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Boy Shot in Ohio; Sen. Graham Furious on Intel Report; Fraternity Suspended Due to Sexual Assault Allegations; Suicide Bomber Attacks Volleyball Game; Timetable For Grand Jury Announcement Changes; Startup Aims To Prevent Doorstep Package Theft

Aired November 23, 2014 - 16:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITIFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. A tragedy in Cleveland, Ohio. A 12-year-old boy shot and killed after police thought he was holding a real gun that turned out to be an air soft replica gun. Sara Ganim has more on the sequence of events.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA GANIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A 12-year-old boy is dead after a police shooting in Cleveland Saturday.

UNIDENTIFED MALE: There's a guy in here with a pistol. He's like pointing it at everybody. It scared the (INAUDIBLE) out of me.

GANIM: The gun was fake. An air soft replica gun that looks like a semi automatic pistol, Cleveland Police says. Adding the orange tab that's supposed to identify as a BB type gun had been removed.

But police say it's not clear if the responding officers knew if the gun might be fake when they arrived at the playground of the Rec Center where the 911 call was made. When an officer ordered the boy to put his hands in the air, police say the boy instead reached for his waistband.

DEPUTY CHIEF ED TOMBA, CLEVALAND POLICE: There was no verbal or no confrontation. The officers ordered him to stop and to show his hands and he went into his waistband and pulled out the weapon.

GANIM: Police say the officer fired two shots and the boy was hit in the torso. He died Sunday morning following surgery. The family's attorney told CNN, "It's devastating. A mom let's her son go to the park and finds out he has been shot. We're starting our investigation. We're gathering our witnesses and they're gathering theirs." The Cleveland Police use of force team is also investigating.

TOMBA: Their job is to respond to their assignments and to protect the community and when an officer gives a command we expect it to be followed. The way it looks now it was not followed.

CNN spoke to the boy's family attorney today and when the issue of race came up he said this is not a race issue it's a right and wrong issue. We also talked to the (INAUDIBLE) county prosecutor's office and we're told that the case will eventually be presented to a grand jury for a decision. Right now the officer is on administrative leave. Fred.

WHITFIELD: Sara, let's talk more about a very different shooting that one taking place in New York. A police involved shooting that has many people upset and in fact there are many people who are protesting last night, today after an officer killed a man accidentally in a stairwell. What more is being said about that situation?

GANIM: Police are calling that one a very unfortunate tragedy. They say that it was a man who was completely innocent. An unarmed man, 28-year-old Ake Gurley, they called him a complete innocent in this. An accidental discharge apparently. This whole thing was an accident. It happened Friday night in what police called a pitch black stairway in the housing projects in Brooklyn.

Gurley was entering on the seven and the other was entering on the eight floor. And the officer's gun went off, shooting Gurley once in the chest. He died at the hospital. Now as you mentioned there were protests this morning but those protesters are not the only ones with questions about how this could happen. The Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson said in in a statement that the shooting was "deeply troubling and warrants an immediate fair and thorough investigation."

The officer I should note, Fred, was a rookie, still on probationary status, less than 18 months on the job and he has been stripped of his badge and his gun for now.

WHITFIELD: All right. Sara Ganim, in New York, thanks so much.

All right. He was one of the nation's most well known mayors in Washington D.C. he was elected and re-elected to public office so many times Marion Barry was nicknamed mayor for life. Last night, Barry passed away. Barry was a civil rights activist and served four terms as D.C.'s mayor. His fall from political grace came at a notorious drug bust in 1990. Overnight, Barry died at a Washington hospital, just hours after being released from another hospital in the city. He was 78 years old.

U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham is furious about an intel report concluding there was no cover up in the aftermath of the Benghazi attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: No. No. I think the report is full of crap, quite frankly.

UNIDENTIFED FEMALE: Why?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Who he says dropped the ball.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: Senator Lindsey Graham is slamming a recent GOP led report on the 2012 terror attack in Benghazi. That attack killed four Americans and became a lightning rod issue for critics of the Obama administration. You claimed the talking points for Susan Rice were intentionally changed before she appeared on all the Sunday shows. Well, Graham is one of those critics.

Today on CNN "State of the Union," Gloria Borger asks Senator Graham about whether he liked the report.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Does this exonerate the administration?

GRAHAM: In my view, they are doing a good job looking at Benghazi as a whole. DOD, the intel -

BORGER: Yes. But yes or no? Senator Graham?

GRAHAM: No. No. I think the report is full of crap, quite frankly.

BORGER: Why?

GRAHAM: To say that Mike -- well, the deputy director of the CIA, when I asked him do you know who changed the talking points with senators (INAUDIBLE) and McCain and Susan Rice sitting by his said the FBI changed the talking points when it came to references to Al Qaeda, only later did we find out through a lawsuit that Mike Morell was deeply involved in changing the talking points. The deputy director of the FBI when he was sitting in front of a congressional panel and he was asked does anybody here know who changed the talking points? He said silence. The intel community through him lied.

BORGER: So you're saying the intel community is lying to the House intelligence committee? The administration is not exonerating -

GRAHAM: I'm saying the House intelligence committee is doing a lousy job policing their own. I'm saying that anybody who has followed Benghazi at all knows that the CIA deputy director did not come forward to tell Congress what role he played in changing the talking points and not only we knew he was involved is when he told a representative at the White House, I was going to do a hard review of this, a hard rewrite. He didn't tell the Congress sitting in front of us that he substantially rewrote the talking points? And who told Susan Rice that the compound, the consulate was substantially strong and significantly secured. That wasn't in the talking points but she said that.

BORGER: What the deputy CIA director, you're talking about said is they got conflicting information, the mistakes were a reflection. This is what he says - of how little we know at that time. But let me move on specifically.

GRAHAM: That's not the question. No. Can I interrupt?

BORGER: Absolutely. GRAHAM: That's not the question. The question was not how you gathered intel. Who changed the talking points, it went through several changes. Who came out with the version that was most politically beneficial to the administration and demand that I ask that question to substantially change the talking points? He never told me or anybody else he had a hand in it and he sat quietly in front of a Senate and House committee when asked directly "do you know who changed the talking points." He didn't come forward. We only know later that he was involved when we found information gather through a lawsuit. So he sat there and misled the Congress.

BORGER: OK. So this report said no one lied, period. Are we receiving bad information?

GRAHAM: That's a bunch of garbage.

BORGER: So why is the -

GRAHAM: Who told Susan Rice -

BORGER: Why is the Republican chair -

GRAHAM: That's why you need -

BORGER: Why are they buying a bunch of garbage?

GRAHAM: Good question.

BORGER: Answer it.

GRAHAM: Yes, I don't believe that the report is accurate, given the role that Mike Morell played in misleading the Congress on two occasions. Why didn't the report say that? And here's my point, when Susan Rice was on television after the attack, she said on three different times the consulate was strongly, substantially and significantly secured. Nothing could have been further from the truth. And there's nothing in the talking points about the level of security. She gave an impression to the American people that these folks were well taken care of when it was in fact a death trap.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. So some pretty strong language there from Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican Senator Mark Kirk of Illinois joins us right now, live from Chicago. Good to see you senator.

SEN. MARK KIRK (R), ILLINOIS: Thank you for having me.

WHITFIELD: So as you listen to that, do you agree with Senator Graham that that report is a bunch of garbage in his words?

KIRK: I agree with Lindsey. It sounds like he was having a good time with you there.

WHITFIELD: Well, that was actually with Gloria Borger but I was having a good time watching it. What is it that you agree with him on? All of it? Or just some?

KIRK: I think given the House committee what it was doing to try to protect its own ay the way Lindsey describes, I think Lindsey is probably right on target there.

WHITFIELD: So his view is that the deputy director of the CIA and others may have changed the talking points particularly for Susan Rice. Why do you believe that?

KIRK: You know, when you look at this administration it seems like they very much wanted to say that there was no successful Al Qaeda out there.

WHITFIELD: But is there some specific information that you have that counters that claim?

KIRK: There is not. No. We have seen the total (INAUDIBLE) with these talking points that it really didn't square with the death of four Americans there.

WHITFIELD: So is it your view that you're just in agreement with Senator Graham because of the allegiance to critics of the Obama administration and he is your fellow Republican senator? Or is there something specific that you don't agree with, with the intel report?

KIRK: I would say that no one in the Senate has looked deeper into Benghazi. Lindsey is a colonel in the air force jag. Now he is more careful on national security issues in the Senate. If he says something is messed up, it's probably messed up. We should give this senator his due because of all of his military service to the country.

WHITFIELD: OK. Let me ask you about Iran because the deadline for an agreement that was scheduled for tomorrow it appears as though it will be extended. In your view, is that optimistic or is that trouble?

KIRK: Right. That's trouble because the one thing the Iranians don't have is time. They need more time to assemble atomic weapons. The thing that the administration should do is deny the Iranians more time and make sure that they don't have what they need to make atomic weapons.

WHITFIELD: So what happens if the deadline is not met? If you don't give them enough time and you say, you know, they have to adhere to tomorrow and they don't make that deadline then what's your worry or concern?

KIRK: My big concern is we would condemn the next generation of Americans to witnessing a nuclear war in the Persian Gulf. We should do everything possible to make sure the next generation of Americans don't have to go through that.

WHITFIELD: All right. Senator Kirk, thanks so much for being with us today from Chicago. Much appreciate it.

KIRK: Thank you for having me. WHITFIELD: All right. Still digging out in Buffalo but now the city

is facing another threat. Flooding. CNN's Alexandra Field spoke with the governor about preparations. She is joining me now live.

So, Alexandra, what kind of preparations are being put in place?

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, (INAUDIBLE) here in western New York. The governor took a tour of what kinds of thing they brought in, what they put in place in case of this flooding. You can see around me they brought in more than 50 boats to deal with possibility of flooding, inside that warehouse, back there, they got hundreds of generators, pumps, sandbags, everything else. This area has seen more than seven feet of snow in the last week more than what was forecasted for the entire year. Governor Cuomo continuing to warn people living in this area that the threat of massive flooding remains very real. Here is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D), NEW YORK: For me, this is about loss of life. I've been through many of these situations over the past four years. I used to worked in emergency management which was when I was in the federal government and why all of this? Why the national guard? Because this is the purest form of public service. If it's done well you save lives. If it's not done well, people die. And it's binary and the stakes are that high. And that's why we do everything that we can.

I think we have everything that we need. If you could predict where it's going flood then we could actually get ahead of it and do some preventive work because most of this is all reactive once the flood happens. You pump out the water, you rescue the people. The optimal would be to know where it's going to flood and do the preventive work. We have some information in that regard but not really enough.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FIELD: And Governor Cuomo saying that all the advance work that can be done is being done, it's being done right here at the stock pile in western New York. Right now the goal is to remove as much snow as possible. More than 80,000 tons of snow had been carted out of the city of Buffalo but with the forecast showing that temperatures will rise in the next day or two, that flooding possibility remains real. Crews are working to clear storm drains. That's a big concern that the snow clogged drains could make the possibility of flooding even worse.

So state bringing in all of its resources, more than 500 national guards, men and women in place now, ready to respond should they need to. Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Alexandra Field, thanks so much from Buffalo.

All right. One of the most prestigious universities in the nation suspending all fraternities after a stunning accusation of sexual assault. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: In a stunning move the University of Virginia is suspending all fraternities and parties associated with them until January 9. This comes after "Rolling Stone" magazine published an article last week about a student who said she was sexually assaulted at a frat party. Now her story has brought a federal investigation of the prestigious school UVA and its exposing an alleged cultural issue at college campuses around the nation. Here's Joe Johns.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORREPSONDENT (voice-over): It's a shocking allegation of rape at the University of Virginia. A report in the current "Rolling Stone" magazine alleging a culture of rape and sexual assault there including a story about a first year student said to be considering suicide after she went to a party in 2012, at the Phi Kappa XI fraternity house and was allegedly gang raped.

A quote from the article. "Grab its leg." She heard a voice say. That's when Jackie knew she was going to be raped. She remembers every moment of the next three hours of agony during which she says seven men took turns raping her.

Annie Forest is a friend of the accuser.

ANNIE FOREST, FRIEND OF ACCUSER: She was doing what a normal girl on a date would do and then he led her upstairs where she was taken into a room and pretty much ambushed by these men

JOHNS: Since the article, another student has come forward, similar story, same fraternity.

KELLY ORONSKI (PH), FORMER UVA STUDENT: I had to walk on campus with my rapist for the next two and a half years.

JOHNS: And the issue is not just one fraternity house or even one school.

UNIDENTIFED FEMALE: I was told that University of Virginia was quite typical. The things I discovered in the University of Virginia are really horrifying. What I was told really what happens at UVA is probably fairly normal at a college campus.

JOHNS: According to "Rolling Stone," the accuser did not report the incident at the time to police but did speak to a university official.

FOREST: When she left the fraternity house that night and called some of her friends, they actually recommended that she not go to the police.

JOHNS: At the university, damage control is in hyper drive and police are investigating. The fraternity chapter is suspending all activities and says it will cooperate fully with the investigation. UVA's president said in a statement that the report includes "many details that were not previously disclosed to university officials. The university takes seriously sexual misconduct. We have recently adopted several new initiatives and policies aimed at fostering a culture of reporting and raising awareness."

It's a national problem, 88 colleges and universities are under investigation for how they handle sexual assault cases. A former dean at UVA is now the national president of a group dedicated ending sexual assault on campus. He says schools could be sanctioned.

UNIDENTIFED MALE: They could face a loss of federal funding which basically would decimate an entire institution. That has never been done. But there are fines that the Office of Civil Rights can levy.

JOHNS (on camera): Important to say that in the case of UVA, it was the university that called for authorities to get involved including police and the Virginia attorney general's office.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. Joe Johns reporting. Thanks so much.

I want to bring in defense attorney and former federal prosecutor Tanya Miller. So, how will this be investigated? Because yes, we heard I Joe's piece, federal authorities have now come in but doesn't this kind of investigation or should it begin at the local or even campus police level?

TANYA MILLER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I would absolutely say yes, Fred. I think part of the problem that this story is really bringing to light is the failure of universities to hand these investigations over to the appropriate authorities.

WHITFIELD: They want to contain it.

MILLER: They want to contain it. I think there is a lot of deference to perhaps the victim at times. Maybe the victim is not sure about whether she should report it or who she should report it to. Law enforcement officers, detectives who are trained in investigating sexual assault, rapes in particular, know how to handle victims. They know how to get to the evidence they know how to conduct appropriate criminal investigations.

This is a crime. This is - it might be a violation of university policy but ultimately it's one of the most serious criminal offenses in our country and it should be investigated by law enforcement.

WHITFIELD: And then will federal authorities, not only are they going to look into these allegations but will they also start to look at how it may have been handled by security on campus or even in the city? Does it become a secondary investigation of those authorities who would be first responders or the first layers of investigation?

MILLER: I mean, it might be. I mean, typically, when you have the feds, the Department of Education they come in and they investigate how universities are handling these sexual assault cases, they are looking to make best practices recommendations to the university. Often times the teeth that they have is to pull funding from the university as opposed to bringing any kind of criminal charges. You don't see your typical AUSA or federal prosecutor handling these cases. These are Department of Education folks. They are trying to regulate how universities use federal funding and making sure that universities who receive these funding, these funds, know how to appropriately, I think, hand these things off to the people who are best equipped to handle them.

WHITFIELD: You're talking about fines that would be imposed on the institution itself but then what about the fraternity then? Even if it's just one fraternity but all have been suspended? What is at stake for a fraternity if it turns out that this kind of activity was sanctioned? Did indeed take place in their frat house or, what - what could happen to a fraternity, an organization?

MILER: Yes, absolutely. I think universities have to deal with the sort of cultural problem that fraternities might be fostering or making some of the creating environments for this stuff to happen but also criminally, prosecutors and law enforcement will go after people who are considered to be parties to the crime. If you aid, abet, an accessory, facilitate, you knowingly participate in a crime like this you can be charged just like the person who commits it. I think until that kind of serious sort of heavy handed dealing comes down on these universities and these students and these fraternities or whoever is involved with it, we're going to see this problem continue to happen.

WHITFIELD: We know these are allegations but just the notion, the idea that this could potentially be taking place on any campus - it's just as mind boggling.

MILLER: It's stunning but one thing you have to remember, Fred, rape, probably like childhood sexual abuse is one of the most underreported crimes I think we see in our country. We only prosecute -

WHITFIELD: The alleged victims don't fee (INAUDIBLE).

MILLER: Correct.

WHITFIELD: Their accusations will be --

MILLER: That's right. We don't see it come to light. You get lulled into this false sense of security, maybe people don't rape anymore. Well people do still rape. And I think universities are in a unique position to create an environment so that students will say coming forward and reporting this.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much. Tanya Miller, good to see you.

All right. Guess what? It happens year round. But hopefully, it doesn't have to be you. Hard working Americans sending gifts to their loved ones. And then these packages left on the doorstep? Snatched by somebody else. Guess what? There's an app for that. Prevention.

All right. But first, this week's ones to watch looks at electronic dance music in Argentina. New stars who are leading the way. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFED FEMALE: Argentina is at the forefront of a Latin American boom in dance music. Its capital, Buenos Aires, is home to two young men (INAUDIBLE) who are fast making a reputation as one of the hottest prospects on the DJ scene.

MORRIS CHAVES, DJ: Right now we just made our first album. That was our biggest achievement. We always try to insert a couple of like - Latin musical instruments or instruments from Argentina. So there is one track specifically called (INAUDIBLE). It is a tango melody. important part of the track, which is called the buildup is when it is getting a buildup.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can create a really high energy part because after that you drop the beat.

UNIDENTIFED FEMALE(voice-over): Heat beat are preparing to play their new music to fans for the first time during moonlight set in the city.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody is on board. People are following us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can hear it from a million tracks. You just hear knit the bass line the way it is produced, the reverb, it's really unique.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, watch the full show at CNN.com/onestowatch.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: In Afghanistan, a suicide bomber has attacked a crowd at a volleyball match. At least 45 people were dead, 60 others wounded. Nick Paton Walsh joins us live from Turkey. So Nick, what do you know about what took place in Afghanistan?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This was quite a big volleyball match, kind of a district level competition really, a lot of spectators. The suicide bomber walking into the midst of them, clearly intent on causing as many casualties as possible.

Fredricka, 100 lives changed by this and it just serves as part of the backdrop really of daily violence that many Afghans have to deal with now for decades. This taking place where an insurgent group called the Haqqani Network are pretty strong.

This is not the kind of thing they normally do. But in the past week or so, it comes as Afghanistan has a new president who wants to dismiss the U.S. in fact improve relations today.

The lower House of Parliaments ratifying a key document known as the BSA, the Bilateral Security Agreement. Now that basically means the U.S. could continue to have a combat presence in Afghanistan for the years ahead. They were talking about reducing their presence just Marines protecting the embassy in a matter of years, now that could be aircraft. That could be Special Forces. They want to retain in Afghanistan, perhaps worried about a Taliban resurgence that's still happening.

Worried perhaps about al Qaeda affiliates stepping back in and has a power vacuum, but perhaps also to their mind on Iraq where the Iraqi government asked U.S. forces to leave so fast many say Barack Obama doesn't want to see a repeat of that in the Afghanistan, Pakistan region -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Nick Paton Walsh, thank you so much.

All right, coming up, why the grand jury considering the Ferguson case is unique. First, the war on Syria has left so many children as refugees. Just this weekend, Vice President Joe Biden announced $135 million in new aid for Syrian refugees.

CNN's Arwa Damon went to see how some of the war's youngest victims are being helped.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With new back packs almost as big as they are, the children file into the orphanage after school. Their faces and behavior betray few of the horrors they have witnessed. Their fathers are dead, lost to illness or war in Syria. Their mothers decided to send them here.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: What's your name?

DAMON (on camera): My name is Arwa. What's your name?

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: My name is (inaudible).

DAMON (voice-over): She's 8. Her father killed by a bullet on his way to work. Daddy used to take me everywhere with him she tells us. The orphanage opened in September offering a safe place. Toys replace those they left behind as they fled Syria.

Clean water to wash with and regular hot healthy meals. The orphanage was established by the foundation named after another little girl who was paralyzed by shrapnel.

YAKZAN SHISHAKLY, CO-FOUNDER, MARAM FOUNDATION: Children away from all that's happening inside Syria and to give them the right to have a normal life away from the war.

DAMON: And the impact is already being seen. Mayada Abdi, head of the orphanage says, head of the orphanage says Maram was very solitary, often lost in the memories of her father.

I would see him in my dreams, Maram remembers. I would see him giving someone something. She seems less haunted by his death, dreaming instead of going home to Syria and teaching. Arwa Damon, CNN, Turkey. (END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The Ferguson grand jury will reconvene tomorrow. They are considering several charges from murder to manslaughter against Officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown.

Earlier I spoke with CNN legal analyst Mark O'Mara and Joey Jackson, the legal analyst for HLN. And I asked them how this grand injury in Ferguson differs from others.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARK O'MARA, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, the process is still the same and the rules are still the same. This grand injury is doing what every grand injury should do. The way this is unique is that rather than a prosecutor presenting basically what he or she wants and getting what he or she wants, McCullough is saying he is going do it very impartially and all on record.

So in that sense, giving this grand jury everything that they can possibly want and allowing them to be more activist, bringing back witnesses if they want additional witnesses and talking about other evidence if they want, allows them to make hopefully a complete picture of what was happening and a much better result by deciding either to indict for one of the several charges or not indict.

The nice thing that McCullough is doing or the appropriate thing to insulate the grand injury from whatever decision is made is he is already committed to having all the transcripts of whatever they talk about and whatever evidence they have released. And that's going to help us and the rest of the nation look and decide for ourselves if the verdict or decision was appropriate.

WHITFIELD: And is it true that this prosecutor has said we're waiting on the grand jury to decide whether there will be charges imposed even if they do not return an indictment. This prosecutor could potentially, Joey, still impose charges, but in this he is withdrawing himself from doing that, is that true?

JOEY JACKSON, HLN LEGAL ANALYST: You know, I would see that as unlikely. Remember, Fredricka, that the whole purpose of having a grand injury is that you have this body of citizens that come forward and unlike, of course, an actual jury where they are deciding beyond a reasonable doubt.

You have a jury that is making a decision based upon the evidence that is presented as to where criminal charges should be brought and of course, only nine of the 12 have to make that decision.

Now in the event that there is a true bill, meaning there is not an indictment, could there be a re-presentation to a different grand jury? Yes, the law allows that, double jeopardy doesn't attach. But I would think that that would be highly unlikely in this particular case. WHITFIELD: And then Mark, could you have a deadlocked grand jury if, you know, similar to what Joey was spelling out if they don't have the nine votes, does that simply mean it's over?

O'MARA: It does -- it sort of means it's over. In order to come back to an indictment, the grand jury has to -- nine of the members have to agree to an indictment on one of the several accounts. If they fail to come to that level of consensus, then the result is no true bill.

They don't actually vote for no true bill as much as they have to have nine people agree to vote for indictment. They cannot issue an indictment and the result is no true bill and there are no charges.

WHITFIELD: And then quickly, Mark, if it is the discretion of the grand jury to create its own schedule, can they say, you know what? We need more time to tackle this. We want to wait until after the holiday or is there urgency where they have to get it done as soon as possible?

O'MARA: Well, the deadline is January 7th. That's when their session ends. If there is any insight that we get, any insight that we get is that they are still thinking about what is going on. They may want more time.

I do think they have to be sensitive because they are aware that the nation is on edge waiting for their result. I don't want to rush to it, but I want them to focus.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, Mark O'Mara there and Joey Jackson. This just in, you know, if you recall the prosecutor had said that the public would likely hear about the grand jury decision 48 hours after that decision was made as it pertains to the fate of Officer Darren Wilson.

Now law enforcement officials are telling CNN that the announced decision by the grand jury could come soon after that decision is reached so within or less than that 48 hour period.

All right, just in time for the holiday season, a new way to stop people from stealing gifts delivered to your doorstep and you can do it right from your phone.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, time now for consumer alert with Black Friday and Cyber Monday quickly approaching. It's that time of year, but then there's nothing worse than learning that the gift that you sent was taken from the doorstep by somebody else. Now there's an app to stop these kinds of thefts.

Let's bring in Nick Valencia who has been looking into all of this. Do you think you're going to use this for holiday season?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Maybe if I go shopping. This is just in time for the doorstep shopper. You know, this so-called person that's waiting for your package to be delivered just so they could scoop right on up.

Now there is this new San Francisco-based company, they have got an app and they want to guarantee that the package that you asked for is going to end up in your hands and not someone else's.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA (voice-over): It's the season to ship packages out to loved ones or maybe send something to yourself on that must have list.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A little note on your door and you have to play tag and go pick it up.

VALENCIA: But it's also prime season for criminals. In broad daylight seize the opportunity to grab those hot items right off your doorstep.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The tracking number said it was delivered, but I never got the package.

VALENCIA: Imagine this, perfect strangers walking up to your door and walking off with the merchandise.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who is at their home in the middle of the day able to wait for a package?

VALENCIA: And coast to coast, no one is immune with online retail sales topping $200 billion last year in the U.S. and that's expected to grow this year by about 10 percent according to shop.org.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I always felt like I was being punished by the current delivery system for having a full-time job. And you know, the question was, why can't this be delivered when I'm actually home?

VALENCIA: Meet Zander Rodell, this new San Francisco startup doorman has the retailer ship your package to them and not your home before box a package.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Once it arrives we notify you on your phone and you use the doorman app to schedule delivery until midnight seven days a week.

VALENCIA: A bold business model that others have tried and failed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have got to have a big work force of delivery people. I think yes, that's very ambitious. That's very tough.

VALENCIA: Ambitious maybe, but if their business can eliminate the risk and prevent scenes like this from happening, it could be the shipping model of the future.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA: According to the National Retail Federation, return fraud costs an estimated $4 billion in 2013. You may be asking what about reimbursements. The best word of advice from these retail companies is to make sure that somebody is there when the package is around. Maybe you want to use doorman or have a relative or someone that you know waiting for the package --

WHITFIELD: Or maybe instructions don't leave this at my doorstep because I will never see it. All right, Nick, thanks so much.

Hopefully folks have a much happier holiday as a result of your report. Guess what? It's been nearly two years since the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School and now we're learning new details about the gunman, Adam Lanza's life. The warning signs that were missed coming up in the next hour of the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Thanksgiving tradition, the "CNN Heroes All-Star Tribute." It's a celebration of this year's top ten heroes. The gala was held last week in New York City and Michaela Pereira give us a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR, "NEW DAY": We're in what's called the whale room. You're wondering why, right? A little hint for you.

(voice-over): The days leading up to the main event are action packed. Cameras, lighting, HD video screens, and decor are put in place and no show is complete without the rolling out of the red carpet. Before you know it, a transformation.

(on camera): So inside this trailer, my fantastic colleagues are putting the final touches on the show. Dare I go in? Come on, look alive, people! We're almost at showtime!

(voice-over): On this night of the museum, host, Anderson Cooper and the CNN team honor a very special kind of person.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "AC360": A lot of these people, they don't have a lot of money, they don't have access to power, they don't have, you know, they're just people who saw a need in their community and set about trying to fix something.

PEREIRA: And here, the celebs have turned out to pay them tribute. Recording artist Sheryl Crow, who performed at CNN Hero's inaugural event is back for another special performance.

SHERYL CROW: I'm grateful to CNN that they started this program because there are so many angels doing God's word.

PEREIRA: For the night's honorees who never seek the spotlight seeing it all for the first time is a moment to remember.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. CNN heroes airing December 7th at 8:00 Eastern Time.

That's going to do it for me. Thanks so much for spending your Sunday with me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. The next hour of the NEWSROOM begins right now with Poppy Harlow in New York.