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Obama's Executive Action Plan on Immigration; New Audio Surfaces from ISIS Leader; Russia Denies Troop and Aircraft Movement; Rape Allegations Follow Bill Cosby

Aired November 14, 2014 - 07:00   ET

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

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Chris, at a news conference here in Myanmar, President Obama vowed once again he will take executive action by the end of the year on immigration.

White House officials are indicating the order could come within days and the president is expected to go big. He's already given deportation relief to undocumented children and teens known as DREAMers. And sources tell CNN the president is expected to extend the policy to the undocumented parents of those dreamers and to undocumented parents of children who are U.S. citizens or green card holders.

The president has been under pressure from Latino groups for years to stop splitting up families through deportation, and today he said executive action is coming despite those howls from Republicans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I gave the House over a year to go ahead and at least give a vote to the Senate Bill. They failed to do so. And I indicated to Speaker Boehner several months ago that if, in fact, Congress failed to act, I would use all the lawful authority that I possess to try to make the system work better. And that's going to happen. That's going to happen before the end of the year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Now, a senior White House official said the president has not reviewed the administration's final recommendations and has not made a decision yet. But that official cautioned the general plan is in place and that this isn't like the Academy Awards, where an envelope is opened up, and everybody is surprised.

And aides to the president are insisting he will not scale down his immigration plan to yield to furious Republicans. The White House is clearly gearing up for battle when the president returns back to Washington -- Chris.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Exactly what the American people were hoping would not happen. Jim Acosta, thank you very much -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: All right, Chris. Let's bring someone in who knows the inner workings of this administration, CNN's senior political commentator and former White House press secretary, Jay Carney.

Good morning, Jay, great to see you.

JAY CARNEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Thanks, Alisyn. Thanks for having me.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK. Let's start with what CNN has learned about the details that the president is considering using executive action in terms of immigration. His immigration reform plan. Let me put these up on the screen for people at home.

He's considering protecting parents of babies born in the United States. Also, parents of children illegally brought to the U.S. and in this country for at least five years.

Then, more resources to protect the border, and convicted criminals would face deportation more than they supposedly are now.

But Jay, it's those first two issues, of protecting parents of babies born here or children brought here illegally that will make Republicans' heads explode. Why is the president starting with such a contentious issue?

CARNEY: Well, I think that's the population you have to go after. In fact, they're the most sympathetic population. You have a child that's born in the United States, and therefore, a United States citizen. And yet you're illegal. You live in the shadows. And it makes it extremely difficult and creates a life of uncertainty if you, you know, cannot raise your child without the fear of deportation.

CAMEROTA: Of course.

CARNEY: So I think -- I think those are the -- that's the population group you want to go after.

Look, I said on election night or the day after that I thought there was some risk with for the president to go forward with this executive action. But I think it's clear that the White House has decided that the risk of not acting, the risk of having said he would do something and then putting the brakes on, is greater for him politically.

And I think and I know that in the White House they view this as an opportunity to help millions of people and to do the right thing on our border and to do the right thing for our economy, on the one hand. Versus, you know, the hope of maybe seeing some congressional action that we haven't seen for years already.

CAMEROTA: And Jay, I mean, obviously you're giving the sympathetic view and the view that millions of people hold that you don't want to split up families.

But the view that many conservatives have and many Republicans have, they call these babies born here "anchor babies." They believe that it's an inducement, even, to bring illegal immigrants here, to have babies and for legal immigrants to bring their children here, knowing that they'll get protection. It just seems like that issue in particular is such a hot-button that to start with it in the plan is almost setting the president up for a fight with Republicans.

CARNEY: Well, I think the Republicans have made clear that they're going to fight this in whatever way that they can. And I think that we're going to have to see whether they are going to do what they've said or suggested, which is withhold funding from a government authorization Bill, a funding authorization Bill, which could lead to some kind of shutdown or partial shutdown of the government or a failure of an agency to get the funds it needs to function.

And then we're right back where we have been in the past, with that confrontation between Congress and the White House, in which Congress looks like it's being particularly obstinate and the president, at least, has clarity in what he's doing.

Again, there's risk associated with it because of the reasons you mentioned. But I think that alienating Latino groups, alienating other who believe that immigration reform is the right thing to do is a bigger risk for the president.

CAMEROTA: All right. Let's move on to Obama care and the inflammatory comments that were caught on camera by one of the consultants who helped write the Affordable Care Act. This is Jonathan Gruber. A year ago he was telling students about how the confusion surrounding Obamacare actually helped get the Bill passed. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JONATHAN GRUBER, CONSULTANT ON AFFORDABLE CARE ACT: In a law which said healthy people are going to pay in -- we made it explicit that healthy people pay in and sick people get money, it would not have passed. OK, just like how people transparent -- lack of transparency is a huge political advantage. And basically, you know, call it the stupidity of the American voter or whatever, but basically that was really, really critical to get anything to pass.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Jay, it sounds like he's saying the lack of transparency helped get it passed, because the American voters are too stupid to know what was in it. How do you explain this comment?

CARNEY: Well, I think it's enormously condescending, and it's politically harmful.

Look, the fact of the matter is, you know, the American people, I think, followed this debate very closely for a long time. Most of the surveys I've seen that show what the Americans know and don't know about the healthcare reform act is that, if anything, they know the bad things; and they're less aware of the good provisions that are provided within it.

So if there was an attempt to deceive by the administration or the drafters of the legislation, they failed. But I think this is a problem, because it reinvigorates the effort on Capitol Hill to go after the Affordable Care Act. And most importantly, you know, it could give more energy to those who are trying to overturn the Affordable Care Act through the Supreme Court, which is really the primary threat in the near-term to Obamacare. That's the Supreme Court action.

CAMEROTA: So Jay, I understand that you say that his comments are sort of reprehensible in terms of this. But you were there when the Affordable Care Act was being debated inside the Washington. Is what he said true? Was there an intentional clouding of the details, because you didn't want the American public to know that, really, people were going to have to pay more into the system, so that people without insurance were going to get the benefits? And if you ever spelled it out that way, that yes, premiums might go up and yes, you might lose your plan and you might lose your doctor, that nobody would ever have gone along with it?

CARNEY: Well, look, I would say that no matter what you're doing in Washington, whether you're writing a Bill on Capitol Hill or selling one from the White House, you try to make your strongest arguments.

And it's certainly the case that the stronger arguments were the macro arguments, that overall the system would lead to reduced costs, that millions of Americans would get health insurance that they couldn't get otherwise or would get it more cheaply than they had been getting it.

But certainly, some people would pay more. For example, healthy young Americans who might not choose to get insurance but now have to, are obviously going to have to pay more, since they were paying nothing in the past and just availing themselves of emergency rooms and putting the cost on everybody else.

CAMEROTA: Were you capitalizing on the confusion on some level?

CARNEY: No. And yet, if you go back to what people know about the Affordable Care Act. What they don't know, or you know, the benefits that they like, that they tend to like, which is that you cannot be denied coverage if you have a preexisting condition. You can't have, you know, caps on your coverage. Women can't be charged more just because they're women than men can be.

A lot of those things that I think the architects of Obamacare wish the American people understood and knew more about, they don't know. They don't know -- in fact, most of the negative stuff that opponents put out. So if the charges do, you know, do you go out and try to argue your strongest case? Yes. But I think the reality is, the administration, including when I was part of it, didn't do a very good job of making that case.

CAMEROTA: All right. Jay Carney, thanks so much. Always great to get your insight. Nice to see you.

CARNEY: Thanks.

CAMEROTA: Let's go to Michaela for more news.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Alisyn, thanks so much. Here's a look at your headlines now, beginning with Ebola coming back to the U.S. A surgeon infected with working -- got infected while working with the sick in Sierra Leone. He's going to be flown to the University of Nebraska Medical Center for treatment, likely tomorrow. The unidentified man was born in Sierra Leone but is a legal resident of the U.S.

A perfect storm of missteps allowed White House fence jumper Omar Gonzales to penetrate that building. That's according to an in-depth review by the Department of Homeland Security. It reveals organizational confusion, gaps in training and communication failures. Among the blunders: radios and alarms that didn't work. An officer talking on his cell phone, he had an attack dog with him as all of the breach unfolded.

Shades of the NSA, at the Justice Department. "The Wall Street Journal" is reporting that DOJ is flying small planes around the country, with equipment that mimics cell-phone towers. Those devices are essentially tricking cell phones on commercial flights into sending data. The program is supposedly to target criminal suspects. But data from innocent passengers is also getting caught up in the flow.

Well, apparently, a billion dollars is not enough for Sue Ann Hamm. She claims she was short-changed in a ruling in her divorce from Oklahoma oil magnate Harold Hamm. She's now going to appeal, because the judge allows Mr. Hamm to keep 94 percent of the amounts that shares of his company rose during the marriage, which totals $18 billion. Their marriage lasted 26 years. As it stands, this is one of the largest divorce judgments in U.S. history. She says it grossly undervalues the marital wealth she is entitled to.

CAMEROTA: Yes, why doesn't she get $9 billion? That's half. Isn't that what they're supposed to get?

PEREIRA: I don't know. A billion dollars is a lot of money. Lord, have mercy.

CUOMO: It's about the percentage. Did she help build it? Was she there with him? Is this something they did together? You're saying you'd take the $1 billion and be with you.

CAMEROTA: Who needs $1 billion? Honestly? It makes me crazy.

CUOMO: She's thinking, "Why would I let you keep money when I'm getting divorced from you? I'm not so happy about you."

PEREIRA: A lot of green (ph). I'm just saying.

CAMEROTA: How will she survive?

PEREIRA: You know, with $1 billion. It's a lot of money. Too much money for a person.

CAMEROTA: Fifty-50 is generally what they do.

CUOMO: That's right. And remember, this isn't about the amount. It's about, you know, the share.

PEREIRA: I don't agree with you.

CUOMO: Sadly, I'm not married to you.

CAMEROTA: He makes a good point.

PEREIRA: Unfortunately.

CAMEROTA: She makes a good point now.

All right. One of our top stories to tell you about, as they duke it out over being, whether they should be married. There's a chilling new message purportedly from the leader of ISIS, and this is just days after reports he was supposedly killed by airstrikes. So what is the new threat to the west? We're live on the ground with the very latest.

And Bill Cosby set off a social media firestorm. We're going to tell you why, but his problems go far beyond what he did online. Allegations of rape have surfaced, and we will speak to one of his accusers, one of them.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Welcome back to your NEW DAY. Turns out rumors of the death of the ISIS leader seem to have been greatly exaggerated. There is new audio of the guy calling for jihad on the west, and extremists seem to be heeding the call, as new alliances are being built to combat the coalition.

And there's another front for you to be concerned about. Russian troops apparently are pouring into Ukraine, more than ever. The question is, is that country about to descend into all-out war?

We have complete coverage, starting with Arwa Damon in Turkey following all the developments with ISIS. Arwa, good morning. What do we know?

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Chris.

That audio purportedly by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, released via one of the official media sites linked to ISIS. About 17 minutes long. We can't independently verify its authenticity. But it does at the least same at this stage that ISIS has one goal in mind, and that is to continue to push itself forward as being an entity that, no matter what, cannot be destroyed.

There are some clues, however, in this audio recording as to when it may have been taken. He talks, al Baghdadi talks specifically about the 1,500 troops the U.S. is sending and has begun to send into Iraq. He also expresses ISIS's acceptance of a number of other extremist

groups who have recently pledged their allegiance just over the last few days. These are groups from Yemen Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Saudi Arabia.

For those in Saudi Arabia, he had a specific message, calling on them to specifically target the Saudi royal family.

He most certainly at this stage seems to be alive and well. No clue as to whether or not he was injured. But again ISIS also in that recording, calling for all of its supporters to conduct, in the words of al-Baghdadi, a volcano, Chris, of jihad.

CUOMO: All right. Arwa, thank you very much. It's very troubling. The threat is troubling, and that it's being responded to, even more troubling -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Another troubling story, Chris. Now to the Ukraine, where fears about Russian aggression are ramping up. World leaders are set to vent their frustrations at the G-20 summit tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Phil Black is live for us in Ukraine with the latest developments. What's happening, Phil?

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alisyn, Russia insists it does not have any sort of military presence in Ukraine. That sounds familiar.

And again, NATO, the United States, Ukrainian government, independent European observers believe that there has been an influx of soldiers, heavy weapons, advanced weaponry, including anti-aircraft batteries, as well, into separatist-controlled territory from across the border in Russia, in recent days.

The question is, what does this mean? And the Ukrainian government believes it knows what is coming next, because it says through experience, that whenever there has been an influx of these so-called "little green men," unmarked soldiers, professional, well-armed, clearly very capable; whenever they've arrived in Ukraine, it's had a very decisive impact on events on the ground.

So the Ukrainian government is fearing some sort of military strike. It's just a question of how big, where? Well, the Ukrainian government says it is preparing for the worst -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Yes. Those are all the questions this morning, Phil Black, thank you. Let's go to Chris.

CUOMO: All right. Let's tackle all these different headlines now with someone who's going to be able to give us some answers. General Wesley Clark, former NATO supreme allied commander and author of "Don't Wait for the Next War: A Strategy for American Growth and Global Leadership."

General, thank you so much for being with us. Always a pleasure to have you on NEW DAY. Let me start with something that's a little macro here that goes to

the heart of what's in your book. When we see these coalitions being formed by ISIS now and how the situation is stretching out, Egypt having its own extremists pledge allegiance, is this a nod to the reality that you cannot win this with military alone? That there has to be individual sovereigns battling extremism in their own countries and that that is the path to putting the threat down?

GEN. WESLEY CLARK (RET.), FORMER NATO SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER: I think that's exactly right. You can't win it with military alone. You can't win it from the United States with U.S. forces. This is -- all of this is an expression of a 300-year struggle with Islam to come to terms with western modernization.

And so it's going to take a prolonged effort. Sometimes there will be military force used. A lot of it will be cultural. Some of it will be economic. There are many different things. And this is a long- term challenge.

So we're not going to solve this tomorrow or the next day; before the next election; or even during the incumbency of the next president.

CUOMO: There is hesitancy to seem to be extending the mission in Washington. But is the reality that you do have to think about Bashar al-Assad and what to do about him in Syria, in order to be effective in the goal?

CLARK: Well, that's exactly right. Because you can't just bomb, even if you put troops on the ground, against ISIS, if you can't govern the space, then some other group of terrorists will be there. So if you don't want Bashar al-Assad to govern it, who will?

Now there is a moderate group of Syrians. They claim to be the opposition. We've worked with them and funded them for over three years now. They're going to have to be reexamined, and Washington's going to have to decide if it doesn't want to support this moderate group, then who will it support? How will it propose to govern this ungoverned space?

CUOMO: Then when you look at Afghanistan and Iraq, as you well know, General, the -- it gets tricky. You replace one set of bad guys, and then who comes in next? And do you get the results you wanted? Often you wind up disappointed and cycling back into the same situation where we are right now.

All right. So now let's look at the new front, which is the old front, as well, in Ukraine. Do you believe there's any question -- you know that terrain and the politics of that country very well, General. Do you think there's any question that the Russians are moving in?

CLARK: Oh, there's no question about it. I was in Ukraine last week. I spent two hours with the president. I met with the minister of defense. I met with battalion commanders. They fought the Russians.

Of course, many of these Ukrainians, the older ones, they actually grew up in the Soviet Union days. They -- some of them served in the Russian army. They know exactly what they're talking about.

And the Russians are bringing in the most modern equipment. So we're not dealing here with equivalent of ISIS, which is stealing equipment and doesn't have any manufacturing capabilities. This is Russia's effort to try out its brand-new military. New radars, new artillery pieces. New command-and-control technologies.

This is the up-to-date Russian military against a country that Ukraine were, the nations of the west won't even allow it to buy weapons to defend itself as of now. And so this is a really, really dangerous situation, and yes, it appears that Russian military action is imminent.

CUOMO: And the question will be what is their goal, how far will they extend? General, thank you for your thoughts thus far. And please let me call on you again as the situation there develops. There are few we can go do to get better answers than you.

CLARK: Thank you.

CUOMO: Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: All right, Chris. A very controversial story for everyone. Bill Cosby has been fighting back rape allegations for years. But his own Twitter campaign has actually reignited the firestorm. We're going to find out how his social media blunder could endanger the image that he has spent a lifetime building. And one of his accusers is speaking out about what happened to her.

And an unlikely voice coming forward in favor of sports betting. Find out why NBA commissioner Adam Silver says it's good for professional sports if there's betting.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: Startling allegations have resurfaced about one of America's most beloved comedians. Bill Cosby has been haunted by sexual assault allegations for years. And in this new digital age, a seemingly harmless Internet post from Cosby turned into a social media nightmare. In a moment we will hear live from one of his accusers. But first, Ted Rowlands has the story. And we should mention that Cosby's representatives say they do not want to respond to old resurfacing allegations.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An online publicity stunt is back-firing so badly on Bill Cosby it is endangering the image he has spent a lifetime building.

The 77-year-old comedy genius, who never swears on stage and who played the wholesome Dr. Huxtable for years on "The Cosby Show," is causing years-old sexual abuse allegations to resurface.

On Monday, Cosby issued an online challenge to meme or caption a few classic Cosby photos, writing, "Go ahead, meme me." Which people did. "My two favorite things: JELL-O pudding and rape: was written over this photo of Cosby smiling.

"Look at this wacky shirt I'm wearing. Also, I'm a serial rapist," tweeted another person.

The "rapist" label stems from allegations made years ago when several women came forward claiming they'd been sexually assaulted by Cosby. He was never charged with a crime, but the allegations have lingered for years.

The most detailed allegations against Bill Cosby appeared in a lawsuit filed in 2005 by a Temple University employee who claimed she was drugged and assaulted by Cosby. Police investigated but did not charge Cosby due to lack of evidence. The civil suit was settled confidentially.

The same type of story was alleged by Tamara Green, who went public with her story nine years ago on "The Today Show."

TAMARA GREEN, ACCUSED COSBY OF RAPE: He had gone from helping me to groping me and kissing me and touching me and handling me. And, you know, taking off my clothes.

ROWLANDS: Over the years, Cosby through his attorneys has repeatedly denied sexually assaulting anyone.

Ted Rowlands, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: Bill Cosby has a new series with NBC that is supposed to debut next year. it's unclear how, if at all, this new look at old allegations will affect not only that show but also his legacy.

CNN cannot independently confirm the allegations against Bill Cosby. Let's go over to Michaela for more.

PEREIRA: Well, we want to pick up on that right now. Because we have somebody here in studio with us who has -- has said that she is not going to back down on telling her story.

Barbara Bowman alleges that she was sexually assaulted by Bill Cosby when she was a teenaged actress. She has been speaking about this for years. And so I'm so grateful that you are finding the courage to sit down and talk about this, your story.

You wrote a really startling, moving, captivating piece in the "Washington Post." It's entitled "Bill Cosby Raped Me: Why Did it Take 30 Years for People to Believe Me?"

BARBARA BOWMAN, ACCUSED BILL COSBY OF RAPE: Yes.

PEREIRA: Why did it take 30 years for this to be happening, in your estimation?

BOWMAN: That is a good question. And I think that all victims want to know the same thing, because so many victims are not reporting their crimes. There's such a stigma attached to the victim. It's a fear, it's shame of what had happened. When you're dealing with someone of powerful and prestige -

PEREIRA: Which is often the case, we see.

BOWMAN: -- and celebrity and wealth and fame, it is a whole different scenario.

So when you're young and impressionable, and placed in a very highly, highly controlled environment, which I was, and brain-washed terribly to trust and have total 100 percent vulnerability.