that's taken place where the two officers in new york city were slain yesterday. this is a vigil that is happening,000 a now. and prayers are being said in support of the officers, in support of law enforcement, and the decision makers of this community, and it's important even in our discussions now to keep in mind the focus needs to be on the loss of those two officers and thaeir memories an families as we discuss larger events around it pertaining to the relationship in new york and the rift with the police department. this, by the way, is in brooklyn where all of this is happening. let me bring back now david gergen, martha pease. david, i interrupted you as we sort of went to break there to continue what you would tell the mayor, you've got to try to get beyond this because it's essential for the city to heal. >> first of all, martin, let me say thank you to you. you're bringing a calm voice to this which i think is really helpful. as the mayor needs to move quickly to heal the rift with the police an show empathy and

respect for the police department, he dare not forget the protesters and it's really important that the mayor and the country continue to have conversations about legal justice, so because clearly we have -- >> they're all legitimate concerns. >> there are some legitimate concerns, and we need to be working with the naacp and other institutions like that, other organizations like that to address what could be done that would be reasonable that would respect the police. i think there are some changes that can be made legislatively. let's take one example under de blasio, bratton in particular, that has worked. de blasio ran against what he considered excessive stop and frisk in new york. bill bratton comes in and makes some changes. they're not dramatic changes but the community feels much better about them and crime has not started going back up. so there are things you can do working with the african-american community that are essential as well because we're going to bring racial peace and racial justice to this country. >> would you agree with all of those steps, martha, or do you

have ideas as well? >> i would say gree wiagree wit. something that's critically important, it sounds soft and ineffective, but it's the word empathy. on the flip side of the stereotyping that's associated with de blasio and his brand, he does have a unique position to understand some of the issues that he faces, parley -- >> the police would criticize and say he's been too empathetic. >> i think he needs to bring that empathy to the entire eco system of new york city. that's the critical issue and not something he's perceived as doing even know he may try -- he may be trying to execute that. empathy is critical. and i think he's got an opportunity to really build a third way. a different kind of way. he is uniquely positioned at this moment to time given his background, given the challenges that face the largest city, you know, and really what he does here could have an impact at a national level. >> lessons for the nation. >> they're lessons for the nation. if it's possible to find a

middle way in terms of having a brand and point of view, use empathy to drive to a leadership position that's different than what existed before, that's an important opportunity he needs to take advantage of. >> david, he's only a year into his job here as mayor, and yet faces some really serious rifts. so, politically what would you do? >> i think that the country needs a sense of hope, and i think this is not something that mayor de-lazde blasio can do al. this will call on leadership across the board, across the country. martin, this may seem farfetched but as we go into this week, this is the 100th anniversary of something that was absolutely remarkable. 100 years ago in the first world war, the troops were in trenches facing each other, killing each other. on christmas eve, they started singing christmas carols across the trenches together and the next day they came out and played games together.

and it was this moment of silence in the war that showed that people can come together. we're in that -- 100 years later on this christmas eve, i think it's important with these racial tensions that we have, we come out of the trenches with each other. >> you think this is a moment of reflection? >> i do think it's a moment of reflection, and maybe this -- maybe this terrible, terrible, heinous crime yesterday can somehow get us out of our trenches, understand we've got to bring this to an end. we thought -- you and i both thought back in the '60s and '70s that the country was on the right path, we were going to heal this. here we are back again with some of the very fundamental questions. >> martha, you're a new yorker. you live here. >> yes. >> and i'm wondering, do new yorkers see that the mayor is a person who can recover from this, or i've seen that there's a petition drive under way to ask for him to step down. what are new yorkers feeling about this sense that there is a deep divide?

>> well, i think new yorkers are waiting to see how he's going to handle this. >> he's not going to be a rudy giuliani and it's not fair to think that he might be, correct? i mean -- >> no, he's not going to be a rudy giuliani, but something that new yorkers don't like is a loser. i mean, we want a winner and we want a winner in the mayor, in the mayor's office. >> there's no way to win out of a tragedy like this. >> there's no way to win, but there has to be a way to move forward, and in terms of the brand of new york, if you're talking about brand -- >> and we are. >> and we are. we're talking about the future economic stability of the city. we're talking about a whole set of quality of life issues that keep people coming in and living here and creating a tax base. those are issues that are incredibly important to new yorkers that have been in question, i would say, for the past year, and certainly this situation doesn't resolve any of those questions. whether there's a petition drive or not, the real question is

going to be can his brand regain some equilibrium and move to a different level? i think the leadership issue is probably the most crucial issue that's been thrown into question. >> they test leadership if nothing else. >> we've seen it in the past. thank you, both, very much for a great conversation on a difficult subject. earlier, family and friends of murdered new york police officer raphael ramos gathered this evening to speak about this very tragedy. emotions ran high among some of those speakers at the event. >> you may unite us. >> this is a tragic time in our community and our state, quite frankly, to turn around and have to deal with this kind of senseless violence. not only are we losing people in the community, but now we're losing police officers to the same stupid rhetoric that deals with guns. we stand here unified with this family, with the ramos family with regards to the issue that took place yesterday. our hearts are actually painstakingly crushed right now.

now is the time for all of us to get to the table. our elected officials, community folks. not just one particular person that's a community rep, everybody needs to be at the table so we can generate the necessary information to move this community forward. >> mr. mayor, you need to have a sit-down and you need to get everything corrected from the mayor's office down because this is wrong. we need -- we need you to work with the community and the police department. we don't need you to go to one side. the police department needs you as well. what about if that was your son sitting in that patrol car? if there was your son that got shot in the head? then what? why don't you come out and say that? >> you got to keep understanding, new york is a corporation. every time we turn around, there's a dollar amount associated with everything that goes down. we're apparently looked upon as those keeping the city running. putting the pressure on us and having mandates on police officers is not the way to go,

and this creates dissentme s th and that's why you get the attitude you do with blipolice officers because they're pushed to make this city money. we stand behind the police department, support the members of the community that put on the uniform to come out here and do the job to keep us safe. i don't know who in the heck got the impression this community is not behind the police department and think enough that they can come here and take them out. we're not going to allow that to continue to happen. it's unacceptable. >> how did we get to this point? police under suspicion and under fire. officers turning the backs on the mayor. can we find unity among tragedy? who will heal the sharp divisions? new york? it's all ahead.

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looking at the memorial that has sprung up there at the site where the two new york city police officers were slain in brooklyn.

see there as flowers continue to be laid. there are notes, there are candles, there's a menorah, there's an american flag. there are so many things that represent the diversity of new york city and, of course, that would imply that there are so many people coming together to mourn this terrible death of these two officers that served new york city. and it's a candlelight vigil, a public vigil and it was an open invitation to all new yorkers to be there. you could imagine and we've been listening to some of the prayers, to some of the hymns. and even just the silence. very poignant there as you look at the people who are now overflowing into the streets and into the surrounding community. that right there is the exact spot where the police squad car was that the two officers were sitting in when they were according to authorities ambushed by the suspect and shot dead. i want to bring in my panel again, new york city councilman jumaane williams, psychologist jeff gardere joining us now, former new york police detective gil alba. we talked about, there is this,

it appears this critical divide right at the moment when you want to see unity between the mayor and his police force. so what would you suggest from your background, your experience, be done here to try and bridge it? >> well, i think one of the things first, my condolences to the slain officers' family, liu and ramos, of course, but i think this can also be an opportunity from this tragedy, we don't want to see this happen, but to understand that police officers are people, too. and it's not just a caricature of a corrupt individual, that these are hardworking men and women. i need to see the community and the police departments come together. the community can't survive without the police. the police cannot survive without the community. and this is the opportunity. and i do have all the hopes in the world that mayor de blasio will use this as an opportunity to be able to bring his police force in tow to be part of a progressive new york. that's what we've seen. i'm just -- i'm shocked from a

psychological point of view that if someone is critical of the police department and they want them to do better, then they're seen as anti-cop and they're not. i think what we've seen here, you've talked about this, the outpouring of love from the new york community, a lot of these -- we saw menorahs and crosses and so on. it is diverse because a lot of those people who are there, and who brought a lot of those things to show their love for the police, are also people who are also upset about michael brown and eric garner. so it doesn't have to be a divide here. this is about all of us wanting to do better as a community and that's what we must do. >> gil, you're the police officer in the room. >> you know you can't argue with anything like that, but what's the underlying factor here? i mean, there's -- the police take action in those communities and this is what happens from that. but you get the police together with the community. what happens after that? i mean, how do you -- there's

still poor people and they go to work and some people don't. i think those underplying factos are so much more important than the police relations. this is what happens, when the neighborhoods actually fall apart and people need jobs and everything else. an incident with the police because the police are supposed to protect them, especially in the neighborhoods where they need them. this is what happens. that's why it's such a divide. this is a little unusual difference because you're talking about a mayor and talkingtal talking about the police so there are two different issues. >> let's be clear, we're talking about patrick lynch who has a history of divisiveness in the cities. i know he wants to protect his police officers. i firmly believe mayor de blasio wants to protect the police officers, too. when you say this is war on the protesters, blood on people's hands, what we need -- we have to have calm and have to have

reason. >> if you could talk to the mayor, jumaane, maybe you do, the advice you'd give right now? >> i'm in constant communication with the administration. i think, as people mentioned, he's in a precarious situation. i think he's also in a pretty powerful situation. he can't apologize for something that's not there. i think what can happen, what people have been saying, this is a great opportunity to bring people together. i think he is trying to do that. i think it's important that someone mentioned the word empathy. i think he has empathy for what a lot of us have been talking about. and, of course, he has empathy for his police department. and so that part, for some reason, is being warped by people like pat lynch and i think he's going to have in the coming days do a good job of turning that around. we're at a cusp here. >> we are. >> it's very important. not just in new york city but a across the country. >> people realize we're at a pinnacle moment of it being brought on by tragedy. we're going to talk more about that right after this. most weekends, you'll find me on my mega-yacht,

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of a loading website. don't listen to the naysayer. switch to comcast business today and get 50 megabits per second for $89.95. comcast business. built for business. praying if our fallen officers. that appeal coming from a new york city community leader after two of the city's finest officers were ambushed in their patrol car. this may be easier said than done giving the growing tensions between the new york city mayor and the new york city police department. so rejoining me now is jumaane williams, gil alba, and jeff gardere. you know, i keep going back to this question, but it's so important. jumaane, how does this city begin to heal? >> well, we have to accept some

truisms, and one is as was mentioned before, trying to get better policing is not anti-police. that's one. two, there are genuine concerns that need to be discussed civilly. without the rhetoric that is dangerous. >> on both sides. >> i would say -- yes, on both sides. but i do believe on certain sides it's being raised exponentially at every turn and we have to stop. these communities ask for police officers, they do. they also ask that those police officers police fairly and justly. it is okay to have both of those things in your mind. they also ask for better housing conditions, better schools -- >> which goes beyond the realm of the police, of course. >> and streets even cleaned. >> yeah. >> those things have to be addressed at the same time as well. we keep hyperfocusing on the police. we should. we have to fix that. we have to get these other agencies in and have to say,

it's okay, if i want a better housing -- doesn't say i'm against housing agents. stop saying because i want something better that i'm anti- something. >> there are a lot of social issues here. >> right, exactly. this is very, very complex. i think we also need to understand what the pressures that the police officers are under. you spoke about this earlier with some of your guests that they have to have certain quotas that they have to hit. they have to work in certain communities and do certain things that they may not want to do. you know, i've worked with the nypd on doing some trainings and so on. these are good men and women, but they're under a lot of pressure. but we have to make sure that we don't see them as the enemy. they're not that at all. we need to support them. we also need to support better policing and support the community. >> and they're often put in bad situations. i feel sorry -- >> let me ask you, gil, you're the man right here, former officer. >> they said about patrick lynch

saying what he did say. >> the union representative. >> not only him. the sergeant benevolent situation also said -- those are the unions there -- >> people are criticizing that, by the way. other people have said things. george pa ta pataki. >> other people have said that. it's what happened at the moment that he said this. we're talking about de blasio has to do something. patrick lynch has to do something, new york city police department has to do something to get the city together. do i have confidence in new york city they can get together? of course i do. how about you guys? how do you feel? >> yeah, there's a point, what jeff said, when people are seeing these officers, they need to see human beings, need to see ramos, the father and husband, liu the newlywed. everybody wants to get back home to their namefamilies. we have to understand that and understand people have the right to say we want better policing. >> people have the right to

peacefully protest. certainly i condemn and know every civil rights person has condemned when people were protesting and some of them said, you know, kill the police or we want that -- that's absolutely wrong and we can't do that. >> before we go, i want to make sure we said this, because at times these officers who take the job to make the community better are put in awful situations they shouldn't be put in. they're put in some place and say, you have a quota, get me these arrests. >> how much pressure is on the officers? >> a lot of pressure. you have demonstrations and say kill the cops, there's crazy people out there. this guy was mentally -- >> there are always -- >> almost instigating. he's in despair, this guy. what is he going to do? he hears all this, he has two people -- he uses them as excuse -- >> gil, a lot of emotions -- with patrick lynch saying what he said, he said that with emotion and i hope he regrets that. the protesters out there saying, kill the cops, that was high emotion. i hope they didn't mean that.

we have to be careful -- >> i'm not arguing the emotions. i'm arguing that what it does to other people and it's almost, you know, you're incity gratigrate i -- >> let's use this tragedy to move forward civilly. the people are trying to use it to exploit other things. >> let's not politicize it. >> let's bring people together. >> these officers are dead. their families don't have them anymore. and it's christmas. >> that's a tragedy. >> that's what we should be focusing on right now. >> you know, new york, of course, biggest city in the country, but it's also a place that people look to maybe as lessons learned and ways forward for their own communities where they struggle with incidents, if not directly like this, their own community tragedies. and i think it's helped in many ways, if anybody can figure this out, bridge the divides and shine a light, it is this city. >> that's right. it is a very progressive city. we have very good leaders. we have to bring the forces who

see each other as enemies, bring them together because at the end of the day we are new yorkers, we want a better new york. we want a better community. we want a better police force. >> nypd has to be a partner in moving this thing forward. >> where is city council in all of this? >> i think sometimes they put a spin on us as well. we're doing the same thing. we started the gun violence statistic force. thankfully the mayor expanded that. we're trying to move to a community policing model actually. and other agencies at the table. everybody is looking at the same data the police department is looking at and the department of mental health, division of youth community development, department of education and are saying in these communities what can we do together? that's what needs to happen across the city. that's what needs to happen across the nation. that's where we should be directing our energies right now. >> does this all need to be carried out in public view? i mean, you are in the entertainment capital of the world, so to speak. the media capital. or is there something these conversations, police, mayor, community, behind closed doors or at least in some privacy?

>> definitely behind closed doors and get together, so there's no rhetoric, no fighting, no -- get together. however, you have community leaders then you have the police department who these -- they figure they hate the police, so why are we going to meet with them? you know, in the first place? so it's tough to get together. >> answer is both. >> the answer is both, but they have to be transparent. you talked about earlier, patrick lynch had said, well, perhaps he doesn't want mayor de blasio to come to the funerals. mayor de blasio is going to go to those funerals. he must be at the funerals. >> he has to go. >> he must stand with patrick ly thr nch. this is a symbol of what we're looking at of bringing the forces together for the greater good or new york and the country. >> there were some reports there was actually something the officers asked or signed to say they did or did not want the mayor at the funeral. >> if any officers get killed, they don't want the mayor to come to the funeral. the mayor has to go to the

funeral. the mayor has to start taking over right now and start getting on tv and having press conferences. >> you would like to see a stronger or more -- >> he has to be more stronger and take a lot of control. >> i guess he may be afraid of what kind of political questions they may ask, so he has to go to the -- are they going to stand together? i'm not too sure about that. >> jumaane, do you agree the mayor -- >> absolutely. you were talking about the petition patrick lynch, leader of the union, tried to put out, there's no word that said the officers signed the petition. i agree he has to go to the funerals. the other thing i wanted to say, we have to stop trying to delegitimize people's experiences. people in this country didn't get on a conference call and say we're going to do something all at once. what you're seeing here is actually legitimate issues and legitimate real life things that people are going through. when you delegitimate ice peo l human experience, it becomes a frustrating thing.

>> we have to leave it there, jeff, i'm sorry. >> absolutely. >> thank you, all, for joining us. >> thank you. >> we want to leave you tonight with the words of a 13-year-old boy. that is jayden ramos. the son of the two new york city police officers who were gunned down in brooklyn. and he wrote this on facebook. and i quote, "today is the worst day of my life." and then in a separate post he wrote "today i had to say bye to my father. he was there for me every day of my life and he was the best father i could ask for. it's horrible that someone get shot dead just for being a police officer. everyone says they hate cops but they are the people they call for help. i will always love you and i will never forget you, r-i-p, dad." very tough to read. the words of a boy who will never see his father again. i'm martin savidge in new york. thanks for watching.

beverly, beverly. >> beverly johnson took a risk in a world of cut throat competition. >> the agency that i was with, the owner said you'll never be on a cover. wh who do you think you are? >> but beverly johnson was a trail blazer. >> i was very determined to be a great model. i just didn't let anything deter me. >> she became the first black face on the cover of the fashion industry's bible. >> i was on top of the world. >> beverly's cover was history.

it was ground breaking. >> i started to see how that cover impacted the world. >> now, 440 years later, she is once again making headlines. this time revealing a painful secret. >> i knew that i had been drugged, and i knew that i had been drugged by bill cosby. >> she is, for me, the most credible voice in this terribly tragic saga. >> so, who is this person? and why is she breaking her silence after three decades of burying the past? >> i realized that what a hypocrite i would be if i didn't say something. >> tonight, we focus our cnn spotlight on beverly johnson.

every day, beverly johnson is receiving e-mails of support and gratitude like these. as a therapist, i praise you for your willingness and courage to speak out. i see you as a role model and a catalyst for much-needed change. often we as women give our power away by remaining silent. the power beverly johnson alleges she lost to bill cosby nearly 30 years ago. her story revealed in "vanity fair" is hauntingly similar to those told by numerous other women which cosby's denied. >> the women coming out and telling their story, i would just look at that television and just think how brave they are.

>> and now the same is being said of her by friends, strangers, even a federal judge. >> i have so many of these cases on my docket and they get dismissed because victims are afraid to testify. i'm so proud of you for coming out. >> one friend that i called and i told her what happened, that i was drugged by cosby, and she started to tell me her story of sexual abuse. and i was like, you never told me this before. why didn't you ever tell me this? she said, beverly, i'm only telling you now because you told me your story. it lets me know i'm doing the right thing. >> doing the right thing wasn't a choice growing up. it was expected. a buffalo, new york, native born into an ethnic rich heritage, a

black foot indian, beverly was the middle child of six kids strung together by ambition, discipline, and a subtle dose of humor. >> oh, it was crazy. i had a household that no one could swear, no one could raise their voice. you know, we couldn't fight with each other. >> dinner was on the table at 4:30, and because dinner was on the table at 4:30, we all had to be home. >> my father was very, you know, disciplinarian. >> he was kind of strict. very strict. we weren't, you know, we didn't date. >> you just didn't do anything. >> which really meant do what you can without getting caught. >> we would make sign languages. you know? >> egg each other on. >> you know, at the dinner table and making, like, funny expressions that only we would know. >> beverly's older sister, sheila, remembers no one was safe from the practical jokes. >> there weren't a lot of

pictures of beverly. she was the middle child. i used to tease bev that she was adopted and we would go in and get these papers and show her and she didn't really look like any of us. and she was a child from mars, we used to call her the martian from mars. >> i was like one of those weird kind of people. i loved school. i loved to read. i still love to read. it's just who i am. >> and when her nose wasn't buried in a book, it was submerged in water. >> i loved to swim. that was my solace. >> she was very serious. she made cheerleading. she wanted to swim in the junior olympics. >> i was just competing. just one thing after the other. you don't even know that you're competing for the olympics until they tell you you didn't make the olympics by a quarter of a second. it was like, i didn't even know that was even out there, an option. >> despite her success in the pool, her parents kept her humble and were never shy to throw in a life lesson.

do you remember a moment where mom or dad said to you, beverly, you're going to do something great? we just have a feeling. >> no. i remember my mom saying, you have to go to school, and here's one, don't bring any children here because i raised my children already. >> mom made it clear, you weren't getting pregnant. >> don't bring them here, you know? >> but johnson wasn't thinking of starting a family. >> i always wanted to go to school, anyway, so did all my sisters and brothers. there was never really a struggle like, oh, i want to find myself, you know? >> she did manage to find herself. on campus at northeastern university in boston. why did you want to be a lawyer? >> i think that i saw on television the civil rights movement and martin luther king. i remember, you know, that black and white television set and watching, you know, the dogs attacking the people.

there was just something about the injustice of that that i wanted to address as a lawyer. >> but it's not in a courtroom that beverly johnson will fight for equality. next, taking race to the runway and making history. >> it was like the civil rights moment of high fashion. sheila! you see this ball control?

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in the summer of 1970, 17-year-old beverly johnson had just finished her freshman year of college and was on the hunt for a summer job. >> my girlfriends in college said, why don't you become a model? and they literally showed me the magazine. the girl standing with her hands on her hip and make $75 an hour. i said, are you kidding me? >> not exactly the career path her parents envisioned for their

daughter. a gifted student on a full scholarship at boston's northeastern university. >> my parents really stressed education a lot. >> so dad was worried. >> modeling? you -- he's like, absolutely not. my mother had to convince my father that there was such a thing as a model. >> but despite her father's objections, johnson and her mother headed to new york anyway. hoping for that big break in the big apple's world famous fashion district. >> i had to wear heels and i remember, you know, the blisters on my feet because of walking up and down, you know, these streets in high heels. you know, trying to, you know, do whatever it took to become a model. >> very much the way the american girl next door except

she's black and that's what carried over into fashion world. >> andre leon talley, contributing editor at "vogue" magazine said johnson's beauty was universal. >> i think what people loved about her was her down to earth practicality and her natural beauty. >> it didn't take long for the fashion world to take notice. tell me about that first moment when you came into this area and you walked into "glamour" magazine. do you remember that moment? >> i remember it like it was yesterday with my mother. they came out, said, beverly, to my mother, of course, we love your daughter, we love her look, we want to take her on a ten day modeling assignment to fire island for "glamour" magazine. >> did you just hear "glamour" magazine and think, oh my gosh? >> yeah, that was exciting. it was exciting. i can remember going back home and telling my brothers and sisters and my brother's life, did you tell them you have

better looking brothers and sisters at home? they wanted you? >> top modeling agencies wanted johns johnson, too. she signed with the renowned ford modeling agency and by 1972, she was a glamour cover girl. beverly, what did it feel like to be here in new york? i mean, at the top of your game? >> it really felt great. i mean, you know, that song is true. you make it here -- >> you'll make it anywhere. >> it's really true. you know, i had a real sense of accomplishment, and i was on top of the world. >> a world she was about to change in ways she never expected. >> you can say whatever you want. there would not be african-american models running up and down these runways and around the world without the past. that the pioneer woman beverly johnson was. she was the american black pioneer. >> becoming the first black

supermodel. a trail blazer with endless tenacity. >> i didn't know at the time there hadn't been a person of color on the cover. >> her agent and mentor, eileen ford, told her it just wouldn't happen. why didn't she think you would get that? >> i don't know. i never asked. >> so instead, she paved her own way and went to a new agency. wilamena models. they believed "vogue" was within her reach, and they were right. in 1974, 21-year-old beverly johnson became the first black model ever on the cover of the world's most prominent fashion magazine. >> it was, like, the civil rights moments of high fashion. and everyone was excited. beverly johnson on the cover? no, we can't have "b." hello? did you see the cover of beverly johnson? history's being made. it was a big, big moment.

>> why was it so important? >> because that's every model's dream to be on the cover of "vogue." you have arrived when you made the cover of "vogue." when i found out i was the first person of color on the cover, what that meant, i was like, wow, this is really a big deal. >> then came another first. four years after johnson's historic cover, another dream came true. motherhood. what was it like to have that baby girl? it changed your life. >> my daughter is everything to me. i love her so much. that's really a defining moment in one's life is to become a mother. >> and while johnson's family was growing, so was her career. sew ventured into tv and film. when did you decide to make this transition from modeling to acting? >> well, i started acting because i knew that the modeling career was short. so i just decided to try

everything. >> a gamble that paid off. she landed her first lead role in the 197 film, "ashanti" right alongside michael kane. >> would you rather have remained in england, doctor? >> but even in the middle of all that success, came a vicious blow. a bitter custody battle over her daughter. >> i had been -- just got out of a marriage, divorce is really awful to go through. it was, you know, devastating. absolutely devastating. >> johnson appeared to have lost her footing. but then came what appeared to be a chance to put a new spark in her professional life. an audition for a wildly popular sitcom starring comedian bill cosby. that audition came at a time

where you need ed something to make you feel good. >> i think that anybody that gets a call to come down, try to be on "the bill cosby show" would be excited. >> excited because he was an icon and a trail blazer. crossing racial boundaries in television. much like johnson had done in fashion. >> he was not only an icon in black america, but, you know, in america. when we come back -- >> the room started to spin. my speech was slurred. >> beverly johnson says the audition revealed a terrifying side of bill cosby. >> i just kind of cocked my head because at that point i knew he had drugged me.

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and models have just a short time at the top. >> i didn't know what i was going to do after modelling, which was supposed to have been a four, five year career. so i just decided to try everything. >> for beverly johnson,

auditioning for the highly rated cosby show could open up possibilities. >> there wasn't a bigger figure in entertainment in the entertainment industry than bill cosby. >> but she didn't get a role. the audition, she says, ended with a traumatic event. >> i knew that i had been drugged, and i knew that i had been drugged by bill cosby. >> it was a secret she kept for decades, fearing repercussions. >> there is this powerful man in an industry that i would like to be a part of, and i didn't think i had a chance of winning. >> but that would change as more than a dozen women went public this fall, giving johnson the courage to come forward. tell me about that moment when you said, all right. i'm going to do it. i am going to let the secret be

revealed. >> when all of this happened, you know looking at the women coming forward, and how brave they are. i had to speak up. i just had to. but i vacillated, i'm going to do it, i'm going to do it, not not going to do it. and i realize that what a hypocrite i would be if i didn't say something. >> so she wrote a first person account for "vanity fair." bill cosby drugged me. for a long time, i thought it was something that only happened to me, and that i was somehow responsible. so i kept my secret to myself, believing this truth needed to remain in the darkness. johnson also spoke at length on cnn's, "new day." >> he needed to know that, as women we just weren't going to just, you know, stand by and let him get away with what he thought he was going to get away

with. >> she recounted cosby inviting her to his manhattan brownstone for an audition. the role of a patient of the lovable obstetrician, dr. cliff hux huxtable. >> this is my office. >> what do you do? >> i'm a doctor for women. >> before they rehearsed, cosby insisted she drink a cappuccino from his fancy expresso machine. >> it was very powerful. it came on very quickly. the room started to spin, my speech was slurred, and he placed his hands on my waist. at that point, i knew he had drugged me. and i was just looking at him and i just asked him the question that you are a mf, aren't you? >> she says it went no further, but does say a seething bill cosby dragged her to the street

and sent her home in a cab. as i thought of going public, a voice in my head kept whispering, black men have enough enemies out there already, they certainly don't need me fanning the flames. >> it was a very difficult for me to come to the point where i wanted to speak out. >> what's the one thing you'll always remember from that moment when you say that he drugged you? what's the one thing you'll never forget? >> i think it would be someone taking your power because you're powerless. >> she is, for me, the most credible voice in this terribly tragic saga. >> andre leon talley, johnson's long time colleague in the fashion industry, sees her going public as part of a bigger story. >> beverly has not had exactly

what you would call a perfectly gold-plated existence, but at the same time, she's a survivor, she has struggled, she's maintained her dignity. >> cosby's lawyer wouldn't comment on johnson's allegations, but in previous statements, he's defended his client's innocence. these brand new claims about alleged decades old events are becoming increasingly ridiculous, and it is completely illogical that so many people would have said nothing, done nothing, and made no reports to law enforcement, or asserted civil claims if they thought they had been assaulted over a span of so many years. >> i don't want to see anything happen to bill cosby. what i want to see happen is that women come out and speak their truth. >> speak the truth. johnson also brings that message to the barbara senate tra center for -- sinatra center for troubled youth.

>> it's an ugly subject, child abuse is ugly. no one likes to talk about it. >> she helps teen girls grappling with their own secrets and self-esteem. >> and that's part of being a model, self-esteem, that's what these children need. >> some of them somehow got the courage to come forward and tell somebody what's been happening to them. it's far worse than my story, far worse than my story. but how brave they are. >> johnson, more than ever, seeing silence has an enemy. and believes that troubling accounts about a beloved celebrity can lead to bigger questions about who we are and who we want to be. >> this is the lightning rod for this conversation about, you know, violence against women. and some good comes out of it.

some good comes out of it. tonight, a special holiday event was the christmas star real? >> there was extraordinary activity in the skies. >> did noah's flood happen? >> the land that went under stayed under. >> where is the garden of eden? >> figure out where all four rivers are, then you've got the location. >> come along on an epic journey around the world and across time with christiane amanpour. >> oh my gosh. >> a war correspondent that's seen everything that tears us apart. searches for what unites us. the danger's real. >> our guide is carrying a gun.