Jussie Smollett in Hot Water over Alleged Attack
DON LEMON, CNN HOST: See you tomorrow. Hopefully, I'll see you tomorrow, take care. This is CNN TONIGHT. I'm Don Lemon. Listen, I just want to talk about these stunning developments tonight in the Jussie Smollett story. The story that everyone is talking about. And I know people have been wondering, what I had to say about it but here it is. So everybody gather around the television set. The 'Empire' star, that's who he is, Jussie Smollett who claimed that he was the victim of a racist homophobic attack in Chicago on January 29th, he is now being charged with disorderly conduct. Specifically, they say the filing is for filing a false police report. That's a class-four felony. That is according to the state attorney's office. OK? So, detectives are working on negotiating what they call a reasonable surrender for his arrest. Here's what we know. When they do that, what that means is they're trying to get him back to Chicago so that they can arrest him, which will no doubt happen and probably tomorrow. OK? If not tonight. This is what we know. It was the early morning hours of January 29th. Smollett had just gotten back to Chicago, posting on Instagram that he had just spent seven hours on a plane for a flight that was supposed to take only two hours. He told the police that as he was walking back from a sandwich shop, the subway sandwich shop, that two men attacked him, putting a rope around his neck and, quote, "yelling out racial and homophobic slurs and pouring an unknown chemical substance on him." This was all in the Steeleville neighborhood where he had been staying. I know that neighborhood very well. I worked there for three years at the NBC tower in Steeleville. So, I know it very, very, very well. In a supplemental interview with authorities, Smollett confirmed what he had already been - what had already been reported in the media, claiming that one of the attackers also shouted "this is MAGA country." In those early morning hours of the 29th, Smollett took himself to Northwestern Memorial Hospital with a friend. And as you may know, Jussie is gay, and since 2015, he has played a gay character, Jamal Lyons, on "Empire". So, it's a little bit personal for me, and I'll tell you why, because that's when I met him. I was asked to come on the show, play myself in a little cameo. I got -- he introduced himself, and he said, you know, I'm a big fan. You know, I love your work. It's good to have you here on the set, very nice guy. We chatted for a couple times after that. I saw him maybe when he came to New York a couple times. I know him, not best friends, but I do know him. So, I spoke to him while he was at the hospital. His friend who was there texted me in the middle of the night and said, hey, this happened to Jussie. I called a friend. The friend happened to be there, and he said, Jussie is here. Here's the phone. So, he told me in his own words what he said happened. But I've also got to tell you, to be quite honest, that a lot of people, including people in the community, people of color and gay people, had questions about this from the very beginning, the veracity of this story A lot of people were reasonably skeptical about Jussie's story. Some of the details just didn't seem to make sense. And as we always say around here, facts first. But the facts raised a lot of questions. Police told CNN that authorities had video of Smollett entering the Loews of Chicago after the alleged attack, and he still had what appeared to be a noose around his neck. Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said Smollett told detectives that the two men who he said attacked him yelled "Empire" and a slur against gay people and "Empire" n-word. And then there's the letter. On January 22nd, a week before the alleged attack, what appeared to be a threatening letter containing a white powder was received at Cinespace Studios in Chicago. That's where "Empire" is filmed. CNN has obtained a copy of that letter, last week, shared by a person close to Jussie Smollett. It included a message apparently cut from magazine clippings and a stick figure drawing which Jussie describe to ABC News as a stick figure hanging from a tree which had a gun pointing towards it. The letter was addressed to Jussie including -- and included MAGA on the outside of the envelope in place of the return address. Authorities determined the powder was aspirin but declined to give details on the content of the letter and said the FBI was leading the investigation into it, the FBI. That's trouble. Police said they received what they call limited and redacted phone records from Smollett. All of that raises, honestly, so many questions. As I said, there were credible reasons to be skeptical of this, and there were a lot of people who were. Who's going to be out in the frigid cold streets of Chicago in the middle of the night looking for an "Empire" star? You've got to be bundled up in that kind of cold. How would they even know it's you? And let's be honest. There are probably not a whole lot of MAGA fans watching "Empire," and that letter, it looks like something out of a bad movie. Why not just hand over your phone to police? Yes, there will be things on your phone that you want to keep private. But if there are also things that prove your story, isn't it worth the handover? Officer, I have personal things on here I don't want people to see. I'm trusting you, but I want these guys to be caught, so here is my phone. The details just didn't seem to add up. Jussie went on with Robin Roberts last week.</s>ROBIN ROBERTS, ANCHOR, ABC NEWS: What other ones had you heard that were inaccurate?</s>JUSSIE SMOLLETT, ACTOR: That I had said that they were wearing MAGA hats. I never said that. I didn't need to add anything like that. They called me a (muted). They called me (muted). There's no which way you cut it. I don't need some MAGA hat as the cherry on top of some racist sundae.</s>LEMON: You know what? He didn't need some MAGA hat on top of all of that. If even half or less happened the way he said it, it's bad enough. We shouldn't forget innocent until proven guilty, of course. Innocent until proven guilty. But like I said, a lot of this doesn't add up. And if Jussie's story isn't true, he squandered the goodwill of a whole lot of people. He even lied to a lot of people if it's not true, including me, and that's not cool. He squandered the goodwill of very high-profile people who may one day be running this country like Kamala Harris and Cory Booker, and people like President Trump.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want to ask you about Jussie Smollett. Have you heard about that story, the actor from "Empire" who was allegedly attacked with racist and homophobic --</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: That I can tell you is horrible. I've seen it last night. I think that's horrible. It doesn't get worse as far as I'm concerned.</s>LEMON: Like I said, there were questions about Jussie's story from the very beginning, questions he still needs to answer. Innocent until proven guilty, but a whole lot of people want to hear from him. What happened, Jussie? Nick Watt is live with us from Chicago. Nick, you can fill us in on what's going on right now. Good evening to you. A huge turn of events tonight. Tell us about the charges against Jussie Smollett.</s>NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, yes, indeed. The last few hours have been a roller coaster. Now we are standing outside this police station because the police hope that Jussie Smollett will turn himself in. They actually don't know where he is right now, but they would like him to turn himself in. There's a bond hearing that we expect to happen tomorrow about 1.30 Central Time. Now, the charges against him, felony class-four disorderly conduct for filing a false police report. Now, the sentencing guidelines for that, although it's a little bit too early to be talking in those terms, the guidelines are one to three years in prison or a fine. But as I say, we are very early. And Jussie Smollett's lawyers reached out to us tonight, and they are still protesting his innocence, pointing to holes in the case, saying that they will mount a thorough defense. Don.</s>LEMON: That's what you're hearing from his lawyers. Are you hearing anything from Smollett?</s>WATT: No. And, listen, you know, part of the issue that the police have been having over the past few days is that Jussie Smollett has not really been cooperating with them. You know, since Friday night, Saturday morning, they've been asking Smollett to come in and talk to them. Now, the police just told my colleague, our colleague, Ryan Young, just a little while ago that they had a meeting arranged this morning. They thought Smollett was going to show up with his lawyers. The actor did not show up. The lawyers did show up, and that is when the authorities decided to go the grand jury route. So those two brothers, those two men who were arrested last week as suspects in this attack and then released, they went before the grand jury. And as their lawyer explained to us afterwards, she said they decided to man up and correct this story. And she said that Jussie Smollett paid those two men to stage the attack. Now, we've also obtained some video just this evening of those two men in a beauty store here in Chicago buying the clothes just the day before the attack, buying the clothes that they wore in that attack. And the owner of that store told us that the police were there Friday investigating. Now, you know, that lawyer also told us that those two brothers did not cut a deal. They do not have immunity, but that Jussie Smollett paid them to stage this attack. Don.</s>LEMON: So, I understand, correct me if I'm wrong, the next thing there is, he turns himself in, and then there's a bond hearing. What's next?</s>WATT: Yes. There's a bond hearing, and as I said, I'm actually going to read you the full statement we got from the lawyers because they are saying -- so, this is from the lawyers. "Like any other citizen, Mr. Smollett enjoys the presumption of innocence, particularly when there has been an investigation like this one where information both true and false has been repeatedly leaked. Given these circumstances, we intend to conduct a thorough investigation and to mount an aggressive defense." But as you alluded to in the lead-in, Don, you know, the fallout from this is really just beginning.</s>LEMON: It's just -- we have only seen the very beginning of a very huge and massive avalanche. Nick Watt, thank you so much. A lot more to talk about on this Jussie Smollett story. Just minutes away. You don't want to turn the channel. We'll be right back.