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Cosby Accuser Reacts to His Release; Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) is Interviewed about Afghanistan; . Aired 9:30-10a ET.

Aired July 01, 2021 - 09:30   ET

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

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[09:31:34]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: A remarkable development in the last 24 hours, but Bill Cosby is waking up this morning at home, a free man today after Pennsylvania's highest court overturned his 2018 sexual assault conviction. The court ruled that Cosby's due process rights were violated when he was charged and convicted of drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand at his home in 2004.

Why? Well, after a previous prosecutor entered an informal agreement not to bring charges based on Constand's allegations in order to, that lawyer explained, to get Cosby to sit for a deposition in a civil suit at the time.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: And in that deposition, Cosby did say and admit to giving Quaaludes to women that he wanted to have sex with. The deposition was made public in 2014. His statements were ultimately used against him in his criminal trial. And that led to the decision to vacate that conviction.

This decision reverses the first high-profile celebrity criminal trial of the Me Too era. More than 50 women have publically accused Cosby of raping them or assaulting them over the past 40 years.

Now, Kathy McKee knew Bill Cosby socially as then the girlfriend of Sammy Davis Jr. She says she was actually good friends with Bill Cosby until she says he ambushed her and assaulted here in a Michigan hotel room in 1974. Almost 40 years later, she recounted those horrific details to "The New York Daily News." And after that article was published, a spokesperson for Cosby wrote a letter to that paper stating that her accusations were false.

SCIUTTO: Well, McKee then sued for defamation over that letter. That case was dismissed. At the time, a Cosby spokesperson in a statement to CNN said, quote, this is another in a line of recent developments vindicating Mr. Cosby's right to defend himself in the face of an onslaught of unverified accusations.

Well, joining us now is Kathy McKee. And Miss McKee, I want to thank you for joining us this morning. We really do appreciate it. KATHY MCKEE, ACCUSES BILL COSBY OF SEXUAL ASSAULT: Good morning.

SCIUTTO: Because I can't imagine that these hours, these days are easy for you.

The thought occurred to me, you and these other women went through enormous pain publicly, right, to describe what you went through. I wonder, are you worried if this decision will make other women who encounter similar treatment less willing, right, to go public against their attackers?

MCKEE: Well, absolutely, for sure. What's happening right now is so frightening and scary. You know, it seems as though women -- we just really don't count, you know. It just -- that's the way it appears right now.

And, of course, if you don't have any money, and if your African- American or a brown-skinned person in America or a woman and you're -- if you have no money, you're not wealthy, wealthy, you can't afford attorneys, you can't afford the years that it takes to sue someone or pursue a civil action or a criminal action, you can forget it, you know. so that's -- that's kind of what this looks like.

That's certainly what happened to me. There was no justice.

[09:35:00]

And, you know, with this happening right now with Bill Cosby, you have to think for a minute, actually you have to think about, how many people are in prison right now for rape, primarily, that were not able to afford a decent attorney. Perhaps they didn't even do it. Perhaps they were arrested for no reason and they were accused of something they didn't do. They're in jail.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

MCKEE: Bill Cosby did this and he's free. It's -- it's -- it's the money and the power that has Bill Cosby at home right now. He was able to afford to pay all of these attorneys to work all these years to free him. And he admitted to doing this act. And nobody on the planet could possibly believe that all of the women that have come forward that he didn't do this. Come on.

So what is this about? Where are we at and how could the -- how could the prosecutor re-do the case with Andrea knowing there was a possibility that some day down the line it could be overruled? What was their thinking? Why did they even take the action against him? Why didn't they take the action against him with another one of the women that he raped? Why did they pick her and bring her back when -- I mean they are thinking, weren't they? I mean they have brains. They knew that what he had done was a possibility that Bill could go to a Supreme Court and overturn this.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

MCKEE: So I don't understand. It's just a mess. It's terrible. It's just terrible. Now what?

HARLOW: Kathy, I remember, Kathy, watching you live on our air the day that the jury ruled in the Cosby case. You remember that. I mean so many of us do. And you were in tears and you were saying -- you were talking about all of the difficult emotions that this stirs up for you and you talked about, you say, and I saw the violence in Bill Cosby when he attacked me. Those were your words.

MCKEE: (INAUDIBLE).

HARLOW: He has -- denied has that. But I ask you this in a context of recourse now, because the Pennsylvania Supreme Court made very clear in its opinion yesterday, Bill Cosby can never again be tried in this case.

Do you feel like there is any recourse?

MCKEE: (INAUDIBLE).

If a man goes to jail and is accused of this crime, and he's convicted, and he goes to jail, and then all of a sudden, mysteriously, miraculously, judges on the supreme court say, oh, well, that was a big mistake and forget about it, it's over. Let him go. Let him out. Well, I mean, what do we have? What's left? Where do we go? Who do we plead for help and justice? Where do we go? Who?

If you have a lot of money, you get it. If you're wealthy, you can go hire the best attorneys. You can go get the greatest. If you don't have any money and you're struggling and you're trying to survive and you're just a normal American citizen and you're just trying to get justice for what happened to you, you get nothing. Period.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

If you had a moment this --

MCKEE: So where are we?

SCIUTTO: This morning to address Bill Cosby, who is sitting at home right now, what would you say?

MCKEE: Why in God's name did you do this to me, of all people? I don't understand why. Women were throwing themselves at your feet your entire life. There were trails of women. Why did you have to commit these acts? Why did you have to rape and attack people and take advantage of people. What in God's name possesses you to do something like that? Isn't there any value?

You had a mother, you had a family, you have daughters, you have a wife, there's no value to their humanness of who they are? Why? Why did you do this? Why did you put your family through this misery, your wife through this pain and all of the women that you hurt? Why?

You know, over the years, because of the PTSD that I'm suffering from, and because of what happened to me, I had to leave a career, I didn't even know I had PTSD for 25 years. I gave up my career. I ended up gaining enormous amount of weight. All of this is from emotional anxiety and distress and problems related to what happened to me, those many years ago and burying it and hiding it.

[09:40:07]

And I don't wish this on anybody. And I just still do not know and understand why. Why?

HARLOW: Kathy, there are no adequate words from us, you know, that we can ease your pain but Jim and I both very much appreciate you being here with us and sharing these feelings.

MCKEE: Thank you.

HARLOW: And I know that they will mean a lot to people watching. And I'm so sorry for your suffering.

Kathy McKee, thank you.

MCKEE: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: Thank you. Thank you, Kathy.

MCKEE: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

HARLOW: Well, President Biden arriving in Miami. You see him right there. Getting ready to meet and console families in the tragedy, the wake of the condo collapse tragedy.

We'll be right back.

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[09:45:23]

HARLOW: With the American military in the final phase of withdrawing from Afghanistan, the top U.S. general in the country is warning that there is a potential for civil war once the U.S. completely leaves. That could pose a serious threat to the more than 18,000 Afghans who work side-by-side with the United States and are now stuck in limbo as they await special immigrant visas.

That also includes up to 53,000 of their family. That brings the total to more than 70,000 people. Officials say some of them have been targeted of murder by the Taliban and now the State Department has identified Afghans who will be given the option to relocate while they wait for that visa.

On Tuesday, the House voted overwhelmingly to expedite the process that would allow them to immigrate to the United States and President Biden has promised they will not be left behind. But now General Austin Miller says civil war is certainly a path that can be visualized if it continues on this trajectory.

Joining me now is Massachusetts Democratic Congressman Seth Moulton. He also served on the House Armed Services Committee, served four tours in Iraq.

Thank you for being here. This has been so important to you. And it's important that we highlight it as we are days away from almost fulling pulling out. So thank you for being here.

REP. SETH MOULTON (D-MA): Poppy, I don't know a veteran in America for whom this is not so important. We understand what it means to have allies on the ground. And we understand the promise that we made to these Afghans, which is, you come work with us, you risk your life, not just for Afghanistan but for America, and we will have your back.

HARLOW: Yes.

MOULTON: We've got to uphold that promise.

HARLOW: You told Jake Tapper, my colleague, a few days ago, your confident the president wants to get out but you said I won't be confident as a Marine veteran until I see the operational plan.

Have you seen a plan, Congressman, that makes you confident?

MOULTON: No, I have not seen a plan yet. Nobody to my knowledge on Capitol Hill has seen a detailed plan.

We need a plan that explains exactly where these men and women, these heroes are going to go, how we're going to get them to the airport, because some parts of Afghanistan have already been taken over by the Taliban. That's changing week by week.

We also need to have an operational commander, someone in charge of this mission, so it's clear who is directing this to get done. And, finally, I need an assurance from the White House that no matter how long this takes, we'll see the mission through to completion. We cannot leave anyone behind.

HARLOW: Well, look, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs said in testimony in May, it is a, quote, moral imperative that we take care of those that have worked closely with us and put our lives in danger. You have rolled out a plan, right online, evacuateourallies.org. And you write about what happens if we abandon the allies, that we will fight tomorrow's wars alone.

MOULTON: That's right.

HARLOW: What happens if the U.S. does not fully see this through for future generations of our troops?

MOULTON: Look, Poppy, I think one thing's become clear over the last several years, which is that we're not going to win the war in Afghanistan. But there are still devastating ways that we could lose. And one of those ways is to see our credibility shattered on the world stage as our allies, our friends in Afghanistan, get slaughtered by the Taliban because that is what will happen.

The Taliban has made it very clear, they will kill them, they will rape and murder their wives and children first in front of their eyes if they can. And everyone in the world will know that this is what happens if you work for America.

So what we need to show the world is the truth, which is that we will uphold our promises, we will have their backs, we will get you out. That's the truth that we want to show to the world. I believe the administration knows that. I believe that Joe Biden know how important that is. And it was in response to my question on Capitol Hill that the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said, we have a moral imperative to do this.

He was talking about the moral imperative because of the promises we made to these Afghans. I would extend that to every future American service man or women who has to make the same promise, to get a friend, to get an ally on the ground in some conflict down the road.

HARLOW: Many viewers won't know this but this is not only personal for you because you've served, but because of a man named Mohamed Harba (ph), who was your interpreter, your translator, who was lucky enough to come to the United States I believe on a Fulbright, but his family was targeted.

[09:50:03]

Can you speak to this from a personal standpoint. And, also, Congressman, as a father of two girls, as we look at what is likely to happen to the girls and women of Afghanistan when the U.S. pulls out.

MOULTON: Well, first of all, Mohamed, I mean, Mohamed risked his life every day for our mission and for me personally. And I think he'd probably say that I risked my life for him. We became the closest of friends because we worked so closely together. We had our lives in each other's hands every single day in Iraq.

And Mohamed's a hero and he got himself here on a Fulbright scholarship. I worked very hard to make sure that he could stay in America. He's now -- he's now serving our country in a different way.

But, you know, I've had several different translators over the course of my four tours in Iraq and I'm still working to get some of them to America today as we speak.

As far as what will happen to the women and girls in Afghanistan, I mean, to be honest with you, I don't think they have a bright future. And that's sad. I'm not saying that the president's not right to say that we don't have a clear mission in Afghanistan and we need to withdraw troops. We need to be clear about what our national security objectives are. But I hope we don't forget those women and girls. These girls who for the first time in Afghanistan's history have a chance at a bright future. And I certainly don't want to see that taken away.

HARLOW: Of course. None of us do.

If you would allow me just to switch gears here for a moment because we got some pretty stunning news from our Jamie Gangel's reporting on House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy issuing a blanket threat to his fellow Republicans in your chamber saying that he would strip them of any committee roles if they were to join the select committee to investigate the insurrection on January the 6th.

You just, yesterday, I believe it was, told a Boston public radio station of Republicans who downplayed the insurrection or denied it, we need to talk about getting rid of those members of Congress.

What are Republicans so afraid of?

MOULTON: Apparently of Donald Trump. And it's pathetic. I mean Kevin McCarthy is acting like an autocrat. This is the kind of thing you'd expect from Putin. And, remember, this is the same Kevin McCarthy who refuses to strip Marjorie Taylor Greene of her committee assignment even though she's espousing QAnon theories.

It's the same Kevin McCarthy who refuses to strip Matt Gaetz of his committee assignments even while he has multiple accusations of child sexual abuse. I mean this -- this man has no moral foundation whatsoever and he's acting like he's more scared of Donald Trump and his wrath than he cares about our Constitution.

HARLOW: Congressman, I'm sorry to interrupt, we do have to get to some breaking news, but I thank you for your time this morning.

MOULTON: Thanks, Poppy.

HARLOW: Thank you.

Jim.

SCIUTTO: We're going live to Florida now. There's a press conference. That's Florida Governor Ron DeSantis giving an update on rescue and recovery operations in Surfside.

Let's have a listen.

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): The impacts through Saturday. But, obviously the state meteorological team is actively monitoring the storm and will continue to provide updates. And our Department of Emergency Management continues to implement contingency plans for potential tropical weather impacts, including identifying alternate work facilities.

As of this morning, our state response team has coordinated more than 500 on-scene responders, including local and state personnel. Fifty- nine individuals have been registered for individual assistance. One hundred and eight resource requests have been fulfilled. And the Florida Department of Transportation has removed almost 1,400 tons of building material from the site.

Now, obviously, last night there was issues with the remaining structure and our state assets are being provided to Miami-Dade in terms of engineering know-how so that they can look to see what their options are to handle this. Obviously, we believe that a -- continuing searching is something that's very, very important.

So we ask the Florida Department of Transportation engineers working. I know that fire department and the county are getting the different options on how to handle this. But, of course, we're going to provide whatever resources they need to be able to allow the searches to continue.

Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, Governor.

Lieutenant Governor Jeannette Nunez.

LT. GOV. JEANETTE NUNEZ (R-FL): (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE).

[09:55:08]

SCIUTTO: OK, we're watching again a live update from Surfside, Florida. We just heard briefly from the Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

We should note that Joe Biden has now arrived in Florida. He's going to be getting briefed by local officials, rescue workers and leaders. He's also going to have time to meet with and attempt to console family members of those who have been killed in this and are still missing.

HARLOW: Obviously, President Biden comes, as you say, Jim, earlier, as consoler in chief, someone who knows all too well what loss is like, as well as losing children. And we learned yesterday evening that the two most recent bodies that have been identified are children, a four- year-old and a 10-year-old. We also know that they have had to pause some of the rescue efforts today because of concerns about safety for the first responders. So an impossibly difficult day once again for all of the families waiting for answers. Hopefully some comfort that can come from the president.

SCIUTTO: We should note, as you see that figure up on the screen, 1,400 tons of debris removed from the site as the governor said. A lot of that by hand in buckets, it's painstaking work.

MAYOR DANIELLA LEVINE CAVA (D), MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA: Good morning, everyone.

We're here to share a brief operational update with you.

As many of you have already seen, we were forced to halt operations on the collapse in the early hours of the morning due to structural concerns about the standing structure. We're doing everything we can to ensure that the safety of our first responders is paramount and to continue our search and rescue operations as soon as it is safe to do so. And our engineers are continuing to monitor the structure as we paused operations to evaluate the situation and all possible options and next steps, including with the assistance of the state engineers.

I want to stress that President Biden's visit today will have no impact on what happens at this site. The search and rescue operation will continue as soon as it is safe to do so. The only reason for this pause is concerns about the standing structure.

We've already informed the families this morning who are waiting and waiting about this development and we have worked to answer all the questions that they have about the operation. And we will continue to keep the families and all of you informed as we get new information throughout the day.

Chief Comenski (ph) is going to join me for a more detailed update on the activity at the site.

(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

SCIUTTO: Notable there, Poppy, to hear from the Miami-Dade mayor that if President Biden visits the site or not, still not decided, not communicated by the White House, the mayor wanted to make clear that there would be no disruption to operations there. That seems to be a priority for the White House and for local officials.

There are also concerns about the continuing stability of the structure there which led to a brief pause in those operations. They've got to be concerned, Poppy, don't they, about those workers and the risk they're facing.

HARLOW: Yes. Yes, of course. Of course.

OK, we have our Boris Sanchez with us now.

And, Boris, as we continue to monitor this press conference, you're the one who obtained this video, new video, that shows that water gushing into the garage structure right before the collapse.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Poppy. And investigators will be looking very closely at videos like that one to get a good idea of exactly how all of this unfolded, how this building came down.

There had been concerns for years about that specific area, the area below the pool, in that garage, where in 2018 a report by an engineer showed significant corrosion in the rebar and decay in the concrete. There had been complaints and there were assessments that the residents approved for $15 million worth of repairs and they were actually supposed to start paying for those repairs today. Obviously, for these residents, the president visiting this scene cast an important light. It brings a lot of attention.

SCIUTTO: Boris, hold that thought, if you don't mind. The fire chief is speaking now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Additional concerns for building stability. The stop in operations was based on the (INAUDIBLE) experts of several on site structural engineers. Concern accessors included (ph) six to 12 inches of movement in a large column hanging from the structure that could fall and cause damage to the support columns in the sub-terrain garage area.

[10:00:09]