Gymnast has ever even tried in competition. She looks good. It is monday, august 12th, 2019. Heres todays eye opener, your world in 90 seconds. He had already attempted suicide and was on suicide watch. I am not a conspiracy theorist but something is way too convenient here. Questions squirrel around jeff reepsteins death. President trump is facing backlash after tweeting a Conspiracy Theory tying the clintons to his delth. A horrific fire in eerie, pennsylvania, five children killed after a fire that sparked inside a home operated as a daycare center. And an escaped inmate in tennessee is now back behind bars. He is accused of killing a corrections employee. We are looking at whether to apply the death penalty. Panic at a mall in houston after a man began making threats. The latest in a string of false alarms since last weeks mass shooting. The startling scene in hong kong as protests continue to escalate. Police fired tear gas inside a subway station. A man rescued from the chimney of a california home. Police say he is a burglar. All that former nba player mike miller went up against kyrie irving and as you see it did not end well. All that matters. Simone biles became the first ever to land a triple double somersault during a floor exercise. Just keep making history, simone biles. On cbs this morning. Bases loaded. Nobody out. Santana with one high in the air deep left field. There she goes. The tenth inning grand slam saving the day. Indians win a dramatic one. 73. Gone a grand slam santana has stunned the faithful here at target field. This mornings eye opener is prentd by toyota. Lets go places. Hat was good but im still smitten with simone. Oh, yeah. I was actually counting. One, two, three. Even if you slow it down im still trying to keep up. Twoflips, three turns. Amazing. Welcome back, you guys. Id love to say it was a quiet week while you were gone but not so much. Like that song reunited and feels so good i come back, darker and fatter. I would show you my tan lines but were trying to attract viewers not scare them. It is good to be back. Welcome back. It was a crazy week last week. I was watching. Welcome to cbs this morning. Im gayle king with Tony Dokoupil and Anthony Mason. Women who accuse Jeffrey Epstein of sexually abusing them when they were under age say they still plan to seek justice despite his apparent suicide. The disgraced financeer apparently killed himself in a federal jail in new york city over the weekend. Epstein was accused of running a sex trafficking operation and abusing dozens of teenage girlsw investigating how he died and why no one prevented it. Mola lenghi is outside the jail where epstein was held. Good morning. What are we learning . Reporter good morning, tony. The medical Examiners Office as you know performed an autopsy on epsteins body yesterday but says they are waiting for more information before drawing any conclusions. A source tells cbs news epstein hanged himself inside a jail cell here at the correctional facility which is raising a lot of serious kwet aboquestions ab he was able to do that. Just a few weeks ago epstein survived a previous apparent suicide attempt. A representative for work esat the Metropolitan Correctional Center tells cbs news the death of Jeffrey Epstein is not a surprise. She says staffing is completely inadequate with workers putting in more than 60 hours a week, leaving them overwhelmed and n alert. It had been just over a month since the feds announced epsteins arrest. The charges allege that epstein sexually abused young girls by enticing them to engage in sex acts for money. And less than three weeks after sources told cbs news epstein was found semiconscious inside his cell with bruising the New York Times reports epstein was suppose today have been checked by guards every 30 minutes but the procedure was not followed the night before his death. In a statement attorney general william barr said epsteins death raises serious questions. He announced the Inspector General is opening an investigation into the circumstances surrounding it. The apparent suicide happened just hours after the release of some 2,000 pages of documents from a prior lawsuit including testimony from alleged victim virginia gufray. You are screaming on the inside and you dont know how to let it out and you become this numb figure. Reporter she claimed epsteins former girlfriend directed her to have sex with former new mexico governor bill richardson, former maine senator George Mitchell and britains Prince Andrew among others. All denied the allegations and none have been arrested or charged with any crimes. For all of the epstein victims it will take a long time to get their minds around this. Lisa bloom represents several women who claim they were abused by epstein and says it is important for others to come forward so everyone involved can be brought to justice tils. Lets get to the bottom of this. You have nothing to fear anymore because Jeffrey Epstein is gone. Reporter legal experts say federal prosecutors will ultimately dismiss the criminal case against epstein but will continue to investigate any potential coconspirators who may have helped him run his alleged sex trafficking operation. Meanwhile attorneys representing victims say they will continue to file and pursue civil cases against epsteins estate. Gayle . Thank you very much. Our cbs news legal analyst joins us to discuss this. Lets pick it up where mola left off with the victims and accusers. They feel angry, betrayed and very hurt. What recourse do they have . They do have a great deal of recourse. Certainly not what they wanted, which was to see Jeffrey Epstein in a criminal court facing charges of his allegedly depraved behavior with young girls who were children. So what can they do . What they can do is if they have not already filed civil suits, those who were sexually abused as children in the state of new york have a wonderful law that has just passed this year. Ironically in terms of timing they have a window of one year no matter how old you are now and no matter how long ago sexual abuse occurred while you were a child and certainly someone under the age of 18 is considered a child, they have one year to bring a case no matter when it occurred and that starts wednesday, august 14th. The timing is amazing. Rikki, what happens with this case now . There is a conspiracy charge, there was a conspiracy charge attached to epstein. Are his associates likely targets . Yes. We know they are likely targets. Its not even that were guessing because the United States attorney Jeffrey Berman came out and said he was going to continue to go forward and investigate. So we have accomplices, coconspirators, enablers. And the big target is a woman named ghislain maxwell. She is someone who was Jeffrey Epsteins girlfriend but many of the victims have accused her of actually being a procurer who has been someone who was in the thick of it, who managed all of these properties, so she really has a bulls eye we need to say here she has not been charged with anything. She vehemently denies it and has not been arrested. Not only that, she may be cooperating. There are lots of rumors she is greatest cooperator or the greatest defendant but she is not the only one. The other thing is nobody seems to know where she is at this moment. Well, we dont know where she is at this moment. I dont know about the government. What about the money . 559 million epsteins assets apparently. Could the accusers ever get that . Yes. There are two ways they can get it. The obvious way they can get it is by filing their civil suits because those will be civil suits for damages. Many of them as i say have already filed civil suits. What the first move is by many of these very, very good and assertive lawyers or breadth of lawyers is that they will then freeze the assets in the estate so that they cannot be disbursed by the executor to the heirs or to charities, whatever Jeffrey Epstein may have left them to in a will if he left a will. Still a lot of questions on how this happened. The jail has a lot explaining to do. I think m. C. C. Is in real trouble and really heads are ieas to roll on this one. Wasnt, but, more important, the idea that he was taken off the suicide watch, to me and to many experts is inexplicable. Either negligence or corruption and neither answer is good. Ill take either one. M. C. C. Is the metropolitan corrections center. And one of the most allegedly secure facilities on earth. Paul manafort is still there. El chapo was there. A lot of questions. Thank you. Ahead well take a closer look at the woman we were talking about, ghislain maxwell, epstein aegs alleged cocon st. Pierror. In the next hourp the miami Herald Reporter whose article helped identify dozens of victims. Julie brown will join us here at the table. A fugitive suspected of killing a tennessee corrections administrator is back behind bars this morning after a nearly fiveday man hunt. Curtis ray watson was caught yesterday about ten miles from west Tennessee State penitentiary where he escaped on a tractor. Omar villafranca is outside the jail in covington where watson is being held. Reporter good morning. The Tennessee Bureau of investigation received 430 tips about watson but they were finally able to catch him after someone spotted him on their Home Security camera. He had this door open and he was in like this. Reporter about 3 30 sunday morning, harvey and ann taylor woke up to a door bell alert showing a stranger rifling through their refrigerator outside their front door. When he finally backed out of here and closed the door my wife recognized him and said thats him. Hes got that goatee . Reporter their surveillance camera caught Curtis Ray Watson wearing camouflage overalls, a hat, and backpack he stole from another home. The taylors called 911. Within 30 minutes hundreds of Law Enforcement officers surrounded the area conducting searches. Seven hours later watson was spotted in a nearby soybean field weathered and covered in bites. Hands up. Went to his knees. He gave up immediately. He was relieved to be over with his run. He knew he wasnt getting away because of the number of Law Enforcement present. Reporter watson was serving a 15year prison sentence for especially aggravated kidnapping that would have expired in 2025. He is now accused of sexually assaulting and killing 64yearold corrections administrator Debra Johnson at her home on prison grounds and he could face the death penalty. Johnson had worked in the Tennessee Department of corrections for 38 years. Debra johnson was a true corrections professional in every way. She served us well and the people of tennessee well. Reporter johnsons Funeral Services are on friday. Watsons daughter issued a statement thanking Law Enforcement and offering condolences to johnsons family. As for watson hell be arraigned later on this week and new charges include firstdegree murder. Omar, thank you. Turning overseas, hong kongs airport canceled all remaining flights for the day after thousands of pro democracy protesters crowded into the main terminal. An escalation in violence over the weekend led to bloodshed and mass arrests. Nearly 50 people were treated for injuries yesterday after Police Used Tear Gas and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd. Debra patta is at the airport for us. Reporter good morning. Flights in and out of hong kong have been canceled. Protesters have been camping out here at the airport four days, meeting arriving passengers. Concern is rising that police plan to move in and take action against them. This comes after a weekend of thixed with hich exploded across even more aggressive action by the police. Using hitandrun tactics protesters emerged from subway stations, set up barricades, blocked roads, then quickly retreated to different locations. Those on the front line are mostly Young Students like this 18yearold vincent chong. Instead of spending the summer playing basketball he has been choking back tear gas and seeing the inside of a police stall after being arrested. He was back on the streets last night. I dont think im doing the wrong thing. Even the Police Arrest me, i think im doing the right thing then. Reporter the past few days have seen a much tougher police response. Police tactics have changed. They are moving in a lot quicker, a lot more determined and with a lot more force. Here riot police advanced on protesters from three different directions, leaving them nowhere left to run. On one occasion, tear gas was fired at point blank range in an underground train station creating a terrifying stampede. Police disguised as protesters turned on demonstrators. This young man begged for mercy as he is pinned down. Im terribly sorry he shouts. Please dont press on me. I understand ive been arrested. And the injuries are mounting. This woman was hit in the eyes by a bean bag round filled with lead pellets. What began as a simple protest against a now shelved extradition bill has turned into full blown hatred of the police. A former Police Commander has been brought out of retirement to shut down the protests and the rhetoric from beijing is growing increasingly ominous with a senior Chinese Government official saying some of the protest actions show signs of terrorism. Incredible footage out of hong kong. Thank you very much. Terrifying pictures. The president ial campaign shifted back to iowa over the weekend. Gun control was the number one topic after the shootings in el paso and dayton. As you know 31 people were killed. More than 20 of the 2020 Democratic Candidates offered their solutions while talking to voters at the iowa state fair. Ed okeefe is there in des moines with the latest on this story. What was the reaction from the voters to this . Reporter well, gayle, good morning. Welcome back. Voters here and across the country are generally supportive of expanding the National Gun Background Check system and are open to other changes in gun laws. Thats why democratic contenders spent the weekend talking about their ideas to drive down gun violence. I dont think my own kids are going to let it go away. These two tragedies have made people feel something different. Gun control was front and center for Democratic Candidates looking to persuade voters at the iowa state fair. The latest cbs news Battleground Tracker poll found 55 of democrats here in iowa say they must hear a candidates position on gun control policy in order to vote for them. Keep talking about it, saying there is interest and concern. Congress cannot have gun policy written and nra. Reporter on saturday 18 candidates participated in a forum on how to reduce gun violence. What we lack is the United States congress to have the courage to act. The gun industry controls washington. Aks, ars, they have no business with in our neighborhoods in peace time in the United States of america. My beautiful 4yearold daughter dala was struck by a stray bullet march, 2011. One mothers tragic personal story brought candidate andrew yang to tears. I have a 6 and 3yearold boys, imagining im so sorry. Reporter President Trump said friday he is open to expanding gun background checks. Add the word meaningful background checks. We asked former Vice President joe biden what that would mean to him. What would a meaningful background check system look like to you . It would be universal background checks, period. Reporter now in a New York Times oped this morning biden writes that as president he would push to renew the federal assault weapons ban. Other democratic contenders are pushing for things like a mandatory or voluntary federal gun buyback program. New jersey senator cory booker thinks every firearm in the country should be licensed. Remember, none of this would happen unless democrats would control the white house and total control of congress or find a way to cut a bipartisan deal with republicans. Anthony . Good point, ed. Ed okeefe in a stormy iowa. Thanks. Legionnaires disease case linked to a Popular Hotel in atlanta is reportedly now the largest on record in georgia. Ahead what a new lawsuit reveals good monday morning. Day time highs 5 to 10 degrees above average. 79 in oakland, 72 for San Francisco and were going to continue with the warmup tuesday and especially by wednesday. The hottest temps for the week will be for the middle part of the week. Temps cooling back down by the end of the workweek into the weekend. We have much more news ahead. Two years after deadly clashes in charlottesville, virginia people talked to us about what makes someone racist and how to be antiracist. Plus Jeffrey Epsteins inner circle. Were in london with the investigation into other people said to be involved in his alleged sexual abuse ring. Simone biles makes gymnastics history. See the twisting, turning magic from the olympic champion. Youre watching cbs this morning. Announcer this portion of cbs this morning sponsored by flonase allergy relief. Powerful relief in a gentle mist. Flonase nothing stronger. Nothing gentler. Nothing lasts longer. Flonase sensimist. 24 hour nondrowsy allergy relief are confusing quilted northern are confusing quilted northernf. For a bouncy castle. Theyre both durable, flexible and nice to have at parties. But quilted northern is