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tv   CNN Newsroom With Brooke Baldwin  CNN  February 22, 2019 11:00am-12:00pm PST

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thank you so much. i'm brooke baldwin. you are watching cnn, and r. kelly -- that's where we're starting. sources tell cnn that r. kelly, the grammy award-winning musician and r&b star, has been indicted by the cook county district attorney's office. we will learn many more details, but this moment a grand jury was convened in cot, illinois, this month -- in cook county, illinois, this month why relation to the charges against r. kelly. this after michael avenatti said he had given the attorney's office a videotape that showed kelly having sex with an underage girl who refers to her body parts as only -- as 14 years of age. the latest videotape surfaced some 17 years after kelly was first arrested in a child pornography case in 2002. a case in which he was acquitted six years later. today's indictment, the news, coming weeks after a devastating
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lifetime documentary called "surviving r. kelly." it is a series that spotlighted so many women including the singer's ex-wife who alleged that they suffered physical, emotional, and sexual abuse at the hands of this star. so sarah sider er i-- sarah si as we wait to get our hands on this indictment, tell me what you know. >> this is a stunning development in a case that certainly over decades as you have mentioned, there have been accusations against r. kelly when it comes to his alleged allegations about how he acts and what he does with underage girls. there have been settlements that have been made with women who have accused him of having sex with them when they were minors. there was the -- basically the marriage to singer aaliyah when she was 15 according to records, that was later annulled by her family. now you have this.
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in 2008, you talked about the fact that he was indicted in 2008. he was put on trial then, and he was acquitted. part of that trial involved a videotape, a videotape that prosecutors said showed a girl who was 13 years old or 14 years old, and r. kelly, they said, was on that tape doing -- having sexual intercourse, doing sex acts with this girl, and that it was being recorded by r. kelly. he was charged with 14 counts of child pornography. he was acquitted mostly because a jury decided they could not positively identify beyond a reasonable doubt the girl on the tape, nor could they positively identify r. kelly. that tape was not of great quality. we are learning from two sources now and now have confirmation of what we reported first which is r. kelly has been indicted. i want to read you this because it just was handed to me. the state's attorney -- state's
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attorney has come out and announced that there will be charges against robert kelly, his name is robert sylvester kelly. that is r. kelly, the r&b singer that everyone around the world knows of. she is going to be having a press conference later this afternoon. we are still waiting to find out exactly what those charges are. wean that they have something to do with the grand jury that had been convened. we learned and reported that that grand jury had been convened last week. and it has been going on since then. there have been days of this. there have been people, according to our sources, who have been coming in and out of the grand jury, witnesses have been coming in and out of that grand jury. we know that one of the witnesses we believe is someone who has been called a whistleblower who has information on r. kelly and the workings of the group around r. kelly. there are accusations about a new tape that we learned of and reported on last week. that new tape handed over by attorney michael avenatti who
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says on that tape there is indeed a 14-year-old girl or a minor who is involved in sex acts with r. kelly. and that he is very visible and clear on that tape. so all of these things have come together now, and now we are seeing officially from the state's attorney's office, kim fox says a charging announcement will happen in the next hour or two. >> all right. so that's all the reporting. we're waiting to get the information. we'll watch for this press conference in the next hour. for people just tuning in, they know r. kelly, they know some of his music, maybe they haven't watched this extraordinary lifetime series, "surviving r. kelly." i've seen it. i'm sure you have. can we back up five steps to many years ago when he was sort of coming into his fame, you know, and the whole thing begins with how he would cruise high schools. and a little bit -- can you give us a little bit of the
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beginnings of r. kelly and how this all allegedly began? >> right. that's why this is so stunning because there have been allegations literally for decades concerning r. kelly. decades. and we should mention that, you know, some of the women that came out in this "surviving r. kelly," basically it was a lot of women who had come out to say they were abused, brainwashed, or had had sex with him when they were minors, and they felt -- you know, they are saying, look, we are victims of r. kelly. that's why the series was called "surviving r. kelly," because they feel they are survivors of abuse and of sexual misconduct on the part of r. kelly e. what you learn -- kelly. what you learn is there are women out there coming forward now, all these years later after he was indicted, after all the allegations went on over the past couple of decades when it comes to r. kelly. ry should be very clear that his
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attorney has said in the very beginning, we have not heard from him today, but in the very beginning when we asked him about this particular videotape, this newly uncovered videotape, we learned from him that he had no knowledge of it. that he had not heard anything from law enforcement, that he had not been contacted by law enforcement. that he was unaware of anything, and he called hogwash on the information. now fast forward a week. and now the state's attorney saying we are indicting r&b singer r. kelly. that he is being indicted and being indicted today. so this is a stunning turn of events. i have just spoken with the producer of that series, "surviving r. kelly," tamera simmons. she responded with no words at first. she took a deep breath and said, "i have been waiting for so long. i have lived with this and listening to these survivors' stories, and i have been waiting for so long." >> yes, yes. >> and the survivors, the women who have come out and accused r. kelly of sexual misconduct with
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them when they were minors, i spoke to one of them. she says, i just -- all i want is for justice to be done, and this to never happen to someone else. again, r. kelly has been clear over the years -- and he was acquitted in his 2008 trial -- he says he has not done anything illegal with minors at all. brooke? >> sara sidner, you have been phenomenal on this. we won't let you go too far. as soon as you get more, we'll bring you back on. we've been talking about the docuseries, the news is he's been officially indicted. jamilla lamue, formula senior editor at "ebony" magazine, and joey jackson with her, one of our all-star lawyers here at cnn. i have been wanting to talk to you. do you have words for this? >> you know, i, too, am a little bit speechless. we have waited for so long. i'm trying not to cry. i grew up in chicago. some of those girls were my peers. we were in high school when that
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first tape was recorded. to have heard the stories for years, years. to juxtapose that with jussie smollett being charged in a matter of days, right. it didn't take that long to figure out that maybe something wasn't right with this story allegedly, that we've been asking for decades to pay attention to the stories of these black girls -- >> why do you think it took so long? >> because they were black. his victims, accusers, have been black girls, not class mobile black girls, not famous black girls. black girls from the south side of chicago, black girls from communities like that across the count country. we have been told over and over that his musical talent, his fame, his manhood mattered more than what he's been accused of doing is on so many little girls, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19 -- this man is over 50 years old.
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it's just -- it's devastating that it's taken this long, but i'm glad that we're here today. >> i want to come back to you. joey jackson, i know -- >> wow. >> this has been decades in -- i see your eyes. i see the tears welling. and you know, for you on the legal piece of this. people want answers. we need facts, right. we live in a place, we can't jump to any conclusions, but we are going to see this indictment. we're going to hear from prosecutors in the next hour. what will this indictment tell us? >> let's talk about the process. first of all, an indictment, we should be clear, is an accusation. you assemble 16 people in a grand jury room, there's no judge. a prosecutor presents evidence to a grand jury. there's no defense attorney, there's no cross-examination. the witnesses are not voted. they give their -- are not vetted. they give their story. if 9 of 16 vote that it should move forward, it's voted out.
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a grand jury's not deciding guilt or innocence. they're deciding two things -- is there reasonable cause to believe that a crime was committed, and did r. kelly commit that crime? and so an indictment, even though it's an accusation, is highly significant because you have a group of people in the community who have determined that it can move on to the next phase. and at that next phase, it will be critical because that's when it will be tested. and on the issue of testing, apparently the indictment is predicated largely apparently on a videotape that was provided. we have to be careful andcacious as to a videotape. where did the videotape come from, what is the chain of custody? that is, how many sources did it go through? was it edited in any way? was technology superimposed in any way? we have been down this line before, so we need to be cautious. what am i referring to? in 2002 when a case was brought forward, they had a videotape then. apparently not as clear as this videotape. but they had two problems. number one, suggesting that the person on the tape was r. kelly. apparently it clearly appears to be him here, but was there --
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you know, any foul play involved in making of the videotape. the second issue they had was the victim. the victim did not testify in the first case. we're going to be looking to see if they do. there are other problems, and that relates to the statute of limitations. apparently we're told on the issue of statute of limitations, what does that mean? you have a certain amount of time to bring forward charges. there are 37 states in addition to the federal government that have no statute of limitations on minor sex. let's be clear about this -- a lot of those statutes came after r. kelly's conduct. at the time at issue, it was a 20-year statute of limitations. that means you have if you're a minor 20 years from when you're 18 to bring forward charges. so we have to look and see when the videotape, what's the origin and how many years, how old was the victim, and if the victim is over 38 years old, it presents a problem out of the box. >> just when you think back in that -- it was 14 counts of child pornography when he was acquitted in 2008, the whole trial centered on that sex tape.
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we're talking about a totally separate tape involving this 14-year-old young woman in which they refer to her 14-year-old genitalia multiple times. she does. allegedly he does, as well. jamilla, back to you. it's almost like -- again, when you watch "surviving r. kelly," and i was talking to sara, it begins with him cruising these high schools and talking to these young girls. and so much of this allegedly happened in plain sight. >> you know, i constantly refer back to aaliyah, the late singer's first album, which was produced by r. kelly. it's called "age ain't nothing but a number." she is 14 at the time this picture would have been taken. he's 27. and he's in the background looking at her. he's in every music video. they're wearing matching outfits. they're doing interviews in matching outfits, being coy about their relationship. saying we're best friends, you know, a lady never tells when she's asked about her age. this is someone who was 15 years old on this press run, "in plain
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sight." the hit records were crafted -- not just the suggestion, not just looking back it seems like you're ready, perhaps that's cajoling a younger woman into doing something she's not ready to do. this was clearly saying age isn't nothing but a number. here i am with a beautiful teenaged girl. what are you going to do about it? for 30 years, the answer has been from the community, from the music industry, and from various law enforcement agencies we're not going to do anything. >> and he's denied, denied, denied through the years. he was acquitted in 2008. how did so many of these women have such access to him as he blew up? >> he went looking for them. he went looking for them. again, these were girls. most of them were teenage girls. most of the accusers, at the point in which they met him for the first time. so he's going up to his alma mater, you know, his high school. he's going to the mcdonald's
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nearby or the burger king near my high school or the rock and roll mcdonald's in chicago. he's going to the mall when he travels. he's going to places where teenage girls are. he's had people in the crowd allegedly at shows picking girls. they know what he likes. >> security guards. >> security guards. enablers. >> with the two -- >> on that issue, brooke, i'd be looki ing very closely when thi moves forward at how many bad acts in law are going to be admitted into this case. this case is what it's about. when we get the indictment, we'll look at it, evaluate what the counts are for. the class-two felonies, meaning he faces three to seven years on the counts. but how many other will the judge allow in in terms of the misconduct to be heard by this jury when they're empaneled? that's important because it goes to motive, your common plan and scheme, and it goes to your m.o. in terms of who you are, and jurors find that to be compelling. it's going to be important.
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>> okay. we're going to stand by. i also want to hear from you, what justice even looks like on this case. r. kelly, waiting for the news conference a short while from now. thank you so much. we have more breaking news ahead including a story that is rocking the sports world. an arrest warrant issued for the owner of the new england patriots, robert kraft. he's been accused of soliciting sex at a florida day spa. also breaking out of new york now where the manhattan district attorney prepares to charge paul manafort, the former campaign chair, with trump. stay with us.
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one of the most successful team owners in nfl history, robert kraft, has been charged on not one but two counts of soliciting a prostitute. and now the watch is on as far as when bob kraft will turn himself in. his team, the new england patriots, just earned their sixth super bowl ring earlier this month. police in jupiter, florida, say kraft was one of several dozen people arrested from this human trafficking sting involving this day spa. kraft's spokesman put out a statement saying this, "we categorically deny that mr. kraft engaged in any illegal activity. because it was a judicial matter, we will not be commenting further." however, a jupiter police detective offered this -- >> so the video that we obtained it shows the act that took place. on every gentleman that you have a list of, the acts that took place is recorded on that video. >> showed the act. with me, sports analyst christine brennan. columnist for "usa today."
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and criminal defense attorney mark on, mere a. christine, first -- mark o'meara. christine, first before the legal piece, this is a team that people love and love to hate. bob kraft is one of the most recognizable owners in all of professional sports like anywhere. first, what was your reaction when you heard the news? >> it's shocking. this not the kind of thing you expect to hear about any owner of a team,especially as you said one of the highest profile men in u.s. sports. someone who has wanted that -- he's put himself out there. he's been in the middle of the deflategate scandal. they are celebrating with the players and coaches, record tying six super bowls. he's wanted the limelight, wanted the publicity. has been comfortable being out front which is not always the case with owners of professional sports teams. i think that's why this is so particul particularly fascinating and troubling for him as an icon.
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if you're out there that high, the fall from grace, of course, can be even more profound than it would be for some other people. >> mark, stings like these happen all over the country all the time. not often with a bob kraft arrest. what's the message here with thi this? >> with the calf vveacaveat, th one of the investigation. president trump and president putining the cops -- presuming the cops have what they say they have, this is a well-known billion neighbors and this happened in a strip mall -- billionaire, and this happened at a strip mall where you would get a massage, $20, $25, whatever he paid for the additional satisfaction he got. it is senseless to me for someone that accomplished to have put himself at the risk he put himself at. he's facing two misdemeanors, meaning he's not going to jail or anything is going to happen to him realistically. the devastation to his
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reputation and the way he accomplished this by going to a strip mall seems absurd to me. >> i said arrest -- i mean charged, he's been charged. he denies, as we're all pointing out, denies this. you heard the police detective. they said that they have video. that the jupiter police chief said that they have video of kraft in a ram in the spa receive -- in a room in the spa receiving paid acts. how damning, mark, is this video evidence going to be for him? and how do law enforcement even get it? >> well, they get it because it was a setup sting. they do this throughout florida, throughout the country, all the time. they know that these are prostitution rings, that women normally are brought in, sometimes through sex trafficking, put in these places, sometimes put in places almost like they're in jail, no i.d., they're put in other rooms when they're not working. so it's set up in that way. and the police who will come in realize that it's a setup for a prostitution ring and actually take videos and set up video
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cameras in the room, much like you see other stings. they're going to have probably pretty good videos. and they know what they're doing. the cops do know how to set these up. they know how the right words and are only going to arrest people they have strong cases, where money is transacted, where a specific sex act is either asked for or actually occurs, like it seems to have happened in this case. if what they're saying is accurate with that caveat of these cases are pretty straightforward. they're easy to prove and hard to defend because in florida, it is a crime when you ask for sex and are willing to pay money for it. it seems to be what happened here. >> christine, i got handed this piece of paper. let's see. this is the nfl statement, "regarding robert kraft," quote, the nfl is aware of the ongoing law enforcement matter and will continue to monitor developments. what does the nfl do here? >> i think assuming that there is some kind of guilty plea or
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conviction, we don't know that yet. if, in fact, this runs its course and that's the end result, then robert kraft would easily be fined and also suspended. history has shown perhaps six games. and up to a half million dollar fine. the nfl, this is the last thing the national football league wants. you and i have talked about it. the continuing stories of domestic violence, and now you see this. this is just another terrible day of news in the national football league. >> christine brennan, mark o'meara, thank you so much. we wait for more detail there. in the meantime, appreciate it, on robert kraft. breaking news out of new york. the manhattan d.a. prepares to charge manafort that would guard against a presidential pardon. this as we wait for a filing from robert mueller that could shed light on everything.
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by the gig or get unlimited. get $250 back when you pre-order a new samsung galaxy. click, call, or visit a store today. paul manafort, the special counsel's office, that the former trump 2016 campaign chairman should spend up to 25 years in prison for financial crimes. you'll remember that the president said this about his former top aide just a couple of months ago -- >> it's very sad what's happened to paul, the way he's being treated. i've never seen anybody being treated so poorly. the question was asked by the "new york post," i said, no, i have not offered any pardons. i think they asked or whatever, would you? i said, i'm not taking anything off the table. >> here's the key piece in this -- if paul manafort is counting on some sort of presidential pardon to avoid prison time for
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fraud and conspiracy, he should think again. the manhattan district attorney's office is preparing state and federal charges against him. if he goes to prison even if a presidential pardon is offered, he's serving time according to "the new york times" which notes that the president's authority is limited for the state crimes. gloria borger is cnn's chief political analyst. gloria, we have heard expert after expert after short saying it's state investigators are what trump and his allies should be most worried about. and here is yet another example. >> yeah. absolutely. look, the president can pardon paul manafort if he wants to, he's called him a very brave man. and he's, as you saw in the clip, he hasn't take ten off the table. but he has no such authority in the state of new york. we know that mueller has farmed out a lot of what he has discovered to, for example, the southern district of new york, whether it's involving the trump
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organization or administration, whatever it is. this poses problems for donald trump, whether it's for allies or family. so you know, that could be lurking for him in the future. >> that's not the only news for manafort. mueller, mueller has a midnight deadline to file a sentencing memo. and it's just a piece of an incredibly busy week ahead. can you give us a preview? >> i don't know. start eating your wheaties, okay. next week, next week is going to be unbelievable. you know, tonight we're waiting for this sentencing memo from manafort. he's going to be sentenced on march 13th, but we're going to hear from mueller who has previously recommended 25 years about what he thinks manafort should get given the fact that he believes manafort lied to him after cutting a deal with him. remember that. then, of course, we have bob mueller himself. we are reporting that he could give his report to the attorney general as early as next week. now what the attorney general
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decides to do and how long it will take him to read it and digest it is another question. it could literally be handed over next week. we also have a presidential summit in vietnam with kim jong-un. and that's on wednesday and thursd thursday. then back here in washington, d.c., the president's former fixer, michael cohen, is set to testify before congress twice behind closed doors, but next wednesday publicly. that is also very threatening to the president. of course, he was his lawyer for quite some time. and he is now his enemy and has pledged to tell the truth about what really went on behind closed doors in trump tower. >> yep. that was on, it was on, it was off. now it's on. >> now it's on. >> publicly next wednesday. get your sleep this weekend. next week is a biggie. >> must-see tv. >> gloria, thank you so much. gloria borger in washington. our special coverage continues
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minutes from now. the cook county state's attorney will formally announce charges against r&b star r. kelly. we will be live in chicago. and speaking of chicago, another blow to "empire" star jussie smollett. dropped from the final two episodes of the season of "empire." hear what the show now has to say. have you ever worked with dr. francis? oh yeah, he's ok. just ok? guess who just got reinstated! well, not officially. nervous? yeah. yeah me too. don't worry about it, we'll figure it out. i'll see ya in there! just ok is not ok. especially when it comes to your network. at&t is america's best wireless network, according to america's biggest test. now with 5g e.
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you're watching cnn, i'm brooke baldwin. defiant and now dropped. "empire" star jussie smollett will not appear in the final two shows including the finally. the decision from 20th century fox. it is suspending his role of jamal. the show's producer saying they want, to quote, avoid further disruption on set. smollett returned to the set last evening just after being released from a chicago jail. and a source tells cnn that he apologized to his cast mates but is sticking to his story that he was the victim of a racist and homophobic attack. cnn received a statement on
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smollett's behalf last night that read the, quote, today we witnessed an organized law enforcement spectacle that has no place in the american legal system. the presumption of innocence, a bedrom in the search for justice -- bedrock in the search for justice, was trampled on at the expense plaintiff smollett and notably on the eve of an election. mr. smollett is a man of impeccable character and integrity who feels betrayed by a system that wants to skip due process and proceed directly to sentencing. with such damning evidence contradicting smollett's claims, chicago officials and community members have said that they fear other victims of hate crimes will either be met with skepticism or, worse, they will avoid going to police at all. my next guest has a powerful platform to address those fears. he is reverend jamie frasier, founder of lighthouse church in chicago. his congregants are predominantly african-american and members of the lgbtq community.
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an honor to have you on. thank you so much. >> a pleasure to be on. >> despite the evidence to the contrary, jussie smollett is still vehemently denying that he faked this attack. how are you feeling? who are your congregants saying about this? >> so in my congregation, they are feeling frustration, anger, disbelief. i mean, we're befuddled as to why this situation is unfolding in the way that it is. but i'm careful to note that there are two different courts. there's the court of public opinion and court of law. and in the court of law, jussie is guaranteed presumptive innocence. i will say this -- if it is found out that he has concocted this entire hoax, it will be sorely disappointed. and i think that he should face some accountability. i don't believe it should be jail time. i believe he should be held accountable to black queer folks, and he should expand his work of advocacy to ensure that
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real violence gets real attention. >> so that's what you'd want to see him do if and when eventually that is the truth that comes out. and you know, not only are hate crimes up around this country, reverend, but when you look at chicago -- i know you talk about this, violent targeted toward gay people, you know, african-americans is a real problem. i was reading about -- you pointed this out, but the two trans women who were murdered. those are still unsolved. and you know, lawyers i've talked to worried about that the smollett effect, right. that the other victims' claims will be met with skepticism. do you see it differently? do you see it in a positive way at all? >> well, i think because i'm a preacher of the gospel, there's always an opportunity to ring some beauty out -- wring some beauty out of ugliness and hope out of despair. the two young trans women that you referenced, i hope some good
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that can come from this situation is that more attention can be brought to their murders and that we can find out the folks who did it. the city of chicago right now in 2018 for the first six months of 2018 had a 15.4% murder clearance. i want to see them commit the same type of resources and man and woman power to that situation as they have done to unmasking this potential hoax by jussie. >> maybe this is a little bit of a preview of your message to your congregation this coming weekend. reverend jamie frazier, the community needs that and needs those words. thank you very much for that. >> my pleasure to join you. >> thank you very much, sir. i want to stay in chicago. we're getting information -- let's go to sara sidner. she has more on the r. kelly indictment as we are standing by to hear from the district attorney. go ahead. >> reporter: look, we are hearing that there is now -- not
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hearing, that there is now a warrant for his arrest, r. kelly's arrest. we know also that the state's attorney is about to have this press conference. we know that an indictment has been filed. wean that charges have been filed. we are stale waiting to find out -- we are still waiting to find out what the charges are. wean that a grand jury had been convened, had been going on since last week. there have been many witnesses that went through the grand jury, according to sources familiar with the grand jury and what has been happening there. there's a new videotape, at least one, that has been handed over to the state's attorney's office, that coming from michael avenatti who says he has several clients, four in total, involved in the r. kelly case. two of whom he calls whistle blowers. what we don't know at this hour, we should make clear, is what r. kelly is going to do, whether he is going to turn himself in or let himself be arrested by police. what we don't know is what is
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the -- the charges and whether they have anything to do with the newly uncovered videotape. we are certain that the indictment is -- has happened. and that we are going to hear from the state's attorney in a bit here. we have also heard from one of the producers of "surviving r. kelly," who has been talking with the women who spoke on that series, that series was about women who came forward saying that they had been either sexually abused or abused physically in other ways by r. kelly, and some of whom said that he had sexual relations with them when they were minors. and that is why it is called "surviving r. kelly." they believe themselves survivors of dealing with him in many different ways. and we are hearing from them, as well. some saying they just hope that this time around justice is done. and when they talk about this time around, what they are referring to is not only their stories but also the stories that happened back in 2002 when he was charged with 22 counts of
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child pornography that was then broken down to 14 counts of child pornography, and he went to trial in 2008 on those 14 counts. but he was acquitted. in that trial, there was a videotape. the videotape prosecutors said showed a girl that was 13 or 14 years old and r. kelly engaging in sex acts. the jury said that they could not positively identify r. kelly or the girl in that videotape in particular. that was one of the things why he was acquitted. we know that the new tape that has been handed over to the state's attorney's office and that has been part of this -- that the grand jury has seen as potential evidence is much clearer because we have seen it ourselves. it involves a girl who refers to her 14-year-old genitalia. but again, we do not know if that tape plays into this at this point. we do know that a grand jury was convened, and the tape certainly played into that. brooke? >> got it. hear all the noise behind you. i can only imagine the scene and the numbers of the media,
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everyone waiting to hear from the cook county state's attorney. kim fox, sara, thank you -- go ahead. >> reporter: this is huge. for chicago, even for the world, this is a major, major development because of the rumors and the accusations over the past two decades. as you imagine, this room is packed. brooke? >> i'm sure. rightfully so. thank you. i was having a conversation ago with jamilla in the docuseries "surviving r. kelly," i was asking for so many women, this has been decades in the making. i said, why do you think it's taken so long? she said, because -- because they're black. we'll talk to her on the other side of this news and get her reaction. a criminal defense attorney, when you hear sara reporting -- one piece is waiting to see if r. kelly turns himself in or waits to get arrested. can you just explain, no bail
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arrest warrant. >> you know, i've been literally attached to my phone because breaking news is coming in like every two seconds. i can't even keep up. the no-bail is not a surprise given the fact that we have such a long history of rumors, of victims coming forward and attesting to r. kelly's abuse, whether psychological, physical, sexual. court issuing a no-bail arrest warrant is essentially saying they're concerned that he's a flight risk. the fact that he has access, he's very rich, he's very fame o us on, he has access -- famous, he has access to things people don't generally have. they're saying we want to ensure that he is going to face whatever charges he is now indicted for and that he appears in court. they don't have that trust, which is precisely the reason why they don't have a bail amount. not to mention, the underlying offenses. you have someone who is potentially a child predator who could potentially harm other
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people while out on bail. they want to ensure that's something they need to protect the community from. so this is just not shocking at all. >> okay. we wait to hear from this state's attorney on this at the top of the hour. we will speak again when we hear more of the details, who, what, when, where, why. stand by for that. any moment that the cook county state's attorney formally announcing charges against r&b superstar r. kelly, stand by. we're going to take you back live to chicago. welcome to the place where people go to learn about
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just in as president trump get ready to travel to vietnam
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to hold his second summit with north korea's kim jong-un, we are getting some reporting on the u.s. demands of said summit. let's go to our anchor and chief national security correspondent jim sciutto with more on this. what are you learning? >> reporter: that's right, brooke. and that is the trump administration considering softening one of the key demands. my colleagues, colleen atwood, jeremy diamond and i, told by multiple officials that the trump administration weighing backing off an earlier demand that north korea at this second summit between trump and kim commit to make a full accounting of its nuclear capabilities, its nuclear weapons program, and its missile program, as a prerequisite for any u.s. concessions. as recently as november, the vice president mike pence called such a nuclear accounting an imperative. at this second summit, the u.s. negotiationvators have been pressing -- negotiators have been pressing north korea to do this. it's parent because you need that -- it's important because you need if you're moving to the
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next demand of denuclearizing so the u.s. knows what you would be giving up. this would be a significant change to not require that at the summit here, does not mean that the administration will not require it longer term. and an administration official yesterday told reporters that eventually they are going to need a full declaration of north korea's nuclear and missile programs. we are told the subject of some debate internally in this administration. you have some particularly on the nfc pushing the administration for a harder line, sticking to demands like this. others saying that, well, don't push too hard now, that that might bring north korea to walk away from these talks. that this is a critical juncture. we're days away from the second summit. you remember at the last summit there was a lot of questions as to why meet then without any concessions to make that meeting worthwhile, no in advance of the second summit, you were seeing the administration weighing off -- weighing backing off what
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they had said had been a key demand heading into a second summit. so that's the news we're hearing now. certainly something we're going to continue to watch as we get ready for the talks next week. >> got it again. president traveling to vietnam for the summit in a couple of days. thank you so much for the update. again, a heads-up for you watching along in chicago, the cook county state's attorney will formally announce charges against r. kelly. we will be there live and bring that to you as soon as it happens. ♪ ♪ t-mobile will do the math for you. right now, when you join t-mobile, you get two lines of unlimited with two of the latest phones included for just one hundred bucks a month.
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if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. before starting, tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures and any kidney or liver problems. learn all you can... to help protect yourself from another dvt or pe. talk to your doctor about xarelto®. welcome back. it is friday afternoon. you're watching cnn, i'm brooke baldwin. the big news about to drop in chicago, illinois. the cook county state's attorney is expected to formally announce charges against r&b singer r. kelly who has been now indicted after years of speculation, rumor, and accusations regarding underage women. and while we are waiting on that
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press conference which should happen any moment now, this is just a little bit more on how we got to where we are today. earlier this month, a grand jury was convened in cook county in connection with new allegations against the singer. that was after attorney michael avenatti said that he had given the state's attorney's office this videotape. and on this videotape, apparently it alleges that -- shows kelly having sex with a girl who refers to her private body parts as being 14 years of age. in this latest tape, it surfaced some 17 years after r. kelly was first arrested in the child pornography case that started in 2002 where he was acquitted six years later. 14 counts then of child pornography centering on this sex tape. sara sidner, we're waiting for the state's attorney to speak. i understand there is an arrest warrant and more, tell me what
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you have. >> reporter: no-bail arrest warrant. that is significant. this is a huge story both here in chicago and around the world. obviously because we are talking about someone who has been a superstar for decades, r. kelly, r&b musician, one of the most bestselling musicians in the country. we should also mention that wean that the grand jury has been going on for quite some time. that there have been several witnesses that have come in and out of the grand jury, according to sources who are familiar with what is happening inside the grand jury. and as you mentioned, there has definitely been at least one piece of alleged physical evidence that has been handed over to the state's attorney's office here. we are expecting to hear from the state's attorney, kim fox, in just a few minutes, literally the next two or three minutes. at that time we will be able to see and get a look at the charges themselves. we understand there are more than one charge, and that we are waiting to hear from r. kelly's attorney. we can tell you that initially when we reported the story that there was a grand jury.
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and that the tape did exist. that his attorney said he had no knowledge of any of it. had no knowledge and had no reason to believe that a grand jury had been convened. and that he had not been contacted by law enforcement. obviously he has now been contacted by law enforcement because there is a warrant out for his client's arrest. where we stand now is waiting for the state's attorney to reveal exactly what they are charging r. kelly with. we will also be waiting to find out if he turns himself in or if he is indeed arrested. one or the other should happen today. we should also mention that this has been -- there have been allegations and accusations against r. kelly for decades. literally decades. women who have come forward, women who have settled out of court accusing him of having sex with them when they are minors. women who have come forward just recently in the "surviving r. kelly" series, a six-hour series on lifetime that aired in january. that definitely seemed to