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Cosby Admits to Getting Drugs to Give to Women; Prosecutors Charge Suspect in Pier Murder; FSU Dismisses Quarterback for Punching Woman; Iran Talks Hit Another Snag on Deadline Day; S.C. Senate Poised to Approve Flag Removal. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired July 07, 2015 - 07:00   ET

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

CUOMO: What does that mean? CNN's Sara Ganim is joining us now to parse these latest revelations -- Sara.

[07:00:07] SARA GANIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Chris. You know, these are really fascinating admissions from Bill Cosby, because so many of the women who have accused him, accused him not just of sexual assault but also said they believed that they were drugged. They remembered Bill Cosby fixing them a drink and giving it to them before they say they felt that they were incapacitated.

Now, in these newly-released court documents, Bill Cosby is very careful with his words. But given that, for so many years, he has admitted to nothing, this is the first time we're hearing him admit to anything at all.

(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 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 mind 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.

The documents also include Cosby's recollection of a 1970s 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.

BEVERLY JOHNSON, COSBY ACCUSER: 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, whom 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, Cosby fought the release of this -- these court documents, this deposition, saying that it would be embarrassing to him. His attorney could not be reached for comment.

But when you read through these court documents, you see hints of the two of them alluding to the fact that Quaaludes in the '70s were often used by many people in the party scene. And this is, quite frankly, the first time we're hearing at all his side or his version of these events.

CAMEROTA: Absolutely, Sara. And that's what makes this so revealing this morning.

So we want to bring in Victoria Valentino. She is one of the women who says Bill Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted her.

Good morning, Victoria. Nice to see you again.

VICTORIA VALENTINO, COSBY ACCUSER: Thank you. Nice to see you.

CAMEROTA: So Victoria, tell us how you felt when you heard these revelations of Bill Cosby admitting that he had gotten Quaaludes, specifically to drug women that he wanted to have sex with.

VALENTINO: Well, I was absolutely elated. I couldn't stop just screaming, you know? I was just going, "Oh, my God! Oh, my God!"

I mean, because obviously, we already knew. So this was just validation and vindication.

CAMEROTA: I mean, finally, finally, because you've been telling your story for years. And you've been telling the story that you felt that the night that this happening, that you say that he sexually assaulted you, that you were drugged to incapacitation.

VALENTINO: Absolutely. You know, face-in-plate syndrome; could hardly wrap my -- my mouth around words. I couldn't -- my legs were wobbly. I was nauseated. I was fighting vomiting. I had spinners. I really -- you know. It was -- it was a horrible situation.

CAMEROTA: So let me read to you what these court documents reveal him admitting for the first time. So these just became public.

And he was asked, during this deposition by the other attorney, "When you got the Quaaludes, was it in your mind that you were going to use these Quaaludes for young women that you wanted to have sex with?"

[07:05:11] And Bill Cosby says, "Yes."

And then, at another -- in another portion, after the defendant testified that he had obtained seven prescriptions -- they're talking about Cosby here -- for Quaaludes, the follow testimony was elicited. They are -- he was asked, "You gave them to other people?"

He says, "Yes."

Why do you think he's admitting it in these documents?

VALENTINO: Well, that's a really good question. I have no idea. Or, basically, because he doesn't think he's done anything wrong. I really do -- I've always felt that he was a sociopath. He has no -- no moral compass.

CAMEROTA: What about his contention, or one that he may try to make, which was, "Hey, this was the '70s. People took Quaaludes at parties. I did pass them out to people. What's the big deal?"

VALENTINO: Well, I think -- look, I can't speak to that. In the '70s, I wasn't in L.A. I wasn't taking Quaaludes. I wasn't taking drugs. I was taking care of a baby and crocheting a lot, you know. So...

CAMEROTA: That is a different -- you certainly were having a different experience. But Victoria, what -- beyond feeling vindicated...

VALENTINO: Yes.

CAMEROTA: ... what do you think this changes? Since it was so long ago and the statute of limitations has passed.

VALENTINO: Well, look, Alisyn, I think the message has to be that fame and wealth and power cannot exempt you from justice. It cannot exempt anyone from the law, from morality, from doing something to somebody against their will.

CAMEROTA: I know that part of the pain that you've experienced is not only that you say that this trauma happened to you, this sexual assault, but that then for so many years, decades really, you weren't believed by anyone. People stood by Bill Cosby, because he was America's favorite dad.

And when all these revelations came out in the fall, and when we first met you, and you came on NEW DAY and you felt this ground swell of these at least 25 women banding together to talk about it, still on social media, people didn't believe it. They didn't want to believe it.

In fact, one of those people was singer Jill Scott, famous singer. She said that she just couldn't believe, at the time, that we were talking about Bill Cosby and that she wanted proof. At the time, she said, "I am standing up and respecting a man who has done more for the image of brown people than almost anyone ever, from Fat Albert to the Huxtables." That's what she had said at the time.

Here is what she said last night. And I believe we have a different Twitter post that we can put up about Bill Cosby. "Sadly, his own testify offers PROOF" -- in capital letters -- "of terrible deeds, which is all I have ever required to believe the accusations."

How do you feel about that today?

VALENTINO: Look, I can understand someone not wanting to believe the worst about something they care about and someone they have only seen the positive side in.

However, you know, he's an actor. There is the public side, the animation personality, the character. That's not a real person. These are -- these are created characters. That's the character, the persona he wanted to present to the public. Maybe that's who he always wanted to be, but the reality of him was this shadow side that the rest of us got, sadly, to see. You know?

CAMEROTA: Well, it must feel good today to hear even people who had denied it then when you came forward, to be changing their tune this morning. And you certainly look happy, Victoria, as though there has been a load lifted.

Thanks so much. We'll see where this case and this story goes from here. Thanks so much for being on NEW DAY.

VALENTINO: Thanks, Alisyn. I appreciate it.

CAMEROTA: Great to see you.

All right. Let's get -- in our next hour, we should tell you we will speak with two more Cosby accusers who you have seen and know well here on NEW DAY. And they want to talk about the latest revelations. Barbara Bowman and Beverly Johnson will both join us live on NEW DAY. Let's get to Chris.

CUOMO: All right. Thank you very much, Alisyn.

A man gets charged multiple times with crimes and deported, only to sneak back into America. Now he has killed someone in San Francisco and faces murder charges. That man is due in court today. But the city's policy of being something called a sanctuary city is also under fire.

CNN's Dan Simon has the very latest from San Francisco.

And Dan, a lot of this comes from the man's own words, saying in an interview that he returned to San Francisco was it was a sanctuary city.

[07:10:20] DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right, Chris. He knew that if he came here, that essentially, he would be protected.

Now the mayor put out a press release, trying to quell this national uproar, saying that all agencies need to review their policies. He says that San Francisco doesn't have this in place to protect violent and serious felons.

Now, we should point out that Francisco Sanchez did not have a record of being violent, but he did have these seven felonies, was deported five times. And that's why there is so much outrage here.

Obviously, we know what happened here, that the sheriff's department did not notify immigrations officials when he was going to be released from jail because of the city's so-called sanctuary policy, the sheriff now defending that very controversial decision. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF ROSS MIRKARIMI, SAN FRANCISCO CITY: I believe that ICE needs to catch up. We need a court order or a warrant, and ICE has been told this many, many times. And they have yet to produce that document.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIMON: Now Southern California officials are saying that we should basically take a collective deep breath here, that immigration policy should not be informed based on a single case.

We should point out that the Steinle family, they're not getting into this debate. They say at the moment, they just want to focus on their daughter and focus on her memory -- Chris.

CUOMO: All right, Dan. Thank you very much. And we're going to talk with the sheriff that you just saw there, Sheriff Mirkarimi, in the next hour, and we'll test what happened in the situation -- Mick.

PEREIRA: All right. A disturbing new video, Chris, shows that Florida State quarterback Deandre Johnson punched a woman in the face. This happened, apparently, during an altercation at a bar last month. Now, double trouble, seemingly, for the 19-year-old. He's been kicked off the team, and far worse, he's facing charges.

CNN's Coy Wire joins us with details. A real promising athlete this guy is.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Michael. Good morning to you. Johnson, a freshman, was initially just suspended from the team when the news came out two weeks ago. But it wasn't until that video came out yesterday that he was kicked off the team, as you mentioned.

Here's the video again. They're at a bar in Tallahassee, Florida. Johnson appears to be trying to push past the girl to get to the bar. She's trying to push him. Then this happens.

Now, court records say she suffered swelling of her left cheek and lip, bruising around her left eye, and a laceration on the bridge of her nose. Johnson has been charged with misdemeanor battery.

A little background on Deandre Johnson. He was a highly talented dual threat quarterback out of Florida. He wasn't expected to play much, if at all this year. For the most being, he's just a freshman. Now, he's off the team and will definitely not be playing for them.

Johnson's attorney, Jose Baez, released a statement, in part, "While it is clear from the video that Deandre Johnson was not the initial aggressor, his family wants to take the lead in helping him learn and grow from this experience. Deandre is extremely embarrassed by this situation and would like to express his heartfelt apologies to everyone."

Guys, of course, this isn't the first time Florida State has been in the spotlight for alleged bad behavior out of their court. A former Heisman trophy winner and first overall pick in last year's draft, Jameis Winston, was accused of sexual battery by a fellow student in 2013, but he was never charged -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Oh, boy, Coy. Thanks so much for all of that background.

Well, the deadline for a nuclear deal with Iran is today. But both sides are still talking. CNN's Nic Robertson is in Vienna, where negotiators fear Iran and six world powers are still hunkered down.

I see you looking over your shoulder, Nic. Is there any development inside there?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You caught me doing that. And I'm just checking again. We are expecting a statement very shortly from the E.U. foreign policy chief. Of course, she has been in at the table, the negotiating table, with John Kerry, with the French, German, Russian, Chinese and British foreign ministers.

So part of those talks. They've have two rounds of talks today. They met late into last night with the Iranian foreign minister, as well. So when he steps out in a minute, we may just begin to get an idea of

what has been discussed, if they've managed to bridge some of the gaps, what remains, perhaps, to be done. She's normally pretty careful in her language, but it will give us, perhaps, the first indication of the term of those meetings.

We know that a key issue until now has been that Iran is saying it wants a weapons ban lifted. This is part of sanctions that it says that are illegal. This is not part of the main nuclear deal. But they say they wouldn't sign up to the broad nuclear deal unless this U.N. sanction, the weapons ban, weapons import ban is lifted. So maybe in a few minutes, we may get a little idea of how it's all gone today so far -- Chris.

CUOMO: All right. A deal, a deal, when will there be a deal? Nic, thank you very much.

So the Confederate flag is one step closer to coming down today. The South Carolina Senate there in the state voting overwhelmingly to remove the flag from the state house grounds, with the final vote expected today. But that's just one step. It also needs House approval. Is that going to come as quickly?

[07:15:14] CNN's Nick Valencia is in Columbia, South Carolina, with the latest. What do we know, Nick?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Chris.

Opponents to the Confederate flag, those who want to see it permanently removed from state capitol grounds, well, they overcame a huge hurdle yesterday as state senators voted overwhelmingly, 37-3, to have that flag taken down. A special Senate session expected to continue today for a third and final vote, just after 10 a.m.

It has no doubt been a divisive issue, and that has pitted allies in the Republican Party against each other.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LARRY MARTIN (R), SOUTH CAROLINA STATE SENATE: It isn't part of our future; it's part of our past. And I think we need to leave it at that.

SEN. LEE BRIGHT (R), SOUTH CAROLINA STATE SENATE: Removing this flag from out front is not going to do anything to change this nation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: And the most emotional moment of that Senate session yesterday, a moment of silence for the late Senator Clementa Pinckney, who was one of nine victims in the Charleston church shooting last month. The conversation to bring this flag down accelerated by that tragic event.

Today, it will need a two-thirds vote in the Senate and the House in order to become official -- Michaela. PEREIRA: All right. We should point out some of the lawmakers from

South Carolina will join us a little later on NEW DAY. We'll discuss all the developments of yesterday with them.

Got to show you this video. Stage three of the Tour de France marred by a terrifying chain reaction crash. Look at this. Some 20 cyclists involved, including the race leader who so apparently so badly injured, fractured two vertebra. It began when one rider clipped the wheel of another. They all just came tumbling down. It actually forced the crash -- forced officials to stop the race for about 20 minutes. In all, five riders withdrew from the race. Joaquim Rodriguez of Spain was the day's winner, but I can manage that's sort of one of those wins that you sort of feel...

CAMEROTA: Hollow.

PEREIRA: ... some kind of way about. You know?

CAMEROTA: I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often. I mean, they're in that pack, traveling at those speeds.

CUOMO: It does.

CAMEROTA: It does pile up like that?

CUOMO: But people don't usually have to withdraw. The injuries aren't usually that bad. It's actually amazing that it -- you know, that they -- what they walk away from, you're right. But it happens. It's part of pack racing. It's one of the risks that you take. How close do you stay to make it easier to cycle, versus exposing yourself to that?

All right. So could a San Francisco woman's murder have been avoided with just a phone call from local authorities? It's a provocative question, but it's taking this idea of sanctuary cities and putting them under fire. The local sheriff defends releasing this now-accused murderer. We're going to test the position. You decide. Stay with us.

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[07:21:13] CUOMO: Big story all across the country right now. The murder of a woman in San Francisco on a pier is lighting a flame under, really, two big debates.

The first is immigration and why this man, who is accused of killing her, was in the U.S. after being deported five times.

The second issue is the status of sanctuary cities. What are they and why would you have a parallel system of justice when the crime is committed with someone who's an undocumented immigrant?

To discuss, Julie Myers Wood. She served as assistant secretary of immigration and customs enforcement for the Department of Homeland Security during the George W. Bush administration. And Mr. Tom Fuentes, friend of the show, CNN law enforcement analyst, former FBI assistant director, of course.

Julie, let's start with you. Why does a sanctuary city even exist? I know some people don't like that term, but what is it and why does it even exist?

JULIE MYERS WOOD, FORMER ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY: It exists, because there are some communities that were not happy with ICE enforcement or immigration enforcement in general. And so those communities worked together to prohibit cooperation from ICE.

And I think it stems, in part, from a backlash on Secure Communities, which was an ICE program which identified individuals in jails. But frankly, sanctuary cities have been around long before secure communities, and the problem only got worse as ICE enforcement got more aggressive.

CUOMO: So -- but there's, like, two schools of thought on this. There's the we need sanctuary cities, because ICE enforcement is random, and it chases a lot of people it shouldn't, and it discriminates and it's prejudicial.

And then, on the other side, you hear, ICE -- I mean, this is a federal government fighting with the local government...

MYERS WOOD: It's ridiculous.

CUOMO: ... about enforcing policy.

MYERS WOOD: It's ridiculous to have two parts of our government fight with each other. And I really think we should come together and sit down, like the mayor of San Francisco said, and kind of rethink. Because no one wants violent, criminal felons to be out on the streets. ICE and San Francisco should think about how they would work together.

CUOMO: Now on the other side, Tom, San Francisco says, "By the way, there are a ton of cities like this. So don't look at us like we're somehow different, and this is some type of" -- using the sanctuary city as a stick on San Francisco being way out there.

They say ICE doesn't have its act together. They have us hold people forever. They can't get it together, so we had to do what we had to do to manage our own situation. Do you buy that?

TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, they have a point with that, Chris. And I think that -- you know, that that's somewhat valid that, if ICE asked somebody to be held and it goes for too long of a time, the city and the state has to incur the extra expense.

Unfortunately, in this case, they were a phone call away. And San Francisco did not have to spend one extra night housing Sanchez or feed him one extra meal. Because ICE said, "Just call us when you're ready to get rid of him." And he wouldn't have been in San Francisco if they didn't want him in the first place. ICE was already in the process of deporting him. But because of a pending drug charge in San Francisco, he was turned over to them.

CUOMO: What do you make of the sheriff there and other politicians pushing back and saying, "ICE's request, this detainer document, isn't really legally operative, and they know that. So we didn't have to listen to it"?

MYERS WOOD: Well, I think ICE will try to work with cities like San Francisco by saying, "Just make a phone call here," right? They didn't ask -- they didn't ask San Francisco to hold them. And in fact, they have a court order of removal in this case. And so they just asked for a phone call, not to hold them, not to -- not to have any expense in this case.

CUOMO: But they say, but you don't make -- you make the phone cull and nothing happens. We wind up holding them forever. And now you are telling us that -- telling people we set a murderer free. This guy wasn't a murderer when we had him. He was just a low-level drug offender guy with a lot of arrests, and that's the problem. But we didn't foresee him killing someone.

MYERS WOOD: Well, that sounds like a lot of excuses. And I think we need to all stop making excuses. I think there are problems all along the border. There are problems with interior enforcement, and there are problems with state and local cooperation.

[07:25:11] So we need to stop making excuses and stop pointing fingers and look to how can we get to a better day?

CUOMO: You know...

MYERS WOOD: I think in the past, there are times when ISIS held people, and it's caused problems. And so ICE is trying to be more flexible and more nimble, as Tom said. And that phone call certainly could have prevented a lot of tragedy here.

CUOMO: Well, that's the question, though, Tom. You know the old expression: when you point a finger at somebody, you have four pointing back at you. How dysfunctional is homeland security and ICE in doing its job that we see this outgrowth of these divisions among local governments and federal? FUENTES: Well, in my opinion, ICE is not dysfunctional. And I think

that, you know, part of the reason also for sanctuary laws -- and this is every major city in the U.S. It's not just -- he claimed he went back to San Francisco, because they were a sanctuary city. But in California, so is San Jose, L.A., San Diego. Here in Washington, D.C., New York, Baltimore, Chicago.

CUOMO: Good point. Good point.

FUENTES: So there are many sanctuary cities besides San Francisco.

But part of the reason also was that it was to stop police -- and this was one of the attempts, originally -- stop police from, during an arrest or during a traffic stop from saying, "Are you an American citizen? Prove it." Essentially, "Show me your papers." You know, because also, a driver's license wouldn't be enough, because

many states issue driver's license to individuals who are not here legally. So therefore, you would have to carry a passport. You'd have to carry, if you looked Hispanic.

And I think the concern there, also, was that the police were not going to be asking blue-eyed blondes from Scandinavia to prove their citizenship. That this was going to happen mostly to Hispanic-looking people.

CUOMO: Tom Fuentes, Julie Myers Wood, thank you very much. Appreciate the perspective -- Mick.

PEREIRA: All right, Chris.

There is controversy brewing over the Confederate flag hanging in South Carolina. A bill to remove it from the state capitol has gained momentum. Yet, there are stumbling blocks still standing in the way. We'll discuss that with a couple of state senator -- legislators on both sides of the aisle. They're live with us here on NEW DAY right after the break.

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