stopped. here is simone biles. i asked that your work be guided by the same question that rachel denhollander and many others have asked. how much is a little girl worth? i sit before you today to raise my voice to that no little girl must endure what i, the athletes at this table, and the countless others who needlessly suffered under nassar s guise of medical treatment which we suffer and continue to suffer because no one in the fbi, usag or the usopc did what was necessary to protect us. we have been failed, and we deserve answers. joining us now is former gymnast rachel, the first woman to speak publicly about larry nassar s abuse. rachel, we re so grateful to have you today. i want to start with the question that you asked in court
told kate bolduan on this show that this is a common problem that survivors walk through all the time. given the publicity it is. you re attracting to the story, do you think that this specific story may change the calculus here, change things? well, again, that s going to depend on our willingness to act. because the reality is that you don t get good trained law enforcement. the difference between what detective mumford was able to accomplish and the assistant ag in 15 months versus what the fbi accomplished in the same amount of time, that shows us that this can be done. you can approach these investigations and you can do them very, very well in a trauma-informed way that changes the world. we can stop child and sexual abusers. the question is whether or not we re going to equip our law enforcement to do that, and then also have mechanisms accountable for when they don t and when they act corruptly like the fbi did. equipping and training requires resources. it requires pri
at larry nassar s sentencing. how much is a little girl worth? what was it like to hear that during congressional testimony? and how are you doing today? that testimony yesterday was gut wrenching, because that question, how much is a little girl, how much is a little boy, how much is a person worth is the question that really hangs in the balance here. and what we saw yesterday, and what we have seen demonstrated over and over and over again by usag and usopc and the very law enforcement that was supposed to protect us is people are not worth very much to them. and it s gut wrenching to sit with the reality of the damage that s been done that could have and should have been stopped. and for all of us to continually have to keep raising our voices, and fighting not just an abuser but a system that protected him is exhausting and retraumatizing. it s a reminder that it s not just the abuser who is untrustworthy. it s everybody around you, too. and you ve been raising your
getting law enforcement and prosecutors who actually can do what andrea and angela did. that requires resources. it also requires legislative changes so there are safeguards and accountability mechanisms in place when you have that acting law enforcement. whether or not we re going to make those changes is what we re going to have to watch in the next coming year. there s a lot of ability to do the right thing. the willingness is the question. it is a huge question. and given all the hurdles you ve had to jump in just telling your story, we tremendously appreciate you sharing your story with us this morning. rachel, thank you so much for your time. thank you. stay with cnn after a break. inside politics with john king is up. why have over two million people welcomed bath fitter into their homes? it just fits. call now or visit bathfitter.com to book your free consultation. i m still wowed by what s next. even with higher stroke risk due to afib not caused by a heart valve probl
the question is whether or not we care enough to do it and if action isn t taken, then the message everybody is sending is it doesn t matter what you do as law enforcement. because we re not going to hold you accountable. so yes, sending that message loud and clear is absolutely critical. rachel, it does strike me as we re talking about the department of justice that no doj officials appeared at the hearing. a couple of them including the attorney general are going to appear before the same committee next month. first, what s your reaction to doj officials not being there, and what do you want to see lawmakers ask them during that hearing? i was very upset that they were not there, because, again, what it communicates is this isn t a priority, and when you communicate this isn t a priority, it tells survivors you don t matter and there s no reason to speak up because our justice system isn t going to protect you anyway. their lack of presence, they sent that message loud and clear.