[000 00 59;00] nightly news begins right now. Announcer from nbc news World Headquarters in new york, this is nbc nightly news with lester holt. Good evening. For years, he made america laugh. Whether as the jello pitchman or as the patriarch of the huxtable family. Bill cosbys fall from grace among sexual allegations took a more serious turn today. Cosby ordered to stand trial on criminal Sexual Assault charges. The comic icon facing the possibility of a tenyear prison sentence if convicted of a crime that allegedly occurred more than a decade ago. Today cosbys lawyers previewed just how they plan to discredit his accuser. Nbcs Stephanie Gosk reports from the courthouse in pennsylvania. Reporter once americas dad, now turned defendant. Bill cosby needed assistance walking into court today. Despite his lawyers judge ruled there was enough evidence to go to trial. Were going to move forward on the case. Look forward to getting a trial date. Reporter cosby is fighting criminal charges th
To go and report my Sexual Assault because of the power of bill cosby. 32 years ago, at the time, i felt very alone. No one would have believed that mr. Jello pudding pop, mr. Doctor was capable of rape and Sexual Assault. Reporter the two women have been working with representative rhonda fields who is sponsoring two bills in committee to extend the time frame a victim can file Sexual Assault charges without dna evidence. One bill aims to a bollish colorados current ten year limitation and the other to extend it. I prefer to a boll lish the statute of limitation, but if that bill is unsuccessful, then we have another shot. And that shot is to move forward with the cap of 20 years. Reporter they say that sex assault victims often need time to feel safe about coming forward with their story. Were paralyzed by fear and people not believing them, because of cosbys high profile career. So i stayed silent. And then i found out i was noot loan. But it took was not alone, but it took 30 years
Cosbys victims are also backing this bill. Reporter and beth ferrier of denver and heidi thomas of castle rock say the famous comedian drugged and assaulted them more than 30 years ago. Now bill cosby is accused of doing the same thing to 58 women across the country. Hes been charged in pennsylvania, but because the alleged assaults in colorado occurred 30 some years ago they cant be prosecuted here because the statute of limitations expired. The colorado women say they didnt come forward earlier because they didnt think anyone would believe them, but now thats changing. I would have been accused of `eeding attention or going after money. I would have been sent in for coonseling. I am thankful that i have been flanked by these incredibly strong women and friends who are a support finally for this situation for us to get this bill introduced into the state of coloradd representative rhonda fields and senator john cook are sponsoring a bill to do away with the statute of limitations on f
Pinvestigation. Pwhat do you know, kelly . P well right now were downtown pnext to water works park. Pand were just next to two exit pramp that is Police Believe the pwrongway driver may have taken pthis morning just before that pnation crash. Pclear one is clearly marked pother one just above goes to pdowntown tampa what we do know pthat crash occurred on the psouthbound exit ramp of 275. Pright now police are still ptrying to piece together what pmay have happened. Pand whether or not alcohol may phave been a factor. Pwhat we do know is that there pare two dead after the driver of pat gold acura sedan slammed into pa silver suv in exit ramp into pdowntown. Pnow both drivers died at the pscene. Pand Neither Police say were pwearing seatbelts. P unfortunately set of pcircumstances not one but two eople are killed here in this pcrash. Pbig back up and nightmare in pheart of tampa. P now police have not yet pidentified the drivers. Pand we are still awaiting ptoxicology reports. Pwell fo
An argument in an suv ending when the woman is flown from the vehicle. A man plays the lottery for the first time in his life and hits it big. Beginners luck. Well, good thursday morning. We begin with breaking news. A powerful weather system putting millions of people in danger overnight. The severe storms spawning numerous tornadoes in oklahoma. A terrifying scene. Twisters forming over neighborhoods causing damage and knocking out power to thousands of homes. Also reports this morning of a tornado in arkansas near the mississippi border. You can see the size of this system on radar quickly heading east right now. Its bringing heavy rain and flooding from new orleans to detroit. Overnight severe storms on the move. Its forming, oh, man, look at that. Reporter the large twister touching down in tulsa, oh, my gosh. Reporter just one of several tornadoes spotted in the state. We got a tornado on the ground in stone canyon and theres going to be damage. Were watching debris fly into the