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Erin Burnett Outfront

Ferguson Decision Could Come Friday; Gun Sales in Ferguson; Seven Dead as Snow Keeps Falling in Buffalo; Obama to Unveil Immigration Plans; Bill Cosby Rape Allegations Fallout; Dickinson Latest to Accuse Cosby of Rape; Interview with Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer

Aired November 19, 2014 - 19:00   ET

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

ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: OUTFRONT tonight, breaking news, new details on the Ferguson grand jury and when the decision is coming. The prosecutor says he will publicly reveal all evidence and testimony. Could some witnesses be in danger?

Plus Buffalo's deadly and historic snowstorm. As much as 60 already on the ground. Seven deaths reported. So much more snow is starting tonight.

We have a special report live from Buffalo.

And a super model joining the list of women accusing Bill Cosby of rape. Netflix and NBC backing off his deals after her allegations and now reports TV land has cancelled "Cosby Show" re-runs. Can his career be saved?

Let's go OUTFRONT.

Good evening. I'm Erin Burnett, and OUTFRONT tonight we begin with breaking news in Missouri.

The grand jury's last session. CNN is learning the jurors in Ferguson, Missouri, may meet Friday for the last time with the decision possibly coming the same day. And the prosecutor says every single thing the grand jury saw, every single thing will be made public. That means witnesses who have kept their identities secret may be known to the world.

Meanwhile, as the city of Ferguson awaits the grand jury decision, gun shops are reporting a huge spike in sales, one store saying the jump is 50 percent.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's your name, sir?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you want to take a picture of me one more time, I'm going to lock your (EXPLETIVE DELETED) up."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir, I'm not taking a picture, I'm recording this incident.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Cell phone video reportedly showing Officer Darren Wilson saying, "I'm going to throw your -- ass in jail" goes viral.

We begin our coverage with justice reporter Evan Perez. He is OUTFRONT tonight in nearby Clayton, Missouri, where the grand jury has been meeting.

Evan, you broke this news, a very clear timeline of what's going to happen and what we're going to find out. Names and information. The next 48 hours are crucial.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Erin. You know, after all the leaks, all the street demonstrations that we've seen here, Friday is finally the day. The grand jury is returning to the building behind me, the Justice Center here in Clayton, Missouri, and they're going to meet for the final time. We expect that they are going to hear some evidence from the county prosecutor and then they'll begin deliberations. We expect that those deliberations will be very short and then they'll make a decision.

Now prosecutors plan to hold that decision under wraps for 48 hours. They're going to give law enforcement some time to get ready and make a final announcement on Sunday. They're going to give Michael Brown's family some hours' notice as well before they make this decision public.

BURNETT: I find it impossible to believe they're going to keep this kind of a decision secret for 48 hours.

PEREZ: Right.

BURNETT: Evan, there is a concern on that front, though, the prosecutor says, look, I'm going to make everything public. Every piece of evidence and testimony that the grand jury saw, the American public will see.

We all know that there are witnesses who testified before that grand jury who would not share their names because they were scared of what might happen to them afterwards. This has a lot of people nervous.

PEREZ: That's right. There's a big debate going on behind the scenes here. You know, authorities say that, you know, the concern is that if you release the -- all of this evidence, including the testimony, including the names of those people, that those people could be put at risk.

Look, you know, there are some people who gave interviews to the media and then when they went -- you know, swore an oath and then they testified before the grand jury, they might have changed some of those things that they said to -- you know, about what happened between, you know, Officer Wilson and Michael Brown. So there is some concern.

We talked to the county prosecutor's office and they told us that they are still considering whether to redact the names of those witnesses. They haven't made a decision yet, Erin. We expect that that's going to be a big deal when that finally comes out.

BURNETT: That's going to be a very, very big deal.

Evan Perez, thank you very much.

And as the nation waits for the grand jury to make its decision, we're learning that gun sales in Ferguson, Missouri, are spiking. Stores are saying they're selling two to three times more weapons than they usually would.

Sara Sidner has been covering this as our viewers know for months here in Ferguson.

And Sara, what are you seeing? I mean, those are pretty incredible statistics. One store you saw with 50 percent surge in gun sales.

SARA SIDNER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we visited that store a couple of weeks ago, actually, Erin, and talked to the managers there who were basically giving us all the information that we needed to know about exactly what was happening in this community, the fear factor that's here, and said that, you know, 50 percent more people coming in, a lot of people they've never seen before, and mostly women, according to the manager of that gun shop.

And of course we've been seeing other things going on here, like the businesses boarding up. There are far more businesses now boarded up than there have been in the whole time I've been here. We've really seen a change in that.

But there are other people, Erin, that of course are just sort of taking it easy and saying, look, I don't think it's going to be as bad as everyone thinks it is going to be and protesters themself have said we're going to try and keep it peaceful as we've done over the past 90 plus days or so.

I do want to talk, too, a little bit about some video that came out online a few days ago. We've been looking into this for a few days and finally got something from the city to tell us a little bit more about the video. This gives you some example of why there is a mistrust between police and the residents, Erin.

BURNETT: All right. And Sara, in terms of your feeling, when you are talking to people and I know you have been there reporting for a long time. You've seen the tension. You've experienced the tension. What do you think the risks are when the decision comes down, if it isn't the decision that the people of Ferguson who have been protesting -- if it isn't that indictment?

SIDNER: There is two ways to speak to that. One is that the majority of people who have been here, many of them are residents. Those who have been here every single day protesting. They are residents of Ferguson, they're residents of St. Louis and some of the surrounding towns. Many of them saying, look, we've been peaceful all this time and we plan to continue to be peaceful. We're going to be loud, we're going to talk about this, but we continue to be peaceful. Then you have a very small group of people who are basically saying,

we're going to try something else. And I have been privy to a few people who have told me they've been in some secret meetings and that there are some folks that are planning to be violent, a small group indeed. But there are certainly those that are planning on stirring things up here in a very destructive way.

And those are the people that the police and that the authorities here and that the residents, frankly, here are concerned about. If they are able to get out and do damage.

Now we do know that protesters have said, if they do catch people doing violent acts they're going to try to reign them in. They have said many times out on the protest lines over these many weeks that we've been here, you're not with us if you're going to be violent -- Erin.

BURNETT: All right, Sara Sidner. Thank you very much.

And OUTFRONT tonight now, Anthony Gray, an attorney for Michael Brown's family, and Jeff Lord of the St. Louis Police Officers Association. Also vice president of the organization raising money to help Officer Wilson with legal bills.

Let me start with you, Jeff, on what you just heard our Sara Sidner reported, that she has been privy to secret meetings of a small group of people, though, who are adamant that they plan to be violent if they do not get an indictment.

Is that something you think will be significant? Is that something that will be small?

JEFF ROORDA, MISSOURI STATE HOUSE: Well, I think any violence is significant. We keep hearing this myth of peaceful protest perpetuated. The headline from every night of the protests that immediately followed the police shooting should have been police were shot at again tonight. I mean, these were not peaceful protests. They were organized efforts to kill police officers every night during the pitched violence and demonstrations that followed the Michael Brown shooting.

So I don't know where these were who said that they wouldn't -- that these so-called peaceful protesters that said they wouldn't tolerate violent elements in their midst, but they certainly weren't there in the weeks that followed the original events.

BURNETT: Anthony, let me ask you. You heard Evan's reporting. A decision could come on Friday. They're almost done. The deliberations he says are going to be very quick once they get the final information they're going to get.

Are you confident of an indictment at this point?

ANTHONY GRAY, ATTORNEY FOR MICHAEL BROWN JR.'S FAMILY: I'm not confident of an indictment. I don't think anybody could be. I'm confident in the process. I got a sense that the grand jury will deliberate. How long it is going to take, I don't know. Those that are forecasting it will take just a few minutes, they have an upper hand on the information than I do. But I do anticipate that any deliberative process may take five minutes, may take five hours, who knows, it may even take five days.

We don't really know because that's how when people in rooms are talking about evidence, you never know how long it will take for them to reach a decision.

BURNETT: Jeff, the jury has not been under sequester but they have been told, obviously, to not be consuming all kinds of media. This has been going on, though, obviously, for months. It's impossible to imagine that they haven't seen any kind of media or any of the leaks that are out there. Not if you've been having consumption of any media at all in this country.

Do you think that that puts pressure on them then to indict Wilson?

I want to emphasize to our viewers, the standard for an indictment is not beyond a reasonable doubt. It's just -- do you think that there's a possibility? Right? It's a much lower bar.

ROORDA: It's a probable cause standard. And you know there -- any high-profile case, there is going to be some jury taint involved. I think that this has been an all-consuming story in the St. Louis region and I'm sure these grand jurors take their instructions very seriously. But it's -- you'd almost have to be under a rock to not hear some of the news coverage. And just people talking in the street about it.

BURNETT: Again, which is, I mean, Anthony, I'm sure you assume as well. I mean, the prosecutor, Anthony, says he's going to make public all of the evidence and the testimony. No matter what the decision is, everything the grand jury saw, this entire country will see.

But as you and I have talked about over the past few days there are some people who did not want their names put there. Some of them actually who agreed with Darren Wilson. There are no doubt others.

Do you think everyone's names should be out there or not?

GRAY: You know, that I don't know if the names are going to be important. What they have to say is going to be the real significance.

BURNETT: Yes.

GRAY: And their appearance in front of the grand jury. I've had people tell me that the prosecutor plans to put it all out there. What the public will not get the benefit of hearing and seeing unless there is video that's going to be associated with it, will hear all the information that was put out there, but we won't get a chance to hear how it was presented, which is very key in presenting any information.

I don't know what inflections and voices were made and what emphasis is put where. So all of those things to me are just as important as the actual information itself.

BURNETT: Thanks so much to both of you. And as we said, obviously with this crucial time line, we are now in the final hours before this decision in this case of great national importance.

OUTFRONT next, breaking news, a seventh person has died in Buffalo in the wake of the worst snowstorm there in decades and tonight another two to three feet of snow could fall.

Plus, the president going it alone on immigration. A major announcement, executive action. Can Congress stop it?

And after Bill Cosby's latest accuser comes forward, his lawyer comes out swinging, calling the former supermodel a liar.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: Breaking news, a new dangerous and deadly winter storm about to bury Buffalo with at least another 24 inches of snow, it could be 36. That would be on top of the 6 feet that has already fallen on the area in past day.

I mean, these numbers are biblical it feels like. Seven people have lost their lives. There is a state of emergency. The snow piling up so fast that residents are completely stranded. One viewer just actually sent us a photo of the street outside his home still covered in what's being called the heaviest snow in 40 years.

The weight of the snow is causing roofs to collapse and front doors to bust open. I mean, some of the pictures you see, that all of a sudden a garage door will buckle, and you'll see six feet of snow and you can't even see light coming there.

Martin Savidge is OUTFRONT in Buffalo.

Martin, you have been there the entire time and have a sense of just the scale of what we are talking about tonight.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, one of the ways to bring it out to you, Erin, is the fact that the most common vehicle you see on the streets tonight, it is not the snowplow, it is the dump truck. And by the hundreds, they are working and roaming the streets here in the hardest hit area of south Buffalo because that's the only way they're getting the snow out there, having to lift it up, putting it in the trucks and hauling it away. They also now -- they got a bit of a break today, but that is over.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE (voice-over): For the first time we make it into Buffalo's hardest-hit neighborhoods. Here the snow is over 6 feet deep. The entire landscape has changed.

On Lilac Street in south Buffalo, I come across Donna and Sean Yager. The mother and son have spent the break in the snowfall trying to free their car. (On camera): So how long did it take you to get this far?

SEAN YAGER, BUFFALO RESIDENT: Four or five hours.

SAVIDGE: And what's the goal? What are you trying to do?

YAGER: Just make a path to get down the street and get functional again.

SAVIDGE (voice-over): Across the street, neighbor Rick Gayhart has lived in Buffalo all his life and never seen it snow like this.

(On camera): You had this cleared off, you say.

RICK GAYHART, BUFFALO RESIDENT: It was all cleared off last night.

SAVIDGE: So everything I see on that car now is what fell last night?

GAYHART: That's right.

WAYNE NEPER, BUFFALO RESIDENT: Watch out, you're going to fall.

SAVIDGE (voice-over): That's Wayne Neper. He's just beginning the job of trying to clear out his car. He starts at the roof and digs down.

(On camera): Why are you trying to get out? I mean, where are you going to go?

NEPER: Just get it off the street so they can plow.

SAVIDGE (voice-over): Here the tools that usually handle the snow struggle to clear any kind of path. It's exactly the problem the city has trying to remove 6 feet of snow dumped over 10 square miles.

STEPHEN STEPNIAK, COMMISSIONER OF PUBLIC WORKS, CITY OF BUFFALO: When you have these major lake-effects that come in, they dump a lot of snow and instead of pushing them and piling them up on people's property, we tend to haul them and dump them here.

SAVIDGE: So the city is hauling the snow out of the hardest hit areas one truckload at a time. Contractors have brought in and now run their rigs 24 hours a day.

ERIC BREMILLER, SNOW CONTRACTOR: They load jobs and we come back here and dump it off and go back for another one. A little bit at a time. It's going to be a long time. But we'll do what we can do.

SAVIDGE: At this former railroad terminal, front-end loaders try to push the snow around to make room for more. Buffalo is known for its snow. But not like this. Before the week is out, some parts of town could see an entire year's worth of white.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE: What they've been doing is piling the snow up on the corners if they can't haul it away. This is just one example of that. You can see that it's already up to the street signs. This wouldn't be an unusual image in Buffalo in, say, February. This is the middle of November -- Erin.

BURNETT: I mean, incredible. When you talk about places like Buffalo getting a year in a day. We've been talking 90 inches.

Martin Savidge, thank you very much.

And you saw, as Marty was speaking, behind him, an emergency truck went by. Crews are trying to canvass the city, trying to save anyone who is stranded as we talk about those roofs caving in, now you've got to think about people at risk.

And OUTFRONT now is Mic Brennan. A truck driver. He was stuck in his truck for nearly 40 hours with his cousin on Interstate 90 in Buffalo.

Mic, thank you for being with us. I know you are back on the road. It isn't as if you got respite and are in front of a warm fire. You are now back on the road. You've been back on the road for a few hours. You gave us some pictures of what you sent while you were stranded. I mean, what was it like?

MIC BRENNAN, TRUCK DRIVER: Well, it's almost surreal. You almost don't believe that you were there, but you were. It's kind of hard to explain. But there's no really a reason to get upset about it, just there to deal with it.

BURNETT: How quickly did it come up, Mic? I mean, I know you knew it was snowing. You knew it was going to get bad. But then you get stranded for 40 hours and we see these pictures of the trucks. You just kept driving until the wheels wouldn't go anymore?

BRENNAN: Well, on the signs across the freeway it said that it wasn't going to be starting until around 6:00 but it started a little early and it came down hard and heavy. Probably could have still made it but there was just a couple of accidents ahead of us so then we have to stop. While we were stopped, it's when the snow just started falling heavy.

BURNETT: And so it was -- it looks like it was literally a parking lot. I mean. everybody was there. I know you, I believe, had some food and maybe something to stay warm. But I would imagine a lot of people around you didn't?

BRENNAN: No. We and the other truck drivers have tried to take care of the -- others that didn't have food or water or anything like that until they were evacuated.

BURNETT: All right. Well, Mic, thank you so much. And I'm glad you're back on your -- on the road again. How much longer do you have to go on your trip before you're back home?

BRENNAN: Still about four more hours today.

BURNETT: All right. Well, I hope you'll be there then before midnight. And wow, do you sure deserve it. Thank you so much.

Breaking news, President Obama going to battle. He's unveiling his immigration plan tomorrow night in a primetime address to the nation. The president had vowed to take executive action by the end of the year if Congress didn't act first. They haven't. Now he will.

Sources tell CNN one key part of the plan the president will announce would let parents who are undocumented immigrants but have children who are American citizens remain in the U.S. That move alone could impact 3.6 million people in the country.

Dana Bash is in Washington tonight.

And, Dana, you know, he had said by the end of the year. Obviously this is weeks before the end of the year. Republicans must be livid but is there anything they can do about it?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, Erin, I've talked to so many Republicans in the halls of Congress today and the widespread conclusion is that they have options but not great options.

The first is bending over backwards to make sure that the government doesn't shut down over this because Congress's greatest weapon is the power of the purse. Congress -- excuse me, the government is going to run out of money December 11th. There are ways that they can try to carve out the funding for immigration related services but it's not easy and it isn't even, you know, entirely sure that they're not sure that would even work.

So that is maybe the thing that they're talking most about. They're also talking about filing lawsuits. About blocking the president's nominees when Republicans take control of Congress, fully. But at this point it's a lot of rhetorical combat, more than actually doing anything when it comes to legislation or anything that will have a real action to try to stop the president.

BURNETT: All right. Dana Bash, thank you very much. It will be a night tomorrow night.

BASH: Yes, it will.

BURNETT: And we will be watching. We have the pregame here OUTFRONT.

And next, Bill Cosby, his high-powered lawyer goes after his latest accuser after she step forward. Netflix, NBC, now TV Land, all stepped away and a supermodel steps up, accusing the comedian.

And more than three months after his death, little is known about Ferguson teenager Michael Brown beyond his last moments. We want to change that. Who was Michael Brown? A gentle giant or something else?

We have a special investigation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BURNETT: Bill Cosby's empire in peril. In the wake of losing major deals with NBC and Netflix, the 77-year-old comedy icon has now hired a big shot celebrity lawyer. A so-called guard dog to the stars who is fighting back.

The rape allegations against Cosby reached a new level as Janice Dickinson, former supermodel known to many Americans, told her story to "Entertainment Tonight."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JANICE DICKINSON, ALLEGES BILL COSBY ASSAULTED HER: Stuffing feelings of rape, and my unresolved issue from this incident has drove me into a life of trying to hurt myself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: After hearing that, NBC and Netflix both finally announced they've had enough and they're dropping planned Cosby programs. A serial comedy on NBC and a standup comedy on Netflix.

Late today reports that TV Land is canceling re-runs of "The Cosby Show."

Jean Casarez is OUTFRONT tonight.

And, Jane, Janice Dickinson changed the game for a lot of these companies. There had still been a deafening silence and when she came out it was in the next few hours in the morning that they announced these cancellations.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN LEGAL CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right. I mean, during the course of this day, in this order, we had it -- first of all this morning we had heard that Netflix, that had a comedy special for Bill Cosby, it was taped in July, it was going to air the day -- or stream, I should say, the day after Thanksgiving. A very prominent point of time. They have postponed it indefinitely.

Next we heard NBC was canceling the Bill Cosby project. We understand that was a developmental project for a series. And then just probably within the hour, TV Land had deleted all references to "The Cosby Show."

So it really has come fast and furious. And I think one thing that is so interesting in all of this, because all these women have come out, only one went to authorities and of course that was back in 2005 and she went one year after she said she was sexually assaulted and no evident, thus no charges. And there have never been any charges against Bill Cosby.

BURNETT: Never any charges against Bill Cosby, Jean. But in the case of Janice Dickinson, I mean, this I think surprised a lot of people. She had mentioned something in the past. She said in a book, though her publishers didn't want her to put any more specific, they didn't feel comfortable with it. So, this is really the first time she's come out and offered detail years later. CASAREZ: Detail and very authentic detail. No question about it.

Now, Bill Cosby's lawyers just really fired back on all of this, by quoting that book because in the book, she talks about the incident in Lake Tahoe but she doesn't say anything about an alleged rape.

Now, let's listen and watch in her own words.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CASAREZ (voice-over): Former supermodel Janice Dickinson becomes comedian Bill Cosby's latest and most notable accuser. Dickinson sat down with E.T. Tuesday night accusing Cosby of raping her in 1982.

DICKINSON: The last thing I remember was Bill Cosby (AUDIO GAP) dropping his robe and getting on top. And I remember a lot of pain.

CASAREZ: In a statement to CNN, Cosby's attorney Marty Singer fires back. "Janice Dickinson's story accusing Bill Cosby of rape is a lie. There is a glaring contradiction between what she is claiming now for the first time and what she wrote in her own book and what she told the media back in 2002."

Dickinson released her autobiography in 2002, "No Lifeguard on Duty". In the salacious tell-all book, she describes an encounter with Cosby in Lake Tahoe. She said she told Cosby she wouldn't go into his hotel room because she was exhausted.

In the book, she says, "This was his replay. 'Exhausted, after all I've done for you, that is what I get. I'm exhausted.'"

But in 2006 she was a guest on Howard Stern's radio show saying she wasn't allowed to tell the whole story in her book.

DICKINSON: Bill Cosby was the only guy I couldn't write about in the book because Harper Collins is afraid of lawsuits.

HOWARD STERN: You are saying that the book company won't allow to you write about something.

DICKINSON: Too afraid. Too afraid of that one.

The guy's a bad guy. Let me just say that. He's not a nice guy. He preys on women that just come out of rehab, I'll say that.

CASAREZ: Cosby's camp says otherwise. The publishing house wouldn't comment. At least four other women have spoken out in the past decade. One of those is Andrea Constant, who alleges she was sexually assaulted by Cosby in 2004. She didn't report it to police until 2005.

Former district attorney Bruce Castor of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, spoke to CNN about why he didn't file charges in the case.

BRUCE CASTOR, FORMER DISTRICT ATTORNEY: The desire on our part to move forward was pretty strong. But because of the delay, I couldn't check her blood to see if there was any metabolites of that drug in her.

CASAREZ: Cosby spoke out on that matter for the first time, telling "The National Inquirer," I'm not going to give into people who try to exploit me because of my celebrity status. The case did settle in 2006 for an undisclosed amount of money. A man who says the comedian mentored him for much of his career, wonders if money is the motive here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Bill Cosby that I know, the Bill Cosby that I've been around, this is not the guy I know. He treats women with the utmost respect, dignity. I know he's innocent and I know he's being railroaded.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CASAREZ: And the former district attorney who did not bring charges said, if there is a lesson to be learned from this, that if you have been sexually assaulted, come forward, go to authorities, because that's when they can get evidence. And, Erin, that's when they can prosecute a case.

BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Jean Casarez.

And joining me now, Paul Callan, our legal analyst and criminal defense attorney, and trial attorney Lisa Bloom, who's also an analyst for Avvo.com.

Lisa, let me just start with you. Do you -- a lot of this is based on stories that are being told about things that happened a long time ago. There is never going to be direct proof at this point, obviously. Do you believe the women who have come forward?

LISA BLOOM, TRIAL LAWYER: There is no question about it, Erin. When you have six women who have come forward using their name and using their face, and 15 total anonymous and public, I think that common sense says there is something here. You can discount one, you can discount two, but you can't discount this many women who are not asking for anything.

And I would add one other thing. There is a brand new claim now against Mr. Cosby that just arose today and that is Janice Dickinson could now sue him for defamation because his attorney has now called her a liar. If, indeed, her story is true, all of the rape stuff is time barred because it's too old and the statute of limitations has expired, but she's got a brand new claim if she wants to bring it now against Mr. Cosby, and his attorney for defending her.

BURNETT: Paul, an accusation alone is incredibly destructive to Bill Cosby. He's referred to that himself in "The National Inquirer", right? I'm not going to let people get on my celebrity status and use that. But the accounts from these women are strikingly similar, all right? Some of them came forward without knowing each other. So, that might seem to indicate this is true. Or when you see so many accounts that are similar, does that mean it's not true because one sees the other and then, the account suddenly similar. What do you think?

PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, all I can say is that I don't know whether it's true or not true. But I do know that the law says there is a statute of limitations on these things for a very, very good reason. It's fundamental fairness. If Cosby wants to defend himself and maybe his defense was, he was with someone else at the time this allegedly occurred, well, nobody's going to remember where they were 12 or 20 years ago. So, the law says if you've got a claim like this, you have to bring it within five years or seven years, or reasonable period of time, otherwise, it's unfair.

BURNETT: So the timing is fair.

CALLAN: And you have to have an ability to defend yourself.

BURNETT: So -- go ahead, Lisa.

BLOOM: But that doesn't reflect the reality of rape. That doesn't reflect the reality of how rape is processed. Some of these girls were 17 years old they say.

You know, very few 17-year-olds are going to come forward against a big powerful guy like Bill Cosby. And, in fact, many of these women say that lawyers told them not to, police told them not to. We have a district attorney who you just saw, shame on him for not letting her have her day in court.

You know, he says there was no evidence. A woman's testimony is evidence in every court in America. But this is what happens against celebrities. I litigate cases like this every day in my law firm against people like Marty Singer --

(CROSSTALK)

CALLAN: I know, Lisa, and you could make a claim --

BLOOM: And you know what? There is attorney, women need to be heard.

CALLAN: You could make a claim that there should be a special law for women. But --

BLOOM: No. Not a special law for women.

(CROSSTALK)

CALLAN: Women could stand up just like anybody else. Right now, we have a law -- can I --

BURNETT: The point she is making is that rape victims are embarrassed and ashamed and Bill Cosby was America's dad.

BLOOM: Especially children.

CALLAN: I'm sure somebody who was involved in a robbery or an assault or something like that, would be intimidated by the person as well. But in murder cases we have no statute of limitations because the victim is dead. But with respect to rape cases, unless it involves a child, it has to be brought within -- and I'm not saying you have to bring it the next day or the next week, but certainly within five or seven years, that doesn't seem unreasonable to me.

BURNETT: Well, thank you.

BLOOM: That just gives the rapist a lucky break because he got away with it long enough.

CALLAN: Yes.

BURNETT: Thank you very much to both of you. This is going to continue.

Of course, we should raise the irony, some of these women have come forward for years with their stories and not been heard until another male comedian made a joke about this about a week ago.

OUTFRONT next, with the Ferguson grand jury possibly less than 48 hours from a decision, we're going to take a closer look at the man at the center of the story, Michael Brown. Gentle giant or something very different? This is what it is all about -- character, because there is no proof one way or the other. A special report is next.

Plus, Israel destroying terrorist homes in retaliation. Does blowing someone's home up deter a future terrorist or actually create one?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: More on the breaking news out of Ferguson, Missouri, tonight. We are learning that the grand jury will meet Friday for the last time with a decision possibly coming that very same day. Officials are preparing for unrest if Officer Darren Wilson is not indicted. It has been on edge since Michael Brown, an unarmed black teen, was shot and killed by Wilson.

But who is Michael Brown?

Jason Carroll is OUTFRONT with the man at the center of this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The first moment Michael Brown parents faced the public to talk about their son, they wanted to make one point about him very clear.

MICHAEL BROWN, SR., MICHAEL BROWN JR.'S FATHER: I don't want no violence. We don't want no violence.

LESLEY MCSPADDEN, MICHAEL BROWN JR.'S MOTHER: Because Michael wouldn't want violence.

CARROLL: Not helping -- these images of a person seen on this convenience store surveillance video, captured less than an hour before Brown's fatal altercation with a Ferguson police officer. Instead, these are the images Brown's family says reflects who he

really was, a young man who loves playing games, as much as he loved his family, telling a friend on Facebook, "If I leave this earth today, at least I cared more about others than I care by my damn self."

MCSPADDEN: He was my first-born. Sweet, loving and dedicated. He worked hard to get through high school and we're so proud of him.

CARROLL: And then there was his nickname, Big Mike. The 18-year-old stood 6'4" and weighed nearly 300 pounds.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was a big guy in stature but when he opened his mouth, he had a very, very quite, soft-spoken voice.

DORIAN JOHNSON, MICHAEL BROWN JR.'S FRIEND: He was a gentle giant. He was big. He was careful. He cared for everybody. He was loving, everything. I loved everything about this young man.

CARROLL: Police say Dorian Johnson was with Brown that day at the convenience store, surveillance video appears to show Brown shoving the store owner. Police also say cigarillos were stolen before Brown and Johnson walked out.

The attorney representing the Brown family called the release of the video by the Ferguson police department character assassination, and an attempt to blame the victim who was unarmed.

Donovan Eddington was friends with Brown and knew him since high school.

DONOVAN EDDINGTON, MICHAEL BROWN JR.'S CLASSMATE: It isn't true what they say about him. He ain't that type of person.

CARROLL (on camera): How could you know that for sure?

EDDINGTON: I used to hang with him, went to school with him. He was a class of mine. We played on the same football team.

CARROLL (voice-over): In the weeks following Brown's funeral, almost nightly in Ferguson, there have been protests both large and small.

(CHANTING)

CARROLL: Brown's parents continue their fight calling for passage of the so-called Michael Brown Law, one that would require police to wear cameras. Brown's parents taking their cause to the United Nations in Geneva.

BROWN: We came here to the U.N. to get justice for our son.

MCSPADDEN: We're trying to get a message across, and that's part of the reason why we're in the U.N.

CARROLL: And while Brown's parents want justice, they continue to ask for peaceful demonstrations, saying anyone who supports violence does not support them or Michael Brown.

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CARROLL: And so, Erin, while the city awaits the grand jury decision, one thing seems to be very clear, after talking to people here in Ferguson and in St. Louis, both white and black, Erin, most people that I've spoken to have already decided what they believe and who they believe was at fault -- Erin.

BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much.

And next, Israel demolishing the homes of terrorists. A decade ago, that practice was ruled ineffective and inflammatory. So, why is it being done now to the men who murdered the Israelis in the synagogue yesterday?

Plus, Jeanne Moos with a special look at Buffalo's big, big snow.

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BURNETT: Tonight, ramped up security in Jerusalem after two Palestinians wielding butcher knives killed five people, including three Americans at a synagogue yesterday. Officials have vowed to demolish the homes of the two attackers. And earlier today, they demolished the home of another Palestinian who killed two people when he drove his car into a crowd standing on a light rail platform in Jerusalem last month.

"The Associated Press" found the attacker's grandmother sitting the rubble today, she told me she was proud of her grandson's actions.

Earlier, I spoke with Israel's ambassador to the United States, Ron Dermer, and asked him whether this practice of demolishing people's homes deters anything.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RON DERMER, ISRAELI AMBASSADOR TO THE U.S.: Well, it may not sound like that, Erin, but you have people responsible for the security of Israel. Unfortunately, we have long experience with these actions, these terrorist actions against us. And the fact is that they do serve as a deterrent.

Whether that will fully deter, I don't think so. It hasn't in the past but they're effective and have been effective in the past. The people who are responsible for the security of the country have to do what they have to do in order to defend our citizens.

There's a lot of people incentivizing these attacks. You know, these killers, as I said, are hailed as heroes in Palestinian society. They'll probably have public squares named after them. That's the problem.

So, we have to do everything we can to send the opposite message by disincentivizing people from doing these types of actions, by saying that they are not heroes, they are murderers, and hopefully, the world will join us in the effort and say, do not glorify killers and murderers. That's the worst thing you can possibly do. We hope the leadership of the Palestinians will join us in taking action against these terrorists.

BURNETT: When you say the demolition of the homes is effective, I'm curious if you can give an example, because my understanding is this used to be used. It was suspended in 2005. A military commission concluded that it aroused more hatred and anger than it did function as a deterrent or function as something that aroused fear. They concluded it wasn't effective.

I mean, what are you looking at?

DERMER: Well, that may be what this commission did but you have a security cabinet who meets and hears from the heads of the relevant security agencies and they have obviously made a decision that this is going to be an effective tool. We also blew up the homes of a couple of people who were involved in the murders of those teenage boys a few months ago.

So, we take these actions when our security services advise that they are helpful in reducing terror attacks in the future. So, I would defer to the people who are responsible for protecting the citizens of Israel to exercise the best judgment on what's going to make them safe.

BURNETT: I want to turn to Iran, the talks have started, of course. Now, this either could be the big deal or another interim deal, that would mean another few months at least of no formal resolution but another interim deal. This has been going on, as you know, for over a year, this process of a negotiation.

The question I have, because I know that Israel is not excited about a possible deal right now. Does Israeli intelligence show that Iran has used the past year of negotiations to move ahead on atomic weapons research specifically?

DERMER: Well, look, it is sometimes said that the interim agreement froze Iran's nuclear weapons program. That's not true. A nuclear weapons program has different elements. One of those elements is not just the fissile material you need for a bomb, there's also weaponization, there's also ballistic missiles.

Iran has raced ahead in terms of its ballistic missile technology. They are building intercontinental ballistic missiles. And those missiles are not for Israel. We're already in range of their missiles. They're for you, Erin. They are to get to New York.

And only in cartoons to you put TNT on the top of ICBMs. In the real world, you put nuclear payload on the top of ICBMs.

That's why Iran's missile, ICBM missile program, it's not a smoking gun, it's a smoking missile that tells you what they're interested in doing. And so, Iran has raced ahead. It has not frozen Iran in place. And Israel is very concerned that a deal will be signed that will

leave Iran parked a very short distance away from achieving a military nuclear capability and remove all the sanctions and all the pressures that are on them.

We hope it won't happen because we don't want to just prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon today, we want to prevent Iran from having a nuclear weapon tomorrow. And that's why the sanctions should stay on until Iran's military nuclear program is fully dismantled.

BURNETT: Ambassador Dermer, thank you so much for your time tonight.

DERMER: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BURNETT: And OUTFRONT next, Jeanne Moos with a little snow and tell on how modern technology has produced a nation of weathermen and weatherwomen.

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BURNETT: Forget meteorologists. With more than six feet of snow on the ground, some Buffalo residents are giving their own take on the record snowfall.

Here's Jeanne Moos.

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JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Meteorologist -- who needs a meteorologist when your average citizen is using his own body to measure the snow. Not merely reporting the amount of snowfall, but making snow fall off the roof.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The whole thing is snow.

MOOS: Now that everyone has a camera phone, everybody is a weatherman.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm buried in my own house. This ain't fair.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's extremely hard to walk through this.

MOOS: Even Little Bandit, the German shepherd, had a hard time getting through. Some dogs don't like to go in the snow.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There you go. Go in your little poop cave.

MOOS: That's not an igloo. It's an ig-poo.

And what's with all the guys venturing out in t-shirts and shorts. Buffalo Bills wide receiver Maurice Goodwin posted a photo of himself going deep, saying, "This snow doesn't scare me."

The mailman would have to go deep to get to this mailbox. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: UPS is stuck?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

MOOS: Why leave your nice, dry garage. James Grimaldi just sent out a drone to get the lay of the land. Same drone, 24 hours later, what a difference a snow day makes.

Of all the photos posted to social media, doors opening onto walls of snow are among the most popular. Of those, this beer and liquor fridge drew the loudest chuckle.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's how you spend a snow day.

MOOS: From morning TV to Britain's "Daily Mail," turns out the beer fridge is frozen in time. It's been circulating for several years. It's not from this storm. Talk about a snow job.

Jeanne Moos, CNN --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh!

MOOS: -- New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BURNETT: That's pretty great.

By the way, you should check out that drone footage if you haven't seen it. By the way, most creative goes to the poop cave.

"AC360" begins now.