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Bill Cosby Sentenced To State Prison for Sexual Assault; APP Warns Civilians Of Incoming Airstrikes; $104 Million In U.S. Cash Vanishes; Senator Ted Cruz Checks Out Opponents Photo. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired September 26, 2018 - 02:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:00:13] Rosemary Church, CNN ANCHOR: America first, President Trump stands to fight that the United Nations as he defends his isolations agenda to the world.

Deflection form the Vatican, the Pope avoids answering any questions about the sexual abuse scandal rocking the Catholic Church.

And a warning about a deadly attack on new cell phone, we will tell you how one app is trying to protect Syrians living under depress of airstrikes.

Hello, and welcome to my viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church and this is CNN Newsroom.

Donald Trump will get another chance to lash out at Iran when he chairs a U.N. Security Council meeting in the coming hours. The U.S. president bragged that he had a great day of the U.N. Tuesday rejecting globalism and taunting his America-first policies.

But some critics in the audience seemed to disagree. CNN's Jeff Zeleny begins our coverage.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At the United Nations today President Trump opens with the signature line.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In less than two years, my administration has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country.

ZELENY: But the (INAUDIBLE) applauds that fills the air it is campaign rallies evoked a different response from world leaders and diplomats, laughed there at the President's expense.

TRUMP: I didn't expect that reaction but that's OK.

ZELENY: In his second speech to the United Nations General Assembly, the President reaffirmed his rejection of globalism translating his America-First mantra to the world stage. TRUMP: We will never surrender America sovereignty to unelected, an unaccountable global bureaucracy.

ZELENY: Today, his sharpest message was aimed squarely at Iran. He touted the U.S. pointing out of the Iran nuclear deal and accused the regime of financing terrorism in the Middle East.

TRUMP: Iran's leaders sow chaos, death and destruction. They do not respect their neighbors or borders or the sovereign rights of nations.

ZELENY: But it wasn't odds with the tweet he sent before the speech. "Despite request, I have no plans to meet Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, maybe someday in the future. I am sure he is an absolutely lovely man."

Rouhani telling CNN's Christiane Amanpour, he did not asked to sit down with Trump.

HASSAN ROUHANI, IRANIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We have never made such a request for a meeting with the President of United States.

ZELENY: Some of the president's warning words were not directed at long in loyal U.S. allies but at North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and their new efforts toward diplomacy.

TRUMP: The missiles and rockets are no longer flying in every direction.

ZELENY: A vastly different tone form a year ago when the President made this threat.

TRUMP: Rocket man is on a suicide mission for himself and for his regime.

ZELENY: At a lunch with his fellow leader, the President acknowledge the shift as he looks ahead to a second summit with Kim, which CNN has learned the President hopes could be in the United States.

TRUMP: Tremendous progress has been made and I think you're going to see an outcome as the expression goes "who know"?

ZELENY (on camera): And his speech coming exactly six weeks to the day before the midterm elections. Noticeably absent was any talk about Russian election meddling or an interference, no talk about the roll in the 2016 campaign and no warning for Russia about the election coming up in November.

Jeff Zeleny, CNN, the United Nations.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: So let's get some reaction now from Iran, Los Angeles Times reporter Ramin Mostaghim is live in Tehran. He joins us now.

So, Ramin, good to see you. What has been the reaction that President Trump accusing Iran of financing terrorism in the Middle East? RAMIN MOSTAGHIM, LOS ANGELES TIMES REPORTER: Precisely, when he was laughed at in his signature line, I mean that part went wild in social networks by Iranians who are supporting President Rouhani, and that was the beginning of criticizing Trump of being a rude impolite politician. And that was the beginning to admire that President Rouhani as a polite diplomatic peaceful withstands his hands to shake hands with the president to negotiate and to invite America tot eh negotiation table.

[02:05:02] So, I can say the hardliners in Iran and President Trump administration are on the same page because most of them are recycling the code of nationalism, sovereignty and let's say isolation and protectionism. That is the situations.

But the reality in the ground for the common people, the city (INAUDIBLE) is that toward the devaluations, they said, oh my gosh. Again, rial of the local currency has been devaluated. Again the solemn (ph) prices of stable goods, tomato, potatoes are going up. The price are skyrocketing.

So for the people, it is translated as another jump of the prices, another jump of devaluation of the rials as a local currency against our currency. But the politician, moderate politicians, reformist politicians, pro-government politician, pro-President Rouhani politicians, it was a very fantastic peaceful negotiation -- I mean, proposal for negotiation with America and it was a total fiasco and scandal for President Trump's because he prove to be, from their angle, impolite, rude and unofficial speaker in U.N. General Assembly.

CHURCH: All right. Bringing us some reaction there from Iran, Ramin Mostaghim, many thanks to you for joining us.

MOSTAGHIM: Thank you.

CHURCH: Mr. Trump will held talks with Japan's Prime Minister on the sidelines of the assembly Wednesday. Trade and North Korea are expected to talk their agenda.

President Trump has threatened a 25% tariff on Japanese vehicles with an eye-toward negotiating a free trade agreement and reducing the trade deficit. On Tuesday, Shinzo Abe said he was prepared to get involved in the denuclearization talks. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHINZO ABE, JAPAN PRIME MINISTER (through translation): I am also ready to break the shell of mutual distrust with North Korea. Get off to a new start and meet face to face with Chairman Kim Jong-un.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: OK. For more on all of these, Paula Hancocks joined us now live from Seoul. Good to see, Paula. So as we heard there, Japan's Prime Minister signaling he is ready to meet face to face with North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un. How significant is this? And just how will it potentially move the issue of denuclearization forward? PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPODENT: Well Rosemary, Japan is a very interesting position at this point and particular the Prime Minister Shinzo Abe up until the matter of months ago he appeared to be very close to the U.S. President Donald Trump. He went over a number of times trying to convince the U.S. President to remain harsh against North Korea to make sure that the sanctions will kept in place to make sure that there were concrete steps toward denuclearization before any concessions were considered.

But we have been hearing the Prime Minister in recent months softening his tone most notably saying, once again, this isn't the first time, but once again, the United Nations that he would be willing to meet with the North Korea leader Kim Jong-un. He went far as to say he did want the summit between Japan and North Korea.

So it's just really, once again, highlighting the beginning of the year. Kim Jong-un was effectively a pariah (ph) but nobody wanted to engage with maybe the exception of the South Korean President Moon Jae-in. But now every leader wants to have some kind of meeting with him.

So, Japan's points of view, it is important to them according to the Prime Minister that there is this hardline approach that continues until there are signs that the nuclear missile program are lessening, most notably because the couple of the missiles that were fired from North Korea just last year came within about 200 miles, nautical miles of the Japanese coast and a couple flew over, Japan as well. So certainly they were very concerned about whether this missile program was going.

CHURCH: Yes, that's been an extraordinary turn around, doesn't it? Because at the U.N. General Assembly, Tuesday, President Trump praised Kim Jong-un for his courage to disarm. But what proof is there that Kim is doing any such disarming and yet there are these plans for a second summit between Mr. Trump and Kim. How was these all being received at the U.N.?

HANCOCKS: It depends who you ask. At this point, the South Korea President Moon Jae-in says that there are tangible steps towards denuclearization. He talks about Punggye-Ri Nuclear Test Site being dismantled, being destroyed he said. So there were no international experts yet to verify that. So in U.S. intelligence terms, they don't know for sure about has been disabled.

[02:10:01] U.S. intelligence agencies, other intelligence agencies around the world believe that there are continuing programs ongoing within North Korea. So, what Mr. Trump is hearing at this point is obviously a very positive tone from the South Korean President who says that North Korea is keeping its word in going towards denuclearization but an awful lot of experts and critics say that there are no exact steps towards denuclearization.

The one thing that Kim Jong-Un has mentioned through the South Korean President that the Yongbyon nuclear facility could be shut down. That's conditional. It depends if the U.S. is going to give corresponding measures. They want concessions from the U.S. before they do that.

So, it really depends on who you speak to is to whether or not there is a belief that they're having any steps so far toward denuclearization. Rosemary.

CHURCH: All right, Paula Hancocks live from Seoul in South Korea just after 3:00 in the afternoon. We'll check back in with next hour.

We're now to the battle over Donald Trump speak for the U.S. Supreme Court. Senate Republicans say they will vote Friday on Brett Kavanaugh's nomination just one day after the judiciary committee hears from Christine Blasey Ford. Now she accuses Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her 35 years ago, 36 years ago and when they were in high school.

CNN's Jessica Schneider has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Trump unleashing over what he says are unsubstantiated allegation against to Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

TRUMP: Thirty-six years ago? Nobody ever knew about it? Nobody ever heard about it? And now a new charge comes up. And she said, "Well, it might not be him," and there were gaps, and she said she was totally inebriated and she was all messed up and she doesn't know it was him, but it might have been him. Oh gee, let's not make him a Supreme Court judge because of that."

This is a con game being played by Democrats.

SCHNEIDER: Sources telling CNN the President has grown impatient with the slope pace of Kavanaugh's confirmation and pushed to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell over the weekend to quickly call a vote and that he also sees Republicans as being too accommodating to Christine Blasey Ford, the first accuser who came forward against Kavanaugh. Ford along with Kavanaugh will testify Thursday.

MITCH MCCONNELL, U.S. SENATE REPUBLICAN LEADER: I'm glad we'll be able to hear a testimony from both. And then I look forward to an up or down vote on this nomination right here on the Senate floor.

SCHNEIDER: But at least one swing vote senator has expressed reservations about with some view as a rush. Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski seeming to side with Democrats who have called for an FBI investigation first.

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Should there be full FBI investigation into these allegations from Kavanaugh's past?

SEN. LISA MURKOWSKI (R), ALASKA: It would sure clear up all the questions, wouldn't it?

SCHNEIDER: Several other Republican senators are also uncertainties including Susan Collins and Jeff Flake. Meanwhile the White House has expressed willingness to let Kavanaugh second accuser Deborah Ramirez who claim's Kavanaugh exposed himself to were at a Yale dorm room party in the early 1980s testified too.

SARAH SANDERS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Certainly we would be open to that and that process could take place on Thursday. Again, the president's been clear, let them speak but lets also let Brett Kavanaugh speak and let him tell his side of the story before we allow allegations to determine his entire future.

SCHNEIDER: Well, Kavanaugh continues to prepare for Thursday's hearing. He's also going on the offensive repeatedly defending his character in an unprecedented television interview.

BRETT KAVANAUGH, U.S. SUPREME COURT NOMINEE: Well, I am not perfect, I know that. None of us is perfect. I'm not perfect but I've never, never done anything like this.

SCHNEIDER (on camera): Republicans are defending their decision to hire an outside counsel to question Christine Blasey Ford on Thursday. An aide is telling CNN this is the woman with an expertise in sex crimes prosecution. But Senator Grassley is not disclosing her name for safety reasons. And Democrats are criticizing that.

Meanwhile, Ford's attorneys fired back in a letter saying, there is no president for the judiciary committee to bring in outside counsel and shield senators from performing their duties. Jessica Schneider, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: We'll take a short break here. But still to come. Pope Francis has questioned about sexual abuse by priests and his response is raising eyebrows as he tries to explain the cover up of past abuse. And a top Catholic leader in Germany is asking for forgiveness after learning nearly 4,000 children was sexually abused by clergy and that is likely just the tip of the iceberg. We're back in a moment.

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[02:17:20] CHURCH: Welcome back everyone. Well, Pope Francis is facing is a serious crisis of credibility. Critic says he has not done enough to deal with repeated cases of child sex abuse by the clergy. Activist and survivors are especially infuriated by revelations of a cover up that included top leaders of the Catholic Church. And now the Pope has raised more eyebrows.

We get details from CNN's Vatican correspondent Delia Gallagher.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): On his return flight from Estonia on Tuesday evening, Pope Francis manage to avoid answering journalist's questions on sex abuse by insisting that questions be asked about his four-day trip to the Baltic.

Towards the end of the 55-minute news conference the pope did speak any general way about in sex abuse crisis saying, "That even one case of abuse was horrendous. But that the Pennsylvania grand jury report show that cases had decreased and that the catholic church was giving it our all.

POPE FRANCIS, SOVEREIGN OF THE VATICAN CITY STATE (through translation): We see that the first 70 years there were many priest who fell into this corruption. Then more recently the numbers diminished because the church realized it had to fight in another way.

GALLAGHER: Pope Francis also said that cases from the past should not be judged by today's standards. And that sexual abuse in families was also covered up in the past because of great shame.

Now journalist support the people plain had hoped to ask Pope Francis some specific questions about cases from Germany to the United States and the other places as well. But there was no time a Pope Francis clearly felt that there were more important issues to be discussed.

Delia Gallagher, CNN, Rome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: The pope's comments came just hours before an internal report was released that found a staggering amount of sexual abuse by priest in Germany. Over 70 years at 3,700 children were abused and more than half of the victims were under the age of 14. But as Atika Shubert tells us the actual number of children abused maybe much great.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The most powerful men in the German Catholic Church, bishops, archbishops, and cardinals attend the morning mass at St. Salvator Cathedral to open their annual meeting with a prayer to forgive the weakness and sins of the church.

REINHARD MARX, CHAIRMAN OF THE GERMAN BISHOPS' CONFERENCE: It is shameful. We are always shocked and deeply shaken to find this happen and may still happen inside our church committed by priests and clergy. People of god who would given the task of watching over of this. We've addressed this before but we must do it more again and again.

[02:20:09] SHUBERT: On Tuesday the German bishop's conference finally released an eight-year study of church files that revealed a staggering amount of sexual abuse. At least 3,600 recorded victims, more than 1,600 priests and other clergy implicated over a span of nearly seven decades. More than half are children, 13 years or younger, most of them boys.

Matthias Katsch was 13 when he was molested and beaten by two separate priests. He was one of the first victims to go public in Germany, but because the abuse of the abuse took place in the school not within a parish, his case and many others are not included in the report.

MATTHIAS KATSCH, ABUSE SURVIVOR: The message for the survivors and for the general public is we did not want to know everything. We only want to know -- yes, an overview of the problem.

SHUBERT: Pope Francis has championed a zero tolerance policy on sexual abuse past and present. But while the governments of the U.S. and Australia have initiated independent investigations, Germany's Catholic Church offered only a limited study without direct access to its archives, frustrating abuse survivors.

KATSCH: For the survivors, the urgency is we want to know the truth now. We have waited for so long time, we wanted now.

SHUBERT: It just taken years for the German Bishops' Conference to report even this much, but victims now hope this will be a turning point to push the Catholic Church for accountability and justice.

Atika Shubert, CNN, Fulda, Germany.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Well back in the United States, the bishop of Buffalo, New York is forcing calls for his resignation over how he handled sexual abuse allegations against priests. CNN has obtained secret documents suggesting he protected predator priests keeping their identities hidden from the public. Our Rosa Flores has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In this rust belt city with deep Catholic roots, Bishop Richard Malone has been a respected member of Buffalo's Catholic community since he arrived in 2012.

BISHOP RICHARD MALONE, CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF BUFFALO: I want to begin by --

FLORES: But questions about the bishop's integrity began to surface in March when to come clean about a dark chapter in diocese history he released the names of 42 priests who allegedly abused children.

MALONE: The Diocese of Buffalo is committed to correcting the mistakes and sins of the past.

FLORES: But a trove of secret records, first reported on by WKBW, and independently obtained by CNN, casts serious doubt on that commitment. The document suggests Malone knew or should have known the number of accused priests s was not 42, but as many as 200.

DEACON PAUL SNYDER, ST. MARY'S CHURCH IN SWORMVILLE: That's a perversion of what Jesus calls us to do.

FLORES: Buffalo businessman Paul Snyder thought highly of Malone until he learned Father Robert Yetter, the priest who ordained him deacon, was an alleged predator but was kept off that public list.

SNYDER: I felt betrayed by our priest. I felt betrayed by our bishop.

FLORES: Documents obtained by CNN show the diocese learned last year that Yetter had allegedly been kissing, massaging and groping several teens.

"ROGER," ALLEGED SEXUAL ASSAULT VICTIM: I want to say nine, nine years old, nine, 10, it started.

FLORES: According to this survivor, a former altar boy we'll call Roger, Father Yetter groomed him, showered him with hugs and special attention, waiting until Roger was an adult before the priest made his move.

ROGER: He ended up approaching me and kind of just, you know, whipped it out and was -- wanted oral sex.

FLORES: Roger managed to escape. When another accuser made similar allegations against Yetter last year, documents show the diocese hardly took action. Malone even thanked Yetter in a January note for his, "faithful and effective ministry."

Despite all this, there will likely be no legal consequences for Malone.

FLORES (on camera): In the state of New York, is it a requirement for someone, like a bishop, to report that abuse is happening?

JOHN FLYNN, ERIE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Not for clergy members. Teachers, child care workers, health care workers who work for children, et cetera, et cetera, is a whole list. And, believe it or not, clergy is not on that list.

FLORES (voice over): CNN requested interviews with both the bishop and Father Yetter neither were made available. Yetter was placed on administrative leave last month and while Malone apologized for his, "errors in judgment," he said he was not going anywhere.

MALONE: The shepherd does not desert the flock.

FLORES: Snyder, the prominent Buffalonian and church benefactor, was outrage and not only began withholding his generous contributions, he broke his silence and used the pulpit to call on Malone to resign.

[02:25:06] SNYDER: I think by being silent, our Catholic Church, our diocese in Buffalo and our Catholic Church worldwide, we have suffered mightily by being silent. And we can be silent no more.

FLORES: Rosa Flores, CNN, Buffalo, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: After this show breaks, disgrace and detainment of Bill Cosby sentenced to prison for sexual assault. Reaction from both sides of the case when we come back.

And in war-torn Syria just seconds can mean the difference between life and death. Now a new app let civilians know when the bombs are about to full. We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CHURCH: Welcome back everyone. I'm Rosemary Church. I want to update you now on the main stories we've been following this hour.

U.S. President Donald Trump rejected globalism and he's addressed to the U.N., saying the world is best served when countries focused on their own self interests. It was also the target of laughter when he claimed his administration has accomplished more than almost all of his predecessors.

The Mexican military and federal authorities have taken over the city of Acapulco's police department. Investigators say those who speak criminal gangs have infiltrated the force. Two commanders are wanted for homicide. The popular beach town has been hit a surge by a surge of drug related violence.

The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled a Friday vote on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. That's one day after they will hear from a women who accuses the judge of sexually assaulting her 36 years ago. The committee has hired a female attorney to question Christine Blasey forward.

Well, over the past few years, more than 60 women came forward to accuse Bill Cosby of sexual assault. Now, the American comedian is behind bars. He will serve three to 10 years for assaulting a woman, the ones considered him a mentor. The 81-year-old has now classified as a sexually violent predator.

Cosby's sentence represents a symbolic victory for all the other accusers who never have their day in court. Our Jean Casarez repots.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (VOICE-OVER): In a dramatic scene, Bill Cosby leaves a Pennsylvania courtroom in handcuffs.

Once America's dad, now prisoner. Judge Steven O'Neill sentencing the disgraced comedian three to 10 years in state prison.

KEVIN STEELE, MONTGOMERY COUNTY DISTRICT COURT: For decades the defendant has been able to hide his true self and hide his crimes using his fame and fortune. He's hiding behind a character created Dr. Cliff Huxtable. It was a seminal character on T.V. and so was the family, but it was fiction.

CASAREZ: Cosby has been under house arrest since April after being convicted of drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand back in 2004. Today, Constand and her family watching from the first row of a packed courtroom. In her victim impact statement, she saying, "Bill Cosby took my beautiful healthy young spirit and crushed it. He robbed me of my health and vitality, my open nature, and my trust in myself and others." Judge Steven O'Neill telling her the jury heard your words.

I heard your words. Then speaking directly at Cosby. Mr. Cosby, this has all circled back to you. The day has come. The time has come. He also said no one is above the law. Other women who say Cosby also attacked them watching from the gallery embracing Constand after the sentence was read. Tamara Green was one of the first women to come forward after Constand.

TAMARA GREEN, COSBY ACCUSER: But today is the day that we've been waiting for. Today is the day when we got to -- I got to witness the fact that Bill Cosby was rendered helpless by taking out of a courtroom by policemen.

CASAREZ: Cosby declining to address the court but after court his publicist defending him and like in him to Jesus.

ANDREW WYATT, COSBY PUBLICIST: God is doing great. And Mr. Cosby knows that God is watching over him. He knows that these are liars. They persecuted Jesus and look what happened. I'm not saying Mr. Cosby is Jesus, but we know what this country has done to black men for centuries. This has been the most racist and sexist trial in the history of the United States.

CASAREZ: Cosby's lawyer saying they will appeal. But tonight, he is spending his first night in prison. Jean Casarez, CNN, Norristown, Pennsylvania.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: So let's get more now on all of these with CNN Legal Analyst, Mark Geragos. He is a defense attorney and co-host of the Reasonable Doubt Podcast. Thank you so much for being with us.

MARK GERAGOS, CNN INTERNATIONAL LEGAL ANALYST: Thank you for having me.

CHURCH: Well, of course the country watched in amazement as the man once known as America's dad was sentenced to three to ten years in a state prison and lead away in handcuffs. Did Bill Cosby's sentenced fit the crime of drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand 14 years ago and how much of that sentence will he realistically serve?

GERAGOS: The last part first, he's going to do a minimum of three years unless the case gets reverse on appeal because under Pennsylvania law which is the state he was convicted in, the -- it requires three to ten means you do three years and then you're eligible for parole and it's up to a board, parole board to decide whether to release you and you can keep coming up the parole up until 10 years at which point generally you get automatically release.

Although in this case, there was a finding of what's called a sexually violent predator and that and sometimes complicate his release.

CHURCH: And as you mentioned, Cosby's attorney has filed for an appeal, what will likely come of that do you think?

GERAGOS: Well, he's got a couple of good issues. One of which is the admission of what's called bad acts evidence. They put other women who he was not charged with that particular crime that they were talking about supposedly in the law. The reason you do that is so legal help jurors understand that there's a kind of motive or a kind of the signature identification to the crime. I've always thought as a criminal defense lawyer that what that really does is the kind of a character assassination and usually will bolster a case.

And otherwise is not strong this case by throwing up other accusations and things of that even if you haven't been accused of them formally in a courtroom.

CHURCH: So what do you think would be the outcome then?

GERAGOS: Well, it's an interesting issue and the most of the other jurisdictions California and New York, this has been decided that that's fine and you can do that as long as the judge acts as a gatekeeper and is very careful to not only limit what the accusations, the other accusations say but also instruct the jury very specifically that they can only consider these things as to the defendant or the accused motive or his operating methodology.

CHURCH: And Mark, how much impact do you think the Me Too movement had on the outcome of this case? Would it have been any difficult if this have gone to trial say a few years ago?

[02:35:13] GERAGOS: I don't think it ever would have gone to trial couple of years ago. I think it's clear that but for the Me Too movement, but for what is happened over say the last five years, I don't think this case would have even been brought. Remember, originally, this was a civil case which means they were fighting over money, not over jail time. When it was a civil case and Cosby decided to pay her, he had given a deposition which is a sworn testimony under oath.

That was sealed and that was -- and the district attorney at that, the prosecutor at the time in that county had signed off on the fact that they weren't going to bring criminal charges which was the only reason he claims that he testified. So I think it goes without saying that but for the Me Too movement, this case never would have been brought initially and he never would have been convicted.

CHURCH: Well, that's significant, isn't it? So you feel there is a new awkening perhaps when it comes to particularly sexual assault on women as a result of the Me Too movement?

GERAGOS: Well, there's a whole -- there's a sea change frankly and it's not just culturally. It's politically as well in America. You find it's not -- it's almost ironic in the true sense of the world but less than 48 hours before we're going to have a Supreme Court nominee here in the U.S. testify right after an accuser testifies about something that happened 35 years ago that we've got somebody else who was convicted and remanded into custody, remanded (INAUDIBLE) immediately into jail.

These things are -- it's a sea change. You have Republicans now talking about the presumption of innocence and whether or not there should be a statute of limitations. That was traditionally when I started practicing 35 years ago, the exclusive problems of Democrats. So you've seen -- you've seen ac complete role reverse so if you will of the left and the right of this issues.

CHURCH: CHURCH: Well, I've got you on that topic and with is I'd be interested on your take legally and what is going on with the confirmation hearings that we're watching on Brett --

(CROSSTALK)

GERAGOS: I think -- I think what you've seen is, you know, there was -- there was almost a building on what I was just saying. This role reversal was -- it needs to be kinds of the exclusive problems of the Democrats to talk about due process, to talk about the justice system, to talk about airing people's accusations and facing your accuser and things like that. That now has become the province of the Republicans. It's -- there is no small irony in the fact that Judge Kavanaugh was originally 20 years ago on the white water investigation as part of independent counsel who lead the Monica Lewinski investigation of Bill Clinton.

And now look what happens fast forward 20 years later. So the number of ironies and cross currents and political (INAUDIBLE) that I've enjoyed over these are too numerous to really come.

CHURCH: What would you expect the outcome to be of this confirmation hearing with Brett Kavanaugh?

GERAGOS: I -- my feeling is if that she -- if the accuser comes off credibly that the -- that's there's going to be a very tight vote and that you may end up seeing that he does not get a committee vote because, first, he's got to be voted on in committee. I think Jeff Flake may flip. Jeff Flake is notoriously understanding apart from his party and from Trump. And if he flips and one other Republican there may not be a confirmation of Judge Kavanaugh.

CHURCH: All right. Mark Geragos, thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate it.

GERAGOS: Thank you for having me.

CHURCH: We'll take short break. When they fled their country and now tell horrifying stories of atrocities. Coming up, a new U.S. report is out of Myanmar's Rohingya refugees. But a keyword is missing from it and gone without a trace, protesters in Liberia want to know what has happened to more than 100 million U.S. dollars. The case of the missing millions. That's ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:42:06] CHURCH: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel will continue to attack Iranian targets in Syria. It comes as Russia announced it will supply Syria an advance anti-aircraft system. Moscow blames Israel after Syria shot down a Russian military plane during an Israeli airstrike. It says Israeli jets used the Russian plane as cover. Benjamin Netanyahu expressed regret over the incident. Well, for seven years, airstrikes have been a deadly part of life for Syrians. And just minutes can mean the difference between life and death. But

now a new app is able to warn civilians of fan impending strike giving them time to take cover. CNN's Arwa Damon explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: (INAUDIBLE) spends his time staring at the sky. He was a teacher but that was in another lifetime. He's a spotter now part of a trained team on the ground across Syria who reports their observations on the types of aircraft they see and the direction they're headed. (INAUDIBLE) says it's about saving lives to feel that joy of knowing he helped others defy death.

His and other spotter's observations along with information on things like weather patterns and historical attack data feed into an algorithm that is part of an early warning system called Sentry by Hala Systems. It reaches its users by a telegram on social media. Hala is the brainchild of American John Jaeger and his team.

JOHN JAEGER, FOUNDER, HALA SYSTEMS: This is not a new concept. So back in World War I and World War II and then after that, governments like the U.K. and the U.S. employed the used of trained civilians to act as airplane spotters. We just applied about seven decades worth of technological advancement and essentially recreated that exact same system.

DAMON: So how fast is it from the point where a spotter inputs information to a warning actually being generated?

JAEGER: Sure. So within a few seconds of us receiving an observation that is high enough degree of confidence that it would trigger a warning a few seconds from input to an activation of an air raid siren and a potentially attack in community.

DAMON: In Syria, cellphone reception can be spotty. But (INAUDIBLE) recommends Hala to his customers. The warnings tell you where a plane is headed, what area is it flying over. So if there are close shelters, we can run to them, he explains. Even for those who have a shelter, it's often makeshift. Mohammad, a young father of a two- month-old baby dug out his own for his family and relatives. It's not much, but it's all they have. How effective do you think you've been able today?

[02:44:50] JAEGER: In the case where we're able to measure casualties in a location that's under heavy bombardment before and after our system is put into place and activated, we've seen up to a 27 percent reduction in fatality.

DAMON: John, a former state department employee says Hala came about as a realization that bar somehow stopping the bombs and violence. There are few options mitigate the impact of indiscriminate killing. And it's not just about saving lives in Syria.

JAEGER: And I think that the world spends a tremendous amount of time focusing energy and resources on a lot of downstream issues that start with violence against civilians. Migration, displacement, socio- economic issues. It all starts with innocent people being killed indiscriminately.

If we can help mitigate the effects of that violence, we think it can have a cascading effect not just for Syria but for every other country in the world.

DAMON: Arwa Damon, CNN, Istanbul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: A U.S. report accuses Myanmar's military of planning and coordinating mass killings and other atrocities against the Rohingya minority. It comes about a month after a damning report from the United Nations. But a CNN's Matt Rivers' reports, there is a key difference between the two reports' conclusions.

MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, these allegations of human rights atrocities from the U.S. State Department really follow a trend of the reporting of these violent incidents that began in August of 2017. And that people have been talking about in the year or so, since.

And yet, they deserve to be talked about as much as possible because the allegations are truly horrifying. So, what the State Department did here was going to Southern Bangladesh. To the refugee camps that have been set up there and they spoke to more than 1,000 people who have had to flee Rakhine State, the area where all of this violence happened.

And the stories that these people tell to the State Department really are just horrendous. So, the allegations include locking the Burmese military and others locking people into houses and burning them alive. Fencing off entire villages before shooting amongst the crowd. And even sinking boats full of fleeing people.

The list goes on and what the United States calls that is ethnic cleansing on a very wide scale. So, they are obviously not happy about it, and they're putting this report out there.

But where the United States report differs really is one keyword. And that's genocide, which is the word that we heard and read in a report released by the United Nations about a month ago. The full report was released in the last several weeks.

And the U.N. was so far to call this genocide. They say what happened to the Rohingya people in Rakhine State was genocide. The U.S. would not go that far.

On the one hand, these activists we spoke to are happy that the United States documented these alleged abuses. But on the other hand, they are unhappy that the U.S. wouldn't go so far as to call it genocide. Because they want the United States to, at least, be part of. It's not lead an effort to get what happened in Rakhine State referred to the International Criminal Court. To get people who committed these atrocities to be tried by the International Criminal Court. The Trump administration has shown zero inclination to do that so far. But this is going to be an ongoing conversation. Especially, at the U.N. General Assembly currently going on in New York City.

The Rohingya crisis is absolutely a topic of conversation there. You can expect this conversation to continue, especially, when the representative from Myanmar speaks later this week. Matt Rivers, CNN, Yangon, Myanmar.

CHURCH: It is a mystery tinged with challenges of corruption that has sparked protests in Liberia. Where is more than 100 million dollars in U.S. currency? The cash has vanished and those who can ill afford to foot the bill fear they will have to pay. Here's CNN's Lynda Kinkade.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Angry protesters take to the streets of Liberia's capital, Monrovia. They're demanding the return of some $104 million U.S. that's vanished into thin air.

That adds up to nearly five percent of Liberia's GDP. And in this poor country, the missing money is fully needed.

JUSTICE FARLEY, BUSINESSMAN, LIBERIA: Please Mr. President, note that the Liberians are crying and the level of rampant corruption is affecting our country. It's not only the country but affecting the (INAUDIBLE).

KINKADE: According to Liberia's information minister, containers of newly printed bills destined for Liberia Central Bank from printers overseas disappeared after passing through the country's main ports.

Investigators are still trying to establish exactly how much money was ordered, where it was printed and how much of it eventually provide in the country. There is major worries in Monrovia that ordinary Liberians will ultimately put the bill for the missing cash.

SUSPRANIC GOWAH, MONEY CHANGER, LIBERIA: You have together effect on me, you have effect all you, you have effect on everyone. We got if money is circulating in the economy that do that's will do a conflict and I have come for it is troubling.

[02:50:10] KINKADE: Making that is more complicated. The banknotes were ordered when former president and Nobel Prize winner Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is still in office.

For now, a new government headed by a former footballer, George Weah is trying to track down the missing money. Sirleaf claims the Central Bank has already conducted an internal investigation but the way a government refuses to make it public. Sirleaf's own son, Charles, is deputy governor of Liberia's Central Bank. He's one of 15 in the country prohibited from leaving while the investigation is underway. The mystery of the missing cash is even inspired a rap song called Well, What Else? Bring our container back. The most quickly become an anthem among angry Liberian.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's already the voice of the people now. Everybody is just sending this song to their families. Even though that the people are friendly with. People who are sending the message across. So this is the voice of the people now.

KINKADE: Sirleaf's government says it's considering a request from Liberia to help track down the missing money. Lynda Kinkade, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Well, now to the political turmoil, hitting Sweden center- left Prime Minister Stefan Lofven has been ousted from power after a no-confidence vote on Tuesday. The newly elected Speaker of Parliament will now choose a new prime minister. He has four attempts to do so.

Lawmakers must vote on his nominee. If his pics don't get enough support, Sweden will be forced to hold a new election in three months.

Well, if a picture tells a 1,000 words, what is it about a photo of his political rival that has Senator Ted Cruz checking his mobile phone? We'll take a look when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: So, remember, remember that heartwarming story from Paris about the undocumented immigrant who saved a little boy from falling from a fourth-story balcony. Well now, the father of the boy has received a suspended sentence and must attend parenting classes.

The 4-year-old was saved by a man you remember who scaled the side of the building in the nick of time. The hero Mamoudou Gassama also known as list Spider-Man was granted French citizenship and a job on the Paris Fire Brigade.

For the child's father was charged with negligence, his lawyer says they had hoped for an acquittal adding his client is a good parent.

Now, to something you certainly don't see every day. A beluga whale in the River Thames. The apparently healthy mammal was spotted between London and the English Channel. A spokeswoman for the marine life rescue, says the last beluga whale sighting in British waters was three years ago.

How this whale got to the Thames? Well, that isn't known. Hopefully, it's found its way back to deeper waters by now. We'll keep an eye on that.

Well, social media users were all hours after US Senator Ted Cruz was spotted gazing at a photo on his smartphone. That's because it was a picture of his rival who's trying to defeat him in the November midterms. CNN's Jeanne Moos has that reports. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[02:55:00] JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Senator Ted Cruz likes to schmooze about being tech-savvy.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: So I pulled out my phone I sent a tweet.

MOOS: But when he pulled out his phone, aboard a flight to D.C. he got nabbed gazing at a Senate race rival, Beto O'Rourke. POLITICO posted the photos, inspiring mockery like this, diary entry. "I wonder if he thinks about me."

Someone else called it humanizing, "Who among us has not stared at a picture of Beto O'Rourke?" "And gently caressed the picture with our thumb?" Added another, just like Senator Cruz seemed to do.

Come on, get a grip. Cruz is probably just reading a news article about the race featuring his opponents face. It's not tinder, but there were plenty of Tinder jokes, swipe left, swipe right.

Beto O'Rourke supporters woke up on him as having a charisma of a Bobby Kennedy. Playing air drums to the who as it drives through what a burger.

REP. BETO O'ROURKE (D-TX), HOUSE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: Thank you, too.

MOOS: While Ted Cruz suffers the slings and arrows of late-night comedians.

JIMMY KIMMEL, HOST, ABC: I noticed that he looked like a blobfish.

MOOS: The same day, the in-flight photos were snapped. Protesters at a D.C. restaurant hounded Cruz and his wife.

AMERICAN CROWD: We believe survivors.

MOOS: Chanting about the Supreme Court controversy. But adding insult to injury with this reference to his opponent's hotness.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Beto is way hotter than you, dude.

MOOS: Not everyone found the phone photos funny. "I have a problem with looking over someone's shoulder and reporting what documents articles they are reading." But Texas Democrats use the pictures to recruit volunteers. Even Ted Cruz is signing up to volunteer for at better O'Rourke. No, Cruz was not really cruising his rival, it just looks like O'Rourke is the wind beneath his wings. Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And thank you so much for your company this hour. I'm Rosemary Church. Remember to connect with me anytime on Twitter @rosemarycnn. We'd love to hear from you. And I will be back with another hour of news in just a moment. You're watching CNN. Stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Dismissing global alliances at the United Nations on the world stage, President Donald Trump defends his America first foreign policy and brags about how great his presidency is so far.