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Bill Cosby Charged with Sexual Assault; Donald Trump Calls Presidential Election as War; California Methane Gas Leak Worse in U.S. History; Erin Brockovich Talks Methane Gas Disaster; Epic Flooding in Missouri; Netflix's "Making a Murderer" Capturing Attention. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired December 31, 2015 - 01:00   ET

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


[01:00:10] JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: This is CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles. Ahead this hour, perp walked and charged, fingerprinted and photographed. America's favorite dad now out on bail after his arrest for sexual assault.

It's war. Donald Trump holds his last campaign rally for the year much like his first, with bluster and boasts and promises of a whole lot more to come.

And one of the worst environmental disasters ever that almost no one is talking about. But we will this hour with activist Erin Brockovich.

Hello, and welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. Great to have you with us. I'm John Vause. NEWSROOM L.A. starts now.

And we begin with the slow-motion downfall of Bill Cosby, one of the most admired entertainers in the world. Now for the first time charged with felony assault. Over the years at least 50 women have come forward claiming they were sexually assaulted by Cosby, accusations he has always denied. But now this case has made it to court and only just a day later and it would have been inadmissible because of the statute of limitations.

CNN's Jean Casarez has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Bill Cosby, surrounded by media, looking frail in a gray sweater, carrying a cane, arm in arm with his attorneys. He stumbled on his way into a Pennsylvania courthouse.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Cosby, anything to say?

CASAREZ: Inside, standing room only. Cosby was guided to the defense table. After his arraignment, the 78-year-old had his mug shot taken. Bail set at $1 million.

KEVIN STEELE, ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY: These charges stem from a sexual assault that took place on an evening in early 2004 at Mr. Cosby's home.

CASAREZ: Cosby is charged with assaulting Andrea Constand, at the time a Temple University employee. She considered Cosby, 37 years her senior, to be a mentor. Over the months after they met, he invited her to several public events and private dinners.

STEELE: Mr. Cosby made two sexual advances at her that were rejected. On the evening in question, Mr. Cosby urged her to take pills that he provided to her and to drink wine.

CASAREZ: According to the criminal complaint, the pills and wine left Constand, "dizzy, nauseous, frozen, and paralyzed." Despite her impaired physical and mental condition, the victim was aware that Cosby was fondling her breasts, put his hands into her pants and penetrated her.

Waking up hours later with her clothes disheveled and bra undone, Constand says Cosby dressed in a robe, handed her a muffin, walked her to the door and said, "All right." Constand went to the police about a year later. And again according to the criminal complaint, Cosby admitted to investigators much of what Constand had described except saying, "The victim never told him to stop, never pushed him away, never told him her vision was blurred and never said she felt paralyzed."

When directly asked if he ever had sexual intercourse with the victim, Cosby gave the unusual answer, "Never asleep or awake."

No charges were filed back then. The district attorney citing the lack of evidence due to the year-long delay. But Constand quickly filed a civil suit, which resulted in a confidential settlement agreement with Cosby.

Constand, the first of some 50 women to have come forward. Cosby and his attorneys have repeatedly denied the allegations against him, today issuing a strong statement in his defense. "Make no mistake, we intend to mount a vigorous defense against this unjustified charge and we expect that Mr. Cosby will be exonerated by a court of law."

Jean Casarez, CNN, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Well, joining us now is attorney Gloria Allred. She is representing 29 of the women who accuse Mr. Cosby of sexual assault.

Gloria, thank you for being with us.

GLORIA ALLRED, ATTORNEY FOR 29 COSBY ACCUSERS: Thank you for inviting me, John.

VAUSE: I guess legally the big question right now for you is, will the other allegations against Mr. Cosby be admitted into this case? Is that legally possible under state law here?

ALLRED: Well, it appears that the prosecutor has indicated that if there are other alleged victims of Mr. Cosby that they should contact law enforcement in Montgomery County. And that says to me that they're interested in other potential witnesses who might allege similar prior bad acts.

Now of course the decision is going to have to be made by the D.A. as to whether he's going to call those individuals as witnesses. And then it's going to be up to the judge to decide if their testimony is relevant and if it's admissible.

[01:05:005] My guess, it's just a guess, is the defense will not want any other witnesses called who might allege prior similar acts.

VAUSE: Does the time frame here make it much harder? All of this allegedly happening, what about 12 years ago?

ALLRED: Well, the statute of limitations in Pennsylvania is 12 years, which means that a criminal case on these charges could be brought anytime within that 12-year period. And so that's what happened. Now, of course, it maybe the defense attorneys are going to say it's too old and why did she wait so long and, you know, sing that song. But the fact is the D.A. can proceed.

VAUSE: A lot of people have a lot of opinions about this case. Defense attorney Tom Mesereau, who you know well. He's very famous for defending Michael Jackson. He is sort of making this allegation out there that Miss Constand, you know, the person who's making the complaint, the allegation here, is possibly motivated by money. This is what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM MESEREAU. CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Many celebrities are victims of false accusations and they'll pay money to end the ordeal and spare their family having to go through all this. Michael Jackson freely admitted that he paid almost $20 million to spare his family an O.J. Simpson-type situation. He went to trial and he was exonerated of every allegation. Ten felonies and four misdemeanors. He was completely cleared.

And I'd like to know who Miss Allred's clients were 40 years ago. What were their morals? What was their behavior like? Did they go to parties where drugs were handed out? Did they bring drugs to those parties? Why did they approach Mr. Cosby? What did they want to get out of the relationship?

This is 40 years later and suddenly they're all coming out making these accusations. Something seems wrong to me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Is that the kind of stuff which defense attorneys are likely to come up with in this kind of case?

ALLRED: Absolutely. And you know, it's kind of a standard old script line, I could have predicted that pretty easily, by defense attorneys as one of their theme songs for the defense. But the reality is that in the United States victims have a right to both file a civil lawsuit seeking damages. That's their lawsuit where they are the plaintiff. And/or also go to law enforcement, which Andrea did and seek to have the case criminally prosecuted. That would not be their case. It would be the case of the people of the state of Pennsylvania or whatever state it's going to happen in, versus the defendant Bill Cosby.

So they have a right to go in both directions, and I don't think that a victim who seeks compensation for herself in a civil case where she can be empowered, where it's her case, she still has to prove it. I don't think she should be criticized for seeking compensation. She's only going to get it if she can prove liability, in fact that he did it, and then can prove her damages.

VAUSE: Very quickly, is this tactic essentially to turn Cosby into the victim?

ALLRED: Yes, I think it is. And it's to try to make Mr. Cosby the victim and, you know, he's old, oh, he's having trouble walking, whatever else they're going to say. Why did people wait so long? And we're going to look at every, you know, skeletons in everybody, all the alleged victim's closet. Well, why do you think the victims haven't come forward in many cases for many years? Because they are afraid of the power, the wealth, and the fame of a celebrity.

Mr. Cosby has hired a law firm with 700 attorneys to fight our civil lawsuit. And I don't know whether any of them will be working on the criminal case as well. But yes, they'll go after each alleged victim who might be a witness, and they will go after them in a very strong way. And that's why I admire the courage of the alleged victims. And many of them have told me they understand the rigors of what might come, they're ready for it, they're going to tell the truth, and they are going to take the witness stand if they are called to testify.

VAUSE: Gloria, thanks for being with us.

ALLRED: Thank you.

VAUSE: Now Beth Ferrier claims Cosby drugged and assaulted her back in the 1980s. She told CNN affiliate KCNC she could not believe Cosby is finally facing criminal charges.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BETH FERRIER, COSBY ACCUSER: I unfortunately accepted a cappuccino from him. That cappuccino was drugged. I woke up six hours later dumped in the back of my car in the alley. Today is still just a good day, regardless of if he's found guilty or not guilty. We're hoping that we get our day in court.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Joey Cammarata is an attorney representing seven women who have come forward to say they were sexually assaulted by Bill Cosby. He joins us now from Washington.

So, Joey, just first up, what's been the reaction from your clients to these charges against Bill Cosby?

JOEY CAMMARATA, ATTORNEY FOR SEVEN COSBY ACCUSERS: Well, I can't tell you specifically what their reaction is because I don't want to violate any attorney-client privilege. But as members of the public who have an interest in the justice being brought, they were -- the public, that is, were pleased with today's developments.

[01:10:08] It's a significant step toward holding Mr. Cosby accountable and for justice being done for victims, alleged victims of Mr. Cosby's sexual assaults.

VAUSE: What did you make of Cosby's physical appearance today? I mean, this may sound minor. But you know, he was wearing the Dr. Huxtable sweater. He had the cane. Do you think this was all stage managed in some way?

CAMMARATA: You know, it may be. That's the cynical side of life. But the man is 78 years old. For years he's been complaining about he has bad eyesight and, you know, this is what it is. What it points to is that frankly this is a tragedy. It's a tragedy for the Cosby family. It's a tragedy for each of the women that have had to allegedly endure his sexual assaults and his advances, and it's a tragedy for each of their families. But here we are in our system of justice, both the criminal and the civil side. We have an opportunity to have our day in court and for the truth to be tried.

VAUSE: One of the reasons why these charges were brought against Mr. Cosby is the election of a new district attorney in Montgomery County. He even campaigned on the issue. This is one of his ads.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For district attorney in Montgomery County. Kevin Steele. First assistant D.A. with a 98 percent conviction rate and tough sentences for sexual predators. Or Bruce Castor, a former D.A. who refused to prosecute Bill Cosby. Castor said we don't charge people for making a mistake or doing something foolish.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Does this in any way play to Cosby's defense? Could this get him a change of venue at the very least?

CAMMARATA: I don't think so. It's just campaign rhetoric. If you look at Steele's opponent says supposedly Cosby made a mistake. That's not what it's about. It's about Cosby's own admissions that he made in a sworn deposition he gave in the Andrea Constand civil litigation. It's about the evidence that the prosecutor has obtained from Andrea Constand, her mother. And when you look at the totality of the evidence, the prosecutor, Mr. Steele, is determined that in keeping with his 98 percent conviction rate that this is a case that he can and intends to win.

From having a 98 percent conviction rate this is a prosecutor that clearly has identified cases and only brings cases in which he can win. And so if you're on the side of being charged by this prosecutor, that's going to be some cause for concern.

VAUSE: Joe, thanks for being with us. And again, you know, appreciate your insights and spending some time with us. Thank you.

CAMMARATA: Well, I appreciate your wanting to have me on and your discussion is a very important topic. Thank you.

VAUSE: Bill Cosby has been a star in the U.S. for decades. A comedian and actor. He's best known for his role as the lovable Dr. Huxtable in the hit 1980s sitcom "The Cosby Show." He is the winner of multiple Emmy and Grammy Awards, and he was also awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2002.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From television to film, from stand-up comedy to best-selling books, Bill Cosby's good-natured humor has always appealed to our common humanity, helping to bring people together through laughter.

The United States proudly honors this truly outstanding American.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Segun Oduolowu is an entertainment journalist and pop culture contributor to "Access Hollywood Live."

Thank you for being with us. I mean, we heard it there. You're truly an outstanding American.

SEGUN ODUOLOWU, ENTERTAINMENT JOURNALIST, ACCESS HOLLYWOOD LIVE": Yes.

VAUSE: Has -- OK, so first question. How big is this trial going to get? Have we seen a celebrity trial like this in modern times?

ODUOLOWU: I don't think we have. And it has the possibility of being enormous because we transposed Bill Cosby the man with Dr. Huxtable, his character. He was America's father. He was what all black people in America were to aspire to be. Professional, married, kids going to college.

VAUSE: Responsible, loving.

ODUOLOWU: The show was wholesome. Everything that he exuded. A role model. How you should act. Education. Gave his money to educational institutions. That was what we were supposed to do.

VAUSE: So are you saying Dr. Huxtable's on trial?

[01:15:00] ODUOLOWU: I'm saying that we have confused Dr. Huxtable with Bill Cosby and Bill Cosby the man seems to be deplorable. And that's the scary part. It hurts us at our core because we believed in him so much that we forgot he was acting.

VAUSE: Right. ODUOLOWU: His stand-up was clean. He didn't curse. He told stories

about how he grew up. We love Bill Cosby. Fat Albert. He did children's cartoons. Jell-O pudding pops. He was the guy in the sweaters that was lovable. And now we're finding he was actually a monster.

VAUSE: We're finding out he was a monster. We're in the age of social media. On 24-hour news. You know, there's Twitter. There's Facebook. News is going to spread quickly. I mean, the other thing I guess in all of this is when you're sort of putting in context there. We're looking at this guy who was held up as a pillar of society.

ODUOLOWU: Absolutely.

VAUSE: Now he's in the dock. Has there been a fall from grace like this that you can remember in American sort of entertainment?

ODUOLOWU: It's hard because we've never put someone -- we've never thought of any entertainment really as our father. I mean, when Rock Hudson came out and said, you know, he was gay and he died of AIDS, it was before all of this media buzz. You know, Roman Polanski and the rape trial, fleeing the country. He wasn't America's dad. Woody Allen. It was just a weird little comic that we didn't think of him as one of us.

Bill Cosby was everywhere, in everything, telling you how to live, what to do and how to be. We've never seen anything like this. There have been entertainers caught in scandals. We're talking about 50- some-odd women claiming the same story with the same aspects, I was drugged, this happened. We're talking about not only a fall from Grace but the scrubbing of all of the good things that he's done. Universities taking his name and trying to distance themselves from him like it's blood money.

I don't think we've ever seen anything like it. It's honestly pretty scary because social media has kept this alive and fans the flames. He walks, you know, does the perp walk and is walked into the courthouse, there are cameras, it's on Twitter, Instagram. The memes are just constantly running. I mean, this is unlike anything we've seen.

VAUSE: And it's going to get bigger and scarier, I guess. Now we should point out of course Bill Cosby denies all the allegations. There is a trial which is likely to go ahead in all of this. He has yet to plead. Ultimately at the end of the day if Cosby is found not guilty, does that change anything here?

ODUOLOWU: Unfortunately it doesn't. Because the legal strategy that you're seeing and Miss Allred talked about it. They're walking him into the courtroom like he's this frail old man. So if he beats the trial he's still the frail old man. What job are you going to give him in the media? What vindication?

VAUSE: But does he save his reputation?

ODUOLOWU: I don't think so. There's too much smoke. There's too much. I've said this before. If all of the women are lying except one that still makes him a rapist.

VAUSE: Yes.

ODUOLOWU: I mean, it still makes him a rapist. You can't exclude that. So it hurts because we wanted to love him so much and we did love him so much and he built a platform on this is the right way to be. And to see this now, you -- I mean, you're disheartened. There are black families -- I grew up in one where we watched him every Thursday on NBC. We ate our dinner and watched "The Cosby Show." We were supposed to go to college like his kids did in "A Different World." That was what you were supposed to do as an African-American family.

And now we're finding out that it was all not just smoke and mirrors but this guy is not what he purported himself to be. It's going to be ugly.

VAUSE: We ate our dinner and watched "The Cosby Show" too.

ODUOLOWU: There you go.

VAUSE: But I think it was a little different for us in Australia growing up.

Segun, thanks for coming in.

ODUOLOWU: Thank you for having me.

VAUSE: Appreciate it.

ODUOLOWU: My pleasure.

VAUSE: OK. Another big story we've been following. The mother of the so-called affluenza teen is on her way to Los Angeles after allegedly helping her son fly to Mexico. Tonya Couch will be charged with hindering the apprehension of a juvenile. If she is convicted she could serve up to 10 years in prison. Her son Ethan Couch was sentenced only to probation for killing four people while driving under the influence.

The defense blamed affluenza, saying the teen was too spoiled to know any better. Ethan couch is currently fighting deportation from Mexico. That process could take a few months.

Still to come here, Donald Trump is calling the race for the White House war, and he's naming his top enemies. More on that coming up.

Also, just outside of L.A., a gas leak is displacing thousands of people. We'll talk to Erin Brockovich, the renowned environmental activists, about what might be one of the biggest environmental disasters in U.S. history.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. Donald Trump is now describing his U.S. presidential bid as a war. And he's making it clear that Jeb Bush and the Clintons are still high on his list of political enemies. His latest jab came during a rally at Hilton Head Island in South Carolina.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Low energy can be applied to Hillary. I just don't like to use the same thing twice on one of my enemies, right? Because I consider them enemies. We view this as war. Don't we view this as war? It's war. It's war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Well, CNN's senior political analyst Ron Brownstein joins me with more now on Donald Trump's war.

OK. He's declared war. And I guess he means it. The one thing which I find interesting about what Trump is saying, he's saying I only responded to Hillary, essentially I didn't fire the first shots here.

So from Hillary Clinton's point of view, was it silly, was it a misjudgment to respond, to put Trump on the same level as she is, to elevate him up to her level? She maybe had someone lower on the campaign to deal with and move on.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. You know, there are so many interesting things and revealing things about this exchange. I think the first point is the use of the phrase war because I do think that a core appeal of Trump, if you look at the voters that he is appealing to, it is the most disaffected elements of the Republican Party, primarily but not exclusively blue-collar whites who feel both economically marginalized and culturally eclipsed and who really do feel as if they are at war. And I think a key to his success is that they view him as willing to do and say almost anything.

VAUSE: Which he is.

BROWNSTEIN: Which -- and again, and that's what he does time and time again. He says things that the most disaffected elements of the Republican Party want to hear somebody say but that nobody has been willing to say. And I look at these Clinton comments as really in that vein, as a continuation of what he has said about undocumented immigrants or about Muslim-Americans.

[01:25:01] It is simply giving voice to the kind of unconstrained id of the Republican Party. Now whether --

(CROSSTALK)

VAUSE: That's a great point.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

VAUSE: So should Hillary have responded to that knowing that this is just Trump, you know, hyperbole if you like? BROWNSTEIN: You know, I think Democrats overall, almost to a person,

would relish the chance to run against Donald Trump because the same actions that he is taking that is deepening his hold on this disaffected piece of the Republican Party is making it tougher for him to reach out beyond that if he became the nominee. So in that sense elevating him isn't necessarily the worst thing in the world from a Democratic perspective.

VAUSE: What I've noticed, though, about this attack, and it's not really coming from Trump just yet, it's coming from other Republicans, but it's morphing into Hillary Clinton's husband Bill cheated.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

VAUSE: To now -- and she didn't know about it, to now she turned a blind eye, she was an enabler.

BROWNSTEIN: Right.

VAUSE: She discredited these women. That -- I remember, 20 years.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes. Right.

VAUSE: There are whispers about that but no one ever spoke about that. But now seems to be --

(CROSSTALK)

BROWNSTEIN: Again, right, it is kind of a line of argument that has been percolating in conservative circles, and what Trump does is give validation to it by saying it.

VAUSE: Is she vulnerable, though, on that?

BROWNSTEIN: You know, I think very limited. I think in the end it is very hard for a male candidate with three marriages and his own history of infidelities to be able to make the case that the wife is at -- you know, is the guilty party and the husband -- and also, he kind of litigated all this 20 years ago in this country when Donald Trump among others said it was kind of hypocritical.

VAUSE: Yes.

BROWNSTEIN: You know, he criticized the House Republicans for impeaching him. I mean, what we learned about in the Bill Clinton episode the first time, which I covered intently in Washington, is that most Americans recognize that everybody has something in their life that they don't want to read on the front page of the "Washington Post" and that they separated that from the ability to do the job.

So yes, with some conservative audiences, is this going to strike a chord? Absolutely. But Donald Trump is looking at a 33 percent favorable rating among women in the latest CNN/ORC poll.

VAUSE: Yes. BROWNSTEIN: And by the way, that includes his numbers among

Republican women. If you look at his numbers among women who are not Republicans, 12 percent favorable. Twelve.

VAUSE: Very quickly, prediction who wins Iowa, who wins the nomination for both parties.

BROWNSTEIN: Wow. I think Ted Cruz wins Iowa.

VAUSE: Yes.

BROWNSTEIN: I think Hillary Clinton wins Iowa. I think Hillary Clinton wins the nomination. And I don't think you can predict the Republican nominee. We've assumed it will be Cruz, Trump or someone from the centrist lane like Marco Rubio. That centrist lane may or may not ever get filled.

VAUSE: I think it will be Trump.

BROWNSTEIN: Wow. All right. There you go.

VAUSE: Thanks for coming in.

BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.

VAUSE: Thanks, Ron.

Still to come here, methane gas is spewing from a storage facility not far from here in Los Angeles, forcing thousands from their homes and dramatically increasing the state's greenhouse gas emissions. And we'll talk to Erin Brockovich, a prominent activist, who says the gas leak is a major environmental disaster.

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:31:20] VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. Thanks for staying with us. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. Just going on 10:31 on a Wednesday night. I'm John Vause.

The headlines this hour.

(HEADLINES)

VAUSE: One of the biggest environmental disasters ever in U.S. history is happening right now, and chances are you probably have no idea what it is. About 25 miles northwest from where I am, an enormous amount of methane gas has been spewing from a natural gas storage facility for months. In terms of greenhouse gases, the Environmental Defense Fund says it's the same impact as the emissions of seven million cars or eight coal-burning power plants.

And as Paul Vercammen reports, it's also having a devastating impact on the people who live nearby.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Katz family, a blended modern-day "Brady Bunch" with five children and dogs, lives in a temporary home.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's disgusting what's going on. I'm heartbroken. We had to leave our beautiful home.

VERCAMMEN: They're 33 miles from the house they vacated in Porter Ranch, a Los Angeles suburb reeling from a massive methane gas leak.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The smell can cause you to be nauseated. It can cause you to get headaches, nose bleeds, which I have had, stomach problems.

VERCAMMEN: Infrared video taken by environmental activists shows the noxious plume rising over Porter Ranch from the Aliso Canyon storage facility, owned by Southern California Gas. The utility says the underground leak first detected in October may not be stopped until late March.

UNIDENTIFIED SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAS EMPLOYEE: We're drilling a relief well. That relief well is going to go way down about 8,500 feet. It's going to intersect with the leaking well and then pump liquids and mud down there to stop the flow of gas and then cement to permanently abandon the well.

VERCAMMEN: While So Cal Gas drills, 2200 residents of Porter Ranch homes stay in temporary housing, including Yitz Dichel.

YITZ DICHEL, PORTER RANCH RESIDENT: It's a slow-moving tsunami of evacuees. People realize this is serious stuff.

VERCAMMEN: The gas company adds more than 6,000 people are seeking financial aid due to the leak, many of them applying for help at a community center it established.

Some government agencies are now taking extreme precautions. The FAA invoked a no-fly zone to 2,000 feet, and a half mile around the leak site in response to fears gas fumes could be ignited by aircraft above. The L.A. Unified School District closed two schools below the leak and is transferring almost 1900 students. That means two of the Katz boys will start class on a new campus after winter break.

And the family says 2-year-old Ava has suffered the most. The Katz's claim in one of several lawsuits against So Cal Gas the leak resulted in upper respiratory symptoms that left Ava in intensive care for four days. The suit adds Ava had no prior health problems and experienced some form of seizure.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Even though we're so upset and saddened and stressed, we're trying to hold it together for them. You know. It's hard. We're a big family.

[01:35:30] VERCAMMEN: Just one family moved out by a gas leak disaster that might be unseen and is still months away from being undone.

Paul Vercammen, CNN, Porter Ranch, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Joining me now is Erin Brockovich. She's a consumer advocate working with the law firm, Weitz & Luxenberg to see justice for the victims of the Porter Ranch gas leak.

Erin, thank you for coming in.

ERIN BROCKOVICH, CONSUMER ADVOCATE, WEITZ & LUXENBERG: Thank you for having me.

VAUSE: You described this as the worst environmental disaster since the BP oil spill back in 2010.

BROCKOVICH: Yes.

VAUSE: Why is no one talking about this? I mean, we're just as guilty as everyone else. We haven't really covered it until now.

BROCKOVICH: I think there could be a couple of reasons. And one, and maybe the media's coming around now, is because this has continued. This is just an ongoing assault. And I think people saw it happened around October 23rd, and then they thought it would go away, and then it was still there, thought it would go away, and it's just -- it's not going away. And oftentimes, you know, people hear stories like this, and we're very visual as a society, we really are, and you can't really see it. And that's why when these videotapes come up and when they're done enhanced that way and you can actually see this pollution in real time, I think then it becomes very startling for people.

VAUSE: I guess at least now they've found where the leak is. But they're saying it could still take months to fix it. And you know, they're using similar techniques to what they used for the Deepwater Horizon, the BP oil spill to try and fix this. But why is this taking so long?

BROCKOVICH: Well, it's very deep, for one. And I find one thing that's very concerning is this is a very old well. It was actually built I believe in the '50s, early '60s. And originally there was a safety valve put in place, so in the event there was a situation, you wouldn't have this catastrophic situation. And the gas company removed that valve in 1979. It was never replaced. And so this is something that really begs us to take a look at what our oversight is, what the standard of care is, and what enforcement we have in place for facilities like this. And we've built communities on top. This is the second-largest natural gas reserve in America, by the way.

VAUSE: Yes. You're representing a lot of the residents there who are obviously dealing with a lot of issues, a lot of problems right now. This is a statement from the company regarding some of the lawsuits. They've said, "We are working hard to both stop the leak and to address their concerns. We are providing relocation services for residents who wish to remove themselves from the leak's odor and have established a claims process for those who feel they may have suffered harm or injury. Beyond that, we are not going to comment on the legal action and we will respond to the lawsuit through the judicial process." Your response?

BROCKOVICH: Well, I don't know really what else they could say. I mean, we certainly don't feel that they've been transparent. And they're not making it easy for the community to get information. It's a bad situation, and it needs to be dealt with yesterday. There's many more people that need to be removed. And it's just an ongoing problem, and a huge crisis. We're talking 150 million pounds of methane has already been released. And they're projecting that it could stop in three or four months. We hope it doesn't go longer. But I don't know that I could have expected anything else from them at that point other than they are going to stand down. And it's a real issue. These people are suffering. We are now getting reports of animals dying. Again, it's an ongoing assault. I've been out there.

VAUSE: You were affected by it.

BROCKOVICH: I absolutely was.

VAUSE: Can you describe your experience?

BROCKOVICH: When I first got there, even I had to stop and go, OK, maybe this is in my mind. You know, you just don't want to do that. And I started feeling really woozy. It was the strangest sensation. You kind of like weave around. And I finally looked at one of my co- workers, who said, do you feel funny?

VAUSE: How long were you there for those effects to take place?

BROCKOVICH: I was there --

(CROSSTALK)

VAUSE: Hours? Days?

BROCKOVICH: Directly in the community very, very close to where the actual leak is at. And within I'd say 30 minutes I started to feel woozy. As the night progressed, the symptoms progressed.

VAUSE: We've also heard this issue essentially through greenhouse gas emissions. Californians are very proud they lead this country in dealing with climate changes caused by greenhouse gas emissions. You think many people would be very surprised that this leak alone is increasing this state's greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent for each month that it is not stopped.

BROCKOVICH: Absolutely. And that's why I was just saying to you, it's 150 million pounds. And it's going to get worse before it's better. And that is another thing that makes this one of the biggest environmental disasters that I think that we are going to see since the BP spill. It's the BP spill on land. And it's a huge crisis for our air pollution, and what the state has done has in many instances set us back.

[01:40:10] VAUSE: Erin, thank you for coming in.

BROCKOVICH: Thank you very much for having me.

VAUSE: It's an important issue. And you do good work.

BROCKOVICH: Well, thank you very much.

VAUSE: Thank you.

Still to come here on CNN NEWSROOM, historic flooding in the United States has caused deaths and catastrophic damage. More details on what's happening and when it might stop.

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VAUSE: In the United States, epic flooding in Missouri has killed at least 14 people. Officials say the state will have major-to-historic river flooding through early next week. More than 12 million people are under flood warnings in 19 states.

Let's go to Allison Chinchar at the CNN Weather Center with more on this.

Hey, Allison, what's the latest?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That's right. We want to take a look at where we currently have still the flood threat. You can see we still have about a dozen states right now that have flood watches or warnings out because of the amount of rain. The good news is most of these areas are done seeing rain. We will go through a period of five to seven days where we don't have any more rain to make the situation worse. And that's good news. Right now we do have some showers well down into parts of southern Alabama and Georgia, but that's about it. The areas that were hardest hit by a lot of this rain are finally starting to dry back out. Here you can see all of the rivers that we have that are either at or above their flood stage. You can see it's numerous, very widespread. A total of about 356 of them. Here is one of the rivers in particular. This is the Merrimack River. This is at Valley Park. This is around the St. Louis area, give or take. Current level is about 43.98 feet. The record flood stage, by the way, was about four feet lower than where we are now. So again, it's expected to crest even higher than that. But the problem is the delayed effect. It doesn't even make it down to some of these towns for a few more days. So as we mentioned, even though it's done raining, the impacts are still going to be delayed over the next couple of days. Likely going to see at least a few areas get some bad flooding in the coming days.

[01:45:20] VAUSE: It's going to get worse before it gets better.

Thanks, Allison.

Terrorism concerns have led authorities around the world to beef up security for New Year's Eve. New York will send 6,000 police officers to Times Square for the big celebration. Security will also be heightened in the capital, Washington, D.C. And here in Los Angeles, there will be more cameras and security at the Rose Bowl Parade. Authorities say they don't have specific or credible threats but they want to be prepared.

In Belgium, authorities arrested two people suspected of plotting an attack in Brussels. The city has now canceled its New Year's celebration. And in Turkey, police arrested two people they say had planned bombings in Ankara. Police say the suspects had a vest with explosives and materials to make bombs. Security is also heightened in Vienna, Austria and Dakar, Bangladesh, over terror fears.

Netflix is winning a lot of viewers with a documentary series about a Wisconsin murder case. Up next, we'll look at why it's become an obsession for so many.

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[01:50:08] VAUSE: Well, it may not seem like the typical feel-good holiday watching, but a Netflix documentary called "Making a Murderer" has become an obsession for many viewers.

Jonathan Mann has more on the case that's capturing so much attention.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everybody's listening. What do you want to say today?

STEVEN AVERY, JAILED FOR MURDER: I'm innocent.

JONATHAN MANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT & CNN HOST, POLITICAL MANN (voice-over): "Making a Murderer," it's the latest binge watching obsession on Netflix. The 10-part documentary follows the case of Steven Avery, a Wisconsin man who spent 18 years in prison for rape before DNA evidence helped win his release in 2003. Just two years later, after filing a multimillion-dollar lawsuit over his wrongful conviction, Avery and his nephew were arrested, both were convicted, this time, for the murder of a young woman, Theresa Hallback.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Avery's blood was found inside of Theresa Hallback's vehicle.

MANN: Avery maintains he's innocent and defense lawyers say authorities planted evidence to frame him for murder.

Since it premiered December 18th, "Making a Murderer" has attracted a huge following, including many celebrities who are heaping praise on the series. Actor Ricky Gervais tweeting, "Never mind an Emmy or an Oscar, 'Making a Murderer" deserves a Nobel Prize, the greatest documentary I've ever seen."

Not everyone is a fan. Former district attorney, Ken Kratz, was a special prosecutor in the Avery case. He tells CNN affiliate, WLUK, the documentary was biased in favor of the defense.

KEVIN KRATZ, FORMER DISTRICT ATTORNEY (voice-over): The jury was provided a much different picture than what this series provides.

MANN: Filmmakers spent 10 years following the case and defend their work.

UNIDENTIFIED FILMMAKER (voice-over): We believe that the series is representative of what we witnessed. The key pieces of the state's evidence are included in the series.

MANN: Avery remains in prison, serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole, while fans dissect the series and the case online, even circulating a petition urging a presidential pardon.

AVERY: The truth always comes out.

MANN: Jonathan Mann, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Darren Kavinoky joins me now, a criminal defense attorney with the Kavinoky Law Firm. He's also the host of "Deadly Sins" on "Investigation Discovery."

Darren, thanks for being with us.

DARREN KAVINOKY, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY & HOST, DEADLY SINS: Yes, of course.

VAUSE: I guess the big question here, before we get to some of the legal issues, what does this series and others like this, you know, the "Serial" podcast, "The Jinx" on HBO, what does this say about us and this sort of incredible shrinking gap we have between reality and entertainment?

KAVINOKY: Right. Well, it's so interesting. I think that this really -- when I say this, courtroom action is the ultimate in reality television. The stories that you encounter every day in the criminal justice system are amazing. And I think these, the Durst case, the "Serial" case involving Adnan Syed and now this case, just really demonstrate how powerful the stories are.

VAUSE: Is it a positive or a negative? Is it a good thing or a bad thing?

KAVINOKY: Ultimately, I think it's a good thing. I think anytime you can shine a light on what happens in the justice system it's a really good thing. I've long been a fan of cameras in every single courtroom -- and we especially saw this in the Zimmerman trial, where people -- some people, many people were outraged by the verdict. Some other trials. Because we have cameras in the courtroom, regardless of what you thought about the outcome, at least you understood.

VAUSE: Let's get to this TV show, because the D.A. in this case, he says a lot of evidence has been left out of this -- because the whole thing runs about 10 hours. He told a local reporter that, quote, "anytime you edit 18 months' worth of information and only include the statements or pieces that support your particular conclusion, that conclusion should be reached." Does he have a point?

KAVINOKY: Well, in a way he does. Certainly, clever editing can shape the way a story appears. But I think the better point in all of this is that the more smart people you have doing the kind of parsing of the evidence that we've seen done in this case, in the other cases we've talked about, you end up surfacing things that frankly should have been brought up before. So I think the more smart people that you have on the task, the better the chance for really getting to something powerful.

VAUSE: Implications of this series and a couple of other ones, or especially this one, is that the police department here was either completely negligent or totally malicious. So I guess what many people want to know -- you've had a lot of experience with the legal system in this country -- is this an anomaly or is this systemic?

KAVINOKY: I think it depends who you ask and what their experiences are. Let's face it. In every profession there are great examples and then there are some warnings of what not to do. And certainly that's been true in law enforcement. I think just the fact -- the question itself reminds me of that parable about the five blind men all feeling different sections of the elephant. They're all having their own experience, all are right, and yet they're radically different. So I think this really depends on who are we going to for their opinion? But certainly my goodness, there's -- it's been a hot topic here.

VAUSE: It has been a hot topic here because it's not just cases like this, it's Tamir Rice, what's happening in Philadelphia, whether it's African-American, Black Lives Matter, there is a problem of trust.

[01:55:16] KAVINOKY: Right. But I think it all comes down to having integrity in the justice system and faith that it's working. So ultimately, to me, the cure is transparency. And the more people that are looking at what happens, that are doing the kinds of deep dives that we're seeing on these shows, I think the better it is for the system as a whole.

VAUSE: Very quickly, do you think Avery, the main character of this documentary, will he ever get out?

KAVINOKY: If I'm a betting man, I think highly unlikely. But not to say that it isn't a great discussion to have.

VAUSE: Absolutely.

Darren, good to see you.

KAVINOKY: Thanks, John. Happy holidays.

VAUSE: You, too.

You are watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause.

Stay with us. The news continues with Rosemary Church after a short break at the CNN Center.

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[02:00:09] ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: After years of accusations of sexual assault, Bill Cosby now faces his first criminal charges.