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New Day
Afghan Taliban Names New Leader; Cosby to Stand Trail in Sex Assault Case; Trump Reignites Clinton Conspiracy Theories. Aired 6:30- 7a ET
Aired May 25, 2016 - 06:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[06:33:32] ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: We're following breaking news out of Afghanistan this morning. The Taliban wasting no time appointing a new leader and this comes just days after we learned the Taliban chief we learned was killed by a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan.
CNN's Nick Paton Walsh live in Beirut this morning with the breaking details -- Nick.
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Ana, the first real official statement from the Taliban since the death of Mullah Mansour, now the second of three leaders appointed in just about a year now, this statement declaring three days the mourning, confirming the death of Mullah Mansour, and also appointing his successor. A little known man, formerly one of Mansour's deputies, called Haibatullah Akhundzada, thought to be more clerical, as in more involved in the sort of adjudication of the Sharia law the Taliban espoused than someone who's necessarily involved in the battlefield, a less controversial figure. They certainly didn't appoint a man known at al Qaeda the main facilitator and current battlefield deputy in the Taliban at the moment.
But at the same time, too, any notion that suddenly this man's appointment may find a moment in peace in Afghanistan blown away by ten people killed in a suicide bombing in Kabul. Those, in fact, court workers on their way to work.
So, Taliban moving very quickly here, still at this stage unclear what this will herald in the fight in Afghanistan.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK, Nick, thanks so much for the reporting. We'll check back.
All right. Back here, Bill Cosby ordered to stand trial on sexual assault charges. What are the challenges for the defense?
[06:35:01] What are they for the prosecution? We have both sides, next.
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CAMEROTA: Prosecutors and defense attorneys for Bill Cosby facing new challenges now that a Pennsylvania judge has ordered Cosby to stand trial on criminal sexual assault charges. His accuser, Andrea Constand, claims the 78-year-old comedian drugged and sexually assaulted her in 2004. Dozens of women have been similar acquisitions against Cosby, but this case is the first one to go to trial.
So, joining us is our CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney, Danny Cevallos, and CNN legal analyst and senior trial counsel for Callan Legal, Paul Callan.
Gentlemen, great to have you. You're each going to take a side.
So, Danny, what are the challenges for Bill Cosby's team here moving forward?
DANNY CEVALLOS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Going forward, the strategy is, not only at trial, plan to tear apart the witness, the complaining witness, on the stand, confronted with her inconsistencies that we got a preview of at this preliminary hearing.
CAMEROTA: Meaning she crossed things out in her first statement?
[06:40:00] Like, what are the inconsistencies in Andrea Constand story? That she'd given one, on the bed together, lying near each other then crossed those out.
CEVALLOS: Those are some, and remember, those are facts that were basically unknown. We have some idea that there were some inconsistencies. But the fact that she crossed them out.
We learned the police alternating typing the statement. In other words, took turns typing and listening. And then the other one typed and listen.
CAMEROTA: Why is that a problem?
CEVALLOS: It's strange, because I haven't heard of it, but part two is that one was typing, one was listening and one of the officers left as the statement was being corrected by Constand.
So, in the world of -- Paul can tell you this -- in the world of taking a statement, you know, typically not recorded, audio, video, otherwise. In that instance, if you can show that the system was questionable for taking the statement, it may cast doubt on that statement, but there have been other statements that Constand's gave that I think the defense can exploit, but far and away, make no mistake about it, the biggest danger to the defense is what's called prior bad acts under rule 404B.
CAMEROTA: And we'll get into that. Whether or not other women can come up and be part of this case.
OK. So, Paul, the challenges for the prosecution?
PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: I think Bill Cosby is toast after this hearing, because what it demonstrated, rather graphically, is that the prosecution has a very strong case here. First of all, they're going to, Cosby walks into court with a black cloud over his head, the cloud of the 50 women who have come forward and made charges against him. Now, that's not admissible in court, but it's atmosphere that he can't --
CAMEROTA: Are you sure it's not? I mean, that's what we're talking about. How do we know the other accusers can't --
CALLAN: We're not talking about 50, OK? Even Danny would say, under any scenario, 50 women aren't going to be able to come in against him.
CAMEROTA: Sure.
CALLAN: However, you might be able to get four or five and use this evidence, signature crime evidence to say, you know something? When he uses drugs of this kind, it's a pattern for him. This is how he gets women into bed. This is how he sexually abuses them. He drugs them, gives the alcohol and when they're paralyzed, he attacks them, and they're going to say, that's exactly what was done in this case.
But I think finally the most important thing and why prosecution is probably going to win the case, he corroborates her testimony, because he admits he gave her drugs. He admits he gave her alcohol.
CAMEROTA: He says it's Benadryl, but he admits that he did it to relax her.
CALLAN: Exactly. Relax her for what?
CAMEROTA: OK. So, as we know, there have been dozens of other accusers and none of those have gone to trial. So, will their voices be heard in this case?
CEVALLOS: The prosecution will file a motion in this case, surely, to admit as many of these accusers as they can and it raises sort of a justice issue. If the prosecution's case in chief has plenty of inconsistencies and is weak, then is it fair in our system that you have a weak prosecution case that is a bolstered by evidence of other acts that come in?
And Paul's exactly right. The law presumes these other accusers do not come into evidence, but it's the numbers game. If you have 50 accusers, and three or four come in, that's three or four people who will come in and testify that this person on this day did something so similar, and you have to ask, doesn't that prejudice the jury? Doesn't that -- I mean, is that evidence always prejudicial? Our law says, not always.
CAMEROTA: Hmm. Paul, even if they don't come into the courtroom, we've heard of them. They've been in the media for the past two years. So what are the challenges there? As this case continues?
CALLAN: Well, there's an enormous challenge in picking a jury here that will say, A, they haven't heard about the details of the case, or, B, more likely, that even though they've heard about it, they can put it aside and based case on the evidence.
I think particularly with sexual crimes, we all have in our mind if you've done it on repeated prior occasions, you probably did it on this occasion. So that kind of atmosphere is particularly prejudicial to a defendant and I think it's really going to hurt Cosby terrible in this case.
CAMEROTA: Danny, Paul thinks Cosby is going to be convicted. What do you think?
CEVALLOS: I don't. I think an acquittal.
I think -- what I -- we've learned yesterday is that the prosecution's -- the witness has credibility problems. There may be problems with delay in reporting which is admissible under Pennsylvania law and, again, the greatest threat is going to be in the pre-trial battleground, is whether or not any of these additional accusers will be allowed to come in and testify, and if that ends up being the critical fact, it must leave us wondering, shouldn't a defendant be tried for what he is accused of doing and not for what a bunch of other people said he did at other dates in time?
CAMEROTA: Gotcha. Gentlemen, have to leave it there, but we will obviously covering this in the weeks to come. Thanks so much for being here.
Let's get to Chris.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: It's true, Alisyn. Far from over.
So, when we come back after this break, we're going to be talking to you. Yes, you. The person on the fence, who's not happy with how things are going in this country, but you're not sure who to vote for. Donald Trump is betting you're going to pick him if he dredges up all the scandals and questions, answered and not, about the Clintons.
[06:45:02] Is he right? Or is he setting himself up for failure? Next.
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CUOMO: President Obama is turning his attention to diplomatic concerns. Air Force One arriving just moments ago in Japan. The G7 Summit is going on there. This is a live look at Air Force One, in case you didn't believe me about him touching down. There it is. Watch it yourself.
Earlier, the president wrapped up his visit to Vietnam by leading a town hall discussion with young people. He had an exchange an song lyrics telling the audience in Ho Chi Minh City, if you suppress the arts, you are suppressing the dreams of people.
CABRERA: Back here at home, devastation in the heartland. Severe storms spawning several tornadoes in the Plains. In fact, take a look at this one. This is in Dodge City, Kansas. You see that massive twister there ripping the roof right out of a home. Tornadoes also leaving a trail of destruction in Oklahoma, ripping up the roots of trees. This region is not out of the woods yet, by the way. More severe weather is expected later this week. [06:50:02] CAMEROTA: Most of us remember the '90s when Ken Starr became a household name during the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal. Well, now, a sex assault scandal at Baylor University could cost the president and chancellor, Ken Starr, his job. Starr is accused of failing to respond of reports of sexual assault by Baylor football players.
The school is not confirming report that Starr has already been fired, saying its board is still deliberating. Starr, as we mentioned, was a household name in 1998 when he was independent counsel behind the investigation that led to President Clinton's impeachment.
CABRERA: All right. Donald Trump going old school. He is digging up and digging into those old, unfounded Clinton era rumors and even conspiracy theories in his campaign. Will they be effective? How does the fact and fiction all get sorted out? We'll discuss, next.
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CUOMO: Donald Trump is reviving old attacks on Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton. He's dredging up conspiracy theories in hopes of the obvious, discrediting Hillary Clinton making voters not want to pick her. The question is, will it work, and, really, it does seem to be working. So the question is also, why?
Let's discuss. Brian Stelter is CNN senior media analyst and, of course, host of "RELIABLE SOURCES", and also, CNN media analyst, Bill Carter.
This is an easy discussion on one level, Bill, because we know why you do this. You do this because it works.
[06:55:00] People love conspiracy theories. They love the probative value of the unknown, questions that you won't answer or can't answer.
That's the no-brainer parts of this, right?
BILL CARTER, CNN MEDIA ANALYST: Yes that is, but also, when you're a presidential candidate you're expected to have certain responsibility in terms of the facts, and not just throw things out there.
CUOMO: Are you?
CARTER: Yes, I think you are supposed to. And in the past, we've seen people make a single gaffe, and it really cost them, and in the case of Trump, it's not costing him. He's able to sort of get away with it, and partly it's because he's not really been seriously confronted with it too often.
CABRERA: But even when confronted by the facts, even when we as journalists call him out, he doubles down. Almost as if he says it over and over and over again, making it true.
BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: I think the best example of that was last fall. We saw it six months. His statement about thousands of Muslims cheering in New Jersey on 9/11. No evidence of that and lots of contrary evidence to prove it's not true. Yet when confronted with the facts, he did double down.
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CARTER: Not just that it happened, I actually saw it.
STELTER: On the top of the list is important. The birther controversy from several years ago, the very first with Donald Trump. It was a preview of what was to come this year.
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CUOMO: One of the few things he won't talk about anymore. Winds up having a different angle which is --
CARTER: Old news.
CUOMO: He will not talk about it.
CAMEROTA: It's all news.
STELTER: But the damage done. It doesn't matter anymore, because everyone knows what he thinks.
CAMEROTA: But let's talk about that, Bill. What is the responsibility of the media? One of these conspiracy theories are revived, how many time do we, the media, need to spend going back for a tutorial to give the American public, here's what happened, here's who investigated, here's the date -- take as long time to do that. Is it incumbent upon us to do it for each of these now?
CARTER: I think we do have to say at some point, this isn't true. If you're interviewing him now and he throws that out, I think you have to say, no. That's not true. Jake Tapper did this yesterday pretty effectively I thought.
One of the things Trump uses, the oldest rhetorical technique going, Cicero invented it. It's called preterition, where you say, you know, I'm not going to say this, but people are saying, it's what he did --
CAMEROTA: Vince Foster just yesterday.
CARTER: It's not me saying this, but it's out there. People are talking about it. So, he's trying not to let it stick to him.
CAMEROTA: And, Brian, you blame "The Washington Post" for the Vince Foster dustup, Why?
STELTER: Because "The Post" asked him a question about Vince Foster, almost like poking a bear or doing sort of a test, trying out conspiracy theories on Trump to see if he believes them.
CAMEROTA: And they didn't have go there. The "Washington Post" didn't have go there.
STELTER: That's right. But ultimately, it is all about Trump's response. I think it's probably questionable for a media outlet to ask a candidate about conspiracy theories but it's also fundamentally about the candidate' response.
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STELTER: In this case, it's like Trump miss media literacy class. You know, when you read something online, you've got to check it out.
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CABRERA: He's bringing stuff up. That's the other side.
CUOMO: I think Ana is right. I think he didn't read the book. I think he's writing the book.
STELTER: I just don't want to believe that. But you might right.
CUOMO: I think he's writing the book about how to do it, because he is becoming the personification of people's doubts, fears and frustrations. That's what he does, when he engages these things, whether it's saying that President Obama wasn't born here. You know, there was never any compelling proof of any of this.
CAMEROTA: But 25 percent of Americans do believe that. We have a list --
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CUOMO: But people believe lots of stupid things. It doesn't mean you indulge him.
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CUOMO: Are we going to start him about Roswell? Are we going to start to ask him about whether aliens landed here, whether we actually went to the moon?
CABRERA: Look at this list. This has been research that has been done about popular conspiracy theories, and the percentage you see there is the percentage of people who were surveyed on this about what they believed, and that's how many people belied in this different theories. Now, the researchers --
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STELTER: Absolutely are.
CABRERA: Eric Oliver and Thomas Wood, political scientists who did this research in 2006, and they basically say, you know, these conspiracy theories can thrive when it's a time of political distrust, when people are seeking to make sense of something that they are finding really uncomfortable, and Trump is filling that void for them.
CARTER: Well, I think, if you go back into the birther thing, it spoke to kind of a hostility towards the president.
CUOMO: Sure.
CARTER: And he wanted to tap into that. So I think he's reaching sort of a mean-spirited place in a lot of people.
STELTER: And yet, let's remember, some of these conspiracy theories, some of these allegations, there's at least one single grain of truth. It may hard to find, but when Trump brings up Clinton's past, even if most of things are fake scandals, there might be some truth in that and that's why --
CUOMO: I think the big truth he hasn't factored in effectively yet is all of this stuff about the Clintons that he's bringing up, he may move some people. I agree with David Gregory. If you feel about this, you're not going to vote for her anyway, but the stuff about him has not been vetted by congressional committees, special prosecutors.
CAMEROTA: You mean that's about Trump?
CUOMO: There is so much stuff he is inviting into this discussion by doing this. And, look, I'm not looking forward to it. I do not want the election to be about this.
CABRERA: There are about six more months --
(CROSSTALK)
STELTER: Journalists have a lot of work to do --
CUOMO: There's a lot to work with.
CAMEROTA: Right. All right. Brian, Bill, thank you.
STELTER: Thanks.
CUOMO: The state of play in the party and also events around the world. There is a lot of news this morning. So, let's get right to it.
