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Will Chokehold Protests Be Violent or Peaceful?; Syrians Report Israeli Airstrikes; Rogers: Al Qaeda Accepting Ransom is Not New; UVA Students Talk About Campus Culture; The Week in Sports; Duke and Duchess Arrive in New York; T-Rex Find Comes Back to Bite

Aired December 07, 2014 - 18:00   ET

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


POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, everyone. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Poppy Harlow.

All this hour, we are fast-forwarding to the week ahead. We'll take a look at the stories you're going to be talking about, hearing about this coming week.

Let's begin with our five questions for the week ahead.

First, question number one, will chokehold protesters be violent or peaceful again tonight? Protests in Berkeley, California, spiraled into mayhem overnight. Masked demonstrators threw bricks and ice at police, vandals smashed windows and looted stores.

Question number two on your radar this week: how will Syria respond to an attack by Israel? It's not yet confirmed by the IDF, but officials inside Syria say Israeli warplanes hit targets near Damascus today. The Syrian government calls it a, quote, "flagrant attack". In a moment, we'll talk about what -- about what we know about that and what will happen in terms of relations between Israel and Syria.

Question number three, will the U.S. face fallout from its botched military raid in Yemen? Two hostages, including one American, were killed. It is a question of whether it is the time for the United States government to reconsider its policy and should the U.S. negotiate for American lives of people being held hostage?

Question number four: will we learn more about "Rolling Stones "account of an alleged gang rape at UVA? Will the writer speak out? Will the centerpiece of the piece, Jackie, speak out? The magazine has quietly issued an updated apology for the article. They changed their wording, which many say was blaming the victim.

Meanwhile this week, a Senate subcommittee will hold a hearing on law enforcement's response to sexual assaults on college campuses across this country.

And finally, question number five: who will take home the biggest prize in college football? The list of likely Heisman trophy winners is pretty short. One name being mentioned louder than others. Who is your pick? We're going to talk about that coming up as well. We begin with this tonight, a sense of calm returning as chokehold

protesters made a lot of noise across the country last night, but how long is this calm going to last?

In Chicago, several churches held peaceful demonstrations right after their Sunday services today. Some of the parishioners laying on the ground motionless in different locations.

Also in the nation's capital, crowds descended on Chinatown blocking a major intersection there. Police told drivers to turn around. Traffic was at a complete standstill.

Still, many people are on edge after last night's bloody rampage in Berkeley, California. That's what you're watching. Things really got out of hand there. Cops in riot gear were using tear gas against protesters. You even had some injuries, some blood spilling on to the street there.

Let's go straight to our Dan Simon. He's live for us in Berkeley.

Dan, it looks calm behind you, but boarded up. That's the result of what happened, the vandalism that happened.

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Exactly right. We're in front of a Trader Joe's, and the store had its windows smashed in last night. Of course, as you know, Berkeley is known for its protests. It's famous for it, all the way going back to the '60s.

Why the situation last night turned violent, we don't know. Other than to say it appears that there was an anarchist fashion within those protesters according to police. There were some splinter groups that started out peacefully enough, but at some point, people in the crowd became unruly and started throwing bricks at police officers. Officers responded using tear gas and fired rubber bullets and then things really became chaotic. They hit this Trader Joe's. They also hit a Wells Fargo Bank branch down the street. Also targeted, a RadioShack where we also saw some looting.

Here's what some of the store employees had to say about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Next thing you know, that window breaks, that window started breaking. These two windows break. And it's like people --

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A guy with a crowbar comes in and starts stealing stuff, as much as they can get.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIMON: Six people were arrested, five adults and one juvenile. There were a couple of minor injuries. We're told that two police officers received minor injuries, one of whom had a dislocated shoulder, but nothing too serious.

The question, of course, tonight, Poppy, is are we going to see a repeat of the big crowds? And if so, how might the protesters react and what type of tactics might police use -- Poppy.

HARLOW: I'm wondering that, Dan. Have the protesters from last night talked to you and said they think the police handled it correctly? Did they think it was excessive in the police response? Do you know if the police are going to use different tactics tonight?

SIMON: Well, first of all, it remains to be seen whether we're going to see a large protest tonight. We've seen some movement on social media. People trying to get protesters out at 5:00 tonight, but at this point, we don't know if we're going to see those crowds. What police plan to do, they haven't released that to us, there are some people who are complaining on Twitter, complaining on Facebook that police were overzealous in trying to get the protesters to move back.

Then again, you did have protesters start throwing projectiles at the police. So, police would argue in that situation, what are they supposed to do? They need to get the crowd under control. Of course, all throughout the country, we've been seeing a debate about this. What type of tactics should police officers use in a situation where the protesters get violent -- Poppy.

HARLOW: And we feel for the businesses. We see a guy behind you working to board them up. I mean, these businesses, many independent business owners have to pay for the repair and the lost business is a as a result of what's happened. Let's hope that it stays peaceful tonight.

Dan Simon, thank you.

Coming up in our fast forward look ahead at the week, how will Syria react if Israel confirms today's airstrike right near Damascus? We'll talk about that ahead.

And also, after a failed raid by Navy SEALs ends with two hostages dead, what is the long-term impact of that going to be? We'll talk about it, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: Syrian government officials say that targets inside of Syria right near Damascus were bombed today by the Israeli air force. A human rights group on the ground there agrees they say a warehouse was the target and the Syrian military area right outside of Damascus. So far, no confirmation or denial from Israel. They have not said anything.

Our Ben Wedeman is live in Jerusalem with more on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Israel launched two air strikes on targets in Syria Sunday according to state-run media in Damascus. Around dusk Sunday, two strikes took place, one near Damascus International Airport where according to the Syrian observatory for human rights, which monitors events in Syria, the target was a storage facility.

The second strike was near the town of Demas on the road from Damascus to the Lebanese border. A statement from the Syrian army, there were no casualty, only material damage and went on to say that the Israeli attack was designed to lift the morale of the terror groups, primarily the Nusra front in the Islamic State after the blows they've received from the Syrian army.

Israeli officials declined to comment on these reports. Israeli media is noting, however, that in his weekly cabinet meeting Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel is closely monitoring the Middle East and what is happening with open eyes and ears and a lot is happening, he said. "We will stay informed and we will deal with these unremitting threats and challenges."

Israeli analysts suggest that these words may have been an oblique foreshadowing of the strikes on Syria later in the day. It is widely believed that Israel was behind a series of air strikes on targets inside Syria since early 2013. The strikes are believed to be targeting advanced weapons systems destined for transport to the radical Lebanese group, Hezbollah, a key Syrian ally, which has provided fighters to the Syrian regime in the ongoing civil war.

Ben Wedeman, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: Ben, thank you for that report.

Let's bring in Phil Mudd. He's a CNN counterterrorism analyst. He's also former CIA and FBI analyst.

Let's talk about this strike, not confirmed by IDF yet. But that's typical. IDF usually isn't going to say anything about this. You do not read this as Israel joining the coalition force fight against ISIS.

PHIL MUDD, CNN COUNTERTERRORISM ANALYST: No, I think this is part of a much older fight that's been going on for many years, and that is, you've got a couple of potential targets. One, Syria is a military adversary for Israel. I think there's a good second that target in Damascus was something like missile parts.

The second is Lebanese Hezbollah. Beirut international airport is the place where Iran sends in weaponry for Hezbollah. They might have been hitting, that is the Israelis, weapons going down from that airport into Lebanon.

HARLOW: And in terms of whether we are going to hear anything from Israel, (a), do we think we will? Would it be typical? And (b), just bigger picture, and very importantly in this unstable region, what is Syria? What is Assad going to do about it? MUDD: There's much he can do it. I don't think the Israelis will say much. They've done this, by the way, in the past, in the recent past. So, this is not without a precedent.

Look, Assad is going to come back and say this is about aiding a terrorist, as he's already said. This has nothing to do with that fight. There's not much he can do about it.

HARLOW: How big is this on the scale of things to be concerned about in the region?

MUDD: I think racked and stacked against what we're dealing with in Syria, with al Nusra front, with arming the opposition, this is a close second, distant third, distant fourth -- this is way down the line.

HARLOW: This is way down the line. I also want to talk to you about another case that we've been following obviously very closely. That is what happened in Yemen and the U.S. -- the United States trying to rescue Luke Somers, the American hostage, and that was a failure and the fallout there from that and from what happened.

What we know so far in that attempt, and the fact that, you know, these brave Navy SEALs, the most elite, went in, trying to rescue Luke Somers, found another western hostage there. Both of them were shot by the terrorists and later died.

As we look at this now, what is your take in terms of if anything strategy-wise needed to change?

MUDD: Boy, I think before we say it's a failure -- as an intelligence professional, believe it or not, I look at this as a partial success. Do you know how hard it is halfway around the world to geo-locate a terrorist cell, that is find people in time and space, where they are today, so that you can plan a raid for tomorrow? That is extremely difficult to do in a region this isolated like this isolated where you can't get human assets in very well.

So, just the success of the intelligence picture is remarkable.

HARLOW: They hiked six miles.

MUDD: Incredible. Obviously, the operation didn't work out well, but I would say, I think Americans are lulled into believing after the bin Laden operation that these things are easy and they go off without a hitch. The answer is they don't.

HARLOW: Also important to point out these men, these forces risked their lives twice in one week to try -- to try to rescue this American.

I want to take -- have you take a listen to some sound. This is coming from House Intelligence Chairman Mike Rogers talking about whether or not we think -- should be rethinking our policy about negotiating. So, listen, then I want your reaction on the other side.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE ROGERS (R), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: AQAM, the al Qaeda in the Maghreb Northern Africa, has been taking hostages, ransom hostages contributor to al Qaeda in cash payments meaning people were cooperating paying the ransom, when it didn't happen, they to execute their hostages. And so, we need to understand that this isn't something new. I think the sheer terror of the way that ISIS does it by beheading certainly has gotten into the conscience of America. But they've been engaged in this practice for a very long time, al Qaeda as well as ISIS tactics.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: So, Bob Baer brought up in the last hour, former CIA operative, he says, look, France is paying now for their hostages and this is complicating the entire thing for America and for others.

MUDD: Look, I think we ought to step back here. We've been at this for 13 years and ask simple questions. Forget about the national security side. There are families in America who are losing children to beheadings.

I'm not talking about the potential of paying money to a terror group, but do we want to have conversations, for example, as we did with Bowe Bergdahl and the Taliban prisoners --

HARLOW: About a swap.

MUDD: About a swap. I think that's something the White House should consider.

HARLOW: When you're talking about civilians, not soldiers.

MUDD: That's correct.

HARLOW: Bergdahl soldier.

MUDD: Correct. The civilians, protection, journalists in Syria, they might be a better way. Again, 13 years into this, I would not support trading prisoners for money, but there might be a way to trade prisoners for prisoners in a war that's 13 years old.

HARLOW: So, you say you would not suggest still paying a ransom?

MUDD: No.

HARLOW: I wonder if you can talk about for us from the lens of being a former CIA and FBI analyst. Is it about danger that it puts those on the ground in?

MUDD: It's about two things. First, you're funding an organization and these organizations in places like North Africa, Central Africa, the Middle East, across the world that are going to use this money to further recruit people. Not just to pay for terror operations but to pay for food, to pay for families. You can fund a lot of people in that part of the world with a million bucks. So, the first you've got to worry about is paying for terror. The

second thing you've got to worry about is, of course, are you going to generate further hostage-taking? Because people say, hey, we don't have to raise money by selling oil. Take a few hostages. The Americans are now paying. Let's do it.

HARLOW: Well, appreciate the insight. You know, and, again, it cannot be overstated the bravery of these SEALs that went in.

MUDD: Horrific operation.

HARLOW: Dozens of them to try to rescue Luke Somers.

MUDD: Amazing.

HARLOW: All right. Thank you, Phil.

MUDD: Thank you.

HARLOW: Good to be with you. We appreciate it.

Also this week, relief groups will be working to get gifts to Iraqi and Syrian children, a lot of them spending the holidays in refugee camps this holiday season. They escaped with their lives but really little else, many of them just the clothes on their back after the brutal ISIS fighters attacked their villages. In hopes of providing some cheer, Samaritan's Purse is sending 60,000 school boxes filled with school supplies, toiletries, and toys to those kids in Northern Iraq, in those refugee camps. Those gifts were donated by families in the United States, Canada, and Britain. The airlift is on Wednesday.

Also this story, we're continuing to follow very closely, "Rolling Stone" apologizing for its story about rape at the University of Virginia. The main subject of that article has kept silent, though she did speak with "The Washington Post." We have not heard from the writer of the article since we had her on this program last week.

But students, many people on campus, talking about the story. What they're saying, a live report coming up after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: Well, a Senate subcommittee will hold a hearing this week on how law enforcement responds to the big problem of sexual assault on college campuses in this country. It comes as "Rolling Stone", the magazine, is facing backlash for an article that it published detailing an alleged brutal gang rape at UVA.

The magazine has apologized. A lot of critics, though, say that is not enough. So, a lot of questions surrounding this. One of them, are we going to hear from the author of the article this week?

Our Sara Ganim looks at the controversy and what people on campus are saying.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) SARA GANIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Poppy, tomorrow is the start of finals week here at UVA, and as students prepare to go home for the winter break, there is concern about the fallout of the "Rolling Stone" apology.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Honestly, I was terrified when I heard the news.

GANIM (voice-over): Sexual assault survivors like Ashley Brown immediately began to worry, after "Rolling Stone" magazine backed away from its explosive reporting of an alleged gang rape at a University of Virginia fraternity house.

ASHLEY BROWN, UVA STUDENT & ANTI-RAPE ADVOCATE: Whether or not every letter of it happened exactly as it was written, it doesn't change the fact that sexual assault is a huge issue.

GANIM: Several survivors we've talked to say there is still too much tolerance at UVA, where rape is so misunderstood, there's even a nickname for it.

(on camera): Bad experience?

BROWN: Yes, that's the overwhelming euphemism is that you just had a bad experience with a person or you had a bad experience at that party or that house or whatever.

EMILY POWELL, UVA STUDENT & ANTI-RAPE ADVOCATE: You know what I'm talking about, but I'm not actually saying it.

GANIM (voice-over): Emily Powell said she was assaulted by an acquaintance last year.

POWELL: I remember crying. I remember crying when it happened. And I remember saying no, and I remember pushing him off of me and then I remember sobbing.

GANIM: According to university officials, 38 UVA students reported to the university that they were raped last year. None of those reports led to expulsions, and there's no way of knowing how many more are like Emily and didn't report what happened to them.

POWELL: You really start wondering, well, is it actually going to do me any good to report? For some people, it's worth it, and for some people, it's not.

GANIM: Lyra Bartell started process of reporting her attack but found it too hard to finish.

LYRA BARTELL, UVA ALUMNA & ANTI-RAPE ADVOCATE: I was having panic attacks on campus. I was literally covering my face with a hood and running from class to class because I was so fearful of running into the person that hurt me.

GANIM: Eventually, Bartell dropped her case but told CNN she witnessed disturbing scenes like having to carry friends out of frat parties where she says they were drugged. BARTELL: People use words like, oh that's the rapey frat.

BROWN: The majority of the narratives I've heard have been, oh, you're not hot enough to get into this party, or, you know, try a different frat.

GANIM: Members of the Inter-Fraternity Council released a statement acknowledging there is a bigger issue, saying, quote, "We ask that our community does not become mired in the details of one specific incident but rather that we continue relentlessly pursuing institutionalized survivor support" -- a sentiment university president Teresa Sullivan agrees with.

TERESA SULLIVAN, PRESIDENT, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: There is a piece of our culture that is broken, and I ask your help in coming together as a strong and resilient community to fix it.

GANIM: Welcome words for survivors like Ashley Brown.

BROWN: I think that that attitude definitely existed, but I will say I think that a lot of the Greek system is finally waking up.

GANIM (on camera): Police continued to investigate that alleged gang rape. In the meantime, we talked to friends of Jackie, the woman at the center of that "Rolling Stone" piece. They say it's become clear to them that there were inaccuracies in the story, but they do believe something bad happened to Jackie. That's now for police to figure out -- Poppy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: And Jackie stood by her story to "The Washington Post."

Sara Ganim, thank you very much.

Well, we see the protests in the streets and now we're seeing athletes on the court, on the field, taking a stand, making their voice heard about the deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson and Eric Garner here in New York. Are we going to see more big-name athletes speaking out? That's next in our fast-forward look at the week ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: It is the biggest price in college football, who's going to win the Heisman Trophy this year? The winner will be revealed this week.

Got a number of big names in contention. Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota, a favorite. He has a great individual statistics record and he led his team into the new college football playoff.

Running back Melvin Gordon of Wisconsin is the nation's leading rusher, but he only gained 67 yards yesterday and his team took a beating in the Big 10 title game.

Alabama's Amari Cooper is considered one of the best receivers in college football. But let's face it, receivers almost never take home the Heisman Trophy.

Let's bring in our expert, who better to talk about all of this, Terence Moore. He joins us now from Atlanta. He's a sports contributor to CNN.com and columnist for MLB.com.

So, do you have a favorite for the Heisman?

TERENCE MOORE, CNN.COM SPORTS CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, first of all, forget those latter two. They don't have a ghost chance of you-know-what of winning the thing.

It's going to be Mariota by a bunch, and that's because quarterbacks always win this thing. I mean, literally, 12 of the 14 last Heisman trophy winners were quarterbacks. The other thing is, he is simply the best quarterback in the country. Mariota is.

And you look at the Oregon team, they're ranked number two in the country. You take him off that roster, they're barely mediocre. He leads the country in passing efficiency.

And here, Poppy, is what I really like about this guy. He throws the ball an awful lot, just two interceptions. That's Heisman stuff.

(LAUGHTER)

HARLOW: Kind of not fair that it's always going to the quarterbacks, but that is not for me or you to decide.

I want to talk about a more serious and really a focal point right now. And that is that we have seen even this morning on the field in an NFL game some stars both in the NBA, in the NFL. We saw Reggie Bush, the Lions coming out and wearing shirts that say, "I can't breathe," making a very public vocal statement about the death of Eric Garner here in Staten Island and the non-indictment of the police officer.

There you also see, we saw Derrick Rose doing that, his teammates afterwards speaking up supporting him.

What is your take on this? Athletes speaking out about their personal beliefs on issues like this? Because there are some that say, good for them.

MOORE: Yes.

HARLOW: And others that say don't do this when you're with the team.

MOORE: Well, I mean, this is fabulous, and it really goes back to Jackie Robinson. You know, a lot of people look at Jackie Robinson as a guy that broke baseball's color barrier but they forget that Jackie Robinson was Rosa Parks before Rosa Parks. He was this four sports star back in UCLA. He joins the U.S. Army. And then he refuses to sit in the back of a bus in Texas in 1944.

Does that sound familiar? He was arrested, nearly court-martialed. So then after Jackie Robinson, you know you had the examples of Muhammad Ali and Bill Russell, and the black protests, black power protests in '68 at the Mexico Olympics.

But here's the thing, Poppy. We went through this dead period. We had players, particularly black athletes, afraid to say anything and to be the epitome of that was Michael Jordan who made the infamous statement, that the reason he doesn't speak out is because white people buy shoes, too. So hopefully we're going back to the future.

HARLOW: It's interesting, you know, we did hear LeBron James on Thursday speaking up in terms of urging society to do better. We had Magic Johnson praising him for doing that.

MOORE: Yes.

HARLOW: I want to show you some video just in to CNN of some fans, we believe, some Rams fans, St. Louis Rams fans, burning Rams merchandise today around the game. This, think about what happened a week ago, right? You had some of those Rams players coming out putting their hands up as they took to the field.

What do you make of this of what we're seeing here?

MOORE: You know what, I'm going to put this in the same category that some people should look at the Ferguson riots in. OK? Just because you had rioters in Ferguson, Missouri, it doesn't mean that everybody was rioting. OK? And you know how the media -- not CNN -- but how some of the media tries to make it seem like it's everybody. These are just a few Rams fans.

HARLOW: OK.

MOORE: And I hope that does not deter people, athletes out there, prominent athletes from following the leads of a Derrick Rose or a Reggie Bush, because these are just a couple of knuckle heads or a few knuckle heads that are trying to intimidate and we should not be intimidated, not on this issue.

HARLOW: All right. I also want your reaction -- it's a good point, right? I mean, video that we show is never emblematic of what everyone is doing or feeling or thinking. Listen to this sound from Charles Barkley, former famous athlete, known for speaking his mind. Fascinating interview with our Brooke Baldwin this week talking about how he thinks the criticism of police in the wake of the grand jury decision in Ferguson has gone way too far. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLES BARKLEY, NBA HALL OF FAMER: The notion that white cops are out there just killing black people, that's ridiculous. Just flat-out ridiculous. And I challenge any black person to try to make that point. This notion that cops -- cops are actually awesome. You know, they're the only thing in the ghetto from -- between this place being the Wild, Wild West. So this notion that cops are out there just killing black men is ridiculous, and I hate that narrative coming out of this entire situation.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HARLOW: Terence, your response?

MOORE: Well, Charles would have a great point if what he said was true, OK? There's nobody saying in mass, black and white people. They're not saying in mass that all white cops are out to kill all black people. What people are saying is the truth. There are a lot of white cops out there who are shooting first and asking questions later when it comes to young black males.

And that's been the case for centuries, certainly the last few months we've seen cases from Arizona to Ferguson, Missouri, to the two cases in Ohio where the 12-year-old boy and the 22-year-old at the Wal-Mart, and Dayton, Ohio, and of course, New York.

So here's the thing with Charles Barkley. He's entitled to his opinion. Charles does a fabulous job on the NBA telecast. We kind of tend to forget that he's an entertainer, number one, so we might be taking him a little bit too seriously on certain things.

HARLOW: Really? I mean, he was -- I mean, he was very set in his beliefs on this one and clearly a topic very, very important to him, but you are, indeed right, Charles Barkley does not mince his words. You know what, Terence, at least everyone's talking about it.

MOORE: And I do like that. And I like that in the sense of what we just said before about that dead period of athletes, or former athletes refusing to say anything.

HARLOW: Good point.

MOORE: At least he's saying something, so I like that, although in this particular case, in my opinion, he's a little bit off.

HARLOW: Terence, good to have you on the program. Thank you so much.

When we come back, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are going to have an action-packed trip here in the United States. Basketball in Brooklyn. A meeting with the president. What else are they going to do? We're going to talk about the royal visit, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: Let me show you what just happened in New York City. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have arrived for their first ever joint visit to this great city. Take a look at this arrival. It's a huge fanfare at the Carlisle Hotel just moments ago. Big crowd out there. They don't care about the cold. They are excited to see the Duke and the Duchess.

This is part of a three-day whirlwind tour here in New York, also in Washington, D.C. Also they're going to take in a little bit of basketball.

Let's talk about what to expect with our royal commentator, Victoria Arbiter.

Thank you for being with me. I appreciate it.

VICTORIA ARBITER, CNN ROYAL COMMENTATOR: Thank you.

HARLOW: Big visit, first visit. What are they going to do while they're here in New York?

ARBITER: It's really going to be a jam-packed couple of days. It's all about fundraising. The idea is to raise as much money as possible for their charitable endeavors to raise the profile of their charge. These of course are they're most concern with. And also to forge relationships with American foundations, organizations, individuals that perhaps share their cause and their passion for their causes. So, really, I think it's a whirlwind couple of days of raising as much money as possible.

HARLOW: We know that William is going to be in Washington meeting with the president. Kate will be spending time in Harlem with children up there.

ARBITER: Yes.

HARLOW: What is it that they are most passionate about individually?

ARBITER: I think for William at the moment certainly he is fighting a crusade in terms of the illegal poaching epidemic. He has said that time is running out for a number of these endangered species. So the fact that he has got three engagements tomorrow that is centered around conservation and zero-tolerance approach really it's quite something the fact that he's got this meeting with the president as well.

HARLOW: Yes.

ARBITER: It's -- William is second in line to the throne, he's not first in line to the throne so this is an opportunity for him to really step up as a statesman, to have this time with the president who's a very busy man. It just goes to show the world that Obama is on his side as well.

HARLOW: And what about the time that the duchess is going to be spending? I mean, what is most significant to her? We know that they left their son at home because they're doing so much while they're here.

ARBITER: Yes.

HARLOW: But what does she care most about? I know $10,000 a seat for one of those events.

ARBITER: Well, the event that you're talking about, of course, is the gala dinner that is raising money for their alma mater, St. Andrews.

HARLOW: Right.

ARBITER: It is of course where they met. That event is going to go on Tuesday night. It's going to be a glittering occasion actually. Tom Hanks is giving the post-dinner address. His daughter attended the school in 2004. So obviously that's very important to them. But tomorrow we're going to see Kate out working with young children, disadvantaged children. Apparently they're going to have her like gift wrapping at this child development center up in Harlem.

The children are young, they're 3, 4 years old. They don't really know exactly who it is that's coming to see them but they're excited to see a real-life princess.

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: I was going to say, a real life princess.

ARBITER: Yes.

HARLOW: I do want to, on a more serious note, talk about the press. Let's show, if we can, if we can roll the arrival. I mean, New York City is a place where many celebrities can walk around to not too much fanfare.

ARBITER: Yes.

HARLOW: But when you look at the lights and the crowds and the paparazzi there, what is their relationship with the press? How do they feel about all of this?

ARBITER: It's an ongoing struggle. It's an ongoing battle. I mean, certainly for William you have only to look at his history, what happened with his mother to understand quite why he's so wary of the press. But at the same time, he needs them.

This trip is all about raising the profile of his foundation, his charitable endeavors. And so he needs the media. So I think we're going to see a very friendly William and Kate in terms of the media for this trip. Already there were complaints that they were whisked into the hotel too quickly, and yet people did say that William did stop and pose for the photographers.

HARLOW: He did. We saw that.

ARBITER: He did stop and pose. Sometimes he doesn't.

HARLOW: Yes.

ARBITER: So I think we're going to see William -- he really appreciates the importance of this trip and the fact that it's very quick. And so he needs the media.

HARLOW: And needs people to talk about it so we can also understand where he's coming from.

ARBITER: Yes.

HARLOW: And, you know, who wants to be in front of the paparazzi all the time? No one.

Appreciate the expertise. Great to have you on the program.

ARBITER: Thank you.

HARLOW: Thanks for coming in.

Also as that was happening in New York City, today more protests continuing about the non-indictment of the officer in the chokehold death of Eric Garner. We'll take you live to a report on that straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: We're talking about Sue, the T-REX Sue. The largest and most complete T-REX fossil ever unearthed. But excitement over her discovery more than 20 years ago by fossil collectors from the Black Hills Institute in South Dakota was very short lived. Why? Because the federal government wanted Sue for themselves and the collectors soon found themselves in the legal battle of their lives.

It is a fascinating story and it is the subject of the CNN film "DINOSAUR 13" and we're going to show you a clip here when the FBI agents come to confiscate Sue. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Somebody called me and said, the FBI has crime scene taped around the institute and taken Sue. I hang up the phone and I went as fast as I could down to the institute. I don't know how many agents, like 30-some people, or whatever, it's just insane. I didn't think about it. I grabbed the tape and went under it. I just went to the specimen. That was my concern. I could just see these idiots, you know, just tried to pack up my dinosaur and take it away and ruin it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How dare they? How dare these people do this?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Unconscionable. I can't imagine somebody being able to do this, here in the United States of America, in a free country.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In order to ensure that this dinosaur can be carefully packed up, we helped.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was pretty clear that they didn't know what they were doing. These people didn't know anything. I mean, most of these guys hardly go out in the field at all. What do they know about preparing a fossil or packing it or anything?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Larsons were trying to do a little bit of negotiating, put Sue under lock and key at our place to prevent damage.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I said to Kevin Schieffer, you just tell me, and that fossil won't go anywhere. It's not like it's going to disappear in a briefcase.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That request was denied.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Well, I'm lucky enough to be joined by the director of this amazing documentary, Todd Douglas-Miller.

This was your idea. I mean, I didn't even know the backstory of Sue. When I watched this I was fascinated. Why did you make this film?

TODD DOUGLAS MILLER, DIRECTOR, "DINOSAUR 13": Yes, you know, we were actually making more of a larger film about paleontology. So we're interviewing museum curators, other paleontologist and came across this story. It was written in a book called "Rex Appeal" that paleontologist Peter Larson and his co-author Kristin Donnan wrote. And I was reading it while we were on the road.

So Peter was actually just one scientist that we were going to interview and after reading the book and meeting him, we decided to kind of shift focus and just go right --

HARLOW: Then Peter Larson, one of the scientists who discovered Sue, along with Sue, whose she's named after, is described in the film as being in love with the dinosaur. I mean, what struck me was how personal this was for them. To find something so huge in terms of its significance to the history of this world, and to then have it taken away by the attorney general at the time.

MILLER: Yes.

HARLOW: And never to get it back.

MILLER: Yes. And that was a fascinating aspect for me. There's some key issues in the film that deal with our criminal justice system and the federal government. And --

HARLOW: He served prison time.

MILLER: The world of paleontology but for me as a filmmaker I was more interested in the personal relationship that somebody could have with, in this case, a dinosaur that --

HARLOW: Fossils.

MILLER: It became a love affair that lasted, you know, still lasts to this day, two decades, you know, after her discovery.

HARLOW: What has been the -- I know, well, first of all, most people haven't seen it yet. I got a sneak peek. But it's airing on CNN Thursday night at 9:00 p.m. but from those -- you did screen it at the Field Museum in Chicago where Sue now stands. They paid $7.6 million for Sue. What was the reaction at the museum?

MILLER: It was -- it was universally positive. Everyone there, a lot of the employees, even the volunteers that when you go there show you Sue and give the backstory. They didn't even know the story. And there is very little literature or, you know, the plaques that are there don't describe the story.

So a lot of these people that had worked there for 10, 20 years, this was the first time that they were, you know, hearing about it. And I think the -- you know, there's been a little bit of pushback from the Field Museum and embracing the full history of the find, and Peter Larson and the Black Hills Institute.

But I think that's going to change. I think, you know, they have this great asset which is Sue. And you have this other great asset which is Peter Larson and hopefully they can work together.

HARLOW: Now I know that Peter Larson, his team, the folks there in South Dakota, and the town, the Black Hills Institute, I mean, to this day want Sue back.

Would you ever be able to move her, though? I mean, realistically, just thinking about how delicate --

MILLER: Well, sure, you can move anything. But --

HARLOW: But would you want to?

MILLER: Well, you know, what's important for I think for the people of Hill City and for just scientific research is just having not only access to her, but possibly a cast, a replica that can make it back to Hill City. Wouldn't be the real thing. You know, as Peter says, she's in a great home at the Field Museum. Millions of people get to see her.

HARLOW: Yes.

MILLER: But having just a little piece of her maybe.

HARLOW: Right.

MILLER: Might be a good thing.

HARLOW: That's a good point. We might have some of the video clips we can show you, but what fascinated me throughout the film was the fact that there is so much archival footage. You have footage of these scientists on the side of the hill discovering Sue. You have footage of the auction at Christie's.

What was it like for as a director to piece that all together? You even have footage of the Morris Williams whose land it was found on, joking about the deal to sell -- when he agreed to sell it -- sell Sue to the scientists.

MILLER: Yes. It was a complete shock. And you know, we did this film on a shoe string budget. So we knew that once they started handing over footage to us, because our original idea was to go and re-enact everything because we didn't know any of the stuff existed. So we're going to do it more like a traditional film. And then once they started handed over all the footage, you know, it wasn't that we could hand it over to a team of editors.

So, I mean, every time we went to Hill City, South Dakota, they would hand us more footage.

HARLOW: Got more footage.

MILLER: Which was a blessing in disguise. So it was --

HARLOW: Wow.

MILLER: It was just an amazing testament to them, too, on how much -- you know, how scientifically accurate, I guess, they wanted to --

HARLOW: That they documented it.

MILLER: They documented everything.

HARLOW: It is a fascinating film. Congratulations. You and your team should be really proud.

MILLER: Thank you.

HARLOW: And I hope everyone of you watching watches it on CNN this Thursday night.

Thank you. Good to be with you.

And as I said, you can follow this battle for Sue from the Black Hills to the lake shore of Chicago. Don't miss "DINOSAUR 13" only right here on CNN Thursday night 9:00 Eastern.

We're back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: Well, the stars come out tonight. Taylor Swift and Jennifer Lawrence are in the "CNN SPOTLIGHT" for the next hour. And then the big show you don't want to miss at 8:00 Eastern right here on CNN when celebrities team up with CNN to honor some real-life heroes.

Here's a sneak peek.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

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

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

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." 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 FEMALE: 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," tonight, 8:00 Eastern.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: All right. And returning to our top story. The protests we've seen all week and could see more of in the week ahead.

Let's go straight to our Nick Valencia who is live in New York.

What are you seeing at this hour, Nick?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Poppy. Demonstrations here in New York City have continued throughout the weekend. None have been larger than what happened here today. Crowd gathered earlier in Union Square and marched about 20 to 30 blocks to where I'm standing right now in Grand Central Station.

You see they just ended a moment of silence. They're demanding for police reform. An end to what they call a systemic problem of police brutality in the New York Police Department. This crowd around me, hundreds of people have come through here to show their support for Eric Garner, Akai Gurley, as well as Mike Brown, the teenager who was killed in Ferguson.

Today has been a very special day for the demonstrators. They say that they've gathered some momentum. And we saw them earlier walking through the middle of the street disrupting traffic, still demonstrating peacefully. And I think that is the operative words here to talk about a very stark contrast from what we're seeing in California. They say they're prepared to continue their demonstrations until their demands are met -- Poppy.

HARLOW: All right, Nick Valencia live for us at Grand Central Station in New York City. Thank you so much, Nick.

Also, thank you for joining me. I'm Poppy Harlow in New York. We have a great lineup ahead for you on CNN tonight. Starting at the top of the hour our "CNN SPOTLIGHT" on Taylor Swift. Discover how his 20- something phenom went from country star to pop princess. Then at 7:30 Eastern Jennifer Lawrence a look at the young Academy Award winner and the star of "Hunger Games." And then at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, our celebration of the CNN Hero.

Thanks for being with me. It all begins right now.