[Ashleigh Banfield, Cnn Anchor:] So I think we can all identify with a missing of a highway exit when you're driving on the interstate and your mind's somewhere else. And then it's a hassle, right? Now, put yourself in the shoes of a U.S. Marine who says that innocent mistake landed him in a notoriously tough Mexican prison prison and now he's staring at 21 years behind bars in Mexico when he faces a judge today. His name is Andrew Tahmooressi, and he says that when he reached the Mexican border crossing, this Marine immediately told the guards there he had three guns in his truck, legal, registered guns. He says he intended to turn around and go back to the U.S. when the military got involved, and then huh-oh all of a sudden, he was arrested and slapped with a weapons charge. And he's been in a Mexican jailer since. It's been two months now. Earlier, on "NEW DAY," his mother called this experiencing terrifying.
[Jill Tahmooressi, Son Jailed In Mexico:] He's a two-tour combat veteran of Afghanistan. He was in the harshest of conditions in Afghanistan, so, yes, he was suffering from symptoms of PTSD, which is why he was out in San Diego, at the invite of a Marine friend. And just March 12th, he was diagnosed positive and had started a treatment plan. But within days, he was in imprisoned in Mexico, his life threatened, four-point chain-restrained to a bed for 35 days. So he's been brutalized and definitely a setback to his recovery from PTSD.
[Banfield:] I want to bring in Mel Robbins, our CNN legal analyst, and Rafael Romo, our senior Latin affairs editor. First, guys, and I want this to be really clear to our audience, Mexican justice is a little different than American justice. It involves a frightening concept to people here in the U.S., where you are actually guilty until you prove that you are innocent. Mel, that is a very strange concept. How did the Mexicans come up with that kind of constitutional law where you have to prove you're innocent?
[Mel Robbins, Cnn Commentator:] It's been that way for a long time. There are a lot of things that are different between the laws in Mexico in a criminal case and what's going on here. First of all, you've got to prove you're innocent. Secondly, there's no death penalty. And there's a lot of differences around jail and bail and all that kind of stuff as well. So what you're going to see is you're going to see him putting on a case to be able to show that this was all one, giant mistake. You're going to see him for example, I think one of the key pieces of evidence here is he claims that as soon as he crossed the border, he called 911 in the United States and was told that they can't do anything. He knew he had crossed. He was nervous. He said, what do I do? They said, turn around, we can't help you. They're going to try to admit that, which I think is really compelling evidence.
[Banfield:] There's also apparently a piece of a poorly marked crossing. Rafael, there's some you've been in this area. When he says a poorly marked crossing, I'm imagining he's on the interstate, and he misses the exit and, boom, the lights go on behind him. Is it that simple or is there something more to this?
[Rafael Romo, Cnn Senior Latin Affairs Editor:] It's not necessarily that simple, and what I can tell you, having been born and raised at the border on the Mexican side of the border, is that the argument that he mistakenly made a wrong turn and ended up in Mexico is going to be very hard to prove in a Mexican court, because there are signs for two miles telling you that you're on your way to Mexico and also that it is illegal to go into Mexico with guns. And the bottom line, when it comes to this story, Ashleigh, is that, if you are going to Mexico, regardless of who you are, regardless if you're a Marine and you've given this country great service, do not take any guns. When I go to Mexico, I don't even take toothpicks, much less guns, because Mexican law says, Ashleigh, that if you're caught trafficking guns, you're going to face anywhere from five to 30 years in prison. And it is very important to understand the context of this case here, because Mexico is in the middle of a war with about six, very powerful drug cartels who daily, Ashleigh, every single day, manage to smuggle about 2,000 high-caliber weapons into Mexico. And so it is in this context that Sergeant Tahmooressi got involved. It doesn't really matter who he is, where he came from, or whether his guns were registered to him, he violated the law from the Mexicans' perspective and has to pay for that.
[Banfield:] Rafael, what I can say is the State Department spokesman has stated that the secretary of state, John Kerry, has raised this issue with Mexican officials. There's very little coming out of the State Department other than that, but clearly, after today, we'll have to hear what went on. And please update us on that, Rafael. Rafael Romo's reporting for us live, also Mel Robbins weighing in on that, as well, so to be continued on that story. Also, coming up, this is a fascinating story from the NYPD. New York City police department is adding a big ol'weapon to its arsenal. It comes in the form of a needle, a needle that holds an antidote to save heroin addicts from ODing and dying. Is this a miracle drug, or is this a liability? And, by the way, if it's so great, why doesn't everybody have it across the country? That's next.