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Big Changes for JetBlue; Buffalo Buried in Snow; Dems Block Keystone By One Vote; New Rape Allegations Against Bill Cosby; Cleveland State Univ. to Help Students with Tuition, Graduation

Aired November 19, 2014 - 09:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: This just in to CNN. Big changes for JetBlue and, oh, you're not going to like them. Christine Romans is here now to explain.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: You know, this is really interesting, breaking this morning, investors have been really pressuring JetBlue to make more money and the company now coming out and saying it's going to change the way it does business. The first checked bag flies for free right now. JetBlue will be adding some bag fees. And it's going to be adding more seats on its plane.

Of course, JetBlue is known as one of the comfortable airlines and it gets good reviews for not charging for that first bag, for having a little bit better leg room, for having good audio visual stuff on the plane. So it's been under pressure to raise some money. It says it's going to save it about $400 million in additional operating income every year when it does this. So adding more seats, start changing for bags.

It's going to have a new service called Mint (ph). A mint service, a premium service, from JFK to San Francisco and JFK to LAX. That will be a different pricing model for that. Basically they're talking about these three fare bundles. So it could be on the same flight. You're going to have maybe different prices for what kind of services you're using on that flight.

COSTELLO: So if you're a big spender, you won't have to pay the fees. If you're just flying, like just a little jaunt, maybe not.

ROMANS: Well, Carol, big spenders -- that's a whole different story all together. No, and it could very well be -- it could very well be that you pay more for the ticket on the front end, then you get all of these (INAUDIBLE), if you will. So we'll watch here and see how this is going to fare with the people who love JetBlue because of the comfort of the plane.

The stock is down a little bit in the premarket, which is kind of interesting. If the company says it's doing this because it's going to -- going to be a way to raise money, you've got to wonder if some shareholders and investors are thinking, well, maybe this is going to, you know, irritate some of your flyers.

COSTELLO: So is it -- is it losing money, it needs to make up for lost money or --

ROMANS: Well, you know, the airlines -- airlines have been making money. They've been making money for the first time in years and for reasons like this, adding more fees, finding ways to squeeze more money out of those flights.

COSTELLO: Which is interesting because fuel costs are way down, so you would think that this would be the time when they'd be giving customers a break, but, no.

ROMANS: You would think so, but, no.

COSTELLO: OK. Christine Romans, thanks so much.

ROMANS: You're welcome.

COSTELLO: Let's talk some more about -- oh, poor Buffalo. We have these incredible images to show you from Buffalo. This is a time lapse video. You can see the wall of clouds and snow as it rolled into the city during this massive storm. That's kind of frightening, right?

This video was actually shot from an office window near Lake Erie. As I've been telling you, Buffalo got socked with six feet of snow in a short amount of time. And, unfortunately, it isn't over yet. Another two feet of snow could be on the ground by tomorrow night. It's just -- that's eight feet of snow on the ground.

Joining me now by phone from a very snowy neighborhood in Buffalo is Katy Ryan.

Katy, welcome.

KATY RYAN, BUFFALO RESIDENT (via telephone): Good morning.

COSTELLO: Good morning. You work for the Buffalo Sabers and you were actually in that big wall of snow as it fell over the city. So tell us about that.

RYAN: I know. I -- looking at those pictures, it's unbelievable. I'm like -- I can't believe that I'm on the other side of that wall of snow. It just would not stop yesterday. So it was -- and it's craze to think that I -- my house is probably three miles away from the arena. And for them to get no snow and for me to have more than six feet, it's just -- it's unbelievable.

COSTELLO: It's just so weird. So you're in your house and you say the snow is almost up to the top of your garage?

RYAN: Yes. So yesterday it was probably around like 1:30 in the afternoon. I was like, I've got to get to my shovel. Like, the snow is getting higher and higher. So I tried to go out my front door and I tried to go through my gate in my front yard and the snow was up to my gate. And I'm covered. I'm like about 5'8". So, I mean, the snow is already up to like my chest area. So, I'm like, I can't get through my gate. So I go back up to my front porch. I had to jump over the side of my front porch and just thread through to back all the way to my garage and get my shovel out of my garage. It's just -- I mean it was -- it was, you know, almost to my chest. I'm literally just like pushing snow out of the way with my hands just to try to get to my shovel.

COSTELLO: Oh, I feel for you. I do. You know -- no, oddly enough, the Sabers, though, the Sabers actually still played their game last night. So -- and some fans actually showed up, which I found amazing.

RYAN: And they did. And, you know what, it was so funny, I was -- I was watching the game at home and -- I mean the arena looked a little sparse. But for the fans that were there, the announcers were like, and these hearty Buffalo fans, nothing can keep them away, which is so true. And even some of our game-based bash, like we had a large number of people that couldn't make it and they sent out an e-mail to all of our full time employees like, anybody that can help, can be ushers, be ticket takers. So our team president was taking tickets yesterday at the gate, letting people into the game because we just -- not enough people could make it in. So that was pretty neat though.

COSTELLO: That was pretty neat too.

Thank you so much for sharing your story, Katy, and good luck. That's all I can say.

RYAN: Thank you so much.

COSTELLO: Katy Ryan, thanks.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, a bill for the controversial Keystone oil pipeline dies in the Senate for now, but Republicans say, oh, the fight is just beginning. Dana Bash has the story from Washington.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Carol, the fight is just beginning because Republicans are going to control Congress next year, but it could be the end of the road for the Democrat who led this charge, Mary Landrieu. She couldn't convince one more of her fellow Democrats to help her along. I'll have more on that coming up after the break.

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COSTELLO: Democrats blocked the controversial Keystone pipeline bill and deal a big political blow to one of their own in the process. The bill, which needed the support of 60 senators to send it to President Obama's desk, missed the mark by just one vote. The defeat is especially stinging for Mary Landrieu, the Louisiana Democrat who's facing an uphill battle to go back to Washington after 18 years in the Senate. Landrieu hoped to use the bill's passage to show she still has power in Congress, but her attempts to get Democrats on board were not enough.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARY LANDRIEU (D), LOUISIANA: There is no blame. There is only joy in the fight. Where I come from, we just never talk about quitting. And we don't talk about whining. After the game is over, and this is not a game, it was very serious, but when I played ball, whether you won or lot that day, you just shook the opponent's hand, you got up and you went to fight another day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Her fight's much harder now, Dana Bash, because I think the Democrats have pulled the money. They're not helping her anymore. She's alone on an island.

BASH: She is and this was a really tough loss for Mary Landrieu politically and, of course, when it comes to the substance of what she was trying to do, approve this Keystone pipeline. She was pleading with every one of the Democratic colleagues. I talked to many of them that she put phone calls into, that she cornered on the Senate floor, in corners of the hallways of the Capitol. She was so close. Just one vote short of getting this passed. But she couldn't find that one last Democrat to do it.

So, as you said, she is going to go back to Louisiana, fight to keep her seat in this runoff on December 6th. It was already an uphill climb for her to come back without a victory on -- this wouldn't directly affect Louisiana but because Louisiana is such an energy- important state, has such important energy interests, it would have maybe indirectly affect the state -- did not have that victory. But, look, she has been in runoffs before. I have covered them before in Louisiana. She has been very far behind. She's been able to pull it off. She and her family are very powerful there. So I wouldn't count her out, but it's going to be very difficult.

COSTELLO: The Keystone pipeline itself, Congress is likely to vote on that next year, right, when Republicans control both houses of Congress and it's likely to pass, right?

BASH: Absolutely, to pass -- pass big time because Republicans are either going to have 53 or 54 votes in the Senate. All of them support the Keystone pipeline. You add the Democrats who do support it. I believe 10 who voted yes yesterday are coming back and, of course, in the House, there's going to be a very big Republican majority. They'll pass it easily, as they always have.

So the White House was breathing a sigh of relief last night that they didn't have to deal with the question of to sign it or to veto it. To veto something that their fellow Democrat, Mary Landrieu, really wanted. But it's going to be a short-lived sigh of relief because it's going to be right in their lap probably very early next year. Republicans are promising to do so. It doesn't look like they would have a veto proof majority, but this is going to be something that we're -- that is going to be coming back into the fold and might be, when you look at the broader context of horse trading and negotiating on other issues, might be something that is going to be in the mix for Democrats and Republicans to talk about because there is so much bipartisan support for this -- for this, even though it definitely divides people on the environmental issues. People -- Democrats have made this their number one rallying cry, saying that they cannot let this pass.

COSTELLO: We'll see what happens next year. Dana Bash reporting live for us. Thanks so much.

BASH: Thanks, Carol.

COSTELLO: I'll be right back.

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COSTELLO: Netflix is pressing the pause button on one of Bill Cosby's latest projects. The announcement coming as new rape allegations surface against the comedian. Netflix was expected to launch a new comedy special starring Cosby the day after Thanksgiving. But now they're not. Cosby was also developing a new sitcom with NBC. The network has not said whether it plans to postpone or cancel that project.

In the meantime, former supermodel Janice Dickinson is the latest accuser to come forward with rape allegations against Cosby. In an interview with "Entertainment Tonight", Dickinson claims the comedian assaulted her after the two had dinner in 1982 in Lake Tahoe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JANICE DICKINSON, FORMER SUPERMODEL: In my room, he had given me wine and a pill. The next morning I woke up and I wasn't wearing my pajamas, and I remember before I passed out that I had been sexually assaulted by this man. The last thing I remember was Bill Cosby -- in a patchwork robe, dropping his robe and getting on top of me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: This morning, Cosby's attorney is firing back against those allegations. In a letter to The Wrap, Cosby's attorney writes, quote, "her new story," Dickinson's new story, "claiming that she had been sexually assaulted is a defamatory fabrication." The lawyer cites an autobiography and 2002 interview in which Dickinson claims Cosby, quote, blew her off after dinner because she wouldn't sleep with him.

Over the last decade, as you well know now, more than a dozen other women have made similar claims against Cosby. He has never been charged and has repeatedly denied the allegations. So let's bring in CNN's Jean Casarez. It just keeps getting uglier and uglier.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It does. And I found that article from "The New York Observer" in 2002, and she had came out with a salacious autobiography. I mean, I'm reading this article, which is an interview, but she said in the book, which she says in the article that Bill Cosby told her she could sing and she believed it until she didn't want to be with him and he blew her off.

So some inconsistent facts. But let's also look at all of these women that have come out. Their stories are basically the same -- that Bill Cosby allegedly gave them alcohol, gave them a pill, and then they really don't remember anything, right, until they come to and believe they were sexually assaulted.

But he only thing that Bill Cosby has ever come out saying on this virtually is 2005, it was "The National Enquirer". And he apologized to his wife, Camille, but he also said people were trying to take advantage of him and exploit him because of his success.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CASAREZ (voice-over): For Bill Cosby it has been a week of allegations from women who say they were sexual assaulted in the past by the comedian. Many claim they were drugged.

BARBARA BOWMAN, COSBY ACCUSER: I never saw any drugs but I would wake up completely confused, half dressed, and knowing that my body had been touched without my permission.

CASAREZ: Bowman says she went to Cosby's New York apartment alone and that Cosby flew her all around the country as he performed at various venues. She says the advances were unwelcome.

Also speaking out, Joan Tarshis.

JOAN TARSHIS, COSBY ACCUSER: We went up to his bungalow afterwards. He made me a drink and very shortly after that I just -- I passed out. I woke up or came to very groggily with him removing my underwear.

CASAREZ: Tarshis says that in 1969 she voluntarily saw Cosby again when he invited her to a performance. After accepting drinks at his hotel and in a limo, she says she woke up the next morning with him in his bed.

Ironically, Cosby released a comedy album that same year titled "It's True, It's True", joking about that very issue.

BILL COSBY, COMEDIAN: You know what? You know anything about Spanish Fly? No, tell me about it. Well, there's this girl, Crazy Mary, you put something in her drink, man, she's --

CASAREZ: But with all the allegations and even after Andrea Constand went to police saying Cosby medicated and fondled her in 2004, the district attorney of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, at the time, Bruce Castor, said there would be no charges. Constand and Cosby settled a civil suit out of court for an undisclosed sum in 2006. Also in 2005, Tamara Green on "The Today Show" with a similar story.

TAMARA GREEN, COSBY ACCUSER: He had gone from helping me to groping me and kissing me and touching me and handling me.

CASAREZ: In 2005, Cosby spoke out for the first and only time, telling "The National Enquirer", "I am not going to give in to people who try to exploit me because of my celebrity status."

Now nine years later, Cosby's attorney, John Schmidt, has responded to it all with this statement. "Over the last several weeks, decade-old discredited allegations against Mr. Cosby have resurfaced. The fact that they are being repeated does not make them true."

(END VIDEOTAPE) COSTELLO: Let's talk just a bit more about Janice Dickinson's allegations. You said there were some discrepancies. Cosby's lawyers have responded to her allegations. Is there a danger that Cosby's attorneys could sue Dickinson?

CASAREZ (on camera): Such an interesting question. You're talking about libel, right? That she is intentionally saying something that is false. Well, he's a public figure, so that takes it to another level, but it's got to be false and she's got to know that it's false and she's intentionally saying it. and that will be interesting to watch, to see if something like that happens. There are some inconsistencies about what she said, but she was very authentic.

COSTELLO: Oh yes, she was very obviously emotionally distraught.

CASAREZ: And she said that regrets and resentment, that this is the biggest one she has that she didn't go forward with this.

COSTELLO: Jean Casarez, many thanks. I appreciate it.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, is college worth the cost? One university president says yes, but he also says colleges must help students out. We'll talk about that next.

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COSTELLO: All this week, we've been looking at how expensive college is getting -- 40 million Americans are drowning in student loan debt, most carrying around about $29,000 in debt. The average cost for an in-state public college is about $22,000 a year. Private school is double that.

Our next guest says you don't need an Ivy League education, though; a public university is fabulous, too. Keep in mind, a college degree in any university will earn you $1million more in your lifetime than a high school diploma. Ronald Berkman is president of Cleveland State University, he joins us now. Welcome, sir.

RONALD BERKMAN, PRESIDENT, CLEVELAND STATE UNIVERSITY: Thank you very much.

COSTELLO: There seems to be a lot of anti-college sentiment in the country right now. Why is that?

BERKMAN: I think there may be some anti-college confusion. And I think that debt -- we've gone through a tremendous sorting through of the economy and people are trying to find the right trajectory and the right path into careers, and I think that there is a re-examination of what those best paths into careers are.

COSTELLO: Well, we hear a lot about college graduates now being forced to work in the fast food industry. Even Michael Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor, he advised that becoming a plumber could be a better payoff than heading to college because you make a lot of money when you become a plumber and you don't carry the debt. BERKMAN: Yes, and I think that no one is saying that college is for

everyone. I don't think that that is really the presumption or the assumption. But I think what we are saying -- and I think that what is true 00 is that we are operating in an economy, a global economy, where, as you said, college is -- provides a tremendous return on investment for an individual, both financially and in terms of the style of living that they're able to maintain.

And it also is a wonderful dividend for our nation. We are completing against nations that are producing more baccalaureate graduates than we are in an economy that is largely driven by an intelligence quotient.

COSTELLO: And you think that a college education is so important that Cleveland State is giving a 2 percent rebate and $200 to students who stay on track for graduation. Why?

BERKMAN: That's right. Because I think the most effective way to reduce costs, and we are committed to reducing costs, is to lessen the time to graduation. So we've put in a whole series of operational measures -- allowing students to register for the entire year at the beginning of the semester, allowing students to sequence courses in a way that helps them move through, reducing the number of credits needed for graduation, and, yes, providing an incentive for students who take 30 credits in terms of helping them with tuition and helping them with the increasing costs of books.

And it's working. In one year, we've seen a 14 percent increase in the number of students who have taken 30 credits, which would allow them to graduate in four years. That's two years less than the average graduation time now, and that's a lot of tuition.

COSTELLO: And a lot less money to spend too overall. Ronald Berkman, president of Cleveland State University, thank you so much for joining me.

BERKMAN: Thank you for having me.

COSTELLO: You're welcome. A reminder, you can watch "IVORY TOWER: IS COLLEGE WORTH THE COST?" right here on CNN, Thursday night, 9:00 Eastern.

The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts now.

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