San Diego Mayor Under Fire
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: The saga of San Diego Mayor Bob Filner is starting to sound like 50 shades of gross. I'm Brianna Keilar and this is THE LEAD. The politics lead. As more women keep lining up to accuse Mayor Bob Filner treating the city like his own private singles bar, he decides this might be the right time to take a little break. Also, she wants her broken heart to be a lesson to others -- Trayvon Martin's mother speaking in her own words speaking for the first time since one juror said George Zimmerman got away with murder. And the national lead, he won't die for his crimes, but he will spend the rest of his life behind bars. Ariel Castro, the man who kept three women captive for a decade, talks about the demons that drove him. I'm Brianna Keilar, filling in for Jake Tapper, who is off this week. We begin with the politics lead. For the last week, woman after woman has come forward accusing San Diego Mayor Bob Filner of grabbing, groping, kissing, literally drooling on them and generally acting like a whistling, howling wolf in a Tex Avery cartoon. Just an hour ago, Mayor Filner offered apologies, but not his resignation.</s>BOB FILNER (D), MAYOR OF SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA: I apologize to my staff. I apologize to the citizens and staff members who have supported me over many years. I apologize to the people of San Diego. And most of all, I apologize to the women that I have offended. So, beginning on August 5, I will be entering a behavior consulting -- counseling clinic to undergo two weeks of intensive therapy to begin the process of addressing my behavior. During this time period, I be at the clinic full time. I must become a better person. And my hope is that becoming a better person, I put myself in a position to someday be forgiven.</s>KEILAR: That was actually from take two of Filner's statement. He had more than a little bit of trouble the first time around. The audio cut out, leaving the mayor to stand there awkwardly for minutes on end and then he decided to exit the room altogether and regroup, as the audiovisual team came in to try to fix the situation, first swapping the microphone there. No effect. Then they swapped out the podium, put in a whole new podium. Only at that point did Mayor Filner come out, read the statement from the top, nailed it. Mayor Filner's decision today came after the San Diego Democratic Party voted to urge him to step down from office. There's also a recall effort under way to drive him out. Four more women came forward yesterday accusing him of inappropriate sexual behavior, a businesswoman, a retired Navy rear admiral, the head of the port tenants association and even a dean at San Diego State University. That brings the total number of women who have gone public against Filner to seven. The four latest accusers did a group interview with KPBS, at least one saying she was on the receiving end of the now infamous Filner headlock.</s>PATTI ROSCOE, BUSINESSWOMAN: I turned and he just slobbered down my chin. And I was so violated and I was so offended.</s>ADM. VERONICA FROMAN (RET.), U.S. NAVY: And he ran his finger up my cheek like this and he whispered to me, do you have a man in your life? Then he came up and gave me a hug. And then he touched mr, U.S. groped me on my backside inappropriately.</s>JOYCE GATTAS, SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY: This is inappropriate, it unwanted and this shouldn't be happening.</s>BALDWIN: We're joined by Gloria Allred. Her client, Irene McCormack Jackson, filed a harassment lawsuit against Filner. And one of Filner's other accusers, Morgan Rose, joining me now on the phone from San Diego. Let's start with you, Morgan. I'm just wondering, from you perspective, is this enough for you, two weeks of what he's calling intensive behavior therapy?</s>MORGAN ROSE, ACCUSING FILNER OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT: Absolutely not. It is actually very insulting once again by this mayor. I'm at the truck right now. Let me see.</s>KEILAR: You know, what we're trying to set you up there in front of the camera. As you do that, we're going to bring in Gloria Allred for just a moment. Gloria, what do you think that Filner needs to do to make it right? Obviously, you would say go much further than this.</s>GLORIA ALLRED, ATTORNEY: Yes. We did file a sexual harassment lawsuit. We're the only ones to have filed a lawsuit so far on behalf of our client, Irene McCormack Jackson, on Monday and held a news conference. And I want to commend all the other women for coming forward since then. What I would say is that what I want is the mayor to resign. I think that this is a ploy to try to buy time. He has damaged many, many women if it is true that all of the allegations that these women have made and this is not about just apologizing to him. It is about the harm that he's done. He has disgraced the city of San Diego. He needs to resign and he needs to resign right now.</s>KEILAR: And obviously this is a sensitive question that I want to talk to you about, and I think a lot of people do understand why some of these women may not have come out sooner. But you look at a lot of them on paper, these are very upstanding, professional, seemingly very believable women. Why wouldn't they come out sooner do you think?</s>ALLRED: Can I only speak for my client. She was his director of communications. She was part of what he called his core team and she was trying to tough it out. But finally she couldn't tough it out anymore. And the mayor now is announcing, what, that he's getting therapy. So I ask therapy for what? Does he need help to know that you don't say to a person who is working for you such as Irene that she should come to work without her panties on? Does he need therapy to know that you don't treat women as pieces of meat? Does he need therapy to know that you don't say that you want to consummate a relationship with a woman and tell her you love her and want to marry her, as you did with Irene, who was working for him and the city? This man needs to resign. It's simple as that. Then he can get therapy after he resigns.</s>BALDWIN: Morgan, is that what you would like to see? You would like to see him resign, I imagine?</s>ROSE: Yes, absolutely I agree. He is addicted to power and control and has been for at least all of his public life. And in his very weak decision to go into therapy, he still gets his addiction. He still gets his fix of keeping the power and control. And in doing so he subjugates us once again to even see his face on television or around the city and bring up all that horrible feeling that we have when we see a state that brings back all of our experience with him, in the dehumanizing way that he treated us. This is a man addicted to power and control and he's not about to give it up and he doesn't care that we still have to suffer with him as our so-called mayor.</s>KEILAR: Morgan, talk about that. How egregious were his advances on you? How did you feel going through that process?</s>ROSE: Well, like I have said in many of the interviews, I had not been restrained by a man in 24 years. And in that moment 24 years before, I vowed I would never let that happen in my life again, and I have worked diligently to make sure that didn't. And here I was handing him the hope of America's children on the America's Angel Campaign to the Obamas and then he treats me like a piece of meat. He was entrapping me. He would not let me leave unless I kissed him, which that was not going to happen. And it brings it all back up again. And, you know, there's a saying that I might forget what you said, but I will never forget how you made me feel. None of us will ever forget. We hear his name and it all comes back to us, much less seeing his face and thinking he's in power as our mayor.</s>BALDWIN: And at this point, you have seven women who have come forward. How long did this go on for you? And do you expect that you will be seeing more women come forward?</s>ROSE: I do expect, yes, that there will be more women coming forward, because there is a catharsis to be able to say yes and to hold him accountable. Even if he resigned, I would still want to see women coming forward just to keep him feeling at some very superficial level what we feel, the humiliation, the shame, all of that, if he's capable of feeling those thing.</s>KEILAR: Certainly. Gloria Allred, a final word from you.</s>ALLRED: Yes, again, he should get therapy after he resigns. It's just absurd that the mayor at age 70 doesn't know that sexual harassment is against the law, doesn't know it's not appropriate to say to someone who works for him that he'd like her to come to work without her panties on and grabs her in a headlock, as he did with Irene, and tries to kiss, and she pushes him away, and he still continues with his sexual harassment. This is a ploy. We know what it is, we see what it is. We're not going to be fooled by it and we are going to continue with our lawsuit against him.</s>KEILAR: Gloria Allred, Morgan Rose, thank you to both of you. And when we come back, he is finally admitting to his crimes. Ariel Castro pleads guilty to over 900 charges. Now his victims are speaking out. That is next. And later Anthony Weiner keeps proving that he's his own worst enemy, but his loss is her gain. We will talk to Christine Quinn, who just leapt over him in the polls.