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San Diego Mayor Has New Accuser; Protesters March In Cairo; Snowden: Dad Does Not Represent Me; Hannah Anderson Attends Fundraiser; More Rain For Soaked Southeast; Judge Judy Defends Son Against Sheriff; Princess Faces Cockfighting Charges; Eukanuba, Iams Pet Food Recalled; iPhone's Power Prowess; Police Recruitment Video Goes Viral
Aired August 16, 2013 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, Bob Filner's newest accuser.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He would take my hand and talk about us getting together the next weekend.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: The 67-year-old Peggy Shannon, she works at a senior citizen's center.
Plus the rodeo clown and the Obama mask. First there was outrage now there's outrage over the outrageous.
Your iPhone is using as much power as your refrigerator. Plus --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As you can see the Hillsboro Police Department is ready to handle any situation. Yes, they get me every time. Shut up, Duane.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: It's the police recruitment video that's got everybody talking. NEWSROOM starts now.
Good morning, thanks so much for being with me. I'm Carol Costello. A new twist in the sexual harassment scandal surrounding San Diego Mayor Bob Filner, once again we don't know where the mayor exactly is. We know he's not at city hall. Filner has not been at his desk for weeks. But a new woman with familiar accusations has come forward, a great grandmother, 67-year-old Peggy Shannon, says the mayor made continuous inappropriate sexual advances and it comes as the effort to remove Filner from power may gain strength. Kyung Lah live in San Diego this morning. Good morning. KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. The story has certainly taken some unusual turns and then it took another one, hearing from our very first senior citizen accuser.
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LAH (voice-over): Walking slowly, assisted by a cane, 67-year-old great grandmother Peggy Shannon says Mayor Bob Filner repeatedly harassed her for months on the job. Stopping by her desk at the senior service center in the lobby of city hall, she alleges she he once grabbed and kissed her on the lips and even told her, think I can go eight hours in one night?
PEGGY SHANNON, ALLEGED VICTIM: Mayor Filner, I am a mother, a grandmother and a great grandmother, I have three sons, four grandsons and two great grandsons. As our mayor, you should be, but are not a role model for any of them.
LAH: Shannon is the 16th woman to publicly accuse the mayor of sexual harassment, but the first senior citizen.
(on camera): A great grandmother doesn't surprise you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At this point, nothing would surprise us.
LAH (voice-over): San Diego City Attorney Jan Goldsmith has been investigating the mayor. Goldsmith says he may have found a way. Laid out in his memo to the city council, the city's charter has a little used section about firing city officers for unauthorized use of city money. CNN obtained the mayor's credit card statement showing charges at a San Diego hotel, restaurants, that are indeed, says the city attorney personal expenses.
JAN GOLDSMITH, SAN DIEGO CITY ATTORNEY: Somebody is so brazen and abusive in personal, often, often that translate into the same type of conduct in financial affairs.
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LAH: Now the city attorney just can't move forward, he's got to go to the city council, the city council will approve of this. If they do, then he can go to a judge and move through the court system. But remember, Carol there's also the recall effort as well as a number of investigations that may also open up some other paths to remove Filner from office.
COSTELLO: So no one knows where Mayor Filner is?
LAH: You're right. And we have been calling his office or his attorney every single day asking for comment about these daily revelations that we have been getting. They have never responded or a terse, we have no comment. We have also gone to his local hangout, we have spoken to a lot of people here at city hall, some of his former friends and none of them seem to know where he is. We do understand, though, Carol, that he may be back at work on Tuesday. But, you know, it changes daily. So everyone we talked to says they simply don't know.
COSTELLO: Kyung Lah reporting live from San Diego. Coming up in about a half an hour, I'm going to be talking about Gloria Allred, Peggy Shannon's attorney. That's ahead at 10:30 Eastern Time.
Checking our top stories at 5 minutes past, thousands of protesters taking to the streets in Cairo. It's part of what the Muslim Brotherhood is calling a Friday of anger and supporters of the group and ousted President Mohammad Morsy faced off against the military. Armed forces removed Morsy from office last month.
Edward Snowden speaks out from his hiding spot in Russia and tells the media to quit exploiting his father for the sake of tabloid news. Snowden told "The Huffington Post," neither my father, his lawyer, Bruce Fine nor his wife, Maddie Fine, represent me in any way. >
Kidnapping survivor Hannah Anderson has been spotted in public for the first time since her harrowing rescue in the Idaho woods. The 16- year-old was seen arriving at a fundraiser for (inaudible) family. Hannah did not talk to reporters but her friends spoke to CNN's "NEW DAY" to talk about she's holding up.
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ALYSSA HAUGUM, HANNA ANDERSON'S FRIEND: She's like acting strong for everyone and I think that's more of just like for her appearance. But I can tell that there's something inside of her that's upset. Like when we're all having a good time and everyone stops laughing, she get this is serious look on her face.
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COSTELLO: In the meantime, police have recovered from the home where Hannah's mother and brother were found dead. The items include a handwritten note, a box for handcuffs and condoms.
If you like sunny weather to sit by the pool, this has been one bummer of the summer in the south. Say that five times fast. Check out the flooding earlier this week in Alabama. Birmingham is more than 10 inches above its average rainfall total since June. It's even worse in Florida. Ft. Lauderdale has had 31 inches of rain in the last two months and more is on the way today. Indra Peterson is here with, what, more rain?
INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, more rain on the way in what's already been an unbelievable summer of above average rainfall. First I want to talk about Tropical Storm Erin. Just 1-mile-per-hour over a tropical storm so we say it's going to strengthen, it will strengthen about 45 miles an hour, but then weaken by the middle of the week to a depression. Even so still being in the middle of the Atlantic, so not our immediate concern but we'll continue to monitor that as we go into next week. What we're concerned about is a potential system that could with develop, currently just exiting the Yucatan Peninsula. All this moisture feeding into Florida.
Instead of going towards Florida, we're looking at these models pulling this moisture into Texas. Currently, a stationary front is still there bringing heavy rainfall, two to four inches without the tropical moisture. We're going to combine the tropical moisture and we're going to add a low. The reason why that matters is that we're going to pull that stationary front back just a little bit and we're talking even more rain into the gulf states. Maybe up to 10 inches before the weekend is said and done and that moisture could seep up all the way to the mid-Atlantic. In the mid-Atlantic for me, it means clouds, for you it means lots of rain.
COSTELLO: Judge Judy's tough as nails inside her TV courtroom. Now off the bench, she's got some tough words for a New York sheriff unfairly attacking the character of Judge Judy's son who's a local prosecutor. The son wants $5 million in a defamation claim. Pamela brown has more for you.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You think you're smooth? You're a 19-year-old zero.
PAMELA BROWN (voice-over): Judy Sheindlin is the tough talking judge you don't want to cross. Her daytime TV court show Judge Judy. Now she's weighing in on a legal matter involving her own son, Adam Levy, a New York district attorney who filed a lawsuit against Putnam County sheriff.
ADAM LEVY, DISTRICT ATTORNEY, NEW YORK STATE: In reviewing statements made by Don Smith that I interfered with, used my office and my title as districts attorney to influence his investigation is an outrage.
BROWN: Smith has accused Levy of interfering with the child rape case against Levy's former trainer Alexander Hossu according to the Putnam County sheriff, a man was accused of raping a 13-year-old girl on two occasions in 2010. Levy says he accused himself after he found out -- defamatory statements made by Smith against him were published in various online publications, including if he could have his own way, Mr. Hossu would never have been brought to justice. He said the lawsuit is politically motivated.
DONALD SMITH, PUTNAM COUNTY SHERIFF: It's obviously intended to influence the outcome of the upcoming sheriff's --
BROWN: Judge Judy said this about her son. His moral compass is dead sinner, she add. When someone attacks his character professionally or personally, they best be prepared to put up or shut up.
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COSTELLO: Pamela Brown reporting. Smith, by the way, is his third term as the sheriff in upstate Putnam County. Less than a month from now he faces a primary challenge in his bid for re-election.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, one has your e-mail, the other keeps your milk cold. So why does your iPhone use exactly the same amount of energy as your refrigerator? We'll find out just ahead.
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COSTELLO: Checking our top stories at 13 minutes past the hour. A deadly blast that levelled a famous Kansas city restaurant in February now being blamed on a contractor. The state employee hit an underground gas line about an hour before the explosion at J.J.'s Restaurant. One person was killed and at least 15 others hurt. The company disputes the findings.
A Romanian princess due in federal court in Oregon today after she was caught in an alleged cockfighting ring. This is a strange story. Princess Arena Walker, her husband and four others have charged with operating an illegal gambling business. She is the third daughter of Romania's exiled king Michael the first.
Two popular brands of dog and cat food being recalled because they may contain salmonella. Dry food Eukanoba product is best used by November 2014. The manufacturer Proctor and Gamble says no illnesses have been reported, but animals and humans could be at risk.
iPhone users beware, you might want to power down once in a while. A new study says your little tiny iPhone uses just as much energy as your great big refrigerator. Alison Kosik is in New York to tell us about this. Good morning.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: We have turned into quite the data hogs, haven't we? We have smart phones, tablets, digital TV. And you know what that means? That means that we're big huge electricity hogs too. Let's go to your example, the refrigerator versus the iPhone. So you've got a medium sized five-star refrigerator that uses 322 kilo watts of energy a year. The average iPhone more than that 361 so that includes the Wi-Fi connection, the data usage, the battery charging.
So in this new study from Digital Power Group, you add up all the new technology that we have, yeah, it requires a lot of electricity. How much? The study shows about 10 percent of the world's energy pie. Another way to look at this, all the new technology together uses 50 percent more energy that globe aviation uses -- Carol.
COSTELLO: That's incredible. Thanks, Alison.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, a police department makes a silly new recruitment video. Would you want that -- well, not that guy, but that guy, would you want that guy as your local cop? We'll look at the video when we come back.
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COSTELLO: You normally think of police cracking down on crime, busting thugs and solving homicide cases. But a new police recruitment video from Oregon may make the cops look more like, you know, the flunkies from police academy.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As you can see the Hillsboro Police Department is ready to handle any situation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes? They get me every time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shut up, Duane.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want some of that, I'm in on it, I'm in, yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wait, wait, wait, have you tried the knob?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Quick, get out of here!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, what are you doing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What we're looking for is a leader who can understand our passion, who can laugh with us, but more importantly, understand our culture and our community. What we're really looking for is you.
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COSTELLO: That's really funny. This is from the Hillsboro Police Department. They're looking for a new police chief since the last one resigned amid labor tension. This video has gone viral, it's getting a lot of national attention and some of it is negative.
Joining me now from Oregon is Mike Rousch from the Hillsboro Police Department and Michael Brown, the Hillsboro city manager. Welcome to both of you. So I was watching you guys watch the video as we played it and both of you were laughing. You're proud of this video, aren't you, Michael?
MIKE BROWN, HILLSBORO CITY MANAGER: We sure are. It's a great opportunity for us to highlight something that's really important for us in Hillsboro and that is for us to have a sense of humor and to use humor appropriately. Yes, I am proud of it. I'm proud of the producers who produced it and the employees who were a part of it.
COSTELLO: I guess when I think of my local police officer, I actually want criminals to be afraid of him. I don't want him to laugh at the police officer's jokes.
MICHAEL ROUCHES, HILLSBORO COUNTY, OREGON POLICE: Well, there's many ways to do the job and if we can get them to laugh at our jokes and get them to jail effectively, then we have solved a few problems. Our whole thing is, how can we be more connected, more communicative and imaginative in the way we deliver service? Our police officers are very, very committed to serving and the authenticity of that we hope come through with some of the humor in the video.
COSTELLO: So what kinds of applicants have come forward, Michael?
BROWN: Well, at this point, we're just in the process of collecting applications. So at this point, we have received applicants and I'll tell you, what's been great about it is the exposure, so the net that was cast by having a considerably larger audience, the number of people that would otherwise maybe not look at us. We believe that it will result in a more qualified applicants for our process. So it's part of a -- the video is part of a much more comprehensive application package that have a lot of serious elements to it. So the video is just one piece of that.
COOPER: So, Mike, I want to ask you this, because, still, when we think of tough law enforcement officers, we think of people like Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Arizona. He wants to reinstate chain gangs and limit inmate meals and that's far from what you want to do.
ROUCHES: Certainly that's one way to do the job, there are a lot of ways to do it. Our community expects us to be collaborative, connective and imaginative. We do have officers who incredibly serve as they're working their jobs in the field. But most of the contacts police have and progressive policing today requires a police officer to truly be communicative and to loses some of the badge heaviness that they can get tied up in. While our officers are very dedicated to serve, they do it with a real sincerity and a little bit of humor.
COSTELLO: Thank you both for being with us this morning and sharing your video because it really was funny. Mike Rousch and City Manager Michael Brown, thank you breathe.
A great grandmother now joined the fight against San Diego Mayor Bob Filner. A 67-year-old woman makes some disturbing allegations of sexual harassment against the embattled mayor. We'll talk to her attorney Gloria Allred next.
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COSTELLO: The calls for San Diego's Mayor Bob Filner to resign are reaching absurd levels. First it was Hooters banning the mayor then a local cable television news station released what competitors call an embarrassing set to the tune of "Blurred Lines" and starring the station's journalist -- that station UTTV released a statement that video was made by the morning talk show front page. The hosts are not news anchors and do not represent Uttv's news program. It was a light hearted parody for a personality driven show not a -- Peggy Shannon is the 16th woman to say the San Diego mayor sexually harassed her.
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PEGGY SHANNON, ACCUSES BOB FILNER OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT: He came up to me without any warning when I was outside going home. And hugged me and kissed me. And I was appalled. I was shocked. And it's not something that I thought that the mayor would ever do.
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COSTELLO: We now enter day 26 of Filner watch as the mayor refuses to resign or even show his face in public. Peggy Shannon's Attorney Gloria Allred joins me now. Good morning.
GLORIA ALLRED, ATTORNEY FOR PEGGY SHANNON: Good morning, carol.
COSTELLO: Tell me about your client, why did she decide to come forward? ALLRED: Well, Peggy Shannon is 67 years old, as you said a greats grandmother. She works in city hall and she is there to help senior citizens with services. She works part time, she really needs the job, it's just part-time, but she needs her social security, she needs the little wage that the job brings in. And she was very upset when the mayor came up to her one day as she was leaving the building and planted a kiss right on her lips.
This is not a California kiss just on the cheek. This is right on her lips and that combined with other things that he said to her, like coming up to her one day and saying, you think I can go eight hours? And she said you're kidding. And he says, no, I can go eight hours. I mean it was really disgusting to her. And we say to the mayor, look, we don't care how long you can go, we just want you to go as soon as possible, we want you to resign as mayor of the city of San Diego.
COSTELLO: So many unbelievable accusations are coming out about Mayor Filner. This woman is a great grandmother. She would probably be the least likely victim of sexual harassment ever.
ALLRED: That's really the issue, because it's not about sex, it's about power. It's about the sense of entitlement, that he is a person in power that he can do whatever he wants to any woman who's there, it appears. This is particularly serious because it's an employment situation.
