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Bill Cosby Admits Plant to Use Drugs to Get Sex; Final Senate Vote to Remove Flag in South Carolina; Is Strategy Against ISIS Working?; Murder Charge for San Francisco Shooting Suspect; Aired 10- 10:30a ET

Aired July 7, 2015 - 10:00   ET

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


[10:00:23] ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, again. I'm Ana Cabrera in for Carol Costello. Thanks for being here on this Tuesday.

First up, the Bill Cosby bombshell. The man who starred in that long running top TV series "The Cosby Show" admitting under oath that he acquired drugs to give to women with whom he wanted to have sex but he did not actually admit to drugging any of them.

This all coming from newly revealed court documents from about 10 years ago when the comedian was facing a civil lawsuit for sexual assault. Since then more than 25 women have now publicly accused the 77-year-old of assault or rape, but the comedian has never faced criminal charges. He's strongly and repeatedly denied all the allegations.

I spoke last hour to attorney Gloria Allred who represents more than a dozen Cosby accusers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GLORIA ALLRED, VICTIM'S RIGHTS ATTORNEY: I think it's very important because there have been many allegations that he used Quaaludes to drug women and then his words are to have sex with them. I would say if he's -- if he's using this as a plan, which is what is so startling about what he said, that he actually had a plan to do this with a number of women, if he's doing that, then that -- and then he has sex with them afterwards, that is rape. That is sexual assault.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Well, Sara -- CNN's Sara Ganim, that is, joining me now with more.

Sara, for months we've heard denials, denials, denials from his lawyers. They've even accused some of these women of lying but now an admission from Cosby. In his own words.

SARA GANIM, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: This is the first time we're hearing any kind of his side of the story. Right? I mean, he's been denying for years, forget about months, you know, anything related to this. This is the first kind of admission of anything, and what he says basically is that he got ahold of Quaaludes, he's got a prescription for Quaaludes in the 1970s with the intention of giving them to women he wanted to have sex with. He says that he gave them to several people. He only actually admits giving them to one woman that he did have sex with.

I want to show you some of this deposition. He's very careful and obviously specific with his words. I want to read some of it to you. He's asked this question, "When you got the Quaaludes, was it in your mind that you were going to use these Quaaludes for young women that you wanted to have sex with? Cosby answering, yes. Then later on he talks about a time that he met a woman in Las Vegas, and he says she meets me backstage. I give her Quaaludes. We then have sex.

Now, later on, Ana, he's asked this question which was a really important question in the context of these allegations of rape. He's asked, quote, "Did you ever give any of those young women the Quaaludes without their knowledge?" And before he answers, his lawyer jumps in, he objects, he interrupts, he does not allow Cosby to answer that question, which, of course, is so important in the context of all of this.

You know, many of these women don't just say that they were allegedly assaulted by Cosby, they also say that they believe that they were drugged, that they remember him --

CABRERA: So many with the same kind of story.

GANIM: Right. That they remember him making him or making them a drink, and then feeling incapacitated before they realized that they had been assaulted. Now Cosby's attorney is giving a statement. He gave it to ABC this morning. He said, quote, "The only reason Mr. Cosby settled was because it would have been embarrassing in those days to put all of those women on the stand, and his family had no clue. That would have been very hurtful."

So he seems to be, you can surmise from that, addressing this --

(CROSSTALK)

CABRERA: Worried about his reputation.

GANIM: Well, addressing this -- well, addressing this and maybe, you know, he's admitting to having affairs with these women but not necessarily to any of the allegations against him. That's what you could potentially take from the statement, that he didn't want this to come out because he did fight it for many years. Remember, this is a 10-year-old lawsuit. He did fight to be the documents --

(CROSSTALK)

CABRERA: Tried to keep the documents sealed.

GANIM: He wanted these to remain sealed.

CABRERA: Settled.

GANIM: For a lot of time, and his lawyer is explaining that away this morning. CABRERA: All right, Sara Ganim, thanks for the update on this.

And for many of Bill Cosby's accusers this news comes as vindication of sorts. More than 25 women, as we mentioned, have publicly accused the TV star of raping or assaulting them over a span of about 40 years.

Now Kristina Ruehli is one of the 13 Jane Doe's in that civil lawsuit we mentioned from 10 years ago. But her story is one of the oldest allegations against the 77-year-old, dating all the way back to 1965.

Christina is joining me now from Boston.

Thanks so much for being with us, Christina. How are you feeling this morning?

KRISTINA RUEHLI, COSBY ACCUSER: Pretty good and pretty relieved. Pretty relieved that this is finally coming forward.

[10:05:05] CABRERA: I know your story, as we mentioned, marks perhaps the earliest case of alleged sexual misconduct by Cosby that has been made public. Take us back to what happened to you. This was back in 1965, right?

RUEHLI: Yes, it is. I wasn't supposed to be there actually. Cosby invited an actress and some other people from the agency where I worked in the legal department, but the actress asked me to drive her there because there was something wrong with her car, and when we got there, there was no one there, but he certainly was not interested in me. I had a second drink that he fixed while I was looking away, and lights out.

I can't remember anything other than that about four hours later when the sun was starting to come up I was lying in bed mostly naked with Cosby, and he was attempting to force me into oral sex. Fortunately, I got really sick, and I ran into the bathroom and threw up, and when I came out, he was gone. I guess a woman who has thrown up a lot has -- is not a good candidate for oral sex, but the other actress was still there, met me in the entryway, and we drove home in silence.

I think both of us making the wrong assumption about the other because what happened while I was out for four hours? That's the question I have to the other woman.

CABRERA: Wow. And you know what happened to you, but you don't know what happened to her at that time then.

RUEHLI: Right. But there was --

CABRERA: You never talked about it.

RUEHLI: There was a four-hour gap. I told someone about this contemporaneously, a boyfriend that I had, and he still remembers my telling him about it, so there's actually something that I couldn't possibly have made up that far ago. The other thing is that Quaaludes hadn't been invented to the best of

my knowledge, so he must have used some other drug on me, something that made me very sick, but I had no hangover the next day.

CABRERA: Interesting. I know you did reach out to Constand's attorney back in 2005 after you learned about her story.

RUEHLI: Yes, I did.

CABRERA: That's really when you came forward publicly, and now hearing this admission through the deposition that was part of these court documents, what goes through your mind?

RUEHLI: Well, I had a saying in the beginning of the interviewing when I came forward, which was that by his silence, Cosby has ceded his power to the press and to the media, and that turns out to have been pretty correct. I think that more will be coming forward. I think for one thing we haven't seen the full deposition, only the petition by the lawyer to force him to answer questions, so I am relieved that this may be the punch to the gut of this liar that may choke up other things to validate, to vindicate the stories of there are actually, if you're keeping a list, more than four dozen of us.

CABRERA: Kristina Ruehli, we appreciate you sharing your story with us and for spending some time today with us. Thanks.

RUEHLI: Thank you.

CABRERA: The third and final vote in South Carolina's Senate to remove the Confederate flag from state house grounds there is getting under way this hour, and in Monday's preliminary vote lawmakers chose very overwhelmingly to remove the flag. It was 37 who voted yes, three against it, but, remember, a two-thirds majority vote is still needed in both the Senate and the House to get this bill on Governor Nikki Haley's desk.

And of course the House is the big question mark here. Last hour I spoke to South Carolina State Representative Jonathan Hill. He wants the flag to stay where it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JONATHAN HILL (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: I think that it is appropriate and that it's very important that we remember our state's history precisely because there's much to learn about the value of life, both from how slaves were treated as well as all the lives that were lost in an unnecessary war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: CNN's Nick Valencia is joining us live now in Columbia, South Carolina, with the latest there -- Nick.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Ana. A major hurdle overcome for opponents of Confederate flag, those who want to see it permanently removed from state capitol grounds as senators voted 37-3 in favor of removing it.

Another special session expected today and in my conversation with senators, they believe they have enough votes to send this bill to the House. One of those lawmakers I spoke to, Senator Gerald Malloy, whose best friend was the late Senator Clementa Pinckney. Malloy spoke to me about how the murder of his best friend led to the debate that's happening right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[10:10:03] GERALD MALLOY (D), SOUTH CAROLINA STATE SENATE: I think that if Senator Pinckney was here, you know, he would say in that great booming voice, well done, well done, and that he would be very hopeful.

I had a quote yesterday that he said that life should be prosperous and it's our charge basically to make certain that we leave this world better than we found it, and I think that what we'd be able to say with him is that you leaving this state and this world is a better place, and the good news is that his legacy will continue to live on because we'll continue to end up talking about the impact that he had not only on his church and his family and those victims' families as being the shepherd, but also on all of us over in the Senate.

And so what we've done is we've decided to hang his portrait in the Senate, which is very unique, not done very often, so his spirit and his face will live on in the Senate chambers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: After this bill gets passed the Senate, it goes to the House where it will need a two-thirds majority vote in order to become official. What we're hearing from lawmakers is that a final vote could come as soon as Thursday or Friday -- Ana.

CABRERA: All right. Nick Valencia reporting live in Columbia, South Carolina. Our thanks to you.

And still to come here, in for the long haul. President Obama warns the fight against ISIS won't be over anytime soon, but is the president's strategy working? Why some say the U.S. is battling a game of whack-a-mole.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:15:55] CABRERA: I'm going to take you live right now to Capitol Hill. You're looking at Senator John McCain right now. This is at a hearing with Defense Secretary Ash Carter and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey, as they are testifying in front of Senate lawmakers about the strategy against ISIS.

And this comes just one day after President Obama warned that this war against the terror group will be a long-term fight. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This will not be quick. This is a long-term campaign. ISIL is opportunistic and it is nimble. In many places in Syria and Iraq, including urban areas, it's dug in among innocent civilian populations. It will take time to root them out. And doing so must be the job of local forces on the ground with training and air support from our coalition.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Despite some admitted setbacks, the president says coalition forces continue to target the heart of ISIS. They're going after the group's money and they have taken out some of its leaders.

Now earlier this morning, however, Senator John McCain, who we just showed you, he's been very vocal at this hearing, he's been very critical of the president's strategy. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: When it comes to ISIL, President Obama's comments yesterday at the Pentagon reveal a disturbing degree of self-delusion that characterizes the administration's thinking. It is right but ultimately irrelevant to point out, as the president did, that we have conducted thousands of airstrikes, taken out many ISIL fighters and much equipment, and pushed it out of some territory. None of the so-called progress that the president cited suggests that we are on a path to success.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Joining me now to discuss all of this, CNN contributor and co-author of "ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror," Michael Weiss.

Michael, thanks for being with us.

MICHAEL WEISS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Sure.

CABRERA: One of the things that have come out this morning is that only 60 Syrian fighters have now been trained by coalition forces. That seems shocking when you reflect on what the goal was, which is 3,000 to 5,000 fighters trained in the first three years of this fight.

WEISS: Yes.

CABRERA: I mean, 60 fighters. How can that be?

WEISS: Well, it's actually not shocking because these fighters, word is there-- they joined this revolution, they joined this armed insurgency to do what? To overthrow the Assad regime, not to fight terrorism on behalf of the United States. So their concern is, look, not only is this not our foundational remit, not only is this not our ultimate ambition, but we also don't want to be seen as hirelings of the West.

The minute we become the counterterrorism proxy force of Washington, it's like we have a giant bull's eye painted on our back and it's not just a bull's eye that ISIS is going to want to target, but Jabhat al- Nusra, the al Qaeda franchise in Syria, as well as other independent Islamists and Salafi jihadi groups on the ground. So they actually have a very legitimate concern.

The Pentagon, I had this story in the "Daily Beast" a month ago, is handing out leaflets or documents saying if we train you and arm you, you must sign this foreswearing the possibility that you're going to use the know-how and the weaponry to target anyone but ISIS.

There's a corollary concern here. The U.S. does not want to empower Sunni Arab actors on the ground, knowing that they will go against Assad and Hezbollah and Iranian proxies, because Iran has threatened, if we do that, to activate Shia militia groups in Iraq who will then turn their guns against American trainers on the ground.

CABRERA: It's so complicated, but yet how can any country outside of this region be effective without local support and them being on board?

WEISS: You can't just drop bombs, OK, on terrorist groups. We learned this lesson in Iraq. It was almost a decade of blood and treasure expended. Cities like Fallujah were turned into pocked moonscapes through, you know, innumerable sorties and thousands of pounds of ordnance. Where the airstrikes have been most effective is when we have credible ground actors in particularly northern Syria. So we're working with the YPG militias, which is a Kurdish militia paramilitary force.

We provided close air support for them. In the first six months of 2015, over 1,000 airstrikes were conducted in northern Syria. More than half in or around the city of Kobani, the one that ISIS laid siege to, it was a months-long campaign, eventually they were flushed, 900-plus of those airstrikes were essentially close air support missions for the YPG.

[10:20:17] Now here's the problem. We can boot ISIS out of northern Syria where the Kurds have a predominant population presence.

CABRERA: And because they have a strong fighting force.

WEISS: Yes. But where we cannot be effective is in the Sunni Arab heartland of eastern central Iraq -- I'm sorry, Syria. The Raqqa province, central Raqqa city, Deir ez-Zour, the tribal heartland where ISIS is dug in. This is their briar patch if you like. They are daring the U.S., come and -- come try to get us here. Drop bombs on Raqqa city. See how many civilians you kill.

CABRERA: They dropped over a dozen in the last couple of days.

WEISS: Right. But strategically.

CABRERA: Yes.

WEISS: We're not going to sort of salt the earth there because we'd kill a bunch of innocent people. They also know that when the Kurds come in, if they come into exclusively Sunni Arab territories, the Arabs there will not see them as liberators. They will see them as conquerors. They will see them as engaged in some kind of demographic reshuffle to establish what the Kurdish ambition is northern Syria which is -- a northern statehood of Kurdistan.

So ISIS is exploiting these sectarian dynamics and tensions that are already latent on the ground in Syria.

CABRERA: And we appreciate you explaining all of that to us.

WEISS: Or trying to.

CABRERA: It does help to put all this into perspective and help us understand why it's such a long, ongoing fight as the president has laid out.

Michael Weiss, we appreciate your time.

WEISS: Sure.

CABRERA: Thanks for being here.

WEISS: No problem.

CABRERA: Still to come, a family in mourning and one city's immigration policy under scrutiny after the shooting death of a San Francisco woman by an undocumented immigrant. Now he's charged with murder.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:25:57] CABRERA: The man accused in the shooting death of a 32- year-old woman at a San Francisco pier has now been charged with murder. Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez is set to be arraigned today. He told CNN's affiliate KGO that he did shoot Katy Steinle accidentally after a gun he found went off when he picked it up.

Lopez-Sanchez's status as an undocumented immigrant who had a felony record, he then deported to Mexico five times, has now ramped up the debate over immigration and the victim's family has been largely quiet after all this happened. They want to focus on healing and they're attempting to find something positive in this tragedy.

Here is what her best friend told CNN's Don Lemon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICOLE LUDWIG, KATE STEINLE'S BEST FRIEND: Her family is struggling. They are devastated by the tragedy, but her dad has talked a lot about the Kate effect, and, you know, trying to take this horrific, horrific tragedy and creating something positive. Kate, when you met her, she left a lasting impression on you, and she

saw things in such a positive way. She laughed, she lived life, she lived moment by moment and you know, now we want to try to create something positive out of her legacy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: CNN's Dan Simon has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you shoot Kate Steinle, the lady who was down on Pier 14?

FRANCISCO SANCHEZ, SUSPECT: Yes.

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is Francisco Sanchez confessing at a jailhouse interview to firing the gun that killed 32-year-old Kate Steinle. Walking along this popular San Francisco pier with her father, Steinle was killed last week after a bullet pierced her chest.

JIM STEINLE, VICTIM'S FATHER: You could feel she was fighting, gasping for every breath.

SIMON: Kate's father says no words were exchanged between Sanchez and his daughter. Authorities called it a random act of violence.

STEINLE: I have a little solace that I was with her, but I also have the overwhelming grief of a father at the moment she was shot.

SIMON: Why the alleged killer was even in the U.S. to fire the fatal round is now subject of a fierce debate. Sanchez is an undocumented immigrant and is a seven-time convicted felon who had been deported to his native Mexico five times. It would have been six, but the San Francisco Sheriff's Department, which had been holding him on a drug charge, let him go after charges were dropped.

Why? San Francisco is what's called a sanctuary city. It doesn't help federal authorities catch undocumented immigrants. About 300 municipalities have the designation around the country, but San Francisco takes a hardline approach. In the case of Sanchez, it released him even though the feds had issued a detention request or detainer to pick him up.

SHERIFF ROSS MIRKARIMI, SAN FRANCISCO CITY AND COUNTY: A detainer is not a legal instrument.

SIMON: The sheriff defending the policy.

MIRKARIMI: I firmly believe it makes us safer. For a law enforcement perspective, we want to build trust with that population and our sanctuary city and other attendant laws have allowed us to do that.

SIMON: Tell that to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump who seized on the case saying the tragic shooting is, quote, "yet another example of why we must secure our border immediately."

Sanchez says the lure of a paycheck kept him coming back to the U.S.

SANCHEZ: I'm looking for a job in the restaurant or roofing, landscaping or construction. SIMON: And he says he killed Kate Steinle by accident after finding

the gun wrapped in a T-shirt underneath a bench. And he didn't mean to fire it. Though he reportedly told police he was aiming at sea lions.

SANCHEZ: Sorry for everybody.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: I want to bring in Dan Simon joining me now live from San Francisco.

Dan, where do we go from here?

SIMON: Well, Ana, I can tell you that the mayor put out a statement trying to quell this growing national uproar saying all the agencies really need to take a look at this and maybe re-examine their policies. He says San Francisco's sanctuary policy is not meant to protect violent and repeat felons.

I should tell you that the Steinle family, they've had a opportunity to weigh in on this and they've declined at this point. Their focus is really on preserving Kate's memory, just talking about the kind of person she was -- Ana.

[10:30:06] CABRERA: All right, Dan Simon, live in San Francisco. Our thanks to you.