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Female Soldiers Accuse San Diego Mayor; Usher's Son Survives Near Drowning; More Hasan Survivors Testify Today; Benches Clear: Twitter Brawl Breaks Out
Aired August 07, 2013 - 09:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNA COREN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back.
Well, let's turn our attention to southern California. Thirteen women have come forward to accuse San Diego's mayor of sexually harassing them. Well, now, Bob Filner has a new group of accusers. Well, they are military veterans and, in a cruel twist, they say he preyed upon them after learning they were sexually abused in the service. Our Kyung Lah joins us now with these exclusive details.
Kyung, an extraordinary story. Tell us about these latest allegations.
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the latest allegations, Anna, are a bit separate from the others because of who these women are. These are retired and former military veterans. Many of them are victims of rape and sexual harassment. They allege that the then congressman used his considerable power to access their support group, even leaving one of them an unwanted voicemail.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL FILNER, SAN DIEGO MAYOR (voice-over): Eldonna, hi, it's your newly favorite congressman, Bob Filner. You know, the one who fell in love with you with (ph) your last speech.
MASTER SGT. ELDONNA LEWIS FERNANDEZ, U.S. AIR FORCE (RET.): Yes, it was kind of creepy.
LAH (voice-over): The voice sounded like then Congressman Bob Filner. Eldonna Lewis Fernandez met him a year ago at a women's veteran event. But the problem for Fernandez isn't just the voicemail, it's how Filner made advances and to whom.
FERNANDEZ: We totally felt like we could trust him because he was - he's - oh, he's fighting for our cause.
LAH: Fernandez is a retired U.S. Air Force master sergeant and says she was raped three times while in the military. Gerri Tindley was in the Army and says she was also raped. They, and as many as six other veterans say Filner met them at San Diego support groups for military sexual assault victims and made unwanted advances, from verbal passes to groping. FERNANDEZ: We're all victims of military sexual assault. And it appears to me that he was targeting this organization and hitting on the women in this organization because they were easy prey. So he's part of an organization that's against sexual assault and sexual violence towards women and sexual harassment, but he's doing the very thing that we are fighting to make stop in our service and in our country.
LAH (on camera): Do you feel he was using his power to prey on the women of this organization?
FERNANDEZ: I do. I do. He didn't have our backs. He was looking at our backs.
GERRI TINDLEY: He had our fronts. It's wrong. Why would you come here with us and do what you did? Why? Is it a turn-on?
LAH (voice-over): The 70-year-old, 10-term congressman served as chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee. Now less than a year after being elected San Diego's mayor, he has checked himself into a two-week treatment program to deal with his behavior. His chief of staff would not speak to us about these latest allegations.
LAH (on camera): Will you come back out and chat with me?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I will do my best.
LAH: Just like - like how long do you want -
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'll let you know one way or the other.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAH: And in case you're wondering, she actually never opened that door, at least for our cameras. She did not come out to speak with us. The office later coming out, a spokesperson, saying that they had no comment. The mayor's office officially not saying anything. As far as Filner's lawyer, Anna, we did reach out to him. His personal lawyer. He also had no comment.
COREN: Kyung, as you mentioned in your piece, Mayor Filner is seeking two weeks intense treatment, whatever that means. But how are people feeling about the fact that he's hanging on, he is refusing to step down and resign?
LAH: You know, if you look at the local newspaper, at a poll that they did, it's overwhelming, 70 something percent want the mayor to step down. And if you actually speak to the people, the women who are accusing the mayor of sexual harassment, they call this two-week therapy session an absolute ruse, a joke. They want him to step down and they want it to be at no cost to the taxpayers. There is, Anna, a recall effort underway, but that is going to be at some cost to the taxpayers and that will take some time.
COREN: Kyung Lah, excellent reporting, as always, and lovely to see you. Kyung Lah there joining us. Well, stay with NEWSROOM. Much more after the break.
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COREN: Pop star Usher is breathing a sigh of relief today after his five-year-old son nearly drowned in the family pool. The incident comes just 13 months after the Grammy winner's former stepson died after he was badly hurt in a boating accident. Well, he was just 11. Our Tory Dunnan is following the story from Los Angeles.
Tory, what details do we have?
TORY DUNNAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anna, police say that Usher went to the hospital to be with his son right after this near drowning. Now, the boy's mother tells CNN he's doing OK. And investigators are also telling me that at this point they have no reason to believe there is any criminal aspect to this case. But one thing is for sure, this is every parents' worst nightmare.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
911 OPERATOR: Is he breathing?
CALLER: Is he breathing? Is he breathing?
DUNNAN (voice-over): He is music superstar Usher's five-year-old son.
CALLER: He's breathing.
911 OPERATOR: OK. All right. Stay with me.
DUNNAN: The frantic 911 call was placed by the boy's aunt in Atlanta. Police say Usher Raymond V fell to the bottom of the pool where he became stuck in the drain.
911 OPERATOR: What's the status of your emergency?
CALLER: Yes, I have -- my nephew was in the pool and he -- he went in. I couldn't get him. I tried to get him.
DUNNAN: That's when police say two contractors working inside the house came to the rescue.
CALLER: They got him out and they're doing CPR on him.
DUNNAN: Police say the child was conscious, alert and breathing when taken to the hospital. Connecticut mom Karen Cohn knows the terror all too well. Six years ago, her six-year-old son, Zac, drowned in a pool drain accident.
KAREN COHN, THE ZAC FOUNDATION: Once you're stuck, it's 450 to 900 pounds of pressure.
DUNNAN: Karen and her husband started The ZAC Foundation to increase awareness, teaching the ABC and Ds of pool safety. COHN: And then the "d" is for drain safety. "A" is, you know, for adult supervision. "B" is for barriers around pools and bodies of water. "C" is for classes.
DUNNAN: Like the ones that teach CPR, which may have saved Usher's son. Sadly, the mega star can also relate to the loss of a child. It was just last summer that his 11-year-old stepson died after a boating accident. The singer spoke about the tragedy with Oprah.
USHER: I miss Kile.
DUNNAN: Less than a year later, one of his other sons is recovering from a pool accident that could have been much worse.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DUNNAN: And, Anna, I have this late breaking update for you. In response to the near drowning incident, the attorney for the boy's mother, Tameka Raymond, just confirmed to me that she has filed for an emergency custody hearing. In those court documents, she alleged the incident proves the children aren't being looked after properly by Usher and we are told that this hearing is set to take place this Friday in Atlanta.
Anna.
COREN: Tory Dunnan, we appreciate the update. Thank you.
Well, does this house look familiar? What if it was a bright red Ferrari crashing through the back window? Well, it could be yours if you've got the cash.
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COREN: Well, to Texas, where we expect more dramatic testimony today from survivors of the shooting rampage at Fort Hood. Well, Major Nidal Hasan opened his court martial yesterday by declaring that quote, "I am the shooter."
He is accused of killing 13 people and wounding 32 in the attack back in 2009. Hasan is serving as his own lawyer, though on Tuesday he declined to question two survivors who took the stand for the prosecution.
Our Ed Lavandera is in Killeen, Texas there with the very latest. Ed, what can we expect today?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is hardly your regular ordinary kind of capital murder trial. But, what you see going on here is prosecutors continuing their fight to ensure that Major Nidal Hasan is sentenced to the death penalty. Meanwhile, Major Hasan doesn't really seem to be paying a whole of attention as to the guilt or innocence in this trial.
He's fighting his own war trying to show that he was justified in killing 13 American soldiers and wounding more than 30 more. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA (voice-over): This morning military prosecutors will continue calling survivors of the Fort Hood massacre to testify against Major Nidal Hasan. There is heavy security for the Court Martial. The courthouse is blocked by stacks of sand baskets and rows of massive steel containers. Major Hasan is flown in by helicopter from a nearby county jail. In court he is dressed in an army combat uniform with an American flag decorating his sleeve.
Yesterday he quickly admitted to killing defenseless fellow soldiers. "The evidence will clearly show I am the shooter", he declared in an opening statement. Hasan went on to say, "I was on the wrong side and I switched sides."
Prosecutors say he felt a Jihad duty to kill as many soldiers as possible and that he was targeting soldiers preparing to fight in Afghanistan.
CHRISTOPHER ROYAL, FORT HOOD SURVIVOR: I got shot twice in the lower back.
LAVANDERA: 41-year-old Christopher Royal is one of those victims preparing to stare down Hasan in court. The chief foreign officer is recovering from his wounds, nerve damage down his back, arms and legs but the trauma is more mental for this married father of a young boy.
ROYAL: I can't go to crowded places anymore. I don't even really go to the mall any more. I can't take my child to Disneyland because I can't deal with it. I can't take my child to Six Flags because I can't deal with it.
LAVANDERA: Royal says he considers Hasan a terrorist but has forgiven him. Every day he goes by the Fort Hood memorial honoring his fallen comrades.
ROYAL: When I go by the site it continues to help me go on because there were 13 that day that did not make it. That sight sort of kind of pushes me through.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: Will you cue me?
COREN: Ed, I'm going to pick up here, if you don't mind. Ed --
LAVANDERA: -- the first soldier -- the victim, who is the shooting victim testified yesterday afternoon and a lot of people are going to be paying close attention because the irony in all of this is that as Major Hasan is representing himself, he does have the opportunity to cross examine his very own victims.
But Staff Sergeant Alonzo -- Alonzo Lunsford testified yesterday and when Major Hasan was given a chance to cross examine him, Major Hasan said "I have no questions." But more victims will be called to the stand and many people will be paying close attention to see how Major Hasan handles that interaction with his very own victims -- Anna.
COREN: Ed we know that this trial is not televised. And obviously media access is limited. I know you have been allowed to go into the courtroom. Tell us about Nidal Hasan's appearance and also his demeanor in court.
We seem to be having some technical problems there, unfortunately. But that was Ed Lavandera reporting on the trial of Major Nidal Hasan who allegedly killed 13 people in a massacre back in 2009 at Fort Hood in Texas.
Well coming up on NEWSROOM --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OPRAH WINFREY, ACTRESS: -- many, many, many, many nights.
NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Come to Jesus --
WINFREY: Come and honey, Jesus was at the table. Jesus was at that table.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: Oprah Winfrey talking racism. Her return to the big screen and why quitting her new TV network was never an option. That's all new in the 10:00 a.m. hour of NEWSROOM. Join us for that.
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COREN: Ok who doesn't know this movie scene?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALAN RUCK, ACTOR, FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF: I can't wait to see the look on the bastard's face.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: Anyone? I have to admit it's one of my favorite movies. 1986, "Ferris Bueller's Day Off". Well, if you always liked that glass house made famous by the movie, good news. It can be yours for about $1.5 million. Well, it's up for sale in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park. It's partly suspended over a ravine. It's about 4,000 square feet, four bedrooms and four baths and of course it comes complete with the glass garage.
Well this is actually the second time the house has been on the market. In 2009, it was listed for $2.3 million, but there were no takers -- so $1.5 million. It's a bargain.
Well, a bench-clearing brawl nearly breaks out between the Braves and Nationals last night. And the battle didn't stop on the field. Andy Scholes who joins us now for more in this morning's "Bleacher Report". Andy what have you got for us?
ANDY SCHOLES, "BLEACHER REPORT": Hi good morning Anna.
Well we've all seen teams brawl on the field in baseball. But now they're taking the fight to Twitter. This beef between the Braves and Nationals all started when Bryce Harper hit a monstrous home run in the third inning. The Braves Pitcher Julio Teheran didn't appreciate the way Harper admired it so he drilled him with the first pitch his next time up. Benches cleared but cooler heads prevailed. However the team's official Twitter accounts decided to take the battle to cyber space. The Braves fired the first shot saying "Clown move, Bro."
Clearly taking a dig at Harper's famous comeback game to report of last season. The Nationals responded with, "Which part? Giving up the home run or drilling the 20-year-old on the first pitch his next time up?" Now the Twitter war would end there. But however the Braves they got the last laugh. They won the game for their 12th win in a row.
Well you see these two handsome fellows here with the crazy haircuts? That's the Manning brothers, both Peyton and Eli. They've shown us their comedic skills before on "Saturday Night Live". But this new DirecTV commercial may be their greatest work ever.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Football on your phone so now is your chance to have football on your phone and football in your pants. Look at this guy using his phone as a phone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your phone aren't for calling, your phone it's for football that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Football on your phone, is football all the time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you want that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He does, she does, our dad does.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Does your dad want it? I mean --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Football on your phone
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHOLES: Oh Anna this is such a great commercial. And if you didn't haven't DirecTV Sunday ticket before, you'll probably are going to get it now, I'm sold. It's amazing.
COREN: I don't think they should give up their day jobs anytime soon. Andy Scholes, it's good to see you. Thank you.
Well the CNN NEWSROOM begins after this very short break. Stay with us.
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