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At This Hour

Another Black Man Dead at Hands of White Officer; Ben Carson a Surprise in Presidential Poll; 3 Women Claim Bill Cosby Sexually Assaulted Them

Aired December 02, 2014 - 11:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: A grand jury deciding the fate of white police officer accused of killing a black man. We're not talking about the Michael Brown case in Ferguson.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC GARNER, DIED AT HANDS OF POLICE: Don't touch me. Do not touch me.

(EXPLETIVE DELETED) (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Damn, man.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: We're talking about the issue of the death of Eric Garner in New York. This confrontation between Garner and police officers happened in July. Officers stopped Garner on suspicion of selling untaxed cigarettes. Garner refused to be handcuffed. One officer put him in what appears to be a choke hold. It's not illegal but it is banned under NYPD rules.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Well, that officer testified before the grand jury late last month. The panel's decision on whether or not he'll face criminal charges, that could come any time now. Boy, this seems familiar, doesn't it?

Let's bring in our Alexandra Field. And Mel Robbins is back with us.

Alexandra, give us an update on where things stand now. What's the latest you can tell us?

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They've been hearing this case since September. We should hear the decision this week.

And you were talking about the video where Eric Garner where died that was confrontation with police. At one point, he throws his hands up in the video. At another point, he tells them not to touch him but he is forced to the ground. You see an officer on top of him with an arm around him. Again we point out that the choke hold is barred by the NYPD. They don't know, we presume, they didn't know, that Garner was asthmatic. And you hear him say at least twice in that video that he can't breathe. Police after that said that he died of a heart attack on his way to the hospital. But we know that medical examiner ruled that this was a homicide caused in part by a choke hold. Officer Daniel Pantaleo has been put on modified duty, stripped of his gun and badge as the grand jury considers the case.

Now police are turning their attention to how you respond after we hear at announcement here. They have been trying to determine how they can coordinate because this is a case that has sparked demonstrations. They don't want to see things get out of hand.

BERMAN: Mel, what we have in this case is something that did not exist in Ferguson. There is this full complete video that captures so much on camera, not just this man having a hard time breathing but it also captures him, cops will tell you, resisting arrest. So what kind of difference will this make inside a grand jury?

MEL ROBBINS, CNN COMMENTATOR: I think it will make all the difference. We have one more thing, John. We have a procedure by the police that's been banned that's clearly being used in that video. That will make a big difference to the grand jury, too.

BERMAN: Do you think they will be suede by Eric Garner resisting arrest? Will that matter to a grand jury? We've seen how the grand jury reacts to police testimony and procedure in Ferguson. What will happen in Staten Island?

ROBBINS: I think that does matter to people, particularly in a town like Staten Island or a borough like Staten Island, where it's a very, very pro-police community. However, John, we're talking about a guy that was stopped for suspicion of selling illegal cigarettes. Does it really, really require six police officers and somebody putting him in a choke hold and them not easing up as he's complaining he can't breathe? So you have a video record of it and an illegal police procedure being used which had I believe will tip the scales toward an indictment of this officer not for first degree murder but certainly for something related to excessive force.

PEREIRA: Mel Robbins, Alexandra Field, we'll await that grand jury decision in the case of Eric Garner. Thanks so much for joining us.

BERMAN: Ahead for us @THISHOUR, the calendar might not say it, but it is 2016, at least in terms of presidential politics. And you will never guess who is in second place right now in a brand new poll in the Republican presidential field. It's a big surprise. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: Breaking news. CNN has learned the American couple that was being held in Qatar is now free to leave. Grace and Matthew Huang, living and working in Qatar, had been banned from traveling following the death of their adopted daughter last year. Authority there is accused them of starving her to death.

BERMAN: On Sunday, a judge cleared the Huang's of any crime but immigration officials seized their passports and would not let them leave. The order to keep them in the country was lifted after meetings between the United States ambassador to the country and top officials there. Hopefully they will be getting out. Good, good news.

A brand new CNN poll has people talking this morning. The surprise is not who is leading the field of Republican presidential contenders but who is in second.

PEREIRA: Check this out. The name at the top, you've seen it before, that's Mitt Romney. 20 percent in the new CNN/ORC poll say they support the former Massachusetts governor for president again. And who is it? Wait, second, Ben Carson, an African-American retired neurosurgeon who has never held office. He's in second place. Carson regularly makes the rounds on conservative radio and television. Only after Carson do you see former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and then New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. Bush said just last night he'll decide in "short order" whether or not he'll make a run for the White House.

Joining us to talk about this, CNN political commentators, Sally Kohn; and former RNC communications director, Doug Heye.

Doug, it's all within the margin of error there. Nevertheless, his name appears second on the list. And there are big names that appear beneath his name. Is that a big surprise to see Ben Carson doing so well?

DOUG HEYE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Right now, not really. To use an example, a lot of people thought the New Orleans Saints would win the NFL championship, which is a primary, and might win the Super Bowl, which is the general. But pre-season polling and pre-campaign polls, they're interesting to talk about, but they don't really matter until the players get on the field and we see how they react to the game. We don't have anybody who's announced they're going to run yet. And until people start campaigning, I don't think we have any sense on how anybody will do in specific states.

PEREIRA: It does make for interesting television fodder @THISHOUR.

Sally, you came in here --

SALLY KOHN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It sure does!

PEREIRA: -- guns blazing. Go ahead.

KOHN: You have to love that according to at least this poll the number-two choice of Republicans to run for president is the guy who just recently blamed all the protests in Ferguson on the women's lib movement. By the way, I love that it's women's lib movement. He didn't even say feminism. He went all like 1963 with that one. Really up to date there.

What the poll actually does reflect, which ever names you sort around, is the trouble that any moderate, sensible candidate is going to have getting through a Republican primary. When you have 10 percent this far out, 10 percent supporting largely unknown nationally figure like Ben Carson, who is known for his very outside-the-mainstream views on Obamacare and more, that really portends some problems for Republicans. We're hoping to get a candidate through the primary process who could then in turn be elected by the majority of Americans. Good luck with that.

BERMAN: Doug, I imagine you have a very different view of what makes for a sensible Republican presidential candidate. But Jeb Bush said something very, very interesting last night. He essentially said a Republican primary candidate has to be willing to lose a primary to win a general election. To paraphrase there, I think what he's trying to say is you have to take brave stands in a Republican primary, stands that may not be popular with the conservative base if you want to appeal to the count country. What do you make of those comments?

HEYE: Sometimes you have to take a step backwards and be strategic to move forward. It's something we tried to do in the House of Representatives over the past of couple years, sometimes successfully, sometimes not. But Jeb Bush is somebody who can be a strong candidate for us. We know he can raise a lot of money. We know he knows how to run a government. But also significantly, as we talk about immigration over these past couple weeks, Jeb Bush is somebody who's tried to expand the Republican Party in Florida. He's fluent in Spanish. That will be an important voice for Republicans to have moving forward, regardless of whether he wins or not.

PEREIRA: Let's talk about the Democrats, Sally. In our poll, if Clinton decides that -- Hillary Clinton decides not to run, the next in line, at 41 percent, Vice President Joe Biden.

KOHN: Oh, Joe Biden. Poor Joe Biden. It's so hard being second, you know? Look, I mean, this is all a waiting game for the Democrats. This is an interest phenomenon where if Hillary doesn't run Democrats are, in fact, scrambling because -- in part, because so much of the momentum is behind her, so much of the infrastructure is behind her. It's just a bench that is sitting back and waiting. Everybody is benched because they're waiting.

The other thing is the pairings. The reality is Republicans are scared because they know Hillary Clinton is, in fact, a very hard candidate to beat. The flip side to that, and I'll agree with Doug, is you know Jeb Bush would make a very good contender against Hillary Clinton. Rand Paul would make a strong contender against Hillary Clinton. Are they going to get through the primary? No. Whereas at least the differences, at least with the Democratic bench, if Hillary doesn't run, you know there will be a primary where it's, for better or worse, trending towards mainstream views, pushing toward a moderate centrist Democrat and they'll get a Hillary light coming out of the process who can win an election. That's what Democrats do.

(CROSSTALK)

KOHN: Can you tell what an enthusiastic Democrat I am today?

(CROSSTALK)

BERMAN: Sally Kohn, great to see you.

Doug Heye, always a pleasure to have you with us.

PEREIRA: Thank you.

More than a dozen women now are claiming comedian, Bill Cosby, sexually assaulted them. Ahead @THISHOUR, you'll hear from three victims who spoke together for the first time.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: This just in to CNN, you're looking at live pictures right now of downtown Detroit where a power outage has affected a whole lot of people. Public buildings have lost their power. Major buildings in that downtown area.

PEREIRA: We're told it's pretty widespread, the outage there. They don't know the cause of it. They're declaring a half day for the students in Detroit public schools because they have no power. It is affecting some 87 schools on the DTE grid. Major blackout hitting downtown Detroit. No reason why at this point.

BERMAN: It is interesting. It's hitting the public buildings, not homes. A lot of public buildings, a lot of schools, which means a whole lot of people being affected by this. We'll keep you updated as we learn information throughout the morning.

PEREIRA: We want to turn to an extraordinary meeting that happened a short time ago right here at CNN. Three women, who had never met before, but all with something in common. They each claim that Bill Cosby sexually assaulted them.

I want to show you what happened after their interview with my colleague, Alisyn Camerota, hugs, tears, relief at having found on another.

PEREIRA: Barbara Bowman, Victoria Valentino and Jewel Allison are three of the now 17 women who have gone public with similar claims about Cosby. The comedian's either denied or declined to address the specific allegations.

Alisyn Camerota joins us now to talk about this interesting meeting there.

What struck you?

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They had never met before but they seemed like old friends from the minute they saw each other. It was very emotional. They were crying and hugging each other. From the moment Jewel Allison came out -- the one in the purple -- the moment she came out and started hugging them, she kept repeating to herself over and over almost like a mantra, she kept saying, "It stops now, it stops now, it stops now." I asked what that meant. And she said, "The pain stops now and the healing begins now."

Here's the rest of their very first meeting. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEWEL ALLISON, ACCUSED BILL COSBY OF SEXUAL ASSAULT: Women have -- we have a history globally of being punished severely and penalized for speaking out.

CAMEROTA: And all of you, at one time or another, were told, keep this quiet, it will ruin your career, don't mention anything.

ALLISON: Absolutely. Yes.

VICTORIA VALENTINO, ACCUSED BILL COSBY OF SEXUAL ASSAULT: That was the premise of what went down.

CAMEROTA: And I know that now you all want --

(CROSSTALK)

VALENTINO: And feared for our lives, too.

CAMEROTA: What does that mean?

VALENTINO: I was afraid for my life. I was looked at directly in the eye by Bill Cosby and said, I had better never, ever see your face or hear your name again. And I listened.

CAMEROTA: And, Barbara, what do you want to have happen now? We've talked about the statute of limitations and you want that to be changed. What's the action you want to take now?

BARBARA BOWMAN, ACCUSED BILL COSBY OF SEXUAL ASSAULT: I'm not really sure. I'm just looking at some of the options that I do have. So much has unfolded since this began.

CAMEROTA: A mere three weeks ago?

BOWMAN: A mere three weeks ago, yes.

CAMEROTA: Victoria, what do you want to hear Bill Cosby say?

VALENTINO: Well --

(LAUGHTER)

-- I think an apology would be a joke, frankly. I would love to hear him grovel in front of the cameras. But I wouldn't believe it for a minute. I think it would just be a desperate move for public --

(CROSSTALK)

CAMEROTA: Sympathy?

VALENTINO: -- sympathy and to salvage what's left of his career.

(END VIDEOTAPE) PEREIRA: Three very different women with different lives but a similar reason for coming forward. Alisyn, afterwards, they talked to us the about more women reaching out to them, too.

CAMEROTA: Yes, they all say that they individually know more women who are on the fence about coming forward. But it's interesting, they do have different lives but they have an eerily similar story. They all allege that he drugged them and then he sexually assaulted them. There was a pattern, they say. For the first time, when they shared their stories, it was very powerful for them to know they weren't alone.

BERMAN: I wonder if they wish they had a chance to meet up over the years. There was that civil case where some were named. Probably it would have been therapeutic for them to have that conversation.

CAMEROTA: I think that's true, but now that they're having it, it is therapeutic. They were saying things like, the truth will set us free. When I last saw them, they were arm in arm going to breakfast this morning. It feels, to me, this is the start of a groundswell and they will stay in touch.

PEREIRA: Victoria says she's been carrying this secret around for 44 years, an impressive amount of time to carry something like that around.

Alisyn, thank you so much for joining us. That was terrific.

CAMEROTA: Thank you.

We're wondering if this story rises to the top of your list of the top headlines of 2014 as our year comes to a close. Can you believe it? We want you to vote on your favorite news stories of the year. Visit CNN.com. You can vote there. We'll bring you those results at the end of December.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Coming up in a few days on CNN, a night to honor those who go above and beyond to help others.

PEREIRA: It is tremendous. Check out a very special look at what you can expect on our star-studded all-star tribute to our "CNN Heroes."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: You have the power to do anything, to make a difference, inspire and change the world.

(SINGING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to do something for Afghanistan. I want to help the people and the dogs.

(SINGING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're giving them the best present in order to make a better future.

(SINGING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm here to honor real heroes.

KATHY GRIFFIN, COMEDIAN: It's going to be a great evening.

ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, CNN HEROES, AN ALL-STAR TRIBUTE: Welcome to "CNN Heroes, An All-Star Tribute."

(SINGING)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is my honor to hug the weightlifter with the biggest heart ever.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Never worry about what you can't do. Never, ever quit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's incredibly humbling to be recognized as a "CNN Hero."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This has been an amazing time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're killing me, CNN. Got me sobbing all up in my chardonnay.

ANNOUNCER: See the stars come out to honor the top-10 "CNN Heroes" of 2014. "CNN Heroes, An All-Star Tribute," Sunday night, December 7th, at 8:00 eastern.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PEREIRA: I may or may not have sat by him at the dinner.

BERMAN: We're still talking about it.

PEREIRA: Thanks for joining us @THISHOUR. I'm Michaela Pereira.

BERMAN: I'm John Berman.

"LEGAL VIEW" with Ashleigh Banfield starts right now.