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Bill Cosby Admits Plant to Use Drugs to Get Sex; Obama Declares Long-Term Campaign Against ISIS; Interview with Tom Ridge; Nuclear Talks Extended; Interview With S.C. State Representative Jonathan Hill; Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired July 07, 2015 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST, "NEW DAY": Donald Gould who fell on hard times after returning from service. He's been playing piano since the age of 7. He can play everything from Bach to Styx.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST, "NEW DAY": That was Styx. I heard it.

CUOMO: A pop-up piano that they put out in Florida there, the videos are going viral. Millions of cynic. He says the only person he wants to see it, his estranged son. The reason I'm showing you this and you should listen to him playing online, it's amazing. Everyone has value.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN HOST, "NEW DAY": He really does.

CUOMO: Homeless or not. Remember that.

PEREIRA: And maybe his son will hear this and reconnect.

CAMEROTA: Hope so. Yes.

PEREIRA: All right. Nice way to end the show. Let's turnover to the "NEWSROOM" and Ana Cabrera in for Carol Costello.

Good morning, darling.

ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, guys. Thanks so much.

NEWSROOM starts now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: Happening now in the NEWSROOM. Cosby and Quaaludes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Complete validation, across the board from all of us, complete validation.

CABRERA: A bombshell admission revealed in the middle of the ongoing sexual assault scandal.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "She meets me backstage," he says. "I give her Quaaludes. We then have sex."

CABRERA: What newly released documents are telling us about those drugs and what Cosby says he wanted to do with them.

Also, the Confederate flag has been flying at South Carolina's state capital since 1961. Now it could be hours from coming down. But will lawmakers vote to remove it?

Plus, shocking video. Another football player gets violent off the field. And it's all caught on camera. What his lawyer is saying about the incident.

Let's talk in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: Good morning and thanks for being here. I'm Ana Cabrera in for Carol Costello. We are following several big stories this morning.

The deadline extended yet again in the Iran nuclear talks. They now have until Friday. And a major issue is holding up the deal. Iran's push for an arms embargo to be lifted.

Plus, Greece under pressure. Can the country come up with a plan to avoid economic meltdown? We're watching the latest over there and how markets are reacting here.

But first those shocking revelations that everyone is talking about this morning. Bill Cosby, the man once known as America's favorite TV dad, admitting now under oath that he acquired drugs to give to women with whom he wanted to have sex. But he didn't actually admit to drugging any of them.

Now this is all coming from newly revealed court documents from 10 years ago when the comedian was facing a civil lawsuit for sexual assault. Since then, more than 25 women have accused the 77-year-old of assault or rape and have come forward publicly. But the comedian has never faced criminal charges. He has strongly and repeatedly denied all of the allegations.

So far Cosby and his attorneys are not commenting on these new revelations. But some of his accusers are. Former supermodel Beverly Johnson spoke to CNN just last hour with her reaction.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEVERLY JOHNSON, COSBY ACCUSER: I think it's a time for healing, that the healing can begin, and also forgiveness, but also a message of women using their voice.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

JOHNSON: When it's necessary.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Let's bring in CNN's Sara Ganim now with more on the details of this case. Sara, I know you've read through a lot of these documents.

SARA GANIM, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. This is really fascinating because, you know, this is first of all the first version of his story, his first version of the story that he's told. But in many of the cases of the women who have accused him they didn't just accuse him of sexual assault. They also said that they believed they were drugged. They remember Cosby making them a drink, giving it to them before they felt that they were incapacitated.

And after years of him denying everything, this is the first time we're hearing him admit to anything.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GANIM (voice-over): A bombshell in the ongoing Cosby sexual assault controversy shockingly revealed in his own words. The admission surfacing in newly unsealed court documents. The embattled comedian testifying under oath that in 2005 he had obtained seven prescriptions of Quaaludes, a powerful hypnotic and sedative. Admitting his intent to drug young women he wanted to have sex with.

His confession, testimony from a civil lawsuit filed by Andrea Constand, a former Temple University employee, that was settled in 2006. In the deposition obtained and made public by the Associated Press, the plaintiff's attorney questioning the now 77-year-old Cosby. Question, "When you got the Quaaludes, was it in your minds that you were going to use these Quaaludes for young women that you wanted to have sex with?" Cosby answering, "Yes." "You gave them to other people?" "Yes."

When the attorney goes on to ask him, "Did you ever give any of those women Quaaludes without their knowledge," Cosby's lawyer objects, telling him not to answer the question. The woman in that case accusing Cosby of drugging and molesting her, giving her three blue pills.

[09:05:10] The documents also includes Cosby's recollection of a '70s encounter with a woman in Las Vegas. "She meets me backstage," he says. "I give her Quaaludes. We then have sex."

According to the newly released court documents Cosby's lawyers insisting that two of the accusers were aware that they were taking Quaaludes from the comedian. Over the past 40 years more than 25 women have publicly alleged that Cosby raped or assaulted them.

JOHNSON: It was very powerful. It came on very quickly. The room started to spin. At that point, I knew he had drugged me.

GANIM: But Cosby, who starred as the lovable Dr. Cliff Huxtable on "The Cosby Show," has long denied drugging and sexually molesting these women, and has never been criminally charged.

Barbara Bowman, one of Cosby's accusers who many credit for paving the way for others to come forward, calls the revelations a game changer.

BARBARA BOWMAN, COSBY ACCUSER: I think we're going to be heard now. And I think this is just the beginning.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GANIM: Now Bill Cosby fought the release of these court documents. He said that they would be embarrassing to him. His attorney, of course, not commenting this morning. But, you know, Ana, the Associated Press, credit to them, they fought this. They said they should be released. They were part of actually motions that had chunks of this deposition in it.

You know, part of the reason that the judge released them was because he's been fighting back so much. He's been saying no, I'm being defamed, right? And the judge said, look, if you're going to defend yourself, this should be released.

Now the other part of that is what comes next. It's very unlikely that as shocking as this is, that this could lead to any criminal charges or any other kind of civil litigation. The statute has run out in many of these cases, almost all of them. But there are women who are now fighting back in a more creative way. They are suing him for defamation for denying that he did this.

CABRERA: And the battle is not over yet. And we're going to talk more about that legal aspect as we continue throughout this hour.

Thanks so much, Sara Ganim.

And later this hour I'll speak with lawyer Gloria Allred who's actually representing more than a dozen of Cosby's accusers. Also next hour one of those accusers is going to join us to discuss these latest revelations. So do stay tuned for that.

We also are following new developments right now in the fight against ISIS. The U.S. doubling down and preparing for a long haul. In a rare visit to the Pentagon President Obama stood behind some of the military's top war commanders, and he warned that the fight against this terror group is going to be an ongoing campaign.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This will not be quick. This is a long-term campaign. ISIL is opportunistic and it is nimble. In many places in Syria and Iraq, including urban areas, it's dug in among innocent civilian populations. It will take time to root them out. And doing so must be the job of local forces on the ground with training and air support from our coalition.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Despite some admitted setbacks there, the president says coalition forces continue to target the heart of ISIS, going after the group's money and its leaders in both Syria and Iraq and now we're learning in other places as well.

Just minutes from now, we are expecting the Pentagon chiefs, Ashley Carter as well as General Martin Dempsey, to reiterate the message in front of Senate lawmakers. We'll be listening for anything new from them. But right now I want to bring in CNN's Pentagon correspondent Barbara Star with more -- Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Ana. I mean, the president was very clear in his view, in the view of his military commanders it will be a very long campaign to deal with ISIS in Syria, in Iraq, in newly emerging areas in North Africa like Tunisia and Libya.

We have seen a pick up in the air strikes over Iraq -- over Syria, however, in recent days. On July 4th alone some 18 air strikes concentrated around Raqqa, a city in northern Syria that ISIS' self- declared capital, if you will, the real heartland of much of ISIS' strength. Very unusual to go after that with such a heavy bombardment. The U.S. making that effort.

And it really goes to the question of what is coming next in Syria. It's one of the things the president talked about here at the Pentagon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: In Syria, the only way the civil war will end and in a way so that the Syrian people can unite against ISIL is an inclusive political transition to a new government without Bashar al-Assad. A government that serves all Syrians.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: Very difficult proposition, what the U.S. is hoping for, and again very difficult, if they could get Assad out of power, get a new government there, could it unite against the ISIS strongholds in Syria?

[09:10:11] That would be a key step on the ground to getting ISIS out of Syria and really pushing them back. But admittedly a very difficult proposition -- Ana.

CABRERA: All right. Barbara Starr, thank you so much.

So as the U.S. ramps up this fight against ISIS, some lawmakers, including Republican congressman, Jason Chaffetz, are slamming the president's strategy. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JASON CHAFFETZ (R), UTAH: I sense more resolve from him, a more realistic view, but I'm concerned that he doesn't have a strategy. He talked about some topics -- or some tactics, but in a topical way. But I didn't sense that he had a really -- a rock solid strategy on how to deal with this and defeat it, not just in Iraq but across the globe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Joining me now to discuss all of this, former Homeland Security secretary, Tom Ridge.

Thank you so much for joining us, sir.

TOM RIDGE, FORMER HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: Good morning, Ana.

CABRERA: You just heard from Congressman Chaffetz. What's your assessment of how the U.S. strategy is working against ISIS?

RIDGE: Well, first of all, I think we have to go back a year plus and remember that the president with great disdain said this is just a JV team and we shouldn't be worried about them. And then I think it was last August the president said well, we need a strategy. And a couple of weeks ago he said we that need a comprehensive strategy.

I think all of Americans, Republicans and Democrats, are waiting to figure out what that strategy is. The fact of the matter is the president is somewhat condemned by his own words, that this JV team has 50 percent of the territory in Syria. Critical areas in Iraq. Has expanded its operation in Egypt and Libya. We saw the atrocities and the attacks in Tunisia and in Kuwait.

So at the end of the day, I happen to agree with the congressman, if there is a strategy, and I don't think drone attacks and air strikes amount to a strategy nor does a press conference after a briefing at the Pentagon amount to a strategy. I think it's pretty clear there is no strategy in this whack-a-mole approach, it's resonance undertaking clearly is not working. By his own admission, they've expanded their reach and we continue to do the same thing over and over again with air strikes.

CABRERA: Yes, and it does seem like the coalition has made some progress. I want to read you that, you know, Obama said more than 5,000 air strikes have happened. They've taken out thousands of fighting positions, military equipment as well. They've been able to kill some of ISIS' leadership. So it seems like there have been at least some small steps along the way. In your mind, what does success actually look like?

RIDGE: Well, first of all, I think we are kind of seeing some motion in terms of air strikes. But at the end of the day, I don't believe too many military commanders, even his team over in the Pentagon, who I think also recommended that we keep forces in Iraq rather than withdraw them to prevent the rise of ISIL. But I don't think there are too many military commanders in this country or elsewhere who think you're going to destroy ISIL without ground troops. Experienced, well-trained, well-equipped ground troops. And so you can celebrate successful air strikes knocking out tanks, vehicles, et cetera.

But you really have not done much to limit their capability. You've done absolutely nothing to destroy their reach not only in Iraq and Syria but as they expand globally. I think at the end of the day the president has to be much more assertive. And he talks about a coalition. Other than a coalition around air strikes there doesn't appear to be much of an effort on the ground. I mean, you take a look at the region, Ana, you'll see there's some really significant military capability in that region. Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, a pretty significant list.

And why we -- he as president has not engaged them to be part of the on-the-ground effort in their neighborhood, by the way, is a mystery to me. And I think that's one of the areas that hopefully will be probed today during some of these congressional hearings. Why are we not leading a coalition that includes troops and equipment from the neighborhood?

(CROSSTALK)

CABRERA: Before I let you --

RIDGE: Because that's where the instability is, that's where the chaos is, and they have to contribute to the defeat of ISIL.

CABRERA: Before I let you go, I also want to ask you about how concerned Americans should be here at home. Because the president also addressed the issue of lone wolves. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Because of our success over the years in improving our homeland security we've made it harder for terrorists to carry out large scale attacks like 9/11 here at home. But the threat of lone wolves or small cells of terrorists is complex. It's harder to detect. and harder to prevent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: We know just since the beginning of this year at least 49 people have been arrested for suspected ties to ISIS right here in America. How concerned should we be?

[09:15:03] RIDGE: Well, I think on this matter I think the president's assessment is accurate. I do think it's incumbent upon not only the national leadership of the FBI to work much more closely in collaboration with state and local law enforcement. Again, that notion initially, remember, a couple of months ago, or years ago, we were worried about Americans or Westerners going to Syria, going to Iraq and being trained and bringing that training back here to the United States.

But we've seen with the incriminate attacks elsewhere around the globe, the kind of operations that ISIL has suggested, encouraged or even planned lend itself to that lone wolf about which the president speaks. That's the reason the FBI has become much more aggressive over the past couple of months trying to identify these individuals. That's why it's very important on the neighbors of these individuals, it's why it's very important for the Muslim community writ large in the United States and elsewhere to keep their ear to the ground and if they detect the possibility of this lone wolf attack that they must immediately give local law enforcement or the FBI some notice.

CABRERA: All right. Thank you so much, Tom Ridge, former Homeland Security secretary. We appreciate your expertise and your time.

RIDGE: Good talking with you.

CABRERA: We appreciate it. Thanks for being here.

And be sure to stay with us. We are expecting that Senate hearing with Defense Secretary Ash Carter and General Martin Dempsey to begin in less than 30 minutes. And again we'll continue to monitor that.

Still to come, it's not over. So much for another deadline. Iran nuke talks will continue for a few more days. So what does this really mean? Are we really any closer to a deal?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:20:43] CABRERA: Well, there's a new deadline for an Iran nuclear deal. It was just pushed to Friday. It was supposed to be today. The U.S., Iran and five other world powers have been racing to try to secure a final agreement. But continued disputes over arms embargoes in Iran's ballistic missile program have curved this complex and contentious negotiation.

CNN senior international correspondent Nic Robertson is joining us live in Vienna, Austria, with the latest.

Nic, any progress?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ana, we're getting a few more details. There have been a lot of high-level meetings between the foreign ministers of Russia, China, England or Britain, rather, France and Germany. And of course John Kerry in there as well.

What we're beginning to get is some kind of a read-out from those meetings. A senior State Department adviser has now said that they are making progress on every issue, but these remain highly technical issues that they -- State Department is not interested in the quality of the deal than the clock at the moment. And that's why there's an extra couple of days here being added on until Friday, it seems, to get this deal.

We heard from the EU foreign policy chief. She described how these negotiations are touching on tough issues. This is what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FEDERICA MOGHERINI, EUROPEAN UNION FOREIGN POLICY CHIEF: We always knew it was going to be difficult. But we are continuing to work to see if we can manage to finalize the agreement. So I'm saying in the next hours, couple of days, that's what we're doing, using the time we have in a flexible way, knowing that we have to do it in this -- I came here a couple of days ago, Sunday, saying the time is now. Still the time is now.

So it's a window that we are using at the maximum, but we are not closing the window and opening another window at another time. We are using the time now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: Well, just before he left, the Russian foreign minister briefed Russian journalists and speaking to the semi-official Interfax News Agency. He said they were or they quote him as saying that there were eight issues that still require to be polished. So it does appear that the Russian foreign minister stepping away from the talks for a while. The French foreign minister left. He said he will be back. But it does seem from the Russian perspective as many as eight separate issues still requiring some attention here -- Ana.

CABRERA: Wow. Eight issues. That's a lot of wrap up. And still just a couple of days even if they move that deadline back.

Nic Robertson, we appreciate you keeping on top of it for us.

Still to come, Trump taking heat from his own party for the comments he's made on Mexicans. But think he's backing down? Think again.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:27:35] CABRERA: The third and final vote in the Senate to remove the Confederate flag from South Carolina's state House grounds gets underway in about an hour from now. And in Monday's preliminary vote on the second reading, state senators voted overwhelmingly to permanently remove the flag. It was 37-3. But remember a two-thirds majority is needed in both the Senate and the House to get the bill on Governor Nikki Haley's desk. And she's been calling for its removal since the end of June.

With me now, South Carolina State Representative Jonathan Hill.

Thank you so much, sir, for joining us. You're getting ready to head back into session. I know you originally voted against a debate on this issue. The Senate could pass the bill today sending it to the House. How do you plan to vote?

REP. JONATHAN HILL (R), SOUTH CAROLINA STATE REPRESENTATIVE: Well, you know, I plan to vote to support the flag. There are also some potential options that, you know, may allow me to vote for the bill. We'll see. There is some talk about, you know, possibly replacing the flag with a different battle flag from South Carolina's history. I certainly think that it's entirely appropriate to keep a Confederate battle flag of some form here on the state house grounds. It's important that we remember our state's history. It's important that we remember all the lessons that can be learned about the value of life from this time -- tragic time actually in our state and our nation's history.

CABRERA: We see that flag flying right behind you next to the Confederate War Memorial that's also on the grounds. Why not remove the flag, put it in a museum as this particular bill calls for and you still have that monument, you still that memorial that's there on state house grounds? Couldn't that be enough?

HILL: Well, you know, if that were -- if that were all that was being asked to do -- that we were being asked to do, then, you know, maybe we could do that and move on and put this to rest. But the issue is we dealt with this about 15 years ago. And, you know, there was a compromise reached. It was a compromise that was reached in good faith. And so, you know, I personally feel that General Lee's battle flag which is currently flying is not the Navy jack stars and bars that are -- that was flying on top of the state house dome.

This is a square flag with a white border. Slightly different. This is a flag that the South Carolina regiments would have fought under, under General Lee. So I think that it is appropriate that it is flying next to the -- to the Confederate memorial which was erected in memory of the lives that were lost during the war. So, you know, I think that it is a appropriate and it's very important that we remember our state's history precisely because there's much to learn about the value of life.