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Al Qaeda Kills U.S. Hostage During Yemen Raid; New York Mayor Orders Police Retraining; Synthetic Drugs Are Killing Kids; Calls For Feds To Probe Garner Case; Life In the Rubble Of Kobani, Syria

Aired December 06, 2014 - 12:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: An American hostage murdered by terrorists in Yemen, just as the U.S. military rushes in to save him. A look at who the victim is and why details on the mission took a tragic turn?

Then demonstrators fill the streets bringing parts of several major cities to a standstill. And now Eric Garner's family is preparing to honor him with a nationwide event. The details, straight ahead.

And a warning every parent needs to hear. Dangerous and deadly drugs you probably never heard of, that are killing kids across the country. Why these drugs are so popular?

Hello, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Let's get straight to the top story. The U.S. hostage rescue mission in Yemen that did not go as planned. We're learning brand-new details about the operation. Here's what we know right now.

The Pentagon says a team of about three dozen commandos, mostly from SEAL Team 6, tried to rescue American photojournalist, Luke Somers and South African hostage, Pierre Corky, from their captors, members of the terror group al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

U.S. officials tell CNN, a firefight broke out soon after the SEALs descended on the militants' compound last night. They say the SEALs lost the element of surprise at the last minute and that's when the bullets began flying.

One terrorist then ran inside the compound and then shot the hostages. A U.S. medical team spent an entire half hour on the ground in Yemen trying to save Somers and Corky. One died on the way to a nearby U.S. ship, the other died on the ship.

CNN's Sunlen Serfaty joins us from the White House. So Sunlen, what are U.S. officials saying about the timing of this rescue mission?

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, this was a direct authorization by President Obama himself, made here yesterday at the White House, and he explains a bit why he made such a risky move, really pinning it on that 72-hour deadline that was given to U.S. officials by the terror group. And he says that in the statement this morning, he says that Luke Somers was in imminent danger. Now, members of the administration reacting this morning, calling it murder. This morning in Afghanistan, here's Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHUCK HAGEL, DEFENSE SECRETARY: Our prayers and thoughts go out to the Somers family. There was also another hostage who was also killed in that attempted rescue and our prayers and thoughts go out to all the families involved.

I do think, though, that this is further evidence of America's continued commitment to always find its American hostages, no matter where they are, and make every effort to get those hostages returned.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERFATY: And the president this morning also reacted, saying in a statement, quote, "The United States strongly condemned the barbaric murder of Luke Somers at the hands of al Qaeda terrorists, during a rescue operation conducted by U.S. forces in Yemen, in partnership with the Yemeni government.

On behalf of the American people, I offer my deepest condolences to Luke's family and to his loved ones." And it's clear in this statement this morning, Fred, that President Obama is clearly feeling the weight of that responsibility.

He made the call yesterday and today in a statement, he reiterated that it's his highest responsibility to protect American citizens -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Sunlen Serfaty, thanks so much, at the White House. I want to talk about the risks of these hostage rescue raids and what's involved in these military operations to this magnitude.

CNN chief national security correspondent, Jim Sciutto, is in Afghanistan with the Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Lieutenant Colonel James Reese joining me now from Raleigh, North Carolina.

Jim, the secretary, Secretary Hagel, is saying that there is no other resource, but to take measures like this when an American life, you know, is in jeopardy. Is this an issue of the timing? There was no better time in which for American commandos to do this?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): This is a risky mission, no matter how you slice it. And Jim Reece, as former Delta Force commander, will know it well. And speaking to military officials, including Defense Secretary Hagel, you get a sense of just how close this was to being a successful operation.

They got new, reliable intelligence in the last 24 to 48 hours, which helped them pinpoint the location of Luke Somers. That's one reason that they went now. The second reason is that they had reason to believe that his life was in imminent danger. And that's because his captors had said that they were going to kill him within 72 hours, if their demands weren't met.

And that time was up on Saturday, today. But when you hear more details about the operation, that when they were approaching, is that something alerted the captors on the ground, something, they say, which could have been as simple as a dog barking at the approaching Osprey aircraft, the V-22 aircraft.

That gave a warning, which they believe then sent one of the attackers inside one of the buildings to shoot the hostages, as they were approaching. They made every effort they could to save them. Life- saving efforts on the ground, life-saving efforts in the helicopters on the way away can from the attack site.

But they lost both the hostages. So, so close, but, listen, these operations are always extremely risky. The captors have all the cards and once they had lost that element of surprise that appears to have doomed the operation.

WHITFIELD: And Colonel Reese, there really is no turning back once you lose that element of surprise, right? They have to continue forward or make adjustments along the way. But help underscore the risks involved that Jim was talking about.

LT. COL. JAMES REESE, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Yes, Fred, I mean, Jim is spot-on. There are three elements of a hostage rescue that are critical, and that's surprise, speed, and balance of action. And if you lose that surprise, then the other -- the operation can still be successful.

But the other two elements literally have to get ramped up, as soon as that surprise is lost, the operators have to move immediately and try to close with and find the hostages, because their job is to get to the hostages, protect them, even take a bullet for the hostage if need be.

So, it's tragic, especially to come that far, and I've got to attest that you're on fourth and goal at the one, and you punch it in, and you get called back on a penalty. So it's tough.

WHITFIELD: And then, Jim, there's no guarantee that every mission will be a successful one, but that is always, of course, the hope. What kind of a defeat is this for the commandos, for this military operation, when the outcome is the way it is?

SCIUTTO: I wouldn't call it a defeat. I think it's demoralizing, certainly, because they were so close. Secretary Hagel said, on the positive side, if you could find a positive side here, which is difficult, that this shows the distance to which the U.S. will go to protect its citizens.

Whether soldiers or civilians or journalists like this one was and, in fact, another foreign national there as well, a South African so that it shows the distance and the risk and the resources that the U.S. will commit to this.

But, listen, and again, Jim Reese will speak will to this, having been on a number of these operations himself, I know and having spoken to soldiers and sailors who have taken part in these operations, they, you know, they want to come home with that target safe.

And to not come home with the target safe, it's got to be getting to them now, but certainly not through any fault of their own. But it's tough. And we heard that disappointment in Secretary Hagel's voice as well. This is not the resulted they wanted.

WHITFIELD: Yes. And you could see that disappointment. And Colonel, you know, what can be learned? How will they re-examine this mission so as to shape the next potential mission?

REESE: Well, Fred, I guarantee you right now, those operators, that commandment staff, that battle staff that just ran that, they are going through every step of what they conducted. They will look at everything.

And they're really looking to see where the surprise was lost and they'll go back and try it again. This is a battle drill for these operators. They'll do it all the time. So they'll just want to take a look at the entrance fee to see what it is, and they'll keep tweaking that until they get it better.

WHITFIELD: All right, Colonel James Reese, thank you so much. Jim Sciutto traveling with the defense secretary, Chuck Hagel, thanks so much to both of you, Gentlemen. Appreciate it.

All right, back in the states now, demonstrators filling the streets from coast to coast, bringing parts of several major cities to a standstill. And now Eric Garner's family is preparing to honor him with a nationwide event. Details on that, straight ahead.

Dangerous and deadly drugs you've probably never heard of that are killing kids across the country. Why these drugs are so popular.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: This is what democracy looks like. That was just one of the rallying cries as thousands of protesters poured into the streets across the U.S. last night, expressing outrage over the grand jury's decision not to indict the officer who put Eric Garner in a chokehold in Staten Island, New York.

They staged sit-ins and die-ins and in some cities like Miami created traffic backups that stretched for miles. In more a dozen cities from coast to coast, demonstrators railed against excessive police force and what they see as the uneven levels of justice.

In New York City, hundreds of demonstrators took their protests beyond the streets. They poured into Macy's in Harold's Square and another wildly popular shopper's destination, the Apple store on Fifth Avenue. And they were there to stage die-ins. Demonstrations that ended up being very brief, but peaceful. Cristina Alesci is in New York. So Cristina, the police and store managers, apparently they had to kind of work together to maintain what turned out to be peaceful demonstrations.

CRISTINA ALESCI, CNN MONEY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the stores didn't have that much of a reaction, because as you said, the protesters really didn't stick around for a long time. And that is a strategy for not getting arrested, right?

As long as you keep moving, the cops generally won't give you a problem if you're orderly and last night, the cops were prepared, the police department, NYPD, was prepared, in fact, they prevented the protest crowds from becoming too large.

And when police detention vehicles showed up, the protesters seemed to disperse, very different night last night. It was cold and rainy here in New York. So there weren't as many people on the streets. In fact, there were only 20 arrests compared to the night earlier, Thursday night when 219 people were arrested.

So a little bit more tamed and I cannot stress this enough, protests here in New York were peaceful and very organize. Just after three days of protests, the protesters are distributing a list of demands, one of which is the firing of all of the officers involved in the Eric Garner takedown.

Also, they want the New York attorney general to launch an investigation into police misconduct, excessive force, and of course, they also want the state to outlaw the choke hold.

It is banned under New York PD policy, but it is not officially illegal. So those are just some of the demands, there are others, of course, but those are the most powerful ones.

WHITFIELD: All right, Cristina, thank you so much in New York. Appreciate that.

So the chokehold is a controversial technique, but the question at the heart of the Eric Garner case, did the situation have to escalate to a chokehold and ultimately a man's death?

CNN law enforcement analyst, Tom Fuentes, is joining me now from Washington along with Roger Fairfax, a former prosecutor, who is now a law professor at George Washington University. Good to see both of you, Gentlemen.

All right, so the NYPD officers will now apparently have a three-day retraining period on the proper use of force when engaging a suspect and that includes the de-escalation technique. So, Tom, you first, how might that make a difference?

TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, Fred, in the first place on that topic, you know, police officers on the street, having been one for six years before I became an FBI agent, are probably the greatest psychologists in the land when it comes to dealing with people and attempting to try to de-escalate things, attempting to try to persuade.

But the problem is that at the end of the day, when you're trying to make an arrest, in many situations, no amount of debate, persuasion, telling the person what the constitutional law allows or any of that, at a certain point, might not make any difference. And if you tell someone they're under arrest, if they continue to not comply, at some point, force will be used.

WHITFIELD: Well, but that sounds like the defense of using force as opposed to if there's new training, Roger, on how to de-escalate. What is entailed in that kind of retraining? Does it mean, either removing the point of view that force is an option, that there are other ways to de-escalate a situation?

ROGER FAIRFAX, PROFESSOR OF LAW, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: Well, I agree with Tom that, you know, police officers are -- have a very difficult job, and the vast majority of police officers are professional, dedicated public servants, who put their lives on the line every day.

However, they are also charged, as Tom mentioned, as being street psychologists and because they are endowed with the ability and the authority to use force, and sometimes deadly force, against the rest of us, to enforce the laws, I think training and methods of diffusing situations, to obviate the need to use that force, are certainly in order. And this case, I think, provides are great example of that.

WHITFIELD: So I think what I'm hearing from you then is, if it's teach organize training on technique versus a mind-set, as well.

FAIRFAX: Well, I think both are important. But as situations escalate and, you know, once an officer decides that he or she needs to use force to affect an arrest, I think there are other decision points down the line.

As we see in the tragic case of Mr. Garner, once the officer has decided to use the force that they used, it ultimately led to his incapacitation and severe medical distress. And so I think the training needs to go further to deal with the aftermath of the use of force in situations like this.

WHITFIELD: So, Tom, this sounds like this is going to be a gargantuan undertaking, because you hear from a number of police officers, following Mayor De Blasio's press conference, and it doesn't appear as though there is a feeling among many in the NYPD who feel like they need to be retaught, or they need to be taught about de-escalating a situation in some other manner.

Because they're trying to preserve their own lives, just as they are also committed to protecting the lives of the community. Is there a real difficulty, tom, in trying to strike a balance between whose life is more important to protect and serve? FUENTES: I think in this case, Fred, it's not a question of whose

life is more important, it's a question that, at a certain point, a decision was made to make the arrest. And when a person doesn't comply with being told they're under arrest, bad things are going to happen.

The officers had no way to know that he had asthma, diabetes, heart problems, all of the rest of it, that did contribute -- and I'm not excusing the chokehold, but I think it was more of an accident than a deliberate, you know, trying to kill him or choke him out --

WHITFIELD: But there wasn't a response to the several times saying, "I can't breathe," and that's what people --

FUENTES: Well, they were, you know, at that point, the officer's arm was no longer around his neck at that point and having made many of these type of arrests, people will say, you're hurting my arm, you're bending my wrist, I can't breathe -- you know, officers are used to hearing that.

What they don't know is in this case is he has a medical condition that it makes it true. That he was under medical duress and they didn't know that. I've said before on the air that we expect officers to be Harvard debaters.

Spend 10, 15, 20 minutes with a subject, convincing him of the constitutional legalities of why they can make an arrest and how it should happen and why the person should comply. And I've said, we expect officers to be Olympic wrestlers and what you see.

And what I see is that there was really none of the officers that knew any amount of wrestling moves or jujitsu moves that could have safely taken him to the ground and allowed them to put the flex cuffs on.

So what you see is Officer Pantaleo throws a horse collar tackle on him, which is outlawed, even in the National Football League, and then that's when it goes bad. He has an arm around his neck. And the problem is, they don't have the ability or the knowledge, let's say, to --

WHITFIELD: Well, it sounds like that's under -- you even said, it's outlawed, so that is probably justifying the whole retraining --

FUENTES: But the takedown, Fred, the takedown idea was that where he the head goes, the body follows. So he's trying to put his arms around his head and neck to bring him to the ground so they can put the handcuffs on him.

And that's where it goes bad. So not having the right kind of leverage and moves that we were taught in the academy, bar hammer lack to take the wrist and twist it a certain way.

WHITFIELD: So then Roger, is that part of the retraining?

FAIRFAX: I think so. And Fred, when you look at other professions, lawyers, doctors, dentists, teachers, they all have continuing education requirements. So, it shouldn't be strange or bizarre that we would push for that in this area, when it can be a matter of life or death.

WHITFIELD: Roger Fairfax, Tom Fuentes, thanks to both of you, Gentlemen. Appreciate it.

All right, they are dangerous and deadly drugs, you may not have ever heard of them, but they are killing kids across the country. Up next, we'll visit one North Dakota town where kids are overdosing and even dying because of these drugs.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Chemically produced drugs sold as legal alternatives to cocaine, marijuana, and meth are showing up in the streets, all across the U.S. and they're overtaking one North Dakota City. Here's CNN's Drew Griffin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the week of June 10th, 2012, law enforcement in Grand Forks were dealing with an outbreak of violent overdoses. A mysterious drug on the streets had already killed two teenagers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've got multiple overdoses. We've got two young men who have lost their lives. What's more serious than that?

GRIFFIN: Jim Purdon is the U.S. attorney for North Dakota.

TIMOTHY PURDON, U.S. ATTORNEY, DISTRICT OF NORTH DAKOTA: That was unprecedented. I've been U.S. attorney now going on four years. This is the only time we've reached out to a school system, to the university and said, there's this danger on the streets right now that people need to be aware about.

GRIFFIN: As the emergency warnings were being issued, investigators were desperately trying to find out what this drug was and more importantly, where it came from.

CHRIS MYERS, FIRST ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY, DISTRICT OF NORTH DAKOTA: It took lab analysis to determine the true nature of these substances, when we learned what they were, 2 ci NBOME and 2 cc NBOME that was new to us.

GRIFFIN: They are synthetic designer drugs. Chemicals designs to imitate the high of the banned drug, LSD. These drugs are so potent. A dose the size of a few grains of salt is enough to get high. North Dakota's top federal drug prosecutor had never heard of them and neither had Christian Bjerks' parents.

DEBRA BJERK, CHRISTIAN BJERK'S MOTHER: I had to go to the internet and look up information on it. And I really didn't understand the whole synthetic drug. I didn't know what it was. Didn't know how dangerous they were.

PURDON: The message we got after we went on the internet was that somebody had said it was OK for these drugs to be on the street and they had been tweaked. But that's all we knew.

GRIFFIN: Parents across the country are now learning the painful truth about synthetic designer drugs.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Investigators say he overdosed on a synthetic marijuana --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Otherwise known as k-2.

GRIFFIN: With deaths and overdoses reported almost daily.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. Drew Griffin is with me now in the NEWSROOM. So these synthetic drugs, is it ability availability? Why is it so accessible?

GRIFFIN: I think it's so accessible for two reasons. One, it comes in nice little packages through the mail. So most of these kids think there is some kind of cleanliness and legalness to it, because it's distributed in this way.

The other thing is, it's easy to get. All you need is a credit card. You're not meeting a street dealer down on the corner. You're just ordering it online.

WHITFIELD: How is it so accessible?

GRIFFIN: Because it is all internet-based. Not drug cartels, we're not talking about gangs, we're talking about chemical companies, mostly in China, who are shipping this to distributors in the United States, who are putting it on web sites and you can just click what you want. It comes in any size you want.

WHITFIELD: And why is there no policing of this? Why is that?

GRIFFIN: The police are trying to catch up constantly. There's so much of it out there, it's labor intensive kind of cases. It mostly happens, like in this, when you have deaths or some kind of a serious illness, then the cops have to backtrack. And what you'll see in this special is how long it took before the police even knew what they were dealing.

What was this drug? Take it to a lab, analyze it then find out where it came from. Then backtrack all the way through the internet, multiple jurisdictions. The cases are hard to crack.

There are plenty of people who are trying to evade the law. It's just like every other drug we have. There's money to be made and people willing to figure out a way to do it.

WHITFIELD: And if you're a user, is the synthetic drug more appealing because of its potency, or is that kind of overthinking about it?

GRIFFIN: I think there is overthinking. It's the ease of use and the ease of attainment. People are not thinking, this is going to be better than LSD, they really don't even know --

WHITFIELD: Or that it's potentially more dangerous, not even thinking about those things.

GRIFFIN: Not even thinking. And many of the kids get in trouble because they have no idea what the potency is. They just think it's something new, came in the mail, let's give it a shot.

WHITFIELD: All right. Drew Griffin, thanks so much. Of course, it's very frightening says well, especially for young kids.

Tonight, Drew Griffin has more on the dangers of synthetic drugs. Don't miss the CNN special report, "Deadly High: How Synthetic Drugs Are Killing Kids." that's tonight, 7:00 Eastern Time.

All right, what will the feds do to rein in cops who go rogue? Our legal guys weigh in, next.

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WHITFIELD: There are new demands for a federal investigation into the death of Eric Garner. And this as the Department of Justice already conducts its own investigation into the shooting death of Michael Brown.

And this same week, the DOJ released a report saying excessive force was prominent and went unpunished in the Cleveland Police Department. Let's bring this our legal guys, Avery Friedman is civil rights attorney and law professor in Cleveland. Good to see you.

And Richard Herman, a New York criminal defense attorney and law professor, joining us from Las Vegas. Good to see you as well. So, Avery, you first, a lot happening in your backyard, do you and a group of lawyers, in fact, meeting Thursday with the attorney general.

And the justice officials to talk about the Justice Department's probe and its report about the Cleveland Police Department, which comes right on the heels of a 12-year-old Tamir Rice by a police officer. So what did the report say and what impact may it have on these other cases, federal investigations including Ferguson?

AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Yes, it's 158 pages, Fredricka. And it is riveting and devastating. It demonstrates how poorly police have been supervised, the inadequacy of training, the failure of community policing, a multitude of issues.

But if there's any good news about that report by the Department of Justice, and it's going to impact Ferguson, it's going to impact New York City and other major departments, and that is that ultimately, there's going to be a contempt order.

And it will identify the positive things that police officers can do to avoid the kind of things we see week after week, month after month. So while, yes, it hurts, it's important that justices jumped in over a 20-year-old law. It's also going to have a positive effect on other major police departments.

WHITFIELD: So Richard, you're shaking your head. It is -- are you in agreement or disagreement that there's a possibility it's a universal problem for police departments to investigate themselves?

RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, it is difficult, Fred. And anytime you ask a prosecutor to prosecute police officers, who they stand side by side, each week in court, and they are their voices in bringing prosecutions, this is very difficult. What are you going to do? Hire a special prosecutor? Engage a special prosecutor every time a police officer gets challenged? I don't think you can do.

WHITFIELD: Well, why not?

HERMAN: I disagree with Avery.

WHITFIELD: Why not? Because it doesn't even seem as though that's used that much?

HERMAN: Because we're not equipped to do that, Fred. The system just does not work that way. And number two, we -- I disagree with Avery. We do not see this week-in and week-out, throughout the United States. We do not see it.

FRIEDMAN: What?

HERMAN: And while this report looks great and it's going to be nice and fluff, and everyone is going to say, yes, yes, yes, the bottom line is this. And the Garner situation in New York is highlighted. That situation will escalate that same way, each and every time, Fred.

Because when they go to arrest someone and if you don't like the laws, go to the legislature and change the laws. Once we hire police officers to enforce them and they say, you're under arrest, and you say, no, don't touch me, get away from me, it's going to be a problem for you.

WHITFIELD: OK.

HERMAN: And these officers are going to do whatever they can do --

FRIEDMAN: But that's not the issue in the case.

WHITFIELD: Avery, I hope you're taking notes, because you're shaking your head to just about everything that Richard said.

FRIEDMAN: Well, think about this. Think about this. It's not that complicated if you have proper supervision and you -- what on earth do you generally permit choke holds to occur? What on earth are you sending police officers into the community without body cams?

What on earth are you having police officer involved in the streets without appropriate training? And I think who oversees it? A federal district judge will do it in Cleveland or ultimately, unless things change, other federal courts are going to have to oversee police departments. And that shouldn't have to happen.

WHITFIELD: All right. Avery, Richard, we're going to have to leave it there. Thanks so much to both of you, Gentlemen, always good to see you.

HERMAN: So much to talk about, Fred.

WHITFIELD: We have so much more.

FRIEDMAN: I know --

HERMAN: Can present a whole host of problems, Fred. A whole host of problems with the body cams but --

FRIEDMAN: And solutions!

HERMAN: Maybe we can get into that next week.

WHITFIELD: You know that problem is not resolved, so I'm sure we're going to have time to revisit that. Richard, Avery, thanks so much. Good to see you, guys. Appreciate it.

Next, a rare exclusive look at civilians under siege from ISIS, what it's like to live in the rubble of the war-torn city of Kobani, Syria.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The battle between Kurds and ISIS militants for control of the Syrian city of Kobani has dragged on for months now. The city on the Turkish border has been reduced to little more than rubble. With such destruction, owe might think it would be a ghost town.

Well, you'd be wrong. There are civilians there. And our Nick Paton Walsh shows us what it's like for them in this exclusive report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Kobani feels haunted by those who are still alive in it. Inhumane enough that the noise of coalition war planes above is a strange comfort. The destruction so near complete, the fight is more now for victory alone, not for its spoils.

Here, they've even given up on hospitals. This is, the last one, flattened by a car bomb. The wounded are now taken straight to the border.

(on camera): From the ground level inside the city, you can see what months of fighting has done, absolutely devastation. It's almost impossible to imagine this city sustaining life at any time in the near future. But still, the fighting persists, the shelling, almost constant so much of it caused by crude homemade devices like this.

(voice-over): There are civilians here. Those who refuse or cannot flee and children, besieged, who cannot be protected from indiscriminate constant shelling. Youssef can list their friends who have left.

But they show us their only option. What they do when the blasts start. Their uncle taught them to hide like this. This couldn't be further from playtime, though. There are the remnants of lives enjoyed, but also of lives taken early.

Ali walks on a spot where a week earlier, his young daughter was killed by a random mortar, the sort that are still falling. Three to four mortars fell near us, he says. The first we escaped from, the second we escaped from, then the third fell on us. My daughter was 7 years old, 7 years old, and she died. God bless and help us.

He brought his six daughters and the 150 sheep they live off here after ISIS attacked their nearby village. He could not leave the flock or the family car and flee to safety in Turkey. She was 7 years old, he says. She was so beautiful. Small and people who saw her felt the need to lift her up and down and play.

He went to her grave the day before and sat there for 30 minutes. It is the graveyard that tells you about the near future and the more distant one. A trench dug for the dead they expect next to those they have already buried, headstones from rubble, again, a morbid playground.

Too young to fathom the fight around them, they will decide what kind of life survival here could leave them with. Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Kobani.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And if you want to help refugees from the war in Syria, you can go to CNN.com/impact to find links to organizations that are providing aid.

Next, I ask Janice Dickinson, face to face, about Camille Cosby sticking by her husband, Bill, and maintaining her silence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She knew that he was promiscuous. She knew that. She stayed married to him. This is her choice. I can't speak for her. I can only say to Miss Cosby that I am sorry I had sex your husband and he had raped me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: More of Janice Dickinson face to face after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: At least 21 women have now gone public claiming to have been sexually assaulted by entertainer, Bill Cosby, over a span of four decades among them, former supermodel, Janice Dickinson.

I visited her at her Beverly Hills home this week, and she told me face to face, while she feels a kind of sisterhood with the other alleged victims whom she has yet to meet, she also feels something for Camille Cosby, Mr. Cosby's wife of 50 years. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Did you ever want to warn any other young ladies about him?

JANICE DICKINSON, ALLEGEDLY SEXUALLY ASSAULTED BY BILL COSBY: I didn't know it was happening! I didn't know it was happening to them. I just thought it happened to me. And I'm a bad woman, you know? You know, I'm a -- it's humility, you know? And when I found out -- when this first came out, you know, just recently, it was my right as a woman, and having been raped by him to tell my side of the story, the truth.

WHITFIELD: And now, how much are you thinking about Camille Cosby? What you thinking as she sits next to her husband during an AP, Associated Press, interview, and he is asked about these allegations, while they are promoting an art exhibit in Washington, D.C. We haven't heard from Camille Cosby.

DICKENSON: I don't think you will. But I would hope that she would come -- I would hope that Camille Cosby would come up -- hen you ask me how do I feel seeing that, I feel bad for her. She knew that he was promiscuous. She knew that, but she stayed married to him. This is her choice. I can't speak for her.

I can only say to Miss Cosby that I am sorry I had sex with your husband and he had raped me. I'm sorry that he raped me -- I'm going to say to Camille, I'm sorry, that you know, your husband raped me. I'm sorry your husband promised me, you know.

And I'm sorry for you that your husband gave me wine and pills, to, you know, for the sole intent on having sex with me and raping me and flying me. I'm sorry for her that like her husband is a philander and a rapist.

I'm sorry for her. I really mean that, and his children. I'm sorry, for that! But I'm not sorry for what happened to me. Maybe Camille Cosby can say something to me about how I feel about what her husband did to me.

WHITFIELD: Did you ever have sexual relations with him because you used the word "sex," but you also used the word "rape."

DICKINSON: Rape is the rape. This is the rape. This is what happened to me. I don't know. I'm really upset. You got me all fired up.

WHITFIELD: What's next in this?

DICKINSON: I don't know. I know that -- I pray that he responds in an honest way. I would pray that Jell-O monster, pudding guy would apologize to me and acknowledge the fact that I am telling the truth.

I want to say to my haters, specifically, what if it happened to you, your sister, your daughter, or your, your own mama? What if Bill Cosby had done that to them? How would you feel then, rather than hating me? That's how I really feel. And thank you.

WHITFIELD: Thank you, Janice Dickinson, a pleasure.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: There's actually more from Janice Dickinson, straight ahead. I ask her whether it's fair that Cosby's co-stars take a hit with their shows taken off the air.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DICKINSON: This man is not a family man that he played on TV. He's a rapist! He's a rapist! And I would hope that the other actors would get behind me on this. Look, you wouldn't want this happening to you, your sister, your aunt, or your mama.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: More face to face with Janice Dickinson. But first --

Protests are growing over deadly police incidents. Former and New York City Police Commissioner, Bernard Careck, weighs in, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. CNN is just one day away from a holiday tradition, "CNN Heroes, An All-Star Tribute." Join us as the stars turn out to salute ten extraordinary people, who give back all year long. The event airs tomorrow night at 8:00. Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD (voice-over): At first glance, it might look like every other awards show. But "CNN Hero: All Star Tribute" hosted by Anderson Cooper is an event like no other. Here, ten ordinary people doing extraordinary work to help others take center stage and the stars turn out to honor them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So many people are being honored the for just doing good, because it just pushing humanity forward.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's basically recognizing people for doing what we should be doing everything, which is kind of thinking beyond ourselves.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm here with my daughter because that's what I want to teach her. The individual really can make a difference.

WHITFIELD: Individuals like a man who helped people with disabilities get stronger, inside and out.

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

WHITFIELD: A woman who works with to save lions from extinction. And a rabbi with a black belt who helps kids fight cancer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Given the opportunity, these children can inspire the world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're killing me, CNN. You got me sobbing (inaudible).

WHITFIELD: It's a night full of emotions.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Those are my babies.

WHITFIELD: Laughter.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: My friend, Cathy Griffin.

CATHY GRIFFIN: Thank you, Jake Tapper. Hi, everybody.

WHITFIELD: An uplifting message --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Even in the darkest of places, decency and love can persevere.

WHITFIELD: And performances that inspire.