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LEGAL VIEW WITH ASHLEIGH BANFIELD

Small Plane Crashes into Maryland Home; Psychology of Sexual Assault

Aired December 8, 2014 - 12:30   ET

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


ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN HOST: We told you just a short time ago that there was a small jet that crashed a mile north of the Montgomery County airport into a residential area and it was -- it looked just the way it was a home, a single home, but the pictures indicate there may have been additional damage and certainly on this -- and again, it's s shaky video because it's coming into us raw but there a closer look, if you're talking damage, that is some serious damage. There was a fire that broke out.

There was a response of a Montgomery County Fire and Rescue department, but -- and this is a big but, there is a possibility that there were up to three people on board that plane when it crashed. There is no report at this point of death or injury. But this could become a search and rescue mission, and we're not sure yet if it is a recovery now or if it still a search and rescue, but those are very difficult pictures to look at when you think at some point in that wreckage, there was a jet, Emb -- EMB-500/Phenom 100 twin-engine jet that crashed. It was on approach to the airport, and what went wrong is still to be determined, but there is the efforts to put out that fire.

We haven't seen the efforts in terms of the recovery. We haven't seen them sifting through debris and that might be troublesome. Earlier, there were some pictures showing a larger group of search and rescue workers who were convened and not really moving. They were off on the concrete, almost as a group waiting to figure out what the next steps is. But again, no reports of death or injury. We don't know what the situation was in the home or on the ground, but we do know that that could have been -- at least three people on board that plane.

I want to just read an FAA statement that we got through of CNN's Rene Marsh. This is preliminary -- this is preliminary information about the Embraer -- on the EMB 500/Phenom 100 twin-engine jet that crashed 1 mile north of the Montgomery County Airport, Gaithersburg, Maryland at 11 a.m. today. The aircraft was on approach to Runway 14 at the airport when the accident occurred, and then there is an appeal from the FAA, please contact local authorities for information on passengers and the situation on the ground, the FAA will investigate.

We've got producers and reporters on site -- on route to this scene. But the pictures certainly do tell a story. It doesn't look as frenetic as it might be if there were an ongoing search and rescue. So whether that's been called off at this point, we do know that the fire was put out earlier. There were nearby residences that are also damaged. Form this picture, it's maybe hard to tell what's what. One residence suffered that significant blow, the gaping, burning hole (ph) that you saw on that one residence, but there is some reporting that additional residences nearby were also damaged in this fire crash.

We did get something via a Twitter account from Pete Piringer, who's the spokesperson for Montgomery County Fire and Rescue, suggesting that there had been a fire and damage to nearby residences as well. But we also were told that the fire was out. It's a little difficult to tell exactly when the these pictures were taken and whether that fire fight is still on. But again, earlier pictures showed a group of fire and rescue off the scene, not close to where the damage is. And certainly not scrambling to that debris or picking apart debris to look for any survivors.

With this report thought that there are no reports of injuries or death, you know, that is going to change. You're seeing a reporter in your screen because we're showing you live pictures straight from our affiliate as they roll in. You could see the house behind him. In fact, let's show him so that you can get a good view of the fire and rescue and police who are on the scene, and let's listen in to what he's got on the scene.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is not sure exactly what we're dealing with right now. Jimmy (ph), back to you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. John...

BANFIELD: Well, unfortunately, he's in the same boat that we all are and that is that we're waiting on the FAA to tell us exactly what the circumstances with injuries or death, but clearly, when you look at some of the debris shots, try, if you will, to figure out what part of any of that is the aircraft. I mean I, personally, is not been able to determine a fuselage or wing. I'm not sure if it's just because the pictures have been going by quickly, but it is a devastating site for that Embraer jet. And also unclear if there were anymore than three on board that plane. It would be hard to -- it would be hard to imagine surviving a crash with that kind of a debris field, an unrecognizable debris.

But again, you can see the collection of fire and rescue that don't seem to be frenetically searching through that. And it could be that the integrity of that structure is such that it's just too dangerous to get close, whether it's still circumstances of making sure it's safe for them to apply their trader, whether it is now going to become a recovery mission to find bodies. And very unclear as to whether anyone was home at that home or at any of the surrounding homes. The surrounding homes don't appear to be terribly, terribly badly damaged, but not sure if we can listen on that live reporter as well. And again, it's -- it doesn't appear to have any further information than the rest of us, too. But the FAA is saying it is just preliminary information at this point of the Embraer EMB 500/Phenom 100 twin- engine jet that crashed. This is one 1 mile north of the Montgomery County Airport in Gaithersburg, Maryland, 11 a.m. today was the crash. So we're not looking about an hour and 35 minutes since this happened.

Fire is effectively out, but whether there's going to be any survivors or any injuries or whether this will be a recovery for those who may have perished on that flight or on inside those homes or one home at least, yet to be seen.

We're going to fit in a quick break and see if we can gather more information, back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: I want to take you live back to the scene of this place crash this morning that happened about an hour 40 minutes ago in Gaithersburg, Maryland. This is the scene of a two-storey home in this community about a mile north of Montgomery County Airport in which a small jet crashed into this home. Look at the main floor if you can and I think you can see straight through the home, whether that's because of the resulting fire or from the actual crash of the plane into this home is not yet determined, but that is a pretty daunting view of the damage that this plane inflicted on this home.

We don't know if anyone was home at the time but I am always concerned when I see a vehicle in the driveway. And in this case, there are at least two vehicles in that driveway, one may have come upon the scene but one is closer up to the garage.

No reports at this point of death or injury but I can tell you this, there were at least three people on board the small jet, which is an Embraer EMB-500/Phenom 100 twin-engine jet, at least three people were on board the jet. Unknown if they were people at home at the time of this crash or in the other buildings that surround that which were also reportedly damaged in this crash, but I don't see any search and rescue going on in that scene right there which his clearly the epicenter of this crash.

But 11:00 this morning the crash happens. The fire and rescue were on scene. They put out the fire. They were doing a search and rescue but whether that's now shifting, we can see that the demeanor of the rescue who are out in front of that house that perhaps that is shifting to a recovery and it's very hard to say that clearly since this is such a fresh piece of information of that crash at 11:00 this morning.

We also have other news that were following, at least 21 women accusing Bill Cosby of sexual abuse and tonight at 9:00, Eastern time. CNN is going to take a special look at the questions and the allegations in the Cosby Show, a Legend Under Fire.

We're going to hear from half dozen women who say Bill Cosby forced himself onto them many years ago when they were young and powerless, and he was a superstar. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

P.J. MASTEN, COSBY ACCUSER: I want him to suffer, suffer like we've all suffered all these years. You can ask any of these women, how were your relationships, how were your marriages, how were your jobs, how was your psyche.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How are your dreams.

MASTEN: How were your dreams.

JOAN TARSHIS, COSBY ACCUSER: I'm having nightmares. I wanted him to get well.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know I'm living in a fantasy world.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's like no narcissism, there is no cure.

VICTORIA VALENTIO, COSBY ACCUSER: There is no cure. Personality disorders can be modified through maybe 25 years of behavioral therapy but it's only superficial because they lack personal insight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: I want to talk about the psychology of sexual assault. Dr. Drew Pinsky who is the host of HLN's Dr. Drew On Call is here and probably one of the best in the business when it comes to do this.

I want to ask you about something that was so poignant about one of those women and what she said. You didn't hear it and that sound bite that you will hear it on the special tonight. It was Joan Tarshis. She was sitting on the lower left hand bottom row.

DREW PINSKY, HLN HOST: Yes.

BANFIELD: She said what she wants out all of this is to Bill Cosby to get better.

PINSKY: She actually did say that in this little clip right here. It just it was hard to catch but you she did...

BANFIELD: We're doing some breaking news the same time, I apologize.

PINSKY: No, no. But my point being...

BANFIELD: Yes.

PINSKY: ... is that you need to focus in on that remark because Joan Tarshis who -- I also interviewed her, she was around here at CNN.

BANFIELD: We had her -- yes, she was there...

PINSKY: And she was lovely and she's recovering person. And she was -- to me that she had been talking about this internet at her meetings for many years and that she -- many of these women felt didn't guilt that they didn't come forward more forcefully sooner.

The fact that she is well and recovered herself gives her empathy for ever the perpetrator and I thought that was sort of a lovely sign of her own health. I mean the other ones...

BANFIELD: Yes. PINSKY: ... they're still very, very angry...

BANFIELD: Oh, their reaction was palpable (ph).

PINSKY: Yes. Very reasonably so, but it's not going to do anything to take revenge on somebody like this. And as the other woman said, "Treating this personality disorder, the narcissism, it's extremely difficult. It's very unlikely to change.

BANFIELD: You got to want to get better.

PINSKY: Unless you're really motivated to get better. I see people get better with personality issues in my business which is addiction treatment because if they don't, they die. They have to get better to stay sober. So they're very motivated once they break through all their denial and their nonsense. But for just the average person, maybe this will do it. I mean, you know, one of the things I wondered, I guess it's because of the legal issues that you guys have been covering. Danny pointed out so vividly, he really can't talk, because if he says anything about how he's feeling, what this has been, maybe he was ill, maybe he wasn't well, maybe drugs were part of the -- we don't know anything.

BANFIELD: And again it's all allegations.

PINSKY: It's not even allegation. We don't anything.

BANFIELD: Yes.

PINSKY: We don't know nothing at this point that's factual. We have their reports.

BANFIELD: ... in on two dozen witness account.

PINSKY: And usually you got to think about the motivation people will come forward. What would motivate somebody to come forward? Now, there can be a frenzy or people on the ...

BANFIELD: Sure.

PINSKY: ... frenzies (ph) get involved. But why all these women -- why they've been talking about -- Janice have been talking about it since 2006.

BASHFIELD: Janice Dickinson.

PINSKY: Janice Dickinson, Joan Tarshis have been talking about it...

BANFIELD: Many of them have been and, you know, ignored and many have said the reason for that is that the power and the persuasion that Bill Cosby, a legend, a lovely, lovely American legend...

PINSKY: Yes.

BANFIELD: ... had over everyone, media included. PINSKY: And they were afraid of the consequences of coming forward not just from his camp and the community at large, but also forever, the things have changed recently.

There are two things that have changed dramatically. One is the access to social media. We can have this public discourse and women can be empowered in that conversation. But secondly, in the past, women felt tainted and responsible for rape and sexual assault, and they don't feel that anymore.

BANFIELD: I'll ask you this. A lot of people have brought and many of those who are nay-sayers to the women's accusations have said, so you say you were raped by Bill Cosby that it ruined your life. You've never been the same and yet after that horrifying incident that you describe in vivid detail, you went back, you went on dates with him, you went on trips with him, you worked with him. Can you explain what that...

PINSKY: What that is?

BANFIELD: ...about to both sides of it?

PINSKY: Yeah.

BANFIELD: Why someone would do that? And why it is such a visceral (ph) response from those who don't believe an accuser because of that?

PINSKY: All right. Well, there is one sort of overarching theme which is when somebody is traumatized as a child, they will be attracted to circumstances and individuals that remind them -- they'll literally want to be around it, not in any kind of conscious way. They'll magically find their way, and when they're in the situation with people that sort of sense them to be good victims. They victimizers, of course, will oblige them by acting that out loud.

And in the setting of that victimization, victims freeze and the victimizers don't understand that what happen or I'm not excusing anything, believe me.

BANFIELD: Sure.

PINSKY: But they just see that as somebody who's willing and they just...

BANFIELD: Opportunity.

PINSKY: Opportunity, exactly. And so they repeat things over and over again.

BANFIELD: But that revulsion isn't early and often after an incident?

PINSKY: You would think -- that's why the people and -- you know, in this conversation are so confused by it because if you have been traumatized, how could -- how was it possible you'd avoid everything that reminded you of that situation. But that's not how the human brain works, we end up repeating the traumas in the past. Think about people that get in bad relationships. People complain about that. Why do I always pick the wrong guy? Why I always do pick the wrong girl? Well, you look back early and there was something traumatic there that reminds them of that same person they're motivated to be around again and you keep repeating and repeating.

BANFIELD: The same kind of...

PINSKY: It just gets more intense when somebody had been overtly victimized.

BANFIELD: The reason I missed that -- thank you very much, the reason I missed that is that we have been working on this breaking news. I could speak to you all day about this and I hope you'll come back more because the story is not going away, Dr. Drew. You are terrific at this.

And by the way, I want you to make sure that you tune in to our special tonight, The Cosby Show, a Legend Under Fire tonight at 9:00 Eastern right here on CNN.

Drew Pinsky, excellent work has always

This breaking news that I've been working on, we now have some official confirmation that at least three people were killed on the plane in this crash. That coming to us, Montgomery County Fire and Rescue officials, and the source of this is coming from WGLA, one of our affiliate. I can tell you that this happened on area called Snouffer School Road if you're familiar with Gaithersburg, it's a D.C. suburb about 40 minutes northwest of the city.

So in Gaithersburg, Maryland, this is where this happened, a two- storey home, still unclear if there were -- if there was anyone home at the time. But the confirmation is at least in now come in from the fire and rescue officials that at least three people on board that plane were killed when it crashed about an hour and 48 minutes ago into that single family home.

There was actually damage as well, but you can't see in this shot, to the other homes in the surrounding area. The extent to it were not clear at this point. And again, it does not appear that there is any more search and rescue from these images anyway. And that picture on your right may be some of the clearest if that's what you can call them images of what remains of the aircraft.

Hard to make out what it is whether that is the crumpled fuselage or dent wing, but that's the picture at least. That's the picture that we're seeing out of Gaithersburg, Maryland.

I want to take a quick break, going to gather some more information. We're else are gathering live pictures from Maryland, but really hard to see that. That is the remnants of a plane crash from just an hour and 50 minutes ago.

Back up after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: We've been updating you on this breaking news out of Gaithersburg, Maryland about 40 minutes northwest of D.C. of a plane crash in which we are being told by our CNN affiliate WJLA that it is confirmed three people on board the small business jet were in fact killed in this crash, you can see a picture show vividly, the plane crashed into this two-storey single family home. The picture on your left can show, you can see straight through the home -- the fire obviously gutting it, perhaps the plane causing a lot of that. And on the right hand side of your screen, it's hard to make it out but that is the remnant of that twin-engine seven-seat light corporate jet aircraft called an Embraer EMB-500/Phenom 100.

There is a detail that's coming from our affiliate WJLA that very difficult. All we know now is what they're reporting about the three on board the aircraft who died, but we are also being told through this affiliate that neighbors have told ABC7 News that a family of five lives in that house, the one that have the heaviest damage on the left hand side of your screen, and that they have three small children, the youngest of them being seven weeks old.

Also a difficult fact, there is vehicle that is in the drive of the home but we're still not being told whether anyone was at home at the time this Embraer crashed into the home about an hour 53 minutes ago.

Live on the telephone with me right now is the spokesperson for the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue, Pete Piringer, Mr. Piringer can you hear me?

PETE PIRINGER, MONTGOMERY COUNTY FIRE AND RESCUE, SPOKEMAN: Good morning.

BANFIELD: Just looking for any kind of an update on the circumstance in this story. I think many people are very concerned about the neighbors report that there in the family of five that live in that home, was anyone home at the time? Do we know yet?

PIRINGER: Yes. This time I don't have any information as to the status of any the actuaries. Now, we did have a plane crash into home, we do have several homes that we see some damage, others more significant there's -- or some more significant than others, but we did have heavy fire involvement in a single family home, another neighboring house did has some fire. In fact the plane crashed in front of that home and then we have several homes that did have some other damage.

And at this point I don't have any status report of any of the actuaries of this home at this time, but what this is do or neighbors do indicate that based on the cars that are on the driveway, that it's likely that those folks were home or we're home at some point this morning. And nothing's been confirmed or verified at this point as far as the status. Now we did have information that there were at least three people on the plane, the plane did crash. The cockpits (ph) of that little did survive the crash fire.

So at least three fatalities and again NTSB, FAA, and others are on the scene at this point.

BANFIELD: And Mr. Piringer, you are confirming the WGLA report that the three souls who are onboard that in Embraer have in deed died?

PIRINGER: That's our belief that they -- folks that were on that plane did not survive the crash in the fire.

BANFIELD: Can you tell me at this point whether this is still a rescue mission -- a search and rescue mission because the live images show that the responders are still and that they're doesn't seem to be any activity in the worst part of this damage which is the home where five people...

PIRINGER: At this point, the fire is out and under control but we are just trying to determine the whereabouts of all the occupants, so verify where people are where they or what time they -- or (inaudible) things that, let's just say (inaudible). We still have the investigators working on that to verify the whereabouts of all the occupants.

BANFIELD: And did you see try to verify the whereabouts of one of the occupants, are you doing this through communications or you do this...

PIRINGER: I don't have any information of any of the people that were in any of the houses involved, in the either damaged or on fire. So I don't have any information at that right now. We do have investigators working on that to find out the status of those people but at this point I don't have any information.

BANFIELD: But is this still a search and rescue?

PIRINGER: Well, it's semantics but yes we are still working to determine the status of all the occupants involved here.

BANFIELD: I appreciate your time. I know this is a busy time for you and I appreciate you taken the moment to update us on this Pete Piringer. He's with the Montgomery Country Fire and Rescue. This is such of troubling scene to see that a single family home, vehicle's parked on the driveway, neighbors telling our affiliates, WLJA, a family of five does in fact live there with three small children, the youngest being just seven weeks old. No word yet on the circumstances with those people who live in that home but the confirmation, three onboard that Embraer business jet did die in that crash a little less than two hours ago.

Thanks for watching everyone. My colleague Wolf Blitzer is going to pick up after this quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)