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New Day Saturday

Al Qaeda Militants Kill American Hostage; Protesters Storm Stores In New York; American and South African Hostages Dead at the Failed Rescue Attempt in Yemen; Analysis of U.S. Counterterrorism Efforts; "Rolling Stone" Comments on Not Matching Details in Gang Rape Story at UVA; More Allegations of Sexual Abuse against Bill Cosby; Philippines Brace for Devastating Typhoon

Aired December 06, 2014 - 06:00   ET

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

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: So glad to have your company on this Saturday. I'm Christi Paul.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Victor Blackwell. It's 6:00 here on the east coast. We have breaking news overnight, an American journalist held hostage by an al Qaeda linked group in Yemen has been killed.

PAUL: We know he died during a rescue attempt by U.S. Special Operations force. We're talking 33-year-old Luke Somers. Here's his picture. He'd been held captive for more than a year by the group al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The confirmation of his death is coming from Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel who is in Afghanistan right now.

BLACKWELL: Now just this week, you'll remember Somers captors released a video threatening to kill him if their demands were not met. Now he had been kidnapped in Yemen's capital in September of last year.

PAUL: CNN's Jim Sciutto is live in Kabul for us in Afghanistan with the very latest. Jim, what are you hearing this hour?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, just a very sad news, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel confirming to us that an attempt was made this on Friday to rescue not just Luke Somers, a hostage, an aide worker, who was held with him as well.

During the course of that operation their captors from al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, AQAP, which would be very familiar to Americans, this is the group who has attempted to put explosives on airplanes bound for the U.S. and continues to do.

During this attempted rescue by U.S. special operations forces that their captors killed both Mr. Somers and the South African hostage as well. Why this rescue operation now?

Secretary of Defense Hagel said that there were compelling reasons to believe that Mr. Somers life was in danger. President Obama released a statement a short time ago saying that not only was this based on the fact that captors in that video you mentioned said that he would be killed within 72 hours if their demands were not met.

But that they had additional intelligence indicating that their lives were endanger. The president ordered this operation. Unfortunately, during the course of it, both of the hostages were murdered by their captors.

Remember, this is the second attempt to rescue Luke Somers. Just in the last week, it was only on Monday when another operation was conducted. That one, by the time U.S. special operations forces arrived at the location, Somers had been removed.

They did rescue other hostages. In one week, two attempts, and sadly both failed and now we had the sad news that Somers was killed in this operation.

PAUL: Do we know, one, what the demands were, and two, we are hearing that some of the terrorists were killed as well in this mission, is that correct? That's right. To your second question, first, yes, a number of captors were killed -- (inaudible) by officials, but to be fair (inaudible) --

PAUL: Jim --

SCIUTTO: It's the general principle (inaudible) --

PAUL: I'm sorry. I think we're having a technical problem. We're having a hard time hearing. Wait, go ahead. Let's see if we can hear this better.

SCIUTTO: Let me just go ahead, if you can still hear me, just so you know, I'm in the presidential palace in Kabul where we are awaiting the press conference with the secretary of state -- let me just continue. The demands were not made public, but keep in mind AQAP is not or does not negotiate with terrorists or make exchanges with terrorists when there are hostages.

But in this case, even this -- this is not a group that they would consider reliable on following through on some of sort of exchange. Remember, AQAP is a group that has targeted groups, with the underwear bomber and many other attempts --

PAUL: OK. I'm sorry, Jim, we're losing you here. But you did get some good information to us there. In terms of the fact that the demands were not made public, but this is a group that the use considers to be reliable, but nonetheless, not a group that they would negotiate with.

We do know that Luke Somers, an American hostage and another were murdered by AQAP terrorist, al Qaeda terrorist in Yemen today in a rescue attempt that obviously did not succeed. So thank you so much, Jim Sciutto, for being with us. We appreciate it.

BLACKWELL: All right, let's expand the conversation now and get the response now from the administration. We've got Sunlen Serfaty joining us now from Washington. In just the last few minutes, Sunlen, we received a statement from the president. What is he saying? SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Victor. Very strong words from the president this morning, he says in a statement, quote, "The United States strongly condemns the barbaric murder of Luke Somers at the hands of al Qaeda terrorists during a rescue operation conducted by the U.S. forces in Yemen in partnership with the Yemeni government.

On behalf of the American people, I offer my deepest condolences to Luke's family and to his loved ones." And as we said, this was the second rescue attempt mission in two weeks. The White House is now on the defense after criticism that they hesitated in improving these missions.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SERFATY (voice-over): American hostage, Luke Somers, pleaded for his life in this video released by his AQAP captors.

LUKE SOMERS, HOSTAGE: I'm looking for any help to get me out of this situation. I'm certain that my life is in danger.

SERFATY: A freelance photojournalist, Somers had been living and working in Yemen for years until he was kidnapped 14 months ago. His family broke their silence Thursday.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Luke is only a photojournalist and he is not responsible for any actions the U.S. government has taken.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please show mercy and give us an opportunity to see our Luke again. He is all that we have.

SERFATY: Just last week, the president approved a mission to rescue Somers that failed raising questions whether he took too long to give the OK.

JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: What I would reject in the strongest possible terms is that there's any delay here at the White House in approving this mission.

SERFATY: Officials say approval involved a rigorous process one developed by military planners, approved by the secretary of defense and then sent to the president's desk.

EARNEST: It was something approved by the commander in chief after that review in much less than 48 hours.

SOMERS: If anything can be done, please let it be done.

SERFATY: The terror group accused the U.S. of bombing its fighters and threatened to execute Somers in three days if Washington failed to meet its demands which in the video weren't clear.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SERFATY: And the president said this morning he used every tool at his disposal to secure his release -- Christi and Victor. BLACKWELL: All right, Sunlen Serfaty joining us from Washington. Thank you so much.

PAUL: We want to bring in our military analyst, Retired Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona. Col. Francona, thank you so much for being with us. Defense Secretary Hagel said Luke Somers was murdered by AQAP during that rescue.

When you hear that verbiage, what does that tell you? Do you get a sense they knew the U.S. was coming and they murdered him prior to them getting there?

LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Right, this is an interesting choice of words rather than being killed in the cross fire or during the actual rescue attempts, he was actually executed by AQAP as the operation began or when they knew it was about to happen.

So unfortunately, they had some information that this raid was about to kick off. Remember, there was a raid that was attempted two weeks ago that failed. So they were on edge and they knew that they had a hostage.

That the Americans were going to try and rescue. It was just a matter of time before they tried again and rather than risk having him rescued, they went ahead and murdered him.

BLACKWELL: Lieutenant Colonel, the criticism of the administration is that there was some delay, some gross delay in attempt to rescue Luke Somers. From your expertise and analysis, do you see a delay here?

FRANCONA: Not really. These operations are very dangerous. They're very risky. It involves putting a small group of Americans very far from their bases. They're deep, deep in enemy territory. So you want to make sure this is done right.

You want to make sure you've taken all the proper precautions and you want to make sure that the mission has a chance of success. You rehearse these, you go through, and you gather all the intelligence you can. And then you present it to the commander in chief.

There's a process they go through. Now, you can second guess this all you want. But as I said, these are very, very high-risk operations and many times they do not succeed. But it's -- you have to take all of these precautions because of the nature of these kinds of raids.

PAUL: Do you -- does this failed attempt impact at all future attempts that would need to be made?

FRANCONA: No, I don't think so. I think this is something we do. The joint operations -- the Joint Special Operations Command, JSOT, they practice this all the time. This is what they are gear up to do when we know that there are other American hostages in danger. They plan all the time go after them.

Unfortunately, as I said, this is a high-risk business and you're not always guaranteed success. So I think that this sends a message, though, that if there's an American out there being held, were will do whatever we can to go get them. The problem is do you have the intelligence that supports this kind of operation.

PAUL: All right, Retired Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona, always appreciate your perspective. Thank you, sir.

BLACKWELL: All right, another big story we're following this morning, the protests overnight across the country, hundreds turning out. Upset that a grand jury did not indict an officer in the death of Eric Garner. We're going to take you to some of these protests and they're changing. We'll show you how.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: More breaking news from overnight, too. This is what democracy looks like. That was the rallying cry aimed at protesters last night, as demonstrators took to at least 17 cities.

BLACKWELL: We're talking from the northeast all the way to California. The protesters angry over the controversial choke hold death of Eric Garner filled the streets to demand justice and law enforcement reform.

PAUL: Some of the largest protests in Boston. Take a look at these pictures. Police say about a thousand people marched through downtown.

BLACKWELL: Similar scene in Miami, look at this, you can see traffic here backed up for miles and miles as protesters flooded the interstates.

PAUL: And while demonstrators, they were peaceful, we want to point out. Protesters in New York stormed into popular stores and staged die-ins. We know at least two people were arrested.

BLACKWELL: Meanwhile, Eric Garner's daughter is now talking about this video and the decision. She said she wants the officers involved in her father's death to be punished.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERICA GARNER, ERIC GARNER'S DAUGHTER: I want to be happy with him losing his job or you know, being suspended or still getting paid. I would want him to face time in jail, all the officers even the EMS workers because those are the people that we depend on for our health, our safety, for anything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: So today, we know that more protests are expected across the country. Let's bring in CNN correspondent, Cristina Alesci. We are also joined by HLN legal analyst, Joey Jackson. Thank you both for with us.

Cristina, I want to start with you. Set the scene for us if you would please because last night what was different was that these protesters we understand actually entered stores. How did store owners and managers react to that?

CRISTINA ALESCI, CNN MONEY CORRESPONDENT: That's right, well, for one thing, what was different is that we saw fewer protesters than the first two nights. The other difference here is entering stores and both of those differences had to do with the weather, it was cold and rainy here last night.

So protesters brought their demonstrations into stores. Two of the busiest stores this time of year, the Apple store in Midtown and in Herald Square's Macy's so in both cases, you know, protesters went into the stores and lie down, die-ins, as they're calling them.

Here's the thing, though, the store's management didn't really kick them out or do anything. Just to put this into context having grown up in New York and been around midtown quite a bit during the holidays.

These stores are really used to seeing an influx of a lot of people especially the Apple store in Midtown. So I could actually see the situation where the store manager didn't realize it was protesters until they started lying down.

You know, this particular time of year is very busy in Midtown. I should say, you guys emphasized this before is that this seems to be a highly organized protest. There are several organizations that are helping protesters.

Last night, the organizers were handing out flyers with very specific demands. They want to see all of the officers involved in Eric Garner's death fired. They also want to see a special prosecutor to investigate excessive force.

So those are just some of the things that point to the fact that these protests are organized. And as of right now, you know, a little bit of disruption in the city. But not to the point where it's disrupting holiday shopping or anything like that.

PAUL: All right. So Joey, let me ask you, and it is interesting that they are handing out flyers with specific demands. What is the likelihood any of those demands would be met based on these kinds of protest?

JOEY JACKSON, HLN LEGAL ANALYST: Good morning, Christi. You know, I think the demands are, quite frankly, reasonable and I think there's certainly a probability that they will be met. Let's talk about the demand for a special prosecutor.

I think a big problem, Christi, is the process itself. Whenever you have a process in the criminal justice system, you want to engender trust. You want to engender respect and confidence. I think where you have now a local prosecutor who is investigating cases, investigating police.

The very police that they depend upon, rely upon, not only in the past, but the present and the future, it's a problem, so you want some independence there. That's a very significant part of the equation.

When you look at other demands like bringing people to justice, the federal government stepping in and getting involved because there is not the trust at the state level, Eric Holder certainly has indicated that the federal government will take a look.

I think another problem, Christi, is that you have here where people can identify and it resonates certainly not only as a result of what occurred, which is so significant, but we see what occurred.

It's not as though we are being told or we are reconstructing the event, people can look for their own eyes and evaluate was this a crime or was it not? I think there's a real problem based upon the grand jury decision and so we'll see.

I think finally, Christi, protesting, it's a way to release certainly the frustrations people have, but it's also a movement to create change. I think based on this happening not only in New York, but indeed throughout the country, I think we'll see our elected officials take it seriously and make reforms moving forward.

CAMEROTA: Well, Cristina, said another one of the demands is that all the police involved in this should be fired. What is do you believe the likelihood that there will be some serious consequences for them?

JACKSON: You know, Christi, I think there certainly is likelihood in that regard and here's why. What happens is you have departmental proceedings, and so notwithstanding whatever the grand jury did, you now have a situation where the department itself evaluates the conduct.

And there are a number of things we know. We know that in 1993, the choke hold was banned. As a result of that, certainly it should not have been used. We know that certainly as we see it, there was an indication by Eric Garner that he couldn't breathe 11 times.

We know that there, you know, certainly there was no CPR after the fact that was given to Eric Garner, who was in distress. The department will evaluate it and look at whether or not policies were violated not only by the officer, who engaged in the choke hold, but by the colleagues who were working with him.

And the commissioner has the final say and certainly based up what we see in that tape, we would expect the commissioner to act accordingly.

PAUL: All righty, Cristina, any indication that there will be more of what we saw last night, tonight?

ALESCI: There are definitely protest plans today and this evening. You know, the thing is that these can go on for quite some time like I said having grown up here and lived through Occupied Wall Street.

As long as the protesters are organized and they're not disrupting everyday life too much, the city can handle protests for a prolonged period of time. And that's probably what we're going to see.

PAUL: All righty, Cristina and Joey, we thank you both so much. Appreciate it.

People in the Philippines, my goodness, they are taking shelter this morning.

BLACKWELL: Yes, another big storm on the way. They're bracing themselves for a powerful typhoon headed their way, expected to hit within hours. The government is warning residents there to get to higher ground.

PAUL: And an American photojournalist held hostage and killed in Yemen. A defense official tells CNN just yesterday U.S. forces attempted to rescue him. We'll tell you more.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: We have a lot of other news to tell you about this morning. Here's your "Morning Read." Typhoon Hagupit is barreling toward the central Philippines causing some pretty heavy rains at this point. The government is telling people evacuate to higher ground now.

BLACKWELL: CNN meteorologists say it could cause a 13-foot storm surge. It could also slam the islands with 74-mile-per-hour winds on the same area still recovering from the devastating typhoon that hit around the same time last year.

PAUL: The group that hacked Sony is apparently not done making havoc. In a new e-mail, the hackers say they hope to destroy Sony Pictures and employees who don't cooperate will, quote, "suffer damage and their families will be in danger." This group hacked into the studio's computer system last month in one of the biggest cyber security breaches in history.

BLACKWELL: One person is in custody after a stabbing four victims including the conductor on this Amtrak train in Michigan. Look at these cell phone pictures. No one was killed. Police arrested the suspect in Niles, after they got a 911 call around 7:00 last night. The train was traveling from Chicago to Port Huron in Michigan. Amtrak has arranged alternate transportation for 172 passengers.

PAUL: And investigators are still looking for answers in the death of actress, Missy Upham. Medical examiners now say though that she died from blunt force injury to her head and torso. But they don't know yet how she received those. Upham's body was found in October at the bottom of an embankment in Seattle.

BLACKWELL: Oregon rolled over Arizona in last night's PAC-12 championship. Did you see it? The Ducks not only avenged the only loss of the season with the 51-13 win over the Wildcats, they as likely earned a spot in one of the semifinal games under the new playoff system.

PAUL: Well, President Obama calls the murder of an American hostage barbaric. We're continuing to follow breaking news. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Luke Somers has been killed at the hands of al Qaeda militants in Yemen. This happened as U.S. forces were trying to rescue him. We'll have full details for you. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: Thirty minutes past the hour right now. We're so grateful for your company. I'm Christi Paul.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. We've got more now on the breaking news that we reported at the top of the hour.

PAUL: President Obama condemning the murder of American hostage Luke Somers this morning. The 33-year-old photojournalist you are seeing here on your screen. He died during an attempt by U.S. forces to rescue him in central Yemen. We know Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel says some of his captors, the group al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, killed him. A second hostage, a South African man was also killed.

BLACKWELL: So, as we said, this is - this is the second attempt to rescue Somers in just two weeks. He was captured in Yemen' capital in September of 2013.

PAUL: Defense Secretary Hagel said President Obama ordered this raid because there was compelling reason to believe that Somers life was in imminent danger. Now, this week, the militants released a video threatening to kill Somers if Washington didn't meet its demands.

BLACKWELL: Secretary of State John Kerry says the murder of Luke Somers by his captors during a rescue operation is a reminder of the brutality of the terrorists of the al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

PAUL: Yeah, just hearing from him a short while ago here this morning. Now, we want to bring in CNN's global affairs analyst Lieutenant Colonel James Reese. Lieutenant Colonel, thank you for being with us. What more do you know about this rescue attempt and the wording that he was murdered by al Qaeda during the attempt?

LT. COL. JAMES REESE, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Yeah, good morning. So, we've seen this throughout, you know, my military career, spent in special operations that concentrate on hostage rescue. And we've seen this throughout history where when the hostage rescue force is going in. Right at the last spot. The minute coming in. If the terrorists or the people holding the hostages feel that they see a force coming in on top of them. And they want to get away because they know there is a significant force coming in. The hostages literally become a drag or a burden on them. And so, literally what they will do, is they will kill the hostage and try to get away. And it's just unfortunately, what happens, these precision brain surgery type operations.

BLACKWELL: Colonel, I want to update our viewers. I just received a message here from our Jim Sciutto who is in Kabul. And I'm just going to read it. A U.S. Defense official tells CNN that all U.S. military personnel involved in the mission to rescue American Luke Somers in Yemen are safe. So, that's good news there. We also got the information that there was a second person killed, the South African national. Not only Like Somers. But I want to ask you about the killing of these hostages. That has not been the emo of AQAP, of at least the last couple of years. They were more likely to go after a ransom, then to kill these hostages. Are we seeing the shift?

REESE: Yeah, I do, Victor. I mean they are seeing what ISIS is doing up in the Levant, and all the publicity they are getting there. And AQAP, these are bad people, very bad people. And again, you know, where these folks are located, they are out in the desert, there is not a lot of place to hide, like you can along the Euphrates River valley in Iraq and up in Syria. So, you know, if there's a helicopter force coming in on top of these guys they're looking now for self- preservation. And that self-preservation means I've got to get out of there, I'm going to kill these two people because they're going to come and get them anyway, and we are going to make a statement to try to get out of here and save ourselves.

PAUL: So, what do you make of the threat to the U.S.? Now, we've got, you know, AQAP that we are talking about this morning. We still have ISIS out there. Where does the U.S. focus? How do they move forward?

REESE: Well, you know, what everyone has got to understand that the U.S. forces - CENTCOM, JSAC, U.S. special operations command. You know, there's there are cells out there planning cells, operation intelligence fusion cells. They focus on these different aspects, what we'll start seeing, though, here, over the next couple of months and years as this continues on, you'll start to see some integration of ISIL and AQAP. It's just natural it happens here. Because ISIL now is getting some regional movement around, we've seen them move into Libya and into western Egypt, with AQAP, al Qaeda Arabian Peninsula out there in Yemen, in Saudi Arabia, they will start to merge. And it literally becomes that a force that we're going to have to really deal with and pay close attention. And like you said, the focus now becomes on the leadership and the network that we have to put a network on, and tried to destroy that network.

BLACKWELL: There are still reportedly hostages or questions about the hostages from Turkey and Britain that this cell still has. What's the impact likely on those countries? We know that Britain, they don't pay a ransom. And does this accelerate an effort to get those hostages. Or does it cause them to kind of back off knowing that those hostages could be killed, if they get an idea that these countries are moving in quickly?

REESE: Well, Victor it literally becomes, you know, across the spectrum. You'll get politicians -- you know, the families. It's a tragic time to the families. And my heart goes out to the Somers family. They want their loved ones rescued. If that can happen, but at the same time, they don't want to push the terrorists into doing something bad. The politicians start weighing it because of political aspect. And then you have the military and the law enforcement folks and intelligence folks that are looking at this continuously. And they wait for actionable Intel and then they execute authority to go. And it's a battle and they launch. So, it's very difficult to say. I would tell you, though, as these Western hostages, the Turks and everyone, the bottom line is, across the spectrum, they're going to look at rescuing them or doing some type of political negotiations to try and get them released.

PAUL: Colonel James Reese, so grateful for your perspective this morning. Thank you for being with us.

REESE: Good morning.

BLACKWELL: A major apology from "Rolling Stone." The magazine now says it has doubts about the bombshell reporting detailing sexual assault at the University of Virginia.

PAUL: Although a lot of women have come forward with allegations against Bill Cosby. Only one has actually filed a lot suit against him. The latest on a new LATD investigation into the allegations that the comedian sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: 20 minutes till the top of the hour. "Rolling Stone" is backing away from its real bombshell report about a brutal gang rape at the University of Virginia. In this article, a woman called Jackie claimed that she was assaulted by seven men during a three-hour attack at a fraternity party.

PAUL: The magazine now says that it has doubts about her story and they issued an apology on its website. The magazine's editor, this is what, it wrote "In the face of new information there now appears to be discrepancies in Jackie's account and we have come to the conclusion that our trust in her was misplaced."

BLACKWELL: Now, the fraternity accused in the story Phi Kappa Psi issued a statement detailing some of those discrepancies saying no members of Phi Kappa Psi worked at the school's aquatics center as Jackie claimed her attacker did. That there had been no party at the fraternity house the night of the alleged attack. And that membership recruitment called rushing at the house only happens in the spring, not in the fall semester.

PAUL: I know you've got questions about this. Let's talk to CNN commentator Mel Robbins about it. So, first of all, Mel, when you hear their apology and the term "our trust in her was misplaced." Do you feel they are blaming her?

MEL ROBBINS, CNN COMMENTATOR: Yeah, good morning, Christi. Good morning, Victor. I mean this is kind of a stunning turn of events. I mean basically from what I understand, "Rolling Stone" didn't check its facts, they didn't speak to anybody other than the victim and the sexual assault crisis folks at UVA. And now that there's -- the fraternity's pushing back on the story which nobody should be surprised by. I mean they're in the center of a national firestorm, they're basically throwing the victim under a double decker bus. It's really kind of strange, Christi.

PAUL: Well, not only - well, they were saying, you know, at the time she was in school there was a fear of retribution. Do you feel at any shape that at the time it was the right calls not to make those calls, or no, they still have an obligation to do so?

ROBBINS: You know, there's two aspects to this story, Christi. One is what is "Rolling Stone's" responsibility as an arm of journalism, right?

PAUL: Right.

ROBBINS: If you're going to do a story like this and you're truly going to investigate it you can either go down the road of doing one person's account and then stand by that person. Or take that person's account and go to the fraternity for a statement. One of the things that I also find troubling, Christi, is that look, the three things that the fraternity has cited ...

PAUL: Right.

ROBBINS: That that wasn't a party that night. Anybody that's been to a college or a university that had - has fraternities and sororities knows that you don't have to have an advertised party to have a party going on at the fraternity.

PAUL: Yeah.

ROBBINS: That's number one. Number two --

PAUL: I wanted to break that down. Go ahead. What's your number two?

ROBBINS: Go for it. Number two, just because somebody wasn't being paid as working at an aquatics center doesn't mean that the person in the story wasn't either volunteering or somehow otherwise, you know, at the aquatics center. And then finally, you know, the third point that they were talking about - which was you're going to have to remind me what the third thing was ...

PAUL: Or that the member recruitment, rushing at the house only happens in the spring, not in the fall. And I bring up those points that they are saying, because even though they mentioned these points, never in their statement do they explicitly deny the rape.

ROBBINS: Right.

PAUL: And her friends still say they believe something dramatic happened to her. The fact that they do not explicitly deny the rape, does that tell you anything?

ROBBINS: It tells me a lot, it basically says that "Rolling Stone" has gotten a lot of backlash from the story. They've gotten probably a lot of complaints from the national fraternity organization. And they kind of took a look in the mirror and said, oops, you know, we didn't really push the other side of the story just to cover our bases. And so, they're basically throwing this young woman. Clearly something happened to her that night. There was evidence of an outcry that was right after the incident. She did seek counseling. There is evidence that she went to UVA and was not - her claims were not taken seriously. And so something happened. For them to basically now say our trust in her was misplaced, it's almost like she's getting attacked again. And this is the problem.

PAUL: Yeah. ROBBINS: The problem is, is that it really hurts the efforts to get victims to come out and talk as soon as something happens.

PAUL: Yeah.

ROBBINS: You know, because what you see is you see not only did UVA turn their back on her, but now this magazine, "Rolling Stone" that has put her in the center of this huge story is now turning their backs on her.

PAUL: Well, and you just really hope that she can get, you know, the help that she needs because now that it's gone public. Even though she was anonymous. I mean I can't imagine what's going on in her world right now. Mel Robbins, thank you so much. And I just want to let you all know that we are going live to Charlottesville for an update on the story in our next hour.

BLACKWELL: So, the LAPD is now investigating a sexual assault claim against Bill Cosby. Judy Huth who is also suing the comedian for sexual battery claims that back in 1974, 40 years ago, he forced her to have sex with him at the "Playboy" mansion. And she was 15 years old at the time. Here's attorney Gloria Allred.

GLORIA ALLREAD, ATTORNEY: Judy Huth and I came here to the Los Angeles police department to meet with detectives of the Los Angeles Police Department to request an investigation of Mr. Cosby. She is here because she believes that it's important that Bill Cosby be investigated. And Chief Beck has clearly indicated that regardless of when the alleged offense occurred, if it happened, within the city of Los Angeles, he will investigate the claim.

BLACKWELL: Well, Huth is not the only woman now claiming Cosby raped or sexually assaulted her at the mansion. P.J. Masten, a former "Playboy" bunny is also coming forward and claiming Cosby raped her at the mansion when she was under age. Now, Masten tells CNN, 12 more women have similar stories, but they do not want to come forward. Now for his part, Cosby's attorneys have vehemently denied most of the accusations that he drugged and sexually assaulted young women. And he's never been charged with a crime, important to say that.

PAUL: We'll talk more about this throughout the next couple of hours as well.

BLACKWELL: Sure.

PAUL: But we also need to talk about this powerful typhoon that's headed towards the Philippines right now.

BLACKWELL: Yeah. The people who live there are taking cover and heading to higher ground. That's what the government is asking them to do. We're tracking the path of this monster storm, live from the CNN weather center next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With the record of 17 grand slam singles titles an Olympic Gold Medal and now a Davis Cup Championship, Roger Federer is considered by many to be the best ever.

And he's popular, too. Personality on and off the court has endeared him to the fans. So much so that he's one of the sport's fan favorite every year since 2004.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's like a rock star. But having said that, what is amazing, he's so -- he's stable like a normal person. You know, very simple and nice. And you know, you see him, hi, how are you? And is - he doesn't behave like the big star. That's good.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Federer is bigger than anything?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anything that involves Roger. Globally, but in Switzerland, they're really proud of him. And they're really proud of what he represents and the way he carries himself.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And at the age of 33, ancient by tennis standards Federer shows no sign of slowing down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hope that he sticks around a long time. He's a credit to the game. He is a credit to people. We need people like that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Live pictures here. Typhoon Hagupit is dumping rain on the Philippines. You see Tacloban here is really being hit by the storm. But the eye of the storm has not made landfall yet.

PAUL: Meteorologist Karen Maginnis is tracking its path from the CNN weather center. Karen, what can you tell us this hour?

KAREN MAGINNIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is within three to four hours of making landfall right around Samoa. That's locate - just about here. It was 13 months ago, almost to the day that this strongest storm in any ocean base had made landfall at Tacloban. We are expecting a storm surge between 15 and 20 feet. It should come ashore as I mentioned the next several hours as a strong category three, equivalent storm system. Already, they have mandatory evacuations across this region. And with Haiyan, which made landfall 13 months ago, more than 6,000 people died in that strongest storm ever. We move on now towards the United States.

We've got a cold, rainy miserable day across the northeast and New England, where rain, snow, ice is going to be a big problem. Especially from interior Pennsylvania, all the way up towards Maine. So, if you are driving around there, be careful, it is going to be extremely treacherous. Across the northern tier, temperatures only in the 20s for this afternoon. Temperatures still running above normal across the southeast, with 60s and 70s.

If you're headed to the Pacific Northwest, watch out, we've got a very strong storm system expected to move in and its' going to produce quite a bit of rainfall. Look for a couple of inches of rain from Boston and New York to Washington D.C. And the temperatures are just kind of ping-ponging back and forth with temperatures in D.C. in the 50s. Which is - by Monday. You barely make it to temperatures in the 40s. We'll see a slight improving conditions across the Great Lakes in the Midwest. So it looks like we can expect the winter weather to continue, especially in that northeastern corridor. Back to you, guys.

BLACKWELL: Karen, you used every available graphic on that map. Warm, sunny, snow. Rain, cool, freezing. Everything was on that map.

PAUL: Mother Nature is schizophrenic right now.

BLACKWELL: Yeah.

MAGINNIS: That's a very true word. Yes.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

MAGINNIS: That this could be described.

PAUL: Very nice. Meteorologist Karen Maginnis, so good to have you with us. Thank you.

So, up next, flipping the script on a typical word show. A preview of CNN's heroes, that all-starts when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: Well, CNN is just one day away from its holiday tradition, CNN heroes and all-star tribute.

BLACKWELL: CNN's Michaela Pereira has a look at what's in store.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: At first glance, it might look like every other award show, but "CNN Heroes, an all-star tribute" hosted by Anderson Cooper is an event like no other. Here, every day people doing extraordinary work to help others take center stage and the stars turn out to honor them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The great night for so many people who are being honored for just doing good because it just pushes humanity forward.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's basically recognizing people for what we should all be doing every day, which is kind of thinking beyond ourselves.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm here with my daughter, because that's what I want to teach her that the individual really can make the difference.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Reach. Reach.

PEREIRA: The individuals like a man who helped people with disabilities get stronger inside and out.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is my honor to hug the weightlifter with the biggest heart ever, Ned Norton. PEREIRA: A woman who works with the Masai to save lions from extinction. And rabbi with a black belt who helps kids fight cancer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Given the opportunity these children can inspire the world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: CNN got me (INAUDIBLE)

PEREIRA: It's a night full of emotion.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Those are my babies.

PEREIRA: Laughter.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: My friend Cathy Griffin.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, Jack Tapper. Hi, everybody.

(APPLAUSE)

PEREIRA: And uplifting message.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Even in the darkest of places, decency and love can persevere.

PEREIRA: And performances that inspire.

(MUSIC)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And it ends with a life-changing moment.

COOPER: The 2014 CNN hero of the year --

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL: And that was just a taste of what's to come. Watch the entire show "CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute" tomorrow at 8:00 Eastern. Tune in and be inspired.

And the next hour of NEW DAY starts now.