erin brockovich >> that waserin brockovich speaking to west virginia residents in a town hall meetingmonday night. she's joining us now from charleston, west virginia and also joined in washington by mike elk. he has extensively covered chemical regulations in the united states including at the west texas fertilizer plant where 50 people died in an explosion last year. we welcome you both to democracy now! let's start with erin brockovich . what did you find that the town hall meeting last night? >> good morning. >> it is great to have you with us. >> we were glad we got the town hold together on extremely short notice because we weren't even sure if we would have a facility here. for the folks that came out, i actually heard numerous stories that were disturbing at many levels, but they were mostly very calm. they were frustrated. they felt a sense they could not get through to anybody to give them further explanation. and then many, many questions that were excellent that needed answering. i think a couple of things that really startled me were photos that people had taken as the wa

erin brockovich is with us.ental in building a case against pacific gas and electric in 1993. her story became the basis for the oscar winning movie "erin brockovich." i heard you were head us down -- heading down there. what is the message? >> we're in charleston tonight and we're having a big town hall meeting, and the message is, you know, we have had 5,000 people come to us from the community who have concerns and fears and frustrations, and it's just to create a platform to continue the awareness and information that not all of the communities are getting. and as the water does come back on, it will not be just an overnight process. how to flush, and most importantly, that the contaminant is still in the system and is tied up in your filters, so change coffee fit ifs, hot water heaters and humidifiers and things like that. >> how dangerous is this practically specking? >> is it the am -- we have been dealing with brown water contamination for 20 years, and these problems occur throughout the u.s. you just d

erin brockovich, the environmental activist and turned household name when julia roberts portrayed heroins me now from charleston, west virginia. good to see you again. thanks so much for being with us. >> thanks. nice to hear you. >> right at the scene again of another water related environmental disaster. how can this happen? how can it be they have not been inspected since 1991 at that storage facility? we saw the pictures of the rusted walls and pipes there. how is this possible in the state of west virginia? >> that's a really good question and it's an all too common occurrence that we see playing itself out, not only here in west virginia but really in every state across america. we have a lot of oversight issues, agencies are overburdened and under funded. they are understaffed. they don't have funds and it's just a lays faire attitude has been developed that safety doesn't matter and it's really frustrating and concerning to every single one of us, but it's a situation and scenario that plays itself out beyond this situation, which is frightening, because you're looking at leak

. >>> joining me to talk about this environmental accident, erin brockovich.ome people in west virginia can use their tap water. you said that doesn't mean it is necessarily safe. should residents be concerned there? >> reporter: yes, you know they should be. you can't magically turn the water on and everything is okay. this chemical can still be in the system. we definitely advise people that have elderly parents who may be recovering from cancer or immune system at risk or children to still continue to use bottled water for drinking. >> we are hearing according to a spokesman for west virginia environmental protection that the last time an environmental inspector visited the site where the chemical leaked was 1991. you have been saying this since i spoke to you last week. this is an oversight problem. why isn't there more oversight? >> reporter: you know what, that is the $64,000 question that i think that we have been asking for 20 years. we believe that there is this oversight in place for it. you can call it a lot of agencies at a state level, department

erin brockovich, your team right now. i think i heard you when i sads will there be criminal charges, did you whisper saying, there should be? >> oh, i did. i didn't know anyone saw that but, you know, i think it's something that it's high time we address. i mean, i work up this morning and heard the situation and it was almost i'm not surprised and i can't believe here we go again. i don't know when we're going to figure this out. we've seen it happen with bp, we've seen it with texas brine and the sinkhole, the coal ash breach, we've seen it here today where safety is constantly being compromised for the sake of more money. we have to save time and it's too expensive to do it now. we need to start looking at when this happens, when would we file criminal charges. >> speaking of looking at it though, i want to know what your team will be looking for. you can finish your thought. >> thank you. >> should we file criminal charges. what will you be looking at to file criminal charges? >> well, that's not the first thing that

some even started calling her the erin brockovich of revenge porn.e moment her daughter's embarrassing photo was posted. the fbi arrested hunter moore and another man, 25-year-old charles evans, on a 15-count federal indictment, accusing moore of what he always denied -- stealing nude photos by hacking. according to investigators, to obtain more photos to populate the site, moore allegedly instructed evans to gain unauthorized access to hack into victims' e-mail accounts. moore sent payments to evens in exchange for nude photos obtained unlawfully from the victims' accounts. >> i come on the internet to be entertained. >> reporter: the man who made his name humiliating people is now free on $100,000 bond, released into the custody of his parents. the 27-year-old is not allowed to use his tool of choice, a computer, pending trial. and while the fbi won't comment on the specifics of their case, one relentless california mom feels like she just got her own bit of revenge. >> i was ecstatic when the arrests happened a few days ago. and i've talked to man

. >> and erin brockovich, we know her as a well known environmentalist, and she is speaking out abouton, and what did she say? >> well, kyra, she was on cnn last night, and you may remember her, because she has led class action lawsuits before, and let's listen to what she had to say last night. >> when there is a disaster like this, i'm usually flooded with e-mails from the community, and so our job is to go to assist, advise, help them in any way we can, and we will take a look at the site, and see possibly ourselves how that breach did occur, and then go from there. and so, as the disaster is unfolding, i'm getting more and more e-mails a and we will get on the ground and work with the communities and hear from the communities and begin an investigation. >> and in addition to that, booth goodwin who is the u.s. attorney in west virginia said last night that he also plans to launch a federal investigation and there could be criminal charges brought against this company simply for negligence, ky kyra. >> all right. we will follow it. erin, thanks. >>> on the surface, it may seem like

>> reporter: consumer advocate erin brockovich, whose own fight against water contamination was made into a movie starring julia roberts, met with 100 residents last night. >> at the end of the day, it's disheartening and frustrating and people are still left with a lot of unanswered questions and a whole lot of concerns. >> reporter: the city of cincinnati is not taking any chances. tonight it will close its water intake valves on the ohio river as the chemical plume passes. >> it's important for citizens the residents in the cincinnati area to know that our water is safe. we're taking all necessary precautions to keep it safe. >> reporter: now, as the chemical heads down river, it is dissipating, but the fear isn't, as cincinnati and now louisville monitor for any potential trouble. brian? >> anne thompson in west virginia again for us tonight. anne, thanks. >>> new jersey governor chris christie gave his state of the state address today, while the state of his administration is engulfed. his political future is in peril, the investigations into the intentional traffic jam on the g

meanwhile the environmental activist erin brockovich is headed to west virginia demanding answers forcking strict regulations are now being blamed. newly released documents say state authorities knew they were responsible for storing the chemical on the river which was close to the water stream plant. if you would like to help the people affected you can go to go fund me.com or you can search water for west virginia. >> they were doing the hustle all night long at the golden globes. >> and the golden globe goes to... american hustle. >> "american hustle" led the award show with three awards including best film comedy. it stars amy adams and jennifer lawrence who also won for their roles in the film. >> i did watch all of the movies. i can say that to win is such an honor to be nominated with you. i don't know why i am tear fied. i don't know why i am scared. don't ever do this again. it's scary. okay thanks. >> tina fey and amy polar shined in their second straight year as hosts. >> "gravity" is mno am nated fo best film. story of how george clooney would rather float away in space an

>>> environmental advocate erin brockovich joins me this hour with the latest on her team's investigationa closer look at the continuing economic challenges for america's women with maria shriver, our conversation on family and work and poverty before she brings the report to the president later this afternoon. >> they are saying our families are stressed and our economic situations are stress, please help us, whether you be a man or woman or democrat or republican. >> good day, everyone, i'm andrea mitchell in washington. chris christie returns to the state, not to apoll giz but take credit for all that is right with new jersey. he will mention bridgegate in his state of the state address and expected to stay mostly in his lane for the most part keeping the focus on allf

on top of that, erin brockovich, who is a famous public advocate, she was on cnn last night and says she's sending her team into west virginia as well to investigate on her turf. she's famous for some of the class action lawsuits. >> erin, we were talking about this earlier, this is -- these folks need water for something to do as simple as brushing their teeth. what are these 300,000 folks doing without the simple necessary of water every day? >> kyra, fema is sending in gallons and gallons of water for those kinds of uses in addition to trucks full of bottles of water to drink. but this is not just a health concern. it's also an economic concern because so many businesses in the area have had to close too. so the whole area of charleston and the surrounding areas are impacted not just for economic concerns, but also for health concerns and just for their daily lives. so it really is a problem there right now. >> we'll keep following it. erin, thanks a lot. >>> alex rodriguez got some bad news. his suspension was shortened, but not by much. still a full season. a punishment for his

. >> then i understand erin brockovich is also speaking out about this situation. to what degree?: well, fred, as you know, as a public advocate, she goes in to a lot of these situations and complains that this is something that is kind of systemic. she was on cnn last night and explained that she and her team may go to west virginia to do some work there. take a listen to what she had to say. >> when there's a disaster like this, i'm usually flooded with e-mails from the community, and so our job is to go to assist, advise, help them in any way we can. we'll take a look at the site. see possibly how that breach did occur and then go from there, and so as the disaster's unfold, i'm getting more and more e-mails. so we will get on the ground, work with those communities. hear from those communities and begin an investigation. >> so we're looking at a couple of investigations essentially there in west virginia, but, again, it's going to be a couple more days before that water is back to usable standards, fred. >> okay. erin mcpike, thanks so much in washington. >>> all right. coming