Banfield

Ashleigh Banfield shares a success story, one very close to her heart, in all its breathtaking detail for the first time. It involves a covert rescue operation at dawn arranged by her team – Ashleigh’s Digital Dunkirk crew. While reporting in Afghanistan, Ashleigh had a translator. We are calling him by another name, Jawad, for safety reasons. He’s been living in the United States and now, thanks to her team’s efforts, his family is en route to reunite with him. He joins the show. Three members of the team also share their story with us. John J. Siemietkowski, a U.S. immigration judge and retired U.S. Army colonel, who served in Afghanistan as a judge advocate general training Afghan judges and lawyers. Mike Orloff is a retired Army major who served in Afghanistan with the 82nd Airborne. Jawad was his interpreter. And Amanda Fox is a communications strategist and former NBC News producer. Her path, Ashleigh’s path and Jawad's path all crossed in Afghanistan in 2001. And then, new information in the story that rocked South Carolina and the entire nation: the Murdaugh family case. A young passenger in the boat crash that killed a teenage girl goes on the record saying that before his own shooting death, Paul Murdaugh may have been a murderer himself. NewsNation reporter Andrew Davis, attorney Mark O'Mara and former prosecutor Susan Filan help us unpack what’s happening. Plus, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is allegedly leaving behind his dog as he resigns. There's push-back from the governor's team saying this is just the search for a dog sitter. NewsNation correspondent Tom Negovan sheds some light on what’s happening.

The lives of thousands of Americans hang in the balance in Afghanistan as U.S. citizens, and the Afghans who helped them, have been told by America's top military leaders that if they want to get out of the country they must find their own way to the airport through a Taliban gauntlet. Hamid Karzai International Airport is the only way out of the country, and it is a treacherous path to get there as the country is now under Taliban control. Also on "Banfield," it’s not often you hear the terms “person of interest” and “prince” in the same sentence. But on top of the civil lawsuit alleging sexual abuse against Prince Andrew, U.S. prosecutors are now looking to interview the Duke of York in connection with a criminal investigation.

He may very well be surrounded by friends and family at the governor's mansion in Albany but make no mistake, Andrew Cuomo is a man on an island — having just gone through the gauntlet of what could be the worst day of his life. Cuomo resigned in disgrace and is leaving office in two weeks. There are very few who could imagine what he's going through, but Rod Blagojevich just might. The former governor of Illinois did not resign office but instead was arrested in 2008 on corruption charges. He was impeached in 2009 and was sentenced to 14 years in prison. Also, an update on the NXIVM sex cult case that captured that nation’s attention.

One of Jeffrey Epstein’s accusers filed a lawsuit on Monday against Prince Andrew, Queen Elizabeth II’s third born. The lawsuit alleges the disgraced financier loaned her out to the prince for sex against her will. Then, allegations of conduct unbecoming a governor. Days after going to the police, an aid to Andrew Cuomo goes public. And one of Chicago's finest gunned down in the line of duty. As the city mourns officer Ella French, you'll meet the former cop who trained her.

Almost two and a half years after a night on the water turned deadly in South Carolina, police released recordings that should answer all the questions. Instead, they raise more. Such as: Why did it take so long to suspect a member of the Murdaugh family? Tonight, you'll hear those police recordings yourself. And the saga surrounding New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo continues. On one hand, he was a media darling last year. Others say some members of the press dropped the ball — or maybe even carried it for him at times. That debate tonight on Banfield.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo defended himself Tuesday by denying pretty much everything he's been accused of in a searing report released from New York's attorney general. After months of investigation, the A.G.'s office found Cuomo sexually harassed no fewer than 11 women in recent years — most of them current or former state employees. In one case, Cuomo allegedly retaliated against an accuser who went public. Hours after the report was released, President Joe Biden publicly called on Cuomo to resign, and the speaker of the New York State Assembly said the report from that independent investigation indicates someone “not fit for office” — speaking of Governor Cuomo.

It is tough to be a teen and anti-social media makes it dangerous.

In 2018, the Pew Research Center found 90% of U.S. teens go online multiple times per day, 45% say they are online ‘almost constantly.

Much of the content tells young people, especially young women, that they are too fat, or they are too thin, or they are too fake or they're not pretty enough.

Many people try to get thinner or thicker or prettier or even perfect and sometimes they die trying.

On Banfield, we meet with some survivors.

Hayley Hasselhoff is model, actor and podcaster. She has a famous dad and a famous name, but her career and her message are all hers. Tara Dervin is an aspiring filmmaker who wants to use her own sometimes painful story to change the culture.

And Amelia Milo is a singer and songwriter and actor who inspired her peers to lose those filters and love their bodies.

She was stolen at birth and hustled out of the backdoor of a clinic in a small town in Ohio to people waiting in cars.

It’s the true crime story of the babies delivered by Dr. Thomas Hicks in the 1950s and 60s.

There are more than 200 of Hicks’ babies. Three of them joined Banfield, along with a family to reveal what the doctor’s motives really were.

Watch “Banfield” weeknights at 10/9c on NewsNation.

There are nearly 2 million people locked up in this country, the highest number in the world, with many prison systems at 90 percent capacity or higher. So are we safer than other countries or have we created a prison industrial complex?

Social justice advocates and experts weigh in on the state of incarceration in America, including Jeff Coots, From Punishment to Public Health; Nicole Porter, The Sentencing Project; Insha Rahman, Vera Institute of Justice; Molly Gill, FAMM; and Denise Rock, Florida Cares.

Pittsburgh Steelers center "Iron Mike" Webster was considered by many as the greatest of all time, winning four Super Bowls and playing in nine Pro Bowls in his career. But after he retired, he lapsed into depression, amnesia and dementia before passing away in 2002 at the age of 50.

When a brilliant pathologist (who knew nothing about football) named Dr. Bennet Omalu did Webster’s autopsy, he found a brain unlike what he expected with signs of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). 

He told the NFL, but the NFL didn't want to hear it. But players did, as did their families. A little over a decade later, the league would agree to pay almost $1 billion to retired players who were suffering like Webster did.

Since Webster's death and Omalu's discovery, the signs, effects and consequences of CTE have been richly documented, while the list of deceased former players found to have been afflicted with CTE has swelled.

While Webster is unable to tell his story, three legendary NFL quarterbacks are speaking out as they search for a safe and effective treatment. 

During his 20 seasons with the Green Bay Packers, Brett Favre started a record 321 consecutive games. But his career ended with a final play that knocked him out cold. 

Mark Rippen is the first Canadian quarterback to start in the NFL and to be Super Bowl MVP. But in his post-football years, Rippen and his family have suffered with a host of mental health issues that he blames on football and the NFL.

And Kurt Warner’s Cinderella story began with him shunned and unloved in the 1994 draft, but he rose to be the first undrafted player to be named Super Bowl and NFL MVP. However, he says he took his knocks along the way.

Here's what these three NFL legends had to say about the continuing controversy around CTE in the NFL.

Watch “Banfield” weeknights at 10/9c on NewsNation.