the defense says rudy huxtable, the woman who played bill cosby's child on the cosby show will be inthe crowd to support him. bill cosby played in front of millions on the stage but today he faces his most important audience, 12 jurors and 6 alternates inside this courthouse. once known as america's dad bill cosby is a defendant accused of sexually assaulting a woman who considered him a mentor. andrea constand said she wept to talk about her career and he gave her wine and pills. >> the effect of which rendered her unable to move or respond to his advances and he committed aggravated indecent assault upon her. >> reporter: more than 50 women shared similar stories. >> i had an encounter with bill cosby. >> he had gone from helping me to groping me. >> bill cosby raped me. >> he made me a victim. >> reporter: in an interview with sirius xm radio host michael smerconish, cosby discussed dozens of accusers. >> the piling on, so to speak, is a way, certainly an oppressive way, to get public opinion to come to the other side. >> are you telling me that they're all lying. >> you know bett

comedian was accompanied by a member of his former tv family, keisha knight pulliam who played rudy huxtablethe cosby show. >> everyone is entitled to be innocent until proven guilty and i accept the verdict that is handed down but simply this is not the ma man that i've ever seen that i've ever known how he's ever shown up for me. >> reporter: now, there is a question over whether kelly johnson's mother is able to testify. prosecutors want to call her as a witness. the defense is opposed to that. the judge says he'll rule on that matter this morning. as for cosby, he is not expected to testify over the course of this trial. we're live in norristown, katherine scott, channel6 "action news. tam. >> all right, katherine, thank you for that. >>> and also today a jury will continue deliberating the case against a bucks county man accused of sexually assaulting six girls. prosecutors say the girls' parents put them in peril gifting them to 52-year-old lee donald kaplan. the defendant claims that he and the parents considered the oldest daughter underage when she was sent to live with kaplan to be

comedian was accompanied by a member of his former tv family, keisha knight pulliam who played rudy huxtable i accept the verdict that is handed down. this is not the ma and man that i've ever seen, that i've ever known, how he's ever shown up for me. >> reporter: and there is a question about whether prosecutors can call kelly johnson's mother to testify. the defense is opposed to that. the judge says he'll rule on this matter this morning. as for cosby, there are no plans for him to testify during the course of the trial. we're live in norristown, katherine scott, channel6 "action news. tam. >> all right, katherine, thank you for that. >>> also today a jury will continue deliberating the case against a bucks county man accused of sexually assaulting six girls, all sisters. prosecutors say the girls' parents put them in peril gifting that em to 52-year-old lee donald kaplan. the defendant claims he and the parents considered the oldest daughter who was underage when he was sent to live with kaplan to be his wife. he also claims that he never touched the younger girls who have testified that

. >> coming up at 7:00 on the "today" show, an interview with cosby's tv daughter, rudy huxtable. we saw keisha knight pulliam show her support last week at trial. see the interview after "nbc10 news today" at 6:00. >>> stay with us for continuing coverage. we will let you know as soon as a verdict is reached on air and our nbc10 app. >>> now to breaking news in london. a deadly apartment building fire has claimed lives. the fire commissioner just announced a building is still stable enough for crews to go inside. an unknown number of people have died inside the 24-story tower. the fire started last night and is still smoldering this morning. fire officials have rescued a large number of people. at least 50 have gone to hospitals. in this live picture, smoke is pouring out of the top of the building as they throw water on the bottom floors. there are still concerns that it could collapse. officials say it's being monitored for safety. nbc10's pamela osborne is tracking developments and will join us in -- in the next half hour with a live report. >>> mere are more of the stories we

prosecution says don't confuse cosby with cliff huxtable.

america's dad came to court in many a in many aways tv daughter keisha knight pulliam who played rudy huxtable on the cosby show. >> true family, friendship and integrity when people show up spent when things aren't looking so great. >> bill cosby not expected to testify in his own defense in this trial that is expected to last two weeks. testimony continues in the morning. lucy? >> yeah, you know packed courtroom there as well even with an overflow room from what we're understanding, chris, and despite all of those people there was a notable absence. >> reporter: yes, there was. camille cosby bill cosby's wife who he seen with before on interviews has not been present during any of the pre-trials nor the first day here in court. we didn't see any of his family with him today as he goes on this trial. >> all right. thank you very much, chris o'connell live there in norristown. >>> jurors back at work deliberating tomorrow in bucks county in lee kaplan trial of the jurors got the case today. kaplan sexually assaulted six girls in his feasterville home. oldest is now 18. prosecutors say the youn

with a member of his former tv family from the cosby show, keisha knight pulliam who played rudy huxtable by his side to show her support. >> this is not the ma and man that i've ever seen, that i've ever known, how he's ever shown up for me so at this point in time i feel, you know, i can onlyily go based on the interactions i've had with him. >> reporter: cosby is charged with three counts of aggravated indecent assault accused of drugging and sexually assaulting former temple university employee andrea constand at his home in cheltenham in 2004. opening statements took place yesterday morning. after lunch, the prosecution called their first witness, a different accuser kelly johnson. she told the jury that back in the 90's cosby pressured her to take a large white pill before violating her in a hotel bungalow as she worked as an assistant to cosby's talent agent for william morris. she is the only past accuser the judge is allowing to testify as prosecutors try to establish that cosby had a pattern of drugging and molesting young trusting women. her attorney, gloria allred said johnson

support keisha knight pulliam a child actress portraying rudy during the glory days of the fictitious huxtable family on television. she spoke with abc news. >> this is not the man that i've ever seen, that i've ever known. how he's ever shown up for me. so, at this point in time, i feel, you know, i can only go based on the interactions that i've had with him. >> reporter: but as prosecution testimony started, another female from bill cosby's past emerged kelly jackson knew cosby in the 90's in l.a. she told the jury cosby lured her tour a hotel bungalow plied her with drugs and wine and proceeded to sexually assault her as she went from extreme drowsiness to unconsciousness. >> by having been sexually assaulted or by some other event, then sometimes it's hard to recall every single dee tape. cosby's lawyers went on the attack challenging her credibility and her inability to remember statements she made to montgomery county detectives as recently as 2015. jackson was called to the witness stand bolster the d.a.'s claim that this is a cosby's bad behavior over decades. 60 women claimed cosby u

norristown, the entert of his former tv family from the cosby keisha knight pulliam who played rudy huxtable was by his side to show her support. tt i've ever seen. that i've ever known how he's ev s this point in time, i feel, you know, i can only go based had with him. >> reporter: cosby who will be 80 next month is with three counts of aggravated indecent assault sexually assaulting former temple universityrea constand as home in cheltenham opening statements took place yesterday morning. after lunch the prosecution called their first witness, a johnson. she told the jury that back in bye pressured her to take a large white pill before violati hotel bungalow as she worked as an assistant to cosby's talent agent morris. she is the only past accuser the judge is to testify as prosecutors try to establish that cosby had a molesting young, trusting women. her attorsaid johnson's testimos key fortern a plan, a theme, a design to>> ren cross-examination, defense at johnson's credibility pointing to conflicting statements she's d in 1990 and she went to his house in 96 for johnson cried on the s

his tv daughter is there, but the prosecution says don't confuse cosby with cliff huxtable.

cliff huxtable. drugging and sexually assaulting a woman, one of dozens who have accused him. here is jericka duncan. >> reporter: bill cosby had the support of his television daughter keshia knight pulliam, best known for playing rudy huxtable as he walked into a pennsylvania courthouse. a key witness for the prosecution, kelly johnson, took the stand this afternoon. johnson cried as she told jurors cosby forced her to take a pill and made her touch his private parts, an incident similar to andrea constand's, the woman cosby is accused of sexually according to the criminal complaint, cosby invited constand to his home in 2004 to discuss her future career plans. he allegedly gave constand pills, wine, and then sexually assaulted her. she waited nearly a year to report in her opening statement, prosecutor kristen feden said "this case is about trust, betrayal, and the ability to consent." and would use cosby's own words to prove he is guilty. defense attorney brian mcmonagle told the jury of 12, 7 men

heath cliff huxtable on the mega hit sitcom of the '80s, "the cosby show". >> ask mom? i? >> a program at its height of popularity was watched by 30 million people each week. the show gave him a large, loyal following and the persona of america's dad. a role which he continued to play after the show was over, calling out low-income black americans, urging them to get educated and behave. >> your 13-year-old son got no business seeing himself as a man who can drop a seed and walk away. >> he did more than lecture, becoming a vocal, visible supporter of historically black colleges and universities. >> not going to cut slack because of your color. you're strong people. >> but when it came to colleges, temple, his alma mater held a special place in his heart. >> temple was huge for him. he was a big backer of temple sports. when he became bill cosby became a member of the board, he had a lot of money to temple. >> and that's where cosby met andrea constand following a temple women's basketball game in late 2001. >> andrea constand was an administrator in the women's basketball

well, that's former cosby show co-start keisha knight pulliam who played rudy huxtable, a show of supportsby. even tweeted out picture of them posing inside the courthouse. here's the case on time. cosby accused of drugging and molesting a former temple university employee back in 2004. she's one of dozens of women who have accused cosby of sexual indeese sis, but she's the only one whose case has come to a criminal trial. cosby has said he will not take the stand. cnn's jean casarez tells us who else was in the courtroom. >> reporter: there are also three accusers here today as well as gloria allred and an absactually packed courtroom. the commonwealth, the prosecution began their opening statements by continuing to recite a certain phrase. there was trust here. there was betrayal here, and there was an inability to consent by the alleged victim andrea constand. the commonwealth went not fact that andrea constand was an employee at temple university. she met bill cosby. she trusted bill cosby. he became her mentor, and she knew bill cosby was a star, and she knew that he was a trustee of

huxtable, are nothing but a smoke screen! >> no matter how endearing the character these people play, they are not above the law. >> if convicted, cosby could spend up to 30 years in jail. >>> today is the first meeting of the bipartisan task force to end sexual violence. it will be a roundtable to address ongoing problems with the rape kit backlog and lack of access to sexual assault nurse examiners. anne makovec joins us with the details. >> reporter: for those who aren't familiar, when somebody is a victim of sexual assault they can go to a doctor for a rape kit a chance to collect potential dna evidence against the perpetrator but many times that evidence is then left untested collecting dust or even thrown out. representative jackie speier has been vocal about the issue on twitter. >> there is a bill at our state capital right now. ab41. supporters say the dad will allow the state to know the extent of untested kids so the state can provide more resources where they are needed. it would also allow sexual assault victims

the comedian, one time america's dad, showed up to court alongside his tv daughter, rudy huxtable. the prosecutor gave opening statements. in this court, cosby accused of drugging and sexually assaulting his alma mater. today there is no dispute that bill cosby gave her a pill. the question is whether she had the ability to consent at the time. a defense attorney said cosby gave her benadryl after she complained she couldn't sleep. dozens of women have made sexual assault allegations against bill cosby. case pertains to one of them. priva privatizing air traffic control. the president says he can cut down on flight delays. critics say passengers would pay the price. the new proposal coming up. you could spend the next few days weeding through w2s, pay stubs and bank statements to refinance your home. or you could push that button. [dong] [rocket launching] skip the bank, skip the paperwork, and go completely online. securely share your financial info and confidently get an accurate mortgage solution in minutes. lift the burden of getting a home loan with rocket mortgage by quicken

bill cosby's trial begins today:comedian's criminal case opens in yorktown with a member of the huxtablepport in the courtroom. >>> lawn mowing with a twist. a canadian man's resolve to finish his chores is causing a storm on social media. >>> good morning. this is "nbc10 news today." i'm pamela osborne. >> i'm tracy davidson. 6:30, 65 degrees. we have a lot to including the rain headed our way. meteorologist krystal klei has that. >>> another dreary start to the workweek. looking now at the first alert radar, cloudy conditions across the board. each of these spots of green are picking up in bucks county and chester county, you may see some sprinkles out there this morning. we had light showers a couple of hours ago, we'll continue with this including the commute. light showers popping up, spotty in center, not long-lasting. you can already see a little more action out to the west of us as we speak heading our way. dreary, not terribly rainy. into the afternoon, we'll see a good dose of rain particularly in the southern portions of our viewing area. you see the area of steady to heavy ra

with him hand in arm in a show of support actress keyshia knight plum who played his daughter rudy huxtable show. the trial is expected to last about two weeks. >>> the president may have walked away from the paris climate agreement but administration says he is not walking away from the issue. much more on that next. boost. it's about moving forward, not back. it's looking up, not down. it's being in motion. in body, in spirit, in the now. boost® high protein it's intelligent nutrition with 15 grams of protein and 26 vitamins and minerals. for when you need a little extra. boost® the number one high protein complete nutritional drink. be up for it its witnessed 2 diy duos,s 31 crashes,: 4 food fights, and the flood of '09. it's your paradise perfected with behr premium plus paint. the best you can buy starting under $25. only at the home depot. >>> all right, this morning, secretary of state rex tillerson said that president trump thinks climate change is important and isn't walking away from the issue by withdrawing from the paris climate agreement. >> i think the president indicating his

huxtable who america fell in love with, america fell in love with, and here's his television daughterby his side. and if the television daughter can stand by his side, that should send a powerful message to the jury. yes, she received a lot of blowback, because people were asking, how can you stand by his side given the 60 women that have come forward and made allegations. i think we should point out the defense's case, don. the defense is trying to undermine the credibility of constand. they've gone after her on her prior deposition testimony. they've gone after her on the statement she gave to the police a year after this incident. so they're going to keep hammering away at her testimony, trying to poke holes in it, to say she's not a credible and reliable witness. >> innocent until proven guilty. but can you imagine seeing america's tv dad going to prison? >> pretty incredible. >> thank you all. see you tomorrow night. s at the post office. they have businesses to run. they have passions to pursue. how do they avoid trips to the post office? stamps.com mail letters, ship packages,

away because they feel like the bill cosby of the 21st century is much different than the cliff huxtablehat they grew up with and there's a feeling that there's a tainting of who the man is. >> thank you, troy. >> speaking of back by popular demand, doug kammerer here to explain why it is that we woke up today in the middle of march, february, what the heck is going on outside? >> it's like june right now. we're about 15 degrees below average. if we were 15 degrees below average in march we'd be talking about 30 so this is the month of june. we can take a little bit cooler than average temperatures and rain out there too. at times today. you notice, those clouds on the cool side as we move on through. temperatures only in the 60s. 66 right now as we move on through the rest of the night. temperatures dropping through the low 60s till about 60 degrees. cool conditions across our region. i got you. my cameras leaving. there we are right there. 59 in winchester, 64 in leesburg, 68 in hundred tingeton. there's the cool temperatures. and we have some showers, d.c. eastward, i don't think we'l

she's the actress who played rudy huxtable on the cosby show. cosby tweeted this photo, thank you to cliff and claire's 4-year-old daughter rudy. came to court to hear the truth. montgomery county prosecutors tell a different version of this story. >>> they painted cosby as a person who exploited his fame. lauren mayk is outside the courthouse in norristown. while the prosecution attacks cosby's he's expected to bring his high profile supporters to court with him. >> reporter: we're told that his team could make those decisions day by day. we are on the lookout for cosby's real life wife and his tv wife. no sign of them today and it's not clear when or if they might make an appearance but we did see today the youngest of the cosby kids, all grown and here to support her tv dad. >> because i said so. i said it's beautiful, okay? >> reporter: on tv they were the father and daughter who lit up the screen. cliff tux table and little rudy, today together again as a now grown up keisha knight pulliam walked bill cosby into the courthouse. >> it's easy

against a superstar, america's dad if you will, that is who he is best known as as doctor keith huxtable. many people were saying what happens now if the fact that they are able to bring this case forward and in the next six months. is it wise for the prosecution to come forward? gloria albright would certainly agree. >> if it was irresponsible for the prosecution to come out and say they are going to retry the case but even first trying to find out how the jury was weighing this. we have 11 people for a conviction and one for an acquittal? or was it vice versa? jury doesn't have to say but typically they will. so let's get some information before you come out hard charging for the second time thing we are going to retry this. really? let's weigh your options and do some homework before you decide to do that. >> he did say he was going to do homework that he said he came out swinging saying i'm going to go after this again. but to gloria's point, if she is able to get more women who claim that there were situations that they had with bill cosby that involve sexual assault, she's able to

cosby arrived at court yesterday with actress keshia knight pulliam, who played his daughter rudy huxtables popular television show. >> i came to support because this is where you hear the facts. that's where the truth happens. >> cosby is on trial for allegedly drugging and molestic temple university employee andrea constand in 2004. she's also expected to take the stand during the trial. >>> uber plans on moving into oakland next year. and some worried oaklanders are launching a campaign to make sure uber is better neighbor. a handful of local activists have launched no uber oakland. that's the name of the campaign. their goal is to stop their movement to thes building. rather to get uber to hire diverse residents, to support local businesses and invest in affordable housing. >> a climber who did something amazing, some believe could never be done, now talking a historic assent. >> imagine being this boy's parents. some call the entire thing crazy. he climbed the granite wall of yosemite's el capitan, without any ropes. 3,000 feet above the ground with no net. the american climber did it

one person who came to support cosby is his youngest tv daughter who played rudy huxtable. >> i don't take these charges lightly. i don't condone sexual assault in any way, shape or form. at the end of the day our court system is set up and the judge said plenty of times in the beginning of this whole thing that you are innocent until you're proven guilty. and the job now is for the two sides to prove their cases. and i accept whatever verdict is handed down. >> the tv legend later tweeted this note to the actress along with a photo thanking her for her support. cosby has repeatedly denied all allegations. testimony resumes today. >>> america's top diplomat in china has resigned in protest of the president's decision to withdraw the united states from the paris climate accord. in a town hall meeting with embassy employees yesterday a charge d'affaires officer at u.s. embassy in beijing, david rank, explained his decision saying he was asked to support a policy that as a parent, christian he could not do. he's served in state department since 1990. former iowa governor terry branstad h

cosby arrived at court yesterday with actress keshia knight pullman who played his daughter rudy huxtable came to support because this is where you hear the facts. >> cosby right now is on trial for allegedly drugging and molesting andrea constand in 2004. she's also expected to take the stand in this trial. >> some investors in google's parent company are reportedly calling for a closer example of what critics say is the deep gender pay gap. one group of investors will ask alphabet share holders to demand a report on what they claim is a massive pay gap between male and female google employees. alphabet, google's parent company, denies such a gap exists. >> 5:16. happening today, nasa testing its uned aircraft. mostly just drones, at moffett field. the goal is to refine the technologies involved. if you're near the nasa facility, you might see some drones flying around this morning. don't be alarmed. >> a federal judge may reportedly name ken feinberg to oversee the $1 million takata will pay for faulty airbags. feinberg haa lot of experience in this area. he previously oversaw funds for

bill cosby was accompanied by keisha night pulliam who played rudy on cosby's hit tv show on the huxtable family. she talked with abc today about what brought her here. >> just really important for me to be here to show my support for mr. cosby. at the end of the day it's the jury's job to discern the truth. but at the end of the day t-it's just -- it's what what yu do in terms of being supportive. >> reporter: the first prosecution witness today was a woman who knew bill cosby back in the 90's and los angeles and worked him when she worked at his talent agency. she testified cosby lured her to a bungalow at a hotel where he plied her with wine and cosby took her clothes off and sexually assaulted her. she decided she and her family decided not to press charges fearing cosby was too famous and she would wind up humiliated in the tabloids. she was called as a witness because the d.a. wants to show a pattern of bad behavior dating back decades. andrea constand says in 2004 she visited cosby at his cheltenham mansion and was assaulted the same way after taking pills cosby gave her and drink

support keisha knight pulliam a child actress portraying rudy during the glory days of the fictitious huxtable. >> this is not the man that i've ever seen, that i've ever known. how he's ever shown up for me.

. >> you feel like maybe at least one of these jury roars may be looking at cliff huxtable and not bill cosby? >> absolutely. >> reporter: it's not at all clear how the jury is broken down at this point. is it six-six, 11-one. we can tell you that cosby spokesperson andrew wyatt made a clear plea to the jury members when he said don't change your mind, hold firm. that certainly suggests they believe they've got a couple of hold outs on their side. they don't want to see them turn their vote around. the judge in sending the jury back to work gave no time frame in the courtroom to say, hey,k- we're really tide, we're really deadlocked and this is a mistrial. for now the jury continues to deliberate bill cosby's fate remains hanging in the balance that's what's going on inside the courtroom. outside things have gotten crazier as this day has progress. our chris o'connell with that part of the story. chris? >> reporter: bruce, like you've seen with every hour that passes without a verdict outside the montgomery county courthouse, the media circus here becomes bigger, becomes louder, becomes

cliff huxtable, much-beloved figure to people. john, i'll let you go at that first. >> i think that's important. i haven't been involved with a celebrity person before. it is extraordinarily difficult. the fact that he did not testify was to his advantage because you don't want celebrities to lie. on the other hand, this is a little bit different because the publicity he has received is so broad and so negative that that also could be hurtful to him as well. but i think on balance, people want to give a celebrity like him the benefit of the doubt and, therefore, the prosecution has to overcome the celebrity status in a case of this kind. >> bill cosby is a lot of things, but first and foremost, he's wealthy. secondly, he's a celebrity. third or fourth, he's black. so let's be clear. he is a man of great privilege. and he happens to be a privileged man who is black, but it's irrelevant in a case like this because wealth and celebrity trump everything else. that's part of why he won, there's no doubt about it. >> your thoughts, thom

plan patty, his giving of millions of dollars to black historical colleges, his comedy, his doctor huxtable are nothing but a smoke screen they are a diversion to distract the public and the world from knowing his true nature which is is that of a depraved, lying, coward, serial drugging rapist. >> reporter: so, what can happen next? well, i will give you five possibilities. yesterday at this time we warned everybody about that spencer charge. that was accurate to show that yesterday. here's what can happen next. i will have fives about all that canartial verdict guilr not guilty or come back e asked through this but she this cosby more than certainly was interesting yesterday, steve seeing the commotion that was going on outside the courthouse. people had drums. some people have signs. they were playing music. >> reporter: that is why we have barricade. we have stuff you only see in new york where it is a thin line. that was added yesterday just as a protection, because it was, nuts out here. i have to use that word because it was a wild scene. after that dead locked note. >> like you said