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New Day

Buffalo Bracing for Another Round of Snow; Ferguson Grand Jury Could Rule by Friday; Bill Cosby Under Fire as More Women Speak Out; Gunman Opens Fire at Florida State University

Aired November 20, 2014 - 06:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to NEW DAY.

Here's a look at headlines. We're following breaking news: the suspected gunman who opened fire at Florida State University's main library is dead. Police say the gunman wounded three people before campus officers confronted him and killed him in a shoot-out.

One of the wounded is said to be in critical condition, another is listed as stable. We do not know yet of the condition of the third victim. We do know classes and exams today are canceled.

World powers are gathering in Vienna today for a final round of nuclear talks with Iran. Expectations, though, for a comprehensive deal are low. Western leaders put their chances at 50 percent at best. And say a breakthrough before the November 24th deadline appears highly unlikely. But they say they may be able to agree on the outline of a deal and work out an extension to iron out details later.

Another victory for supporters of same-sex marriage. A federal judge in Montana overturned the state's gay marriage ban, making it the 34th state in the country to allow such unions, although some still face legal challenges. The judge notes the decision goes against an amendment approved by the voters of Montana, at least two counties started issuing marriage licenses immediately.

And a passing to tell you of one of the most beloved voices of Motown, Jimmy Ruffin has died.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

PEREIRA: A favorite song. How can you forget the voice behind the '60s hit "What Becomes of the Broken-Hearted"?

He passed away in Las Vegas Monday according to his family. Ruffin's storied career spanned half a century, including other great songs like "I've Passed This Way Before" and "Hold On To My Love". He was 78 years old. Quite a career as well overseas in Europe, he lived there for a time in the '80s and '90s, returning to the U.S.

He's passed away, it's sad to say. But the music will live on.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: That's a beautiful song.

PEREIRA: It really is. I like that, it gives me little goose bumps hearing it again.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: And that is a beautiful vassalage for his family. They've lost the family they love.

PEREIRA: But the voice live by.

CUOMO: But he has a legacy, he has a legacy.

All right. So, Buffalo is back in the news this morning and with good, really for bad reason, right? The distress and situation could get worse, there could be 30 inches of snow. That would be an extra 30, that would make eight and a half feet of snow.

But the number that matters most is seven. That's how many people have died because of this storm at this point. Rescue crews are scrambling to save people trapped on the roads and in their home.

So, let's get to meteorologist Jennifer Gray. She's live on the ground in Buffalo.

We're hearing it's still almost too difficult for the first responders to get where they need to be.

What are you seeing on the ground, Jennifer?

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it's exactly right.

We almost couldn't make it to the live shot a couple of hours ago, the snow was so heavy. Visibility was down to zero. You couldn't see in front of your hood.

So, first responders are having a very difficult time getting to people and now with the additional snowfall that's expected, the fear is with the weight added on people's homes, roofs could possibly collapse. And so that's going to be the fear moving forward.

We're at a staging area, we had those front-end loaders we were showing you yesterday morning that were putting the snow in the dump trucks and hauling it off, this is where they were set up.

If you follow me over here you can see, this parking lot has been plowed, but over here, this hasn't. This is what many streets look like south of buffalo and the snow even higher.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GRAY (voice-over): Buffalo's deadly monster storm isn't done yet. The lake-effect storm hammered southern parts of the city Tuesday, dumping nearly six feet. The region now bracing for round two, expected to bring another two to three feet of snow by Friday. An entire year's worth of snow in just days.

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D), NEW YORK: This snowfall may break all sorts of records.

GRAY: The city in a state of emergency and residents struggling to dig out from under walls of snow.

KAROLL MARKIEWICZ, BUFFALO RESIDENT: It's too much. It's just really a lot of snow here. And it's hard to -- we're closed in here, not an open area, where we can fling the snow everywhere.

GRAY: Trapped inside his West Seneca, James Grimaldi used an aerial drone to escape his snow-covered garage. Capturing this video of an avalanche of snow left behind.

Driving bans in effect as major roadways through the area remain at a standstill, after stranded drivers were forced to abandon their snow- buried cars and trucks.

Officials say it could be days before the highways are cleared and are warning residents to be careful.

MAYOR BYRON BROWN, BUFFALO, NEW YORK: Stay home if you do have do go out, please exercise caucus.

GRAY: In the hardest-hit areas where snow is too deep for plows, crews have had to bring in front-end loaders and dump trucks to haul the snow out.

The National Guard out in full force to help clear the streets. While EMS and firefighters are depending on volunteers with snowmobiles or venturing out on foot to rescue those stranded and in need.

The storm now claiming seven lives, some from cardiac arrest shoveling, others simply trapped in the cold.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRAY: And these are cars right here, and you see these all over the city, there's about 50 of them here in this parking lot. So, Chris, it is going to be a while before they can get their cars back, most likely the end of the weekend.

CUOMO: That's the least of their concerns, right now so many people have so many dire needs, the question is when will they get windows of opportunity for the people trying to help up there?

Jennifer, stay warm. We'll check back in with you in a little bit.

Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: Chris, here's the crazy thing about the storm. Some areas of the Buffalo area only saw a few inches of snow while others just a few miles away got several feet.

Here's a picture of a guy trying to shovel his front walk. The snow is taller than he is. And this, remember, it hasn't been put there by a snowplow, because snowplows can't get through this street. It's incredible. Let's get over to meteorologist Indra Petersons to explain why some of

Buffalo was spared and others was ere not.

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: This is an historic event, some residents in the suburbs of Buffalo seeing the amount of snowfall they would see in the entire year, all of that falling from this one snow event.

What's even crazier than that, you could be in a suburb of Buffalo and have sunshine, clear skies above your head and a few miles away, they could literally be pounded with snow. Snowfall rates of four to five inches per hour.

So, look at the totals, a seven-mile difference between a place that saw three inches of snow and one that saw over 60 inches, so everyone is saying what is going on? Well lake-effect snow. We know that but the reason it's happening is actually because the lakes have not frozen yet.

Keep in mind the water temperature right over Lake Erie, about 45 degrees, about 40, 50 degrees, the air temperature in the 20s. A huge temperature difference, the cold air wants to sink. The warm air wants to rise. So they flip-flop right?

Pulls the moisture out of the lake, you get the snow all of that being carried to the end of the lake by the wind. So that's one factor, that temperature difference.

The second one being the wind. You want the fetch of the lake and the wind. You want that phenomenon to go as far as it can. You want to go with the cold air as far as you can, the distance across the lake. So a small shift in the wind direction is going to change everything.

Look at the difference of the fetch over the lake with the southwesterly wind instead of a west-southwesterly, that's why some places are seeing the heavy amounts of snow right at the end. The wind shifts and everything starts dumping in a different region. This is a way to look at it you can see the blue lines, that's the wind, follow the lines at the end of Lake Erie, you can see the long line of heavy snowfall at the end.

So, there you go, that's what answers the big question, why are you seeing so much snow a few miles away? Maybe at my house, nothing at all, guys.

CAMEROTA: Crazy.

PETERSONS: Yes.

CAMEROTA: Just incredible how that works and obviously so dangerous. We're going to be talking to the governor of New York about what they're going to do next.

CUOMO: The question is, they don't have good options right now. And their hands are tied by the weather. Mother Nature always wins and they're going to have to hope they can hold out until they get windows of opportunity.

CAMEROTA: Absolutely.

CUOMO: Another situation we're watching is, of course, what's going on in Ferguson. The grand jury's decision on whether to charge Officer Darren Wilson for Michael Brown's death could come down tomorrow. That is the latest word. The city of Ferguson is on edge because of that, as are other places around the country. We'll take to you Ferguson.

CAMEROTA: And more backlash against Bill Cosby. New projects cancel and old reruns of "The Cosby Show" yanked off the air. Is his career over?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Welcome back to your NEW DAY.

The grand jury in Ferguson could hand up a ruling as soon as tomorrow. Law enforcement officials tell CNN they expect prosecutors to present their final evidence Friday with a decision expected shortly thereafter. Of course, that could change.

But let's get to Evan Perez. He's live in Ferguson with more.

Evan, that wouldn't be unusual to have a quick turn-around, but it wouldn't be unusual not to have one, either?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Chris. I mean, the grand jury will decide how long it's going to take to deliberate. These people have been living this case for a couple of months now. So, they -- the authorities here don't believe it will take that long.

Once a decision is made, however, they're not going to release the decision immediately. They're going to give law enforcement 48 hours' notice to get ready here for the streets of Ferguson and also in St. Louis where we expect protests to take place.

And then once the decision is made, is announced on Sunday, they also plan to release all the evidence that's been presented to the grand jury. Now that's an unusual situation, because one of the debates that's happening behind the scenes, Chris, is how to treat the witnesses who have provided testimony to this grand jury, whether or not to release the names of those people, because some people feel that they might be at risk, obviously some of them have given TV interviews and when they went to the grand jury, they said things that might be different from what they had said in the media.

So that's something that everybody is talking about here. And they're trying to decide how to handle it -- Chris.

CUOMO: Also, going to think about the grand jurors themselves, and, boy, Evan, both of us, for this to hold 48 hours after the decision has actually made, will be a very tough test. Thank you for the reporting. We'll check back in with you.

Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: Well, Bill Cosby is in trouble. Networks from NBC to Netflix are backing away from the comedian.

Is his career over? We'll bring you the latest developments.

And we have breaking details on the shooting on the campus of Florida State University. New details from officials, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: Welcome back to NEW DAY.

Business seems to be crumbling around Bill Cosby as accusations build about the comedian's alleged unwanted sexual advances dating back decades. A new project with NBC -- squashed. Reruns of "The Cosby Show" in TV Land, off the schedule. A special on Netflix planned for next week -- shelved.

So, can Cosby's career survive all of this?

Let's turn to our host of CNN's "RELIABLE SOURCES" and senior media correspondent, Brian Stelter, and HLN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney, Joey Jackson, is here as well.

And, gentlemen, it was interesting -- good morning, first of all.

JOEY JACKSON, HLN LEGAL ANALYST: Good morning.

PEREIRA: Not a trickle, it seems now, it's a deluge.

At some point, Brian, do you think that Cosby is going to have to address these allegations?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: In 24 hours, Netflix, NBC, TV Land, these series of corporate relationships with Cosby and his shows, all evaporated with one caveat, Netflix only postponed that comedy special. Maybe when, if and when all the talk about him dies down, maybe they will air it in the future.

But this was really remarkable to see this domino effect happen.

CAMEROTA: So, Joey, if he wants to resurrect his career, does he need to do some sort of big primetime sit-down confessional? And if he does that, is he in big legal trouble?

JACKSON: You know, it's interesting, Alisyn, because this is where public relations and public relations advisers are completely at odds with the attorneys. Attorneys are going to tell you, Alisyn, keep your mouth shut, allow it to blow over and allow the media to move on to something else that they can sink their teeth into.

CAMEROTA: And that's what he's been doing.

JACKSON: Exactly. But here's the other problem, Chris, from a legal perspective, you don't know if there are anybody -- is there anyone else out there that we have to be concerned about? So, therefore, say nothing and move on.

If you do say something, though, Chris, now that becomes a story and then you get the psychoanalysts, were his eyes move moving to the let, were they moving to the right. Could he be telling the truth? Is he lying?

So, the lawyers are saying, just hush and it will blow over. The public relations people, however, may be saying something entirely different.

CUOMO: What if he comes on and says, "I did it"? Legally?

JACKSON: You know, it's interesting, Chris, legally speaking, we know there are various statute of limitations in various states, and so, as it relates to New York if he said that, he'd be fine as far as Ms. Bowman. Statute of limitations, there was none on rape as of 2006. The allegations stem back to '85. But you have to worry about the other states and what their statute of limitations is in, because if he's in that, then it's problematic.

PEREIRA: Janice Dickinson came out again on "Entertainment Tonight." I want to show awe little bit of what she said on "Entertainment Tonight." Of course, the lawyers had a response to that too. But let's listen to Janice.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JANICE DICKINSON, MODEL AND TV PERSONALITY: The loss of innocence, that I suffered and these women out there suffer is why I'm sitting here today. And I don't care about what Cosby or networks or anybody says, I am -- you will hear me. I will not stop. I'm a woman, I am confident and I'm an American and it happened to me and that's my truth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: Well, and, of course, the lawyers are responding, let me read the response from Cosby's lawyers, "Janice Dickinson's story accusing Bill Cosby of rape is a lie. The only story she gave to the media in her autobiography was that she refused to sleep with Mr. Cosby and he blew her off. Documentary proven Ms. Dickinson's own word show that her new story about something she now claims happened back in 1982 was a fabricated lie."

STELTER: Michaela, back on Sunday, we heard from another Cosby attorney, they said we're going to have no further comment. We're not going to talk about this.

This newly aggressive response speaks volumes and I think it shows how far we are from Bill Cosby actually coming out to your point and actually commenting himself on these allegations.

PEREIRA: But in terms of business, because that's what we have to look at here, you said there's several aspects, there's the PR aspect of it, there's the legal matter, right? But in terms of business, we have seen projects moving away and away. Is there room for this to turn around for him, save for some sort of

sit-down interview with an "Oprah" or a Diane Sawyer?

STELTER: It's hard for me to imagine a big network like NBC and a big studio like Sony wanting to develop a program with him in a year or two. But I do think fans are going to continue to sell out his stand- up comedy performances.

CAMEROTA: You do?

STELTER: I do.

CAMEROTA: You don't think he's cooked? You don't think he's done after this? I mean, to Michaela's point, it's been a tidal wave now.

STELTER: These corporate relationships are one thing. It's hard for an NBC or a Netflix or TV Land to stay in business. But I think he's got millions and millions of fans out there, the ones blowing up my Facebook and Twitter pages, saying the media is out to get him. These women are out to get him.

You've always got the response from people wanting to defend him and support him, even financially.

JACKSON: And, remember, the lawyers are going to say just that, because it comes down to credibility, right? And we always say this -- Chris you know this, right -- there are some people who tell the truth, but very poorly, right? So it appears as though they're lying. And some people who are lying, but they're really telling the truth because they do so very well.

PEREIRA: The hardest thing, when we're talking about assault and abuse and you're talking about women who when we talk about domestic abuse, sexual assault. You talk about how victims feel re-victimized when they're not believed. And when the media comes after them and says, well you should have done something more to protect yourself. Or, you don't have an axe to grind.

(CROSSTALK)

JACKSON: It's a great point Michaela and this is what happens in court. We know rape is one thing to prove, where there's physical evidence, right? DNA, that type thing. That's one thing.

But there are also other ways to prove it such as not only the credibility of the victim themselves, but sometimes there's recent outcry evidence. For example, when something happens to you, Michaela, what you do is you tell a friend, you tell a relative. You don't feel comfortable coming out and telling the police, but you tell someone and you bring that person into court.

PEREIRA: Which we've seen happened with some of these people.

CUOMO: Can you think of a case where you've had -- well, you're not a lawyer, as a situation, can you think of a media situation other than like Bob Filner, where you've had this many people come out with stories that would be very difficult to coordinate and the person has survived scrutiny?

STELTER: I was thinking about that last night, and I can't.

CUOMO: The same Paula Deen?

STELTER: No, and people --

PEREIRA: It's interesting the difference between words and actions, right?

STELTER: I would say when I talk about his fans coming to his defense, it reminds me a little bit of something like Paula Deen. There are stories like that where people become very polarizing and controversialized. And yet some fans stay with them.

But this is absolutely different. I would add another thought about this -- we're talking about a 77-year-old man. We're thinking about his public relations strategy, his legal strategy. I'm not sure he is in the same way we are. You know --

PEREIRA: Do you think it's more about legacy?

STELTER: Legacy, but also, he was, he was, he was at his peak in the 1980s, his show was reaching 50 million people. We're not in that era anymore. We're not in that environment anymore.

JACKSON: But he was trying to peak again, and I think the fact that he was ascending --

STELTER: He was.

JACKSON: -- you know, his new career --

STELTER: When his personal publicist was calling me, how do I find the story you wrote about Cosby? I thought to myself, we're not dealing with people who know exactly how the new media environment works.

PEREIRA: That's a very good point. We'll have to leave it there, gentlemen. We could talk about this a lot more, thank you so much for your opinions and conversation.

And folks at home, please tell us what you think. Do you think that Cosby can recover from all this? Tweet us @newday. Go to our Facebook page. You know how to reach us.

CUOMO: It's interesting how we're still framing the question, can he recover? What about all these women?

PEREIRA: That's a good point.

CUOMO: So, we've got to stay balance on this one. And, Mick, you've been doing the best out of all us on it, by the way, from the beginning on this.

So, this is one story we're going to keep following, but there's a lot of news this morning, so let's get right to it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Moments of fear when an unidentified gunman opened fire.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Someone has a gun in the library.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's a gun in the library.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The entire first floor is in chaos.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The gunman fired a shot at the officers and they returned fire, killing the suspect.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As Buffalo tries to dig out from an avalanche of snow, even more is on the way.

CUOMO: Snowfall may break all sorts of records.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is so much snow. It's very hard to plow.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our immigration system is broken.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Barack Obama plans to unavailable executive action on immigration.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's no question there's going to be a political confrontation with Congress on this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This serious, serious business.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: Good morning, everyone. Welcome back to NEW DAY. I'm Alisyn Camerota, along with Chris Cuomo.

And we begin with breaking news for you. The latest in the shooting at Florida State University's main library. Tallahassee Police says the threat is over after campus officers confronted a lone gunman who wounded three students. Campus police ordered him, they say, to put down his weapon, instead he fired. They returned fire, killing him.

CUOMO: And it also matters when this happened. There were so many students studying late in the night because it's final exam week. We have learned that campus does remain open, but the classes and exams have been understandably canceled.

Let's get to CNN's Susan Candiotti. She's following the breaking development for us.

Susan, what do we know now?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Well, when one student said he was shot, another thought he was

kidding, he wasn't. Students hitting the books for exams, instead running for cover from a gunman.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CANDIOTTI (voice-over): Breaking overnight --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you serious? Oh my God, are you OK?

CANDIOTTI: Moments of fear inside this Florida State University library. One FSU student capturing it on cell phone video.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the Tallahassee Police Department, and the FSU Police Department. There has been a shooting in the library. Stay where you are.

CANDIOTTI: It was just before 12:30 this morning when an unidentified gunman opened fire.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As you know, somebody has a gun. We have somebody that's been shot, call 911.

CANDIOTTI: One man seen lying on the floor, apparently shot in the leg as a librarian makes a frantic 911 call.

FSU senior Sarah Evans shoots the heart-pounding video and described a chaotic scene.