DA Re-Opens Cornell Rape Case

-Feeling short on smiles? -Does your frown need to be turned upside down? -We got the perfect dose of comedy, 30 minutes of scrubs. -Zack Braff, Donald Face-On, Sarah Chalk and the rest of the gang at Secret Heart are back for a brand new season. -We play medical doctors who are besties. -Just like in real life. -And we'll definitely be up in each other's cases. -Scrubs come here as Wednesday on ABC. -And stream the next day on Hulu. -Side effects may include laughing, cheering, and lots of pyfives. -It's Tuesday, September 29th. The case was closed. She says it never started in the first place. We start here. -Among growing outrage, police in New York reopened an investigation into a led sexual assault at Cornell. -The district attorney, at the time in 2024, did not interview the woman. -The DA is defending his office's actions to ABC. We'll break it down. British police arrested five men on terror charges, so why were they all released overnight? -This is turning into something of a very kind of English mystery. -The case president Trump called Syria suddenly doesn't have enough evidence to hold anyone. And he was held for nearly 500 days by the Russians. Now he's out. -He knew that the orders to take him came essentially from the top. -Evan Gerskovich gives his first broadcast interview to George Stephanopoulos, who joins us to discuss it. -From ABC News, this is Start Here. I'm Brad Milky. -This might not shock you, but I was an RA at my college dorms at NYU. I would organize events for students, I would mediate, roommate disputes, and yes, I would patrol the halls to make sure everyone was safe on a Saturday night. But what we were always told is, if something big is happening, something dangerous, you are not the ultimate authority. Like, don't put that on yourself. If a crime is happening, get NYPD over there now. And on some college campuses, there are dedicated police forces. Unlike your standard security guard, these are sworn trained officers who do have the authority to investigate and make arrests. But often, the local PD and local prosecutors office still have the ultimate right and duty to investigate and prosecute serious crimes. Well, recently, a young woman filed a lawsuit against Cornell University in New York State, along with a chi-fi fraternity, over what she says happened in a frat house two years prior. -I knew someone that was in a fraternity that lived close to the house where the incident happened, so a lot of people were just very surprised, and there's a lot of nervousness and shock. -A warning to listeners, we're going to be discussing sexual violence here, along with some graphic details. Now, why did it take two years for this lawsuit to come out? Well, she says that's how long it took her to learn that none of the alleged perpetrators would face criminal charges even after she reported she had evidence she had been raped. -My roommate knows the girl, so I think it was just really jarring to hear that she had a personal relationship with these men, and they still took advantage of her. -In fact, some perpetrators, she said, would continue attending school there. -I just feel just so unsafe around campus, especially knowing that these people are walking among us. -Well, this week, local authorities, who did not bring charges two years ago, now say they're re-opening the investigation. Let's take you to Ithaca, New York this morning, home to Cornell University, ABC's Chief Investigative Correspondent Aaron Katerzky is there. Aaron, can we just back up a bit? What were the allegations being made here? -This all begins in the fall of 2024 when a woman identified as Jane Doe, who was then a 20-year-old student here at Cornell University, said she was out at a bar drinking, and then went to a fraternity house to meet up with one of the fraternity brothers at Kai Phi. And from there, she said she was subjected to what she now alleges was a gang rape after being plied with alcohol and forcibly drugged. -And for the course of many hours, she was sexually assaulted and raped. She was incapable of giving any kind of consent. She was given ketamine. -What happened more recently is Jane Doe filed a civil lawsuit and the local district attorney who declined to bring criminal charges at the time back in 2024 said there were discrepancies between what she reported then and what she's alleging now. -How did he describe what she said back then? -From there, she told Cornell University police that her friend wanted to have a threesome and she was curious about that. She was also under the influence of some alcohol and as the night went on, according to a summary of a statement that she gave to the Cornell University Police Department that was released by the local district attorney, she took drugs, she drank, she had sex. -You didn't decline charges two years ago because you thought you couldn't get a conviction. -Correct. Absolutely not. In fact, if what was said in social media about this case was true, those fraternity members would be in prison right now. The district attorney after growing public outrage here and on social media, including an explosive op-ed in the student newspaper at Cornell, decided that he would reopen the investigation so that Jane Doe could have as he put it her voice heard and present her truth. The district attorney at the time in 2024 did not interview the woman. He said he based his decision not to bring criminal charges solely on the account that she gave to campus police. He is hoping she will come here to Ithaca, sit for an interview with an experienced sex crimes prosecutor that he is now assigned to the investigation and then he will present whatever evidence there is to the grand jury. And that could include Snapchat messages. -A group chat went out to the entire fraternity inviting them to sexually abuse this woman. -Now they're out for everyone to see and those messages are rather vulgar and according to Jane Doe's attorney, they describe the fraternity brothers inviting others to join in the alleged assault. -The screenshots her lawyer provided appear to show these young men advertising free sex at this frat house. That's the phrase they're using, the guy who woke up to the text the next day allegedly was the one to kind of ring the alarm in the whole situation. -At the local DA saying there's nothing we could have done, how does Jane Doe's attorney respond to that? -There's a real difference of opinion here, Brad, as to how robust the initial investigation was because Jane Doe's attorney said there really was no follow-up. She went to campus police. He described the officer who took her account as it's sort of an intake officer who lacked experience in sex crimes or how to handle an alleged trauma victim. -The district attorney disputes that and says actually a trained officer in trauma took the initial account. -She described it two different times saying no to specific things and when she said that, that individual stopped and did not pursue what they were doing. -He considered it and simply felt that he could not bring criminal charges because what Jane Doe described did not meet the legal definition in New York state of non-consensual sex. -The three things we had to find, one of those three things either physically helpless, mentally incapacitated or forcible compulsion. -It is a high bar in New York. -By the way, so I know there's going to be questions of the DA's office and whether they should have more sort of forcefully looked into all this. How does Cornell respond to all this? How is the school and the fraternity describing these developments? -So, Cornell says it adjudicated the matter according to university policies and procedures. Cornell's Chi-Fi chapter was barred in 2024 and it is still barred from this campus bread. There was what's called a Title IX investigation. Cornell says there were expulsions and suspensions, but Cornell says it is barred by law from explaining who was expelled and suspended. And for what? Because that is something of a nagging question here. The conduct warranted expulsion, but apparently not criminal charges. -But Aaron, wait, so if the school is saying, trust us, the appropriate parties were punished. It was sufficient. We can't tell you how they were punished or for what. But you'd think that if you're the police or the prosecutors, you're like, well, someone got expelled over this. Clearly, there's something to dig out here or is that not enough for investigators to go off of? -In fact, we asked the district attorney that bread and he told us that he is not allowed to consider whatever student discipline there was when deciding whether what happened in October 2024 was a crime. -You can't just say this person has a proclivity to do these things because they did them in the past. -The school appears to think that something warranting expulsion and suspension occurred, but whatever led to that, the district attorney felt did not warrant a criminal charge. -Yeah, there's a ton of outcry here, and it does seem like one of the reasons for that is usually if you feel like you have investigated the heck out of something. You don't feel the need to reopen the investigation, but now there is a ton of public scrutiny and there's a lawsuit, they're reopening the investigation. It also just seems so unclear how much investigating was even done back then, and by whom? For instance, the Ithaca PD put out a statement overnight saying they were never even told about, think about it, an alleged gang rape involving seven potential perpetrators back in 2024, never heard about it until this year. -Aricutorsky, thank you so much. -Thank you, Brad. on a British airbase. Five men had just been arrested on suspicion of creating an explosive device. And everyone on this base had a reason to be concerned. The US has airmen there flying bombers for attacks in the Middle East. Iran has told the British military itself that they're now a target for helping out the Americans. So everyone's concerned, President Trump tells the world that the suspects were up to something big. Until then, yesterday, when the suspects were released and sent home, ABC's chief foreign correspondent Ian Panell is actually outside that airbase and allows to share in the UK right now. Ian, what is going on here? They were released? Yeah, right. They were released. I mean, there's certainly been a lot of heat on this story, but increasingly less light as to what exactly has been taking place. So let's just have a quick run through the events. This has happened late Saturday night, early Sunday morning. A local farmer was returning home very close to the RAF FAFord base. So Royal Air Force Base, and as you say, houses, US service personnel and US bombers used to attack Iran. She spots a number of vehicles, we believe three vehicles, and a group of men, some of whom appeared to be masked, acting suspiciously. She says that some of them ran into the woods when her car headlights caught them. And so she turned around and contacted the authorities who came down and arrested five men, all in their 20s, all from London. And they were held and arrested on suspicion of terrorism related offences and explosive related offences. They held them for more than 24 hours. But later on on Monday, they suddenly announced that they had been released on bail without charge. To be very clear, this does not mean that the investigation is over. They are subject to stringent conditions on their movement and contact with others. Now, this obviously raised a lot of questions because you had President Trump saying, well, yeah, this was as a result of a joint operation. Right. And that the men had been monitored and they knew all about them. And yet the British authorities seem to be contradicting that in their actions. So we don't know what the men were doing. We don't know that they were involved in any terrorism related activities or ex-todd explosives of any sort. But there have been concerns about the terrorism threat level here in the UK across the board. And they're also looking at the possibility of a proxy power working for a foreign entity could have been involved. And that seems like code word for a rant. Well, I was going to say Ian, fair to say at the very least. I would have to assume that they did not have an operable bomb on them, right? Otherwise, you think they would have evidence to make something stick. So I guess I'm just trying to figure out, like did authorities have something on their radar that made them go, whoa, whoa, like it's go time or like the Iranians responded to this? Yeah. I mean, the Iranians were very clear that they said they had nothing to do with this. They had no knowledge of it. The Iranian embassy here in the UK issued a very firm rebuttal to allegations in the media that this could have been an Iranian inspired attack. In fact, the UK media was full of suggestions that the Iranians could be behind this. I mean, a major incident was declared this looked like a huge event, a potential attack on a British base housing, US forces. And yet, as the day wore on, there seemed to be less and less about it. But it feels like there's a lot that we haven't been told. President Trump, again, seemed to indicate that there'd been some kind of joint operation that this was part of an ongoing operation. Where his British police are saying they acted on the tip off, a call to 999, which is obviously the British emergency call number, from a local farmer. Well, the two things don't seem to see easily together. Either you were monitoring certain people because the fears of a terrorist attack or someone stumbled across something almost by accident. Whether it was a mess or a conspiracy, hopefully those facts will emerge into your course. I have a feeling we haven't heard the last of this. This is turning into something of a very kind of English mystery out in the beautiful cats of all countryside. Unbelievable. Ian panel there right now. Thank you so much. Thanks Brad. X-Tabon starred here. George Stephanopoulos interviewed the family of this journalist while he was still in a rush in prison. Now, Evan Gerschkevitch is free. We'll hear about the exclusive from George after the break. This show is sponsored by Zippercrooter. Think a moment to think about some of the things you do to save time. Do you meal prep your lunches on Sunday nights or subscribe to regular deliveries for items you know you're always going to need? Maybe you have auto downloads on on your podcasting apps. You never miss an episode to start here. Good choice. We all have our own time saving hacks for everyday life, but if you're a business owner, the next frontier is to save time when you're hiring. Zippercrooter can help with that. With Zippercrooter's newest feature, you can now see the most interested qualified candidates first, so you save time by meeting the right people faster. It gives those standout candidates a way to stand out from the others, and right now you can try it for free at zippercrooter.com/starthere. 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Their ultra soft temperature regulating sheets, coverlets, and duvet covers are the perfect companion for a night of uninterrupted relaxation. The sheets come in all different colors and stripes, so there's something for everyone, whether you're doing a big fall refresh for your master bedroom, or updating a guest room in time for the holidays. And as comfy as they are on day one, they actually only get better from there because they are designed to get softer with every wash. Best of all, with our limited time deal, the already great prices are even better. You can get 50% off a wide assortment of bedding options by going to our unique link. That's right, 50% off, but hurry, this deal is only for a very limited time. Get yourself the bedding of your dreams. Right now, go to abcsecretsavings.com/starthere for 50% off the best bedding you will ever sleep on. In recent years, lots of Americans have been arrested by Russian authorities. While they're often charged with espionage or national security crimes, big, bad offenses, the evidence is often specious, the charges are flimsy. If anything, it appears it's a way for Russian president Vladimir Putin to dangle leverage in front of the US when the time comes to negotiate much bigger issues. But as the years have gone on, Russia's targets had become more and more valuable, more public. There was a Marine Corps veteran in Trevor Reed. There was a proboscopal star in Brittany Griner, and then Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich. For many in Washington, this represented a kind of new threshold. Evan is a respected reporter. He's been in the business in public for years. So for Russia to snatch him off their streets, it showed they weren't afraid of how bad this would look. No one would suspect Gershkovich of any wrongdoing. It would be obvious they were trumping up charges and that they didn't care. Well, sure enough, he ended up being part of the largest most complex prisoner exchange in decades. It feels like this one come with tough calls and they're never any guarantees. If there's nothing that matters more to me, I'm protecting Americans at home and abroad. The US got Gershkovich along with former Marine Paul Wheeland. Germany got several nationals, including a Red Cross employee charged with terrorism. Several Russian dissidents were also released as part of this, but Russia and Belarus got some treasures returned to them. Hackers, suspected spies, a convicted murderer. Well, this morning, Gershkovich, ever the reporter, has put out a new book. And in the lead up to this, he spoke exclusively to our own George Stephanopoulos, who joins us now. George, first off, what was it to you that set his attention apart from some of the others we've seen in recent years? Because it did feel like this set kind of a new bar for the Russian regime. Well, I mean, it was so clear from the start, what it was all about, that it was not on the level in any way, shape or form. And I think even he, intuitive that pretty quickly, even as scared as he was when he first got arrested, that, you know, they knew he wasn't a spy. I mean, Putin maybe can convince himself in some way that, in fact, he is, but they knew he wasn't a spy. They needed a high level American to trade for people that put it one back. And tell me about this arrest, because he actually sort of broke down in detail to you. What that arrest was like. How did he describe it to you? Well, he was meeting with the source, and he concedes that it might have been a mistake to meet with this source to see this information, which was written information about Russia's military during the war, of course, with Ukraine. And I'd actually told him, you know, if we meet for an interview, please don't bring anything along. How he was meeting him at a restaurant. Got the sense that something was off. So at this point, you think he's a source. He thinks you're a target. Not just thinks. I mean, he's working with the FSB Putin's main domestic security service at at that point when the guy kept trying to and make him kind of take the papers. And you know, you're really not supposed to do that. And then all of the agents came up from behind. - I see the source kind of stepping back into the crowd. There's a hood put over my head and then I'm just being dragged out. - Basically took him away, put a hood over his head. - Ruff me up a little bit. - What do they do exactly? - They're punching your sort of like the midsection. I mean, in retrospect, the way I think about it is that they're not trying to leave any. You know, they want you to, I think they're trying to give you a signal like you're under our control at this point. - Recalled himself, but I think what he meant to say was that they beat him up in the torso because they didn't want to mark his face. They knew from the very beginning this was a valuable prisoner. So that they wanted him to be scared. They wanted to shake him up, but they didn't want to do any kind of permanent damage. - With that in mind, then, I mean, was there doubt in his mind that he would get out intact because we hear about the sort of the horror stories of Russian detainees. And yet he seemed very calm with you. The whole time he was describing this. - I think a little bit of that is in retrospect. And remember, this guy, he talked about this as well, who's had a lot of therapy since he was released from prison. And interestingly, both with an English speaking and a Russian speaking therapist to deal with both sides of his personality. But I think he was, he'd covered this for a long time. He had been in Russia for several years. He'd covered the other prisoners who'd been taken like Brittany Griner and ultimately. So I think intellectually, he always knew at some level, yes, there will be a trade, but he's still in prison. - You're in your cell for 23 hours a day, except for this one hour where you're brought on your walk, which is for into another cell. It's just on the roof of the prison. - He saw us to go through the emotional torture being in prison, being unfree, being away from your friends, family from your work. And not knowing how long that's gonna take. - I can't imagine too, is eventually his family was able to come and basically witness a court proceeding. He's there behind like his glass cage that they keep you in. But I'm just trying to think about what that would be like. And what sort of the most important moments to him were as he contemplated whether he would finally get out. - Well, I mean, I think his most powerful moment was when he finally did see his father. 'Cause he had been so worried that his parents would not think he was a spy, but would think that he had been dumb. - Right. - He had got himself into a trap, as opposed to someone who was trying to do his job with his integrity, and he describes the moment when he finally was able to hug his father. - And my dad said, I think one of the most powerful things he's ever said to me, which was, we've come here with respect for you. And it was exactly what Evan needed to hear in that moment. It wiped away his biggest fear of what his parents and loved ones might think of what he had gone through. - 'Cause everyone does get dragged into that along with you in any of these sort of kidnapping detention stories. - Absolutely. And I had the opportunity while he was in prison, I actually interviewed his parents twice. You know, he was in prison for a long time. It wasn't, this was not a quick swap. This was 491 days in prison. - About a year and a half. Is there any message you have for the Russian authorities? - Journalism is not the crime. - We want there a sun bug. - Yes. - I interviewed his parents twice, and you know, his mom was working tirelessly, every possible angle for his release, and they were having a fair amount of communication in letters. He was also able to see, and he told me, he was able to see at least parts of my interview with his parents, and that gave him comfort. He says that the breakfast and the photographer prison reminds him of breakfast at home. That didn't upset you. - And though, I thought this was funny. - One of the things they said to me, and he confirmed when I spoke with him for the book, is that he was really doing his level best while he was in prison to reassure his parents that he was okay. - Was it like getting out, I suppose, how did he cope upon his return? 'Cause that's its own sort of journey. - Well, it absolutely was its own sort of journey. The first few days as he said, we're just fueled by nothing but adrenaline. He described a beautiful moment with President Biden, who he said he'll always be grateful for, for getting him out, but also, we're Biden just pulled him aside and said, "If you ever just want to talk, "just man-to-man, person-to-person, "not reported a president, not reported a politician, "I'm always here," and he appreciated that as well, but his reentry did take some time. - The book is very much memorializing that chapter. I had some time to take time to myself, work through my therapy, get back to life, and now I want to come back to life, and then move on with life. - He was reunited with the love who stayed with him during his incarceration, a Russian journalist named Mosha, who was a very brave journalist as well. She had actually left the country because she was forced out in some jeopardy inside Russian. She had moved to rega first and then to Berlin, but she was a real source of support for him during his imprisonment, and they reunited when he got out, rekindled the love story, and they're actually living together in Berlin, reporting. - It's a great interview featuring this new book, this cursed, beautiful land, a Russian-American story we're so glad. He's back, glad you were the one doing the interview, George. Thank you so much. - Thank you, take care. - One more quick break, when we come back, there are people willing to drop everything for you, then there are people willing to drop themselves for you. One last thing is next. - She really wanted to run. - She sound like a leader, she moved like a leader, she talked like a leader. - No one cannot do what Sammy had done. She's the only hope we have. - You know, she was so determined to win. - People think you are crazy, you are just a dreamer, you know, the Somalis have never won Olympics or World Championships, they never get anywhere. - To me, when I last got more to that stuff, I will remember these games for. - She was showing them how strong she was, how competitive she was. I remember she never feared nobody. - I'm Teresa Krug. And from 30 for 30 podcasts, this is The Fastest Girl in Somalia. - The Fastest Girl in Somalia, coming September 22nd. - See you all wherever you take it. - Yes. - We're gonna be just like scream till the 45th. - One. - I'm sorry Cassie's family, she's doing taxes. - There shouldn't be no one against killing people. - I've been doing true crime, 25 years or so. I thought I had seen everything until I encountered this story. I'm never gonna forget it. - These two boys stabbed this for all 30 times and are videoing their glee. - Just killed Cassie. - This is a real shocking piece of video. I just never seen anything like this. - If you're okay with talking about it, why did you make that video? - The scream murder, a troutine horror story, an all new podcast coming October 6th, wherever you get your podcasts. Or subscribe to 2020 True Crime Plus on Apple Podcast to listen early and and free terms apply. - And one last thing. You know how on your resume, you're always supposed to include special skills. Sometimes these are just something unique that you might like to talk about, a nice breaker. Sometimes it's stuff that could actually be useful to your new gig. Maybe you know Spanish. Maybe your license to drive a commercial truck. Who knows what could come in handy? Skydiving, I once would have assumed, was more of a hobby than a marketable skill. But recently, this was exactly what the job description called for. On Sunday, a small single engine plane went down in East Troy, Wisconsin. You could hear another aircraft spotting it on atc.com. It had taken off, quickly circled back and gone down in a nearby cornfield, just shy of the local air strip. The issue now was, how do we get help to whoever is in that plane? The nearest roads are acres away. Even if you could mow down thousands of cornstalks with an ATV or a truck, it'll be tough for emergency responders to even see where they're going. Well, luckily, the plane making that initial call was a plane full of skydivers. - If possible, I can drop a load of skydivers right over up to potentially help aid. Apparently, among the group of attendees at the local skydiving school, were some trained EMTs, first responders. When they heard the concern on the cockpit, they volunteered to jump out of the plane, guide themselves into the clearing where the plane now stood, and check on those aboard. Guess what, that's exactly what they did. - Yes, I'm gonna drop a couple of them. Yeah, I'm gonna drop them right now. - Fire and ambulance workers at the skydivers were the first to arrive. They assisted on scene. Three plane passengers were taken to the hospital, but everyone is expected to be okay. In the meantime, though, this makes me reevaluate how important it might be to have skydiving skills. Paratroopers have long understood that a guy with a parachute and good aim can be more effective than a fighter jet. The FBI still does parachute training with its hostage rescue team. In some cases, it's still literally the fastest way to get into crowded, tough-to-land territory. I've always thought more people should know CPR. We should all know how to swim, case of an emergency, well, perhaps new EMT workers would be smart to add skydiving on their resume. See, I'll tell you this much, if they call it parachuting instead of skydiving, like I might do that, the floating sounds cool, the falling is the thing I've got a problem with. More on all these stories on ABC News Live, Revea Stream Live News, I'm Brad Milky. See you tomorrow. On October 19th, 2025, the Louvre became the backdrop of something straight out of a heist movie. In this series, I'll take you inside the events of that day through the eyes of the people who live them. Then, I'll join the International Hunt for the Louvre Jewels. Heist at the Louvre, a new series from ABC Audio. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or your favourite podcast app, or subscribe to 2020 True Crime Plus, on Apple Podcasts to listen ad-free. As Thirteen, no streaming on Hulu.