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NEW DAY

Attorney General Addresses Ongoing Investigation into Ferguson Police; "New York Times" Columnist Discusses Current Race Relations; Two Cosby Accusers Meet for the First Time

Aired December 2, 2014 - 08:00   ET

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


CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Calls for change. President Obama revealing his plan policing standards, this as the St. Louis Rams denies apologizing for these hands up protest on appealing.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: And killed by police, a young unarmed man killed by police and his father's fight to change the law, the new practices that he's demanding for police, could it be a model for the country?

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Cosby accusers, three strangers who have one thing in common, they all say they were sexually assaulted by Bill Cosby. This morning, they meet for the first time. They'll share their stories and tell us what the embattled comedian needs to do now.

CUOMO: Your NEW DAY continues right now.

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Kate Bolduan and Michaela Pereira.

CUOMO: Good morning, welcome to NEW DAY. It is Tuesday, December 2nd, 8:00 in the east. Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota here, and up first the Obama administration is taking on another ambitious and divisive issue -- racial profiling in America. Attorney General Eric Holder was met by a lot of cheers and a handful of hecklers at a church in Atlanta where he discussed plans for tough new police standards in the wake of the Ferguson riots.

CAMEROTA: And the NFL now finds itself smack in the middle of the Ferguson fallout. St. Louis County police insisting they got an apology from the St. Louis Rams after five of their players used the "hands up, don't shoot" posture in a show of support for Michael Brown. But the team insists there was no apology and the league will not discipline the players. Our coverage begins with Ed Lavandera. He is live in Ferguson, Missouri, this morning. Good morning, Ed.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn. This controversy I think is kind of symbolic of just how difficult it is to talk about what has happened here in Ferguson.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERIC HOLDER, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: While the grand jury proceeding in St. Louis County has concluded, I can report this evening that the Justice Department's investigation into the shooting death of Michael Brown as well as our investigation into allegations of unconstitutional policing patterns or practices by the Ferguson police department remain ongoing and remain active.

(APPLAUSE)

LAVANDERA: Inside the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Attorney General Eric Holder addressed the country, at times his words stifled by the chants of protesters. The attorney general paused to ensure their voices were heard.

HOLDER: What we saw there was a genuine expression of concern and involvement. Let me be clear. I ain't mad at ya, all right?

(APPLAUSE)

LAVANDERA: Late Monday night the St. Louis Rams finally addressed the controversy surrounding this public show of solidarity by five of its players. Their "hands up, don't shoot" message, a local police association said it implied that Michael Brown was shot while attempting to surrender. The Rams chief operating officer called the angered officers and released a statement saying in part "We expressed our respect for their concern surrounding the game. The Rams will continue to build on what have always been strong and valued relationships with local law enforcement and the greater St. Louis community as we come together to help heal our region."

But the Rams spokesman followed up with CNN making it clear they did not apologize. The NFL also isn't apologizing. Its spokesman says "We respect and understand the concerns of all individuals who have expressed views on this tragic situation." Back in Missouri at the first commute meeting of the Ferguson commission, more frustration.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are getting killed out here!

LAVANDERA: For his part, President Obama followed through.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And part of the reason this time will be different is because the president of the United States is deeply invested in making sure that this time is different.

CROWD: Hands up! Don't shoot!

LAVANDERA: Nationwide Monday demonstrators simply walked out.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Walk out of school.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Walk out of work.

LAVANDERA: Encouraged by the movement to flood the streets in protest.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA: And Alisyn, last night was another quiet night here in the city of Ferguson. That is the good news. As you saw there that Ferguson commission, which was created by the governor here of Missouri, many people worried at that meeting all of this will be window dressing and that that commission when it comes back with its findings in September of next year, that there won't be much to show for it. Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: Let's hope that's not the case. Ed Lavandera thanks so much for the update.

President Obama looking to calm tensions between police and the African-American community. Part of that plan calls for body cameras on officers at a cost of tens of millions of dollars. But the president refused to answer whether he thought justice was done by the Ferguson grand jury. Senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta joins us live with the latest. Jim, what was the president's response when he was today about the grand jury?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Alisyn, there was no response. He did not respond to that question although he did say last week that Americans should respect that decision, respect the rule of law. But you did hear yesterday president Obama vowing to get results in the aftermath of the unrest in Ferguson.

After a series of meetings at the White House, the president unveiled his plans for the steps forward. He will put them up on screen. He wants to tighten controls on police department use of military equipment, a new 21st century policing task force, and a proposal for $75 million to purchase body-worn cameras for police officers. Those cameras could go a long way in establishing when officers use appropriate force.

But after sitting down with law enforcement officials, civil rights leaders, and church leaders from across the country, the president understood why so many young Americans are calling for changes in police tactics in minority communities. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: It violates my belief in what America can be to hear young people feeling marginalized and distrustful even after they've done everything right. That's not who we are. And I don't think that's who the overwhelming majority of Americans want us to be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Now, as for a presidential trip to Ferguson, it appears that is off at least in the near future. A White House official said a visit was discussed last week, but instead advisers decided on yesterday's series of meeting for a more comprehensive approach is what they're calling with in dealing with this issue. Meanwhile, Attorney General Eric Holder, as you heard, was in Atlanta yesterday talking about this issue of racial profiling, and he said he would unveil some new guidelines to end that practice later on this week. So we should hear that in just a matter of days. Chris?

CUOMO: All right, Jim, thank you very much.

Let's bring in Nicholas Kristof. He's a columnist for "The New York Times." He's written extensively about Ferguson, understands the issues here very well, and they go well beyond Ferguson. I think that's something that's been misunderstood by many people from the beginning. What happened to Michael Brown is a specific case but it is symptomatic of concerns that go across the country. Fair point?

NICHOLAS KRISTOF, "NEW YORK TIMES" COLUMNIST: Yes, that's right. Look, I'm not going to second-guess the grand jury. I wasn't in that room. But what we do know is that there is a broad pattern here and found that there are 21 times as many young black men killed by police as young white men. And that is the larger context and indeed the degree of inequity in this country based on race that I think we have to address.

CUOMO: But you have a silent majority perhaps who says don't mess with the cops and you don't get killed. Don't make so much crime in your neighborhoods and you won't have to have trouble with the cops. That is the pushback.

KRISTOF: That's right, and it's not particularly silent. And indeed I think the white narrative is about personal responsibility. And sure, there are inequities, but fix the problems with your families, this kind of thing. And you know, boy --

CUOMO: What does that miss? Why is that wrong?

KRISTOF: I think it misses a couple of things. One is that as long as we're talking about personal responsibility, and these are real issues. I mean, there is a real issue with not only African-American families but working class white families in terms of family structure, in terms of people being -- education failure and so on. And this is something that the black community is very much aware of and addressed.

But as long as we're talking about personal responsibility, I think we in the white community have to acknowledge the degree to which today's inequity is a legacy and we are beneficiaries of centuries of discrimination. And we also have to accept personal responsibility, and we have toolboxes that can address some of these issues, some of these inequities, and yet we don't implement that toolbox.

CUOMO: Why not?

KRISTOF: I think there is an empathy gap in this country.

CUOMO: What does that mean?

KRISTOF: I think it means that if you are successful, then you look in the mirror and you think boy, that person did everything just right. Anybody can. I think it's very easy for people who were born on third base to congratulate themselves for their wisdom and their success, and to look at people who are less successful, who didn't have advantages early in life, whose parents didn't read to them, who didn't have a chance to go to good schools, and see in them not only an economic failure but a kind of a moral failure. Susan Fiske at Princeton University looked at brain scans of successful people, examining images of people who are homeless or poor, and she found those successful people processed the images as if they were looking not at people but at things. That's part of this gap.

CUOMO: What does that mean?

KRISTOF: It means that their brains were processing those homeless people or poor people as not as, they're being dehumanized, not as people. They're being dehumanized. I think too often our race conversation deals not only with the race barrier but a class gap as well.

CUOMO: Social economics matters more, you could argue, than color today. You have new waves of immigrants coming into this country. It used to be the Irish and the Italians who were seen as predisposed to crime. An attorney general named Kennedy said Italians are predisposed to organized crime. So they were poor, they were committing more crimes, they had more trouble with the cops, and the system therefore was not their friend. Is there anything really new here?

KRISTOF: You know, there is to some degree. Color I think has been a greater barrier. I think that also we have to acknowledge there has been real progress over the last half-century, enormous progress. But this is an area we whites tend to embrace. And we look and we see an African-American in the Oval Office and we think, boy, we've made it. There aren't problems anymore.

And I think the problem today is not white racists who consciously believe in discrimination but rather a large number of people, frankly black and white, who absorb biases that they are often unaware of. One sociologist calls it racism without racists. People who believe intellectually in equality, and yet we know from research that when they get a resume with a traditionally black name they're less likely to call back than if it's a traditionally white name.

CUOMO: Do you think Michael Brown was the wrong case as a flash point inasmuch as you do have bad facts in terms of if you want to come at this from the perspective of cops do the wrong things in this community, you have bad facts here. Do you think maybe this is actually somewhat fomenting the divide?

KRISTOF: I think that's a fair point to make. I think that the focus should be pivoting from the facts on that case to this larger question. And 21 times as many African-Americans killed by police --

CUOMO: The 12-year-old with the plastic gun, but there always seems to be an excuse. The 12-year-old with the plastic gun, oh, yes, well he took the orange part out, and he was described as an adult. Michael Brown, he just robbed a store and they got into a fight in the car. Who does that? Eric Garner here in New York going on right now in front of a grand jury right now, on video he's saying no, no, what's going on, stop it. The guy chokes him but it's not a real choke, it's an OK choke. There's always something that makes it OK.

KRISTOF: In any one case there are always reasons, excuses, whatever. And so I think we have to look at the larger pattern. And you know the larger pattern is that the United States right now incarcerates more African-Americans as a percentage than apartheid South Africa did. The race gap in wealth right now between the median white family and median black family is 18-fold. That's greater than the black- white wealth gap was in Apartheid South Africa.

CUOMO: It's not an accident that those factors go along with more negative exchanges with the authorities?

KRISTOF: That's right. And we have ways that have been demonstrated to try to reduce these gaps, early childhood interventions, for example. I mean, education failure --

CUOMO: There are definitely ways to fix it. Let me ask you one thing. Let's leave it on this. Right now you have the St. Louis Rams, they come out. Inside those helmets are young black men, OK. They put up their hands, hands up, don't shoot, St. Louis Rams. They say it's not just about this case. It's about what's going on. People in the media are dismissing them as acting on lies. The cops say they got an apology and they put a social media message out on Twitter or something saying it was an apology. Are people focusing on the wrong thing right now?

KRISTOF: We all come to these issues from our experience. We all want security. If you are white, your life experience has taught to you largely trust police and to find security from police. If you are a young African-American man your life experiences has taught you to distrust police, to be wary of police, to fear police. And I think that we have to do a little bit more thinking about stepping in other people's shoes and acknowledging that gulf not only of perceptions but of actual experience.

CUOMO: Nicholas Kristof, thank you very much.

KRISTOF: Good to be with you.

CUOMO: Perspective as always. Michaela, there's a lot of news going on. Tell us about it.

PEREIRA: There certainly is. I will do. Thank you so much, Chris.

Breaking this morning, Lebanese officials have detained a wife and son of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi. According to Reuters, the pair were nabbed a few days ago as they were crossing the border from Syria. The two have the closest ties to al Baghdadi of anyone to be detained thus far.

Back here at home New York Mayor Bill de Blasio set to introduce a controversial bill to eliminate all horse-drawn carriages from city streets. Now, this would fulfill a campaign promise to animal rights activists who claimed horses are in mistreated and vulnerable to accidents in traffic. Detractors say the mayor is killing jobs to satisfy people who gave financial backing to his mayoral campaign.

Embattled NFL star Ray Rice speaking out about the infamous elevator bunch that knocked his then fiance unconscious. Moments ago on NBC's "Today" show he spoke about the criticism his now wife Janay received for standing by him. The former Ravens running back is eligible to play again after an arbitrator ordered his reinstatement. Rice also suggested, though, he'd be OK if that never happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAY RICE, FORMER RAVENS RUNNING BACK: My wife can survive in this world without me. She can survive in this world, in society without me. She could have done it on her own. The one thing I want people to understand is that she sacrificed her well-being for me. And now the role is a little bit reversed. I'll sacrifice my well-being for her, because --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So if you never play football again?

RICE: If I never play football again, I'll be honest with you, I would be in the life and I would sacrifice more so she could have a better future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: Rice is reportedly drawing some interest from several NFL teams. No one yet has offered him a spot on their roster.

OK, only in Los Angeles, I will admit this. See that man on a skateboard trying to evade police after he allegedly stole a BMW. He did not get far, why? Because this man in a red pickup truck, Good Samaritan stopped the crook in his tracks nearly crashing his truck.

You see that? That's not just any Good Samaritan. Recognize him? That's Lou Pizarro, star of the hit reality show, "Operation Repo." This is so L.A. in so many ways, I just had to show that to you.

CAMEROTA: Really is, only in L.A.

PEREIRA: All right. Skateboard chase.

CUOMO: A reality star doing something good.

PEREIRA: I wasn't going there.

CUOMO: Well, I did.

CAMEROTA: That is news. Thanks, Michaela.

And stick around for this, because in a moment we'll speak with two women, they've never met before and share a common link. They say they had horrific experiences at the hands of Bill Cosby.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: Welcome back to NEW DAY.

Bill Cosby has resigned from his post on the board of trustees at Temple University, his alma mater. This follows a growing list of sexual assault allegations against him. Seventeen women in all have now come forward. And joining us now are two of those accusers. They've never met or spoken, yet their stories are eerily simple.

Barbara Bowman and Victoria Valentino join us now.

Ladies, thanks so much for being here.

BARBARA BOWMAN, ALLEGES SHE WAS SEXUALLY ASSAULTED BY BILL COSBY: Thank you, Alisyn.

VICTORIA VALENTINO, ALLEGES SHE WAS SEXUALLY ASSAULTED BY BILL COSBY: Thank you. So appreciate it.

CAMEROTA: Great to have you.

You both just met moments ago. What is it like to meet each other?

BOWMAN: Very emotional. I didn't really anticipate that really.

VALENTINO: I didn't ever believe this day would come.

CAMEROTA: You said that, I heard you say that, Victoria. Why didn't you think this day would come?

BOWMAN: Because it is such an important and powerful and painful connection and it took so long for people to be listening to me, that when I came forward, one of my main goals was to reach out to these women that didn't have the courage yet and seeing it in action is really intense. I mean, this is a real woman sitting here next to me.

VALENTINO: A real person. I know.

Well, I think the thing and I was telling Barbara earlier that my tipping point was when I saw her not be believed for 13 years but it took a man making a joke out of it on stage for anyone to suddenly believe it.

CAMEROTA: Yes. So, that comedian came out in his standup and made a joke about it and that seemed to open the floodgates, but then you seized on the opportunity and you wrote about your personal experience with Bill Cosby.

BOWMAN: Yes, because that felt like a slap in the face almost, that it would take something flippant and light-hearted for people to perk up their ears and say oh, maybe there's something to this, when it's such a serious situation, and it was like our experiences weren't worth anything.

CAMEROTA: Is that how you felt, Victoria?

VALENTINO: Yes, I felt it was a complete invalidation of a woman's point of view. Everything that we've experienced was sort of just swept under the rug.

BOWMAN: Over and over and over.

VALENTINO: Over and over and over again.

CAMEROTA: Hearing Barbara's story, is it very similar to yours?

VALENTINO: Well, different, but similar.

(CROSSTALK)

VALENTINO: Exactly, the same thread of continuity.

CAMEROTA: You alleged that Bill Cosby drugged you?

VALENTINO: Yes.

CAMEROTA: As well as Barbara.

VALENTINO: Yes.

CAMEROTA: And then sexually assaulted you?

VALENTINO: Yes, he drugged me and my roommate, who he had eyes for. I was sort of the tag-along, and she passed out, and I pulled him off of her. At first, he ignored me because he was very intently looking down at her while she was unconscious, until I started noticing some changes in his trousers, and I realized what his intentions were.

CAMEROTA: And what gave you the courage to come forward now? Was it hearing Barbara's story?

VALENTINO: Well, what I told her a few minutes ago, what I just mentioned was the fact that this map had made a joke out of it, and that was the only way she was believed, and that just -- it was like this little red rocket went off inside of me, and that was my tipping point.

BOWMAN: And the fact that he was going to be honored with a new show.

CAMEROTA: Bill Cosby was going to be getting, there were talks with NBC that he was going to be getting a new sitcom and there was also an arrangement with Netflix. By the way, those things have now been shelved or canceled. As we just reported, he also resigned from the board of trustees at Temple University, upcoming comedy specials standup has been canceled. Whole host of cascading things have happened since you and the 15 other women have come forward.

Victoria, how does that make you feel? Do you get some satisfaction from that?

VALENTINO: Absolutely. It's time he paid the piper. You know, it's come full circle.

BOWMAN: It should have been long ago.

CAMEROTA: Now, as we've said, the statute of limitations has passed. So, you will not have your day in court in order to get some sort of judgment against him, for a jury to hear your side and his side, but the fact that he is now in the court of public opinion, that these things are happening, is that enough for you, Barbara?

BOWMAN: Not for me. I -- first of all, we're gathering a lot of information regarding the statute of limitations, to see what that is actually, what that entails, but my bigger goal and motivation is to reach out to victims everywhere. I was recently appointed ambassador to a wonderful organization called PAVA. It stands for Promoting Awareness Victims Empowerment. We reach out to people through education and action and legislative tactics and talk with students and young people.

And those are the people, I want to have a voice for them, and so I'm going to be doing a lot of public speaking and a lot of getting out there and speaking to models and actresses and young people that want to get into the industry, that's the demographic that's underrepresented.

CAMEROTA: Bill Cosby's attorneys -- through his attorneys, he has denied all of these allegations. Let me read to you something that the recent statement from Bill Cosby's attorneys. "These brand new claims about the alleged decades-old events are becoming increasingly ridiculous and this is completely illogical that so many people would have said nothing, done nothing and made no reports to law enforcement and asserted civil claims if they thought they had been assaulted over a span of so many years."

Victoria, what's your response?

VALENTINO: Well, I think it's absolutely ridiculous and he's got a very good spin doctor, because over the years, women do not have a voice, and rape victims, sexual assault victims were victimized by the system, and back in the day, during the '60s and the early '70s, we were not --

BOWMAN: Revictimized and it's still happening.

VALENTINO: Yes, and we didn't believe in the system because the system did not stand by us through things like this, and so who would find us credible?

BOWMAN: And I did tell my agent, and I did go to an attorney, and I was -- she did nothing about it, and he laughed me out of the office, literally laughed at me, and said it was a preposterous thought, Bill Cosby? Ha, ha, ha.

CAMEROTA: We have more questions for you. We're going to give you a chance to talk and get to know each other.

Barbara and Victoria, stand by because we will have more with Bill Cosby's accusers in a moment.

There's also a third accuser who will join our conversation in just a few minutes. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)