now i want to bring in daisy coleman and her mother. y but also joining them tonight is paige. she was with daisy that night and also the victim of sexual assault. her attacker was a different boy. he was prosecuted in juvenile court. she joins us here along with her mother. thanks very much to both of you. i appreciate you taking the time. daisy i know we spoke last night. there's been a big development. the lieutenant governor of your state now calling for a grand jury to determine whether a criminal charge should be filed now in your case and something you told me you hoped would happen and here's what he said. he said since sunday i've read with growing disnay media accounts of the daisy coleman case. the appalling facts and the public record shock the conscience and cry out that responsible authorities must take another look. daisy, this is the highest levels of your state government now involved. how does that make you feel? >> i feel great once i found out we were all standing in the hallway and we all jumped up and excited and hu

that's the last daisy coleman remembers about that night. orning, daisy was found outside her front door with no socks, shoes or coat despite freezing temperatures. her mother gave her a bath and noticed sexual signs. they had found his sister drunk at a party and brought her home and dropped her off. the goal was to keep anybody from finding out they had sex. the football player, from a prominent political family was arrested and charged with sexual assault. his friend was charged with recording the incident on an iphone. but about two months later, all the charges were dropped except for a misdemeanor, endangering the life of a child by leaving daisy out in the cold. the prosecuting attorney was ready to prosecute, but both the victim and her family refused to cooperate. >> the only people's stories that have been inconsistent throughout this whole thing are the colemans, the victims in this case. and i don't know why that is, but it is. >> reporter: those claims don't add up according to melinda coleman. there were threats made against her

did daisy coleman deserve justice? lutely." >> reporter: the sheriff's office arrested the then 17- year-old high school senior, matthew barnett and two of his friends in january 2012. for allegedly sexually assaulting daisy and her friend, paige bourland. but prosecuting attorney robert rice dropped the charges against barnett. citing "insufficient evidence". in a statement, he says the victims "refused to cooperate" and wouldn't agree to testify. >> "that's a lie. why would he say that? >> "i don't know. we thought we had done everything, he never said anything else. nobody even asked us for anything else." >> reporter: daisy's mother says it was rice who wanted them to plead the fifth and leave town. >> "we did not refuse to testify with the felony case. we absolutely did not." >> reporter: daisy's family believes the prosecutor was pressured into dropping the charges. because of the suspect's political and social status. barnett's lawyer released a statement saying while his client admits the sexual encounter with d

hundreds are gathered in the streets of maryville, for daisy coleman.was raped by a 17-year-old high school senior who plied her with alcohol. the county prosecutor dropped the charges citing a lack of evidence. pfls nearly two years ago. now a special prosecutor is looking at the case. kyung lah in maryville. >> reporter: the national media dedescribing on maryville. first physical gathering for protesters after social media fervor driven by online activist group anonymous under the hash tag, justice for daisy. >> this is a grassroots effort. there have been people throughout the entire nation that have been working to try to final some kind of solution in some way to help. that makes a difference. >> reporter: protester are energized. now that the teen rape case is being reopened. national pressure, it promised local politics would play no part. >> our review of this case would be without fear and without favor. >> key words for daisy coleman. just 14 years old. when she and a 13-year-old friend say they were raped by two high school boys after a nigh

. >> reporter: daisy coleman and her mother say it's a small victory to have their case re-opened. >> court to appoint a special prosecuting attorney to conduct an independent review of the facts and determine whether to refile charges. >> reporter: for the first time the man at the zr of the controversial case is speaking out. prosecutor robert rice under fire after dropping charges in the alleged sexually assault of daisy coleman. now asking for a separate review of the case, he stands by his actions claiming daisy and her friend paige, another alleged victim, refused to testify. >> i can't go into their minds. i don't know. ma'am, i can tell you we were very careful and deliberty to make sure we were recording that there was no misunderstanding that when they at that time invoked their fifth amendment right was going to force the dismissal of the case. >> reporter: the coleman family believes they dropped the charges not due to lack of evidence, but because of barnett's deep-rooted ties to the communities. >> i think it was football player and had lots of power and connection and w

. >> reporter: alleged sexual assault victim daisy coleman and her mother say it's a small victory toave their case reopened. >> i've asked the court to point a special prosecuting attorney to conduct an independent review of the facts and determine whether to refile charges. >> reporter: for the first time, the man at the center of a controversial case is speaking out. prosecutor robert rice under fire after dropping charges in the alleged sexual assault of 14-year-old daisy coleman. while now asking for a separate review of the case, he stands by his actions claiming daisy and her friend paige, another alleged victim, refused to testify. >> i can't go into their minds. i don't know. i can just tell you this, we were very careful, very deliberate to make sure that we recorded that there was no misunderstanding that they understood by when they, at that time, invoked their fifth amendment right that by doing so was going to force the dismissal of the case. >> reporter: the coleman family believes rice dropped the charges against 17-year-old m j matthew barnett not because of lack of e

daisy coleman and her family moved out of maryville after this all happened.o quickly they never even sold their house. now they never will. because this what is happened to it. fire burned it down. the fire department says it has not determined a cause. but the family was and is suspicious. for now, daisy is in a new school and doing much better, she says. her mother and paige's mother are still hoping that someday they see justice. >> she is my hero. >> how does it feel to hear your mom say something like that? >> feels really good. >> gary tuchman joins me now from maryville, missouri. gary, now the lieutenant governor asked for the case to be reopened. could that actually happen? >> reporter: it could happen, anderson. it's a very unusual thing for a lieutenant governor of governor to get involved. lieutenant governor peter kinder can't do this by himself. but the fact that he's called for it is very symbolic. he's basically saying to the attorney general and to the prosecuting attorney here, it's a good idea. let's get it before a grand jury in this count

daisy coleman and her family moved out of maryville after this all happened.ickly they never even sold their house. now they never will. because this what is happened to it. fire burned it down. the fire department says it has not determined a cause. but the family was and is suspicious. for now, daisy is in a new school and doing much better, she says. her mother and paige's mother are still hoping that someday they see justice. >> she is my hero. >> how does it feel to hear your mom say something like that? >> feels really good. >> gary tuchman joins me now from maryville, missouri. gary, now the lieutenant governor asked for the case to be reopened. could that actually happen? >> reporter: it could happen, anderson. it's a very unusual thing for a lieutenant governor of governor to get involved. lieutenant governor peter kinder can't do this by himself. but the fact that he's called for it is very symbolic. he's basically saying to the attorney general and to the prosecuting attorney here, it's a good idea. let's get it before a grand jury in this county. i

nearly two years ago a fourteen year old cheerleader named daisy coleman was allegedly raped by seventeen year old matthew barnett and left to freeze to death outside of her house and married film. it's a tale we've heard far too often star football player rapes young student in the town ends up blaming the victim resulting in no consequences for the perpetrator oh and did i mention that the alleged rapist is also the grandson of a missouri congressman but this story gets even more dark. after being ridiculed suspended from the chair live in swat and forced out of town daisy came home to her house suspiciously burned to the ground so why are we hearing about this tragedy now two years later after prosecutors dropped the charges against the hacktivist group anonymous revive the case and started online campaign to put pressure on marriage bills government and just today hundreds of residents gather to show solidarity and demand justice for daisy so to talk more about anonymous his role in all of this i was joined earlier by our team web producer and you're blake and i first asked him why an

. >> these charred remains are all that is left of the house where daisy coleman and her family used to live in the small town of maryville, missouri. her ordeal started two years ago when she was a 14-year-old freshman cheerleader. she and a 13-year-old friend were having a sleepover at the house that is now a pile of ashes. >> i began texting this boy on the football team and he asked if i wanted to hang out with him. >> daisy says she went to the home of 17-year-old high school football player matthew barnett. a party was going on in the basement with other student athletes. >> i remember sitting on the couch in the basement living room and them handing me a tall clear glass and that's all i remember. >> daisy's mom found her the next morning laying in the front yard. she couldn't walk or talk and was dressed only in a t-shirt and sweat pants. no shoes or socks. the temperature outside was 22 degrees. daisy's hair was frozen to her head. barnett was charged with sexual assault but it was daisy who was ostracized when she returned to school. one student tweeted that's what you get

. >> reporter: page parker sat beside her friend daisy coleman and their moms. daisy is the cheerleader who says their family was run out of town and the home burned to the ground after she accused a high school football star of rape. page says she was raped by another student athlete. she saw daisy moments after the assaults were over. >> she was completely incoherent. she couldn't walk, couldn't talk. just was babbling like a baby. >> reporter: daisy says she was given something to drink and doesn't remember what happened next. but page says she remembers everything. telling us the athletes carried her friend to a car and drove the girls back today single digits' house. >> they dropped her off in the yard. and told me to go inside, that it was going to be okay. sha she just needed to sober up. >> reporter: these two high school athletes were arrested for sexually assaulting the girl bus charges were dropped two months later. matthew barnett, the line backer accused of attacking daisy comes from a prominent political family. he is the grandson of rex barnett, on

daisy coleman was just 14 years old when she believes she was raped. >> i did blame myself and felt guiltyhappened to my friend also. i felt like she was my little sister at the time and i blamed myself for everything that happened that night. >> reporter: daisy was at home with her 13-year-old friend paige for a sleepover to watch scary movies. but she admits. >> that night we started drinking some and i started texting a boy on the football team, matt and he agreed to pick me up at my house. so me and paige snuck out of my window around 1:00 a.m. >> it didn't seem like a situation where kids drank too much and got carried away. they came with a plan. they picked the girls up from the house and drove them three miles to their house. they accomplished a lot of damage in less than an hour and had them back in my yard in 55 minutes. >> reporter: the sheriff department records show that matthew barnett, who was 17 at the time, and his 15-year-old friend admitted to having sex with the girls but both claim it was consensual. a third boy captured it on video. robin says that her daughter is sti

last year two boys were charged for sexually assaulting 14-year-old daisy coleman and her younger men. the charges were dropped. now a special prosecutor has been called to reopen the case. jonathan martin is in maryville with more. >> maryville, missouri, a down of 12,000 people is in the national spotlight as several hundred demonstrators rally with daisy, supporting daisy coleman, and her friend page. the two girls claim they were sexually assaulted in 2012. the charges were dropped by local authorities. >> all the evidence was there. they turned their back on her. >> the girls, one 14, the other 13 at the time, say they were raped by two classmates, a 16 and 17-year-old boy. a third teen is accused of recording the incident on a cell phone. >> the girls and their families sha they endured -- say they endured bullying and harassment by some in the town after coming forward. >> i want to know the truth. i don't care which side it's on. we want justice. >> the local prosecutor dropped the charges saying there was insufficient evidence and the victims refused to cooperate. >> this cas

but daisy coleman is not backing down. she'll talk to us about her latest quest for justice and what life has been like at the center of the media storm. good afternoon, everyone. welcome to "the lead." i'm jake tapper. we begin with the national lead and breaking news out of nevada, where panicked parents rushed to the scene of another deadly school shooting, this time at a middle school in sparks near reno, nevada. details have been slow to come in but we do know a staff member at the school was killed and the suspected gunman who has been described as a student also turned the gun on himself. joining us by phone is lieutenant eric thomas with the sparks police department. lieutenant thomas, thanks for being with us. can you tell us any more about how this went down? >> about 7:16 a.m., our time here, our dispatch center started receiving phone calls about numerous shots being fired at the sparks middle school. our officers responded to the scene and requested assistance from other agencies also in the county, including

. >> reporter: the tape medical ain't coleman says will prove her daughter daisy's case. audio recordings of her conversations with prosecutor robert rice who at the time did not know he was being taped. >> i don't know what's going on but somebody is not telling the truthful. >> reporter: coleman said she began taping her conversations with rice in may 2012. about two months after he dropped felony charges against high school senior matt barnett for the alleged sexual assault of 14-year-old daisy coleman. barnett has admitted to having sex with her but he says it was consensual. coleman provided the recordings to cnn because she says she and her daughter did cooperate with authorities. something rice go contests. in fact, rice said they needed the fifth in a deposition and understood the entire case would therefore be dismissed. but coleman tells outfront, that's not exactly what happened. >> when they asked to us plead the fifth, that was well after all the felony charges were dropped. the felony charges were dropped march 13th. they didn't approach us about pleading the

daisy said it was rape. police quickly filed sexual assault and child endangerment charges but within weeks the charges were dropped. prosecutor robert rice cited not enough evidence and the colemans' refusal to cooperate. melinda believes it was a favor since barnett's grandfather was a police officer and politician. this week the kansas city star published the seven-month investigation into daisy's story. after outcry online, rice defended himself but called for a special investigator to again review the facts. >> i stand by my choice based on the evidence that i had and what transpired during the investigation. and everything that happened after a ward. >> reporter: the past two years haven't been easy for the colemans. daisy was bullied online and at school and attempted suicide twice. melinda was fired. last august they moved to a town 45 minutes away. this spring the home they owned in maryville mysteriously burned down, the cause unclear. will you get justice? >> i don't know if we'll get everything that i feel we need or we want. but just the start is really good. >> reporter: do you think he should go to jail? >> i think he should. >> reporter: matthew barnett is now in c

. >> daisy coleman claims she was a victim of rape.t outside drunk on her mother's doorstep after the assault. three boys were arrested, a juvenile and two older high school students charged in an adult court. matt barnett faced a sexual assault charge and misdemeanour for endangering the wellbeing of a child. >> the prosecuting attorney dropped charges, citing insufficient evidence. one boy admitted to recording the video. the sheriff says video was not found and the victims refused to cooperate. that's why the case fell apart. >> i disagree with what they are saying. he never gave us a reason at the time. the prosecutor did not give us a reason at the time as to why he dropped the charges. as a matter of fact he didn't tell us he dropped the felony charges. unreasonable. >> page parker says she's home schooled, claiming she endured incident. >> it was heart breaking. it made you want to hide and not say any more, made you want to backdown. i knew that i couldn't back down and that something had to be done. it is one of the worst feel

. >>> hundreds in maryville, missouri, are demanding justice for daisy coleman, the girl who said shewas raped by a high school senior at age 14. a special prosecutor is take a special look at the case. >> reporter: the national media, descending on maryville. first physical gathering after social media fervor, drink by online activist group, anonymous, under the hash tag, justice for daisy. >> there have been people trying to find some kind of solution and some way to help. and that maybes a difference. >> reporter: protestors are organized and energized, now that this case has been reopened. they promised local politics in connection would play no part in the new investigation. >> our review of this case will be without fear and without favor. >> reporter: key words for daisy coleman, just 14 years old, when she and a 13-year-old friend say they were raped by two high school boys after a night of drinking. >> yes. there was, i believe, a crime that occurred. >> reporter: sheriff darren white arrested the accused boys, but local prosciewrlts, robert rice, dropped the charges. why? he

that rattled the small town of maryville, missouri, is now getting a second look. 14-year-old daisy coleman claims a teen acquaintance raped her last year but charges were dropped two months later. now the prosecutor who dropped those charges is asking for a special prosecutor to take another look at the case. >> i was more than excited. i felt like i was going to be able to work with someone who was actually excited about this case. >> until that time, the witnesses never told me they were willing to cooperate and testify after they invoked their fifth amendment rights. >> the prosecutor says he dropped the case because coleman refused to testify. he decided to look into it once again after the victim gave a television interview saying she would testify. coleman says some boys gave her some alcohol at a party where later she said she was allegedly raped. the accused boy maintains the sex was consensual. >>> that story is trending right now. also trending, deal reached. congress agreed on a budget deal that avoided the debt ceiling deadline and default and reopened the federal government. b

. >> reporter: daisy coleman says she has been repeatedly threatened since when went to the authoritiesledging she had been raped by a football star. he is and her friend to a party after they had been drinking. there both were raped. prosecutors say the charges were dropped when neither victim would cooperate with investigation. the townhall has been swamped with calls from people angry at what has hand. >> certainly it's devastating for a community to receive this many violent posts that we have. >> reporter: the other alleged victim that night says the increased support is very welcome. >> we didn't have this kind of support when everything happened, but now that we have people listening, it's like a miracle. it feels really good that it is finally getting spoken about. we have waited for this day for a very long time. >>> the case has drawn comparison with stewbanville, ohio. in maryville, the local sheriff say there's no cover up or conspiracy. >> if you look at the past history of these young men, they have previously been prosecuted by our current prosecuting attorney for other c

the accuser. >> i feel like we haven't been on the same team. >> melinda coleman feels justice was denied for her daughter daisy the 14-year-old was given alcohol, raped by a 17-year-old acquaintance, and left on her porch unconscious in freezing cold weather. they dropped the charges saying that the colemans refused to cooperate during their deposition. >> they understood that by invoking their fifth amendment right, by doing so it was going to force the dismissal of the case. >> rice announced wednesday that the publicity around the case prompted him to ask the judge to appoint a special prosecutor to look at the evidence. that could open the door to new charges being filed. >> i felt really weak, worn down, just like i wasn't worth anything, so it mean as lot to have support now. >> but melinda coleman feels investigators did not do initially in the beginning. >> i think the whole town -- not the whole town but there's a handful of people that because it was uncomfortable, they didn't want to deal with it. >> the case has divided the town of 12,000. the colemans say they moved from maryville after being hara

did daisy coleman deserve justice? matthew barnett, and two of his friends in january, 2012, for allegedly sexually assaulting daisy and her friend, paige boorland. prosecuting attorney robert rice dropped the charges against barnett citing insufficient evidence. he says the victims refused to cooperate and wouldn't agree to testify. >> that's a lie. why would he say that? >> i don't know. we thought we had done anything. nobody ever asked us for anything else. >> reporter: daisy's mother says it was rice who wanted them to plead the fifth and leave town. >> we did not refuse to testify with the felony case. we absolutely did not. >> reporter: daisy's family believes the prosecutor was pressured into dropping the charges because of the suspect's political and social status. barnett's lawyer released a statement saying while his client admits the sexual encounter with daisy coleman the legal issue was whether a crime was committed and daisy's mother freely admitted her daughter does not always tell the truth. the family

in the national spotlight as several hundred demonstrators are rally be with daisies supporting daisy coleman friends paige park -- hurts. hurts. they became they were sexually assaulted in 2012 but then saw charges dropped by the local authorities. >> all the evidence was there and they turned their back on her. >> reporter: the girls 114. the other 13 at the time. say they were raped by two classmates a 16 and 17 year olds boy. a third teen is excused of recording the incidents on a cell phone. the girls and their families say they endured bullying and harassment from. >>> in the town after coming forward. >> i want to know the truth. you know, i don't care which tieside it's on where it comes m we want the truth and justice regardless of where it goes. >> reporter: the local prosecutor dropped the charges against the boys saying there was insufficient evidence and have that the victims refuse today cooperate. >> this case was handled perfectly from beginning to end. it's unfortunate the prosecuting attorney was put in a position where he had to dismiss the charges. >> reporter: but the gir

the mayor says he and many others have started to receive threats from supporters of daisy coleman.ring in sunny hostin because i know there are a lot of, you know, questions raised about this case and specifically how it was handled but aren't there just basic facts that simply are not in dispute? >> that's right. what is so odd about this case, brooke, is it doesn't seem to be in dispute that sexual contact occurred. you have the boy saying, it occurred, but it was consensual. there was drinking involved, but it was consensual. the girl is saying it wasn't consensual. this was rape. so i've got to tell you, in a case like this, it is very odd that they're saying now that the girls refused to cooperate because as someone who used to try sex crimes, especially child sex crimes or crimes involving victims that are very young, you oftentimes try cases where victims are not cooperating for a variety of reasons. sometimes they're traumatized, brooke. sometimes they don't understand the legal process. sometimes they just simply cannot bring themselves to testify. but if the facts in the

nearly two years ago a fourteen year old cheerleader named daisy coleman was allegedly raped by seventeen year old matthew barnett and left a freezing death outside of her house in maryville missouri it's a tale we've heard far too often star football player rapes young student in the town ends up blaming the victim resulting in no consequences for the perpetrator oh and did i mention that the alleged rapist is also the grandson of a missouri congressman but this.

. >> reporter: melinda and daisy coleman spoke out. elinda found daisy passed out on the front lawn wearing only a t-shirt and sweat pants. >> i asked her if she was hurting and she started to cry. at that point i called 911 and we took her to the hospital. >> it was about when we got to the hospital that i started putting two and two together and that i really started remembering some of the things that happened the night before. >> reporter: daisy says she and a 13-year-old friend sneaked out of her house and went to the home of a 17-year-old member of the maryville high school football team. a typical teenage party took a turn for the worse. excessive alcohol consumption and then a sexual encounter, possibly even videotaped. he told police it was consensual. she says absolutely not. police quickly filed charges of sexual assault. >> i thought something would be done about it and that it wouldn't happen again. >> reporter: but then the charges were dropped. the prosecutor cited lack of evidence. melinda says she believes the family of

daisies accused rapist, matthew barnett. a new prosecutor was appointed to review the case on monday following a public outcry. on tuesday, colemanpporters held daisies as they gather near the town square. the hacker group anonymous helped organize the rally after initially calling attention to coleman's case. in ohio, a man who challenged the state and on gay marriage while dealing with a life- threatening illness has died. john arthur, who had lou gehrig's disease, and his husband tied the knot in maryland clear this year in order to ensure they were legally wed before the end of arthur's life. a federal judge leader ruled arthur's death certificate must his has been as the surviving spouse, ensuring they can be area next to each other on arthur's family plot. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. >> welcome to all our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. president obama is scheduled to meet with his pakistani counterpart later today amidst rising tension around the restaurant strikes in pakista

." >>> going to turn to the case of daisy coleman, has a whole town in missouri taking sides.s a teenager who claims she was assaulted by a football star. a special prosecutor assigned. we'll have the latest details on that. >>> and then, a jaw-dropping end to "dancing with the stars" last night. no one sent home. we have all the details on what really happened. is that allowed? i don't know. >>> also, a show to help kick off the weekend each and every friday on tgif, however coincidental, "boy meets world." and now, the stars of the hit show, together again, only on "good morning america" this morning. terrific stuff. >> reunion. >>> first, the trial is finally under way for the man charged with killing washington redskins star sean taylor, six years after the crime. taylor was shot during a botched burglary of his home in 2007. gio benitez is tracking the case. good morning, gio. >> reporter: taylor's death shocked the nation. he left behind a girlfriend and a baby. on his first day of trial, the alleged killer of nfl star sean taylor, makes a stunning allegation, that his c

. >> reporter: lindsay and daisy coleman speaking out after they learned their case would be reopenedse that started years ago when melinda found daisy passed out on the front lawn wearing only a tee-shirt and sweat pants. >> i asked her if she was hurting and she started to cry. so i called at that point i called 911 and we took her to the hospital. >> it was about when we bought the to the hospital that i started putting two and two together and that i really started remembering some of the things that happened the night before. >> daisy says she and a 13-year-old friend sneaked out of her house and went to the 17-year-old house of a member of the marysville football team. a typical party took a turn for the worse. excessive alcohol and he told police it was consensual. she says absolutely not. police filed charges of sexual assault. >> something would be done and it wouldn't happen again. >> then the charges were dropped t. prosecutor cited a lack of evidence. coleman says she believes the political family of the accused helped make the charges disappear n. calling for the special