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CNN TONIGHT

Bill Cosby Resigns from Temple University Board; St. Louis Rams Apologize; Janice Dickinson vs. Bill Cosby; Photo of White Police Officer Hugging 12-Year-Old African-American Goes Viral

Aired December 1, 2014 - 22:00   ET

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


ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN TONIGHT. I'm Don Lemon.

Breaking news. New fallout for Bill Cosby. He is off the board of his beloved Temple University as the shocking accusations just keep coming.

Tonight Janice Dickinson in her own words.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JANICE DICKINSON, FORMER SUPERMODEL: I'm talking to you and everyone else from my heart, and I'm giving you my side of the story. What happened to me with Cosby.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: She says Bill Cosby raped her when she was a young supermodel.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DICKINSON: This has affected me at my house. It's affected me. And it's really affected these women. But I'm strong and I'm going to stand on my own two feet and I'm going to tell my side of the story.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: That is just a small part of it.

Tonight, Janice Dickinson's message for Bill Cosby. It is raw. It's emotional. And it's very angry.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DICKINSON: Bill Cosby, you know the truth. Bill Cosby, you were there. Bill Cosby, put a lie detector test on Bill Cosby.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: And more breaking news to tell you about. The St. Louis Rams apologizing for the "hands up, don't shoot" gesture by five players during last night's game in solidarity with Ferguson protesters. And that's where -- where we're going to begin tonight. It is new. It is just into CNN.

We want to get right to CNN's sports anchor Rachel Nichols. She's on the phone.

Rachel, I think it's important, the St. Louis, the team, is apologizing, correct?

RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN HOST, "UNGUARDED" (via phone): The head of the team is apologizing. The players are not apologizing. And that's a very important distinction. And you do understand the team that works with the police officers on a lot of security issues and are operating at a different level frankly than the players are, and the players, that's sort of the point of what they are trying to show, is that they are one with the community.

And that is not something maybe the CEO of the team feels responsible to do. But I would not expect the players to apologize. We'll see over the next few days but I would be surprised if they do.

LEMON: That was my obvious question, my next question is, do you think this is a rift between the players and the team and are we likely to hear more about it? Or do you think this is the end, they're not going to talk about it anymore?

NICHOLS: I think over the next few days you may hear from some players. I wouldn't think that it is a huge rift. I think that all of us having conversations about Ferguson are finding some differences of opinion with the people that we talk to.

LEMON: Yes.

NICHOLS: And that is what may get chalked up to on this team, that some of the people who run the team might have a difference of opinion than some of the people who play on the team. You will notice that the St. Louis Rams organization, at least not yet, and I wouldn't, again, expect them to, hasn't disciplined their players the way the police association asked to happen.

The NFL made a point that they were not going to discipline players the way the police officers association asked to happen. So, you know, the line moves a little bit in the fact that the organization as a whole has apologized. But, again, I personally would be surprised to see any players apologize. We'll have to see what happens over the next couple of days. And you know, we all think a lot of very different things about this. It's a nuanced, complex issue.

LEMON: All right. Rachel Nichols, standing by.

If you're just joining us now here on CNN, Rams apologizing to the St. Louis Police. The Rams' chief operating officer called the St. Louis County Police chief to apologize for the Rams, that "hands up, don't shoot" gesture during Sunday's game.

Again, that's according to a police spokesperson.

I want to bring in now Benjamin Watson. He is a tight end for the New Orleans Saints and also his emotional post about the situation in Ferguson has gone viral. Also joining me is David Klinger, a former police officer in L.A. and Redmond, Washington, and the author of "Into the Kill Zone."

Thank you both for joining us here this evening. This is breaking news.

First to you, Mr. Watson. Are you surprised by this apology?

BENJAMIN WATSON, NEW ORLEANS SAINTS TIGHT END: No, I'm not surprised. The NFL, in matters like these, the NFL usually likes to take a neutral ground. And something as sensitive as this issue, when the police -- when police officers were obviously offended it makes sense that the organization would apologize to police officers, but I don't expect any type of discipline when it comes to the actual players.

These are simply players that were exercising their rights to free speech and simply identifying with that community.

LEMON: And so many people are surprised, though, Ben, that there's no disciplinary action that's going to take place because they do work for a major organization, for a corporation. The team is a corporation. And they have to abide by team rules. There are many who are surprised by it.

WATSON: Yes, but there aren't -- in this situation I don't think that there are no team rules saying you that can't --

LEMON: The organization's rules I should say.

WATSON: Well, exactly. There are no organization rules saying that they can't do what they did. And this is simply something where they were trying to identify with that community. I think we're probably not going to hear very much more about this. It's going to kind of blow over. But I can see why the organization would reach out to the police department and apologize.

LEMON: David, do you understand why police were so upset and the apology to follow this evening?

DAVID KLINGER: Absolutely I understand why officers are upset. If you look at it from Darren Wilson's testimony, Mike Brown attempted to take his gun away and the only reason you take a police officer's gun away is to kill him. So in most officers' minds who are now aware of the -- that forensic evidence inside the vehicle which supports Officer Wilson's story, the photographs of his face, which support his story, I can understand why officers are upset, because in their mind what we've got is a situation where an individual tried to murder a police officer and the Rams players are showing support.

Flipside of the coin, I'm basically a First Amendment absolutist in a situation like this. And I do understand that corporations have rules, so on and so forth, but I personally have absolutely no problem with people expressing their opinions. And these gentlemen expressed their opinion. I happen to think it's foolhardy because at this point all the forensic evidence indicates that it wasn't Mr. Brown with his hands up standing still. All the evidence indicates that he was coming back at Officer Wilson.

LEMON: Yes.

KLINGER: Now whether that justifies the use of deadly force we don't know. And there still are questions about that. But I think it's unfortunate that people are getting behind the "hands up, don't shoot" as opposed to we have grave concerns about the way that policing operates in the United States, and there are a lot of common ground about that and there are areas where police and members of communities can come together to try to reform some things.

LEMON: And David --

KLINGER: And make things better.

LEMON: David --

KLINGER: That's what I think we should work for.

LEMON: You touched on, David, the reason that many are surprised that there was no disciplinary action taken because basically what you're saying is that the forensic evidence that came out of this grand jury, out of all the information that was released, the evidence is refuting the hands up, that he had his hands up.

So the question is, this hands up rallying cry has -- is it a false narrative that people are using to fit their own agenda? That's the question. Ben?

WATSON: Well, I think --

KLINGER: In my opinion yes. But once again, the issue is people have an absolute right to express that opinion. And I think the issue here is one of what can a corporation do to restrict expression. And if I'm the president of a corporation, I say look, as long as you don't do something illegal, as long as you don't do something that harms our image, you have an absolute right to express your opinion. And so that's just my personal opinion --

LEMON: I want -- I want Ben to --

KLINGER: I don't have a problem with.

LEMON: I want Ben to weigh in on it.

Go ahead, Ben.

WATSON: Well, I definitely think that this is -- the "hands up, don't shoot," has kind of become a mantra, and some people may be joining it for the wrong reasons. My hope is that the conversations that are had in the locker rooms, those conversations that are had in the workplace where people can be honest about their feelings, honest about the fact that they were angry, honest about the fact that they're fearful of police.

For policemen to be honest about the fact that they may be fearful when they come into a certain situation, not understanding what's going to happen. The only way things will change and things will get better is if people are able to be honest without feeling like they're going to be offended or they're going to offend someone else.

LEMON: Again, I want to ask this because maybe, you know, I neglected to. But, Ben, do you think the team should apologize?

WATSON: Do I think the team should apologize?

LEMON: Should have apologized to the police department.

WATSON: You know, I understand why they apologized. I don't think there was a need for an apology, honestly. They were exercising their First Amendment rights, the players were. But when it comes to something like this, something that's as deeply rooted as the events that happened in Ferguson, being that they're in St. Louis and that they do business with those who are on both sides of the coin, I think it was an appropriate action.

And I can understand why they apologized. I however don't believe and don't expect those players to face any disciplinary action.

LEMON: Do you think people are hearing what they want to hear and believing what they want to believe in this particular case? We're talking about forensics, people, you know, the forensics had -- that's all been played out, that's been shown, the grand jury has come to a conclusion. And then on the other side there are people who believe that the officer was attacked and should not have been indicted.

And regardless of what you say, what the evidence shows, people are going to believe what they want to believe. Do you believe that, Benjamin?

WATSON: I think there are some people that are going to believe no matter what, what they want to believe. I also believe that many of us, myself included, come into certain situations already looking for evidence to support what we believe. Not really looking for the truth but looking for something to support what we already believe, and the preconceived notions that we already have.

And that's what I dealt with. You know, that's why I kind of wrote to myself and kind of getting my feelings out there because I have a lot of those preconceived notions and they aren't right.

LEMON: Yes.

WATSON: You know, we should come into these things with an open mind and kind of look at the evidence and understand that we could be in that similar situation and we have the same propensity to be evil because of the same that we all deal with.

LEMON: All right. David Klinger and Benjamin Watson, thank you, gentlemen, very much. We appreciate you joining us here.

We've got much, much more to come tonight on the Ferguson reaction all across the country. What do protesters really want? Also Janice Dickinson speaking out over what she says Bill Cosby did

to her when she was a young supermodel. She says he raped her. Tonight she's emotional and she is angry as she tells the story in her own words.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Lots of breaking news tonight. Bill Cosby stepping down from Temple University's Board of Trustees in response to allegations of sexual assault.

Some of the most explosive allegations come from Janice Dickinson. She says Cosby raped her when she was a young supermodel.

CNN's Fredricka Whitfield sat down with her today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: What has held you back all these years from telling this story in detail until now?

DICKINSON: I remember being humiliated, disgusted -- I had revulsion towards Cosby. And Cosby was a very powerful man, and probably still is. You know, I trusted this man, and I stuffed it. I compartmentalized it because I was embarrassed. I was -- and it wasn't until it came out recently that other women told the same story that had happened to me, that I believed these women.

WHITFIELD: You were 27 years old.

DICKINSON: Yes.

WHITFIELD: He was roughly about 45 years old at the time.

DICKINSON: I don't remember how old that monster was at the time, but I do remember that I was young, I was innocent, and I was very excited to get a call that I was going to be, you know, offered this job on "The Cosby Show." You know, and I went for it, and I trusted him. He was a married man. You know, so how could -- you know, he wouldn't do anything to me.

WHITFIELD: When Bill Cosby did reach out to you in 1982, what was the conversation? What was the picture that he painted for you that you said, even though I am a supermodel right now and my career is taking off, he's the connection I need for it to go even further? What was promised? What did you believe would happen?

DICKINSON: I believed the tone of his voice. How are you? I'm going to offer you a part on "The Cosby Show." I want you to fly here and, you know, get here, you know, in the next day or two. I took the bait. I jumped at this opportunity.

WHITFIELD: You were excited.

DICKINSON: I was so psyched. I was just rear and ready to go. He also promised me, I hear you're going to -- you want a singing career, I can help you with that. So when I arrived in Tahoe I was met by Bill and a gentleman that worked for him named Stu Gardner. Stuby, as his name was. And he was his musical director.

And I -- I remember him saying to me at this dinner when he offered me red wine, what kind of man offers me red wine when I get out of rehab? I was susceptible and very nervous and excited --

WHITFIELD: He knew about your situation, how fragile, potentially fragile you were at the time?

DICKINSON: He called me in rehab. He knew what I was in rehab for, for alcohol. So that's -- that in itself is really messed up.

WHITFIELD: And at what point did you find yourself alone with Mr. Cosby? You trusted him, but then things went a different direction in your view.

DICKINSON: Mr. Gardner, Stu Gardner, left the dinner table. I was alone with him. And I had menstrual cramps. I had menstrual -- you know, stomach cramps. He said oh, I've got something for that. And he gave me a pill. And --

WHITFIELD: Did you ask what it was?

DICKINSON: I don't remember that. I don't remember. But if he's giving me a pill, I trust the guy. I trusted Bill Cosby. So he gave me --

WHITFIELD: Why did you feel like you trusted him?

DICKINSON: Because of his demeanor and the promise of a career. And you know, I trusted him. I was -- I wanted a television career. I always had -- I had had a successful career for commercials. I wanted to take it to the next level.

WHITFIELD: And at the same time, though, you're telling me you're in rehab, you were still very fragile, he offered you wine. That was a no-no in your view. But now he offers you a pill. And you still trust him?

DICKINSON: It was red wine. It was a pill. And then when I started to black out I had a Polaroid camera on me. That's when I took several photographs with the Polaroid. I had one of the first Polaroid cameras. And you know, I just remember shooting these pictures and having them on me in my room the next morning when I woke up. Last thing I remember I had blacked out, and Cosby mounting me. Like the monster that he was.

And I was thinking, what the heck? What the -- and I just remember passing out. But I remember more specifically waking up and that he -- there was a lot of pain in -- downstairs. There was semen all over me, and that my pajamas bottoms were off and the top was opened. And I, at that point, fight or flight, I just packed up and I got the hell out of there.

WHITFIELD: What was going through your mind at that point when you, you know, came to, you had this discovery? What were you thinking and feeling at that moment?

DICKINSON: I remember being extremely angry that I had been violated. I remember feeling disgusted at him. But more importantly, I was disgusted at myself. Now in retrospect I should have done -- gone and reported it to the Nevada Police. You know, but I wasn't thinking about it. I was thinking about stuffing it in an area so deep inside my subconscious that it is now coming up.

And I am sober today through the grace of God and I have crystal clear memories of this entire incident. And this rape. I'm not out to get him. I'm out to tell my side of the story so I can protect any woman in the world against this monster, Bill Cosby, and against anything or anyone that could ever take -- rob an innocence like mine had been violated and taken away from me.

WHITFIELD: How do you prove that? How do you prove that when it's your word against his?

DICKINSON: I should have gone -- I should have gone to the police. But once again, I was too embarrassed and I was too disgusted, and I was afraid for my career. So I moved out. Can I prove it? I can't produce a stain on my pajamas, and I can't produce the semen that was actually there, or I didn't go in for an examination of my womanhood down there. I didn't -- I didn't do rape counseling or any of that.

Had I known, I would have. But the repercussions from all of this -- look at what -- how it's blown up now on me. I'm being slandered and called -- that I lie. Bull (EXPLETIVE DELETED), attorneys. I am not lying. You weren't there. I can prove it with Polaroids. Put a lie detector test on me and put a lie detector test on the attorneys, and put a lie detector test on Mr. Bill "Monster" Cosby.

WHITFIELD: How much has hearing from the other women who allege sexual assault by Bill Cosby, the details that they've given, how much has that assisted you in coming up and talking publicly about what happened to you in 1982? How much does that also help you in recalling in detail what happened to you in 1982?

DICKINSON: I remember the memory. I remember the loss of -- I'm being robbed of my innocence. And I believe the women that I haven't been in contact with, but I believe their story because it was exactly the same thing that happened to me. But I can't speak for them as a whole. I can only speak for myself as an individual.

And as an individual woman I am Janice Dickinson and I am the world's first supermodel and this took place in 1982, and it took place in a hotel room in Lake Tahoe, and that Cosby was wearing a bathrobe with patchwork, you know, Velour, and a velvet hat, and he was wearing a gold watch. And I remember the pajamas, and I remember the semen, and I remember that feeling in my vagina and my anus.

I'll be straight up that it wasn't -- it hasn't been the same since. There was a lot of pain, a lot of semen. I didn't do the right thing. I didn't report it. I didn't go to rape counseling. And you know what? I was afraid. But I'm not afraid anymore. So I -- now I'm strong and I have support and I will go on with my story. Until my last breath.

WHITFIELD: What are the most recent accusers, Jewel Allison -- and I know you don't like that word accuser --

DICKINSON: I don't like that word.

WHITFIELD: Why is that?

DICKINSON: I am not an accuser. Why am I the bad person that got raped? I'm not accusing him. I'm telling you my story that took place.

WHITFIELD: If he chooses to speak on his own, and he has when he spoke with a Florida newspaper backstage after an appearance, and I do have a portion of what he said. He said, "I know people are tired of me not saying anything, but a guy doesn't have to answer to innuendos. People should fact check. People shouldn't have to go through that and shouldn't answer to innuendos."

DICKINSON: People? Screw you, Bill. You know damn well, Fredricka, that he's not going to take any responsibility on this and neither are his attorneys. He says innuendo. I said you raped me, Bill Cosby. You raped me in 1982 in Lake Tahoe.

WHITFIELD: What do you want from Bill Cosby right now? What do you need to hear from him? What does he need to do?

DICKINSON: I would like Cosby to come out and at least acknowledge that he is a pig that he is a monster, and he has raped me.

WHITFIELD: Thank you, Janice Dickinson.

DICKINSON: Thank you, Miss Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Pleasure. Thank you so much.

DICKINSON: Thank you, CNN.

WHITFIELD: Thank you. I know it's tough.

DICKINSON: I'm sorry.

WHITFIELD: There's nothing to apologize, you know.

DICKINSON: I don't know how to process --

WHITFIELD: It's very --

DICKINSON: I do not know how to process these emotions. You know? I don't. I don't. I'm going to meditate. I'm going to go to church. I do not know. This has affected me in my house. It's affecting me.

WHITFIELD: I can see --

DICKINSON: It's really affected these women.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Wow. When we come back, more on the allegations against Bill Cosby. What the ghostwriter for Janice Dickinson's book says she told him. Also Cosby's lawyers respond.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: So you just heard what Janice Dickinson says Bill Cosby did to her when she was an ambitious young supermodel. Cosby's attorney, Martin Singer, issued a statement when her allegations first became public. It reads in part, "Janice Dickinson's story accusing Bill Cosby of rape is a lie. There is a glaring contradiction between what she is claiming now for the first time and what she wrote in her own book and what she told the media back in 2002.

"Miss Dickinson did an interview with the 'New York Observer' in September of 2002 entitled 'Interview with a Vamp' completely contradicting her new story about Mr. Cosby. That interview a dozen years ago said, quote, 'She didn't want to go to bed with him and he blew her off,'" unquote.

"Her publisher Harper Collins can confirm that no attorney representing Mr. Cosby tried to kill the alleged rape story since there was no such story or tried to prevent her from saying whatever she wanted about Bill Cosby in her book."

Here now with me, the woman in the room with Janice Dickinson. She conducted that interview is my colleague Fredricka Whitfield.

Great interview, Fredricka. You talked today to Janice Dickinson's ghost writer for the book "No Lifeguard on Duty." What did he tell you?

WHITFIELD: That's right. I talked to Pablo Fenjves here in Los Angeles. And he said yes, indeed, he and Janice --

DON LEMON, CNN HOST: -- interview, Fredericka. You talked today to Janice Dickinson's ghostwriter for the book, No Lifeguard on Duty. What did he tell you?

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. I talked to Pablo Fenjves here in Los Angeles, and he said yes indeed, he and Janice did talk about that alleged rape in 2001 when together they were writing the book. He said in graphic detail she talked about what happened. But he also said this is why that portion of her story, of her life story, didn't make it into the book.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PABLO FENJVES, SCREENWRITER AND GHOSTWRITER: She thought it was innocent and that she -- you know, he told her he wanted to talk to her about her career in film and television. And it didn't quite -- that's not exactly what Bill had in mind. And she went into, you know, a fair amount of detail, and she was pretty distraught. The memory was -- you know had her pretty shaken up. And I told her, you know, I'm sorry, but I don't think we can use any of this. We will never be able to get this past the attorneys at Harper Collins.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And Pablo Fenjves says, he said that to her based on his experience with big publishers like Harper Collins he says, it would be lawyered up all the way around. Without kind of corroboration from Bill Cosby and he knew that he wasn't going to be able to get that. And so, when he wrote out the draft that he sent to Harper Collins, it was without her version of events, without her story of that alleged rape. He did have a conversation with her about that. He said that she read the draft and that she said it would be OK, not having that version of her life story in that book even know that's what she wanted.

LEMON: I have to ask you, Fred, you know, we usually see Janice Dickinson, you know, in a different -- with a different demeanor. She's always happy, joking, smiling, happy-go-lucky kind of gal. Last time I interviewed her, you know, she was joking around. To be in that room, to see her demeanor this way, she's been carrying this around for quite some time. What was that like?

WHITFIELD: Well, for 30 years, you know, she has contained this story, this event in her life that she was telling me about. And she says she has been strong throughout, she has shared her story with a number of people including that ghostwriter. And she says, in that interview and just as she has said over the past few weeks that she was scared to tell that story in that kind of detail when she was just 27 years old. And that's what kept her, fear, from reporting it to Nevada police. And now she says, she's a woman, she understands the big picture of what has taken place and she says she's not gonna be afraid anymore, and I think what we saw in her today and what we felt from her today, that holding these feelings in for so many years, it just finally came out in a very big way and she was very candid, very honest with her feelings, and certainly in no way was she holding back.

LEMON: Yeah, yeah, Fredricka, thank you very much. Thanks to tell our viewers that you can see Fredricka's interview with Janice Dickinson this Saturday beginning at 11 a.m. Eastern Time. Right here on CNN, 11 a.m. Eastern Time this Saturday, a longer interview with Janice Dickinson. When we come right back, whispers and allegations, for years there were rumors about Bill Cosby. Why did it take so long for the rest of the story to come out?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: The sexual assault allegations against Bill Cosby are shocking, but they have been whispered about for years. So why are they coming out now? CNN's Jean Casarez has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For years their stories have been out there.

BARBARA BOWMAN, ACTRESS: I didn't really talk about it much because nobody was believing it.

BETH FERRIER, CRAFTSY INSTRUCTOR: People did not want to believe our story.

JEWEL ALLISON, FORMER MODEL: I finally said I can't live in fear for the rest of my life.

CASAREZ: But it has only been in the last month that the stories and the graphic detail have gained traction. Cosby's attorneys have denied these allegations.

JOAN TARSHIS, FORMER ACTRESS: And the next thing I remember is, being on his couch with him taking my clothes off.

THERESE SERIGNESE, REGISTERED NURSE: My next memory is feeling drugged and him having sex with me.

CASAREZ: What took so long? Turns out the accusers may not have been the only ones who reluctant to tell their stories. Mark Whitaker, who used to work for CNN, in his 2014 authorized biography of Bill Cosby, doesn't touch the topic. And Whitaker didn't bring it up in a recent appearance right here on CNN Tonight, just weeks before the scandal blew wide open.

MARK WHITAKER, FORMER MANAGING EDITOR OF CNN WORLDWIDE: He has been a pioneer in so many areas. And you know the Cosby show is so big that people forget, you know, all the other ways in which he, you know, advanced entertainment. And then, an African-American man becomes, the most successful advertising pitch man in the country.

CASAREZ: Bob Huber, former writer for Philadelphia magazine, is outraged that Whitaker left it out.

BOB HUBER, FORMER WRITER FOR PHILADELPHIA MAGAZINE: Frankly I think it's unconscionable. These allegations have been out there for almost a decade.

CASAREZ: Huber admits in his 2006 profile of Cosby, he didn't question the star about the accusations. He blames not being able to get close enough to Cosby to ask him.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You were writing about this, you were doing this big profile. You got invited to spend some time with Cosby, right? But you weren't allowed to ask him questions?

HUBER: Right.

CASAREZ: New York Times columnist David Carr put Whitaker's omission front and center in his column for the Times last week. Those in the know included Mark Whitaker, who did not find room in his almost 500- page biography to address the accusations that Mr. Cosby had assaulted numerous women. Whitaker then responded to the omission for the first time by tweeting this, "David, you are right. I was wrong not to deal with the sexual assault charges against Cosby and pursue them more aggressively."

Carr also calls himself an enabler of the alleged mistruths when it comes to Cosby. And those in the know also, included me. CNN has obtained a sworn deposition Bill Cosby gave in 2005 as part of an ongoing civil suit brought by former Temple University employee Andrea Constand. That suit ultimately was settled. But in this deposition Cosby says, that a media outlet suppressed another woman's story at his request. Cosby was asked, "What is your understanding of the agreement that you had with the National Enquirer concerning -- your exclusive interview?" "I would give them an exclusive story, my words." "What would they give you in return?" They would not print the story of -- print Beth's story."

Accuser Beth Ferrier says her story was dropped from publication in the magazine after Cosby issued his one and only interview on the Constand and Tamara Green accusations. While not commenting on Ferrier's story, American media, who publishes the National Enquirer, tells CNN, "The National Enquirer more than any other publication was unflinching in our aggressive coverage of allegations against Mr. Cosby beginning in 2000, when everyone else avoided the story." E- mails and calls to Cosby's Attorney Martin Singer for this story have not been returned.

Jean Casarez, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Alright. Thank you very much for that, Jean. More bad news for Bill Cosby, he has a couple of shows coming up at the Tarrytown Music Hall in New York State. Shows that were sold out, but so far one in three tickets, has been returned for refunds. Now I want to bring in now to Jeetendr Sehdev, he is a professor of marketing at USC and an expert in celebrity branding, also, CNN Political Commentator Marc Lamont Hill. Man, you know what? The hits just keep on coming and this one -- I'm sure you guys saw that emotional interview with Janice Dickinson we ran just a short time ago. Jeetendr, why do you think it took so long for this story to get this kind of attention?

JEETENDR SEHDEV, PROFESSOR OF MARKETING AT USC AND AN EXPERT IN CELEBRETY BRANDING: You know, Don, you're absolutely right. It has been an awful three weeks or so for Bill Cosby. We've essentially witnessed the disintegration of one of the most loved brands in America, celebrity brands at least. Open secrets in Hollywood are really, are not new. You know, we have had them ever since, you know, ever since the industry was born really. It's an industry that is self-proclaimed to be built on snakes and mirrors.

In the 1950s we had Rock Hudson's open secret of -- you know his sexuality. And today, we're seeing -- we're seeing Bill Cosby's open secret emerging. The reason why there are open secrets in Hollywood, are very much because celebrities are brands and the perception of them has to be maintained. So, what have actually changed most interestingly are audience perceptions, and this is actually pulling and breaking apart --

LEMON: Right.

SEHDEV: These open secrets. Audiences today are more suspicious. They are more savvy, and they are far more and spin doctor proof than previous generations.

LEMON: And so, it so --

SEHDEV: You know 59 percent of America believes that Bill Cosby is guilty --

LEMON: Right.

SEHDEV: Of the sexual allegation charges. So they have very much spoken.

LEMON: I want, I want to speak more now about Mark Whitaker, because he wrote an almost 500-page auto -- authorized I should say biography, on Cosby. It's called "Cosby: His life and times." And he didn't mention the numerous accusations. So is Mark -- the question is Mark partly to blame here and also I should mention that Mark Whitaker has an open invitation to appear here CNN tonight. But Marc Lamont Hill -- is he partially to blame for this, or did the media drop the ball?

MARC LAMONT HILL, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: The media in general dropped the ball. I can't blame Mark Whitaker for what Bill Cosby allegedly did in the past. But, the problem is that Mark Whitaker is emblematic of what is happening consistently. People act as if Bill Cosby is Cliff Huxtable. People don't believe the allegations because they can't imagine that Cliff Huxtable would do it. It has nothing to do with Bill Cosby the real person because most of us don't know him.

And again, this isn't about me saying innocent or guilty. I'm saying the type of media protectionism that we see around this is, is disturbing. I sat with Mark Whitaker over at Huff post and I asked him that question. I asked him very directly, how could you write a 500- page book and not mention the allegations? And he hemmed and he hawed and he said all sorts of bizarre explanations but essentially said, he couldn't independently prove it and ultimately he would have to say, I don't know. And because he didn't feel comfortable giving a definitive answer he didn't want to mention it in the book.

But it's absurd to me, that such an important dimension of someone's life, especially now, could be left out of the book. But people did what they needed to do to get access to Dr. Cosby. People did what they needed to do to get approval from Dr. Cosby. I was a professor at Temple University and I saw the way the administration did. When I critiqued Bill Cosby on the poverty stuff, nothing to do with sexual allegations, I saw the way administration responded to me. They told me, you can talk about poverty but don't talk about Bill --

LEMON: Why, why is that?

(CROSSTALK) LEMON: It's interesting, Marc, because, the media did report on it. But they -- you know, unsubstantiated, didn't blow up until the comedian did his thing and talked about it. And then all of a sudden it came on, you know, social media. But why, why did you say that Temple University came after you for that? Was it because of Bill Cosby? Did he call? Because, I was watching Wendy Williams the other day. Wendy Williams --

HILL: Yeah, he called.

LEMON: She said, she did something about the allegations back in 1990, 1991, something then, and then she ended up in her general manager's office, she said with Cosby on the phone according to her account that she said on television, and threatening to have her fired.

HILL: Yeah. I mean, that's the sentiment. I wrote a piece in the Baltimore sun on Bill Cosby in 2006 and within 24 hours I had heard from three university administrators asking -- it's me why I would do that and telling me that Bill Cosby called and asked about my tenure status. I was an untenured junior faculty member at the time I remembered. He's on the board of trustees meaning that Bill Cosby ultimately votes on my tenure or not.

So, there's a power dynamic and the other thing he does is because he's rich, he's not just a philanthropist, he's also philanthropy -- he also engaged in what we call philanthocracy. In other words, he has a kind of ruling into by philanthropy. He dangles the check in front of you and makes you do what he -- wants you to do under the guise of promising you money. So many institutions do what Bill Cosby requests, because they think he's -- they're going to get a big fat check. And although he never gave Temple the big fat check, I think that was a big part of it.

LEMON: He resigned from the board today. And as Jeetendr, I have to ask you -- Jeetendr I have to ask you, if -- what advice would you give Bill Cosby? Does he need to address this now? What advice would you give him and his team?

SEHDEV: You know, I think the challenge for Bill Cosby's brand at this point is twofold you know. There's this element of forgiving and maybe some diehard core fans will actually do that. But the forgetting aspect, and forgetting such heinous and vile crimes, you know allegations, which they -- exactly are is going to be much harder for audiences to do, which is why the brand has essentially disintegrated.

I think what is also interesting is that 68 percent of audiences that are aware of both the Bryan Singer trial and also the Bill Cosby sexual allegations are drawing associations. Their audiences are once again are becoming far more savvy and wizening up to the fact that there is a darker side of Hollywood in which the rich and powerful are preying on the younger and more helpless who are looking to further their careers in entertainment. So Bill Cosby's team has to recognize that this is a new audience with a new perspective. So, whatever they come forward with, better be authentic and it better be transparent and real. LEMON: Jeetendr Sehdev, thank you very much. Marc Lamont Hill of

course, we see you back here on CNN soon. When we come right back, the hug shared around the world. A police officer and a child embrace at a rally protesting what happened in Ferguson. Up next, we're gonna ask the officer, what led to the hug, and I'll also talk to the man who got the photo.

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LEMON: I want you to take a look at this. I'm going to show you an incredible photograph. A police officer hugging a tearful boy at a demonstration in Portland, Oregon last week after the Ferguson grand jury's decision was announced. The boy is Devonte Hart, the Officer Sergeant Brett Barnum, and the photographer is Johnny Nguyen. And he joins me along with Sergeant Barnum, thank you for joining me tonight, gentlemen.

JOHNNY NGUYEN, PHOTOGRAPHER: Thank you.

BRETT BARNUM, OFFICER SERGEANT: Thanks, Don.

LEMON: Johnny -- Johnny as I should say, you captured the moment in Ferguson, the hug that everyone shared. The picture -- you know, of the Portland Community College student, an aspiring photographer. Did you ever expect that this photograph, would go viral and get this much attention?

NGUYEN: No, not at all. I mean, when I took the photo and I looked at the screen on my camera, I knew I had something special. But, I never expected it to get that much attention whatsoever. I mean, my plan was just to post it on Instagram and for my online friends to see. But when I was at home and on my laptop, I knew I had something powerful and a message behind it that I wanted people to see. That's when I went to the Oregonian, and they published it like a day later, and that's when it went viral in less than like 48 hours.

LEMON: There were thousands of people around you at this Ferguson rally in downtown Portland. So, what was happening around you, and how did sergeant and Devonte Hart catch your attention?

NGUYEN: Yeah. So I mean, I arrived there, and there -- yeah, a lot of people are protesting peacefully, and I was walking around, taking pictures, and then I was walking across the street, and I saw Devonte, and I'm -- he was, talking to someone else, and -- tears were running down his face and he turned around, and I saw him holding a sign that said, "Free Hugs." And from that point on I knew that there was something special about him, because, you know, in the midst of all the protesters holding these signs he was the only one that had the most positive one. And then, I went and spoke to him a little bit, came back, then I saw him speaking to Sergeant Barnum here and that's when I knew that something powerful was going on and I started taking pictures.

LEMON: When did you see him, sergeant, and why did, why did you decide to give him a hug? BARNUM: Well, we were there just providing a minimal police presence

while the free speech event was going on. And a colleague of mine and I noticed that Devonte was crying. And you know, I just said hey, I'm gonna call him over. And so I motioned to him to have him come over and talk to me. He was a little hesitant at first. But he did, he came over, he was crying, and we just struck up a kid conversation. And you know, it was just treating him very humanely and trying to help the kid out. I knew that he wasn't lost or anything. But, there was something -- there was something wrong.

LEMON: Yeah.

BARNUM: And we broke down some barriers, some walls and just had a really nice conversation.

LEMON: Yeah. Do you know anything about him? Did he talk to you about -- what did he tell you about him?

BARNUM: Well, the first, the first part of our conversation is I asked him why he was crying. And he told me he was sad because of the protest, he was sad because of the events nationally. And in the exact particulars of the conversation on that part I really don't recall. But, I know that it surrounded him being sad about the national event. And then I tried to divert the attention away from that and just talk to him about life and asked him where he went to school. He told me he was home-schooled, and we talked a little bit about that. And then we talked about his favorite things to do and travel.

And, and so, it just really made him feel at ease. He stopped crying. And then there was a natural break in our conversation and it was real natural for him to go ahead and head back to his family that was down there with him.

LEMON: Officer, I have a short time left --

BARNUM: And that's why --

LEMON: But I think this is an important question for you. Do you think in this whole situation, do you think -- and really just a short time, I'm sorry about that. Do you think officers are getting a bad rep?

BARNUM: You know, I think they're mis -- being misunderstood. The work that happened that day or what happened between Devonte and I happened that day -- that happens every day between police officers and community members all the time in lots of cities. And you know, really this photo that Johnny captured, it's not about me. It's not about Devonte. It's about what the community is wanting. And I think the fact it went viral is a huge expression of what our nation is yearning for.

LEMON: Sergeant Barnum, Johnny Nguyen, thank you.

NGUYEN: Thank you.

BARNUM: Thank you, Don.

LEMON: We'll be right back.

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LEMON: I'm Don Lemon. That's it for us tonight. I'll see you back here tomorrow night. "AC360" starts right now.