)

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BALDWIN: Madison McFerrin is here with me now, fresh off her big night in Brooklyn.

So nice to meet you.

MADISON MCFERRIN, SINGER: Nice to meet you as well.

BALDWIN: Thanks for rolling through.

MCFERRIN: Thanks for having me.

BALDWIN: Kind of a big deal.

MCFERRIN: Just a little bit, not totally, no big deal at all.

BALDWIN: When did you get the call? What was your reaction?

MCFERRIN: Sunday. I got the call on Sunday.

BALDWIN: As in, like, four days ago?

MCFERRIN: Exactly.

A woman who works on Hillary's campaign is a friend of my brother's and she sent her my contact information and was aware of my music and wanted to keep it local in Brooklyn and Hillary was speaking in Brooklyn.

BALDWIN: And you're a Brooklyn girl?

MCFERRIN: I live in Bed-stuy (ph).

BALDWIN: And you said, I'm sorry, going to think about that?

MCFERRIN: I was going to be on stage that night and it was the perfect pre-warm-up.

BALDWIN: You didn't get a minute last night to actually speak to Hillary Clinton, but you were 8, Madison, when you met her?

MCFERRIN: Yeah. Actually, the second time I met her. I met her when I was 4 as well at one of the White House jazz lawns.

BALDWIN: You remember that totally well?

MCFERRIN: Yeah, I was in a stroller.

My family got to go to the Millennium party and I still have my dress and hostess card. The best night of my life. We danced until like 5:30 in the morning.

BALDWIN: As an 8-year-old, how fun.

MCFERRIN: I didn't want to leave.

BALDWIN: Seriously, do you remember anything about her?

MCFERRIN: Yeah. I just remember her and Bill walking into the room and having such a light to them that, you know, you couldn't take your eyes off of them. They had such charisma. My -- one of my mothers met Bill later, a few years later, and Bill totally remembered meeting us, even though years had passed. Like they just have that kind of mindset where they can recall anybody that they have met which is amazing.

BALDWIN: So you are -- when people look back to June 7th, 2016, you are the person who sang the national anthem when history was made so that's nothing.

MCFERRIN: Yeah.

BALDWIN: My question is this. Listen, I've been to Bernie Sanders' rallies, too, and talked to a lot of young women and they -- they are like, nah, so it's history, but we think there will be multiple female presidents in our lifetime and we're feeling the Bern. How would you respond to that?

MCFERRIN: Well, I think a lot of people, especially in my age group since they were not around to see all of the things that women have gone through over the years.

BALDWIN: The cracks in the glass ceiling.

MCFERRIN: Yeah, exactly.

They don't really understand when a big moment this is. I mean, there's several other countries that have had women presidents ahead of us and we're supposed to be this leader a this defining example of what a country should look like, and yet we haven't had the opportunity for a woman to hold the highest office in the country, and I think it's really important for all of my Bernie Sanders supporter friends out there to make sure that they rally behind This woman who will be the president of the United States because the other option is not exactly good for women either or anybody else.

BALDWIN: Obviously, they would beg to differ.

Madison McFerrin, thanks so much. So nice to meet you. Great job.

MCFERRIN: Thank you.

[15:00:05] BALDWIN: And now, let's continue on.

All right, here we go. Hour two. You're watching CNN.