in a statement cosby's lawyers say he will be exonerated. those are today's developments. now a look at the history of the scandal, cnn's special report "no laughing matter inside the "no laughing matter inside the cosby allegations" begins now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com . bill cosby charged with a crime for the first time just before the statute of limitations runs out on the 2004 sexual assault case. mr. cosby is charged with aggravated indecent assault. >> assault against andrea

constand who says considered cosby a mentor and a friend. >> on the evening in question, mr. cosby urged her to take pills and to drink wine. the effect of which rendered her unable to move and he committed aggravated indecent assault upon her. >> hours after steele's announcement, cosby is arraigned. he does not enter a plea and leaves minutes later on 1 million dollar bail. cosby's lawyers promise a vigorous defense. now, allison cammarata brings you this special report, inside the cosby allegations.

>> denver is where barbara bowman decided she decided she could grow up to be an actress. >> i was a go getter. i had a passion to do this. >> have a good run. >> by 16 she was starring in local >> she was ready to audition for an american superstar -- bill cosby. >> he was everyone's father figure that they watched on tv every week. cosby was friends with her talent agent joe farrell. >> tell me about her agent. what do you know about her? >> well, she was known as the barracuda. >> jo farrell herself told the

kiwanas club, if being a bare due -- barracuda means protect my people and being a good businesswoman, i accept it. barba barbara bowman had what it took to be a star. >> she would lay down the law. if this is tough, wait till you get to the next level. >> bowman's shot at the next level, she says, came in 1985. bill cosby was coming to denver. her agent said he was scouting for potential stars. >> when he came into town and he selected me, it was a big deal. >> a big deal because cosby was the quintessential success story, rising from the projects of philadelphia to the heights of hollywood. >> you dent get larger or more successful than bill cosby

unless you're barack obama. >> bob hubert covers cosby for "philadelphia mag." >> he was the first leading black man on a network back in the mid 60s. >> cosby's performance in "i spy" won him three consecutive emmies, but that was nothing compared to what came next. by 1985, he had become a television juggernaut "the cosby show". >> what you need to do now is go to the next level if you want justine back. >> what's that? >> begging. [ laughter ] >> for eight seasons on nbc, he starred as the lovable dr. cliff huxtable, the family that defied racial stereo types, revived the

sitcom genre and generated mega bucks in syndication. >> made him a huge, huge star in the african american world but for white middle class americans, as well. >> barbara bowman says the plan was to audition for the super star at the turn of the century nightclub. she was nervous, excited, groomed and ready to meet bill cosby. it was a moment that would change her life. when we come back. >> at one point i went like this and started to move his hands away, and he just said no, you can't do that. you need to relax. ♪ bill cosby earned

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bill cosby earned millions of fans. [ applause ] >> hundreds of millions of dollars, and the admiration of many, including colleagues like phylicia rashad. >> he's a genius. he is generous. he is kind. he is inclusive. >> in 1985 with cosby's popularity soaring, barbara bowman says she was tapped by her agent to audition for him at a denver nightclub. she recalls he asked about her childhood. >> he zeroed in on the fact that i really was sort of a vulnerable kid, no dad, no father figure in my life and wanted to take on that role. and it was an honor to be there, and i wanted him to care about me like a father would care about a daughter. >> then she says it was show time.

to see how well this budding actress could perform. >> he wanted me to do an acting improve exercise where i was intoxicated. so he explained to me that it was going to be a little uncomfortable, that to be really authentic in acting, we would have to tap in and let my guard down and trust him. he had me close my eyes and proceed to act drunk. and he's behind me, and he's stroking my hair, and stroking my neck, and kind of rubbing my shoulders and getting me to relax and maybe while, his hands are moving down on to my breasts, and at one point, i went like this and started to move his hands away and he said no, you can't do that. you need to relax. >> for a 17-year-old aching to be an actress, she says it was confusing. >> you know, i wanted to trust him. i really, really, really wanted to trust him. >> bowman's agent joe ferrell is now retired.

she declined to comment to cnn but in 2006, she told "the denver post"i don't know the truth of it. it's mind boggling. i don't set up interviews in bars and it makes me sad because my reputation has always been golden in this city. i have never seen cosby to be anything but a gentleman. that's what bowman says she wanted to believe, too. >> and that he was really going to groom me and mentor me and that he had a lot that he could offer me. >> bowman says cosby soon invited her to see some of his shows. there was seattle and then reno. there he pressured her to perform a scene in his hotel room. >> he turned out the lights and he made me close my eyes, and went through an exercise, a trust exercise. >> that was sexual? >> that was sexual. >> he had his pants off? >> yes.

>> and were you -- >> or down, at least. >> he had his pants down and he forced your hand on him. >> yes. >> and were you drugged? >> i don't know, but i know that i was frigid and frozen with fear and just went into a zone, and mechanically went through the motion. i felt so violated and i felt like disgusted. i couldn't tell anybody. i felt dirty. >> why was it not an option to tell anyone at the agency what happened? >> i was full of shame and fear and disgust. it was just too farfetched for anyone to believe. >> how were you able to get past that to see him again? >> a coping mechanism, a survival mode kicked in.

i just -- it was -- i was so shocked that i wanted to just believe it didn't happen. >> you know, it was way back when nobody is suing anybody. >> after working as a model and then for j.f. images, diane mcfarland knew how the acting business could be. >> i think there was a lot of confusion with these girls about maybe everyone has to do a little something, so it was terrifying and you wouldn't know what to do. >> mcfarland says bowman would eventually confide in her. when she came to you, what were those conversations like? >> i just remember she was traumatized from sexual abuse. i don't remember the details. i just remember the tears and holding her and telling her she would be okay. >> mcfarland now wishes she had done more to protect bowman. >> i would have lost my job and that was scary but i'm just a different person now, too. i'm not excusing it. >> for about a year, bowman took classes and prepared until her

agent jo ferrell declared her ready for new york. >> she was looking to always graduate her talent into the big leagues. >> so bowman left college for the big apple. >> just getting off the plane was like oh my gosh. i'm really here. >> bowman says her agent and cosby paid for her apartment and classes at this acting school. >> i felt, you know, that this was an amazing opportunity. >> an opportunity that with hard work might lead to a role on tv's number one show. >> was the thinking that bill cosby was recruiting to be on the cosby show? >> yes, not necessarily like i'm taking you out of denver. we're taking you to new york and you're going to be on the show but that was all part of the menu of items that were going to be available. >> success for the actress also meant success for the agent.

>> millions of young women want to be actresses and i've got a team of people behind me that believe in me that care about me. i felt lucky. >> but bowman says that feeling would change. drastically. when we come back -- >> i was drugged. i was assaulted. and i was raped. >> and later, in newly released court documents, cosby reveals his secret about drugs and sex. 4

new york city, the big time. it was here a now 18-year-old barbara bowman hoped she could find the acting career she dreamed of. with the backing of her agent and bill cosby, one of the country's biggest superstars, she thought she had a shot. >> i'm going to prove it i have

it in me and i'm going to be the model actor, model student and they were going to open those doors for me. >> open those doors, she says, as long as she played by their rules. >> i found myself in new york, then under complete and utter control of him and my agent. i became very isolated. i was put into an apartment, and i was supposed to just stay on the straight and narrow, go straight to acting classes, come straight back. >> the rude awakening came here. bill cosby's manhattan brown stone. when is the last time you saw this? >> that night. >> she says cosby invited her over for what was supposed to be tutoring. >> i had one glass of wine. went upstairs.

started the acting exercise, and that was it. i just remember putting the script down because i needed -- like i was feeling fuzzy, dizzy. it was like a lobotomy where you're there, you're awake but you're not there. you're vacant in a baffled state of mind. next thing i know, i'm in the bathroom and i am throwing up. >> bowman says she didn't know why she was throwing up. cosby would tell her she drank too much. but she says she never even finished her glass of wine. >> so as i'm throwing up over the toilet and he's right here

and the robe is -- it's tied but it's open and the boxer shorts are open, and his penis is out and brushing against my back. >> your panties are on you or off you? >> they are like on pulled over to the side and all messed up, and i knew what happened. >> how did you know what happened? >> because a woman knows and i was -- i was wet and dirty. i was drugged. i was assaulted. and i was raped. >> and this time bowman says she mustered the courage to tell her

agent, jo ferrell back in denver. >> and she did nothing. and insinuated that that didn't happen. i mean, what are you talking about? how could you say such a thing. >> farrell said that conversation never happened, telling "the denver post" the women she represented never said anything to me about this. but back in new york, barbara bowman says she was distraught. >> i was so freaked out and getting that response was just crushing. >> unable to get support from her agent, bowman says she turned to a lawyer. >> he didn't believe me, and called my claims preposterous. that's bill cosby you're talking about and laughed me out of the office. that's all it took. that's all it took was one more person to not believe me. >> demoralized and alone, bowman did not file a police report. after that, why didn't you sever all contact with him?

>> it wasn't like that. i was a prisoner. i was completely and utterly dependent. >> dependent and with no choice when she says cosby and her agent moved her to long island, 25 miles away from manhattan. why did they move you out here? >> i don't know. you know, i felt like they were hiding me in this tiny little world and i was isolated from everybody. one of the rules was no visitors. it was very restricted. >> restricted, isolated and controlled she says. >> it was like i was always on edge. >> it was while you were living here that atlantic city happened. >> yes. bill cosby invited me down to the shore. he was performing down there. >> she went. once she got to her hotel room,

bowman says she realized her luggage was missing and she started to panic. >> i felt very vulnerable and just i wanted my stuff and i started to call from his room because he called me down to the room and as soon as i picked up the phone, he started to just go crazy and slammed the phone down and told me not to worry about the luggage and turn the lights out. >> bowman says all she remembers is waking up the next morning in her room undressed with her suitcase. >> and i get a call from cosby, and he summons me over to his room yelling at me. >> what was he yelling at you about? >> that i embarrassed him and i was loud and let the whole hotel know i was there and now the hotel is going to wonder what he's doing with a 19-year-old girl in his suite and what's the big deal about the luggage and on and on and on. >> cosby she says became

violent. as she described in a phone call to her best friend denise victor. >> she told me, you know, it's bill cosby, it's bill cosby. >> he threw me down in the bed, jumped on top of me, straddled me, put his arm under my throat. >> she kept saying he's an animal. he's an animal. >> and i am laying there like this just begging him, screaming and crying, stop, please stop, get off me, get off me and i'm kicking him from behind like this and he's struggling with all his might to get his pants off and undo his belt buckle. >> she kept saying i fought him and fought him hard. >> the belt buckle is getting caught and clinking and making all this racket and he adjusted his grip and went then for like my pants and i wiggled out and it was like, it was like a light switch just clicked and it was like he snapped into reality and

kind of caught himself that he was creating this huge scene. he just -- just was seething and just finger in my face and just called me a baby and he kicked me out and he said you're done. that's it. and i literally went back to denver with the clothes on my back. >> it was over. bowman tried to pick up the pieces of her life and restarted her career with roles in several films. she tried to put bill cosby out of her mind for the next 20 years. >> and i thought i was the only one. >> that is until 2005 when another woman took on bill cosby in court and bowman decided to join the fight. >> i said, i will be damned if i will sit in silence anymore. i will do whatever it takes to let people know that that woman

is telling the truth.

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barbara bowman determined to succeed in a tough business tried to put cosby out of her mind. she felt she had to. >> i was scared to death and in my world, i didn't think i had anybody else who was listening. >> 20 years would pass from the

time bowman says she was raped until 2005 when she read about another woman accusing bill cosby of sexual assault. >> i really believed i was the only other one. i thought oh my god, another woman and i became enraged and said i will be dammed if i will sit in silence anymore. i will do whatever it takes to let people know that that woman is telling the truth. because it happened to me. >> that woman was andrea constand. she was director of operations for the women's basketball program in temple university. there she met bill cosby, a temple graduate and very big man on campus. >> we all know he was a very active alum and that included the women's basketball team.

>> dianna from the online spot dead spin reported on constand and cosby. >> he would befriend her and have her over for dinner parties, sometimes dinner with the two of them. she thought he was someone who wanted to mentor her. >> but in january of 2005, constand told authorities cosby sexual assaulted her at his home in suburban philadelphia the year before. bruce castor was the county prosecutor at the time. >> the impressions detectives gave me about andrea that she was clearly telling the truth but her recollection was fuzzy. >> a fuzzy memory he says is consistent with victims of date rape drugs. >> we actually were building the theory that she had been drugged. >> cosby's lawyer called the acquisitions utterly preposterous and bizarre. >> cosby, i believe, felt he was going to be arrested and was frightened. >> in the end, the prosecutor

decided there was not enough evidence to bring charges. >> what i think and what i can prove are two different things. >> undeterred, constand filed a civil suit against cosby laying out her acquisitions for everyone to see. >> she was the first woman to come forward and say this and come forward and say it with her name. >> she claimed cosby invited her to his home offering career advice. >> she was talking to him because she was thinking about a career change and was nervous and wanted his advice and talking about how nervous she is, and he offers her three pills. says this will help calm you down. >> constand says he told her they were an herbal medication. but in his court response, cosby said they were 1 1/2 tablets of

benadryl. >> and she trusted him. >> she trusted him. he is bill cosby. >> constand claimed after taking the pills, she was only barely conscious. >> she felt dizzy. she felt weak. there wasn't much she could do. >> unable to walk on her own, constand said cosby led her to a sofa. >> takes her to the sofa. he touched her breasts. touches her vagina and digitally penetrates her. >> answering the acquisitions, cosby denied drugging or sexual assaulting her. >> he is telling the media that this is all made up, that this family is just in it for money. that they are trying to, you know, extort money. >> as part of the civil suit, andrea constand was lining up one witness after another. >> when i finally got in touch

with her attorney and said my name is barbara bowman, it happened to me, too, and she told me you're not the only one. >> far from it. in all 12 women listed in court documents as jane does had similar accusations. most of the women wanted to stay anonymous but a few went public. >> he produced two capsules. >> california attorney tamara green on the today show. >> groping me and touching me and handling me. >> cosby's lawyer says the incident she described did not happen. >> i did not ever deserve that. >> former model beth furrier talks to the daily news. >> he hurt me in the most wicked, horrible way. >> spokesman for cosby declined to comment and barbara bowman in philadelphia magazine. >> what happened was horrible, participateful and frightening. >> cosby's lawyer called

bowman's claims absolutely untrue. bowman, green, ferrier and others would not back down. >> i want people to know that we are real people out here and that it is happening and i'm going to let people know. >> let people know by testifying in andrea constand's civil case but when we come back, constand versus cosby takes an abrupt turn. >> and it just seems to disappear into the earth almost. [ scanner beeping ] sir, could you step aside? "sir"? come on. you know who i am. progressive insurance? uh, i save people an average of over $500 when they switch? did you pack your own bags? oh! right -- the name your price tool. it shows people policy options to help fit their budget. [ scanner warbling ] crazy that a big shot like me would pack his own bags, right? [ chuckles ] so, do i have the right to remain handsome?

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by late 2006, four women publicly accused bill cosby of drugging and sexual assaulting them. andrea constand and her lawsuit against cosby. >> he took me into --

>> tamar green, beth ferrer and bowman. it would bring down most figures but not bill cosby. >> i wrote my 6500 piece for "philadelphia magazine" thinking with all these women claiming they have stories similar to andrea constand, this thing is going to explode. >> but it did not. at least not in 2006. because cosby and andrea constand reached an out of court settlement. the terms were never made public and when the lawsuit ended, so did the media interest. >> you get a little bit of media attention and would go away and the main stream couldn't touch it. nobody was touch it. >> cosby maintained his image as america's favorite dad. >> if you really wanted to seek it out, you could find it or go about your day watching "cosby show" reruns and having no idea this happened. >> though cosby remained silent

about the allegations, he had plenty to say on other matters. >> your 13-year-old son got no busying himself as a man who can drop a seed and walk away and somehow called himself a man. >> urging african americans to take responsibility. >> you were dealing drugs to each other. you were inpregnanting our 13, 12, 11-year-old children to each other. >> he billed these controversial lectures as callouts. >> i'm calling you out and i'm holding you accountable. >> there is a big irony he's lecturing african american communities about their behavior and what they need to do and at the same time these allegations are true, certainly hiding

behind his own behavior. >> for the next eight years, cosby was mostly out of the entertainment spotlight. but the accolades continued. >> bill cosby would go off into the sunset unless there was some drama, unless there was something to happen to trigger a change. >> that trigger would be an up and coming comedian named hannable burris. >> pull your pants up black people. i was on tv in the '80s. >> last october burris called out cosby in a standup routine. >> i can talk down to you because i had a successful sitcom. yeah, but you rape women bill cosby. so. >> he accused bill cosby very directly after being a rapist and that changed everything. >> it changed everything because on that evening, a reporter from philadelphia magazine was in the audience recording this video

with his phone. >> you heard about this burris thing. >> about comedian burris. >> soon team cosby is also using social media inviting fans to create memes or captions using class significant photos from his website. >> what a huge miscalculations. did they really think they were going to combat hannible burris and people saying nice things about bill cosby. >> meme backfires. people use it about the rape allegations. barbara bowman sees the irony. >> it took a man to crack a joke on stage in a comedy routine calling bill cosby a rapist for people to go wow, maybe there is something to this. >> a month after the burris

video, bowman writes a piece for "the washington post" online. bill cosby raped me. why did it take 30 years for people to believe my story. >> joining me now, barbara bowman alleges she was raped by bill cosby. >> bowman also tells her story on cnn. >> i've been speaking out publicly and trying to have the story believed and heard since 2004. >> rape allegations. >> now the media are finally picking up the story. over at the smithsonian where bill and his wife camille are displaying their african american art collection, npr scott simon asks about the rape allegations. >> there have been serious allegations raised about you in recent days. you're shaking your head no.

i'm in the news business, i have to ask the question. do you have any response to those charges? shaking your head no. >> the associated press also tries to get a response. >> i have to ask about your name coming up in the news recently regarding this comedian -- >> no, no, we don't answer that. >> cosby berates the reporter for even bringing up the subject. >> and i would appreciate it if it was scuttled. i think if you want to consider yourself to be serious, that it will not appear anywhere. >> it didn't play well. didn't look good for bill cosby. >> under mounting pressure, cosby's camp responds to the renewed allegations. the fact that they are being repeated does not make them true. mr. cosby does not intend to dignify these allegations with any comment. but one thing is clear, reporters who for years failed

to ask cosby the hard questions are now paying attention. and this time the story is not going away. >> we believe the women! when we come back. >> he drugged and raped me. >> more than two dozen women come forward. >> bill cosby appears to think that rape is a joke. >> and new revelations in cosby's own words about drugs and sex.

i'm able to do this because i have really good survival skills. >> for more than a decade, barbara bowman has been fighting, telling a story that few people wanted to hear. >> i feel sad for me. >> in the fall of 2014 she pushes again. this time with a first-person account in the "washington post" and a round of tv interviews. >> victims don't come out. they don't talk. they are shamed and embarrassed. >> every bit of media i did was

directed at victims. i practically pleaded for them to come forward. >> and this time they do. >> when i calm to i was in bed with him naked. >> the next week an avalanche of accusations in the media. >> then he started to push himself on top of me like against the seat. >> i was kind of leaning forward and he was behind me having sex with me. >> the stories just keep coming. >> several claimed they were drugged. >> i was feeling more and more groggy. >> including former playboy play mate victoria valentino. >> he forced me to have oral sex and he stood up and walked out.

>> it went blank. >> he had the hand on the back of my head and tried to push it towards his erect penis. i tried to pull away immediately. >> cosby's lawyer says the allegations are absurd. these alleged claims about decades-old events are becoming increasingly lid close 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. as for cosby, the damage is done. netflix shelves his comedy special. nbc abandons his plans for a sitcom and tv land stops airing reruns of "the cosby show." >> no one wants to be associated with a man who is accused of being a serial rapist. >> cosby breaks his science to a

local paper in florida. i know people are tired of me not saying anything, but a guy doesn't have to answer to innuendos. people should fact check people shouldn't have to go through that and shouldn't answer to innuendos. >> i want people to know i had an encounter with bill cosby. >> he built my trust by pretending to be a friend. he drugged and raped me. >> i couldn't move or say anything. i felt something warm on my legs. >> in the weeks that follow, the number of accusers grows to more than two dozen. >> i knew he had drugged me. >> cosby was on top of me, kissing me forcefully. >> i woke up in a bed naked, bruised. he was laying next to me. >> bill cosby declined our

request for an interview. but last december, cosby's wife of more than 50 years, camille cosby released this statement. the man i met and fell in love with and whom i continue to love is the man you all knew through his work. he is a kind man, a generous man, a funny man, and a wonderful husband, father, and friend. he is the man you thought you knew. a different man has been portrayed in the media over the last two months. is it the portrait of a man i do not know. a portrait mrs. cosby says painted by irresponsible media. none of us want to be in the position of attacking a victim.

but the question should be asked, who is the victim? >> a new chapter for the many accusers of bill cosby. >> the question is once again in the headlines. >> is this the slam dunk that vindicates cosby's accusers? >> it's in the 2005 case filed by andrea constand from temple university's athletic program. sealed court documents released after the report contain a startling admission. in a deposition cosby says in the 1970s he had prescriptions for the hypnotic sedative quaaludes. constand's lawyer asks when you got the quaaludes was it in your mind you were going to use these quaaludes for young women you wanted to have sex with? cosby responds, yes. question, did you ever give any of those young women the quaaludes without their knowledge. cosby's lawyer tells his client do not answer it. accusers who have stood their ground are voicing their relief and a sense of vindication. >> i was absolutely elated. i couldn't stop just screaming,

you know, i was just going, oh, my god, oh, my god. obviously we already knew. it's high time that the world finally starts to look and see directly at mr. cosby and he's the one at fault and not us. >> it is a game changer and it's about time. >> cosby's legacy already clouded, hangs in the balance. . >> professionally you can't deny his success or career or the importance of the "cosby show" mr. huxtable but you have to look at the man who created that category, bill cosby and remember all the things he is accused of doing and remember that. >> for barbara bowman, the long battle has been worth it. >> i have to imagine there is a sinking feeling somewhere in his gut. that it's over. >> in the days we spent with her

last fall she shared painful, intimate details about the past 30 years. and she was stoic. that is, until the end of our last interview. >> oh, my god. people are listening. my story's told. i'm not lying and now people know it. >> and i'm so sad for all of us. but it validates every one of us to be able to compare our stories and see the similarities and knowing in our heart, finally, did it happen? did it really happen? yes, it really happened. and it's over. it's over.

this is cnn news room live from los angeles. ahead this hour,, perp walked ad charged. america's favorite dad now out on bail after his arrest for sexual assault. it's war, donald trump holds his last campaign rally of the year much like his first with bluster and boast, and promises of a whole lot more to come. and one of the worst environmental disasters ever that almost no one is talking about. but we will this hour with activist erin brockovich. hello and welcome to our viewers in the united states and all around the world. great to have you with us. i'm john vause. "newsroom l.a." starts now.