this is "nightline." tonight, sounding the alarm. the real-life scary scene for actress anna faris. >> we need a medic to respond. >> her close call with carbon monoxide poisoning, plus, where there is smoke, there is fire. >> literally day and night, survival and death. >> the new dangers that could be lurking in your living room. plus, for the defense. harvey weinstein preparing to stand trial for sexual assault and rape, facing a possible life sentence. now one on one with his lawyer, how she's going to make her case. >> you're currently defending

what many would regard at most-hated man in america. but first the "nightline" five.

good evening. thank you for joining us. a holiday vacation quickly turned into a nightmare for actress anna farris. she and her family thankful to

be alive after a scare with carbon monoxide, a scare that could have been fatal. the reason this season is especially dangerous. >> reporter: the snow-capped mountains of lake tahoe, california, an idyllic backdrop for a get away. it was just that for ana farris, celebrating thanksgiving with a dozen family members in a vacation rental home until a silent killer crept in. >> we need a medic to respond. >> reporter: on thanksgiving day, some of farris' group began to feel eel, suspecting altitude sickness. they go to the hospital diagnosed with something far more dangerous. carbon monoxide poisoning, everyone still in the house was ordered to get out immediately. >> it's miraculous that everyone walked away from this incident without significant injury many. >> reporter: the carbon monoxide levels were six times higher

than normal. >> the level where you're not going to feel very good and if you fall asleep you're probably not going to wake up. >> reporter: the actress tweeting, i'm not quite sure how to express gratitude to the lake tahoe fire department. it's a stupidly traumatic story, but i'm feeling very fortunate. >> it is often called the invisible killer because you can't see it, smell it or taste it. >> reporter: the danger of carbon monoxide poisoning while traveling is something jamie williams knows all too well. >> you can't assume that the place that you're staying in has been protected with a carbon monoxide alarm. >> reporter: back in 2013, she and her 11-year-old son jeffrey checked into room 225 at the best western in boone, north carolina. but that particular room had a deadly secret. >> my last vision i have of him is just sitting on the edge of the bed. >> reporter: sometime in the

night jeannie wakes up feeling sick. she crawls to the bathroom and realizes she has to call 911, but her phone is in the other room. >> i remember trying to get to the door and i couldn't. and that's last thing i remember. >> reporter: the next morning a hotel employee discovers the mother and son. >> two bodies. and i need some help up here, now. >> the next thing i remember is is waking up in the hospital room. i couldn't talk. i guess that was from being in a coma. >> reporter: her husband has testify stati devastating news. their beloved son jeffrey has died. but unbelievably, jeffery wasn't the first victim of that room at that very best western. >> i said if i'm not mistaken, that's the same room we had the last call at. >> reporter: he was the first reonder just as he had been seven weeks earlier. >> i just got in the room. there's two people, neither one

are breathing. >> neither are breathing? >> no, ma'am. >> a retired couple from washington state had tied from carbon monoxide poisoning in the same hotel room. another near tragedy just days after the jenkins' death. the zelinsky family checked into the room above to celebrate a birthday party with a sleepover and pool party. >> all the girls were sick, falling off like flies. >> reporter: she complained to the front desk. >> my name was written on a yellow sticky note and i was told the manager would be told. >> reporter: but the company who owns the hotel swears they were never told. you were not informed by your employees that people had gotten sick in the room right above 225? >> i was not. >> reporter: it was only after the third incident that first responders finally discovered the toxic source. the pole heater's exhaust pipe was designed to conduct the sar

bon monoxide safely outside, but hidden under a drop ceiling directly under 225, state investigators find the pipe is busted, full of holes, propped up by a vhs cassette tape and ad bucket, spewing poison gas into the rooms above. they never mentioned carbon monoxide. in 2016, the hotel management company pled guilty to three counts of involuntary manslaughter. the hotel in boone, north carolina is is now under new ownership. incredibly, only 15 states have laws or regulations requiring carbon monoxide terkdeterminate hotels. >> had i known six years ago they weren't required in hotels i would have had one. >> reporter: of course another source of carbon monoxide, fire. >> there's always more fires during the winter holidays

because of increase use of candles, heating. the major causes of fires ramp up at this time of year. >> reporter: how fast a fire can overtake a home is evident in this demonstration we did at the delaware county training center outside philadelphia. with the help of ul, the company that sets the safety standards for smoke alarms we constructed a house and lit it on fire. everything in this room is synthetic, made out of oil. 30, 40 years ago everything might have been naturally made. now it is going to be much more flammable. back nat day you had about 17 minutes to get out. now you have 3. >> reporter: within minutes the temperature hits 400 degrees. the air unbreathable. the lower you are the cooler and cleaner the air is. i'm walking out of here on my knees. >> reporter: one of the bedrooms in the house has the door closed, smoke only coming to the room at the top edge of the

door. >> first thing to do, touch the door, is it hot in is the handle hot? if it is, do not, do not open this door. teddy bear, pillow, anything that might alert someone you're here, throw that out dough, clo window. >> reporter: outside you can see the difference between the bedroom that had the door closed and the one that did not. if. >> it's literally day and night survival and death. >> you want to have working smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms throughout your home. every level of the home. inside and outside of the sleeping rooms. >> reporter: jeannie williams started a foundation to honor her son jeffrey. today she's getting ready for an annual fundraiser, a brick-building contest, something jeffrey loved to do. >> it's just a fun way to celebrate jeffrey's light. >> reporter: they donate the money to fire departments so

they can purchase car bobon monoxide detectors to give them out for free to communities. >> you don't want somebody to go through that when it's preventible. >> reporter: for "nightline," matt gutman in philadelphia. our thanks to matt. up next, the woman behind harvey weinstein's defense. with sprays and wipes can be a struggle. there's an easier way. try mr. clean magic eraser. just wet, squeeze and erase tough messes like bathtub soap scum... and caked-on grease from oven doors. now mr. clean magic eraser comes in disposable sheets. they're perfect for icky messes on stovetops... in microwaves... and all over the house. for an amazing clean, try mr. clean magic eraser, and mr. clean magic eraser sheets. we need a solution.ut their phones down. introducing... smartdogs. the first dogs trained to train humans. stopping drivers from: liking.

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once a hollywood titan, now a pariah, harvey weinstein goes to trial for sexual assault and

rape. now his attorney shares her strategy with amy robach. >> reporter: it's been two years since the start of harvey weinstein's highly-publicized downfall. he has been accused by 80 women of sexual misconduct. more than a dozen of whom allege rape. >> literally a nightmare, and i'll never be the same. >> reporter: once a hollywood king maker. >> i would like to thank harvey weinstein. >> thank you for killing whoever you had to kill to get me up here today. >> reporter: now cast out in disgrace. >> the biggest scandal in hollywood in years. >> reporter: the flood of allegation cat p p p p too movement. he will stand trial for five felony charges and this morning was in court on a bail hearing. weinstein faces a possible sentence of life in prison if

convicted. he has pled not guilty and consistently denied any allegation of non-consensual sex with anyone. by his side, the attorney who will try to convince the jury and the world of his innocence. do you think he wanted you because you're a woman? >> i'm absolutely certain that was part of it. >> reporter: you're currently teefdi tee defending what many would regard as the most-hated man in america. why are you defending him in. >> number one, harvey has a right to a defense. i am not the moral police on harvey weinstein. that's not my job. it's not the jury's job either, if they really look at the evidence that's going to be presented to them, i think they're going to find him not guilty. >> maybe the most important thing for donna is picking a jury. she's going to have to find people who can evaluate the evidence objectively. and with a guy as unpopular as harvey weinstein, that's not

ease easy. >> reporter: robert boyce led the investigation. >> i think the overwhelming detail, given by these ladies will convict him of what they said he did. >> reporter: the trial will examine the allegation of two women. mimi, who says weinstein forced himself on her in 2006 when she was working as a production assistant. >> women have the right to say no. and that was a no. >> reporter: and an unidentify woman who alleges weinstein raped her in a hotel room in 2013. she will cite apparently friendly e-mails that these women engaged in. in always friendly. sometimes romantic. it would be any reasonable person to think that the claims are untrue. >> there are plenty of experts out there who say it's fairly well documented that a lot of times when women are assaulted will communicate with the person

they accuse because they're trying to normalize something traumatic that happened to them, and that this isn't unexpected behavior. >> there are some doctors that will say that. we will discredit the fact that there no research to, to prove that. >> reporter: so you don't believe that that's the case. >> i don't. >> reporter: in a statement, her attorney said once the jury understands the context, they will understand why they were september a sent and communication after an assault does not mean no assault took place. >> you will see time and again victims will maintain some kind of relationship with the person who committed the crime against them. >> reporter: many of the 80-plus women have cited things beyond the statute of limitations. >> the m.o. is eerily similar. you have harvey weinstein in a bathrobe with the promise of a career boost or asking for a

massage. >> going to a hotel room and having someone ask you if they'll give you a massage is not rape, not sexual assault and it's really not even sexual harassment. people have a right to make a pass, and you have a right to say no thank you. >> reporter: if you go out on a date -- >> but you're not in a position of power when someone wants something from you. >> reporter: but it doesn't necessary mean you want to give harvey weinstein a massage or see his naked body. >> there are many things that lead up to that point. and those are the things they don't want to say when they come forward and make these claims. in when someone in a position of power over someone else's career makes the pass with the either explicit or career. >> reporter: do you think it's inappropriate for a boss to show up in a hotel room with a robe on and ask for a massage? >> i don't, but someone you work for is a different story than

someone you want to work for. >> reporter: some of the women who directly worked for him say they experienced that exact situation. some of those situations did lead to an assault, according to them. >> if you want to give me names, i can't comment on generalities. >> reporter: rowena chew. she alleged that he attacked her in a hotel room at the venice film festival in 1998. she says she left mere max shoort shortly after and had suicidal thoughts and difficulty finding work. >> she's violating that nda by coming out and talking. i teepts thidon't think it's ap for me to talk about it. >> reporter: ndas are why women remain silent. >> if i thought i was in a position where someone was asking me to sign an nda and i thought the better thing to do would be to go out and talk about it or report it that would be a choice i would make.

>> there's no doubt all these ndas protected harvey weinstein from being, posed earlier from being a serial offender in some way or form. >> reporter: three others will testify as prior bad acts witnesses to show that weinstein demonstrated patterns in his behavior, among them, actress annabella. >> she says he shoved her onto the bed, locked her arms over her head and raped her while she kicked and screamed. >> annabella has told so many different stories. her first line of conversation was that absolutely nothing ever happened with harvey, then it evolved and the story kept changing. >> reporter: she says the chances of charging him would change her life. there was real intimidation going on. >> did they feel intimidated or were they more concerned about

what could potentially happen to them? and were they willing to play a game that they decided they weren't willing to play? >> reporter: in a statement, floor ye gloria allred said she will testify under oath and the jury will understand. her focus is on her client. do you think he's sorry for his sins sins? >> i do think he has a level of remorse for the devastation that even these allegation themselves have caused. >> reporter: some people might say he's sorry he got called out or caught. >> i think if that were the case i don't think he would work on himself to the point that he is working on himself. he went to rehab. >> reporter: for sex addiction in. >> he went to rehab, therapists. >> reporter: you have people say here you have a woman representing harvey weinstein, have you been accused of being a

traitor to your own gender? >> there are circumstances where women don't want to take certain responsibilities for their action, we infantlize our is selves. when you make certain choices there's a risk when you make those choices. >> reporter: there are a lot of people who would say that's victim blaming. >> if you don't want to be a victim, don't go to the hotel room, don't sign an nda, go out on fifth avenue, take a mega phone and talk about what you want to talk about. >> to suggest it is the alleged victims' faults for showing up where he asked for the meeting to occur seems like a stretch. blaming victims who've agreed to settlements with someone for not going out and talking about it is absurd. >> reporter: do you ever worry that maybe you'll be on the wrong side of history on this one one? >> no. and i think what i worry about is the outcome for him.

i don't worry about the outcome for me. >> our thanks to amy. coming up next, a heartwarming rescue at sea. we call it the mother standard of care. it's something we take personally, and believe in passionately. it's the idea that if our mothers were diagnosed with cancer, how would we want them to be treated? that's exactly how we care for you. with answers and actions. to hear your concerns, quiet your fears, lift your spirits. with teams of cancer experts and specialists, delivering advanced treatment options and compassionate support every step of the way. all here in one place, with one purpose. to fight your cancer, together. that's the mother standard of care. this is how we inspire hope.

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