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Terror Fears Cancel Festivities in Brussels; NYC Ramps Up Extraordinary Security; Bill Cosby Charged with Sexual Assault; One of Cosby Accusers Speaking Out; Historic Flooding in Missouri. Aired 10- 10:30a ET

Aired December 31, 2015 - 10:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[10:00:00] DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN ANCHOR: Affluenza teen's mom back in the U.S. Her son? Still fighting to stay in Mexico. But what is his end game?

Let's talk, in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: And good morning, everyone. Happy New Year. I'm Deborah Feyerick in for Carol Costello. Thanks so much for joining me.

Well, counting down in the United States as the other side of the world already rings in 2016. Just a couple hours ago in Sydney where it's now 2:00 a.m.

And a lot of joy there. This is Seoul that we're watching. It celebrates the New Year with a bell being run 33 times in a practice that dates back hundreds of years. And it's midnight there right now. Today old traditions, though, as we look at this.

And traditions are tempered by new fear here in the U.S., there they have a gun. Here we have a ball. In Brussels, Belgium a heightened terror alert has canceled festivities even fireworks. The prime minister essentially saying that with investigations -- active investigations underway there, and information coming in every hour, it seemed that canceling fireworks and other celebrations was the right thing to do.

At least two people there are charged in a year-end plot to target celebrations in the capital. Police detained six more people today in terror raids launched across Belgium.

And today much of the world is on edge. In New York 6,000 police officers will fan out across the Square, Times Square that is, searching for any signs of a potential threat. Other major American cities such as Washington and Los Angeles are also bolstering security as a somewhat grim year because of ISIS threats enters its very final hours.

And we are following all the latest developments. CNN's Miguel Marquez in Times Square, in New York. In London our Fred Pleitgen has the terror concerns sweeping across Europe.

Miguel, first to you there, what is the mood and what are the precautions?

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, already joyful the mood out here at Times Square. That's the spot where the famous ball will come down just above the 2016 sign up there. People already gathering. Lots of police already gathering. That 6,000 police contingent that will protect this area from the land, sea, air, and even the underground, the subways here.

Across New York in general, tens of thousands of police will fan out to protect parties and venues and other celebrations. All those things that used to be just parties and celebrations, now potential soft targets because of Paris and the attacks in Paris and in San Bernardino.

A new world security order, essentially, for law enforcement and politicians as they go about planning these events. Here in New York you will see just hardened security wherever you are. You'll have to enter through various checkpoints. There will be lots of bomb- sniffing dogs. That's one thing that they're really beefing up here. Lots and lots of those so they could get out into the crowds even before people tried to get through security barriers.

They'll also have radiation detectors, chemical detectors, and lots and lots of cameras, by the thousands, to keep track of as much as they can. They say that this will be the most secure area in the world from the crossroads of the world to the most secure area in the world.

The people here will be putting those pens. Over a million people they are expecting here. Before they get to those pens, there will be -- they have to go through magnatometers. If you cannot make it to Times Square today, let me suggest CNN and its famous New York eve -- New Year's Eve celebration with Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin. That will be coming up at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

It might be just a little bit easier to watch it with them and have a much better time than sitting in one of those pens, where once you're in, you cannot leave. No restrooms. Happy New Year.

FEYERICK: Yes. Exactly. That is not how I will be starting my new year. But I will be watching Anderson and Kathy.

Miguel Marquez, thank you so much. And a great New Year to you.

And now we're going to go to London and CNN's Fred Pleitgen.

Fred, tell us about the new terror sweeps in Belgium. They say investigations are really ongoing. And things are changing hour to hour.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Certainly they are changing hour by hour and the mood there certainly a lot more subdued than we just saw there from Miguel in Times Square. Really a lot of Belgians caught very much off guard by the fact that these New Year's celebrations were canceled. In fact they were already setting up the stage for the New Year celebrations when all of a sudden the mayor of Brussels came forward and said, listen, we're going to cancel these celebrations. So they -- started taking the stage down and soldiers started flooding the streets.

[10:05:03] So a very fluid situation, one that certainly is also very scary for a lot of the people there in Belgium as well. And you've said it, there were additional terror sweeps that took place all across Belgium over the past 24 hours, especially in the early morning hours of today where some six people were taken into detention. Also the police saying that they confiscated information material as well as also cell phones, too.

Now, of course, this is all part of the investigation into that apparent plot that was uncovered a couple of days ago where two people were taken into custody and they were allegedly wanting or planning to hit, quote, "emblematic targets," which includes places where many people gather in belgium, most specifically the main square in Brussels called the Grand Place. Those two people have now been charged.

One of them with being a member of a terrorist organization but also for being a recruiter of a terrorist organization, which seems to indicate that this might have been a fairly senior person. But again, right now the Belgian authorities very much on the edge, very much keeping a look out. And of course, many belgians really very much confused as to what exactly is going on. How specific these threats were that were the reason for these fireworks to be canceled, Deborah.

FEYERICK: Yes. And Belgium has one of the top counterterrorism teams there, so we know when they decide to make changes, it's for a reason.

CNN's Frederik Pleitgen, thank you so much and happy new year to you, my friend.

And now to those bombshell charges against disgraced comedian Bill Cosby. Cosby's legal team promising a very fierce fight against charges of sexual assault that they say are unjustified and politically motivated.

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MONIQUE PRESSLEY, ATTORNEY FOR BILL COSBY: We're focused on getting to the facts in this very old case that was once decided such that the former D.A. said there was no need to go further and that it belonged in the civil courts. And now through a game of political football, at which my client's life is the center, we're back again.

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FEYERICK: The D.A. did not have access to a deposition that Cosby gave as part of that civil suit. But this was the dramatic scene on Wednesday as Cosby entered this one-room courthouse with his legal team by his side to be arraigned. It's the first time after decades of accusations by at least 50 women that Cosby's been formally charged. Today Cosby is out free after posting $1 million bail.

The charges against him, aggravated indecent assault, stem back to a 2004 incident involving this woman, a former Temple University women's basketball employee, Andrea Constand. Speaking out for the first time since charges were announced, she tweeted this, "Let's all stay classy please. That includes anybody who may be inserting their opinion as to whether anything was fully investigated, period."

Constand says that Cosby drugged then sexually assaulted her after slipping her a cocktail of wine and pills that left her, in her words, paralyzed.

CNN's Jean Casarez has the latest.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Deb, the defense is saying this morning that they are actually glad this has happened so they can ferret it all out in court. At the courthouse that Bill Cosby went into yesterday is right behind me. Walk through the door and you're right in the courtroom here in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.

There are moments in American jurisprudence that are just historic and the arraignment of defendant bill Cosby may just be one of them.

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CASAREZ (voice-over): Once America's beloved TV dad, now disgraced comedian Bill Cosby, arm in arm with his legal team, stumbling as he arrived for his arraignment in Pennsylvania Wednesday.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Cosby, anything to say?

CASAREZ: Facing criminal sexual assault charges for the first time. The 78-year-old released on a $1 million bail for three counts of alleged aggravated indecent assault of Andrea Constand in 2004. The Montgomery County D.A. filing the charges before the 12-year statute of limitations was set to expire in just weeks.

Constand worked with Temple University's athletic program and considered Cosby, 37 years her senior, a friend and mentor. She accuses Cosby of drugging, then assaulting her when she visited his Pennsylvania home.

KEVIN STEELE, FIRST ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY, MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA: Mr. Cosby urged her to take pills that he provided to her and to drink wine.

CASAREZ: In the complaint, Constand says Cosby told her the pills were herbal. After taking them, she felt dizzy, nauseous, frozen, paralyzed, but was aware of Cosby fondling her breasts and putting his hands into her pants. Though she came forward in 2005, the district attorney did not file charges, citing lack of evidence. Constand filed a civil suit against Cosby, forcing him to be deposed. He settled the suit with her, the terms of which were sealed. In his own words unsealed this July and the original criminal case reopened. In it, Cosby admits to giving women Quaaludes but never without their knowledge. [10:10:08] Constand, the first to publicly come forward accusing

Cosby. Since then, some 50 women have come forward with similar allegations over four decades, hoping now they may finally get justice.

GLORIA ALLRED, ATTORNEY FOR 29 BILL COSBY ACCUSERS: For many of my 29 clients, seeing him criminally charged and having to face a trial is the best Christmas present that they have ever received.

CASAREZ: The comedian has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and has yet to directly answer a question about the allegations.

BILL COSBY, CHARGED WITH INDECENT ASSAULT: There's no response.

CASAREZ: But in May, he tells ABC News --

COSBY: I've never seen anything like this. And reality is the situation. And I can't speak.

CASAREZ: In a statement, his attorneys called the charges, quote, "unjustified," and vowed that he will, quote, "be exonerated by a court of law."

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CASAREZ: And Andrea Constand herself is tweeting this morning saying in regard to anyone who is expressing an opinion about this investigation, "Let's be classy, please."

The preliminary hearing is set at this point, Deb, for January 14th.

FEYERICK: Excellent job. Jean Casarez there for us. Thank you so much.

And with me now is Heidi Thomas. She says she was drugged and sexually assaulted by Cosby back in 1984. She's also trying to get the statute of limitations on sexual assault cases dropped all together in Colorado.

Heidi, we really thank you for being here for us. I know that this has been a long time coming for you and for the other victims. But Cosby's legal team issued this statement, saying, quote, "Make no mistake, we intend to mount a vigorous defense against this unjustified charge. And we expect Mr. Cosby will be exonerated by a court of law."

First of all, Heidi, would you be willing to testify against Bill Cosby if called to do so?

HEIDI THOMAS, BILL COSBY ACCUSER: In a heartbeat. And I think I can speak for anybody else who's come forward and gone public. We would love to sit in a courtroom and stare him down, if that's all we were able to do, but if we were called to testify, absolutely. We'd love that opportunity.

FEYERICK: Yes. It's so interesting listening to him say the reality is the situation. This is about consent on some levels. Him saying that he thought he had -- you know, that this was consensual but you and all the others saying this was in no way consensual. How do you -- if you were to talk to him right now, if you were to face him down, what would you say to him?

THOMAS: I don't know how it's consensual when in my case I never saw a pill. I was completely -- I thought I was doing a monologue that was supposed to be -- I was getting acting coaching. And of course, he gives me a script that's supposed to be taking place in a bar because he didn't like the monologue I brought. So the monologue he provided has me being an intoxicated person. And by the way, this is the story for several of his victims.

And the prop he gave me was a glass of white wine because I didn't drink. And so he thought that perhaps if I were to just sip on this prop, and that would help a little bit. So I literally took, I think, a sip of white wine. Whatever he had was very potent. I don't remember anything after that.

(CROSSTALK)

FEYERICK: Yes?

THOMAS: I remember a hazy voice of his saying something like, are you feeling the part better now, or something along that line.

FEYERICK: You know, when you think about it, his defense team is now trying to portray him as a blind old man. You know, his attorneys saying, you know, he can't see, he's 78 years old, these charges are unspecified. How do you react to that?

THOMAS: Of course they are. Now remember that up until just last fall he was going to have a brand new show. Oh, this was going to be the resurgence of his career. That's -- you can't play both sides of the field here. He says that this ruined his comeback. Well, how was he going to come back if he's such an old, blind man? He's got to walk with a cane.

The man is an actor. He is a chameleon. He is a predator. His job is to make sure that people believe the act he's putting on. And he's very good at it. But you cannot tell the American people, the world, that you were ready to come back and do a whole new show just last fall and then suddenly all of us speaking out have ruined your comeback and suddenly now you're so old, you're so feeble, you're so blind, you can't testify in court. Uh-uh. No. You can't have it both ways.

[10:15:12] FEYERICK: So, Heidi -- so, Heidi, let me ask you, in terms of very quickly, the evidence, obviously, has to be presented and it's got to be beyond a -- beyond a reasonable doubt. Is it good enough if the charges are brought but ultimately the evidence being, you know, a dozen years old is not good enough to find him guilty, are the charges enough, or do you want the whole thing?

THOMAS: Well, obviously, we'd like the whole thing, otherwise the man is still out on the streets and he's a predator. I'm hoping that some of the people who aided and abetted him over 50 years will have the integrity to come forward and testify.

FEYERICK: All right. Heidi Thomas, we thank you. We thank all the other women who have worked tirelessly to get this brought to court and, perhaps, we will see what happens in front of a judge and in front of a jury.

Heidi Thomas, thank you.

THOMAS: Thank you.

FEYERICK: And still to come, rivers are swelling, levels that we've never seen before, as thousands face the brunt of catastrophic flooding today. A live report from one of the hardest hit towns coming up from our reporters straight ahead.

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FEYERICK: And breaking news. This just into CNN. A White House source has revealed to CNN that President Obama is set to announce a new executive action with the aim of expanding background checks on gun sales.

[10:20:02] The announcement is expected to happen in the next few days. The set of executive actions would reportedly fulfill a promise by the president to take further unilateral steps that would or could help curb gun violence.

We're just getting details in. We're going to have a live report coming up from our Jim Acosta who's with the president in Hawaii. Stay with us for that.

And new images from that catastrophic flooding in Missouri. Entire towns engulfed under murky brown water as we speak. The flooding so massive, so historic, it is hard to put into perspective just how devastating and long-term the damage will be. Major interstates shut down this morning in and around St. Louis, including a 24-mile stretch of I-44. You can see it there in red. Rivers are cresting many feet above the all-time record levels. They're breaking those records. And today now officially the benchmark for future floodings is what we are seeing.

Moments ago we just learned that a second wastewater treatment plant has now breached, releasing untreated waste into those floodwaters, complicating the potential and future clean-up.

We will have the forecast in just a moment. But first, we do want to go to Martin Savidge who is alongside the Meramec River this morning in the city of Arnold.

And, Martin, it just seems that these poor folks cannot get a break.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They can't. And it's not just Arnold, it's many, many communities in this area here. Take a look at this street just behind me here. You can see how the water -- it's the Meramec River and it's encroached already well into this neighborhood here. The roads had to be shut down. But that's nothing compared to what's happening here on (INAUDIBLE).

This is -- the river is here and it's already inundated a number of homes, cars, under water there as you can see. Basements which these homes have are now flooded. And the water is continuing to rise here. And you can see this whole neighborhood back there has water deep into it. The folks who live here say it came up yesterday and overnight. It is the worst they've ever seen. Not '93, not '82, worst ever.

Let's show you what's also going on at Valley Park. You mentioned that sewage problem. And they've got some clear video that shows you this. And this, this is just another complication that they're up against. This raw sewage now is going to be flowing into the water that's already flowing everywhere. You can see the pollution problem it would create on top of not to mention a massive, massive humanitarian and clean-up problem that they have.

And it's also extremely cold. And then lastly, we mentioned those highways. The problem is there are hundreds of roadways and bridges that have either been cut off or have been covered by water. That means that getting around, even if you're not directly being flooded in your neighborhood, is extremely difficult today but it's hazardous for those who are still trying to evacuate.

They're struggling to keep roads open, even here in Arnold for people to be able to get in and out of town. And the water is not expected to crest until later -- Deborah.

FEYERICK: I'm looking at the house behind you, Martin, and I'm just thinking, what is the power situation there? I mean, first of all, there's likely no electricity in this area for safety reasons, but when they come in, they're going to have to probably get new cars. Those cars aren't going to be able to work. And they're going to have to then dry out their homes. I mean, this is a long-term clean-up we're looking at.

SAVIDGE: It is. I mean, the governor has said that he expects that the water rose quickly, it should go down quickly. But you're right, cleaning after the flood is about the absolute worst disaster because of what you just described. Everything is totally inundated. And there is a health hazard as well as just a clean-up hazard.

The electricity is off, you're right. Gas in the area has been shut off as well. People knew it was happening. They had to do that for safety reasons. So there are a lot of things that make floods particularly difficult, painful, and 14 lives have been lost in Missouri as well. That's not to be overlooked. Most of those people driving into water in the dark -- Deborah.

FEYERICK: Oh, boy. All right. Well, let's hope that people's food and their water holds out at least while they try to ride all of this out.

Martin Savidge for us there, we thank you very much. Happy New Year.

And for the latest on the forecast we now turn to Karen Maginnis in Atlanta. Karen, the temperatures, you know, now they're falling and that's

going to make it even more complicated.

KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, they're in fact below normal. Here we saw record-setting rainfall across St. Louis. 61-plus inches for the year. All-time wettest year since they've been keeping records. And now we've got these temperatures that are down the '30s, we have historic record rainfall. And this is a level of misery that no one should have to endure, but it certainly is here.

(WEATHER REPORT)

[10:26:02] MAGINNIS: Deb, it looks like just a retched situation and this is not going to go down -- those rivers are not expected to recede now for at least a week and probably more like two weeks.

FEYERICK: And what's incredible is you're talking about 12 million people facing flood warnings in some 19 states.

Karen Maginnis, thank you very much. And for all of you watching this, for ways you can help victims of the flooding in Missouri and the ongoing recovery from tornadoes in Texas and Mississippi, visit us at CNN.com/impact.

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[10:30:-7] FEYERICK: And good morning, everyone. I'm Deborah Feyerick in for Carol Costello. Thanks so much for joining me.