Cook County State's Attorney to Formally Announce Charges Against R. Kelly; 20th Century Fox Says Smollett Won't Appearing in Final 2 Episodes of "Empire"
BALDWIN: We're back. 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 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 bedrock in the search for justice, was trampled on at the expense plaintiff, Smollett, and notably on the eve of a mayoral 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 Frazier, founder of Lighthouse Church in Chicago. His congregants are predominantly African-American and members of the LGBTQ community. Reverend, an honor to have you on. Thank you so much.</s>REV. JAMIE FRAZIER, FOUNDER, LIGHTHOUSE CHURCH, CHICAGO: A pleasure to be on.</s>BALDWIN: 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?</s>FRAZIER: 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 real violence gets real attention.</s>BALDWIN: 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 transwomen 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?</s>FRAZIER: 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 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 percent 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.</s>BALDWIN: 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.</s>FRAZIER: My pleasure to join you.</s>BALDWIN: 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 well as we are standing by to hear from the district attorney. Go ahead, Sara, what do you know?</s>SARA SIDNER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Look, we are hearing that there's now -- not hearing, that there's 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. We heard 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 whistleblowers. 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 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 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?</s>BALDWIN: Got it. Hear all the noise behind you. I can only imagine the scene and the numbers of the media, everyone waiting to hear from the Cook County state's attorney, Kim Fox. Sara, thank you -</s>BALDWIN: No, go ahead.</s>SIDNER: 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?</s>BALDWIN: I'm sure. Rightfully so. Sara, thank you. I was having a conversation ago with Jamilla (ph) in the docu-series "Surviving R. Kelly." I was asking her, 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 Jamilla (ph) on the other side of this news and get her reaction. Is 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 arrest warrant?</s>YODIT TEWOLDE, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: You know, Brooke, 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 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 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.</s>BALDWIN: OK. We wait to hear from this state's attorney on this at the top of the hour. Yodit, you and I will speak again when we hear more of the details, who, what, when, where, why. Stand by for that. Any moment, 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.