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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees

Translator at Gitmo Arrested; Probe Into Outing of CIA Operative Continues

Aired September 30, 2003 - 19:00 ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON COOPER, HOST (voice-over): A translator from Gitmo arrested. How big will the espionage probe get?

Washington up in arms over the exposure of a CIA operative.

Another grisly discovery. Is it the work of the Green River killer?

The spying game: American traitors. Why they do it and how they get caught.

And the nationwide search for the new Ivory Snow baby.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Live from the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is ANDERSON COOPER 360.

COOPER: Hey there. Good evening. Thanks for joining us on 360.

We begin tonight with the explosive question of whether someone at the White House revealed the name of a CIA operative, retaliating because her husband criticized the president and his handling of Iraq intelligence. And we are getting word into CNN about a memo from the Justice Department to the White House on how it plans to investigate.

We want to go right to senior White House correspondent, John King, who has the latest -- John.

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, this is that memo distributed by the White House Counsel's Office at the request of the Justice Department at the close of the day here at the White House. It tells anyone who works at the White House to go back through their records to February of 2002 and to preserve and maintain any documents: e-mails, computer files, diary records, phone logs, anything that has anything to do with Ambassador Joseph Wilson, his wife, who the world now knows is a CIA operative, and any contacts with the news media about Ambassador Wilson or his wife, or issues related to this investigation.

Now, The White House Counsel's Office distributing this memo. The White House is saying that everyone here at the White House has been told to cooperate fully. That is a message the president stressed himself today when, for the first time, he addressed this investigation with reporters. Mr. Bush was in Chicago, and he said he sees no need for a special prosecutor, that the Justice Department is the right agency to conduct this investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If there's a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is. And if the person has violated law, that person will be taken care of.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Democrats of course say there should be an independent special counsel, but the attorney general saying today he has faith in the career prosecutors who are handling this investigation, Anderson. They insist here the bottom line at the White House is that they will fully cooperate. They also are trying to stir up the political debate, saying the Democrats are coming after the president from a political perspective.

That is a playbook followed by President Clinton, a Democrat, who often blamed the Republicans for trying to stir up trouble. The Bush administration is hoping that by calling much of this politics, they can convince the American people perhaps not to pay all that much attention -- Anderson.

COOPER: All right. John King at the White House. Thanks for the update.

We want to go in to the politics of it now and on to the intense finger pointing going on on Capitol Hill. As we said, the Justice Department today tried to make clear that it is deadly serious about finding out how the operative's name was exposed, launching a full- blown criminal probe. But some congressional Democrats say, well, that is not enough.

More now from CNN congressional correspondent, Jonathan Karl.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JONATHAN KARL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Democrats think they have finally found a scandal that will tarnish the Bush White House.

SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: This is not just a leak. This is a crime, plain and simple.

KARL: They say the investigation cannot be done by the president's attorney general.

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: An independent investigation of this despicable matter must be undertaken immediately.

KARL: And John Ashcroft's announcement of a full investigation by his Justice Department only fueled the Democratic fire. SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: President Bush needs to start going after any traitors in his midst. And that means more than an inside once-over from his friend, and Carl Rove's client, John Ashcroft.

KARL: Kerry is referring to top Bush political aide, Karl Rove, whose direct mail company did work on Ashcroft's 1994 Senate campaign. Ambassador Joseph Wilson has blamed Rove for at least condoning the leak of his wife's name. But Ashcroft said the investigation would be conducted by independent-minded prosecutors.

JOHN ASHCROFT, ATTORNEY GENERAL: The prosecutors and agents who are and will be handling this investigation are career professionals with extensive experience in handling matters involving sensitive national security information.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KARL: Republicans here on Capitol Hill say all those Democratic calls for a special prosecutor or special counsel are simply pure politics. As for Ashcroft, however, he refused to answer questions about a special prosecutor. And sources at the Justice Department say the attorney general has not ruled out appointing one to look into this -- Anderson.

COOPER: Well, what's the next step, Jon? Where do the Democrats go?

KARL: There's nothing more the Democrats can do substantively here. They cannot appoint a special counsel. They are not in charge in the Congress, so they cannot start any investigation here. They can simply make as much noise as possible.

The next step would have to come from John Ashcroft himself, a decision from him about whether or not he would go ahead and take that next step of appointing a special counsel.

COOPER: All right. Jonathan Karl, thanks very much.

Also adding to the Democratic chorus, Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle. He spoke today with Paula Zahn.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TOM DASCHLE (D-SD), MINORITY LEADER: We need to find out what happened. There are a lot of unanswered questions right now. And the fastest way to get the answers is with an independent counsel, which is what we're calling for now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Well, you can see the entire interview with Senator Daschle. That's coming up at on "PAULA ZAHN NOW" at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.

So the question is, do the dots connect? Are the recent arrests part of a bigger conspiracy? We're talking now -- going from this story to the story about the ongoing espionage case at Guantanamo Bay. The investigation to see if in fact it is a case of espionage.

We're going to go now to Barbara Starr at the Pentagon.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This third arrest caught military officials by surprise, adding to Pentagon worries of a major security breach inside the prison on Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. So far, no evidence connects the civilian translator, Ahmed Mehalba, to either Ahmed al-Halabi, the senior airman facing charges of espionage and aiding the enemy, or Islamic Army chaplain, Captain James Yee, who is also under arrest but not charged.

Sources tell CNN that investigators are also looking at suspicious activity by other members of the Air Force and Navy personnel. The investigation may expand to the Marine Corps. One counterterrorism expert says it's not all likely to be a coincidence.

MATHEW LEVITT, COUNTER TERRORISM EXPERT: When you're talking about gaining access to so secure a location, in an atmosphere and an environment of national security post-9/11, I find it very unlikely that it was possible that there were three disparate penetrations of Guantanamo.

STARR: The investigation is now trying to answer these critical questions: Is there an espionage conspiracy? Were all suspects working independently? Did the suspects, who have Arab and Muslim backgrounds, develop sympathies towards the detainees? Or are the suspects innocent?

(on camera): At minimum, it now appears there were serious security breaches at Guantanamo Bay. Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: That at a minimum. Three suspects are now in custody. The question is, how did this latest arrest go down? It happened at Boston's Logan Airport.

For the details, let's go to Dan Lothian.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ahmed Mehalba arriving at federal court in Boston one day after landing at Logan International Airport from a trip to Egypt aboard Alitalia Flight number 618. Federal authorities say a routine check led to a secondary examination. Why?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good inspection work, where the inspector looks the applicant in the eye and determines some suspicious items, and further investigates it. LOTHIAN: Mehalba, who presented his I.D. badge as a translator at the U.S. prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, is then questioned by the FBI after officials say something is suspicious is found among 132 compact disks in his bag.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And one that contain a document labeled "secret," as well as other documents.

LOTHIAN: Mehalba, who briefly appeared in court before his hearing was continued, is now being held on suspicion of making false statements after allegedly repeatedly denying he was carrying government-related documents from Guantanamo Bay.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They appear to be classified documents. The bureau continues to examine the documents today. We're not going to describe what the documents were or under what circumstances he was able to get access to the documents.

LOTHIAN: His court-appointed attorney is Michael Andrews.

MICHAEL ANDREWS, ATTORNEY: He intends to vigorously defend himself. Obviously, anybody caught up or accused of something like this is nervous and bewildered and scared about the process. But we're going to defend it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LOTHIAN: In the filing document, the suspect tells the FBI that he doesn't know how this potential classified document ended up on his CD. These are CDs that he said that contained music and movies. Authorities here are not saying if there will be additional charges. The next court date is set for October 8 -- Anderson.

COOPER: We'll be following it closely. Dan Lothian, thanks very much.

We're going to have more on espionage in just a minute as we continue our week-long look at the spying game. Tonight: what motivates spies to betray their country? We'll look at some of America's most notorious spies.

The "Up Link" now, our nightly quick check of international stories.

Vatican City, Italy: the ailing pope. A close adviser tells a German magazine Pope John Paul II is "in a bad way" and the faithful should pray for him. But the Vatican insists the 83-year-old pope will forge ahead with his busy travel and public appearance schedule.

The explosion in Hebron, West Bank: trying to deter other attackers, Israeli troops blew up the home of an Islamic Jihad militant who attacked a West Bank settlement last week. He killed two people, including a 7-month-old baby. The gunman was killed by soldiers last week.

We go now to Paris, France. Air France and KLM are winging it. The French carrier has agreed to buy its rival Dutch airline for $900 million, creating the world's third largest airline. This has Alitalia green with envy. So the Italian carrier begins talks to get into the act.

London, England: a pretty sophisticated interactive billboard. Take a look at this. Coca-Cola unveils the world's biggest billboard. It responds to the weather apparently, and interacts with people looking at it from the ground. It doesn't hand out free Coke. At least not as yet.

Moscow, Russia: the first lady's visit. A roundtable at the Kremlin kicks off a book festival sponsored by Russia's first lady. Laura Bush scolded American parents for letting their children watch too much TV and urged them to spend more time reading with their kids. Except not during this program.

And that is tonight's "Up Link."

That brings us to the kiss. No, we're not talking about the Madonna and Britney thing. We're talking about the kiss yesterday between First Lady Laura Bush and French President Jacques Chirac. Now, the kiss on the hand was either an excruciating nightmare or a welcome sign of detente between the two countries. The interpretation depended, as it often does, on which paper you read.

Take a look. The "New York Post" depicted the poor first lady as a damsel in distress, barely able to hide her disgust at having to brave what they called a "weasel kiss" from the supposedly trouble- making French President Chirac. But in "The New York Times," she didn't look like she was having the diplomatic version of a root canal. In fact, she looked pleased as punch by the presidential peck.

"The Washington Post" and several other papers from around the country used the same happy photo. "The Post" called it the "gallant greeting."

The French were, how to you say -- ah, yes, blase about it all. None of the major French papers had the kiss on the cover. As for the first lady herself, she laughed when reporters teased her about it saying, "I think that was just French hospitality."

Still to come tonight: Mike Tyson back in court over a hotel brawl. Will this legal blow be the knockout punch? More cliches to follow. Lisa Bloom weighs in.

Also, what would you do if the government wanted to take your house to build a Wal-Mart? Meet one grandmother who's fighting back.

And another wild card in the California recalls race. Arnold Schwarzenegger gets pumped up by a new ally -- or a new ally. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) we'll explain ahead.

But first, a look "Inside the Box," the top stories on tonight's network evening newscasts.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COOPER: Well, we want to turn overseas. For years, the West African nation, Liberia, was engulfed in a vicious and deadly civil war. Then American soldiers went in, and six weeks later, it seems like the fighting is over and the U.S. troops are already on their way out. Our Jeff Koinange joins us live by videophone from the capital, Monrovia, with details.

Jeff, no more than like 200 U.S. soldiers actually ever went into Liberia. Did they really make that much of a difference? And is the civil war over?

JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, you'd be surprised what a difference six weeks makes. We arrived here about -- when the sun was going down, about four or five hours ago, and Liberians were already asking us, why are the Americans leaving already? They have grown so accustomed to them.

And, like you said, there was only 200 of them on the ground. But it's just the mere presence, the fact that they were here, showing their face in the streets of the capital. That's what convinced Liberians that peace was finally at hand.

And they welcomed them. They really welcomed them with open arms. They enjoyed their presence. And they started feeling a semblance of law and order coming back to the capital.

So, to answer your question, 200 of them, not that many in number. But the difference was vast. You can see already in the streets the mood has changed completely. Liberians feel free to go about their business.

And they were really growing accustomed to the U.S. forces being on the ground. They feel very bad, Anderson, that those forces are leaving.

One more thing I might add. Remember those three warships that were anchored off the coast of Africa? Well, two of them have disappeared off the horizon. The third one officially leaves tomorrow morning, Anderson. So they are officially setting sail.

COOPER: There are still foreign troops, though, on the ground, is my understanding. I think the Nigerian peacekeepers are still there. How long are they going to stay and what kind of a job are they doing?

KOINANGE: Well, here's what happens. As of tomorrow, October 1, all those West African peacekeepers you talk about, Anderson, they're going to take off their berets that they have donned for the last three months or so. They're going to put on the blue helmets, what they call the United Nations blue helmets, and they will become a new mission called UNMIL, or United Nations Mission in Liberia.

Now, there's only 3,500 of them on the ground now. But the U.N. special representative to Liberia, Jacques (UNINTELLIGIBLE), he requested and got 15,000 troops to be approved and to come on the ground. Those will be coming in the coming weeks and the coming months.

That will form the vanguard. They'll be spread throughout the country, hoping to bring peace to what was once one of Africa's most troubled nations -- Anderson.

COOPER: Certainly has been. Jeff Koinange, in Monrovia, thanks very much.

Before we go into some other major stories, let's take a quick trip Cross Country right now.

Washington, D.C.: dollar delay. A new report puts a price tag on delays caused by traffic jams, construction, and other road problems. The Texas Transportation Institute claims all those delays cost about $8 billion in wasted fuel, plus untold millions in dental bills for teeth ground in frustration. We actually added in that last part.

Also in Washington: no smoking. It should get a little tougher for kids to get their hands on tobacco products. Wal-Mart, the nation's biggest retailer, has come to terms with 43 state attorney generals. The chain will check I.D.s and take other steps to cut out sales of cigarettes and other tobacco items to minors.

Detroit, Michigan: courtroom scuffle. Warren Key (ph) was being sentenced on 20 felony counts, including shooting two police officers and a motorist. Look at this. He decided to speak up, as the mother of one of the shooting victims was speaking.

And that's what happens when that happens. Key (ph) got up to express his displeasure, which led police and deputies, as you see, wrestling him to the floor.

Paris, Texas: stupidity on parade. A high school band director calls it an error in judgment. Try to see, if you can, that flag. See what you think.

The Paris High band's halftime show last Friday was called "Visions of World War II." The band played the national anthem Germany used when Adolph Hitler was in power. And then , to top it all off, had a student cross the field with a Nazi flag. After all the booing, cursing, and complaints, the band director apologized.

And that is a look at stories "Cross Country" tonight.

On now to how quickly we forget, our weekly update of stories that were once cable news catnip and then got dropped faster than you can say "24 hour news cycle."

Tonight, Hurricane Isabel. How quickly we forgot about the storm that slammed the East Coast earlier this month. But many people cannot forget Isabel because they are still recovering from the damage. And get this -- more than 27,000 customers, weeks later, still cannot get their lights on.

More now from CNN's Kathleen Koch.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ingenuity, the common thread connecting Virginians connected to little else. Dale Burrelle (ph) is the last one in her Richmond neighborhood still in the dark.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I saw the van at the end of the street. And I know they're coming.

KOCH: West of town, the cavalry has arrived big-time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's been tough. Laundry is piling up. What I truly miss most of all is coffee.

KOCH: Dominion Virginia Power says the last outages are the toughest.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In a lot of cases now we're having to hand carry poles into backs of properties and set those poles by hand. So it's very labor intensive.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I kept this on the table.

KOCH: Seventy-seven-year-old Phyllis Childes (ph) has relied on an antique oil lamp and a well-stocked cooler. Her main complaint?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I mean, it's very difficult to go to bed at 7:30.

KOCH (on camera): So many schools have been without power that students only started back to class on Monday.

(voice-over): Parents are worried.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They lost that feeling of the new beginning.

KOCH (on camera): The momentum?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right. They're starting all over again.

KOCH (voice-over): Dominion Power predicts all its customers will finally have power by Friday night.

Kathleen Koch, CNN, Richmond.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: How quickly we forget. Still to come this evening: Mike Tyson and the brawl caught on tape. Will justice be served? Lisa Bloom takes us to court.

Also tonight: violation of trust. A girl's soccer coach on the run for allegedly making child pornography -- get this -- that starred his team. Police are asking the public for help. And a little bit later on, our special series "The Spying Game." America's biggest traitors: what made them do it? We'll take a closer look.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Tonight: "Justice Served." Mike Tyson in court again. This time Tyon kept quiet as lawyers for the former heavyweight champ asked a judge to dismiss assault charges against him. Iron Mike's charged with seven misdemeanor counts that include assault, harassment, disorderly conduct in connection with a fight in a Brooklyn hotel in June.

Two men say all they did was ask for autographs. This is a tape from the lobby of the hotel. They wound up getting the smack-down. Tyson's lawyers say it was self-defense. Let's see what Court TV's Lisa Bloom has to say.

Lisa, thanks for being with us.

LISA BLOOM, COURT TV: Thanks, Anderson.

COOPER: How serious are these charges against him? And they were trying to get them all dismissed. It's not going to happen?

BLOOM: Well, the motion will be heard on November 17th. It hasn't even been filed yet. But I spoke today to Tyson's attorney, Mel Sacks (ph), to say, what is this motion all about? He says he thinks he can get the whole thing thrown out...

COOPER: Really?

BLOOM: ... because there's a witness to say that one of the victims said to Tyson, "You've got fists, we've got guns." And the victim made a motion towards his waistband, indicating that he had a gun.

So Mel Sacks (ph) says, look, Tyson just acted in self-defense in fighting back proportionately. Yes, he hit them, but he didn't seriously hurt them and, of course, didn't kill them.

COOPER: And the people who were on the other side receiving Mike Tyson's blows, actually apparently had been drinking, and so there's some sort of question about what condition they were really in?

BLOOM: That's right, absolutely. But Mel Sacks (ph) also told me there will absolutely not be a plea bargain...

COOPER: No plea bargain, really?

BLOOM: ... in this case. No plea bargain, absolutely not. I said, "That's because your client is going to look at serious time given his track record."

COOPER: He could do serious time. BLOOM: That's right, because he's got a record. He's a convicted rapist, he has other assault allegations and convictions in his past. So he's going to get the maximum of any sentencing range if he's convicted.

COOPER: Now, Mike Tyson was in court today. For the next court date, though, he doesn't have to be in court. Does this happen with everyone, or is this just celebrities? Celebrity justice?

BLOOM: Well, you know that celebrities always want to get out of appearing at trial or pretrial proceedings.

COOPER: Right, because of the media circus, all sorts of reasons.

BLOOM: They don't want to have to show up. Kobe Bryant had to show up. Martha Stewart had to show up. Mike Tyson does not have to show up for the next court appearance.

And again, his attorney, Mel Sacks (ph), one of the best attorneys in the country, really, was very smart. Before the trial, he contacted the prosecutors, got their agreement that, oh, that's fine, he doesn't have to show up. Instead of grandstanding in court where the prosecutor would feel their backs up against the wall, they have to say Mike Tyson should be treated the same as anyone else, make him appear. He got that agreement sort of informally.

COOPER: OK. And his past, will that come into the courtroom?

BLOOM: Not during the guilt phase. But if he's convicted, definitely during sentencing.

COOPER: Only an the event of a conviction?

BLOOM: Yes.

COOPER: All right. Lisa Bloom, thanks very much.

BLOOM: Thank you.

COOPER: Well, more "Justice Served" now. Listen to this.

In Jacksonville, Florida, a 2-year-old was left alone in an apartment for nearly three weeks. The child's mother had been sent to jail, but apparently didn't tell anyone the child was left at home alone. The little girl was malnourished but survived by eating mustard, ketchup, and raw pasta she found in the apartment.

Her father, who is separated from the mother, found the kid Sunday night watching cartoons. She's OK. The mother will now face child abuse charges.

Another disturbing case to tell you about involving kids. This one in Virginia. A former soccer coach accused of child pornography charges is in the hospital tonight. He surrendered to police this morning. Now, authorities are refusing to discuss the exact nature of his injuries, but say they are not life-threatening. Greta Kreuz of our affiliate, WJLA, has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GRETA KREUZ, WJLA (voice-over): Fairfax County Police say Ralph Shipler (ph), whose daughter was on the team he coached, secretly videotaped girls changing from their soccer uniforms into bathing suits at his home on Ravens Craig Court (ph) in Herndon (ph). They say Shipler (ph) drilled a hole in his garage wall which adjoined the bathroom, and scraped the backing off a mirror in order to watch the girls change.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There are about eight victims. They've all been identified. Parents have been spoken with. And that's what -- we needed their cooperation in order to obtain the warrants from there.

KREUZ: Police here were tipped off to Shipler (ph) police in South Beaver Township, Pennsylvania, who responded September 7th to a complaint of a man taking video of children attending a nudist camp there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The videotapes were found in his car that had inappropriate video footage of young children. The FBI contacted us, and we started our investigation down here.

KREUZ: But also on the video, the scenes of the girls, soccer players, changing in Shipler's (ph) bathroom. Police searched his house and confiscated soccer rosters, nude publications, computer software, and CDs and dozens of videos. Thousands of kids play soccer in this area, and the news is a shock.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel a little frightened for kids. You don't know who to trust anymore.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: You certainly don't. Again, that was reporter Greta Kreuz of our affiliate, WJLA.

Still ahead: inside the mind of a spy. New clues in the Green River killings?

And, the nation's newest soap star.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Let's quickly "Reset" tonight's top stories.

In Boston, a civilian translator makes a court appearance today. He works at the Guantanamo Bay naval base and was arrested yesterday in the ongoing investigation into spying at the base where detainees are being held. Ahmed Mahalba allegedly had CD ROMs related to detainees when he was stopped at Boston's Logan Airport.

Today is the last day of the fundraising quarter for presidential candidates and President Bush made the most of it. A pair of presidential fundraisers gathering more than $6 million for Mr. Bush, his biggest one-day take so far, for a total of nearly $50 million for the quarter. Democrat Howard Dean is closing in on his goal of $15 million. Most of that raised through Internet donations.

The new agent in charge of the FBI's field office says publicly tagging Stephen Hatfill as a person of interest in the anthrax investigation probably wasn't a good idea. Michael Mason told reporters that the probe has been beset by leaks, but that 27 special agents are working on the investigation right now.

There are now fewer people screening the nation's airline travelers. Today was the deadline for cut-backs ordered by the Transportation Security Administration. Nearly 55,000 federal screeners were hired in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. Budget problems led the agency to cut that number back to 48,000.

And there are also more people in the U.S. without health insurance. The Census Bureau says another 2.4 million Americans, 15.2 percent, don't have coverage. They say the increase is due to lost jobs and companies cutting back on coverage.

And that's "The Reset."

Now the allegations of espionage at Gitmo provide the backdrop for our special series this week, "The Spying Game."

Tonight, perhaps the most fascinating question of all-- why do some Americans choose to betray their country? Richard Burton in the 1960s movie "The Spy Who Came In From The Cold," gave this assessment:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD BURTON, ACTOR: What the hell do you think spies are? Moral philosophers measuring everything they do against the word of God or Karl Marx? They're not. They're just a bunch of seedy, squalid bastards like me. Little men, drunkards, queers, hen-pecked husbands, civil servants playing cowboys and Indians to brighten their rotten little lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Well, the movies are one thing. Real life another.

If you look at some of the major American spies of the last few decades, you'd see a whole range of motives -- greed, egotism, misguided devotion to a cause.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER (voice-over): Jonathan Pollard said devotion to Zionism was the reason he spied. Not for an enemy, but for an American ally -- Israel. He was a counterintelligence analyst with the Navy. In the mid 1980s, he pled guilty to passing documents to Israel and is now serving a life sentence.

He said as a Jewish man he was committed to Israel. But was that his only motive? He also got money as well and U.S. officials say he also approached Pakistan, South Africa, and others.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pollard is a traitor to the United States. He has now reinvented himself as a great Jewish patriot and tried to present that to the people.

COOPER: Aldrich Ames' only ideology seemed to be a fierce devotion to cold hard cash. Arrested in '94, Ames was the CIA counterintelligence officer who got and spent millions after giving up the names of Russians working for the U.S. Ames, now serving a life sentence, said this a few years back:

ALDRICH AMES, CONVICTED CIA SPY: I betrayed the trust they put in me and the oaths that I swore. And I did it, you know, for my own -- first my own gain and -- and the kind of arrogance, my belief that there were certain things I know better than any people do.

COOPER: And then there's Robert Hanssen, who appeared to be a church-going family man. The veteran FBI agent did get cash for stealing secrets for the former Soviet Union and Russia. But one colleague says money clearly wasn't Hanssen's only motive. Ego played a part as well.

PAUL MOORE, FORMER FBI COLLEAGUE: His ambition is to play the spy game better than anybody's ever played it before. He wants to be the best spy ever.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Apparently he wasn't. Hanssen pled guilty in 2001, is now serving a life sentence.

Want to talk more about this motivation of spies with Brian Jenkins. He's a terrorism expert and a senior adviser with the Rand Corporation. He joins us from Los Angeles.

Brian, good to see you.

It's fascinating. I mean, I think in the public's mind, they have this perception of spies with high-minded philosophical ideas or allegiances. But when you really closely look at it, it's grubby, it's desire for money and it's ego.

BRIAN JENKINS, SENIOR ADVISOR, RAND CORP.: No, that's absolutely correct. Perhaps back in the 1930s, the '40s, perhaps early the '50s, ideology was a powerful factor. People spied for causes.

COOPER: People -- point to the Rosenbergs as an example.

JENKINS: That would be one example.

But, you know, in -- really, in the 1980s and 1990s, when we look at motives -- while, there's no single motive, the motives collectively are personal and often involve personal gain, arrogance, egotism, adventure, all of those figures -- figure in.

COOPER: I suppose there's a personality type that draws people to this clandestine world and a subset within that draws them to want to betray and to spy. What kind of a personality type do you think these people have?

JENKINS: Well, again, there's no single personality type. I suppose there are qualities that we see in a lot of the spies. And that again -- that comes back to ego. A kind of -- a kind of sense that they're smarter than everybody else, a deep sense of narcissism. In a sense, there's a certain power that comes with being a spy.

Not only do you have access to the secrets, the most -- the most precious national secrets of the country, but you also know at the same time that you are betraying those secrets that you are taking these risks, and with that, that becomes a very, very powerful narcotic in itself.

COOPER: But it's fascinating. I mean, when you look at these cases closely, these people, in many cases, are not really trying to hide their trail all that well. I mean, their bank accounts escalate, they renovate their homes, they drive fancy cars. It's sort of remarkable that they don't get caught sooner.

JENKINS: Well, again, they may become victims of hubris. That is, as they continue, they become increasingly -- increasingly convinced that they can get away with anything. They regard themselves as above the law. They regard themselves as so smart that they continue to outsmart everybody else.

At the same time, I wonder if ultimately there's deep down -- not a desire to be caught, but ultimately, at some point, a desire to be recognized. And the only way you get recognized is ultimately to be caught or, I suppose, published -- have your memoirs published posthumously.

COOPER: It is just fascinating to get inside the mind of these people. And the money -- the amount of money, as you pointed out, that they're going for is often small. It's -- it's...

JENKINS: Anderson, some have done well. But if you look at some of them -- I mean, there was one -- one individual spied -- spied for the Soviet Union (AUDIO GAP). Hardly seems like a sufficient amount of money to sell your country, and to take the risk of spending the rest of your life in prison.

COOPER: And a lot of other people lost their lives probably because of it.

Brian Jenkins, thanks very much for joining us tonight.

JENKINS: Thank you.

COOPER: All right.

Want to give a quick check to tonight's "Terror Watch." No more transparency. The White House says it will no longer declassify parts of a Congressional report on intelligence failures relating to 9/11. That means details of possible foreign involvement will also be kept secret. White House officials argue any more declassification could jeopardize current investigations.

Preventing an attack by water. President Bush is asking Congress for $38 million to beef up security at ports. He wants radiation monitors, improved screening of passengers and cargo.

And dangerous cargo for many reason. The government is cracking down on illegal shipment of hazardous cargo. Officials say lax enforcement could lead to accidents or be used by terrorists to mount attacks.

9/11 hate crime, Arizona man is convicted of a murder in the slaying of a Sikh man days after September 11. Prosecutors say the Turban and bearded victim was gunned because he was mistaken for an Arab.

Belgium's biggest terrorism trial ends. 18 Muslim men including a former professional soccer player are convicted of plotting to blow up a U.S. military base. They were all sentenced for trying to recruit fighters for al Qaeda and Afghanistan's former Taliban rulers.

And that is tonight's "Terror Watch."

Here in the U.S., another fight rages over the right of eminent domain. A whole different kind of fight. For many people and many cases there's nothing right about the way it's implemented. City and council governments evicting homeowners and business owners so they can sell the land to private developers. According to one estimate that has happened 10,000 times in the last five years alone.

Brian Cabell reports on one such case.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN CABELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Lily Spence and her family have lived on their five acres of land in central Alabama for over a half century. But now the town Alabaster wants that land for commercial development. It's condemning the property by right of eminent domain and offering the Spence's $94,000.

What happens if they came back and said, Lily, we'll give you $200,000?

LILY SPENCE, HOME OWNER: I'd say, that is nothing.

CABELL: $500,000?

SPENCE: That is nothing.

CABELL: What price would you move?

SPENCE: No price. CABELL: Miss Spence may not like it. Bulldozers are already clearing the land around her home. Some neighbors have sold their property. Others, under threat of condemnation, are considering selling theirs. Town officials and developers who hope to attract a Wal-Mart say the Spence's are the primary hold-outs.

GREG MORRIS, ATTY. FOR ALABASTER: At this time, I would say that is a correct statement.

CABELL: That's their family property. They've been there over a half century. They have emotional attachment. Does that bother you?

MORRIS: Yes, it does. Of course it does.

CABELL: But the town of Alabaster officials say is languishing and needs new stores, amenities, homes, jobs. Something commercial development can offer them. The town has gone to court to force the Spence's and any others who may resist, out. Critics say it's wrong, that eminent domain was intended to be used to take property for public uses. For a school, for example. Not for a private use. Lily Spence and her family have counter sued in federal court, and are not yet preparing to move, even though they can hear the bulldozer just down the road.

Brian Cabell, CNN, Alabaster, Alabama.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: We'll be watching this story closely.

Still to come this evening, notorious murder of the American Northwest. The Green River Killer. Decades later, more remains have been found.

Is it another victim?

We'll try to find out.

Also tonight, America's latest soap star. The first new Ivory Soap baby in decades.

An '80s legend makes a come-back in the California recall. No, we are not talking about Arnold Schwarzenegger. We are talking about Dee Snyder.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Well, an amazing case to tell you about. The Green River killer of the American Northwest last struck in 1984. But 20 years later, remains of the victims are still being pulled from the cold ground. Most recently just this week.

CNN's Rusty Dornin looks at the evidence that continues to pile up.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Investigators (UNINTELLIGIBLE) down this steep ravine and sifted through layers of 20 years of dirt and mud before finding more remains they say are linked to the Green River killings. It all began in 1982 when the woods along the Green River south of Seattle. Remains of missing women began turning up. Police suspected 49 women were murdered by the same killer. The case lingered unsolved for years. Then in November 2001, a married truck painter Gary Ridgeway was arrested based on DNA evidence. Charged with seven of the killings, Ridgeway says he's innocent.

In June, investigators began searching again. Almost 20 separate searches have yielded four sets of remains. Two have been identified. One, 17-year-old April Buttrum (ph), last seen in 1983. Ridgeway's attorney says they are working on a plea bargain, but no one will confirm speculation that in return, prime suspect is telling police where the bodies were dumped.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have been gathering new information. And it's brought us to these sites.

DORNIN: Investigators say the remains of five suspected victims are still missing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Every family that I've dealt with over the years always believed, they have always believed that their daughter is alive until the remains are found.

DORNIN: The King County Sheriff's Department says more sites are on their search list. Everyone hoping to bring closure to the families left still wondering.

Rusty Dornin, CNN, San Francisco.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: When 40 women linked to this one alleged killer, of course the families aren't the only ones wondering. Several questions remain unanswered. So earlier I spoke to the author of "Search for the Green River Killer."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Tomas Guillen is with us from Seattle. Tomas, thanks for being with us. You've been searching this for a long time, not just for you book, but really ever since the book came out.

How surprised are you at the flurry of activity recently?

TOMAS GUILLEN, AUTHOR, "SEARCH FOR THE GREEN RIVER KILLER": Well, we're very surprised, because everybody expected a long trial and everybody's been preparing for a trial. And suddenly the task force has gone to several wooded sites and have been finding skeletal remains. And they had not found skeletal remains since 1989.

COOPER: The implication is a lot of people are saying this man Gary Ridgeway is talking.

Do you believe he is?

If so, is he the one pointing police to where some of these remains have been found?

GUILLEN: That is the speculation. And I believe that speculation is correct. And all the information I have basically would indicate that Mr. Gary Ridgeway is talking to them, is trying to make a deal and to avoid the death penalty. And my information says that he is pointing to certain sites around the country -- or I am sorry around the county, and he is helping police.

COOPER: Do police feel they have a good sense of what the motive of this killer was?

GUILLEN: Well, I think they do. If you look at court records when he was arrested, essentially you'll see that this gentleman apparently needed sexual relationships, very often frequently, every week. And he liked to frequent prostitution strips.

COOPER: And the method of death, was it the same in all the bodies that were found?

GUILLEN: It appears to be affixation. You have different situations at different scenes. Often you couldn't tell because they were skeletonized. But you found a pair of men's socks tied together around one victim. Another victim had a pair of pants. I think it's safe to say, fixation.

COOPER: I don't want go into to many of the gory details, but basically, these women were in often case prostitutes.

He would pick them up, have sex with them, and then kill them?

GUILLEN: Well, he picked them up and whether he had sex with them is debatable. He needed sex often. Some men need to have sexual release without the act of intercourse and that's where death comes in. So, I'm not convinced he actually had sex with them, but somehow he probably had some kind of sexual release, and that was part of the motive.

COOPER: He has now been charged with seven killings, I believe. There are many more killings linked to the Green River Killer.

Is it likely this man may be charged with even more?

GUILLEN: I'm not sure he's going to be charged with any more. I would think it's likely that he would. Even if he is talking right now. I would suspect that if he is having a plea agreement, that plea agreement would involve all the cases in the Green River, or most of them. So he starts with seven. They might just say, let's charge him with all of them, or the ones he speaks about.

COOPER: It is a fascinating case. Tomas Guillen, we appreciate you joining us to talk about it. Thank you. Well, coming up next on 360, I think we all knew it was a matter of time until Twisted Sister got involved with the California recall election. Now that day has come.

Also, tonight, Ivory looks for a new Ivory baby. He'll giggle with the light at this next report. Be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: All right, it's been 30 years since the last time the world had an Ivory baby. But the marketing folks have been at it again and they're proud to announce, it's a spokesbaby! CNN's Jeanne Moos waited with lots of nervous parents. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Rub a dub dub, six babies in tubs. But only one of them gets to be the new Ivory soap baby.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Beautiful Isabel completely embodies the purity that is Ivory soap.

MOOS: Ten-month-old Isabel Wall (ph) sure is an improvement over the first Ivory baby from 1887. After photo auditions around the country -- and a total of 25,000 entries -- it came down to six finalists, immortalizing their hand prints.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Give her five? High five? Yeah.

MOOS: Ivory dropped the baby as an advertising icon 30 years ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mild enough for a baby's skin.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MOOS: Yeah, but is it mild enough for a baby's digestive system? Isabel washed out her own mouth with soap.

Past Ivory babies include actress Brook Shields, and porn star Marilyn Chambers appeared on the Ivory box when she was 17. Ivory may be 99.44 percent pure, but not Marilyn.

Today's contestants are a melting pot.

(on camera): Oh, I can't wait to see what happens.

(voice-over): Isabel's parents say she's hardly ever cranky.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to try to have her model as long as she wants.

MOOS: You'd squeal too, if you won a $50,000 scholarship. Isabel only started walking about a month ago and already she's modeling. We're falling too.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (singing): Falling for you.

MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Jeanne Moos hit that baby with a bubble, did you see that?

All right, time for a quick check of tonight's "Current."

Arnold Schwarzenegger has named Twisted Sister's "We're Not Going to Take It" as his official campaign song. Lyrics include the lines "we're not going to take it, no, we ain't going to take it, we're not going to take it anymore." The song is considered a heavy metal classic, for Twisted Sister's use of elaborate symbolism to suggest that they will no longer be taking it.

This is Halle Berry as she'll appear in the upcoming "Catwoman" movie. She'll be walking in the pawprints of Eartha Kitt, Julie Newmar and Michelle Pfeiffer. "Catwoman" is expected to be the most openly sexual superhero movie since 1997's "Batman and Robin."

TBS has signed a deal to run edited versions of HBO's "Sex and the City." The series is being edited to meet the standards of regular cable, cutting out the frequent scenes of amazing sex. Therefore it is expected to be the first time "Sex and the City" resembles real life.

Still more to come on 360. And tomorrow, spy catchers. How espionage is investigated. Tricks of the trade. Part of our special series, "The Spying Game."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Tonight, taking everyday heroism to "The Nth Degree." On Saturday, a stack of cardboard boxes caught fire in a structure connecting two buildings in Queens, New York. The fire threatened to spread. But then Ladder Company 127 showed up. Among them, a firefighter, James O' Shea. Along with his fellow firefighters, O'Shea helped put out the blaze, helped haul debris. That was his job. He was a firefighter.

He complained of discomfort but declined treatment at the scene and went home. That night, James J. O'Shea died of a heart attack. He was 40. Today the fire department classified his death as being in the line of duty, the first since September 11. 1,121 New York firefighters have died on the job before him, including 343 on September 11.

It doesn't take a national tragedy or grand tributes to make them heroes. Firefighters who die don't choose to give their lives, they only choose to risk their lives. And that's a choice they all make all the time. In return, James O'Shea was paid $54,000 a year, so you know he didn't do it for the money. Neither did those 343. They made the choice for the same reason their brothers continue to.

They are everyday heroes. That's their job. Thanks for joining us. Good night.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com

Operative Continues>

Aired September 30, 2003 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON COOPER, HOST (voice-over): A translator from Gitmo arrested. How big will the espionage probe get?

Washington up in arms over the exposure of a CIA operative.

Another grisly discovery. Is it the work of the Green River killer?

The spying game: American traitors. Why they do it and how they get caught.

And the nationwide search for the new Ivory Snow baby.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Live from the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is ANDERSON COOPER 360.

COOPER: Hey there. Good evening. Thanks for joining us on 360.

We begin tonight with the explosive question of whether someone at the White House revealed the name of a CIA operative, retaliating because her husband criticized the president and his handling of Iraq intelligence. And we are getting word into CNN about a memo from the Justice Department to the White House on how it plans to investigate.

We want to go right to senior White House correspondent, John King, who has the latest -- John.

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, this is that memo distributed by the White House Counsel's Office at the request of the Justice Department at the close of the day here at the White House. It tells anyone who works at the White House to go back through their records to February of 2002 and to preserve and maintain any documents: e-mails, computer files, diary records, phone logs, anything that has anything to do with Ambassador Joseph Wilson, his wife, who the world now knows is a CIA operative, and any contacts with the news media about Ambassador Wilson or his wife, or issues related to this investigation.

Now, The White House Counsel's Office distributing this memo. The White House is saying that everyone here at the White House has been told to cooperate fully. That is a message the president stressed himself today when, for the first time, he addressed this investigation with reporters. Mr. Bush was in Chicago, and he said he sees no need for a special prosecutor, that the Justice Department is the right agency to conduct this investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If there's a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is. And if the person has violated law, that person will be taken care of.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Democrats of course say there should be an independent special counsel, but the attorney general saying today he has faith in the career prosecutors who are handling this investigation, Anderson. They insist here the bottom line at the White House is that they will fully cooperate. They also are trying to stir up the political debate, saying the Democrats are coming after the president from a political perspective.

That is a playbook followed by President Clinton, a Democrat, who often blamed the Republicans for trying to stir up trouble. The Bush administration is hoping that by calling much of this politics, they can convince the American people perhaps not to pay all that much attention -- Anderson.

COOPER: All right. John King at the White House. Thanks for the update.

We want to go in to the politics of it now and on to the intense finger pointing going on on Capitol Hill. As we said, the Justice Department today tried to make clear that it is deadly serious about finding out how the operative's name was exposed, launching a full- blown criminal probe. But some congressional Democrats say, well, that is not enough.

More now from CNN congressional correspondent, Jonathan Karl.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JONATHAN KARL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Democrats think they have finally found a scandal that will tarnish the Bush White House.

SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: This is not just a leak. This is a crime, plain and simple.

KARL: They say the investigation cannot be done by the president's attorney general.

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: An independent investigation of this despicable matter must be undertaken immediately.

KARL: And John Ashcroft's announcement of a full investigation by his Justice Department only fueled the Democratic fire. SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: President Bush needs to start going after any traitors in his midst. And that means more than an inside once-over from his friend, and Carl Rove's client, John Ashcroft.

KARL: Kerry is referring to top Bush political aide, Karl Rove, whose direct mail company did work on Ashcroft's 1994 Senate campaign. Ambassador Joseph Wilson has blamed Rove for at least condoning the leak of his wife's name. But Ashcroft said the investigation would be conducted by independent-minded prosecutors.

JOHN ASHCROFT, ATTORNEY GENERAL: The prosecutors and agents who are and will be handling this investigation are career professionals with extensive experience in handling matters involving sensitive national security information.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KARL: Republicans here on Capitol Hill say all those Democratic calls for a special prosecutor or special counsel are simply pure politics. As for Ashcroft, however, he refused to answer questions about a special prosecutor. And sources at the Justice Department say the attorney general has not ruled out appointing one to look into this -- Anderson.

COOPER: Well, what's the next step, Jon? Where do the Democrats go?

KARL: There's nothing more the Democrats can do substantively here. They cannot appoint a special counsel. They are not in charge in the Congress, so they cannot start any investigation here. They can simply make as much noise as possible.

The next step would have to come from John Ashcroft himself, a decision from him about whether or not he would go ahead and take that next step of appointing a special counsel.

COOPER: All right. Jonathan Karl, thanks very much.

Also adding to the Democratic chorus, Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle. He spoke today with Paula Zahn.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TOM DASCHLE (D-SD), MINORITY LEADER: We need to find out what happened. There are a lot of unanswered questions right now. And the fastest way to get the answers is with an independent counsel, which is what we're calling for now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Well, you can see the entire interview with Senator Daschle. That's coming up at on "PAULA ZAHN NOW" at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.

So the question is, do the dots connect? Are the recent arrests part of a bigger conspiracy? We're talking now -- going from this story to the story about the ongoing espionage case at Guantanamo Bay. The investigation to see if in fact it is a case of espionage.

We're going to go now to Barbara Starr at the Pentagon.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This third arrest caught military officials by surprise, adding to Pentagon worries of a major security breach inside the prison on Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. So far, no evidence connects the civilian translator, Ahmed Mehalba, to either Ahmed al-Halabi, the senior airman facing charges of espionage and aiding the enemy, or Islamic Army chaplain, Captain James Yee, who is also under arrest but not charged.

Sources tell CNN that investigators are also looking at suspicious activity by other members of the Air Force and Navy personnel. The investigation may expand to the Marine Corps. One counterterrorism expert says it's not all likely to be a coincidence.

MATHEW LEVITT, COUNTER TERRORISM EXPERT: When you're talking about gaining access to so secure a location, in an atmosphere and an environment of national security post-9/11, I find it very unlikely that it was possible that there were three disparate penetrations of Guantanamo.

STARR: The investigation is now trying to answer these critical questions: Is there an espionage conspiracy? Were all suspects working independently? Did the suspects, who have Arab and Muslim backgrounds, develop sympathies towards the detainees? Or are the suspects innocent?

(on camera): At minimum, it now appears there were serious security breaches at Guantanamo Bay. Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: That at a minimum. Three suspects are now in custody. The question is, how did this latest arrest go down? It happened at Boston's Logan Airport.

For the details, let's go to Dan Lothian.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ahmed Mehalba arriving at federal court in Boston one day after landing at Logan International Airport from a trip to Egypt aboard Alitalia Flight number 618. Federal authorities say a routine check led to a secondary examination. Why?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good inspection work, where the inspector looks the applicant in the eye and determines some suspicious items, and further investigates it. LOTHIAN: Mehalba, who presented his I.D. badge as a translator at the U.S. prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, is then questioned by the FBI after officials say something is suspicious is found among 132 compact disks in his bag.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And one that contain a document labeled "secret," as well as other documents.

LOTHIAN: Mehalba, who briefly appeared in court before his hearing was continued, is now being held on suspicion of making false statements after allegedly repeatedly denying he was carrying government-related documents from Guantanamo Bay.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They appear to be classified documents. The bureau continues to examine the documents today. We're not going to describe what the documents were or under what circumstances he was able to get access to the documents.

LOTHIAN: His court-appointed attorney is Michael Andrews.

MICHAEL ANDREWS, ATTORNEY: He intends to vigorously defend himself. Obviously, anybody caught up or accused of something like this is nervous and bewildered and scared about the process. But we're going to defend it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LOTHIAN: In the filing document, the suspect tells the FBI that he doesn't know how this potential classified document ended up on his CD. These are CDs that he said that contained music and movies. Authorities here are not saying if there will be additional charges. The next court date is set for October 8 -- Anderson.

COOPER: We'll be following it closely. Dan Lothian, thanks very much.

We're going to have more on espionage in just a minute as we continue our week-long look at the spying game. Tonight: what motivates spies to betray their country? We'll look at some of America's most notorious spies.

The "Up Link" now, our nightly quick check of international stories.

Vatican City, Italy: the ailing pope. A close adviser tells a German magazine Pope John Paul II is "in a bad way" and the faithful should pray for him. But the Vatican insists the 83-year-old pope will forge ahead with his busy travel and public appearance schedule.

The explosion in Hebron, West Bank: trying to deter other attackers, Israeli troops blew up the home of an Islamic Jihad militant who attacked a West Bank settlement last week. He killed two people, including a 7-month-old baby. The gunman was killed by soldiers last week.

We go now to Paris, France. Air France and KLM are winging it. The French carrier has agreed to buy its rival Dutch airline for $900 million, creating the world's third largest airline. This has Alitalia green with envy. So the Italian carrier begins talks to get into the act.

London, England: a pretty sophisticated interactive billboard. Take a look at this. Coca-Cola unveils the world's biggest billboard. It responds to the weather apparently, and interacts with people looking at it from the ground. It doesn't hand out free Coke. At least not as yet.

Moscow, Russia: the first lady's visit. A roundtable at the Kremlin kicks off a book festival sponsored by Russia's first lady. Laura Bush scolded American parents for letting their children watch too much TV and urged them to spend more time reading with their kids. Except not during this program.

And that is tonight's "Up Link."

That brings us to the kiss. No, we're not talking about the Madonna and Britney thing. We're talking about the kiss yesterday between First Lady Laura Bush and French President Jacques Chirac. Now, the kiss on the hand was either an excruciating nightmare or a welcome sign of detente between the two countries. The interpretation depended, as it often does, on which paper you read.

Take a look. The "New York Post" depicted the poor first lady as a damsel in distress, barely able to hide her disgust at having to brave what they called a "weasel kiss" from the supposedly trouble- making French President Chirac. But in "The New York Times," she didn't look like she was having the diplomatic version of a root canal. In fact, she looked pleased as punch by the presidential peck.

"The Washington Post" and several other papers from around the country used the same happy photo. "The Post" called it the "gallant greeting."

The French were, how to you say -- ah, yes, blase about it all. None of the major French papers had the kiss on the cover. As for the first lady herself, she laughed when reporters teased her about it saying, "I think that was just French hospitality."

Still to come tonight: Mike Tyson back in court over a hotel brawl. Will this legal blow be the knockout punch? More cliches to follow. Lisa Bloom weighs in.

Also, what would you do if the government wanted to take your house to build a Wal-Mart? Meet one grandmother who's fighting back.

And another wild card in the California recalls race. Arnold Schwarzenegger gets pumped up by a new ally -- or a new ally. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) we'll explain ahead.

But first, a look "Inside the Box," the top stories on tonight's network evening newscasts.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COOPER: Well, we want to turn overseas. For years, the West African nation, Liberia, was engulfed in a vicious and deadly civil war. Then American soldiers went in, and six weeks later, it seems like the fighting is over and the U.S. troops are already on their way out. Our Jeff Koinange joins us live by videophone from the capital, Monrovia, with details.

Jeff, no more than like 200 U.S. soldiers actually ever went into Liberia. Did they really make that much of a difference? And is the civil war over?

JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, you'd be surprised what a difference six weeks makes. We arrived here about -- when the sun was going down, about four or five hours ago, and Liberians were already asking us, why are the Americans leaving already? They have grown so accustomed to them.

And, like you said, there was only 200 of them on the ground. But it's just the mere presence, the fact that they were here, showing their face in the streets of the capital. That's what convinced Liberians that peace was finally at hand.

And they welcomed them. They really welcomed them with open arms. They enjoyed their presence. And they started feeling a semblance of law and order coming back to the capital.

So, to answer your question, 200 of them, not that many in number. But the difference was vast. You can see already in the streets the mood has changed completely. Liberians feel free to go about their business.

And they were really growing accustomed to the U.S. forces being on the ground. They feel very bad, Anderson, that those forces are leaving.

One more thing I might add. Remember those three warships that were anchored off the coast of Africa? Well, two of them have disappeared off the horizon. The third one officially leaves tomorrow morning, Anderson. So they are officially setting sail.

COOPER: There are still foreign troops, though, on the ground, is my understanding. I think the Nigerian peacekeepers are still there. How long are they going to stay and what kind of a job are they doing?

KOINANGE: Well, here's what happens. As of tomorrow, October 1, all those West African peacekeepers you talk about, Anderson, they're going to take off their berets that they have donned for the last three months or so. They're going to put on the blue helmets, what they call the United Nations blue helmets, and they will become a new mission called UNMIL, or United Nations Mission in Liberia.

Now, there's only 3,500 of them on the ground now. But the U.N. special representative to Liberia, Jacques (UNINTELLIGIBLE), he requested and got 15,000 troops to be approved and to come on the ground. Those will be coming in the coming weeks and the coming months.

That will form the vanguard. They'll be spread throughout the country, hoping to bring peace to what was once one of Africa's most troubled nations -- Anderson.

COOPER: Certainly has been. Jeff Koinange, in Monrovia, thanks very much.

Before we go into some other major stories, let's take a quick trip Cross Country right now.

Washington, D.C.: dollar delay. A new report puts a price tag on delays caused by traffic jams, construction, and other road problems. The Texas Transportation Institute claims all those delays cost about $8 billion in wasted fuel, plus untold millions in dental bills for teeth ground in frustration. We actually added in that last part.

Also in Washington: no smoking. It should get a little tougher for kids to get their hands on tobacco products. Wal-Mart, the nation's biggest retailer, has come to terms with 43 state attorney generals. The chain will check I.D.s and take other steps to cut out sales of cigarettes and other tobacco items to minors.

Detroit, Michigan: courtroom scuffle. Warren Key (ph) was being sentenced on 20 felony counts, including shooting two police officers and a motorist. Look at this. He decided to speak up, as the mother of one of the shooting victims was speaking.

And that's what happens when that happens. Key (ph) got up to express his displeasure, which led police and deputies, as you see, wrestling him to the floor.

Paris, Texas: stupidity on parade. A high school band director calls it an error in judgment. Try to see, if you can, that flag. See what you think.

The Paris High band's halftime show last Friday was called "Visions of World War II." The band played the national anthem Germany used when Adolph Hitler was in power. And then , to top it all off, had a student cross the field with a Nazi flag. After all the booing, cursing, and complaints, the band director apologized.

And that is a look at stories "Cross Country" tonight.

On now to how quickly we forget, our weekly update of stories that were once cable news catnip and then got dropped faster than you can say "24 hour news cycle."

Tonight, Hurricane Isabel. How quickly we forgot about the storm that slammed the East Coast earlier this month. But many people cannot forget Isabel because they are still recovering from the damage. And get this -- more than 27,000 customers, weeks later, still cannot get their lights on.

More now from CNN's Kathleen Koch.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ingenuity, the common thread connecting Virginians connected to little else. Dale Burrelle (ph) is the last one in her Richmond neighborhood still in the dark.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I saw the van at the end of the street. And I know they're coming.

KOCH: West of town, the cavalry has arrived big-time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's been tough. Laundry is piling up. What I truly miss most of all is coffee.

KOCH: Dominion Virginia Power says the last outages are the toughest.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In a lot of cases now we're having to hand carry poles into backs of properties and set those poles by hand. So it's very labor intensive.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I kept this on the table.

KOCH: Seventy-seven-year-old Phyllis Childes (ph) has relied on an antique oil lamp and a well-stocked cooler. Her main complaint?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I mean, it's very difficult to go to bed at 7:30.

KOCH (on camera): So many schools have been without power that students only started back to class on Monday.

(voice-over): Parents are worried.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They lost that feeling of the new beginning.

KOCH (on camera): The momentum?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right. They're starting all over again.

KOCH (voice-over): Dominion Power predicts all its customers will finally have power by Friday night.

Kathleen Koch, CNN, Richmond.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: How quickly we forget. Still to come this evening: Mike Tyson and the brawl caught on tape. Will justice be served? Lisa Bloom takes us to court.

Also tonight: violation of trust. A girl's soccer coach on the run for allegedly making child pornography -- get this -- that starred his team. Police are asking the public for help. And a little bit later on, our special series "The Spying Game." America's biggest traitors: what made them do it? We'll take a closer look.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Tonight: "Justice Served." Mike Tyson in court again. This time Tyon kept quiet as lawyers for the former heavyweight champ asked a judge to dismiss assault charges against him. Iron Mike's charged with seven misdemeanor counts that include assault, harassment, disorderly conduct in connection with a fight in a Brooklyn hotel in June.

Two men say all they did was ask for autographs. This is a tape from the lobby of the hotel. They wound up getting the smack-down. Tyson's lawyers say it was self-defense. Let's see what Court TV's Lisa Bloom has to say.

Lisa, thanks for being with us.

LISA BLOOM, COURT TV: Thanks, Anderson.

COOPER: How serious are these charges against him? And they were trying to get them all dismissed. It's not going to happen?

BLOOM: Well, the motion will be heard on November 17th. It hasn't even been filed yet. But I spoke today to Tyson's attorney, Mel Sacks (ph), to say, what is this motion all about? He says he thinks he can get the whole thing thrown out...

COOPER: Really?

BLOOM: ... because there's a witness to say that one of the victims said to Tyson, "You've got fists, we've got guns." And the victim made a motion towards his waistband, indicating that he had a gun.

So Mel Sacks (ph) says, look, Tyson just acted in self-defense in fighting back proportionately. Yes, he hit them, but he didn't seriously hurt them and, of course, didn't kill them.

COOPER: And the people who were on the other side receiving Mike Tyson's blows, actually apparently had been drinking, and so there's some sort of question about what condition they were really in?

BLOOM: That's right, absolutely. But Mel Sacks (ph) also told me there will absolutely not be a plea bargain...

COOPER: No plea bargain, really?

BLOOM: ... in this case. No plea bargain, absolutely not. I said, "That's because your client is going to look at serious time given his track record."

COOPER: He could do serious time. BLOOM: That's right, because he's got a record. He's a convicted rapist, he has other assault allegations and convictions in his past. So he's going to get the maximum of any sentencing range if he's convicted.

COOPER: Now, Mike Tyson was in court today. For the next court date, though, he doesn't have to be in court. Does this happen with everyone, or is this just celebrities? Celebrity justice?

BLOOM: Well, you know that celebrities always want to get out of appearing at trial or pretrial proceedings.

COOPER: Right, because of the media circus, all sorts of reasons.

BLOOM: They don't want to have to show up. Kobe Bryant had to show up. Martha Stewart had to show up. Mike Tyson does not have to show up for the next court appearance.

And again, his attorney, Mel Sacks (ph), one of the best attorneys in the country, really, was very smart. Before the trial, he contacted the prosecutors, got their agreement that, oh, that's fine, he doesn't have to show up. Instead of grandstanding in court where the prosecutor would feel their backs up against the wall, they have to say Mike Tyson should be treated the same as anyone else, make him appear. He got that agreement sort of informally.

COOPER: OK. And his past, will that come into the courtroom?

BLOOM: Not during the guilt phase. But if he's convicted, definitely during sentencing.

COOPER: Only an the event of a conviction?

BLOOM: Yes.

COOPER: All right. Lisa Bloom, thanks very much.

BLOOM: Thank you.

COOPER: Well, more "Justice Served" now. Listen to this.

In Jacksonville, Florida, a 2-year-old was left alone in an apartment for nearly three weeks. The child's mother had been sent to jail, but apparently didn't tell anyone the child was left at home alone. The little girl was malnourished but survived by eating mustard, ketchup, and raw pasta she found in the apartment.

Her father, who is separated from the mother, found the kid Sunday night watching cartoons. She's OK. The mother will now face child abuse charges.

Another disturbing case to tell you about involving kids. This one in Virginia. A former soccer coach accused of child pornography charges is in the hospital tonight. He surrendered to police this morning. Now, authorities are refusing to discuss the exact nature of his injuries, but say they are not life-threatening. Greta Kreuz of our affiliate, WJLA, has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GRETA KREUZ, WJLA (voice-over): Fairfax County Police say Ralph Shipler (ph), whose daughter was on the team he coached, secretly videotaped girls changing from their soccer uniforms into bathing suits at his home on Ravens Craig Court (ph) in Herndon (ph). They say Shipler (ph) drilled a hole in his garage wall which adjoined the bathroom, and scraped the backing off a mirror in order to watch the girls change.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There are about eight victims. They've all been identified. Parents have been spoken with. And that's what -- we needed their cooperation in order to obtain the warrants from there.

KREUZ: Police here were tipped off to Shipler (ph) police in South Beaver Township, Pennsylvania, who responded September 7th to a complaint of a man taking video of children attending a nudist camp there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The videotapes were found in his car that had inappropriate video footage of young children. The FBI contacted us, and we started our investigation down here.

KREUZ: But also on the video, the scenes of the girls, soccer players, changing in Shipler's (ph) bathroom. Police searched his house and confiscated soccer rosters, nude publications, computer software, and CDs and dozens of videos. Thousands of kids play soccer in this area, and the news is a shock.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel a little frightened for kids. You don't know who to trust anymore.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: You certainly don't. Again, that was reporter Greta Kreuz of our affiliate, WJLA.

Still ahead: inside the mind of a spy. New clues in the Green River killings?

And, the nation's newest soap star.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Let's quickly "Reset" tonight's top stories.

In Boston, a civilian translator makes a court appearance today. He works at the Guantanamo Bay naval base and was arrested yesterday in the ongoing investigation into spying at the base where detainees are being held. Ahmed Mahalba allegedly had CD ROMs related to detainees when he was stopped at Boston's Logan Airport.

Today is the last day of the fundraising quarter for presidential candidates and President Bush made the most of it. A pair of presidential fundraisers gathering more than $6 million for Mr. Bush, his biggest one-day take so far, for a total of nearly $50 million for the quarter. Democrat Howard Dean is closing in on his goal of $15 million. Most of that raised through Internet donations.

The new agent in charge of the FBI's field office says publicly tagging Stephen Hatfill as a person of interest in the anthrax investigation probably wasn't a good idea. Michael Mason told reporters that the probe has been beset by leaks, but that 27 special agents are working on the investigation right now.

There are now fewer people screening the nation's airline travelers. Today was the deadline for cut-backs ordered by the Transportation Security Administration. Nearly 55,000 federal screeners were hired in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. Budget problems led the agency to cut that number back to 48,000.

And there are also more people in the U.S. without health insurance. The Census Bureau says another 2.4 million Americans, 15.2 percent, don't have coverage. They say the increase is due to lost jobs and companies cutting back on coverage.

And that's "The Reset."

Now the allegations of espionage at Gitmo provide the backdrop for our special series this week, "The Spying Game."

Tonight, perhaps the most fascinating question of all-- why do some Americans choose to betray their country? Richard Burton in the 1960s movie "The Spy Who Came In From The Cold," gave this assessment:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD BURTON, ACTOR: What the hell do you think spies are? Moral philosophers measuring everything they do against the word of God or Karl Marx? They're not. They're just a bunch of seedy, squalid bastards like me. Little men, drunkards, queers, hen-pecked husbands, civil servants playing cowboys and Indians to brighten their rotten little lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Well, the movies are one thing. Real life another.

If you look at some of the major American spies of the last few decades, you'd see a whole range of motives -- greed, egotism, misguided devotion to a cause.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER (voice-over): Jonathan Pollard said devotion to Zionism was the reason he spied. Not for an enemy, but for an American ally -- Israel. He was a counterintelligence analyst with the Navy. In the mid 1980s, he pled guilty to passing documents to Israel and is now serving a life sentence.

He said as a Jewish man he was committed to Israel. But was that his only motive? He also got money as well and U.S. officials say he also approached Pakistan, South Africa, and others.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pollard is a traitor to the United States. He has now reinvented himself as a great Jewish patriot and tried to present that to the people.

COOPER: Aldrich Ames' only ideology seemed to be a fierce devotion to cold hard cash. Arrested in '94, Ames was the CIA counterintelligence officer who got and spent millions after giving up the names of Russians working for the U.S. Ames, now serving a life sentence, said this a few years back:

ALDRICH AMES, CONVICTED CIA SPY: I betrayed the trust they put in me and the oaths that I swore. And I did it, you know, for my own -- first my own gain and -- and the kind of arrogance, my belief that there were certain things I know better than any people do.

COOPER: And then there's Robert Hanssen, who appeared to be a church-going family man. The veteran FBI agent did get cash for stealing secrets for the former Soviet Union and Russia. But one colleague says money clearly wasn't Hanssen's only motive. Ego played a part as well.

PAUL MOORE, FORMER FBI COLLEAGUE: His ambition is to play the spy game better than anybody's ever played it before. He wants to be the best spy ever.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Apparently he wasn't. Hanssen pled guilty in 2001, is now serving a life sentence.

Want to talk more about this motivation of spies with Brian Jenkins. He's a terrorism expert and a senior adviser with the Rand Corporation. He joins us from Los Angeles.

Brian, good to see you.

It's fascinating. I mean, I think in the public's mind, they have this perception of spies with high-minded philosophical ideas or allegiances. But when you really closely look at it, it's grubby, it's desire for money and it's ego.

BRIAN JENKINS, SENIOR ADVISOR, RAND CORP.: No, that's absolutely correct. Perhaps back in the 1930s, the '40s, perhaps early the '50s, ideology was a powerful factor. People spied for causes.

COOPER: People -- point to the Rosenbergs as an example.

JENKINS: That would be one example.

But, you know, in -- really, in the 1980s and 1990s, when we look at motives -- while, there's no single motive, the motives collectively are personal and often involve personal gain, arrogance, egotism, adventure, all of those figures -- figure in.

COOPER: I suppose there's a personality type that draws people to this clandestine world and a subset within that draws them to want to betray and to spy. What kind of a personality type do you think these people have?

JENKINS: Well, again, there's no single personality type. I suppose there are qualities that we see in a lot of the spies. And that again -- that comes back to ego. A kind of -- a kind of sense that they're smarter than everybody else, a deep sense of narcissism. In a sense, there's a certain power that comes with being a spy.

Not only do you have access to the secrets, the most -- the most precious national secrets of the country, but you also know at the same time that you are betraying those secrets that you are taking these risks, and with that, that becomes a very, very powerful narcotic in itself.

COOPER: But it's fascinating. I mean, when you look at these cases closely, these people, in many cases, are not really trying to hide their trail all that well. I mean, their bank accounts escalate, they renovate their homes, they drive fancy cars. It's sort of remarkable that they don't get caught sooner.

JENKINS: Well, again, they may become victims of hubris. That is, as they continue, they become increasingly -- increasingly convinced that they can get away with anything. They regard themselves as above the law. They regard themselves as so smart that they continue to outsmart everybody else.

At the same time, I wonder if ultimately there's deep down -- not a desire to be caught, but ultimately, at some point, a desire to be recognized. And the only way you get recognized is ultimately to be caught or, I suppose, published -- have your memoirs published posthumously.

COOPER: It is just fascinating to get inside the mind of these people. And the money -- the amount of money, as you pointed out, that they're going for is often small. It's -- it's...

JENKINS: Anderson, some have done well. But if you look at some of them -- I mean, there was one -- one individual spied -- spied for the Soviet Union (AUDIO GAP). Hardly seems like a sufficient amount of money to sell your country, and to take the risk of spending the rest of your life in prison.

COOPER: And a lot of other people lost their lives probably because of it.

Brian Jenkins, thanks very much for joining us tonight.

JENKINS: Thank you.

COOPER: All right.

Want to give a quick check to tonight's "Terror Watch." No more transparency. The White House says it will no longer declassify parts of a Congressional report on intelligence failures relating to 9/11. That means details of possible foreign involvement will also be kept secret. White House officials argue any more declassification could jeopardize current investigations.

Preventing an attack by water. President Bush is asking Congress for $38 million to beef up security at ports. He wants radiation monitors, improved screening of passengers and cargo.

And dangerous cargo for many reason. The government is cracking down on illegal shipment of hazardous cargo. Officials say lax enforcement could lead to accidents or be used by terrorists to mount attacks.

9/11 hate crime, Arizona man is convicted of a murder in the slaying of a Sikh man days after September 11. Prosecutors say the Turban and bearded victim was gunned because he was mistaken for an Arab.

Belgium's biggest terrorism trial ends. 18 Muslim men including a former professional soccer player are convicted of plotting to blow up a U.S. military base. They were all sentenced for trying to recruit fighters for al Qaeda and Afghanistan's former Taliban rulers.

And that is tonight's "Terror Watch."

Here in the U.S., another fight rages over the right of eminent domain. A whole different kind of fight. For many people and many cases there's nothing right about the way it's implemented. City and council governments evicting homeowners and business owners so they can sell the land to private developers. According to one estimate that has happened 10,000 times in the last five years alone.

Brian Cabell reports on one such case.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN CABELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Lily Spence and her family have lived on their five acres of land in central Alabama for over a half century. But now the town Alabaster wants that land for commercial development. It's condemning the property by right of eminent domain and offering the Spence's $94,000.

What happens if they came back and said, Lily, we'll give you $200,000?

LILY SPENCE, HOME OWNER: I'd say, that is nothing.

CABELL: $500,000?

SPENCE: That is nothing.

CABELL: What price would you move?

SPENCE: No price. CABELL: Miss Spence may not like it. Bulldozers are already clearing the land around her home. Some neighbors have sold their property. Others, under threat of condemnation, are considering selling theirs. Town officials and developers who hope to attract a Wal-Mart say the Spence's are the primary hold-outs.

GREG MORRIS, ATTY. FOR ALABASTER: At this time, I would say that is a correct statement.

CABELL: That's their family property. They've been there over a half century. They have emotional attachment. Does that bother you?

MORRIS: Yes, it does. Of course it does.

CABELL: But the town of Alabaster officials say is languishing and needs new stores, amenities, homes, jobs. Something commercial development can offer them. The town has gone to court to force the Spence's and any others who may resist, out. Critics say it's wrong, that eminent domain was intended to be used to take property for public uses. For a school, for example. Not for a private use. Lily Spence and her family have counter sued in federal court, and are not yet preparing to move, even though they can hear the bulldozer just down the road.

Brian Cabell, CNN, Alabaster, Alabama.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: We'll be watching this story closely.

Still to come this evening, notorious murder of the American Northwest. The Green River Killer. Decades later, more remains have been found.

Is it another victim?

We'll try to find out.

Also tonight, America's latest soap star. The first new Ivory Soap baby in decades.

An '80s legend makes a come-back in the California recall. No, we are not talking about Arnold Schwarzenegger. We are talking about Dee Snyder.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Well, an amazing case to tell you about. The Green River killer of the American Northwest last struck in 1984. But 20 years later, remains of the victims are still being pulled from the cold ground. Most recently just this week.

CNN's Rusty Dornin looks at the evidence that continues to pile up.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Investigators (UNINTELLIGIBLE) down this steep ravine and sifted through layers of 20 years of dirt and mud before finding more remains they say are linked to the Green River killings. It all began in 1982 when the woods along the Green River south of Seattle. Remains of missing women began turning up. Police suspected 49 women were murdered by the same killer. The case lingered unsolved for years. Then in November 2001, a married truck painter Gary Ridgeway was arrested based on DNA evidence. Charged with seven of the killings, Ridgeway says he's innocent.

In June, investigators began searching again. Almost 20 separate searches have yielded four sets of remains. Two have been identified. One, 17-year-old April Buttrum (ph), last seen in 1983. Ridgeway's attorney says they are working on a plea bargain, but no one will confirm speculation that in return, prime suspect is telling police where the bodies were dumped.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have been gathering new information. And it's brought us to these sites.

DORNIN: Investigators say the remains of five suspected victims are still missing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Every family that I've dealt with over the years always believed, they have always believed that their daughter is alive until the remains are found.

DORNIN: The King County Sheriff's Department says more sites are on their search list. Everyone hoping to bring closure to the families left still wondering.

Rusty Dornin, CNN, San Francisco.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: When 40 women linked to this one alleged killer, of course the families aren't the only ones wondering. Several questions remain unanswered. So earlier I spoke to the author of "Search for the Green River Killer."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Tomas Guillen is with us from Seattle. Tomas, thanks for being with us. You've been searching this for a long time, not just for you book, but really ever since the book came out.

How surprised are you at the flurry of activity recently?

TOMAS GUILLEN, AUTHOR, "SEARCH FOR THE GREEN RIVER KILLER": Well, we're very surprised, because everybody expected a long trial and everybody's been preparing for a trial. And suddenly the task force has gone to several wooded sites and have been finding skeletal remains. And they had not found skeletal remains since 1989.

COOPER: The implication is a lot of people are saying this man Gary Ridgeway is talking.

Do you believe he is?

If so, is he the one pointing police to where some of these remains have been found?

GUILLEN: That is the speculation. And I believe that speculation is correct. And all the information I have basically would indicate that Mr. Gary Ridgeway is talking to them, is trying to make a deal and to avoid the death penalty. And my information says that he is pointing to certain sites around the country -- or I am sorry around the county, and he is helping police.

COOPER: Do police feel they have a good sense of what the motive of this killer was?

GUILLEN: Well, I think they do. If you look at court records when he was arrested, essentially you'll see that this gentleman apparently needed sexual relationships, very often frequently, every week. And he liked to frequent prostitution strips.

COOPER: And the method of death, was it the same in all the bodies that were found?

GUILLEN: It appears to be affixation. You have different situations at different scenes. Often you couldn't tell because they were skeletonized. But you found a pair of men's socks tied together around one victim. Another victim had a pair of pants. I think it's safe to say, fixation.

COOPER: I don't want go into to many of the gory details, but basically, these women were in often case prostitutes.

He would pick them up, have sex with them, and then kill them?

GUILLEN: Well, he picked them up and whether he had sex with them is debatable. He needed sex often. Some men need to have sexual release without the act of intercourse and that's where death comes in. So, I'm not convinced he actually had sex with them, but somehow he probably had some kind of sexual release, and that was part of the motive.

COOPER: He has now been charged with seven killings, I believe. There are many more killings linked to the Green River Killer.

Is it likely this man may be charged with even more?

GUILLEN: I'm not sure he's going to be charged with any more. I would think it's likely that he would. Even if he is talking right now. I would suspect that if he is having a plea agreement, that plea agreement would involve all the cases in the Green River, or most of them. So he starts with seven. They might just say, let's charge him with all of them, or the ones he speaks about.

COOPER: It is a fascinating case. Tomas Guillen, we appreciate you joining us to talk about it. Thank you. Well, coming up next on 360, I think we all knew it was a matter of time until Twisted Sister got involved with the California recall election. Now that day has come.

Also, tonight, Ivory looks for a new Ivory baby. He'll giggle with the light at this next report. Be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: All right, it's been 30 years since the last time the world had an Ivory baby. But the marketing folks have been at it again and they're proud to announce, it's a spokesbaby! CNN's Jeanne Moos waited with lots of nervous parents. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Rub a dub dub, six babies in tubs. But only one of them gets to be the new Ivory soap baby.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Beautiful Isabel completely embodies the purity that is Ivory soap.

MOOS: Ten-month-old Isabel Wall (ph) sure is an improvement over the first Ivory baby from 1887. After photo auditions around the country -- and a total of 25,000 entries -- it came down to six finalists, immortalizing their hand prints.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Give her five? High five? Yeah.

MOOS: Ivory dropped the baby as an advertising icon 30 years ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mild enough for a baby's skin.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MOOS: Yeah, but is it mild enough for a baby's digestive system? Isabel washed out her own mouth with soap.

Past Ivory babies include actress Brook Shields, and porn star Marilyn Chambers appeared on the Ivory box when she was 17. Ivory may be 99.44 percent pure, but not Marilyn.

Today's contestants are a melting pot.

(on camera): Oh, I can't wait to see what happens.

(voice-over): Isabel's parents say she's hardly ever cranky.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to try to have her model as long as she wants.

MOOS: You'd squeal too, if you won a $50,000 scholarship. Isabel only started walking about a month ago and already she's modeling. We're falling too.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (singing): Falling for you.

MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Jeanne Moos hit that baby with a bubble, did you see that?

All right, time for a quick check of tonight's "Current."

Arnold Schwarzenegger has named Twisted Sister's "We're Not Going to Take It" as his official campaign song. Lyrics include the lines "we're not going to take it, no, we ain't going to take it, we're not going to take it anymore." The song is considered a heavy metal classic, for Twisted Sister's use of elaborate symbolism to suggest that they will no longer be taking it.

This is Halle Berry as she'll appear in the upcoming "Catwoman" movie. She'll be walking in the pawprints of Eartha Kitt, Julie Newmar and Michelle Pfeiffer. "Catwoman" is expected to be the most openly sexual superhero movie since 1997's "Batman and Robin."

TBS has signed a deal to run edited versions of HBO's "Sex and the City." The series is being edited to meet the standards of regular cable, cutting out the frequent scenes of amazing sex. Therefore it is expected to be the first time "Sex and the City" resembles real life.

Still more to come on 360. And tomorrow, spy catchers. How espionage is investigated. Tricks of the trade. Part of our special series, "The Spying Game."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Tonight, taking everyday heroism to "The Nth Degree." On Saturday, a stack of cardboard boxes caught fire in a structure connecting two buildings in Queens, New York. The fire threatened to spread. But then Ladder Company 127 showed up. Among them, a firefighter, James O' Shea. Along with his fellow firefighters, O'Shea helped put out the blaze, helped haul debris. That was his job. He was a firefighter.

He complained of discomfort but declined treatment at the scene and went home. That night, James J. O'Shea died of a heart attack. He was 40. Today the fire department classified his death as being in the line of duty, the first since September 11. 1,121 New York firefighters have died on the job before him, including 343 on September 11.

It doesn't take a national tragedy or grand tributes to make them heroes. Firefighters who die don't choose to give their lives, they only choose to risk their lives. And that's a choice they all make all the time. In return, James O'Shea was paid $54,000 a year, so you know he didn't do it for the money. Neither did those 343. They made the choice for the same reason their brothers continue to.

They are everyday heroes. That's their job. Thanks for joining us. Good night.

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