charged in a high-stakes case. >> america has been watching his stunning fall in slow motion. >> not stand up comedy but standing uin court on assault charges. >> mr. cosby, how do you respond to the charges? >> his signature sweater, now stripped of color. a stumble, and a cane, for the 78-year-old. and just this week, his wife, camille, her deposition in a civil ca now on hold. tonight, some of the women and their accusations that have brought bill cosby to this turning point. >> they kept saying to me, "you're so beautiful. and yoyou wanna an actress? oh, you would be terrific. we have to introduce her to cos." >> i first met bill cosby in 1969. >> in 1976. >> in 1984. >> was an aspiring comedy writer. >> i was a flight attetendant t fo american airlines. >> i was a singer/songwriter. >> i was just a small town girl. >> i wasn't gonna go up against goliath. i would have never ever told anyone.

fear. >> we have a right to speak our voice. i don't need people to validate my onion, and what happened. what i need to do is tell my story. good evening. i'm elizabeth vargas. >> and i'm david muir. >> after macing the court of public opinion, bill cosby now for the first time has entered a real court, charged with criminal assault and ift could send the comedian to jail. >> cosby's lawyers says they will fight the criminal charges and that his accusers are lying. tonight, you will hear from some of the dozens of women who have come forward with accusations hans against cosby.y. and they have, we should warn you, graphic dedale.

>> comedian charged with aggravated assault. and violated a woman more than a decade ago. >> reporter: it has been a long fall for the once powerful and revered entertainer, from magazine covers to mug shot. released last week on $1 million bond, the now faltering elderly man facing up to ten years in prison if convicted. there are people who say that that entire entrance into court, complete with the stumble on the step, was all choreographed. >> i don't think there's any question that the fact that bill cosby looks like a frail, old man will be seen by his attorneys as potential benenefit. >> reporter: for years, a chorus of women making allegations, now one of them, for the firirst time, getting her day in criminal court. >> i think he never imagined

claims made by this woman, andrea constand, 12 years ago. just last week prosecutors filing criminal charges, days before the statute of limitations ran out. constand alleging that cosby drugged and sexually assault her. and while he denies the charges, they are striking similar to disturbing stories tolby a chorus of women spanning five decas. >> it is impor for the world to know the truth. >> i felt dominated. >> sexually assauaulted me. >> sexually assaulted me. >> i said stop it. >> bill cosby appears to think rape is a joke. well, let me tell you something, bill, m not laughing. >> reporter: to date more than 50 women have come forward. more then a dozen of them agagreed to sit down and share their stories in unprecedented detail, as seen in a&e's documentaryry

through his attorneys cosby has issued staunch denials. >> what i am saying is that mr. cosby has denied the accusations. the sheer volume or number of people who are saying a particular thing does not make it true. >> reporter: even after long sealed crt statements by cosby revealed he admitted to procuring quaaludes for extramarital s sex. >> what we're so far are headlines that are grabbing one excerpt or two and then %-pmisinterpreting them. >> reporter: for his outraged fellow comedians, cosby has become a punchline. >> and sleeping beauty just thought she was getting coffee with bill cosby. >> reporter: leaving co-stars and friends in shock. >> whahas happened is, declaration in the media of guilt, without proof. and a legacy is being destroyed because oft, it's being obliterated.

disbelief. >> i have been in this business 52 years. and i will-- i've never seen anything like this. and reality is the situation. and i -- i can't speak. >> reporter: the allegations against him start in the mid '60s, a time when bill cosby, a former temple university track star from philadelphia, was already on his way to becoming a legend for breaking racial barriers. his comedy albums were in black and white useholds across the country, and he was the first black actor to star in his own show, "i spy." "variety" called him "television's jackie robinson." >> it was a time when there was

riots and chaos over poverty, racism, the vietnam war. you wanted to believe that that american spirit was still there. who better to exemplify that than a black kid from a humble house in urban philadelphia who makes it big and gets accepted into people's homes. >> everything changes now. >> do you know anything about spanish fly? >> what? >> spanish fly? >> reporter: if the allegations against bill cosby are true they give haunting new meaning to one of his most famous routines, spanish fly. >> you know anything about spanish fly? no, tell me about it. well, there's this girl, crazy mary, you put some in her drink man and she's like [ unintelligible grunting ] >> i said, "it's too sweet." and he said, "no, no, no, , you need to drink it and to loosen up." >> he said, "just ya know, just relax, have a drink first and then we'll get into the writing."

wine glalass, he sd, "here, take this. this will make you feel better." >> i was an n aspiringomedy writer. my name is joan tarshis, and i am 67 years old. i first met bill cosby in 1969 when he was shooting "the bill cosby show." i went with him back to the om where we had the lunches. >> reporter: she says he poured her a drink. >> very shortly after that i just g very groggy. and the next thing i know he was there taking off my pants. and i thought quickly and said i had a vaginal infection, which

so he stuck his manly parts into my mouth until he was finished and then i was given $10 and a cab to take me home. >> reporter: joan does admit she accepted another invitation from cosby to see him perform onstage. >> i thought, "maybe we're going to a theater where there's lots of people so i'll be okay." we got into the limo, i think i had a drink there. >> reporter: joan claims she doesn't remember what happenened next. >> the next morning when i woke up next to him naked and i just slipped out of bed feeling lower than dirt. >> my name is victoria valentino. i am a vintage playboy playmate. i'm a registered nurse.

>> reporter: victoria valentino says she and a friend dined with cosby in 1969, and that he knew she'd lost her 6-year-old son in a drowning accident. >> he knew that my child had died. and i was very depressed, you know? and he leaned across and he put a pill next the wine glass. he said, "here, take this. this will make you feel better." and i thought great, you know. and i really never felt t in any danger from him at all. and so i took the pill. i couldn't keep my head up. and i was starting to feel nauseated. and i said, wanna go home." >> reporter: but instead of taking the two women home, valentino claims cosby drove them to a small office. >> and then, all of a sudden, i realized everything was very, very silent. so i opened my eyes and i looked around and he got up came over

extracted his pound of flesh. i could hardly walk by that time. and i couldn't talk. he unzipped his fly, had me perform oral sex, then he stood me up, turned me backwards and did me and he walked o and if there is any question about why women don't report rape it's because it's so damned humiliating. you don't ever want to talk about it again. >> ne, from the playboy mansion to cosby's home for christmas. and this woman says an assault, with his family not far away. >> to sexually assault me in his home on christmas eve, that's unbelievable. >> when we come back.d. you know the symptoms when they start. abdominal pain. urgent diarrhea. now there's prescription xifaxan. xifaxan is a new ibs-d treatment that helps relieve your diarrhea

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once again, elizabeth vargas. >> reporter: by the late 1960s, bill cosby's career was hitting new highs. he was starring in his own sitcom and was ataple on "the tonight show," guest hosting for johnny carson more than 30 times. >> i defininitely thk there's been a takeover. >> reporter: cosby was also a regular at the playboy mansion in los angeles. and a recurring guest on the show "playboy after dark." the playboy brand meant style and glamour. >> i modeled for "playboy" magane that year and the issue was coming out in november of 1977. my name is sarita butterfield and i was 22 yea old when i met bill cosby. >> reporter: she says she'd

when he called her on the phone. >> he said to me that he had saw my picture in the magazine and thought i was very beautiful. and he heard that i was an aspiring actress. and he says, "how would you like to join me and my family for christmas eve dinner in massachusetts?" wow. i was ecatic. everything was wonderful. and until later that evening -- i was in the guest house and i was alone. bill cosby wrapped hisrms around me, grabbed me by my hair and pulled me back and he was attempting to kiss me. groping me, not just my breasts. he felt pretty entitled to touch me in parts that he had no right to. i said, "stop. get off me." i said, "your family is here." what was i gonna say? his intentions were to prey on me.

me in his home on christmas eve. that was, that's unbelievable. i don't know. i've never gotten over it. i've never told anyone. and the worst is when you come back from a tuation, all the bunnies, my fellow coworkers and bunnies, thehey wanna ow, "oh, my god, you, bill cosby, what was it like?" what can i say? it was wonderful. >> reporter: by 1972, cosby had a new hit cartoon -- the now-classic "fat albert." >> hey, hey, hey. >> reporter: and he was beginning to work in movies, even starring opposite sidney poitier in "uptown saturday night." >> you see what i saw? > yes, i w what you saw! you de? >> reporter: his film career wasas abt to take off. by ts time cosby was a bon fide member of the international jet set. >> i was a flight attendant for american airlines.

>> reporter: "elizabeth" is using an assumed name. she says to protect her family and her business. she says she had just turned 20 when she saw bill cosby on a flight from new york to los angele >> i couldn't wait to get his autograph. he was very obliging and he said, "i'd like to take you to dinner." he t took me ta place called tokyo kaikan. he had a glass o of sake. and i really didn't know what sake was. i did not drink or do drugs. but he said, "taste it, just taste it. you need to drink it t to loosen up." it's bill cosby, what could happen? it was literally like being under anesthesia and, um, trying to come out but you can't. after that, i don't know how i ended up in his hotel room.

robe and he sat down. and he told me to come over and kneel down and the rest is just too hard to talk about. and then i started getting profusely sick and the driver got me in his car and i was throwing up in a rolls-royce and i said, i'm so sorry. and the driver said, "you aren't the first." and i was filled with shame and guilt, i would have never ever told anyone. when we return, pitching products on screen. >> it's a snack because it's so rich and creamy. >> and sheays piting lies off screen as an acting coach. >> he told me to bring a monologue. >> reporter: showing her

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he's always hanging out with his friends. you've got to be prepared to sit at the edge of your seat and be ready to get up. there's no "deep couch sitting." definitely not good for my back. this is the part i really don't like right here. (doorbell) what's that? a package! it's a swiffer wetjet. it almost feels like it's moving itself. this is kind of fun. that comes from my floor? eww! this is deep couch sitting.

tt2w`t3n`&d! bt@q:1d tt2w`t3n`&d! "a@q*= tt2w`t3n`&d! bm@q!6, tt4w`t3n`&d!" dztq #', tt4w`t3n`&d!" entq s#l tt4w`t3n`&d!" gzt& j$4 tt4w`t3n`&d!" hnt& z*x tt4w`t3n`&d!" iztq 0c tt4w`t3n`&d!" jntq "3@ tt4w`t3n`&d!" lzt& :^< twts continue "20/20" continues with the new cosby cars. >> reporter: in the late 1970s and early '80s, cosby's fame would make him thehe perfect pitchman for big american brands like jell-o pudding. >> it's a snack fit for a ng because it's so rich and creamy >> reporter: ford, and coca-cola. >> real cola relief from coca-cola. >> reporter: the ads bsted his wealth and cemented a trust-worthy persona. >> this stuff is great. >>eporter: in private, a starkly different story was allegedly unfolding. >> my agent called me and said there was an icon who was interested in mentoring promising, young talent. my name is heidi thomas and i was 24 years old when i first met bill cosby. my first thought was, "wow, i'm promising, young talent."

called her and her parents to personally invite her to reno, nevada, for acting coaching in 1984. >> i thought it was nice that he called. he seemed to be intent on making sure we weren't worried about this trip. i wondered why he was making susuch a poi of saying, "everything's going to be fine." >> he told me to bring a monologue. because he was so squeaky clean, it nev occurred to me that there was anything untoward about this at all. i kept my tickets. >> reporter: thinking it was the chance of a lifetime, heidsays she kept everything. and 31 years later, she says she still has the plane ticket, and a scrapbook of photos of her trip to reno. >> it would have looked weird if i didn't keep a scrapbook about getting acting coaching from bill cosby, so absolutely, i took pictures. that's what i wore to the airport. there was a driver there to pick me up and he said, "oh, yes.

a friend of mr. cosby's has loaned him his ranch house." there's what i drove up to, right here, this big, verandas sprawling ranch house. rang the doorbell. bill cosby answers the door in his sweats and very casual and veryriendly. >> reporter: heidi says she was shown her room and later performed her monologue for cosby. >> he wasn't too impressed. he said, "let's try a cold read." so he handede a script. and the person i'm supposed to be clearly is intoxicated. i do remember him saying, "heidi, have you ever been drunk?" and i said, "no, not really." and he said, "well, how -- how do you expect to play role like this?" so he poured a glass and he said, "all r right. this is your prop. you're gonna sip on your wine." and i lirally -- i don't remember anything other than one sip. >> reporter: she says the next four days are a drug induced

but she says she does remember mental snapshots. >> my clothes were on. his were not. and i was lying down and he was forcing himself in my mouth. then the next snapshot is, i hear his voice basically telling me that we're gonna be doing this again. and i thought, "this isn't why i'm here." and i have no memory of being taken back to the airport, of being greeted by my parents. >> reporter: several weeks later, she says she went to a show in st. louis to get answers about what happened. >> all i can say is that i just -- i nted to make it right. did i remember things right? was this a nightmare? did he say he was gonna mentor

when it became clear that i wasn't going to get any answers to any of my questions, i wanted a picture with him. my parents and i never discussed this. not once. i didn't tell my agent. i knew that if i made this allegation agagainst thequeaky cleaean bill cby -- who's she gonna believe? in the battle of public opinion alone, he was teflon. >> he really knew how to zero in on my insecurities and my vulnerababilities. >> reporter: in 1985, barbara bowman was living in denver, a 17-year-old aspiring model-actress. >> i had no father figure in my life, was an only child and he knew there were trust issues there.

for new talented and i was selected as one of the talent. >> reporter: she claims cosby manipulated her into trusting him and later drugged and sexually assaulted her several times. >> i had one glass of wine and the next thing i knew i was coming to, slumped over the toilet throwing up and he was looming over me in a white robe. and i was in my panties and a white t-shirt. i was sick, i was confused, i was foggy. but i knew something had happened. >> reporter: she says there was another incident in a hotel, in atlantic city. >> he attacked me, he came after me like a wild animal and tried to rape me and i was coherent enough to fight, and scratch, and scream and cry and try to rustle my way out of there. he had mpinned to the bed with his elbow under my chin and was ferociously trying to remove his belt buckle and pants while trying to get down my pants, and

fought so hard that he eventually threw me awayay off the bed. he looked me square in the eye and he said, "i better never, ever hear your name or see your face again." >> reporter: bowman confided in a girlfriend yearsater who took her to a lawyer. >> when i went to a lawyer in 1989 he laughed me out of the office. who's gonna believe me? he's dr. huxtable after all, america's favorite dad. >> reporter: enter dr. huxtable and a runaway hit. and an actress who says he used the show for an assault. >> nuzzled my neck and said, "this is making love. we're gonna make love." >> reporter: a "cosby show" cast member speaks up. >> something is goin' on. everybody is not auditioning.

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>> mr.r. mcmanusyour wife is having a baby in there. >> reporter: in 1984, the emmy winning nbc sitcom "the cosby show" would make bill cosby a household name for a whole new generation. >> will you look at this? they'r in -- ah i got you, i got you! >> reporter: cosby's dr. cliff huxtable and his family were educated professionals whose problems and popularity transcended race. >> dad, you're great.

message for the african american community for the whole world to know that we're a part of the american fabric. >> reporter: so many people wanted to be a part of it, including beverly johnson, already famous in her own right as the decade's most celebrated african-american model. shshe is onef more than a dozen women who shareded their sries in a&e's documentary "cosby: the women speak." >> i was thrilled that they were interested in auditioning me for the show. i believe that there was even a possibility of a re-occurring role. >> reporter: in the mid-'80's, johnson says she was invited to cosby's brownstone to rehearse. next, she says he insisted she try a cappuccino. >> immediately i felt woozy. everythi was spinning. and i was dizzy, and i knew i had been drugged.

he puts one hand around my waist. and i remember cocking my head and saying, "you're a [ bleep ], aren't you?" >> reporter: according to johnson, cosby escorted her out of the house and threw her into a taxi >> i was so disappointed. it was like a family member had done something to me. i knew that the kind of person i was dealing with would destroy me. >> my names is chelan lasha,a, and i was 17 years old when i met bill cosby. >> reporter: like johnson, chelan lasha says she admired cosby, she believed he was interested in helping with her career, when she was invited to his las vegas hotel, in 1986. chelan says her aunt had shohown cosby her photo, and he then offered to introduce her to the

you know, bill cosby. bill cby. i went to the hilton, he said that someone from the agency was goining to meeme. took a couple of snapshots of me and they had left and i was having really babad allergs and he said, "here, this is an antihistamine," and it was a blue pill, and he gave it to me with a shot of amaretto. you know, he said, "it'll make you feel better." pretty soon i got to feeling kinda disoriented and it's like i couldn't move my body. and i was like -- like, kinda catatonic. he began pinching on my breasts and he was grunting. and i kept saying to myself, "dr. huxtable -- dr. huxtable," and i remember something warm up my leg and i -- and i was passed out and i woke up to him saying,

said, wake up." put about $1500 on the dresser. i thought i was gonna to be on "the cosby show," i thought he was gonna help me. and he didn't help me, he hurt me. he made me feel like nobody. i felt le nothing. who's gonna believe me? i'm just a high school student. >> reporter: later in her life, chelan had run-ins with the law. she says the experience with cosby changed the course of her life. >> i hate that iet him. my life changed when i met him for the worse. you know, i've got a piece of my soul back, but it took a long time. >> the really big bucks are in show business. bill cosby is the biggest,

>> repter: by the late 1980s, cosby was a powerhouse bra. forbes magazine rates him the e hiest paid celebrity in america, making millions from television commercials, stand-up shows and best-selling booksks. >> bill cosby was a titan in 1989. >> we were contacted by a mr. krauss. >> reporter: that year, a 23-year-old eden tirl was cast as aolice officer on an episode of "the cosby show." she claims she was singled out and called to cosby's dressing room where shehe was harsed. >> he closed the door and locked it behind him, pulled me into his body, squeezed me tight, nuzzled my neck and said, "see, this is making love. we're just going to make love. this is it." i cannot imagine -- i cannot imagine that there aren't people who were working in and around that set, that knew that something was going on.

martin kendall, denise huxtable's husband, from 1989 to 1992. >> but there was always a sense of something. and there were people whispering. this parade that would come through of beautiful women. something -- something is going on. everybody's not auditioning, you know. >> reporter: but phillips says he didn't believe recent allegations against cosby until a friend of his who has not come forward told him privately that she had been assaulted by cosby. >> two hours later, i've listened to the whole story. and she says, "do you believe me?" i say, "yes, i believe you." it's a tragedy. he was well loved by millions and millions of people.

stage. >> these young girls got no business having sex. >> reporter: a fellow comic woululd take h on from the stand up stage. >> yeah, but you raped women bill cosby, , so --" >> reporter: when we come back.s made for better things than rheumatoid arthritis. before you and your rheueumatologi move to a biologic, ask if xeljanz is right for you. xeljanz is a small pill for adults with moderate to severe ra for whom methotrexate did not work well. xeljanz can reduce joint pain and swelling in as little a as two wes, and help stop further joint damage. xeljanz can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections, lymphoma, and other cancers have happened. don't starart xeljan if you have an infection. tears in the stomach or intestines, low blood cell counts, and higher liver tests and cholesterol levelsls have happened. your doctor shld perform blood tests before you start and while taking xeljanz, and monitor certain liver tests. tell your doctor ifyou were in a region where fungal infections are common, and if you have had tb,

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tt2w>rxlh po j# o,p tt2w>rxlh p!!*n ?,8 tt2w>rxlh p4!j# i:l tt2w>rxlh px#*&`:n48 tt2w>rxlh pt#j'`:z4\ \ tt2w>rxlh pt#j)`:qt8 tt2w>rxlh pp#j*`:fo$ tt2w>rxlh pp#j,`:'5d tt2w>rxlh pl#*.`:.rxlh pl#*0`:5* "20/20" continues we elizabeth vargas. v >> reporter: for the new millennium, cosby had a new image going from actor to activist using h his fame preach to the black community. >> he wins the biggest humanitarian award a civilian

and he's like, the best of american citizens and i go into the bathroom and throw up. >> 70% of the teenage pregnant happen to be african-american girls. don't ask me to soften my memessage. >> the old cosby would've made a joke out of that. the new cosby wasn't really so much joking he was -- he was criticizing. >> respe for yourself. respect for others. these young girls got no business having sex. >> reporter: but in 2005, the veneer of the revered actor and father figure was starting to chip away. a woman from pennsylvania would file a civil suit with claims that would ultimately lead to cosby's day in criminal court. andrea constand, a former temple

claimed that a year prior, at cosby's home, she took three blue pills that cosby had offered her and became barely conscious. she said he then molested her. cosby denied assaulting her and said the pills he offered her were benadryl. eventually, 13 other women came forward to constand's attorneys with similar stories and offered to testify on r behalf. >> i said that's enough, i will not sit in silence any longer and no one believed this woman d i did because her story was my story. >> reporter: but before any of the 13 jane does could testify, on november 8, 2006, the lawsuit was settled with a confidentiality agreement and aled. little did cosby know that years later this case would come back to haunt him. and even back in 2006, that didn't stop the jane does from

>> it was my calling to come forward and not stay a jane doe, that people knew my name that people knew had the courage to come out, hoping to empower other women. >> reporter: the allegations fadeded from plic consciousness, becomi littlmore than a footnote in cosby's decades long career. >> and i just had to shelve it, file it away and carry on with my life. >> reporter: a bestselling biography about cosby came out in 2014 that omitted any mention of sexual assault allegations. with a national comedy tour, cosby seemed primed for a lalate career renaissance. but, it would be another comic who would steal the spotlilight and shine new light on old allegations. on a thursday night in october 2014, a blogger attended hannibal buress' standup set at the trocadero theatre in philadelphia. >> pull your pants up, black people.

had a successful sitcom. yeah, but you raped women bill cosby, so -- >> reporter: the video of comedian hannibal buress calling cosby a rapist wt viral. >> this guy is a man. a man is making a joke about it in his standup routine? and suddenly everybody believes him. >> there were many, many, many women that had come forward long before this comedian h said anything. so i think that's [ bleep ]. >> reporter: barbara bowman told her story yet again in an extraordinary article for "the washington post." the headline, "bill cosby raped me. why did it take 30 years for people to believe my story?" >> the timing was right, i guess. the impact of social media is so immediate that people were listening. >> reporter: the story was suddenly a headline that cosby could not esca.

during an interview with the associated press. >> i have to ask about your name coming up in the news recently, regarding, this comedian. >> no, no. we don't answer that. >> okay. >> now, can i get something from you? >> what's that? that none of that will be showown. and i would appreciate it, if it was scuttled. >> reporter: when we come back, what's next in the court case, and could cosby go to jail? >> he's facing up to ten years behind bars. honey is magic, no doubt. i mean, you're eating sunshine. start with triscuit and honey, and then add on from there. the original triscuit. it starts sily with three ingredients. it's just a great little platform.

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once again, elizabeth vargas. >> reporter: years of allegations against bill cosby, but no criminal action until now. >> mr. cosby, how do you feel about the charges? >> m cosby is charged with aggrated indecent assault. this is a felony of the first degree. >> reporter: thanks to a deposition buried by court order nine years ago in that civil case brought by andrea constand and unearthed earlier this year, cosby's own damning words from that depositio admitting that he had given some women quaaludes, now being used against him by montgomery county prosecutor kevin steele. >> all bill cosby admits giving andrea that night was some benadryl. he does not say he gave her quaaludes. other women, yes, not her. >> and she's gonna say, "i remember what happened to me. benadryl doesn't do that to you." >> doesn't render you unconscious, incapable of moving.

the legal questions in t case. >> reporter: and cosby's lawyer, monique pressley, is ready to fight that question as she also denies all the charges against him. >> he did admit to having available to him 40 years earlier the drug quaaludes, which was at the time a legal drug, and that he offered it to two women who took it consensually. >> reporter: the psecutor's case is not a slam dunk. it is based almost entirely on testimony from the accuser, andrea constand, about an incident that happened 12 years ago with no forensic evidence to back it up. but there is tt long list of alleged victims repeating a very similar story. >> whether all of these other women are gonna be able to testify is gonna be an enormous legal battle. >> and how does the prosecution argue that they should be heard? >> the prosecutors will argue that this was his m.o. this was a pattern of conduct on hipart, it was the drugs.

fights the criminal charges in pennsylvania, his lawyers are also fighting in a massachusetts courtroom. >> lawyers representing seven women suing bill cosby for defamation say they plan to seven of his alleged victims have filed a defamation suit against cosby. just a week ago, cosby struck back with a defamation suit of his own against the e women including bowman, tarshis and separately ainst beverly johnson. >> these seven counter defendantsts have ma false, malicious statements against mr. cosby. >> reporter: in fact, cosby's lawyers have denied all the allegations against him. but the accusers say they find strength in each other. >> i had the courage to come out. hoping to empower other women. i have gone from victim to victim's advocate. >> i knew i wasn't the only one. >> and you can't take that on by

>> a woman drove by just two weeks ago and spit at me and called me liar. which really shook me up. nobody likes to be called a liar, nobody likes to be spit at. especially when you are not lying. >> the numbers started building, then you realize now it's not just me e against e giant. >> it was me and you and you and you and you and you and you. >> and finally i told my daughter. >> reporter: many of these women say the rst step towards coming forward was to tell their mothers, their sisters, their daughters. >> she was, like, so upset. and then i told her, "and i might be cominout with the story." she said, "no, don't, mom. do you wt that for your legacy?" and then my daughter calls back and says, "you know i talked to my husband," and she said, "i want you to tell your story.

behind you." >> i said, "mom, you know i couldn't have told you. no one would've ever believed me. it was bill cosby." and she just cried and cried and cried and cried and cried and cried and held me, like i was 19 again. >> here i am, 38 years later finally telling my story. no one would've ever believed me in 1976. >> victims can come forward, they can speak out. no matter how wealthy, no matter how faus, no matter how powerful you a, you are not exempt from justice and the law. >> and of course we will continue to follow this story and bring you all the latest developments. i'm elizabeth vargas. >> and i'm david muir. thanks for spending part of your

and enjoy theest of y nikki: democratic presidental candidates square off in des moines tonight. we've got the details in your local election headquarters. lol 5 news at 10 starts now. "you're watching local 5 news at 10 in hd .we are iowa's most accurate weather team and we start with your forecast first." bree weather adlib: choose any word for cold, and use it to describe tonight and tomorrow. it is going to be dangerously cold overnight under mostly clear skies. temperatures are going just below zero overnight in the metro, but with a stiff northwest wind, the wind chills will be closer to twenty below and thirty below in northern iowa. the skies will be full of sun tomorrow, but it will do little to warm our temperatures. the metro and areas south will barely get to the double digits while northern iowa will only reach in the single digits above zero. brrr! winds will continue to be breezy from the west- northwest tomorrow, so the wind chills will keep everyone feeling sub-zero through the day. try to limit any outdoor time you have tonight and tomorrow and keep your pets on local five