Return to Transcripts main page

NEW DAY SUNDAY

New Details Emerge from Cosby's 2005 Deposition; Shooter's Family: Son Had Depression; 120 Killed, 140 Wounded in ISIS Suicide Bombing; Trump Starts Firestorm, Questions Sen. McCain's Bravery. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired July 19, 2015 - 07:00   ET

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


[07:00:00] VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Bill Cosby in his own words. The new court documents describing his sexual pursuits, the money, the prescription drugs and hiding it all from his wife. We have pretty shocking testimony.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Sorrow from the family of the Chattanooga shooter. For the first time, Mohammad Youssuf Abdulazeez's family comes forward. As we learn more about the shooter's state of mind even just hours before the first gunshots.

BLACKWELL: And Donald Trump igniting a new firestorm by taking aim at the senator he once supported. He's not questioning whether or not. He's straight out saying that John McCain is not a war hero.

PAUL: Always so grateful to have your company.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Good to be with you.

And we're starting this morning with these new revelations in the Bill Cosby saga from Cosby himself. This comedy legend reveals in his own words how he pursued younger women for sexual relationships all while trying to keep it all a secret from his wife.

PAUL: This new information coming from "The New York Times" after it obtained the full transcript from a deposition decades ago and a civil suit filed by one of his accusers. "The Times" reports that Cosby admitted to sexual relationships with at least five women.

CNN's Jean Casarez joins us live from New York.

So, Jean, I know that a lot was revealed in this deposition that was obtained by "The Times", including Cosby saying that the sex and drug taking were consensual. You've read through it. What strikes you most?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRSPONDENT: Well, CNN does not have the deposition and we cannot independently confirm its authenticity. But "The New York Times" has told CNN that they have it.

So, what we do know is that Bill Cosby is very descriptive, really particular in his words talking about that at least five women that he had sexual, playful relationships with, all behind his wife's back. He also said it was all consensual, every single bit of it, that he had an eye for when a woman was going to consent to these things. And because he could see that and feel it, he would go forward with it.

He also talks in great detail about the fact that he never had sexual intercourse with these women because he didn't want them falling in love with him, but he would have joyful, playful times. He would say that he would woo women by mentoring them and encouraging them, even admitting that one woman whose mother had cancer that he wooed her by acting concerned about her mother.

He also goes into great detail about Andrea Constand. Now, Andrea Constand is the one woman, the one woman that came forward in 2005, saying that it was unconsensual what Bill Cosby did to her. He said that it was consensual, that it was a two-year-long relationship.

And we know in her complaint which resulted in a sealed civil confidential settlement, she claims that he gave her pills and the next thing she knew, she was awake without her clothes on and that she felt there had been unlawful touching.

Remember, this is Cosby's side to all of this. Andrea Constand gave a deposition also. That has not been unsealed. We don't know what that is. And that is the other side of the story.

But, Christi, I want to say one thing. You know, there is a court action going on right now to unseal this deposition, because in the eyes of at least Andrea Constand and some other Jane Does they believe this deposition has been sealed for the last 10 years. It was part of that confidentiality settlement. "The New York Times" saying that the deposition has never been sealed. If so, for the last 10 years, that sat dormant somewhere that anybody could read it and nobody has, believing it was part of that agreement.

PAUL: OK, I want to bring you criminal defense attorney Page Pate into the conversation.

Does this -- this deposition -- does it change anything in the big picture?

PAGE PATE, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I think it certainly has the potential to do that. Remember, we have several civil lawsuits pending. And al of those people want to show that Cosby intended to render them to a situation where they could not consent to sex -- in other words, committed a criminal act of rape.

And if there's a pattern of him doing this in other cases -- and it looks like this deposition may prove that -- then that certainly is good evidence for these other lawsuits and may help them result in over a very substantial settlement or perhaps go to trial and end up in punitive damages.

PAUL: Jean, what else stood out to you? I mean, when we -- when we hear all of this information that he gave -- and some of it was really quite distasteful I think if people read it about his thoughts about what sex, you know, was, that it was playful -- he said something about wanting to keep people from falling in love with him.

I mean, what do you make of his mindset through all of that and how some of these women can move forward?

[07:05:00] CASAREZ: I think what strikes me from the deposition is how descriptive he is --

PAUL: Yes.

CASAREZ: -- how much in detail he is. He had to say that, believing that it was going to remain sealed, because you can imagine 10 years ago if this came to light.

So -- but on the other hand, he says it's all consensual, but it was all behind the back of his wife, he says. Now, we know one week ago, "The New York Post" cites a source close to Camille saying she's known for years about her husband's infidelity and it's all consensual activity between he and the women. And now this comes to light which is basically professing the same thing in the eyes of Bill Cosby.

PAUL: But the lawsuit was settled under confidential terms, Page. Those -- that will never be revealed.

PATE: Well, the terms of the settlement are confidential in terms of how much money they paid and what they agreed on. But what happened in the litigation does not necessarily have to stay confidential. A judge can simply allow the deposition to be seen by people who are litigating against him now.

And normally, those depositions are not sealed. You can go down to the courthouse. It's been field. You can get access to it.

What I think is important here and Jean mentioned that, he's very descriptive in the deposition.

PAUL: Yes.

PATE: But he had to be, because the only way he can get into criminal trouble is if he lies under oath. So, when he's being questioned during a deposition, he's under oath, he's sworn to tell the truth. So, he has to tell everything. If he doesn't, then he can see himself in criminal court.

PAUL: OK. So, no -- so, I understand that criminally. But he has publicly come out, Jean, and said that he didn't do anything wrong, he's been vehemently denying any wrongdoing. What does this do to him, this revelation?

PATE: Well, reputation wise is one thing. Legally is another thing. But he's very descriptive. And yes, originally, when they did the deposition his attorney stopped him from answering many questions. And the attorney from Andrea Constand went to a judge and said, your honor, I'm conducting a deposition. I need answers to these questions. The judge ordered him to answer the questions.

So, this is -- this is the deposition where he does answer all the questions. But he's very descriptive. But on other hand, he basically said it's consensual. So, he's not admitting any criminal wrongdoing.

PAUL: Not now, but, boy, the details are certainly alarming.

Jean Casarez, Page Pate, so appreciate your insight. Thank you.

PATE: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: All right. New this morning, we're learning more about the gunman in that deadly shooting in Chattanooga that killed five servicemen. The family of shooter Mohammad Youssuf Abdulazeez made a startling revelation about their son, that he was suffering from depression.

They released a statement which reads in part, quote, "The person who committed this horrible crime was not the son we knew and loved. For many years, our son suffered from depression. It grieves us beyond belief to know that his pain found its expression in this heinous act of violence."

Also, new details about the hours just before Abdulazeez's rampage. He sent a text message to a friend, which was obtained by "Reuters". That message linked to an Islamic verse, and part of which reads, quote, "Whosoever shows enmity to a friend of mine, then I have declared war against him."

And new insight also about the guns used in the attack. A source tells CNN that both the long guns were legally acquired by Abdulazeez. That the handgun was registered in his name and that he purchased at least one of the guns online.

All right. Let's talk about all of these developments. We're joined now by former FBI assistant director and CNN law enforcement analyst, Tom Fuentes.

Tom, first, I want to start with this revelation from the family about depression. We must preface this entire conversation by saying that people who suffer from depression or deal with depression do not typically end -- or their problems do not manifest themselves in this way. So, we don't want to malign people dealing with that.

But what's the role of this revelation in the investigation?

TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, Victor, I think the parents, obviously, are horrified by what's happened. And, you know, we understand that, and we could sympathize with them if they had no clue that this was coming.

But, you know, as you mentioned, thousands of people in this country and all over the world suffer from depression. They get treatment. They get medicine. You know, it's a treatable problem.

He had something going on in his head much more severe than simple depression. So, I think the parents, not being mental health professionals -- you know, I'd like to know where they derived the term from. Did a mental health professional tell them this is something he suffered from? Or are they trying to come up with this because he had problems as a kid?

You know, as many kids have growing up, have to be disciplined, have, you know, difficulties. So, I don't give much credence to their diagnosis that he was depressed.

[07:10:01] BLACKWELL: All right. Let's talk about the guns then. There was a friend who spoke with "The Washington Post" who said that just like any typical Chattanoogan, Christian or Muslim, you're going to like to shoot guns, especially a man of that age.

What's the relevance of what we've learned for these investigators?

FUENTES: Well, I think that, you know, as mentioned, he may be just another one of -- you know, the crowd that loves guns. In this country, we have a gun culture and we have not made it -- you know, really difficult for somebody to obtain particularly an assault rifle.

You know, he's not standing out in front of that facility or the two facilities with a pistol opening fire. We're looking at an assault rifle. You've seen the size of the bullet holes in the glass of the facility -- the first facility that he attacked.

So, but this is -- you know, it's perfectly legal in this country. If you're not convicted of a felony, if you're not identified as a known drug user already, then in most states, you're going to pass the background exam, and you're going to be able to buy a gun and it can include an assault rifle, or the FBI last week arrested somebody that they already knew intent of jihad. He had $300 in cash in his pocket and was driving to a gun show. He would have been able to walk out the door with an assault rifle had he gone to that gun show.

BLACKWELL: You know, I wonder as this profile, the biography fills out and there's in reported interview with the head of the Islamic center there in Chattanooga who said they knew the father kind of, but they really didn't know Mohammad Abdulazeez because he really wasn't ever there.

Is this the typical picture of a jihadist or are we looking at something else?

FUENTES: Well, it can include this in the typical picture but so far, what we've seen is there's no typical picture. I mean, we have a kid basically from a middle class environment. He goes to a great university. He gets a degree in electrical engineering.

I mean, this is not some -- you know, loser in society who has decided to wage war because he's got nothing else going for him. This is someone well-educated who now at some point fancied himself an Islamic scholar, which is not the case.

But, you know, there's no typical profile yet and that's part of the problem in this. If he didn't express to somebody more than support of certain verses in the Koran or certain believes, but if he didn't express specifically that he supported ISIS, that he believes in what they've done and he's going to carry out an act in favor of that, it's very difficult for the authorities to learn.

BLACKWELL: All right. Tom Fuentes, always appreciate the insight.

Christi?

FUENTES: You're welcome.

PAUL: Well, of course, these attacks in Chattanooga have states across the country reassessing their own security. So, here's the question: do military recruitment centers need armed guards and bulletproof glass now? And how soon could those steps be in place?

Also, what was supposed to be a relief from the heat -- look at how it ended here, a suicide bombing and the death of more than 100 people -- Baghdad now on high alert.

And later, Donald Trump's newest attack, this one against Senator John McCain, questioning if he's a war hero.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:16:38] PAUL: Sixteen minutes past the hour.

We have new details for you from Iraq this morning on a deadly ISIS attack near Baghdad. A suicide bomber drove an ice truck into a market pretending to sell ice at a discount. Here are some of the pictures coming in.

People obviously were crowding around, so hot there, thought they were going to get ice. The bomber blew up that truck, killed at least 120 people, injured 140 others. Hundreds of people had been out shopping in that market on the eve of the holiday Eid al-Fitr, of course, marking the end of Ramadan.

I want to bring in CNN's Jomana Karadsheh.

So, Jomana, we're hearing that officials said there was one ton of explosives in this truck. Help us understand, if you would please, the destruction of what these folks are dealing with today.

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A truly devastating attack, Christi, something that even this nation for more than a decade now has been seeing this kind of violence and bloodshed almost on a daily basis is still shocked by this attack -- this kind of level of attack and how it was carried out. What we do know from officials is that this suicide bomber drove this ice truck into a crowded market.

Of course, this is coming during their Eid al-Fitr holiday on Friday evening. This is a time after the sun goes down that you see these markets packed with shoppers, families going out to start their celebration for Eid, because it is -- the temperatures in Iraq rise to more than 120 degrees at this time. So people do their shopping in the evening.

And also, the bomber here exploited that, knowing that people would be looking for any relief from these high temperatures. And he pretended to be selling them ice at lower rates than the market. So, he managed to lure hundreds of people over to buy this ice, detonating that large amount of explosive that left that big crater and took the lives of at least 120 people and left 140 wounded, many of them children and, of course civilians, in this case.

It's the kind of attack that's very reminiscent of what we used to see in Iraq during what used to be described as the dark days of violence there, the sectarian bloodshed between 2005, 2007. And while ISIS over the past year has carried out so many atrocities, mass killings, executions, this kind of spectacular high profile attack for many is a real concern now that we might be seeing a different kind of tactic, especially in a Diyala province that Iraqi officials only announced liberated from ISIS -- Christi.

PAUL: All right. Jomana Karadsheh, thank you so much for the details. Appreciate it.

BLACKWELL: We've got the latest on those raging wildfires in California. This was breaking news throughout the day yesterday. And now, new developments on getting these fires under control. Are they at least halfway there?

Plus, how much help did El Chapo get to escape a Mexican prison. Got new details on just how involved he may have been in planning his own breakout.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:23:12] PAUL: Look at this video and look at the guy standing there taking pictures. That's pretty close for comfort, but these flood waters rushing into a Phoenix area neighborhood as a storm dumped three inches of rain here. "The Arizona Republic" reports some homes and business were managed, RVs, and other vehicles were all-out swept away and the flood even washed out part of a road. This morning, though, thankfully, no injuries reported.

BLACKWELL: Flood to fire now -- as crews are starting to get a handle on the raging wildfire in Southern California. This morning, there are reports that the North Fire is 45 percent contained. This is after a summer thunderstorm moved through. The 3,500-acre fire shut down Interstate 15 on Friday.

PAUL: Secretary of Defense Ash Carter headed to Israel to smooth over concerns about the Iran nuclear deal. A senior administration official tells CNN that Carter's visit reiterates that the United States and Israel's defense relationship, quote, remains as robust as ever. But remember, on Tuesday, Benjamin Netanyahu called the Iran deal a, quote, "stunning historic mistake."

BLACKWELL: Is Senator John McCain a war hero? Well, Donald Trump is not so sure. And that's evocation maybe is igniting a firestorm around one of the Republican frontrunners. And there's another one who maybe agrees with him.

And armed guards and bulletproof glass -- is that the way to keep military safe at places like recruiting centers? More states are looking into it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[07:28:09] DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He hit me --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is a war hero.

TRUMP: He's not a war hero.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is a war hero.

TRUMP: He is a war --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Five and a half years --

TRUMP: He's a war hero because he was captured.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Are those the words that could derail Donald Trump's bid for the White House? Take a look at the front page of the New York post this morning if you haven't seen it already. There's the headline "Don Voyage". The fallout continues after the presidential candidate made those comments during a summit in Iowa.

BLACKWELL: Meanwhile, contenders on both sides of the aisle are condemning Trump's remarks, and the Republican National Committee has gone as far as to say that the comments have no place in their party.

All right. Joining us now with more on the fallout is CNN's Mark Preston.

And, Mark, before I get to you, I've got to read a tweet from Trump that he sent out since we've been on air. He says here, "John McCain called thousands of people crazies when they came to seek help on illegal immigration last week in Phoenix. He owes apology."

Is that going to work?

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICS EXECUTIVE EDITOR: No, it's absolutely not going to work. It's going to work with a certain segment of the population, a certain segment of the supports that are backing Donald Trump. But we clearly now have an indication that Donald Trump is not going to back down.

But to set the table for those who haven't heard much about this controversy, I'd be surprised if you haven't, because it really has over taken the political world in all of the discussion regarding who's going to be our next president. Donald Trump yesterday here in Iowa at a meeting of social conservatives went directly at John McCain, called into question his patriotism. John McCain was shot down over North Vietnam. He's a highly decorated.

But this is what Donald Trump had to say about John McCain. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: He's not a war hero.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is a war hero.

TRUMP: He is a war --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Five and a half years --

TRUMP: He's a war hero because he was captured.

I like people that weren't captured, OK? I hate to tell you.

He's a war hero because he was captured, OK? You can -- and I believe perhaps he's a war hero.

(END VIDEO CLIP)