This is cnn breaking news. Were following this breaking news. Bill cosby now charged with three felony counts of aggrav e aggravated indecent assault stemming from a 2004 allegation. The comedian engulfed by news media as he entered a Pennsylvania Court for arraignment. Cosby did not enter a plea but he was forced to surrender his passport before going to a Police Station for booking. Tonight hes free on 1 million bail. Were also following terror fear surrounding the new years holiday. Senior officials tell cnn that president obama was briefed on overseas threat on possible attacks on new york, washington, d. C. And los angeles. The sources say the threat doesnt mention specific locations in those cities. Were covering that and more this hour with our guests including congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard of hawaii. Hes a member of the Armed Services and Foreign Affairs committee and our correspondents and expert analysts are also standing by. Lets begin though with the sex Assault Charges against bill cosby. Cnns jean casarez has been working this story for us tirelessly today. Jean, tell us, bill cosbys attorney just released a statement. What did she say . Reporter he did. She did. We want to tell everyone what that statement is. This is from the Defense Council for bill cosby. And they say, quote, the charge by the Montgomery CountyDistrict Attorneys Office came as no surprise. Filed 12 years after the alleged incident and coming on the heels of a hotly contested election for this countys d. A. During which this case was made the focal point. Make no mistake we intend to mount a vigorous defense against this unjustified charge. And we expect that mr. Cosby will be exonerated by a court of law. And Monique Presley is the lead council for mr. Cosby. And she accompanied him into the courtroom today arm in arm as he walked in. And this is a very small, very quaint courthouse. Ive actually never seen anything like it in my life before. You walk in off the street through the door and youre in the one courtroom right there. And so as i was sitting in the courtroom thats what i witnessed. And i saw him come in. I saw Monique Presley lead him in. He seemed to not be able to see as he walked through the courtroom being led by her. A short distance of course because it was such a small room. But she put him in his seat and then she sat to one side. His other attorney sat on the other side and the judge then began the very short proceeding which is really constitutional in nature. It is to apprise him of the charges, which they did aggravated indecent assault. And she went through the three different counts, which are the various theories on that. And then also told him about the bail that she had set 1 million in bail. And she talked about the conditions and that he could have no contact with the alleged victim, that he could in no way travel outside of the country. And she asked for the passport. And his attorney had the passport and stood up and immediately gave it to the prosecutor. They were just so willing to cooperate in every form and fashion. Mr. Cosby spoke two different times in that courtroom. One was when she reiterated you have no contact with the alleged victim. He said no contact with she said the complainant. Oh, okay. And then a second time she said good luck, mr. Cosby, and he said, thank you. And it was over. Some really curious moments there that you describe. And also in this video that we see of him going to this courthouse. He actually trips over the curb and his attorney and the other man with him kind of steady him. So thats sort of an interesting point. When you said it seemed like he was struggling to see and weve heard him talk about problems with his eyesight in the past. This alleged incident, jean, it happened or it allegedly occurred in 2004. Why is this happening now . Reporter for one reason and one reason only, the statute of limitations went 12 years. And thats virtually unheard of when youre talking about an adult and Sexual Assault. But here in pennsylvania its a 12year statute of limitations. Secondly, the civil deposition from that civil case of Andrea Constand in 2005 it was sealed, sealed to the point that bruce caster, the original District Attorney, had told cnn on air that he had never seen it. So as the sitting District Attorney, he never availed himself or was given that deposition. Well, that deposition is where mr. Cosby is asked many questions about Andrea Constand. And he admits in the deposition that he did meet with her, that they did have dinner several times and that there was sexual contact but that it was consensual. And so obviously and he also gave a statement to police. And that is in the affidavit of probable cause today. A statement he gave back in 2005, which says basically the very same thing. So now they are placing their credence in Andrea Constand. And i spoke with her attorney today and Andrea Constand is now in canada, she is from canada, and she is so grateful that the District Attorneys Office, the newly elected District Attorney is placing his confidence in her. 12year statute of limitations and 12 years from the alleged incident either next month or in february. Maybe not a coincidence. All right. Jean casarez there in Montgomery County, thanks so much. Cosby made two sexual advances towards the victim that were rejected. This is according to the District Attorney who revealed new details of the alleged assault. What we know is that pills were provided. Theres inconsistencies on what type of pills they were. There was also wine that was provided. We then go to the reaction of the victim, you know, frozen, paralyzed, unable to move. A person in that state cannot give consent, therefore the aggravated indecent a charge. I want to bring in now cnn National CorrespondentDeborah Feyerick. Deb, youve been digging on this story. Youve been looking at this criminal complaint, many, many pages. Tell us what it alleges. Well, essentially its based on bill cosbys own words, these statements that jean referred to that he gave during a deposition in which he admits giving women quaaludes intending to have sex with them. Now, he says it was always consensual that the women knew what they were taking. This criminal complaint gives a very different story. This is the defendant here, William Henry cosby. It gives a very different story. It essentially says that when Andrea Constand who is 37 years bill cosbys junior, went to his home because he had invited her to discuss her career. She said she felt drained so he gave her these three blue pills. She took them along with some wine and thats when she said she became paralyzed, couldnt move and the alleged Sexual Assault took place. According to the criminal complaint it says, quote, cosby substantially impaired the complainants power to appraise or control her conduct by administering drugs, intoxicants or other means for the purpose of preventing resistance. Now, she held this secret very closely for several months. She did return to canada as jean said. Thats when she told her mother. And her mother, according to the complaint, called bill cosby up and confronted him. And according to the complaint cosby allegedly acknowledged that this had happened. What kind of evidence theyre going to provide in terms of two sides of a different coin, its going to be very interesting. But this is a decade old more than a decade old this case, brianna. Its striking, deb, what Andrea Constand says happened really matches up with what bill cosby says happened in this incident, except he seems to describe it as a consensual act even though he admits to giving her what he calls at one point three Little Friends to help her relax, as hes referring to these pills. Yeah. And thats exactly right. And thats at the heart of all of this. Bill koz by always said this is consensual, but there are statements he makes not only in the deposition but in the criminal complaint that seem to sort of out of character, just seem a little bit confusing the way he words those comments. And remember, his lawyer was sitting right next to him during the deposition and kept interrupting him, cutting him off. But on the complaint he does say, quote, cosby said the victim never told him to stop, never pushed him away, never told him her vision was blurred and never said she felt paralyzed or affected by the benadryl. She is alleging however that she wasnt even in a position to tell him that this was the way she was feeling. She felt dizzy and nauseous and she says she could not use her legs. So she knew what was going on. She just couldnt stop it. So for bill cosby to say she never told him to stop, that you can be sure is going to be raised at trial, brianna. Deborah feyerick, thanks so much. Lets get more now on the breaking news with cnn anchors Michael Smirconish and mark gerragos and sunny hostin joining us on the phone. To you first, sunny. You read the deposition that is cited in this criminal complaint. And it really seems damning. These are bill cosbys own words admitting he gave constand these pills. How strong do you think the prosecutors case is here . I think its very strong. I mean, generally i would say this is the kind of case that you would want to see a plea. You would see a plea deal. Youre not going to see a plea deal in this case because no one wants to look not only soft on crime but soft on Sexual Assault given that there are now over 60 people that have alleged that bill cosby has raped them or fondled them or sexually assaulted them. And so really all right. I think we lost sunnys connection there unfortunately. Well try to get her back on. Mark, i want to talk to you about this because you represented a lot of people whove been accused of some pretty serious crimes facing a mountain of evidence, chris brown, gary condit, scott peterson. If you were representing bill cosby, how would you prepare to defend him . Well, i think theyve already started. Theyve framed this as a political prosecution. Theyve said the only reason and that statement that just came out, the only reason is because this was as a result of a hotly contested election for the prosecutor. And so the prosecutor then files it right before the statute of limitations was going to run. Youre absolutely correct. 12 years is a very long statute for an adult sex crime. Thats one of the longest in the country. And i think the biggest problem theyre going to have, meaning the defense, is that the prosecution under pennsylvania law will be able to bring in and theyll make an application to the judge, to bring in other people who claim they were assaulted in the same way. This is called common scheme or plan or modus oporendi. Normally you would say thats character assassination, has nothing to do with this. The prosecution will argue, no, this is his similar plan and the way he operates. And theyll do a parade of people. You might remember years ago when phil specter was prosecuted here in los angeles for murder. They did the same thing. And they brought in four or five women who testified about him threatening with guns. So theyre going to do the exact same thing here. And thats going to be the most arguably damning evidence and the most challenging from the defense standpoint. Trying to argue that he has an m. O. Here. So, michael, you hear this argument coming from his defense lawyer saying this is just purely political. But that doesnt change the facts here that these are bill cosbys words. Youve written about sort of why this deposition was released after all of these years. Tell us a little bit about the reasoning that the judge makes and also whether that will hold water when it comes to a challenge that cosbys lawyer could make. Brianna, i think that the headline today is hypocrisy did him in. And i have some questions, some reservations about the logic that was used by the federal judge who puts this case in the posture in which we find it today. And its very interesting that don lemon is a part of our conversation right now because don is actually cited in a footnote of the very key legal brief. Thats right. Heres the explanation. There was an underlying civil case, and youve made reference to that. That civil case was settled a year or so after Andrea Constand made these charges. And it was settled pursuant to a confidentiality order. Ten years then elapses. And when bill cosby then becomes a focal point of some complaints that have been raised by women, the federal judge in this case takes issue with his moralistic grandstanding. He cites an interview among three different incidents he cites an interview he did with don, which don can better speak to than can i, and the judge said, you know what, this guys a hypocrite. And i am going to allow this deposition, which otherwise would never have seen the light of day, to be out on the street. And when that became part of the public document, the public reference point, now the current d. A. Said i have what my predecessor didnt have. I have enough of a basis to bring this case. I have to believe that an alist criminal defense attorney is going to look at this record, reconstruct it and say wait a minute, this information should never have come into the public domain. And therefore wasnt appropriately the basis for bringing these charges. What do you think, don . Do you think that bill cosby does not that hes not entitled to a more broad zone of privacy as this judge said that he isnt because he made himself out to be a moral authority . Wow. Thats a big question. Im not a legal expert, but i thought it was very interesting that i became part of the conversation or at least an interview. And that interview i think interviewed mr. Cosby twice regarding some how he was helping young people at colleges and money that he was donating. And then we went into talking about what, you know, he thought people should do especially in the black community how he thought that they should conduct themselves. One thing that was mentioned was also the pound cake speech, that infamous pound cake speech from 2004 where he talked about people going in stealing cocacolas and getting shot in the head for stealing pound cakes and thought that was ridiculous. During our interview he mentions a similar thing saying, you know, black men should take care of their kids. And several other statements that i cant recall right now. Id have to go back and look at the interview. But the judge basically said that if he holds himself up as a moral authority in the community on a platform as big as cnn, worldwide in an interview with don lemon, then he found that hypocritical if he was in fact doing the things that these women accuse him of doing. I do have to say, brianna, that i did speak to one of the survivo survivors, i like to call them survivors and not victims, and wont give that persons name away. But that person said they felt vindicated by today. Finally that someone believes them. That it is a good thing that bill cosby is getting his mugshot taken and having his fingerprints done. And the other interesting thing is that everyone seems to be surprised about bill cosby tripping over the curb and his eyesight. It was mentioned in the deposition, i believe it was yeah. He said that he had bad eyesight and couldnt read a bottle or something, right . Yeah. If you look at the Mark Whitaker worked here at cnn and wrote a biography of cosby before this started to unfold and talked about basically hes legally blind. I want to play something bill cosby said in 1991 to larry king. Lets listen. Theres a thing about spanish fly. You know anything about spanish flies . When we were kids there you go. Thats all. I just wanted a recognition. We knew what it was. A spanish fly was the thing that all boys from age 11 on up to death we will still be searching for spanish flies. Thats right. And what was the old story . The old story was if you took a little drop no, it was on the head of a pin. Pin. Cocacola, dont matter. Doesnt make a difference. And the girl would dring it and shes yours. Hello america. Theres a story in there about spanish flies. So i think that everybody, any guy picking it up will just have a ball reading it. Okay. Mark, respond to that. Because at times spanish fly was sort of referred to as an aftt in its time it was a disarming drug. I am as a prosecutor i put that in front of the jury. Isnt that damning . You do. But im going to tell you whats more damning. Ill harken back to what Michael Smerconish was saying, that deposition transcript, the fact that that was released after he had paid to have it sealed, after he had thought it was confidential and the lawyers knowing that the statute of limitations is running six months after it was revealed or was out in the public marketplace is going to be the most damning thing of all because thats all the prosecutor needs to tie this up completely and give him what most jurors are going to want. Youre going to have a woman testifying, and then youre going to have the words out of his own mouth. That is from a defense lawyers standpoint that is the nightmare that you face in this case. And thats going to also be the biggest problem when they do a challenge to the prefiling delay. Because theyre going to say, hey, wait a second. Even though statute of limitations is 12 years, you cant wait until the Eleventh Hour to file this case. And the prosecutors going to come back and say, oh, yes, i can, because we didnt have available to us until july 2015 this transcript of his own words. It was under seal. Thats where theyre going to fight. Thats going to be one of the pretrial skirmishes in this case. Mark, standby for me. Sunny, don, michael, i want to talk much more about this after a break. Well be right back. You premium like clockwork. Month after