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Two Former Sony Employees File Lawsuit Against Sony; Details of a Police Shooting in a WalMart; Camille Cosby Finally Spoke Publicly in Defense of Bill Cosby; Exclusive Interview with Singer Bill Withers

Aired December 16, 2014 - 15:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Just past the bottom of the hour. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

I have to talk about Sony pictures. Still in damage control following the release of thousands of those hacked emails.

Here's the news today. They're not being sued because it got hacked. This is the first lawsuit filed against Sony since the breach. It is being brought by two former Sony employees. In this suit, the former employees allege Sony ignored warnings that its computer system could be vulnerable to attack. These former workers say the hackers now have access to tens of thousands of Social Security numbers and private financial information, and they say Sony, it's your fault.

Let me bring in our two legal analysts, Danny Cevallos and Joey Jackson. Gentlemen, welcome.

JOEY JACKSON, HLN LEGAL ANALYST: Hello, Brooke. Good afternoon.

BALDWIN: Joey Jackson to you first. Is it -- is it -- Sony liable for the attack and all that information being put out there?

JACKSON: There's a lawsuit. That issue will be debated. But I would say, absolutely. And why do I say that? Listen, Brooke, this is a hack -- mega proportions.

BALDWIN: Mega.

JACKSON: Mega proportions. You have a company, and that keep in mind, it's a class action suit, involving 15,000 current and former Sony employees. And you know the information we give to our employer, how sensitive is that information, Brooke? Medical information, much less the personal information about who we are.

So the point is, that you would expect that your employee would take all precautions to preserve and protect the integrity of the information. And it gets even worse when the employer is on notice that you have hackers there. And in the suit, right, there's information about the prior times that this has occurred. So if it occurred back in 2011 multiple times, and if it occurred in 2014. And then it occurs again in August, would you not -- BALDWIN: Then it falls from Sony to not.

JACKSON: Precisely. And so, if you look at the elements of negligence, duty, breach, causation, damages. What does that mean in English? Duty, you have a responsibility to protect your employees, OK?

Now, breach, you breach that duty when you don't protect them properly by installing the proper systems. Cause, as a result of your breaching these duties, you caused me damage. I now as an employee am going out of my mind trying to scramble to protect myself from fraud. It's a big problem, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Danny Cevallos, here's the other question, let me throw at you because this isn't a suit, it's a hypothetical. This is something we were all talking about this morning. You know, part of the issue here is that all of everybody's dirty laundry, electronically speaking, is all, you know, hanging out there. And I'm wondering, could anyone file suit based upon something, you know, semi nefarious that was found in any of these emails. It was a private email on a work email server -- Danny.

DANNY CEVALLOS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: If you're talking about employees of Sony. Yes. If you're talking about employees of Sony, that becomes a little more difficult because as employees of Sony, they sort of give that information if they're using their own server. Employees are shockingly unprepared for how little privacy they actually have when they're sending information over work computers. Now, that being said.

BALDWIN: This is one of those stories. Let's be honest, we're all thinking, could this happen here?

JACKSON: Exactly. That's why it hits home.

CEVALLOS: Of course.

Absolutely. And I think of all of the communications in the news business or for Joey and in law firms. All of that sensitive information that gets sent over servers or stored either on-site or offsite with third parties sometimes. And it's sort of a clarion call for all of us. And there's substantial risk. The price of living in this digital society. The convenience is that we entrust our information to third parties. Sometimes that's our employer, and sometimes that is a third party that we may not even be aware of. So there are a number of statutes that have been enacted that provide for some measure, some security measures that companies have to enforce. But ultimately, companies will always be two or three steps behind, the innovation of hackers.

BALDWIN: That's what I was talking about.

CEVALLOS: On the leading edge of new technology.

BALDWIN: Yes. JACKSON: And isn't that the irony, Danny? You know, the company is a

step or two behind, the company should be a step or two ahead of everybody.

BALDWIN: Should be, but isn't necessarily the case. And you know what, I have Oprah Winfrey's voice now in my head. She talked to Don Lemon and she said, I email as when though I'm emailing someone could show up on the front page of the "New York Times."

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Joey Jackson and Danny Cevallos, thank you both very much.

JACKSON: Thank you, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Coming up, a young man shot and killed by police inside of a Walmart after he was spotted carrying an air rifle. So now not only is his family suing after a grand jury didn't indict the officers, we are now seeing video, here it is, of his girlfriend getting a harsh interrogation, you will see it. We'll talk about it next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: From school shootings to mall attacks, we have seen the devastation and chaos that follow when police get the call of a gunman in a public place. So that potential is what officers in Beaver Creek, Ohio, could've faced when they responded to this call about a man with a gun walking around Walmart. But, as it turns out, that man, John Crawford III wasn't a criminal, he was just a customer. And so, when you see this surveillance video, it indicates he was on his cell phone, and he was carrying a BB gun that he found unpackaged in the store when officers fired two shots killing him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They asked him to put the BB gun down. They gave him no opportunity to put it down. The time that went by from the time that the officers puts him, asked him to put the BB gun down was 0.36 seconds. They simply shot him on-site.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Crawford's family announced they just filed a federal lawsuit today after a grand jury failed to indict police officers. Prosecutors pointed out exactly how similar the BB gun looked to the real thing. But Crawford's family says they want an indictment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN CRAWFORD JR., SON KILLED BY POLICE: I'm still pursuing justice. Because to me, that is justice. You have to be held accountable. You don't get a pass because you have a side arm and a shield.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: First, let's go to Ana Cabrera who is covering this for us. And we know that the family is also, Ana, condemning how Crawford's girlfriend was interrogated after John Crawford was shot and killed.

ANA CABRERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Tasha Thomas is his girlfriend who was with him at Walmart on that day. Now, she says the two had gone to Walmart to get some items to make S'mores for a family cookout and during that time when they were shopping, he got a phone call from his ex, who is the mother of his two children and he wandered off to take that phone call. And it was during that time that he picked up the gun and was eventually shot by police.

Now, just minutes after the shooting, Tasha Thomas was whisked away to the police station and sits down to do an interview with a detective. Detective Rodney Kerr who you see in this interrogation video just grills her over and over and over again asking her why Crawford had the gun, which she continues to reply, she knows nothing about it. And he doesn't believe her. He even goes so far as to threaten jail time, accusing her of lying. And after about 90 minutes of this, he finally tells her that Crawford is dead. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RODNEY KERR, DETECTIVE: Well, to let you know, you know, unfortunately, John has passed away as a result of this. I don't know any other way to tell you. I mean, what happened there wasn't a good thing and as a result of his actions, he is gone. You sure you don't want your mom back here? OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: You see she is just devastated. Had no idea. The detective in his report claimed that he told Thomas that Crawford has died as soon as he had learned about that. He also says that the time of the questioning, he was under the impression that the gun was an actual rifle, not a BB gun, and he was also told by police at the scene that that gun, they believed, had been brought into the store. And so he said that was the reason for the direct questioning.

But the family attorneys completely disagree. They believe that this interrogation video is proof that the police department knew they had made a mistake and they were trying to coerce Thomas into giving some kind of information that would justify the killing -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: OK, Ana Cabrera. Thank you.

I want to talk more about this. Because it's not clear why John Crawford picked up this BB gun, but the family says Crawford wasn't the one, you know, took who it out of its packaging. Apparently someone else had done that. And it was unpackaged when he went hold it. And that's linked to why family attorneys say Walmart is also responsible for Crawford's death.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They had every reason to know that someone might mistake a BB gun to be a real gun. That gun was not secured like other weapons. The guns that Walmart sells are secured and often times those customers when they purchase those guns must be ushered to the front of the store. This gun was left unpackaged on a shelf and it's our understanding it was left there for at least two days.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: CNN has reached out to Walmart for a response to the lawsuit allegations. We have yet to hear back. But a couple of questions on this one.

Sunny Hostin is with me, a CNN legal analyst. And my first one off of that point about how much is Walmart to blame? If this guy sees this BB gun, it's already sitting there unpackaged. He picked it up on his own volition. But how much blame does Walmart hold for that?

SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, you know, I've been revealing the lawsuit, Brooke. And I think certainly Walmart has some blame. Bears some responsibility here for not having it in its proper packaging. But I've got to tell you, when I look at the law in the state of Ohio, I think Walmart has the least amount to blame. Because Ohio is what's called an open carry state. And that means even if that gun were real and John Crawford were walking around the Walmart --

BALDWIN: It would have been lawful.

HOSTIN: It would have been completely lawful. In fact, the officers would not have had the right to arrest him. They would not have had the reasonable suspicion required to detain him and ask questions. And so --

BALDWIN: Wow.

HOSTIN: And so, the real problem here lies in why the police chose after looking at him just to shoot after less than four seconds.

BALDWIN: 0.3 seconds is what we heard from the family attorney.

HOSTIN: That is correct.

BALDWIN: The family's civil case. How much of a case would they have against police? That's what you're saying.

HOSTIN: Yes, I think it's significant. I'm actually shocked given, again, that Ohio is an open carry state where you can walk around in the open without a permit, and including even in stores with no problem. And so, I think the police really have to be able to articulate why John Crawford walking around with a gun, a BB gun or a real gun would've aroused enough fear in them to shoot him after less than four seconds. Because why are they even telling him to put the gun down? He didn't have to put the gun down because it was completely lawful for him to have it.

BALDWIN: And the girlfriend and the interrogation video. Sunny Hostin, thank you so much.

HOSTIN: Very welcome.

BALDWIN: Coming up next, a look at Camille Cosby who is now defending her husband against rape allegations. And she is taking aim at the media.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Well, there is someone now finally speaking publicly in defense of Bill Cosby, his wife, Camille Cosby. Cosby made three-hour just caving attack on the media and he public and the treatment of her husband of 50-plus years. She has release a statement. Let me read part of it for you.

She writes, a different man has been portrayed in the media over the past two months. It's the portrait of a man I do not know. It is also a portrait painted by individuals and organizations who many in the media have given a pass. There appears to be no vetting of my husband's accusers before stories are published or aired.

Well, CNN's Susan Candiotti has more on how Camille Cosby has had to whether this public firestorm against her long love.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): She is the formidable wife of Bill Cosby, Camille, seven years younger than her instantly recognizable husband, she also has a commanding present. So during a November 6th interview, as Cosby declined comment on a sex allegation, it was hard to take your eyes off Camille. Even when he asked the Associated Press to quash his on-camera interview.

BILL COSBY, COMEDIAN: Can I get something from you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: What's that?

B. COSBY: That none of that will be shown.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: I -- I can't promise that. But you didn't say anything?

B. COSBY: I know I didn't say anything. But I'm asking your integrity that since I didn't want to say anything, but I did answer you in terms of I don't want to say anything of what value will it have?

CANDIOTTI: Camille looking on, a smile never leaving her face.

During the hit "Cosby Show," his TV wife Claire Huxtable was based on Camille. Camille, even making a guest appearance. Smart, beautiful, wise, unflappable. In real life, the couple exuding charm and classic glamour. Married 50 years, Camille was only 19 when they tied the knot, meeting on a blind date. She dropped out of college and his career off with "Eye Spy," the first American TV drama to star a black man in a leading role. It was the height of the civil rights era.

The couple has five children. Their son, Ennis, murdered in 1997. While grappling with his death, the couple battles a claim from Autumn Jackson, eventually convicted of trying to extort $40 million from the comedian. Jackson threatening to tell tabloids she was his out of wedlock daughter. In court, the entertainer admitting to an affair and payments to autumn's mother but denying he was her father. At the time, Camille's publicist reading a statement on her behalf.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All old personal, negative issues between Bill and me were resolved years ago.

CANDIOTTI: Now, at least 20 women are alleging that Cosby sexually assaulted them since the 1960s. He's never been charged with a crime and never publicly admitted any sexual assault.

In a 2,000 interview, Oprah asked Camille about tough times in their marriage and fooling around. Camille talks about partners being selfish adding, quote, "you look at each other and determine whether the relationship is worth salvaging, whether you really love each other and want to be together."

Susan Candiotti, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Susan, thank you.

Coming up next, the moment I've been waiting all day for. The one and only soul R&B legend, Bill Withers, you know his hits, "in a Sunshine," "Lovely Day," "Just the two of us." He joins me to discuss today's amazing news. He will be inducted into the Rock & Roll hall of fame. Mr. Bill Withers, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYING)

BALDWIN: Isn't no sunshine, "lean on me," "use me," "lovely day," 76 years young, Bill Withers and he is on the phone live from Los Angeles.

Bill Withers, we were talking in commercial break, this totally made by day. Congratulations.

BILL WITHERS, SINGER (via phone): Thank you. Thank you.

BALDWIN: So when did you get the call from the rock hall and did you have any idea this was happening, this was coming?

WITHERS: Well, I think my wife got a call from somebody over there. And you know how people mention stuff to you for years and I never felt like anybody owed that to me. Coach John Wooden, who is one of my favorites, said that awards belong to the giver. So I wasn't expecting anything. So it's a nice surprise.

BALDWIN: You know, I was trying to read and figure out when was the last time was that you performed publicly. And I read somewhere that you forgot which decade that was. Do you even remember, Bill Withers?

WITHERS: No, I don't. But then again, I don't remember a lot of things.

(LAUGHTER) BALDWIN: So -- well, feel free -- feel free, you know, I won't put too much pressure on you since it's been so long, all those smoky Robinsons, the Deli pardon (ph) and Willy Nelson have sung with me on the show, but no pressure.

Let me ask you this, and plead with you that you do sing and perform at the rock hall ceremony next April. And I read that you had actually told "Rolling Stone," I think your quote was, "I don't want to be one of those old guys that sounds like a gerbil trying to give birth to a hippopotamus." Are you going to perform?

WITHERS: That was an honest statement from me. I don't know. I will see if I can. I know my wife is going to make me eat a bunch of green stuff and go to the gym to see if I can get in shape, but who knows.

BALDWIN: Well, bless her for that and I am on her side because we all want to hear from you in April and doing -- reading into your path, I know that after "isn't no sunshine" was released, you were, Bill Withers, still working installing toilet seats or bathrooms on airplanes and you didn't want to quit your job? Can you tell me what happened?

WITHERS: Well, you know, we installed air stairs and bathrooms on this 747. So as is in the aerospace industry, I had gotten laid off. So I got two calls in the same day. One was from the Johnny Carson show to come on there and sing and the other one was to -- that I had been called back to my job. So I flipped a coin and went on "the Johnny Carson show."

BALDWIN: Which worked out for you pretty well, I might add. So I'm glad that that side of the coin flipped your way. You know, in the remaining 30 seconds, if you were to sing a song, whether it's, you know, live on CNN or next April, are you taking requests? Do you have any idea what you'd want to sing?

WITHERS: Well, you know, I don't -- I told you I have a daughter about your age and I have a son and a wife. So I don't get to decide anything anymore. They'll probably tell me what to do.

BALDWIN: A man who listens to his family and for good reasons. Bill Withers, congratulations a million times over. I am such a fan, really, truly. Congratulations. We will see you performing in April, alright?

WITHERS: Thank you, Brooke.

BALDWIN: That does it for me. Thank you.

WITHERS: I watch you on TV so I'm very familiar with you.

BALDWIN: Well, that just made my day, again. Thank you so much Bill Withers.

And thank you for watching. "The LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts right now.