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Texas Governor Declares "Disaster" in 4 Counties; Officers Kill Two During Domestic Disturbance; State of Disaster in Texas City After Tornado; Girl Survives Near-Deadly Holiday Flu Case; Film Highlights Sexual Assault in College Campuses. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired December 27, 2015 - 18:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:00:23] POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour, 6:00 p.m. Eastern this Sunday evening. I'm Poppy Harlow in New York.

We have breaking news on that string of deadly tornadoes. The governor of Texas just within the last hour declaring a state of disaster for four separate counties. We have dozens of families who have lost everything.

Look at those pictures: Blocks literally ripped apart, the homes, all the roofs gone. This is just two days after Christmas. Eleven people are dead. We have 15 more are injured. Tornadoes smashed hundreds of homes. They tore through those neighborhoods. Treasured belongings and photos of loved ones now scattered across miles and miles of debris.

And, right now, rescue crews are going door to door searching for survivors possibly trapped in the rubble.

The governor of Texas warning of a new danger likely in the coming days, rising waters are coming. He says, the governor says people should take precautions and make sure that those rising waters do not sweep them away. That means staying out of their cars.

We have our Nick Valencia on the ground in Garland, Texas.

And, Nick, we have you on the phone because the weather conditions are so bad there and it's even affecting the camera shot.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): It is terrible here. In fact, just in the last few minutes, the rain has let up and this has been the first sign of relief for the city of Garland, Texas, in the surrounding suburbs in the last 24 hours.

We have been talking about this all day long. Eleven people killed as a result of these storms that swept through. A powerful storm, an EF- 4 tornado, the second most powerful tornado that is on record, that can be recorded I should say on the scale that records tornado.

The damage and destruction is evidence. We've gotten about a quarter mile away from a spring of apartment homes and next to is a storage unit with cars flipped over, cars into the garage doors there and just debris all across this parking lot where we are at the motel, which is I mentioned, about a quarter a mile away from the damage that I'm describing.

The interstate is still heavily clogged up for miles, about five to ten miles cars are at a gridlock right here on a very populated thoroughfare, Interstate 30 that goes through Dallas, Texas. We've been able to see some of the damage, but the video just really -- you can't describe what this area went through.

I was talking to Chris Durham. He's a resident here of Garland, Texas. He says for the first time in his life he really looked death in its face. He was here at a motel, where he lived, this resident, and the tornado swept through here coming across he said he only had about a minute to prepare because the force of the tornado and the sound of the tornado was so strong that it overpowered the tornado sirens that were warning residents about what they were about to face.

He says he himself was hit with some debris. And again, as I mentioned, he was a quarter mile from the damage that we are able to see. All of the debris flying off those homes, Poppy, and making its way towards this area that I'm standing now.

The governor of Texas declaring a state of emergency for at least four counties have been affected. And we're told that local authorities here are still going home to home to see if there's any people that are still unaccounted for -- Poppy.

HARLOW: Nick Valencia on the ground there for us in Garland, thank you very much, Nick. Appreciate it.

We have a mayor of one of the nearby towns joining us a little later this hour. His house was right in the eye of the storm. Miraculously, he says, it was missed. Stay with us for that.

If you're watching and you see the destruction, you want to know how you can help. Just go to CNN.com/impact. We'll have a whole list of ways that you can volunteer or donate right there. We'll have much more on those tornadoes, as I said, later this hour.

Now, though, I do want to take you to Chicago because there is outrage there and many tears. Today, loved ones, activists, holding a news conference after officers shot and killed two people the day after Christmas.

We are told 55-year-old Bettie Jones was a mother of five, 19-year-old Quintorio LeGrier was a student at Northern Illinois University. Officers were responding to a call yesterday about LeGrier when they say they accidentally shot Jones.

Police officials admit her death was a mistake. Here's their statement, "Upon arrival, officers were confronted by a combative subject resulting in the discharging of the officer's weapon which fatally wounded two individuals. The 55-year-old female victim was accidently shot, struck and tragically killed. The department extends its deepest condolences to the victim's family and friends."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACQUELINE WALKER, FRIEND OF SHOOTING VICTIM: It hurts my heart to see that. It hurts me (INAUDIBLE).

[18:05:00] This is a tragic day (INAUDIBLE) and police shooting without asking. Why you got to shoot and ask questions later? It's ridiculous. Somebody needs to do something about this. This is ridiculous.

What about the taser? Taser him down. Don't shoot people, innocent people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: CNN's Ryan Young is on the ground.

You're outside of the house where this all happened yesterday. We did hear at that press conference also, Ryan, from LeGrier's mother, the mother of the 19-year-old. Before we hear from her, I want you to take us back to yesterday, the events that we know about.

What do we know happened after LeGrier's father called the police?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Poppy, first thing I want to say, there's hundreds of people gathered here this afternoon to talk about their pain in terms of this case. The idea that this family would call 911 because the 19-year-old was in distress, he was having some mental issues, according to his family. He did have an aluminum bat in his hand when police arrived.

According to them, they opened fire, and not only did they hit the 19- year-old, but they hit that woman, the 55-year-old woman who was a grandmother and mother of five. You can see the memorial that's been left here. As we saw, hundreds gathered to talk about this. They wanted to know why a taser wasn't used in this, why a gun was used.

The family telling us the young man was shot seven times. Ms. Jones was hit in the crest one time. She died from her wounds.

But there are questions about how the police handled this and you can hear the pain in the mother's voice of the 19-year-old.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JANET COOKSEY, MOTHER OF SHOOTING VICTIM: He always said, "Mama, I'm have millions, because you know what, I'm going to work hard and I'm going to study hard. He was an honor student. It was showing that. It was showing in that every day in his grades and his activity. He ran a marathon last year for a charity, and I couldn't be there because I couldn't get off of work.

Now, I'm not going to get a chance to have memories like that. Something just needs to be done. I used to watch the news daily and I would grieve for other mothers, other family members and now today, I'm grieving myself. When do it come to an end? I mean, when do we get answers?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: You can see the candles out front of this house. Bettie Jones' family leaving a picture of her wrapped around that tree as well as they continue to ask questions just about what's happened here.

Something that's new here in Chicago, obviously, a lot of focus on the Chicago police department. The officer who discharged his weapon has been put on 30-day desk duty. That's something new here. Obviously, a lot of focus here after Laquan McDonald, a 17-year-old, was shot and killed in the streets. Not a lot of trust here between the community and the police department -- Poppy.

HARLOW: Well, Ryan, you've been out t here with the protesters night after night. Paint a bigger picture for us here. As you look at a police department that is under intense local and national scrutiny, you got the Department of Justice launching an investigation, the mayor, Rahm Emanuel, saying, look, something needs to be done and we are doing what we can.

What, if anything, has changed fundamentally there in terms of policing and community relations? Or are we not there yet?

YOUNG: Poppy, that's the next question. I have to tell you, they did fire the top Garry McCarthy out of this. When people want to see real action, they want to see the community activists involved with the police department and picking the new chief and changing some of the operations here as the police department. But obviously this is really almost too soon for a police department that is reeling from another incident to deal with something else like this.

HARLOW: Ryan Young, thank you very much. Reporting for us live tonight from Chicago.

Coming up next, I'm going to speak one on one with the nephew of Bettie Jones. She is that 55-year-old grandmother shot and killed accidently by police yesterday. We're also going to talk about the crisis facing Chicago, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:11:42] HARLOW: All right. I want to take you back to Chicago and the police shooting there that has left a grandmother and a college student dead. You just heard at the news today, loved ones, of the victims expressing their anger, their frustration, but also sympathy and not just for the family members.

Listen to Jahmal Cole. He is the nephew of Bettie Jones. She is the woman police officers admit was shot to death accidently by one of their own officers just yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAHMAL COLE, NEPHEW OF SHOOTING VICTIM: My wife's aunt, Bettie Jones, was shot on the morning after Christmas and while I'm tempted to feel hate for all Chicago police officers right now, I know this is a time where, a difficult time we've got to get past in our city. I think we've got to show the police officers and the family a lot of compassion. This is not the time for hatred in our city. It's not a time for violence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Jahmal Cole joins me now from Chicago.

First of all, my condolences for your loss and thank you for talking to us.

COLE: Thank you guys for having me. Appreciate it.

HARLOW: I want to talk more about your plea for compassion in just a minute. First, I mean, you knew her. She is your wife's aunt.

COLE: Yes.

HARLOW: Bettie Jones, 55 years old.

COLE: Yes.

HARLOW: I know that she loved her church. Tell us a little bit more about who she was.

COLE: Well, she was a -- she was a Chicagoan, loved people on her block and in her neighborhood and loved her family. And it was tragic what happened to Bettie. We are here today to express our agony and to express our concern for what happened last night.

HARLOW: I know that you were not there when the shooting happened and there are still many questions, right? We don't have any of the potential dash camera video or body camera video. What do you know about what happened?

COLE: Well, from my understanding -- and I'm not a lawyer and I don't want to speak as her attorney, but from my understanding, the -- she was shot through the door and she was shot three times by Chicago police officers, and I think that they used deadly force in a situation where it was not called for, and I think that there needs to be some swift justice. We want immediate solutions. We don't want the situation to play out for a year and I think there needs to be justice in this situation.

HARLOW: But don't you want a -- you know, I can't understand the shoes you're standing in right now. I can't. And I know you're asking for swift justice. You do not want justice delayed.

But also, do you want to give this the time for a proper investigation?

COLE: Well, yes. I actually do. Again, I'm not an attorney but what I think is we need to show compassion towards not only the family. You know, not only us but I think we need to show compassion towards police officers. The peace starts with us. The peace starts with me and the peace starts with the officers that first showed up on that scene.

So, I think everybody is going to be impacted by this situation and we need to use this as an opportunity to get better as a city. It's not a time right now for hate. It's not a time for swift decisions. This is a time for compassion towards the suffering of people that live in West Garfield Park and compassion towards people that live in the loop.

[18:15:07] HARLOW: And that really struck me when you said that in the press conference -- compassion for the family, the loved ones, but also for police officers. I mean, this is your community. You started this organization, My Block, My Hood, My City.

What does that compassion look like as you and your peers there in Chicago try to rebuild the relationship with the Chicago police department?

COLE: Well, the first officer that showed up on the scene last night is a good friend of mine. I won't put his name on blast but I do know him. And so, he's an activist in the community and a person who has done a lot of great things in Chicago.

And I think that -- I'm not taking away from the injustice that happened last night, but I do think we need to look at who these officers are. Having a badge can amplify your true character. If you're a good person, having a badge is going -- you're going to continue to do good. If you're bad, having a badge is going to amplify your wickedness.

But I do know the officer who showed up on the scene last night. He's a person that I've done a lot of community work with. So, it's a tough position to be in, but I do think that all life is interconnected, like Martin Luther King said, and right now the only thing that we're going to be able to do is express our agony and concern and use it as a teaching moment for CPD and also not depend on big city government.

What can we do in a community? Can we -- do we know our neighbors? Do we -- have we joined our block association? What can we do to protect our streets? And that's what My Block, My Hood, My City is about.

HARLOW: Right. Wow, everyone doing their part. Hey, let me ask you this. When you talk about the 19-year-old who was shot and killed also, Quintorio LeGrier, our affiliate there, WLS, is reporting that he was mentally unstable ands that was threatening his father with an aluminum bat. I know your aunt said today that he was an honor student and did not have mental issues.

What can you tell us about him?

COLE: I can tell you that regardless of what mental state -- what doctors have diagnosed him with, I do not think that deadly force should have been used on this young, bright human being. This person was a leader in their community, a leader in their family. This person was going to college. This person was a role model.

We need more role models in these communities to come back and mentor these children. A lot of the mentors today are the drug dealers. A lot of the mentors are the gang bangers. This guy was clearly not and he was gunned down in front of his own home.

So, I cannot speak on his mental state, but I can tell you that this person was trying to make a difference and he was a role model not only to the people in his community but to his family.

HARLOW: And what have you been told, if anything, from your family about why his father did call the police? Because again, our affiliate, WLS, is reporting that he was threatening his father with a bat. Do you know anything about that?

COLE: No, I do not.

HARLOW: OK. Jahmal Cole, I appreciate you coming on and talking to us. Thank you very much.

COLE: Thank you guys for having me. Appreciate it.

HARLOW: Of course.

Coming up next, stay with me, I'm going to have a former NYPD detective on to talk about his perspective, someone who worked as a beat come here in New York, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:21:13] HARLOW: Tensions between many citizens in Chicago and the police department there have been mounting for years. This is nothing new. But the tension has certainly reached a new high over the past few months. The superintendent of police in Chicago, you'll remember, fired earlier this year after the video showing the shooting of an unarmed black teenager, Laquan McDonald.

But some of the activists are demanding more change and all of this as two people were shot to death by Chicago police yesterday when police responded to a call the day after Christmas. The police do admit to killing a 55-year-old grandmother, Bettie Jones, saying it was an accident.

CNN law enforcement analyst Harry Houck is joining me. He's a former NYPD detective.

You also work as a beat cop, Harry, and I think that's very important, because we're talking about a community policing here. What is your take on this case as far as we know the details of it yet which are very few?

Harry, can you hear me? It's Poppy.

All right. We're going to get Harry Houck back up as soon as he's there. We'll be back with more with Harry Houck.

Quick break, after a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:25:32] HARLOW: All right. Before the break, we were talking about the deadly police shooting in Chicago that happened yesterday. Shooting and killing a 19-year-old and also accidently Chicago police say shooting and killing a 55-year-old grandmother.

I want to go straight to Harry Houck. He's a former NYPD detective, also formerly a beat cop here in New York.

And, Harry, look, we don't have video of the shooting yet. We don't really have an account from the police officers other than to say there was an accident, that the 55-year-old woman, Bettie Jones, was shot and killed.

What we do know is that police officers were called by the father of the 19-year-old and they responded to the house.

Let me ask you this. When you look at this incident, the family members say why shoot so quickly? Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: Why you got to shoot and then ask questions later? It's ridiculous. Somebody needs to do something about this. This is ridiculous.

What about the taser? Taser him down. Don't start shoot people, innocent people!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: What about what she says, Harry? Why not a taser?

HARRY HOUCK, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT: Well, first of all, let me say, this quite tragic and this is one of the horrible actions that happened in the police work. I mean, here in police officers, as far as we know, the reports that I have read, that he came towards the officers with a baseball bat. The police officers had to fire --

HARLOW: Harry, I've got to jump in there. We have none of that reporting ourselves, nor do our affiliates, no reporting that the police were charged by this person with a bat. What we're reporting from our affiliate, WLS, is that the 19-year-old had a bat and was threatening his father. I just want to clear that up.

HOUCK: OK. So, it's safe -- I'm not even going to assume here. As a police officer, what I probably feel happened here is that they came towards -- he came -- LeGrier came towards the officer with a bat. That's probably what happened. That is probably why the officer fired his weapon. Police officers do not --

HARLOW: We don't know that, Harry.

HOUCK: Well, we don't. There's not much I can say on this case. The mother's basically

saying that, why did the officer have to fire? I don't know.

I mean, as far as I assume, based on my experience and incidents that I've investigated where officers have to fire, when their lives are in danger. Now, the investigation will bear that out, Poppy. The facts are not clear yet, but I'm making assumptions on my part, just like the family members are making assumptions on their part what happened here and based on my experience and the cases just like this.

HARLOW: Harry, let's understand, because you have years and years of training on the force. Walk us through when deadly force is called for. You heard the family there saying why not a taser. So, walk us through when you make that choice as an officer.

HOUCK: You make that choice as an officer when your life or the life of another person is in danger. That is when you can use deadly physical -- I'm sorry. Deadly force. The use of the weapon.

So if somebody comes at you with a knife, a baseball bat, a brick, a gun, as a police officer, those weapons I'm talking about right now can kill you. Being hit in the head with a baseball bat can kill you. So, if the officers were charged -- and like we said, we don't know for sure, the investigation will bear it out -- the officers have a right to fire at somebody coming at them with a baseball bat, you know, and it depends on how quickly it's happening.

If they have time to tell him to drop the bat, they would try and do that first several times. But if it gets too close where you get within the immediate danger, as an officer, you're going to have to fire your weapon.

HARLOW: I want to read you a statement from Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who is out on the case right now, issued this statement. "Any time an officer uses force, the public deserves answers, and regardless of the circumstances, we all grieve any time there is a loss in of life in our city. All evidence will be shared with the Cook County state's attorney's office for additional review in the days ahead."

This is Chicago we're talking about. You served in New York. What do officers expect to hear from their mayor at this point in time?

[18:30:04] HOUCK: Well, the best that Mayor Emanuel can do now with all the tabulations with the Chicago, you know, politicians is the fact that just back his officers up right now. Give them the benefit of the doubt until the investigation is completed.

There are too many people that are going to come out in the next couple of days saying that they knew -- that they knew what happened, all right. And they do not know what happened. Let's just sit back, let's wait for the investigation, let's not assume there's going to be any misconduct or there's going to be any kind of a cover-up in this investigation. This -- it's a separate incident and each incident needs to be checked on by themselves.

HARLOW: Absolutely. It's an important point.

Harry Houck, thank you very much for your perspective.

HOUCK: Thank you.

HARLOW: And we want to return to our breaking news this hour. The desperate search for more victims after a tornado outbreak in the suburbs of Dallas. Take a look at this new video, as you see absolute devastation. This is what's left from an RV park. The destruction from the air is, frankly, breathtaking. Just piles of metal and glass. At least 11 people were killed in that state from these tornadoes overnight.

Our meteorologist Karen Maginnis is with us in the CNN Severe Weather Center.

Texas, not out of the danger zone or the threat yet, right? They have more severe weather on the back end of this storm.

KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: ` METEOROLOGIST: Yes, they do. And about 50 million other people over the next several days. This is, by no means, over.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARLOW: All right. Karen, thank you very much.

I was just taking a look because we do now have the mayor, Mayor Todd Gottel, the mayor of Rowlett, Texas, who's joining us. We're talking about a city there that has just been absolutely devastated.

Thank you for being with me, sir.

MAYOR TODD GOTTEL, ROWLETT, TEXAS: Poppy, thank you for having me on the program.

HARLOW: I know you were, just moments ago, out with the authorities going through the devastation. As I've said, the pictures never tell the full story. There is the heartbreak, there is the loss of life. What can you tell us about how extensive the damage is and any loss of life in your community?

GOTTEL: Well, you're absolutely right. The pictures do not tell the story. The -- it is just mass devastation. The tornado actually moved southeast to northeast at -- over a period of -- kind of roughly a -- probably half a mile wide all the way to about two miles long, and it has caused significant damage in a lot of areas. Everything from -- on the fringes from roof shingles, to the closer you got, to the center of the path. Complete devastation where the homes are completely obliterated.

HARLOW: And I know that your home, you've said, was right in the eye, right in the path. It was frankly supposed to be struck and you're calling it was miraculous that it wasn't.

GOTTEL: Well, we were very, very fortunate. It actually took a turn, you know, based on what they had told us. It looked like it was right in the path and then sort of toward the last minute it took a turn and moved. This is not a complete straight line. It moved back and forth. We're very, very fortunate. But many in our community were not.

HARLOW: Absolutely. I know that the governor there of Texas has declared a state of disaster for four counties. Obviously, that impacts the kind of aid you're going to get. Are you getting what you need? I mean, so many people watching look at these pictures and say what can we do?

GOTTEL: Yes, Poppy, first and foremost, we are absolutely getting the help that we need. We are doing everything that we can right now with the tools that we have. We're still -- we've just basically played the search and rescue phase. We've done this three times. We want to make sure that every citizen was accounted for. Secondly, we wanted to make sure that we did some type of damage assessment. We are just about through with the damage assessment and our numbers from earlier have actually gone up but we have 446 homes so far with two areas still to survey.

And 101 of those homes have been completely destroyed. So there's some really widespread damage and, again, you know, we're just asking for everyone's thoughts and prayers. And if folks are interested in donating -- because a lot of volunteers have come forward and said, what can we do?

[18:35:02] We're not ready for volunteers at this point. We're still -- again our EMS teams are out and about along with CERT and other groups. But we would definitely appreciate any donations to the Red Cross and just keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

HARLOW: We absolutely will. Mayor Todd Gottel, I'll let you get back to it. I know you have hours and hours and days and days of work ahead of you. Thank you very much.

And for all of you watching, as you've heard the mayor say they're not ready for volunteers yet, if you'd like to donate, go to CNN.com/impact. There's a list there of ways that you can donate and help the people there in Rowlett and Garland, Texas.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: A family in Florida is grateful for what they are calling a Christmas miracle that they say saved their daughter's life. And now they have a message for parents about one of the best gifts that you can give your child.

Our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Gemma Botelho was a completely healthy 4-year-old little girl. And now she's fighting for her life in this intensive care unit because of the flu.

ALEXANDER BOTELHO, FATHER: I really thought that was the end.

COHEN (on camera): You thought she was not going to make it?

BOTELHO: No.

LEJLA SZABO, MOTHER: No.

COHEN (voice-over): On Sunday, December 13th, Gemma had a slight fever.

SZABO: She wasn't extremely sick at all.

COHEN: On Monday Gemma felt better. She even danced in her school's Christmas play. But then, three days later --

SZABO: She was pale. She had cold hands, cold feet.

BOTELHO: The way she spoke to us, how she was trying to say something's wrong. I could tell because she never spoke to me with that tone before. It's like asking for help.

COHEN: Her parents, Lejla Szabo and Alex Botelho, took Gemma to the emergency room, just in the nick of time. She arrived and went into cardiac arrest.

SZABO: The feeling of losing your child right in front of you.

[18:40:03] COHEN (on camera): You thought you were going to lose her?

SZABO: Yes.

BOTELHO: Yes.

COHEN: Her heart wasn't doing anything?

SZABO: No.

BOTELHO: No.

COHEN (voice-over): Doctors performed CPR on Gemma for 45 minutes.

SZABO: He told me then, you know, we just have to look back and we just have to appreciate these four and a half years that we had with her.

COHEN: Doctors couldn't get Gemma's heart working again. They put her on life support and sent her in a helicopter to a transplant center, thinking she'd need a new heart.

SZABO: Thursday, Friday, Saturday, her heart wasn't doing anything. So --

COHEN (on camera): Doing no activity?

SZABO: Nothing, absolutely no. No activity, no pulse.

COHEN (voice-over): The Sunday before Christmas her parents asked friends around the world to say prayers for their daughter at mass.

BOTELHO: One in Argentina, in Brazil, in Italy, and one in Miami, 11:00.

COHEN (on camera): Everyone did a mass at the same time?

BOTELHO: Yes, yes, for her.

SZABO: Everyone was praying.

COHEN (voice-over): And that's when Lejla and Alex say they got their Christmas miracle.

BOTELHO: She starts to bounce back on Sunday.

COHEN (on camera): All of a sudden on Sunday, Gemma's heart started to beat again. Can you explain it?

DR. JEFFREY JACOBS, ALL CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: Sometimes we don't understand everything that happens in medicine.

COHEN: What's Gemma's prognosis? How's she going to do?

JACOBS: I think she's going to make a great recovery. A month from now this is going to be just a little bump in the road for her life, and she should be back to doing the things she's always done.

COHEN (voice-over): No one can explain why some healthy children like Gemma get so desperately ill from the flu.

(On camera): Did Gemma ever get a flu shot?

SZABO: Never.

BOTELHO: Never.

COHEN: Because?

SZABO: I didn't think of the flu as a serious illness.

COHEN (voice-over): But now they do, and the parents of this little girl who dreams of being a doctor when she grows up, have a message to other parents. Get your child vaccinated for the flu.

Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, St. Petersburg, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: Wow. What a story. Elizabeth, thank you very much for that.

Quick break. We're back on the other side.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [18:45:03] HARLOW: Tonight, at 11:00 p.m. Eastern, CNN will air the film "The Hunting Ground." It is an inspiring look at how two college students both survivors of sexual assault joined together to challenge universities across this country to take sexual assault more seriously. Here's a clip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNIE CLARK, UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL: I grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina, in suburbia. High school, I actually had a great time. And I was athletic, I played a lot of sports. I was the first female in my class to letter. I lettered in cross country and then I played soccer.

I was basically a straight A student, graduated third in my class. For college, I thought I would go somewhere in state and UNC was the best school. I really had a good time there. I learned a lot. I loved my professors.

The first few weeks, I made some of my best friends and we're still really, really close to this day. But two of us were sexually assaulted before classes had even started.

It was at night. We were dancing, I was out with some friends. People were drinking but nobody was ridiculously drunk, and I got pulled outside and banged my head against a wall and was raped.

I physically fought and got away and ran. And then -- to the bathroom and like I still remember just putting my hands on the sink and just looking at myself in the mirror, I was shaking like, what just happened?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: That is just part of what is a riveting and eye-opening film.

We're joined by the filmmakers, Academy Award nominated an two-time Emmy winners, Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering.

Thank you both for being here.

KIRBY DICK, DIRECTOR/WRITER, "THE HUNTING GROUND": Thank you.

AMY ZIERING, PRODUCER, "THE HUNTING GROUND": Thanks for having us.

HARLOW: Amy, let me start with you. What was it that sparked this in you that you decided to make the film, "The Hunting Ground"?

ZIERING: Well, Kirby and I started getting letters from students around the country, telling us their stories and imploring us to make this film. So after a few months of that we sort of looked at each other and started doing our own investigating, and found out that not only was what everyone telling us in their letters was really going on but it was far worse and more extensive than we ever expected. So we felt like we had to make this film.

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: And Kirby, to you?

DICK: Yes, we actually started making another film -- yes. We actually started making another film that had nothing to do with sexual assault. But as we were making -- as we were going around the country with a previous film we made called "The Invisible War" about rape in the military, you know, the conversations kept changing from rape in the military to -- you know, this is happening on college campuses. So we just felt, as Amy said, that we had to do it.

HARLOW: And this film is not only airing on CNN. I mean, you've hosted hundreds of screening on campuses across the country. It was screened at the White House.

Amy, what has the reaction been across the board?

ZIERING: It's been exceptional. We've made a lot of films in our careers and we've actually never seen anything like it. I mean, we had standing-room only screenings on campuses around the country. We've had close to 1,000 screenings in high schools and colleges. It's the demand unprecedented and people respond to it so, so powerfully.

I mean, we get thanked by students for making this film. They say this is a problem that no one knows about, no one understand and it's time that there's finally the information out there so people can really understand it and act more responsibly and take this issue more seriously.

HARLOW: And I know that this film, Kirby, I mean, it features -- I've watched it. Many, many people have watched it. And it features the brave first person accounts of over 30 women. I know you spoke to hundreds. But over 30 women who say they were raped, they were sexually assaulted. You've got critics, right, who say, look, they think you only told one side of the story.

Tell me, Kirby -- walk me through the decision-making process why you decided to make this film primarily from one perspective.

DICK: Well, no. This is actually from a very accurate perspective. You know, statics show that 1 in 5 women are sexually assaulted in college and those statistics have been -- you know, have been constant over the last 25 years or so. So this is an epidemic and what -- this is a story that hasn't been told, you know, that this is really going on in all campuses across the country and we felt that it was really important to show that.

And I think this is what's really changed the debate and caused people around the country to really take this issue seriously.

HARLOW: And Amy, to you?

ZIERING: Yes, it's -- yes. No, it started a national conversation. I mean, there's no turning back now. I mean, this issue is now being talked about and thought about in ways it never has been. The film has released and set and framed the national discourse in a way that we've need and not had in our country until now.

HARLOW: And there is a discourse about it that people will see after they watch the film here on CNN tonight at 11:00 p.m. Eastern. There's an entire special report by our Alisyn Camerota. Much more about it.

[18:50:06] There has been change since you made this film, since it began airing. The internal judicial process of some of these schools has changed the so-called campus courts have become more aggressive. Some men now are suing university saying they were wrongly expelled.

To you, first, Kirby, how do you think, after your investigating, your reporting on this, school should balance protecting the rights of all students?

DICK: Well, no, absolutely. You know, they should protect the rights of all students so what we advocate is that schools beef up their investigative and adjudicated process so if somebody is assaulted on a campus, it's more likely that that person will be found responsible and kicked off of campus. And in the rare cases where somebody is falsely accused, that person will be better protected.

What we do know is that only 2 percent to 8 percent of sexual assault reports are false. The vast majority are true. And up until now, and even now at this point, everything has been in the direction of actually not finding people responsible who have committed sexual assaults. So we still have a long way to go. Very few people are actually found responsible of sexual assault and kicked off campus.

ZIERING: And if you approve these processes, you protect everyone, you protect the accused and the accuser. I mean, so there's no downside. I mean, it's very strange now, the discourse, there are the pendulum swung. And their men are false accused. Now the truth is 98 percent of the time -- 92 percent to 98 percent of the time when someone reports a rape they're telling the truth. And those rapes predominantly go unpunished. So that's where our outrage should rightfully be and our concern should rightfully be.

And if there are better practices in place it's a win-win. Falsely accused will not -- If there's better investigative adjudication, they will be found to be falsely accused and the people that are actually assaulted, their perpetrators, will be brought to some kind of justice. So you know, there's nothing -- there's no debate about this, there's no controversy, there's no shame.

These are people coming forward to report a crime and it's time that our country heard these voices instead of silencing them which we see happen so too often with these crimes, and respond to them appropriately.

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: Let's talk about Denver.

DICK: Yes. And the reality is --

HARLOW: Yes, go ahead, Kirby.

DICK: I was just going to say the reality is that schools have covered this up for decades and only now, only with the activism of the students that we covered in our film, and our film and, of course, the White House which has been really good at this, have schools started to actually reform their process. But they have a long, long way to go.

WHITFIELD: What does -- Amy, what does, in your mind, positive change look like? When you talk about the schools as Kirby just brought up, what are the most important steps that these schools can take to make their campus safer across the board? Because you outline a number of different cases at a number of different universities across this country.

ZIERING: Well understand this is a crime like no other so stop victim blaming, stop asking inappropriate questions when someone comes and reports which implies that somehow it was their fault. If you're sexually assaulted, it is never your fault, it's the perpetrator's fault. So that's kind of square one for not only colleges but our country to start.

And from there everything unfolds. So better resources to support survivors on campus, better ways of responding to victims, better investigations and adjudications of these crimes that are impartial and unbiased and that really sort of try and assess what the situation is and take appropriate action. All of those things.

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: Kirby, are you --

DICK: And then it's also important --

HARLOW: I was just going to ask, are you seeing that at some of these universities? Are you seeing some of that change?

DICK: We're beginning to. We're beginning to. Two and three years ago, you know, this wasn't even being spoken about much on college campuses and now we know that administrators are really talking about this. They have a long way to go. You know, they're 30, 40 years behind where they should be right now. But they're starting to and we're hopeful. I mean, the fact that this film has screened -- had nearly 1,000 screenings on college campuses means that schools around the country are very aware of this.

They're aware that this is happening on their campus and they're starting to do things. But as I said, they have a long way to go.

ZIERING: And the good news is we can change this. And there are things they can do. And it's not an insoluble problem. So we really hope that people watch the film, learn about this issue and take action. It's really a film that no parent can afford not to watch and no student can afford not to watch. I cannot say that more strongly.

HARLOW: It certainly highlights the activism. And you see this pair of sisters coming together.

Amy, thank you very much. Kirby, thank you very much. Appreciate it.

ZIERING: Thank you.

DICK: Thank you.

ZIERING: Appreciate it.

HARLOW: "The Hunting Ground," again, will air tonight only here on CNN at 11:00 p.m. Eastern. We'll be right back.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[18:57:57] SONYA ROMERO, TEACHER: It's important for me to give back because this is my purpose if I'm going to be a good teacher. And it doesn't just me walking into my classroom and leaving at the end of the day. It means really caring about these kids.

I am a kindergarten teacher in Lew Wallace Elementary in downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico. We have a 75 percent free and reduced lunch rate.

He tells us where we need to go.

In the mornings when the kids come, I ask if they've eaten or I do a quick assessment of needs and see if there's something that I'm -- I can do. I keep these clothes, the socks, the shoes, the toothbrushes because I had more and more students that were coming in with less and less.

I have children with speech and language needs, behavioral needs. I have kids that are homeless. I have some kids from working families, just a wide variety of needs, but it actually makes the classroom a real world environment for us.

Are you ready for your game next week?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Mom, she helps everybody. If somebody's in need, she's the first one to be there. Like my foster sisters.

ROMERO: I got a phone call that said we have no placement anywhere in the state for these girls. Can you take them? I had the girls in the class, but having a teacher relationship was one thing. Having them live with me was different, so I really eased into it at their comfort level. It was really only supposed to be for 48 hours, but almost a year later, we're still out together.

How did I get so lucky? How did I get picked to be a part of their lives? It's the best experience. I wouldn't change it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: All right. Coming up next on CNN, relive the '70s with back- to-back episodes at 7:00 right after this. It is all about the music of the decade in what's going on, then followed at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, television gets real. After that, "Crimes and Cults." That is at 9:00 p.m. Eastern. At 10:00, "Terror at Home and Abroad." All starting right after this. Be sure to tune in at 11:00 p.m. for the CNN Film's documentary "The Hunting Ground."

Thank you all for joining me this weekend. Have a great week. Happy new year. I'll see you back here next weekend.

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