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CNN NEWSROOM

Major Snowstorm in New York; Missing Honduran Beauty Queen's Body Found; NY Times Claims MSNBC Host Reverend Al Sharpton Owes Millions in Back Taxes; Tiger Woods Furious over Satirical Interview in Golf Digest; Bob Marley to Become the Face of the World's First Global Marijuana Brand

Aired November 19, 2014 - 15:30   ET

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


DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Mark, if you want to weigh in on that.

MARK GERAGOS, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, I just thought the interesting thing about what the prosecutor at the time had said was that the explanation -- it sounds like Cosby had submitted to an interview and that he said well, nothing happened but if it did happen is was consensual which it should really is not really a persuasive defense.

I think that, you know, in cases like this, you want to give somebody a presumption of innocence. But to Sunny's point, when you start getting up into numbers that are in double figures and they have a similar ring to them, I think about, you know, and I'm prosecuting a case against this self-styled Dr. Luke with Kesha (ph), that same -- I'm hearing the same thing out of Kesha (ph) which, you know, she was given a pill, then, she wakes up, she's naked and she knows that he's been violated.

You know, you hear that and those kinds of things tend to resonate, I think, at a certain point. And I understand people's frustration with it. People think why did you wait? Why was there so much time?

There's a disproportionate amount of power involved in these kinds of cases where you have somebody who is incredibly in this case with Cosby somebody who is beloved and nobody wants to believe it. And it's very difficult sometimes to speak the truth to that because you're going to be vilified, as Sunny says, especially now on the Internet and in the twitter sphere.

SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: And you are going to be blamed. And let's remember, people think that rape is a crime of sex, that it's a sexual crime. It's a power crime. It's a crime about power.

LEMON: Right.

Thank you, Sunny. Thank you, Mark. Appreciate it.

We're also following a developing story in Buffalo, New York. Up to six feet of snow in places and more on the way. We'll go there live next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: Want to get now to our other big story. Near record fall, snowfall -- record snowfall, I should say, pummeling parts of western New York right now. More than 70 inches have dropped in parts of Buffalo, all within 24 hours. The pounding has crippled interstates and trapped many people inside their homes. It is amazing drone video, you're looking at right now, was taken by one homeowner who says he was blocked in by all of the snow. And so far, officials have removed 5,000 tons of snow.

New York's governor dispatched the National Guard and at least ten counties are under a state of emergency right now.

So we should check in with CNN meteorologist Jennifer Gray. She is toughing it out in Buffalo.

So Jennifer, Andrew Cuomo called this a major historic event. I'm sure you will agree and people there will as well.

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, I think everyone would agree with that, Don. We've been speaking with people that have lived here their entire lives and they say they have never seen this much snow in that short amount of time. People are comparing it to blizzard of 1977.

And so, it's a big deal here in Buffalo. It's been serious. People have been stranded. They've had to ask for volunteers to pitch in their snowmobiles to get people out of their cars and get people help. And so, it has been a major event here.

Look over here. I'm just going to show you the scene. We've had bulldozers and plows just plowing all of this snow up against these corner streets and they are filling up with big huge trucks and hauling it off. This area is near a fire station and so they want this area clear in case people need their help a little later.

We've had trucks nonstop, huge trucks about 10 or 15 of them just in the past hour filled with snow and take it off and it looks like they have hardly done anything. That just shows you how much snow is here. And even on the other side, we have this mound that's 15 feet high, 13 to 15. The snow is coming down. It started within the last hour. And so, we are going to be in this once again this wave number two, Don, for the long haul looks like we could see an additional two to three feet of this snow by tomorrow evening.

LEMON: Boy, here we go. Thank you, Jennifer Gray.

Now we'll get to mystery of the missing beauty queen. Just days before the Miss World pageant, Miss Honduras and her sister vanished. What happened and why cops say they tracked down their killers. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Welcome back. In Jerusalem, fears of a new chapter of violence between Jews and Palestinians are on the rise after recent attacks targeting Israelis. The Israeli government has resumed an old tactic, demolishing homes of those who carry out acts of terror.

Today, an Israeli police officer died of wounds suffered yesterday in that attack on a synagogue. He's the fifth person to die. The other four were rabbis.

An update for you now on the mystery of the Missing Honduran beauty queen. Her body was just found and Honduran police say Maria Jose Alvarado Munoz has been found dead along with her sister six days after they disappeared.

And as Rafael Romo reports, police say her boyfriend could have something to do with it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAFAEL ROMO, SENIOR LATIN AMERICA AFFAIRS EDITOR (voice-over): Honduran national police say the bodies were found buried in this wooded area near the city of Santa Barbara. Maria Jose Alvarado, a 19-year-old beauty queen had been missing since Thursday when she attended a birthday party with her sister, Sophia Trinidad also missing. At first her mother feared the young women had been kidnapped.

TERESA MUNOZ, MARIS JOSE ALVARADO'S MOTHER (through translator): I ask them. I'm suffering too much. Don't make me suffer this much anymore and please return them to me because I don't know why they took them anyway.

ROMO: But police gave the family the bad news early Wednesday. They both had been shot and buried in the woods. Two men had been arrested in connection with their deaths including the boyfriend of the older sister.

Just 19 years old, Maria Jose Alvarado already had an impressive resume. She was a finalist in the Miss Teen Honduras pageant in 2012.

This year she beat 18 other contestants to win the Miss World Honduras crown in April and four months later, Alvarado represented her country at a regional beauty pageant in Belize. She was also working as a model for a Honduran TV show.

The Miss World organization issued a statement in reaction to the news. We're devastated by this terrible loss of two young women who were so full of life. The statement by Chairman Julia Morley says. The Miss World Honduras director says that she was supposed to fly to London Wednesday to get ready for the Miss World pageant to be held in mid-December.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): this was going to be Maria Jose's day. She was supposed to travel to London, England. And now the dream she had of representing Honduran women there can't happen anymore.

ROMO: In her profile on the pageant's website, Alvarado talked about her dreams beyond modeling and she wanted to be a diplomat for her country, a dream that will go unfulfilled by her untimely death. (END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Awful story.

Rafael Romo joins me now.

Rafael, what are you learning about the two men who have been arrested?

ROMO: Well, the investigation now, Don, is centering in one of them said to be the boyfriend of the older sister, Sophia Trinidad. What police are saying is that he already confessed to killing the two women, taking bodies to a riverbank in Santa Barbara area and that's where they took police to that place where the bodies were found.

Apparently, there was some sort of relationship issue that led to this. When we talk about Honduras, one thinks about the fact that statistic is it's the most violent area in the world. But in this case, apparently, it was some sort of misunderstanding between the two that led to this horrible, horrible crime, Don.

LEMON: Rafael Romo, thank you.

The Reverend Al Sharpton is often under fire for some of the things he says. Now according to reports he's under fire for what he owes, more than $4 million in taxes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: MSNBC host Reverend Al Sharpton is ripping "The New York Times" for an article that claims he and his company owes millions in back taxes. Sharpton has advised President Obama and New York City mayor Bill De Blasio on race relations. New York governor Andrew Cuomo and de Blasio had called Sharpton a civil rights icon.

Well, Sharpton response to "the New York Times" article is this. He says it's old news and the result of his close association with his powerful allies.

Senior Washington correspondent Joe Johns has more now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REVEREND AL SHARPTON, MSNBC ANCHOR, POLITICS NATION: But we continue to take --

JOE JOHNS, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Strong pushback from Reverend Al Sharpton after news reports including one in "The New York Times" pinged him for owing millions of dollars in back taxes. His response, it's recycled old news and a political attack because of his close association with some of the most powerful politicians in the country including the president as well as the mayor of New York.

SHARPTON: I think it's political. I think that people that -- a lot of people don't like the fact that President Obama is the president. A lot of people do not like the fact that Bill de Blasio won for mayor and they certainly don't like the fact that I'm still here.

JOHNS: Sharpton rose to fame in the 1980s as an activist for social justice, sought the democratic nomination for president in 2004 and currently has a show on MSNBC. And he's been dogged by questions about his finances all along the way.

Sharpton explained at a news conference that he and his organization, the National Action Network, do owe back taxes partly as a result of a highly publicized investigation from years ago. The New York department of finance indicates a total of about $2.3 million in unreleased federal tax liens for the years 2007, 2008, and 2009. And that doesn't even include any liabilities from state taxes and his private businesses.

But Sharpton said the federal back taxes are controlled by a payment plan and are being paid according to agreement with the IRS.

SHARPTON: National Action Network and I owe no current taxes. We at the same time have while remaining current on all taxes pay on the agreed upon settlement to the federal government on pre-2008 claims.

JOHNS: Sharpton denied another claim he took loans from the organization to pay his daughter's private school tuition. He said he actually fronted the organization money rather than the other way around.

SHARPTON: When there was a shortfall, I would personally loan the organization money, so I must have been the most inept charlatan in the country.

JOHNS: Sharpton took issue with the reports that is tax liabilities that increase rather than decrease over the years. But he did admit that penalties for failure to pay the full amount have caused the amount he owes to go up over the years.

Joe Johns, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: All right, Joe. Thank you very much.

Up next, Tiger Woods furious after a satirical interview profiling him appeared in "Golf Digest." He definitely did not take the joke very well. Hear what they had to say. And my next guest says Tiger's rant, just silly.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: The late reggae icon Bob Marley is about to become the face of the world's first global marijuana brand. It is called Marley natural. Products will include cannabis-infused lotions and creams among other accessories. It will be available in 2015, but only in areas where cannabis is legal. And that means Marley-branded pot could be sold in certain states in the U.S. Marley's daughter says it is only fitting that her dad's name would be a part of this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CEDELLA MARLEY, BOB MARLEY'S DAUGHTER: I think finally the politicians are getting it. And it's just -- it just seems natural that daddy should be a part of this conversation, you know? He was a conversation starter to begin with. And I think if we can help use his voice to continue the movement, I think it would be something that he would be very happy that he's still a part of.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, the brand is backed by the Seattle-based private equity firm Privateer Holdings.

Millions more vehicles with potentially killer airbags could be recalled that's if the federal government has its way. Eight million cars made by ten automakers have been recalled for airbags that could explode and fuse shrapnel inside the car. Four deaths have been linked to the bags. And so far, the recall has not -- has been limited, I should say, to hot, humid states along the gulf coast and one territory and that's Puerto Rico.

Now, federal regulators want to take that recall nationwide that the company that makes the airbags, well, that company is balking. Jake Tapper with more on "the LEAD" and that story in just a few minutes right here on CNN.

The anniversary is coming up in the world of professional sports. Five years ago next week one of the greatest sports careers ever hit, a bump in the road.

Tiger Woods ran his Cadillac into a fire hydrant after which he was linked to one, two, three, keep going, lots of women who were not his wife. And before that day in 2009, Tiger Woods had won 14 major championships and was well on his way to breaking the all-time record.

Well, since that date, zero majors for Tiger Woods and not to mention the costly divorce. And if to mark the occasion, one of the golf publications "Golf Digest" got creative, shots of photos a Tiger look alike. And had rider, Dan Jenkins (INAUDIBLE). And he says my fake interview with Tiger Woods. And guess what? Tiger didn't get the joke or merely thinks it's just not funny.

So we are going to talk about it with "USA today" is Christine Brennan.

There is a back story, Christine, Tiger and the media. It's, really, a tense cat and mouse relationship. And here's an example from 2012. Take a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIGER WOODS, WINNER OF 14 MAJOR CHAMPIONSHIPS: I've already talked about everything in the book. Yes, I've already commented on everything, Alex.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) WOODS: Well, I've already commented in the book. Is it in the book? Is it in the book?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: He was not having that, Christine. So, you know, look at the spoof in "Golf Digest" later. But to clarify, the writer is now saying that Tiger keep the spot to himself. So why not guess that what he is thinking and have some fun with it? Did you think that is out of bounce?

CHRISTINE BRENNAN, SPOOFS COLUMNIST, USA TODAY: Well, no. I think Dan Jenkins did a great job with the parody, Don. That little clip you have, that is the Tiger Woods that we know and love from the press tents over the years the years. And it's really almost mind-boggling when you think of this parody, this fun thing is labeled as fake on the cover of "Golf Digest" and yet Tiger decides to make it public, to rant and rave about it and what does he do? By doing that he brings attention to something that was basically being ignored by everybody. And now, of course, everyone's reading it and commenting and enjoying the laugh at Tiger's expense.

LEMON: Yes. So can I read a couple of Q&As from this fake interview in it says what's the moral of your story?

Fake Tiger, that is easy. Don't get caught. Said you've been incredibly rich and (INAUDIBLE) right. Which is better?

Fake Tiger. Does Ellen get a wrote? Does Elon get a vote? Where do you put Nicholas and Hogan on your list of greatest golfers? I don't. I rank me at pebble beach. Me at the masters, et cetera.

Now the real Tiger Woods was responding to the spoof. He says I let plenty of things slide, but this time I can't do that. The sheer nastiness of the attack in the photos and how it put false words into my mouth just had to be confronted.

So Christine, the question is people are asking, really, why would he be so outrage or take affront to something that is a spoof? Should he have confronted it that way.

BRENNAN: Don, this is Tiger Woods. He is very thin-skinned. I mean, I don't see that side of him that says he takes it in stride. I mean, I guess of all of the things on earth, maybe he does. But Tiger has always fought a public relations battle that has been a losing battle. And I'm really surprised that someone with his multimillions continues to make the bone headed decisions he makes in terms of doing something like this or that awful press availability he had in February of 2010 when he first came out after the run-in with the fire hydrant. And that in fact, to do this, as you mentioned, as we approached the fifth anniversary of the run-in with the fire hydrant and really the dismantling of his image. It's stunning that someone wouldn't step back and say, Tiger, you know what, let's leave this one alone. We can laugh at this, we can ignore it, laugh it off and move on. That would have been the right side for Tiger Woods.

LEMON: Yes. And the question is he getting bad advice or maybe no advice at all.

All right, Christine Brennan, thank you very much. Appreciate it.

I'm Don Lemon. Thank you so much for watching. Of course, Brooke will be back tomorrow, hopefully. I will see you tonight at 10:00 p.m. on "CNN TONIGHT."

"The LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts right now.