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New Day

President Announces Executive Action on Immigration; Interview with Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez; NSA Warns of Impending Foreign Cyber-Attacks; Another Cosby Accuser Speaks Out

Aired November 21, 2014 - 08:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I know some worry immigration will change the very fabric of who we are.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Overhaul outrage -- a defiant President Obama lays out his immigration plan. We break down the new reforms that could affect millions of lives, if they ever happen. We hear from those who say the president overstepped his authority.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: And another woman goes public with new accusations against Bill Cosby, saying she, too, was sexually assaulted by him when she was a teenager. Cosby's lawyer calls her claims ridiculous. Can she be believed?

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Hack attack fears, the NSA's blunt warning that China and other countries could shut down our nation's power grid through a cyber-attack. How real is this threat? What's being done to prevent such a disaster?

CUOMO: Your NEW DAY continues right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Kate Bolduan, and Michaela Pereira.

CUOMO: Did you catch what Philly was just doing with the paper. That's a little bit extra thing we gave you here at NEW DAY.

CAMEROTA: You're welcome.

CUOMO: That's our way we say good morning on NEW DAY, especially on a Friday, November 21st, just after 8:00 in the east, Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota here. And the big story, the president and many of his supporters saying it is an historic day for immigration reform. You ask the Republicans, it's another kind of history, a history of abuse of power, a history of putting the last nail in the coffin of bipartisanship in Washington. This all because President Obama unveiled his executive order on immigration last night protecting millions of undocumented immigrants potentially. CAMEROTA: But Republicans are not taking this move lying down.

They're pushing back in a big way. They say the president is overstepping his powers and House Speaker John Boehner says the president broke his word to compromise. White House correspondent Michelle Kosinski joins us live with more. Michelle, what happens today?

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: So the president will actually sign his executive action. But he's now announced what will affect nearly 5 million people here, or more than 40 percent of the known undocumented immigrant population, giving them a chance to stay and work. The president says this is not changing the law but using legally permissible discretion in how that law is enforced.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KOSINSKI: With crowds chanting in Spanish "Yes he could" in the freezing cold outside the White House, the president put his case for executive action before the American public.

OBAMA: These people, our neighbors, our classmates, our friends, they did not come here in search of a free ride or an easy life. They came to work.

KOSINSKI: At one point, quoting scripture.

OBAMA: We shall not oppress a stranger, for we know the heart of a stranger. We were strangers once, too. My fellow Americans, we are and always will be a nation of immigrants.

KOSINSKI: His plan allows the Department of Homeland Security to take certain groups off the priority list for deportation while keeping others high up.

OBAMA: Felons, not families, criminals, not children, gang members, not a mom who is working hard to provide for her kids.

KOSINSKI: Putting more resources at the border and focusing on deporting criminals and those entering the U.S. most recently. The plan will allow immigrants who have been in America at least five years with children who are legal residents the chance to apply to stay for three years provided they pass a background check and start paying taxes. They will also expand such relief granted by the president to people brought here illegally as kids, the so-called dreamers, for example, eliminating the age limit, and promises to streamline the immigration system, helping high-skilled workers, graduates, and entrepreneurs with a chance to stay.

OBAMA: What I'm describing is accountability, a commonsense middle ground approach. If you meet the criteria, you can come out of the shadows and get right with the law. If you're a criminal, you'll be deported.

KOSINSKI: This speech was played just before the Latin Grammys. Cheers went up at watch parties around the country.

(APPLAUSE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It gets emotional so that maybe one day my mom, my parents will be able to go back to Ecuador and that families will be connected again.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Obviously this is a huge victory for our community, but obviously this is not enough. We're going to still fight.

KOSINSKI: The plan, remember, is not a path to citizenship. The Republican response?

REP. STEVE KING, (R) IOWA: What he has done is torn Article I out of the constitution, put it into his own pocket and said I'm now the legislative branch, too.

KOSINSKI: House Speaker John Boehner in a statement said the president cemented his legacy of lawlessness and squandered what little credibility he had left, to all of which President Obama responded with the three Bill political words.

OBAMA: Pass a bill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOSINSKI: So that's a question now, will Congress now pass their own bill that could then supersede what the president has just done, or will this, as some have warned ruined the chances of Congress taking this up, or, alternatively, will they take something else up, like a lawsuit. Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: Still a lot of questions this morning. Michelle Kosinski, thanks so much. Let's get over to Chris.

CUOMO: They seem to be largely rhetorical questions as this point, Alisyn, because it seems like there's no choice of any bipartisanship given the response to the president's plan last night. There's what's in the plan. That's not getting as much attention as how the plan was presented. They say he overstepped his legal bounds. They said that he does not have the right under the constitution to do this. The president disagrees, as do his counselors.

So how do we decide? Let's bring in Alberto Gonzalez, a former attorney general, very familiar with the separation of powers thanks to his time in the George W. Bush administration, currently Dean at Belmont University College of Law, couldn't have a better guest for this. It's been a long time and it's very good to see you, judge.

ALBERTO GONZALEZ, FORMER ATTORNEY GENERAL: It's good to see you, Chris. I've enjoyed some of your questioning of the press secretary. I think your questions have been right on.

CUOMO: Thank you, how about my questioning of Representative Duffy, did you like that questioning as much?

(LAUGHTER) GONZALEZ: I think that's all good. I think this debate about separation of powers is very appropriate. But what I do worry about the fact that the way that this overshadows the merits of what's been done. Most people agree that something needs to be done, but I think people are angry about the way it was done.

CUOMO: Yes, so, but let's put the politics aside because they're angry about everything, judge, and let's use the purity of an actual standard. Knowing what you know how about what the president wants in this executive order, do you think it is a legal action?

GONZALEZ: There's still part of the calculation that's missing, which is how it's going to be implemented. There's some details here that will be very important in terms of defining whether or not this action is lawful or unlawful.

You've got some very smart people on both sides of this, that it is lawful, it is not lawful, this is abuse of discretion, this is well within the discretion. I've heard the press secretary earlier talk about the fact that former presidents have done similar kinds of actions, and I would just caution upon relying upon previous actions by presidents as examples to justify this action, because we're talking about the use of discretion, which is very fact-specific. You have to look at what the president actually has done. You have to look at what Congress has said, what Congress's response in relation to the presidential action. So all the actions by President Reagan and President Bush, all that tells us that discretion is allowed but doesn't tell us whether or not the exercise of discretion in this particular case is lawful.

What I worry about is that this really has poisoned the well and it's going to make it much more difficult to get what we all I think believe is necessary, which is a comprehensive, permanent plan to deal with this very serious immigration issue.

CUOMO: I want to talk to you about that because you understand the issues involved very well. Because I have you and your legal mind is so vibrant, isn't it a little bit ironic, judge, that the Congress, the Republicans specifically want to argue about constitutionality of presidential action now, but when it comes to war they have given presidents for generations, including Obama, a complete constitutional pass on the ability to declare war? Isn't it ironic that they're picking and choosing when they want to fight about the constitution?

GONZALEZ: Well, one could argue that is ironic. Although I would say in the area of foreign policy and the area of national security, there is I think more of a presumption that executive action is, in fact, constitutional because the president can hang his hat on this constitutional commander in chief authority.

But when you're talking about an area in the domestic policy arena such as immigration, then I think that presumption is not there, and I think the president has to be much more careful in taking action that infringes upon an area in which Congress has had very significant legislative action, which is of course immigration. CUOMO: So if you're the judge in this, do you make a decision based

on what you've heard and do you tell the parties, if I'm you, go back and settle, because you really need to fix the problem in the first place and not argue about the legality of the president's action. That should not be the main response. What do you say?

GONZALEZ: I think a judge if this ever makes its way to the courts may first say there's no appropriate standing in order to keep the case. And the judge may also say this is a political question. This is a dispute that needs to be resolved by the political branches, not within the arena of the courts. And so that may very well be the outcome.

From my perspective, while I think the separation of powers debate is a very important debate, I think what we ought to be focused on is what do we do about the immigration problem? Congress, the best thing Congress can do to negate what the president has done is pass a comprehensive bill.

CUOMO: Right. At the end of the day, you're a judge, everybody knows you as attorney general, but this is a distraction. You can argue fairly that the president is causing a distraction because he did what is seen as inciting this latest round, but what do you think it will take to make Congress recognize the urgency that they all talk about but do nothing about, which is all these families in distress?

GONZALEZ: Well, I'm hopeful because we have new leadership in the Senate, I hopeful, it seems appropriate to me and I think the American people would expect this out of a sense of fairness that we give this new Congress an opportunity to see whether or not they can step up and do what we elected them to do, which is to take on these very difficult issues. And then if nothing happens, then I think the president is actually in a much stronger position to take forceful, bold executive action. But I think to take it now I think it's one of the reasons why you're seeing the reaction that we're seeing from the Republican side.

CUOMO: And it is unfortunate, because it's a distraction to what matters most, which is finding out the right way to enforce the laws about how people come across the border and taking care of families that are here already.

Judge, you wrote a very interesting piece for "USA Today" back in August that people should take a look at, because you laid out really where you think the plus/minuses are and what the responsibilities are Congress are. So thank you very much for being with us, Judge Alberto Gonzalez, and always a pleasure to have you on NEW DAY.

GONZALEZ: Thank you.

CUOMO: Alisyn, over to you.

CAMEROTA: OK, Chris, we have some breaking news overnight. The head of the NSA warning that China has the power to launch a hack attack to take down America's power grid and other critical systems. Spyware has already been detected on pivotal U.S. computers and the NSA chief warns it's not a matter of if but when. Let's get right to chief national security correspondent Jim Sciutto live with the latest. This is worrisome, Jim.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: No question, Alisyn. And in fact Admiral Rogers said not just China but one or two other countries as well, he wouldn't identify them. He said that was classified. And keep in mind he's not just the NSA chief, he's also the head of the military cyber command, so the institution charged with defending U.S. cyber systems in a military sense.

And here's what he said was vulnerable -- power and water grids, aviation systems, financial services. You can imagine all the damage and in fact danger it would cause if China or another country was able to shut that down. He says that hackers from these countries have performed what he called reconnaissance missions to look for weaknesses.

Here's what he said exactly. He said "We see them attempting to steal information on how our systems are configured, the very schematics of most of our control systems right down to the engineering level of detail so they can look where there are vulnerabilities, how they are constructed, how I could get in and defeat them."

As you mentioned, Alisyn, he said an attack is not a matter of if but as to when it's going to happen, which is just really an alarming thought. And he also made the point that being on the defensive is, in his words, a losing strategy, indicating that the U.S. has to go on offense, in effect, show these countries that it can do the same thing, and that's an alarming prospect, sort of a mutually assured destruction kind of situation the way it was with nuclear war during the cold war. But he said a better possibility should be for countries to negotiate the rules of these kinds of attacks.

CAMEROTA: Yes, that would be helpful. Let's see if they can do that.

SCIUTTO: Absolutely.

CAMEROTA: Jim Sciutto, thanks so much.

CUOMO: I feel like we're sleeping on this threat. Don't you? If the same thing were happening with bricks and mortar, like they were trying to break into one of our buildings, the urgency would be crazy. It would be on the brink of war. But because it's online --

CAMEROTA: It's more nebulous, but more terrifying.

CUOMO: Absolutely. I think it's more terrifying than we're making, unusual for the media, but I think we're actually underplaying the terror.

PEREIRA: I'm upset by it.

CUOMO: Are you? I feel better now.

PEREIRA: Let me give you a look at our other headlines. Good morning to you once again. Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson reportedly is in talks to resign from his department. Sources tell CNN Wilson wants to relieve the pressure on his fellow officers in the department but will only agree to step aside if the grand jury exonerates him in the Michael Brown shooting. That decision we're told could come as early as today.

A Michigan woman is facing charges this morning after she was caught outside the White House with an unregistered gun. April Lenhart was part of a demonstration along the north fence. Secret Service agents spotted the gun on her. It happened as the president was delivering a speech on immigration. This is the second arrest outside the White House in as many days. An Iowa man was arrested Wednesday with a rifle and a knife in his car.

Senators better get ready to roll up their sleeves and work five whole days a week. The Senate calendar is out. Lawmakers are now scheduled to work on Fridays. Under Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid lawmakers didn't work a five-day work week all year. Often votes are scheduled for late on Fridays so the west coast folks could make it home to their constituencies on Friday. Republican leader Mitch McConnell has said no. He has warned senators in fact they'll be working longer nights and workweeks if the GOP took control. Guess what, the GOP took control.

All right, are you ready for this? Check her out. This is the anti- Barbie. A shorter, broader brunette doll about to make her debut. The creator Nickolay Lamm, a graphic designer-turned-toy maker, used CDC data to give her proportions of an average 19-year-old. Her name is Lammily. She comes complete with a sticker pack, pimples, mold, cellulite, and scars that can be applied, all the good time stuff.

People who crowd funded this doll get theirs by Black Friday. Thousands more shipped by the holidays.

Interesting. I was reading the "TIME" magazine right up on this, and they were saying that if the actual Barbie that we all grew up were a real person, she'd have to walk on all fours because her feet were so small and she'd only have room for half a liver because her waist is so tiny.

CAMEROTA: She can only eat one grape at a time --

PEREIRA: Exactly.

CAMEROTA: -- because her waist was this big.

PEREIRA: Her neck was really long, too. I always found myself going, how was it possible to have that neck that long? Any comments on Barbie, fellow?

CUOMO: It wasn't a huge part of my coming up.

PEREIRA: You had sisters, G.I. Joe probably took her home.

CUOMO: That's exactly right. She's casualty of war in my back backyard.

What's her name, Lammily?

PEREIRA: The guy's name was, his last name is Lamm, so she named her Lammily.

CUOMO: As a daddy the tattoo thing scares me.

PEREIRA: On the Barbies?

CUOMO: As an incentive point for my kids.

CAMEROTA: Well, yes, this doesn't come with tattoos. It comes with cellulite.

PEREIRA: Yes, and moles.

CUOMO: That's called reality.

CAMEROTA: Yes, reality.

PEREIRA: Exactly.

CAMEROTA: That's great. Thanks so much, Michaela.

All right. Another top story, another woman is accusing Bill Cosby of sexually assaulting her. She's speaking out for the first time about what she says he did to her on a California beach.

Plus, is the president's plan to shield up to 5 million undocumented immigrants from deportation, is that a good start or is it a political dead end? We have perspective for you, ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: More claims of sexual assault against Bill Cosby. Another alleged victim, a woman named Linda Traitz, is sharing her story with CNN, describing how she says Cosby sexually assaulted her when she was a teenager. She says she's decided to come forward only after reading negative comments online about Barbara Bowman, one of the first women to go public.

Linda has had a rough journey. Since her teenage years, she has a long history of drug abuse and arrest action, which I asked her about when we sat down for an interview yesterday. She was joined by her older brother, Jim, who came along to support her and share his memory of the story that she told him 45 years ago, when Linda worked as a waitress at a restaurant co-owned by Bill Cosby.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LINDA JOY TRAITZ, ALLEGES SHE WAS SEXUALLY ASSAULTED BY BILL COSBY: One day he came to my station where I was waiting tables and sat down. And started speaking with me, you know? Real friendly and real animated and telling me I was pretty.

And he offered me a ride home from the restaurant, which I accepted. And I got into his car, it was a Rolls Royce, it was early in the day. And he said, I'm going to take a drive out to the beach.

CAMEROTA: What did you think? When he said, I'm going to take you on a drive to the beach, what went through your head?

LINDA TRAITZ: I was star-struck. This is Bill Cosby. I mean, he's -- you know, above reproach. I thought, I didn't think, there were no red flags at all.

CAMEROTA: So, you get to the beach and then what happens?

LINDA TRAITZ: OK, when we were pulling into wherever it was that he was parking, he opened up a brief case that was on his front seat and it was filled with different assorted pills, capsules and tablets. I don't remember colors, there were no prescription bottles.

CAMEROTA: Did he explain to you what these pills were?

LINDA TRAITZ: No, all he said was, why don't you take a couple of these, they'll help you relax. He kept -- you know, what? You know, I was -- help me relax of what?

CAMEROTA: Did you end up taking any of the pills?

LINDA TRAITZ: No.

CAMEROTA: OK. So, then what happened?

LINDA TRAITZ: He started grabbing at my chest and, you know, starting trying to fondle me and then he started to push himself on top of me like against the seat and against the door, as he was groping me.

I don't remember the conversation, but I do know that that's when I panicked. I opened the door behind me and ran out of his car, and ran down the beach.

And I had on a long hippie, peasant skirt, that's what we wore back then. I was running and I was running towards I guess towards the shoreline. My foot must have hit the bottom of my skirt, because I fell. And it tore up my skirt probably to the knee and I partially fell in the water. So I was wet.

He was coming after me, trying to calm me down, because I was making such a scene. I was crying, I was -- in a panic.

I was crying and he said, I'll take you home, I'll take you home. You know. At that point, I was not raped. But I was groped and terrorized.

CAMEROTA: Jim, what do you remember about what, what Linda said at that time?

JIM TRAITZ, LINDA TRAITZ'S BROTHER: I can literally remember being in the kitchen while my mom got the call and I can literally remember when she told me the story. I mean, she came home, and, and I felt like I wanted to just see the guy put in jail for the rest of his life. She said kind of what she told you, but in more graphic detail, that

he tried her to take pills, he kept trying to push her to take pills. She kept refusing and all of a sudden he lunged at her. He lunged at her with his body weight. He's now pinned her against the door of the car. And he's got his hands -- I forget if she said under her shirt, but grabbing her breasts and then trying to get his hand in the front, under the skirt.

At that point, she realized he was going to badly molest her. I don't think she used the word rape. But I -- she was sexually assaulted. He was not stopping.

CAMEROTA (voice-over): Linda says she saw Cosby at the restaurant a few times after that. But he never spoke to her again.

(on camera): Did you consider going to the police?

LINDA TRAITZ: No. I was not raped. I didn't think there was anything I could do. It never dawned on me and I never went, you know, never tried to go after him for it.

JIM TRAITZ: We had a little family discussion, OK? And felt all of this, Linda, this guy, this is Bill Cosby. He's got a public relations machine. You're a teenager, basically. There's -- no proof, you're going to get destroyed.

CAMEROTA (voice-over): Through his lawyers, Cosby has consistently denied similar allegations. But he refused to elaborate in a recent interview with the "Associated Press."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have to ask about your name coming up in the news recently. Regarding this comedian --

BILL COSBY, COMEDIAN: No, no, we don't answer that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to ask you if -- the persona that people know about, Bill Cosby, should they believe anything differently about what?

COSBY: There is no comment about that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

COSBY: And I tell you why.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

COSBY: I think you were told. I don't want to compromise your integrity. But we don't -- I don't talk about it.

CAMEROTA: In the years since 1969, Linda has been troubled. She's been arrested more than a dozen times for drug-related charges and spent several years in jail. A point Cosby's legal team emphasized when we contacted them for a response.

(on camera): Cosby's attorney tells CNN, "Ms. Traitz' long criminal record for numerous offenses, including charges for criminal fraud, possession of Oxycodone, and cocaine possession, marijuana possession and possession of drug paraphernalia speaks for itself. As the old saying goes, consider the source."

Why should people believe you now?

LINDA TRAITZ: Because it's the truth. I mean, it's the truth. I never went after him for it. I never went after him for it -- the drugs, the drug -- my drug history really started way, way, way after the situation with him.

JIM TRAITZ: Her credibility is going to be attacked. It's going to help me excuse this guy. I've thought of it off and on for the last 45 years. You know, my sister showed real courage. But I came out here because I know my sister.

CAMEROTA (voice-over): Linda says she has not used drugs in six years. She says she came forward after hearing Barbara Bowman's story alleging that Cosby raped her. Linda was upset by online comments from those who don't believe Barbara Bowman.

LINDA TRAITZ: When I started reading the comments and I saw what people were saying about her and calling these women liars, money- hungry and he could never do this. And I didn't do it to go, to go after Bill Cosby. I was doing it to in defense of these women.

CAMEROTA: For Linda's brother, Jim, it's personal.

JIM TRAITZ: She's here for those women and I'm here for her, OK? That's the bottom line.

And I don't -- I want to see, I don't want to see this guy get away with it. I don't want to see -- God knows how many times he's done it. I don't want to see him get away with it and I don't want to see these women get ridiculed by the huge bill Cosby PR machine. It just isn't right.

CAMEROTA (on camera): What do you want to say to Bill Cosby?

LINDA TRAITZ: You know, by repeatedly denying and pretty much insinuating that these women are liars, it's re-assaulting them all over again. They had courage. These women had courage to come forth. Way more courage than I did.

I'd like him to be held accountable for what he did to these women that he raped.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: OK. So, my Twitter feed is blowing up. There's lots of reaction to this, and people question her motives. They question all of the accusers' motives and think they're doing it for money. That's a theme.

PEREIRA: There's no money to be had here. CAMEROTA: She's never gone to him for money. CNN certainly has never

paid anybody any of these women money for their stories. She doesn't think that she's getting any money. She has said clearly she came out only after reading the attacks on Barbara Bowman.

PEREIRA: And wants to defend the other women.

CUOMO: He has settled some cases, right? So --

PEREIRA: He settled one back in 2005, right?

CAMEROTA: Oh, so, you're saying the women might think that and think they're going to get money.

CUOMO: I'm thinking the people hating on them on Twitter may be think being that.

You know, these are types of situations often fueled misperceptions and people are thinking more about him as a celebrity than what they're hearing about the circumstances.

PEREIRA: We don't want to believe that, right?

CAMEROTA: Yes.

PEREIRA: He's America's favorite dad.

The other thing I can't get over watching the interview and the piece within it, the "A.P." reporter talking to Cosby beside his wife of many years. That --

CUOMO: I thought the reporter was overly polite to him. You know, when he said I can't promise you that. Hey, you come on camera, you sit in the chair. Things are on the record. You know I'm going to ask you. You don't want to answer, don't answer, but you know you don't have any control what I use nor any control what I'm going to ask.

So, I though, you know, he shouldn't have been upset with the guy.

CAMEROTA: One last thing about the money, if you are going to get a settlement usually from the accused, then you don't speak out about it. So, the settlement usually happens before you speak out about it, not after you speak out about it.

CUOMO: Or if there is a settlement, you probably can't speak out.

CAMEROTA: Of course, so the fact they're coming forward to speak out about it. Truly, the women that we have spoken to, Michaela, say they're doing it for the solidarity with other women.

PEREIRA: And some sort of closure.

CUOMO: We haven't seen anything like this like Mayor Filner, and one thing that people should think about when you're assessing a celebrity, be nice if everybody gets the presumption of innocence that the celebrities get, because we're seeing that very strongly on Twitter as well, despite a long list of women.

CAMEROTA: We do welcome your comments. So, keep them coming. We love to read them and respond.