Return to Transcripts main page
Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Gas Prices Reach All-Time High; A Look Inside Human Trafficking
Aired May 18, 2004 - 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.
ANDERSON COOPER, HOST: Good evening, I'm Anderson Cooper.
Gas at an all-time high. Will consumers stand for the skyrocketing cost? 360 starts right now.
Pain at the pump becomes part of the stump. Are candidates putting politics ahead of gas policies?
Thousands enslaved in America. Where, and who are they? A harrowing look inside human trafficking.
Without warning. The former director of the World Trade Center says he was never told terrorists might attack the buildings with airplanes.
Two climbers trapped on a frozen mountain. The valiant effort by one climber to save an injured friend.
The 16-year-old girl at the center of a high-profile gang rape testifies. Was she the victim of a date-rape drug?
Are murderers to kill? We'll look at what some call a killer brain and meet a woman who keeps John Wayne Gacy's in a jar.
Good evening.
We begin with new record prices at the gas pump. For the first time ever, the national average is $2 a gallon. Of course in California, it has been over the $2 mark for months. The sign at this Shell station in Menlo Park jokingly warns drivers it will cost an arm and a leg for anything other than regular.
Humorous, yes. But drivers nationwide are not laughing as they pay pumped-up prices. And today, the finger-pointing has political.
CNN senior White House correspondent John King has that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is both a sign of the times and of a new record. A bigger pinch at the pump and a bigger issue this election year.
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We need a president who's fighting for the American worker, the American family, at the fuel pumps to lower the price of gasoline in the United States.
KING: The White House says the blame lies with Senator Kerry and other Democrats in Congress.
SCOTT MCCLELLAN, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president believes, like Americans do, that gas prices are too high. That's why we need a comprehensive energy plan.
KING: For the first time, the average price of gasoline has hit $2 a gallon, up 52 cents since the first of the year. A 500-mile drive this Memorial Day weekend will cost about $12.50 more, and airfares are up 7 percent from last year, in part because of rising fuel costs.
In this letter to President Bush, 10 Democratic governors suggest price gouging and demand a federal inquiry, noting prices are up at a time five of the top gasoline companies are reporting an average profit increase of 90 percent.
Other Democrats want to tap the nation's 660 million-gallon strategic petroleum reserve. Senator Charles Schumer of New York suggests drawing down 60 million barrels over the next two months.
SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: By taking this oil off the market, the government has reduced supplies and driven the costs further up.
KING: Presidential candidate Kerry does not favor tapping the strategic reserve, at least not yet. But Senator Kerry says Mr. Bush should temporarily stop buying more oil for the reserves, and put more pressure on Saudi Arabia and others to boost production.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: Now, the White House says it is lobbying to boost production. And it notes recent favorable comments from Saudi Arabia, from Nigeria, and other oil-producing nations. And Anderson, the administration says tapping the reserves or even delaying future purchases for the reserves would have only a negligible impact on prices at the pump and, in the White House view, undermine an important protection, a safeguard against a terrorist attack or some other major disruption in oil supplies.
COOPER: All right, John King live at the White House, thanks very much, John.
We're going to have more about this, gas prices, with the "CROSSFIRE" guys later on on 360.
Today, about a mile and a half from ground zero, memories of that desperate day. New questions about who knew what, and who did what on September 11, questions asked by members of the 9/11 commission beginning a two-day hearing.
Today the city's former police and fire chiefs came under fire for what the panel called a communication breakdown. Here's CNN's Deborah Feyerick.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They held each other and wiped away tears, families watching as those they loved died all over again.
KRISTIN BREITWEISER, WIFE OF 9/11 VICTIM: My husband is never coming home. I'm well aware of that. I'm also well aware of the fact that 19 hijackers killed him. But more lives could have been saved.
FEYERICK: City officials who led the rescue effort that day say firefighters and police were as prepared as they could have been in the face of such an unforeseeable tragedy.
BERNARD KERIK, FORMER NYPD COMMISSIONER: The character, professionalism, and bravery of New York's finest was never more evident. As debris showered down to the ground, as fellow human beings jumped to their death from 100 stories above, there was no retreat, and no hesitation.
FEYERICK: The most dramatic moment during the hearing, 9/11 commissioner John Lehman criticized the fire and police departments, accusing them of poor communication, with no one person calling all the shots.
JOHN LEHMAN, 9/11 COMMISSIONER: I think that the command and control and communications of this city's public service is a scandal. It's not worthy of the Boy Scouts, let alone this great city.
FEYERICK: The fire commissioner, who lost 343 firefighters on 9/11, struck back, Tom Von Essen saying rescue efforts were handled by some of the most seasoned chiefs in the nation.
THOMAS VON ESSEN, FORMER NEW YORK CITY FIRE COMMISSIONER: You make it sound like everything was wrong about September 11 or the way we functioned. I think it's outrageous that you make a statement like that.
FEYERICK: Twenty-eight hundred people died in the World Trade Center towers. A study by the city says 25,000 made it to safety.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: Several 9/11 commissioners made clear they believe that New York City remains a big target for terrorists. They say even these hearings, if they help save one life in the future, they will have been well worth it, Anderson.
COOPER: Another day of hearings tomorrow here in New York.
FEYERICK: Tomorrow, absolutely. Rudy Giuliani will take the stand tomorrow.
COOPER: All right. Deborah Feyerick, thanks very much. Overseas, more bloodshed in Iraq. At least eight Iraqis were killed and 13 wounded in fighting in the holy city of Karbala. Witnesses say some of the fiercest fighting between U.S. forces and members of Muqtada al-Sadr's militia took place just steps away from the city's shrines, some of the most sacred ground in Shi'ite Islam.
Meanwhile, here at home, you're looking at -- we're about to show you live pictures of a prayer vigil -- actually we don't have those pictures. But there's a prayer vigil going on right now in Cumberland, Maryland, home base for the unit at the center of the prison abuse scandal. This comes on the eve of the first court- martial.
In Baghdad, preparations are set for tomorrow's proceedings where U.S. military justice will also be on trial in the court of public opinion.
With that, here's CNN's Harris Whitbeck.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A makeshift courtroom at the Baghdad convention center is ready for the first of several military courts-martial in the cases of abuse at Abu Ghraib prison. There will be lots of room for the press and live simultaneous translation into Arabic.
PAUL BREMER, U.S. CIVILIAN ADMINISTRATOR: We would hope that by making it open to the public, by making it open to the press, that the press would take advantage of this situation not only to see American justice in action, but to record it.
WHITBECK: But a day before the special court-martial of Specialist Jeremy Sivits and the arraignment of three others, few in Baghdad seem ready to believe justice will be served.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It should be an Iraqi court, not an American, to try the officers in charge, not the soldiers who executed the orders.
WHITBECK: Sivits is expected to plead guilty to charges of mistreatment of prisoners and dereliction of duty while he was a prison guard at Abu Ghraib.
In a statement to investigators obtained by CNN, he stated abuse took place, describing, for example, an incident in which a prison guard would strike a detainee with a baseball swing and hit the wounds of detainees.
For military court officers, the challenge is in conducting the proceedings under intense scrutiny.
(on camera): But the bigger challenge will be in convincing Iraqi public opinion that the American military court system will result in justice. Not easy in a country where confidence in the U.S. is not really high. Harris Whitbeck, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well, the center of all this controversy, the population of that prison, Abu Ghraib, is shrinking even further. Here's a 360 news note. On Friday, the U.S. military will release 472 detainees. That's on top of the 293 who were released last Friday. The two big cuts will leave fewer than 2,000 inmates behind bars at Abu Ghraib.
A startling report to Congress today. The Justice Department estimates that each year as many as 17,500 people, mostly women, are brought to the United States by human traffickers. Trapped in slavelike conditions, they're forced into sex, sweatshop labor, and domestic servitude.
Tonight, CNN justice correspondent Kelli Arena brings us one woman's story and how she escaped her tormenter.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): She calls herself Esperanza, the Spanish word for hope. This former victim of human trafficking is still too afraid to show her face or use her real name, but for the first time since arriving in the United States from Mexico, she is hopeful about her future.
ESPERANZA, HUMAN TRAFFICKING VICTIM (through translator): I would kneel down and ask God to help me because sometimes I would feel that I could have died there.
ARENA: Esperanza worked in a sweatshop like this for up to 18 hours a day, sewing. She was not allowed to turn on the lights, go outside, or bathe.
ESPERANZA: The lady was very strict, she was very rude, she would hit us. She would say, You cannot leave, because if you step outside, there's policemen, and they're going to grab you.
ARENA: After getting an anonymous tip, immigration authorities raided her workplace. The Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking stepped in to help Esperanza put her life back together.
ERICA TUMBAGA, COALITION TO ABOLISH SLAVERY AND TRAFFICKING: It goes across all lines, all borders. So we deal with domestic workers, field laborers, garment workers, restaurant workers, forced prostitutes. And they come from all around the world.
ARENA: The government says most trafficking cases involve women and girls as young as 14 held as sexual slaves. And officials say trafficking and smuggling generate $9.5 billion a year for criminal enterprises. Since 2000, when a new law was passed to combat the problem, the Justice Department says much has been accomplished.
ALEX ACOSTA, ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL, CIVIL RIGHTS: We've tripled the number of prosecutions thus far. But compared to the number of victims, that is a good start. We need to do more.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ARENA: As big as the problem is in the United States, internationally, it's staggering. The U.S. government says as many as 800,000 people worldwide become virtual slaves each year, Anderson.
COOPER: It's hard to believe that it's still going on in this day and age, and especially in this country. Kelli Arena, thanks very much.
Interest rates may soon go up if Fed chairman Alan Greenspan will likely stay put. That's one story we're tracking right now cross- country.
Let's take a look what else.
Today, President Bush renominates the 78-year-old Greenspan for another four-year term. Senate confirmation is expected. First appointed in 1987 by President Reagan, Greenspan has been Fed chairman for 17 years now.
Atlanta, rocket launcher found. That's right, a rocket launcher. Authorities are examining a military rocket launcher found near a public transit station. The FBI says it seems to be a shoulder-held launcher used to train soldiers, which can be bought at any gun store.
New York, Martha, Martha, Martha. Martha Stewart's television show is going on hiatus after the current season while its star faces a possible prison sentence. Stewart, of course, scheduled to be sentenced June 17. She faces 10 to 16 months in prison.
Potomac River near Washington, D.C., predator fish. There it is, the Frankenfish. A fisherman caught a northern snakehead fish in Akawan (ph) Bay about five miles from where another snakehead was caught. Scientists fear the fish are spawning in the Potomac, and signs are posted warning fishermen to kill and report any snakeheads they see.
That is a look at stories right now cross-country.
Two climbers stranded on Mount Rainier, a daring rescue, and a tragic death after a 30-foot fall. Find out how one man survived freezing temperatures for four days on the mountain.
Also tonight, meet a woman who studied serial killers trying to understand what is going on in their heads. Part of our special series, Unlocking the Secrets of the Brain.
And head of a different sort. Terminating bobbleheads. Find out why California's governor is slapping a lawsuit on doll makers.
All that ahead.
First, your picks, the most popular stories right now on CNN.com.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Well, for three days, a climber stranded on a 45-degree slope on Mount Rainier took care of his severely injured friend in temperatures that dipped below freezing. That climber was flown off Mount Rainier today, rescued, exhausted, and distraught, but alive. His friend, however, wasn't as fortunate.
CNN's Kimberly Osias is in Longmere (ph), Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KIMBERLY OSIAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Two days of dramatic rescue efforts on Mount Rainier. Two experienced climbers, Scott Richards and Peter Cooley. They went up the mountain together, but only one man came down alive.
DAVID BARBER, FAMILY FRIEND: Scott would like to express his feelings to peter's family. Peter was a great guy. Confident, trusting, and very passionate in everything he does. He waged an incredible battle on the mountain for survival.
OSIAS: The challenging climb up Liberty Ridge took a tragic turn Saturday when Cooley, on his fourth ascent, fell 30 feet. Park officials say Cooley hit his head and suffered body injuries as well.
GLENN KESSLER, NATIONAL PARK SERVICE CLIMBING RANGER: A ground assault was actually quite difficult. Dealing with weather conditions of well below freezing temperatures up there, snow, drifting snow, glacial ice. It was a difficult mission.
OSIAS: The weather broke Monday. The clouds parted, enabling Oregon National Guardsmen to hoist Cooley out from 12,000 feet. Despite his son's eventual death, his father, Sam Cooley, praised rescue efforts.
SAM COOLEY, CLIMBER'S FATHER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) just so incredible. We couldn't imagine anybody doing anything better or more to help him or be more interested in his well-being and in Scott's well-being (UNINTELLIGIBLE) on the mountain. And also to Scott, oh, gosh.
OSIAS: Longtime friend and climbing partner Scott Richards administered first aid and called 911 on his cell phone. Tuesday he hiked out most of the way on his own power. On the last leg, he was airlifted to safety by the same chopper that pulled Peter Cooley out.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
OSIAS: Seemingly these were a couple of climbers who took precautions. They knew what they were doing. They traveled together. They even aborted an earlier attempt years ago to scale the same part of Mount Rainier because of bad weather, Anderson.
COOPER: Remarkable story. Kimberly Osias, thanks very much.
Mount Everest, of course, in the Himalayas, is the site of the worst tragedy ever. Here's a quick 360 flashback.
May 10, 1996, at least eight climbers died in a freak storm on the world's highest peak. Another climber, Dr. Beck Weathers, fell into a hypothermic coma and was left for dead. Miraculously, he came to. You see him there, nearly blind, clinging to life. He started walking to the nearest camp. He was eventually rescued by helicopter. He lost his nose, right hand, and part of his left hand to frostbite. However, that has not stopped the doctor from practicing medicine to this day.
Right now, we're following a number of important global stories for you in the uplink. Let's take a look.
Sonia Gandhi won't be India's prime minister after all. Gandhi told members of her party she humbly declines the position, saying it has never been her goal. Her Congress Party beat the current prime minister's party in an upset last week. The Italian-born Gandhi didn't say who she might nominate for the job.
In Gaza now, Israeli incursion. The Bush administration is calling on Israel to stop destroying Palestinian homes in the Rafah area of Gaza. Israeli commanders launched air strikes, sent about 100 tanks and bulldozers into Rafah, calling it the gateway of terrorism. It's the biggest Israeli offensive in Gaza in almost 40 years. Palestinian sources say 20 Palestinians were killed, 35 wounded.
Switzerland now, Olympics 2012. The finalists for the host city of the Summer Games are announced. On the list, get ready, Paris, New York, Moscow, London, and Madrid. The winning city will be announced in July 2005.
And Vatican City, the pope has a birthday and a new book out. Pope John Paul celebrates his 84th birthday. His latest book, "Get Up, Let Us Go," that's what it's called, it's on sale, focuses on his years as a young priest in Krakow.
And that is a look at tonight's uplink.
You're about to meet a woman, a forensic psychiatrist who studies serial killers.
Coming up later in the program, is it possible something in their brains makes them kill? That is part of our special series, Unlocking the Secrets of the Brain.
Also tonight, riveting testimony. This up just ahead. An alleged rape caught on tape. The son of a sheriff accused. Today the court hears from the victim for the first time. That's happening right now.
And a little later heroism and sacrifice. A soldier who lost an arm in combat volunteers to go back to the war. His incredible story still to come.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COOPER: Time for justice served. Just moments ago, a California courtroom was riveted by the testimony of a girl who says she was raped by three young men, one of them the son of an assistant sheriff. And the alleged sexual assault was captured on videotape.
CNN's Thelma Gutierrez has been listening to the girl's testimony today. She joins us live from Santa Ana. Thelma?
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, that girl, who is now 18 years old, looked composed as she took the stand today. She even glanced over at the three defendants, who were once her friends. They did not look back as she described what happened the night of January -- or July 5th, 2002.
She alleges that she was gang-raped by the three men while she was unconscious. She admitted to having sex with two -- three of those defendants the night before. She says that on the night of July 5, 2002, she says Kyle Knackreiner (ph), Keith Stat (ph), and Greg Hidele, all high school friends of hers, and Hidele, the son of the assistant Orange County sheriff, Don Hidele, lured her to a home, Hidele's home, and gave her a blue-green drink that she says tasted like Pine-Sol.
She says that she knew something was wrong. She felt dizzy. She passed out, and then she confronted one of the young men the next day. She said on the stand, she asked, "I said, what did you give me last night? It didn't seem right. He said, A Bombay. He said, Are you sore? I said, What do you mean? He said, Never mind."
She said also, "These guys were supposed to be my friends, I trusted them. I had a feeling that they had done something to me, but I had no proof."
TONY RACKAUKAS, ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: This is about a woman's right to choose. Does she want to have sex with somebody, yes or no? And if you take advantage of the fact that she's unconscious, you're taking away her right to choose. You're taking away her ability to consent or to withdraw her consent.
JOHN BARNETT, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: This young girl wanted to become a porn star. She told her friends that. And she told these boys that. And she engaged in sexual activities with them in the weeks and days before this event occurred. And it culminated in the videotape...
GUTIERREZ: Now, that accuser faces a very tough day on the stand tomorrow, when she faces cross-examination. She did appear visibly shaken several times as she looked over to these men. They did not look back, as I had mentioned earlier. But she was composed the whole time.
And friends here were standing by. They said that they will come by tomorrow to give her support in the courtroom.
Anderson, back to you.
COOPER: Thelma Gutierrez, thanks very much.
Covering the case for us tonight, Court TV's Lisa Bloom.
Lisa, good to see you here.
LISA BLOOM, ANCHOR, COURT TV: Hi.
COOPER: It's a difficult case. The tomorrow apparently, the defense is going to actually show the videotape in the courtroom for the first time to the alleged victim.
BLOOM: Right.
COOPER: How powerful is that going to be for the jury?
BLOOM: You know, it's going to be very powerful. And what's striking is that apparently she has never seen it before, Anderson, which I just can't understand why the prosecutors have not sat down with her...
COOPER: You think they should have shown it to her...
BLOOM: ... and gone over it...
COOPER: ... in advance?
BLOOM: Yes, and that's the normal course of this type of thing, if there is a normal course for having a videotape of a gang rape. But having some kind of evidence to show the prosecution complaining witness, ordinarily she'd see that in advance...
COOPER: How important is her reaction...
BLOOM: ... (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...
COOPER: ... going to be?
BLOOM: ... first time in front of the jury.
I think it's going to be very important. The defense says that she wanted to be a porn star, that she was pretending to be unconscious. If that's true, I think her reaction in seeing that tape in front of the jury is going to be very significant.
COOPER: You know, that's the defense. They've been making a lot of claims. They claim she wanted to be a porn star. But there was testimony before that her boyfriend at the time, her ex-boyfriend, who is one of these people who allegedly raped her, and is one of the three, had priorly, prior to this, videotaped her or attempted to videotape her having sex. She said, No, don't videotape me, stop it. He stopped it then. This was weeks before the actual incident.
BLOOM: Right.
COOPER: That seems to argue against the idea that she wants to be a porn star. BLOOM: Well, it sure does. But keep in mind, we're only in the prosecution case. We haven't heard from the defense yet.
And to add to that, yesterday there was a prosecution expert who testified that she appeared to have GHB, the date-rape drug, in her system, that she was limp and lifeless in the video, in the way that somebody would be if they were drugged and unconscious, not faking unconsciousness. And the expert seemed to feel that her physical reactions were consistent with...
COOPER: Because she was still responding...
BLOOM: ... the prosecution theory.
COOPER: ... to pain.
BLOOM: Exactly.
COOPER: And if she was faking being unconscious, she wouldn't have.
BLOOM: Presumably, exactly. That's what the expert said, that she -- her body would flinch and react to pain, but she was completely unconscious. You know, they moved her from a couch to a pool table. They sodomized her with a bottle, with a can, with a lighted cigarette. That's not comparable to consensual sexual acts that she may have engaged in with the other boys.
COOPER: More dramatic testimony tomorrow. Lisa Bloom, thanks very much.
BLOOM: Thank you.
COOPER: Pain at the pump becomes part of the stump. Are candidates putting politics ahead of gas policy?
Are murderers hardwired to kill? We'll look at what some call a killer brain and meet a woman who keeps John Wayne Gacy's in a jar.
360 continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Time now for the reset. In New York, investigating 9/11. Today the independent commission found the emergency response in New York City was hampered by communication breakdowns, and poor coordination between government agencies.
In Washington today, the White House won't tap into the nation's Strategic Oil Reserve to ease the soaring price of gasoline. Democrats insist that the release of 60 million barrels will help lower the record pump price. More on this story in a few moments.
Nationwide, hitting the road despite record gas price prices. AAA predicts Americans will travel more this Memorial Day weekend than last year thanks to a recovering economy. The survey shows nearly 31 million travelers will drive 50 miles or more this Memorial Day. That's up 3.4 percent.
Also in Washington, no link found between vaccines and autism. That's the finding of a government panel. Some parents refuse to vaccinate their kids believing it causes autism. Researchers say there is no evidence to prove any link.
Also in Washington, you can take it with you. Today the FCC said all cell phone users in the nation can keep their existing phone numbers when they switch to a new wireless carrier. The rule, which will affect millions, goes into effect next week. Those are the stories in the reset.
With all the media focus on the prison abuse scandal over the past couple of weeks, it's easy to forget about other aspects of the war in Iraq. In particular easy to forget about the men and women serving their country admirably. How quickly we forget. Tonight CNN's Gary Tuchman brings us one soldier's amazing story, wounded in action and wanting to go back into battle as an amputee.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Army Specialist Garth Stewart has just graduated from a hand-to-hand combat class at Fort Benning, Georgia. And he's done it as an amputee. The Minnesota native was wounded in Iraq from a land mine. Now he's back on active duty and has volunteered to go back into combat.
SPC. GARTH STEWART, U.S. ARMY: Got to be diplomatic about this. Not necessarily singing the army's praises -- doesn't have as much to do with that as it does maybe to do with perhaps the camaraderie I feel with some of the people specifically in my platoon. Especially at the time I got injured.
TUCHMAN: It's exceedingly rare for an amputee to go back to war but Stewart has received his medical clearance and could be redeployed with his unit in a matter of months.
SGT. MATT LARSEK, DIRECTOR, HAND-TO-HAND COMBAT PROGRAM: He can literally do everything that you can with two legs. So there's no issues whatsoever.
TUCHMAN: Stewart served as base gunner in a mortar platoon.
STEWART: First in my platoon without a doubt. Mortar skills, mortar gunning. I mean, I am not even bragging to say that.
TUCHMAN: Garth Stewart does say he plans to leave the army when his term of enlistment is up in June of 2005. He hopes to go to college and then possibly become a philosopher.
Is there anything about it, though, going back to war, without a leg that scares you?
STEWART: No. You're like 50 percent immune to land mines now.
TUCHMAN: Gary Tuchman, CNN, Fort Benning, Georgia. (END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Remarkable young man. Today on the campaign trail, soaring gas prices on a day where the average price reached an all- time high averaging $2.01 a gallon. That's up 52 cents from the same time last year. Today the Democrats said it's the president's fault, the Bush campaign pointed the finger right back at John Kerry. Earlier I took it up with "CROSSFIRE" co-hosts Robert Novak and Paul Begala. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Bob, today Democrats came out guns blazing talking about gas prices and oil policy. Should the White House be concerned?
ROBERT NOVAK, CO-HOST, "CROSSFIRE": I don't believe so. I've been around a long time, and every time the gas prices go up, the party out of power says oh, it's terrible, the president's fault. It has never yet been an issue in a campaign. And one of the reasons is, that gas prices always go down in the fall. In case you haven't noticed, we have elections in November. Not in -- in the summer. And the gas prices will be considerably lower after Labor Day than they are now.
COOPER: Paul, I take it you don't agree with that. The Democrats seem to be playing up the idea that the Bush camp is somehow in the pockets of a Texas oil money.
PAUL BEGALA, CO-HOST, "CROSSFIRE": Well, I think there's that problem to begin with that the president comes out of that industry. I think there's a longer problem that it's going to last beyond if and when the gas price drops. That is credibility. The president is suffering credibility problems because the war in Iraq. Turns out when he was running for president as an oilman he promised he would jawbone, his phrase, OPEC, to try to bring down the price of gas. Now that the price of gas is going through the roof he's been asked, his press secretary has been asked, have you followed through on your promise and they had to candidly answer no. So the president's got a broken promise problem and a credibility problem. He promised us if we made this oil man president, he'd use those connections to leverage down the price, and now he's had to admit that he hasn't kept that promise.
COOPER: Paul, and Bob as you well know the Bush campaign is saying John Kerry's record on voting for -- to increase taxes on gas prices is kind of spotty for him.
NOVAK: It's not spotty. In 1994 he wanted -- when he never dreamed he would be running for president, who did, that he proposed a 50 cent a gallon increase in gasoline. See right now, this is very hard. This election is a long way off. And you can't talk about Iraq every day. So the topic of the day almost is gasoline prices. I'll tell you a little secret right now. Whether you're paying $2.02 or paying $1.80 a gallon for gasoline is not an issue that drives decisions. Boy, oh, boy I'm going to vote for John Kerry because George Bush did not jawbone the Arab sheiks. Politics doesn't work that way and Paul Begala knows that.
BEGALA: Actually things like credibility matter. And things like consistency matter. As the Bush campaign is attacking John Kerry because he never introduced any legislation to raise the gas tax. Turns out Dick Cheney did introduce legislation that would have raised fuel prices by $1.2 trillion and he gave a speech in which he said look, the United States has to let go of this fiction that somehow low oil prices are good for America. He actually campaigned for higher energy prices. Well, in fact, he's become a millionaire because of high energy prices. It stands to reason.
NOVAK: Anderson, one thing I think the American people ought to get a reality test on, in the first place, adjusted for inflation, the price of gasoline today is less than it was 25 years ago. And it's much less than it was any place in the world. It is almost three times as high in most of the European countries. They look at us and they say my goodness, $2 a gallon. That is a bargain. And it is a bargain. It's one commodity that's a lot cheaper now than it was in the past.
BEGALA: The conservative message, the Republican message, Anderson, is going to be America is booming and gas prices should be higher. They should be as high as they are in France. I like those odds. I'll take those to the polling booth any day of the week.
COOPER: We're going to leave it there, guys. Thanks very much. Bob Novak, Paul Begala.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Today's buzz is this. What do you think? Will prices at the pump change your vote for president? Log on to CNN.com/360. Cast your votes, we'll have results at the end of the show.
Coming up, unlocking the secrets of the brain. In a moment, a woman who studies serial killers. What has she learned about what goes on inside their minds. That's part of our week-long series.
Also tonight, remembering actor Tony Randall. Fans knew him best as neat freak Felix Unger on "The Odd Couple." We'll take a look back at his career.
Plus why is Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger suing a toy company? The mind bobbles. We'll take a look at the case.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Hard to believe that is part of the brain of serial killer John Wayne Gacy who killed 33 young men and boys in the Chicago area in the 1970s. In a moment I'll talk with a forensic psychiatrist who has studied Gacy's brain and spent hundreds of hours interviewing him and other killers.
The question is what makes one person turn out to be both a boy scout and another a killer?
Perhaps a more interesting question is, how can someone be both a boy scout and a killer like John Wayne Gacy.
Tonight as we continue our series unlocking the "Secrets of the Brain" we take a close-up look at the mind of a killer.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER (voice-over): Chances are you'll recognize some of these men, and know what they have in common. They're all serial killers. But what you might not know is that according to Court TV, they each suffered head injuries when they were young. Leonard Lake, David Berkowitz, AKA "Son of Sam," Kenneth Bianci, John Wayne Gacy, Carl Panzram. Scientists now believe head injuries could contribute to a murderer's sadistic behavior. While there's no hard evidence linking head injuries to the desire to kill, there is some evidence suggests that brain chemistry and structure could be a factor. University of Southern California psychologists have compared brain scans of nonviolent subjects to those of murderers. They say there appears to be a clear difference between the two.
Look at a murderer's brain. Now look at a normal brain. The scientists discovered that many of the killers had lower activity in the prefrontal cortex, the area involved in planning, reasoning, and impulse control. They also determined the killers had higher than normal activity in a deeper, more primitive part of the brain, the subcortex, where the brain may stimulate aggressive behavior. Their conclusion -- there is a connection between the way a brain functions, and an individual's predisposition towards violence.
Still, psychologists say that brain abnormality alone is not enough to make a person violent. They cite other influences, child abuse, mental illness, genetics. The next step, researchers say, should be to track the relationship between brain function, and violent behavior from an early stage of development.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Our next guest just said a lot of that is a bunch of hooey. Forensic psychiatrist Dr. Helen Morrison is leading expert on serial killers. For more than 30 years, now she has interviewed or studied the cases of at least 80 murderers around the world. She tells her story in a book my life among serial killers, inside the minds of the world's most notorious murders. Dr. Morrison, thanks very much for being with us.
DR. HELEN MORRISON, AUTHOR: Thanks for having me.
COOPER: A lot of that is hooey, why?
Just because someone got a bump on their head as a kid doesn't mean they are going to be serial killer.
MORRISON: Absolutely. What happens to all the people who did get bumps on their head and didn't become serial killers?
What about all the children who have been physically or sexually abused or have unusual families? They don't all become serial killers.
COOPER: The doctors who say there is some cause and effect they can't really prove it. They may have gotten a bump, doesn't mean the two are connected.
MORRISON: Absolutely. We're having so much trouble now with people trying to connect brain and behavior that their skipping a lot of steps that are needed to prove the fact that it indeed is related.
COOPER: In a way, it's the kind of thing you see an "Law and Order," some clever defense attorney trying to come up with that is an excuse for someone's behavior.
MORRISON: Well, not just on Law & Order, but in the courtrooms of the United States, people are always saying well, he got a bump, therefore he's not responsible.
Or you know, they're mentally ill, they're not responsible.
COOPER: Let's talk about what you know. Of the serial killers you've talked to, more than 80 of them, what is the commonality between them?
MORRISON: The commonality is that first of all, they are complete inhuman shells. They have absolutely nothing inside of them. No emotional attachments. No recognition that other people are human beings.
COOPER: And do we know why that is?
MORRISON: We don't know. However, we do know that we can spot it in the early childhood of these individuals, in the early infancy. When they never negotiate that first phase as an infant becoming a separate individual. What happens, what leads to it?
Right now we're working with theory that -- and it's only a theory because we certainly don't have the science yet, that the male chromosome, something happens to a gene related to that chromosome, and it changes but it doesn't get triggered until the person is an adolescent. And at that point we know, with all the brain changes, the hormonal changes, the brain chemistry changes, that gene or whatever it is, gets triggered because the first homicide was committed when the person is an adolescent.
COOPER: You say it's akin to an addiction -- serial killing.
How's that?
Explain that.
MORRISON: One of the things is that if you look at someone who's an addicted person, someone heavily addicted to opium or to heroin or to cocaine, what we know is what one of the serial killers easily described. Was he needed to go get me one was the way he put it. There was no planning, there was no thought. He just had this incredible need. And once the murder was committed, then he went on with his regular life. And they commit more murders, more intensity, more frequently, very much like a drug abuser.
COOPER: I want to show this painting we have that you brought in from John Wayne Gacy. This is something he did.
What's the significance of this to you?
MORRISON: This was a painting that he copied from a newspaper. So it should have been an accurate reproduction. However, if you look at it, the sailboat has no shadow. It doesn't cast a shadow. The sun that should have been brighter behind the boat is brighter in front of the boat. There's also absolutely no indication that there were shadows related to where the boat was anchored.
COOPER: So the meaning is what?
MORRISON: He sees the world in a way that we can't even imagine. There's a part of what he perceives that is completely different than what you and I might see in newspaper print.
COOPER: It's fascinating work. A fascinating book. Dr. Helen Morrison, thanks very much.
MORRISON: Thank you.
COOPER: Well, we're going to continue our series tomorrow with creativity, madness and genius. Is there a close link between the creative brain and the troubled mind? It's an interesting idea.
Also on Thursday, brain sex. Find out how the wiring in your brain affects the way you behave with the opposite sex.
And on Friday, the successful brain. Learn how to tap into your mind like da Vinci and Einstein, or maybe a big media mogul.
Arnold Schwarzenegger coming up as soon as -- talking about moguls, Arnold Schwarzenegger is suing a small toy maker in Ohio over the Arnold bobblehead doll. It's not funny.
Will the doll prevail or will there have to be a total recall?
Oh, there's the pun. I knew it was going to be right around the corner. We'll talk to the company when we come back.
Also tonight remembering a man who made America laugh for decades, actor Tony Randall.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: There's the controversial doll in question. A toy company in Ohio makes bobblehead dolls. That one you just saw. Hillary Clinton didn't mind when they made one of her. Neither did Rudy Giuliani. But Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's film company has sued, saying the bobblehead illegally exploits his image. Joining me now from Akron, Ohio, Toby Bosley, the vice president of the Bosley Bobbing Doll Company. Thanks very much for being with me, Toby.
TOBY BOSLEY, VICE PRESIDENT, BOSLEY BOBBING HEAD DOLL CO.: Thanks for having me.
COOPER: You say you have the right to make this doll, that Arnold Schwarzenegger as the governor is in the public domain. California, though, their penal code has laws which protect individuals from marketing their names without their permission. Why do you think you can do this?
BOSLEY: Well, we believe that it's a caricature of Arnold Schwarzenegger, and it's a parody. I mean, we feel we're protected under the First Amendment.
COOPER: But you show him carrying a gun, you show him wearing a gun belt. It's not him wearing a suit as the governor. It seems like you're playing off his role as a movie actor. Therefore, I mean, if this was just some movie actor, you would have to pay him royalties, wouldn't you?
BOSLEY: If we portrayed him as a Terminator. But what could be more caricature than to have Arnold with a gun?
COOPER: So you're saying though he's carrying a gun and has a gun belt, you're saying that's him as governor?
BOSLEY: That is how we depicted Arnold as the governor, yes.
COOPER: As the governor, have you seen him wearing a gun or carrying a gun belt?
BOSLEY: No, we haven't seen him wearing a gun. But it's been a stand that he's taken from the beginning in office, of banning assault rifles.
COOPER: How did you come to be sued by him? I mean, how did he even find out about this?
BOSLEY: I believe that his wife had actually saw the doll in a Washington gift shop.
COOPER: You're a pretty small company, small toy maker. Are you going to be able to stand up to this kind of a lawsuit? I mean, they've got big guns against them.
BOSLEY: Well, we do -- it put us in a corner here in a bad situation. We're just a small, family owned-business. And we have some good representation that feels strongly about the case.
COOPER: How have these dolls been selling?
BOSLEY: We've got tremendous press with it, so we've had great sales with the dolls over the last couple of weeks. COOPER: You also sell John Kerry, I guess you sell Howard Dean. I'm told you also sell Anna Nicole Smith. Have you heard complaints from any of them?
BOSLEY: Well, if they're not in a public office, of course we have to have a license, and we get the license before we go into production on the doll. So.
COOPER: So what's going to happen with this? Where does this go?
BOSLEY: Well, we're going to fight it. We believe what we did is completely right. And we're going to take this and see what the courts have to say about it.
COOPER: All right, we'll see how it goes. Toby Bosley, thanks very much for being on the program.
BOSLEY: Thank you.
COOPER: All right. It's time to check on some light news now, on pop news, in tonight's "Current."
Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin are talking about how they named their daughter Apple. The couple say the girl's name came from Martin's agent, who also has a daughter named Apple. The agent not only OK'ed the idea, but we hear he even waived the usual 10 percent commission, which we think was very nice.
A collection of more than 3,000 items belonging to Sherlock Holmes creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle will be auctioned in London tomorrow. The collection includes some unpublished writings, including "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Special Victims Unit," and "The Hound of the Baskervilles: Criminal Intent."
Fidel Castro's doctor says the Cuban leader is in excellent health, and his personal physician believes the 77-year-old Castro can live to be at least 140, giving him another 70 years to find something else to wear other than army fatigues.
And Christian rock star Rebecca St. James says she feels sorry for Britney Spears. St. James preaches a message of abstinence before marriage. Says Spears leads fans astray by saying, quote, "anything goes, and if it feels good, do it." When asked to respond, Spears said, "Rebecca St. Who now?" And went back to doing things that just feel good. Not really. We made that up.
When Americans turned their newfangled television sets on in the late 1940s, one of the first faces they saw on a series called "Mr. Peepers" was Tony Randall's. From that day until yesterday, when he died at the age of 84, Tony Randall was never really out of view. Talk about a constant companion.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TONY RANDALL, ACTOR: You're the big man here. JACK KLUGMAN, ACTOR: He's a crowd pleaser.
COOPER (voice-over): His characters had a lot of names. Felix Unger was the famous fuss pot on "The Odd Couple." But the aliases didn't fool us. We recognized him right away, from the small screen...
RANDALL: Light another cigar, Oscar! Burn a hole in my heart!
COOPER: On the big screen.
RANDALL: I've been talking to this psychiatrist about my mother for two years now.
COOPER: On the stage.
RANDALL: When an old bachelor marries a young wife, what is he to expect?
COOPER: We recognized him right away for almost 60 years.
Who else had that air? That perfectly ironed, always correct certainty that seemed to drive the other characters crazy, but that made us love him?
RANDALL: I've always wanted that.
COOPER: Whoever made haughty as charming and as funny as he did?
RANDALL: It's pretty good.
COOPER: Tony Randall became a father for the first time in his late 70s. He founded a classic repertory company, the National Actors Theater, with $1 million of his own money. He loved opera. You'd have thought he was a prince, not a kid from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Come to think of it, he was. A prince of players.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: And he shall be missed. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Time now for "The Buzz." Earlier we asked you -- will prices at the pump change your vote for president? Getting a lot of e-mail on this, more than 19,000 of you have voted. Thirty-six percent of you said yes; 64 percent of you said no. Not a scientific poll. But it is your buzz. Thanks for voting.
Tonight, taking the attack ad to "The Nth Degree."
Politicians all claim to deplore negative commercials. But they all commission them and put them on the air, at a cost of tens of millions of dollars. In the end, baring your teeth seems to work. So we figured it might work for us, as well. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: I'm Anderson Cooper and I approved this ad.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When it comes to the news, are you better off than you were four years ago? Don't you deserve a television anchor with more than just a single syllable to his name? More even than two syllables?
And while we're on the subject, let's talk bang for the buck. Why won't Shep use verbs? What's he afraid of? You paid for the verbs, shouldn't you get them? And "Hardball," don't you need an anchor versatile enough to play more than just one sport?
Anderson Cooper, made in America, 100 percent natural recycled ingredients. Can the others say that?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: It might work. Thanks for watching. Coming up next, "PAULA ZAHN NOW."
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired May 18, 2004 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, HOST: Good evening, I'm Anderson Cooper.
Gas at an all-time high. Will consumers stand for the skyrocketing cost? 360 starts right now.
Pain at the pump becomes part of the stump. Are candidates putting politics ahead of gas policies?
Thousands enslaved in America. Where, and who are they? A harrowing look inside human trafficking.
Without warning. The former director of the World Trade Center says he was never told terrorists might attack the buildings with airplanes.
Two climbers trapped on a frozen mountain. The valiant effort by one climber to save an injured friend.
The 16-year-old girl at the center of a high-profile gang rape testifies. Was she the victim of a date-rape drug?
Are murderers to kill? We'll look at what some call a killer brain and meet a woman who keeps John Wayne Gacy's in a jar.
Good evening.
We begin with new record prices at the gas pump. For the first time ever, the national average is $2 a gallon. Of course in California, it has been over the $2 mark for months. The sign at this Shell station in Menlo Park jokingly warns drivers it will cost an arm and a leg for anything other than regular.
Humorous, yes. But drivers nationwide are not laughing as they pay pumped-up prices. And today, the finger-pointing has political.
CNN senior White House correspondent John King has that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is both a sign of the times and of a new record. A bigger pinch at the pump and a bigger issue this election year.
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We need a president who's fighting for the American worker, the American family, at the fuel pumps to lower the price of gasoline in the United States.
KING: The White House says the blame lies with Senator Kerry and other Democrats in Congress.
SCOTT MCCLELLAN, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president believes, like Americans do, that gas prices are too high. That's why we need a comprehensive energy plan.
KING: For the first time, the average price of gasoline has hit $2 a gallon, up 52 cents since the first of the year. A 500-mile drive this Memorial Day weekend will cost about $12.50 more, and airfares are up 7 percent from last year, in part because of rising fuel costs.
In this letter to President Bush, 10 Democratic governors suggest price gouging and demand a federal inquiry, noting prices are up at a time five of the top gasoline companies are reporting an average profit increase of 90 percent.
Other Democrats want to tap the nation's 660 million-gallon strategic petroleum reserve. Senator Charles Schumer of New York suggests drawing down 60 million barrels over the next two months.
SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: By taking this oil off the market, the government has reduced supplies and driven the costs further up.
KING: Presidential candidate Kerry does not favor tapping the strategic reserve, at least not yet. But Senator Kerry says Mr. Bush should temporarily stop buying more oil for the reserves, and put more pressure on Saudi Arabia and others to boost production.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: Now, the White House says it is lobbying to boost production. And it notes recent favorable comments from Saudi Arabia, from Nigeria, and other oil-producing nations. And Anderson, the administration says tapping the reserves or even delaying future purchases for the reserves would have only a negligible impact on prices at the pump and, in the White House view, undermine an important protection, a safeguard against a terrorist attack or some other major disruption in oil supplies.
COOPER: All right, John King live at the White House, thanks very much, John.
We're going to have more about this, gas prices, with the "CROSSFIRE" guys later on on 360.
Today, about a mile and a half from ground zero, memories of that desperate day. New questions about who knew what, and who did what on September 11, questions asked by members of the 9/11 commission beginning a two-day hearing.
Today the city's former police and fire chiefs came under fire for what the panel called a communication breakdown. Here's CNN's Deborah Feyerick.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They held each other and wiped away tears, families watching as those they loved died all over again.
KRISTIN BREITWEISER, WIFE OF 9/11 VICTIM: My husband is never coming home. I'm well aware of that. I'm also well aware of the fact that 19 hijackers killed him. But more lives could have been saved.
FEYERICK: City officials who led the rescue effort that day say firefighters and police were as prepared as they could have been in the face of such an unforeseeable tragedy.
BERNARD KERIK, FORMER NYPD COMMISSIONER: The character, professionalism, and bravery of New York's finest was never more evident. As debris showered down to the ground, as fellow human beings jumped to their death from 100 stories above, there was no retreat, and no hesitation.
FEYERICK: The most dramatic moment during the hearing, 9/11 commissioner John Lehman criticized the fire and police departments, accusing them of poor communication, with no one person calling all the shots.
JOHN LEHMAN, 9/11 COMMISSIONER: I think that the command and control and communications of this city's public service is a scandal. It's not worthy of the Boy Scouts, let alone this great city.
FEYERICK: The fire commissioner, who lost 343 firefighters on 9/11, struck back, Tom Von Essen saying rescue efforts were handled by some of the most seasoned chiefs in the nation.
THOMAS VON ESSEN, FORMER NEW YORK CITY FIRE COMMISSIONER: You make it sound like everything was wrong about September 11 or the way we functioned. I think it's outrageous that you make a statement like that.
FEYERICK: Twenty-eight hundred people died in the World Trade Center towers. A study by the city says 25,000 made it to safety.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: Several 9/11 commissioners made clear they believe that New York City remains a big target for terrorists. They say even these hearings, if they help save one life in the future, they will have been well worth it, Anderson.
COOPER: Another day of hearings tomorrow here in New York.
FEYERICK: Tomorrow, absolutely. Rudy Giuliani will take the stand tomorrow.
COOPER: All right. Deborah Feyerick, thanks very much. Overseas, more bloodshed in Iraq. At least eight Iraqis were killed and 13 wounded in fighting in the holy city of Karbala. Witnesses say some of the fiercest fighting between U.S. forces and members of Muqtada al-Sadr's militia took place just steps away from the city's shrines, some of the most sacred ground in Shi'ite Islam.
Meanwhile, here at home, you're looking at -- we're about to show you live pictures of a prayer vigil -- actually we don't have those pictures. But there's a prayer vigil going on right now in Cumberland, Maryland, home base for the unit at the center of the prison abuse scandal. This comes on the eve of the first court- martial.
In Baghdad, preparations are set for tomorrow's proceedings where U.S. military justice will also be on trial in the court of public opinion.
With that, here's CNN's Harris Whitbeck.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A makeshift courtroom at the Baghdad convention center is ready for the first of several military courts-martial in the cases of abuse at Abu Ghraib prison. There will be lots of room for the press and live simultaneous translation into Arabic.
PAUL BREMER, U.S. CIVILIAN ADMINISTRATOR: We would hope that by making it open to the public, by making it open to the press, that the press would take advantage of this situation not only to see American justice in action, but to record it.
WHITBECK: But a day before the special court-martial of Specialist Jeremy Sivits and the arraignment of three others, few in Baghdad seem ready to believe justice will be served.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It should be an Iraqi court, not an American, to try the officers in charge, not the soldiers who executed the orders.
WHITBECK: Sivits is expected to plead guilty to charges of mistreatment of prisoners and dereliction of duty while he was a prison guard at Abu Ghraib.
In a statement to investigators obtained by CNN, he stated abuse took place, describing, for example, an incident in which a prison guard would strike a detainee with a baseball swing and hit the wounds of detainees.
For military court officers, the challenge is in conducting the proceedings under intense scrutiny.
(on camera): But the bigger challenge will be in convincing Iraqi public opinion that the American military court system will result in justice. Not easy in a country where confidence in the U.S. is not really high. Harris Whitbeck, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well, the center of all this controversy, the population of that prison, Abu Ghraib, is shrinking even further. Here's a 360 news note. On Friday, the U.S. military will release 472 detainees. That's on top of the 293 who were released last Friday. The two big cuts will leave fewer than 2,000 inmates behind bars at Abu Ghraib.
A startling report to Congress today. The Justice Department estimates that each year as many as 17,500 people, mostly women, are brought to the United States by human traffickers. Trapped in slavelike conditions, they're forced into sex, sweatshop labor, and domestic servitude.
Tonight, CNN justice correspondent Kelli Arena brings us one woman's story and how she escaped her tormenter.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): She calls herself Esperanza, the Spanish word for hope. This former victim of human trafficking is still too afraid to show her face or use her real name, but for the first time since arriving in the United States from Mexico, she is hopeful about her future.
ESPERANZA, HUMAN TRAFFICKING VICTIM (through translator): I would kneel down and ask God to help me because sometimes I would feel that I could have died there.
ARENA: Esperanza worked in a sweatshop like this for up to 18 hours a day, sewing. She was not allowed to turn on the lights, go outside, or bathe.
ESPERANZA: The lady was very strict, she was very rude, she would hit us. She would say, You cannot leave, because if you step outside, there's policemen, and they're going to grab you.
ARENA: After getting an anonymous tip, immigration authorities raided her workplace. The Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking stepped in to help Esperanza put her life back together.
ERICA TUMBAGA, COALITION TO ABOLISH SLAVERY AND TRAFFICKING: It goes across all lines, all borders. So we deal with domestic workers, field laborers, garment workers, restaurant workers, forced prostitutes. And they come from all around the world.
ARENA: The government says most trafficking cases involve women and girls as young as 14 held as sexual slaves. And officials say trafficking and smuggling generate $9.5 billion a year for criminal enterprises. Since 2000, when a new law was passed to combat the problem, the Justice Department says much has been accomplished.
ALEX ACOSTA, ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL, CIVIL RIGHTS: We've tripled the number of prosecutions thus far. But compared to the number of victims, that is a good start. We need to do more.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ARENA: As big as the problem is in the United States, internationally, it's staggering. The U.S. government says as many as 800,000 people worldwide become virtual slaves each year, Anderson.
COOPER: It's hard to believe that it's still going on in this day and age, and especially in this country. Kelli Arena, thanks very much.
Interest rates may soon go up if Fed chairman Alan Greenspan will likely stay put. That's one story we're tracking right now cross- country.
Let's take a look what else.
Today, President Bush renominates the 78-year-old Greenspan for another four-year term. Senate confirmation is expected. First appointed in 1987 by President Reagan, Greenspan has been Fed chairman for 17 years now.
Atlanta, rocket launcher found. That's right, a rocket launcher. Authorities are examining a military rocket launcher found near a public transit station. The FBI says it seems to be a shoulder-held launcher used to train soldiers, which can be bought at any gun store.
New York, Martha, Martha, Martha. Martha Stewart's television show is going on hiatus after the current season while its star faces a possible prison sentence. Stewart, of course, scheduled to be sentenced June 17. She faces 10 to 16 months in prison.
Potomac River near Washington, D.C., predator fish. There it is, the Frankenfish. A fisherman caught a northern snakehead fish in Akawan (ph) Bay about five miles from where another snakehead was caught. Scientists fear the fish are spawning in the Potomac, and signs are posted warning fishermen to kill and report any snakeheads they see.
That is a look at stories right now cross-country.
Two climbers stranded on Mount Rainier, a daring rescue, and a tragic death after a 30-foot fall. Find out how one man survived freezing temperatures for four days on the mountain.
Also tonight, meet a woman who studied serial killers trying to understand what is going on in their heads. Part of our special series, Unlocking the Secrets of the Brain.
And head of a different sort. Terminating bobbleheads. Find out why California's governor is slapping a lawsuit on doll makers.
All that ahead.
First, your picks, the most popular stories right now on CNN.com.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Well, for three days, a climber stranded on a 45-degree slope on Mount Rainier took care of his severely injured friend in temperatures that dipped below freezing. That climber was flown off Mount Rainier today, rescued, exhausted, and distraught, but alive. His friend, however, wasn't as fortunate.
CNN's Kimberly Osias is in Longmere (ph), Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KIMBERLY OSIAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Two days of dramatic rescue efforts on Mount Rainier. Two experienced climbers, Scott Richards and Peter Cooley. They went up the mountain together, but only one man came down alive.
DAVID BARBER, FAMILY FRIEND: Scott would like to express his feelings to peter's family. Peter was a great guy. Confident, trusting, and very passionate in everything he does. He waged an incredible battle on the mountain for survival.
OSIAS: The challenging climb up Liberty Ridge took a tragic turn Saturday when Cooley, on his fourth ascent, fell 30 feet. Park officials say Cooley hit his head and suffered body injuries as well.
GLENN KESSLER, NATIONAL PARK SERVICE CLIMBING RANGER: A ground assault was actually quite difficult. Dealing with weather conditions of well below freezing temperatures up there, snow, drifting snow, glacial ice. It was a difficult mission.
OSIAS: The weather broke Monday. The clouds parted, enabling Oregon National Guardsmen to hoist Cooley out from 12,000 feet. Despite his son's eventual death, his father, Sam Cooley, praised rescue efforts.
SAM COOLEY, CLIMBER'S FATHER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) just so incredible. We couldn't imagine anybody doing anything better or more to help him or be more interested in his well-being and in Scott's well-being (UNINTELLIGIBLE) on the mountain. And also to Scott, oh, gosh.
OSIAS: Longtime friend and climbing partner Scott Richards administered first aid and called 911 on his cell phone. Tuesday he hiked out most of the way on his own power. On the last leg, he was airlifted to safety by the same chopper that pulled Peter Cooley out.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
OSIAS: Seemingly these were a couple of climbers who took precautions. They knew what they were doing. They traveled together. They even aborted an earlier attempt years ago to scale the same part of Mount Rainier because of bad weather, Anderson.
COOPER: Remarkable story. Kimberly Osias, thanks very much.
Mount Everest, of course, in the Himalayas, is the site of the worst tragedy ever. Here's a quick 360 flashback.
May 10, 1996, at least eight climbers died in a freak storm on the world's highest peak. Another climber, Dr. Beck Weathers, fell into a hypothermic coma and was left for dead. Miraculously, he came to. You see him there, nearly blind, clinging to life. He started walking to the nearest camp. He was eventually rescued by helicopter. He lost his nose, right hand, and part of his left hand to frostbite. However, that has not stopped the doctor from practicing medicine to this day.
Right now, we're following a number of important global stories for you in the uplink. Let's take a look.
Sonia Gandhi won't be India's prime minister after all. Gandhi told members of her party she humbly declines the position, saying it has never been her goal. Her Congress Party beat the current prime minister's party in an upset last week. The Italian-born Gandhi didn't say who she might nominate for the job.
In Gaza now, Israeli incursion. The Bush administration is calling on Israel to stop destroying Palestinian homes in the Rafah area of Gaza. Israeli commanders launched air strikes, sent about 100 tanks and bulldozers into Rafah, calling it the gateway of terrorism. It's the biggest Israeli offensive in Gaza in almost 40 years. Palestinian sources say 20 Palestinians were killed, 35 wounded.
Switzerland now, Olympics 2012. The finalists for the host city of the Summer Games are announced. On the list, get ready, Paris, New York, Moscow, London, and Madrid. The winning city will be announced in July 2005.
And Vatican City, the pope has a birthday and a new book out. Pope John Paul celebrates his 84th birthday. His latest book, "Get Up, Let Us Go," that's what it's called, it's on sale, focuses on his years as a young priest in Krakow.
And that is a look at tonight's uplink.
You're about to meet a woman, a forensic psychiatrist who studies serial killers.
Coming up later in the program, is it possible something in their brains makes them kill? That is part of our special series, Unlocking the Secrets of the Brain.
Also tonight, riveting testimony. This up just ahead. An alleged rape caught on tape. The son of a sheriff accused. Today the court hears from the victim for the first time. That's happening right now.
And a little later heroism and sacrifice. A soldier who lost an arm in combat volunteers to go back to the war. His incredible story still to come.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COOPER: Time for justice served. Just moments ago, a California courtroom was riveted by the testimony of a girl who says she was raped by three young men, one of them the son of an assistant sheriff. And the alleged sexual assault was captured on videotape.
CNN's Thelma Gutierrez has been listening to the girl's testimony today. She joins us live from Santa Ana. Thelma?
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, that girl, who is now 18 years old, looked composed as she took the stand today. She even glanced over at the three defendants, who were once her friends. They did not look back as she described what happened the night of January -- or July 5th, 2002.
She alleges that she was gang-raped by the three men while she was unconscious. She admitted to having sex with two -- three of those defendants the night before. She says that on the night of July 5, 2002, she says Kyle Knackreiner (ph), Keith Stat (ph), and Greg Hidele, all high school friends of hers, and Hidele, the son of the assistant Orange County sheriff, Don Hidele, lured her to a home, Hidele's home, and gave her a blue-green drink that she says tasted like Pine-Sol.
She says that she knew something was wrong. She felt dizzy. She passed out, and then she confronted one of the young men the next day. She said on the stand, she asked, "I said, what did you give me last night? It didn't seem right. He said, A Bombay. He said, Are you sore? I said, What do you mean? He said, Never mind."
She said also, "These guys were supposed to be my friends, I trusted them. I had a feeling that they had done something to me, but I had no proof."
TONY RACKAUKAS, ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: This is about a woman's right to choose. Does she want to have sex with somebody, yes or no? And if you take advantage of the fact that she's unconscious, you're taking away her right to choose. You're taking away her ability to consent or to withdraw her consent.
JOHN BARNETT, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: This young girl wanted to become a porn star. She told her friends that. And she told these boys that. And she engaged in sexual activities with them in the weeks and days before this event occurred. And it culminated in the videotape...
GUTIERREZ: Now, that accuser faces a very tough day on the stand tomorrow, when she faces cross-examination. She did appear visibly shaken several times as she looked over to these men. They did not look back, as I had mentioned earlier. But she was composed the whole time.
And friends here were standing by. They said that they will come by tomorrow to give her support in the courtroom.
Anderson, back to you.
COOPER: Thelma Gutierrez, thanks very much.
Covering the case for us tonight, Court TV's Lisa Bloom.
Lisa, good to see you here.
LISA BLOOM, ANCHOR, COURT TV: Hi.
COOPER: It's a difficult case. The tomorrow apparently, the defense is going to actually show the videotape in the courtroom for the first time to the alleged victim.
BLOOM: Right.
COOPER: How powerful is that going to be for the jury?
BLOOM: You know, it's going to be very powerful. And what's striking is that apparently she has never seen it before, Anderson, which I just can't understand why the prosecutors have not sat down with her...
COOPER: You think they should have shown it to her...
BLOOM: ... and gone over it...
COOPER: ... in advance?
BLOOM: Yes, and that's the normal course of this type of thing, if there is a normal course for having a videotape of a gang rape. But having some kind of evidence to show the prosecution complaining witness, ordinarily she'd see that in advance...
COOPER: How important is her reaction...
BLOOM: ... (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...
COOPER: ... going to be?
BLOOM: ... first time in front of the jury.
I think it's going to be very important. The defense says that she wanted to be a porn star, that she was pretending to be unconscious. If that's true, I think her reaction in seeing that tape in front of the jury is going to be very significant.
COOPER: You know, that's the defense. They've been making a lot of claims. They claim she wanted to be a porn star. But there was testimony before that her boyfriend at the time, her ex-boyfriend, who is one of these people who allegedly raped her, and is one of the three, had priorly, prior to this, videotaped her or attempted to videotape her having sex. She said, No, don't videotape me, stop it. He stopped it then. This was weeks before the actual incident.
BLOOM: Right.
COOPER: That seems to argue against the idea that she wants to be a porn star. BLOOM: Well, it sure does. But keep in mind, we're only in the prosecution case. We haven't heard from the defense yet.
And to add to that, yesterday there was a prosecution expert who testified that she appeared to have GHB, the date-rape drug, in her system, that she was limp and lifeless in the video, in the way that somebody would be if they were drugged and unconscious, not faking unconsciousness. And the expert seemed to feel that her physical reactions were consistent with...
COOPER: Because she was still responding...
BLOOM: ... the prosecution theory.
COOPER: ... to pain.
BLOOM: Exactly.
COOPER: And if she was faking being unconscious, she wouldn't have.
BLOOM: Presumably, exactly. That's what the expert said, that she -- her body would flinch and react to pain, but she was completely unconscious. You know, they moved her from a couch to a pool table. They sodomized her with a bottle, with a can, with a lighted cigarette. That's not comparable to consensual sexual acts that she may have engaged in with the other boys.
COOPER: More dramatic testimony tomorrow. Lisa Bloom, thanks very much.
BLOOM: Thank you.
COOPER: Pain at the pump becomes part of the stump. Are candidates putting politics ahead of gas policy?
Are murderers hardwired to kill? We'll look at what some call a killer brain and meet a woman who keeps John Wayne Gacy's in a jar.
360 continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Time now for the reset. In New York, investigating 9/11. Today the independent commission found the emergency response in New York City was hampered by communication breakdowns, and poor coordination between government agencies.
In Washington today, the White House won't tap into the nation's Strategic Oil Reserve to ease the soaring price of gasoline. Democrats insist that the release of 60 million barrels will help lower the record pump price. More on this story in a few moments.
Nationwide, hitting the road despite record gas price prices. AAA predicts Americans will travel more this Memorial Day weekend than last year thanks to a recovering economy. The survey shows nearly 31 million travelers will drive 50 miles or more this Memorial Day. That's up 3.4 percent.
Also in Washington, no link found between vaccines and autism. That's the finding of a government panel. Some parents refuse to vaccinate their kids believing it causes autism. Researchers say there is no evidence to prove any link.
Also in Washington, you can take it with you. Today the FCC said all cell phone users in the nation can keep their existing phone numbers when they switch to a new wireless carrier. The rule, which will affect millions, goes into effect next week. Those are the stories in the reset.
With all the media focus on the prison abuse scandal over the past couple of weeks, it's easy to forget about other aspects of the war in Iraq. In particular easy to forget about the men and women serving their country admirably. How quickly we forget. Tonight CNN's Gary Tuchman brings us one soldier's amazing story, wounded in action and wanting to go back into battle as an amputee.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Army Specialist Garth Stewart has just graduated from a hand-to-hand combat class at Fort Benning, Georgia. And he's done it as an amputee. The Minnesota native was wounded in Iraq from a land mine. Now he's back on active duty and has volunteered to go back into combat.
SPC. GARTH STEWART, U.S. ARMY: Got to be diplomatic about this. Not necessarily singing the army's praises -- doesn't have as much to do with that as it does maybe to do with perhaps the camaraderie I feel with some of the people specifically in my platoon. Especially at the time I got injured.
TUCHMAN: It's exceedingly rare for an amputee to go back to war but Stewart has received his medical clearance and could be redeployed with his unit in a matter of months.
SGT. MATT LARSEK, DIRECTOR, HAND-TO-HAND COMBAT PROGRAM: He can literally do everything that you can with two legs. So there's no issues whatsoever.
TUCHMAN: Stewart served as base gunner in a mortar platoon.
STEWART: First in my platoon without a doubt. Mortar skills, mortar gunning. I mean, I am not even bragging to say that.
TUCHMAN: Garth Stewart does say he plans to leave the army when his term of enlistment is up in June of 2005. He hopes to go to college and then possibly become a philosopher.
Is there anything about it, though, going back to war, without a leg that scares you?
STEWART: No. You're like 50 percent immune to land mines now.
TUCHMAN: Gary Tuchman, CNN, Fort Benning, Georgia. (END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Remarkable young man. Today on the campaign trail, soaring gas prices on a day where the average price reached an all- time high averaging $2.01 a gallon. That's up 52 cents from the same time last year. Today the Democrats said it's the president's fault, the Bush campaign pointed the finger right back at John Kerry. Earlier I took it up with "CROSSFIRE" co-hosts Robert Novak and Paul Begala. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Bob, today Democrats came out guns blazing talking about gas prices and oil policy. Should the White House be concerned?
ROBERT NOVAK, CO-HOST, "CROSSFIRE": I don't believe so. I've been around a long time, and every time the gas prices go up, the party out of power says oh, it's terrible, the president's fault. It has never yet been an issue in a campaign. And one of the reasons is, that gas prices always go down in the fall. In case you haven't noticed, we have elections in November. Not in -- in the summer. And the gas prices will be considerably lower after Labor Day than they are now.
COOPER: Paul, I take it you don't agree with that. The Democrats seem to be playing up the idea that the Bush camp is somehow in the pockets of a Texas oil money.
PAUL BEGALA, CO-HOST, "CROSSFIRE": Well, I think there's that problem to begin with that the president comes out of that industry. I think there's a longer problem that it's going to last beyond if and when the gas price drops. That is credibility. The president is suffering credibility problems because the war in Iraq. Turns out when he was running for president as an oilman he promised he would jawbone, his phrase, OPEC, to try to bring down the price of gas. Now that the price of gas is going through the roof he's been asked, his press secretary has been asked, have you followed through on your promise and they had to candidly answer no. So the president's got a broken promise problem and a credibility problem. He promised us if we made this oil man president, he'd use those connections to leverage down the price, and now he's had to admit that he hasn't kept that promise.
COOPER: Paul, and Bob as you well know the Bush campaign is saying John Kerry's record on voting for -- to increase taxes on gas prices is kind of spotty for him.
NOVAK: It's not spotty. In 1994 he wanted -- when he never dreamed he would be running for president, who did, that he proposed a 50 cent a gallon increase in gasoline. See right now, this is very hard. This election is a long way off. And you can't talk about Iraq every day. So the topic of the day almost is gasoline prices. I'll tell you a little secret right now. Whether you're paying $2.02 or paying $1.80 a gallon for gasoline is not an issue that drives decisions. Boy, oh, boy I'm going to vote for John Kerry because George Bush did not jawbone the Arab sheiks. Politics doesn't work that way and Paul Begala knows that.
BEGALA: Actually things like credibility matter. And things like consistency matter. As the Bush campaign is attacking John Kerry because he never introduced any legislation to raise the gas tax. Turns out Dick Cheney did introduce legislation that would have raised fuel prices by $1.2 trillion and he gave a speech in which he said look, the United States has to let go of this fiction that somehow low oil prices are good for America. He actually campaigned for higher energy prices. Well, in fact, he's become a millionaire because of high energy prices. It stands to reason.
NOVAK: Anderson, one thing I think the American people ought to get a reality test on, in the first place, adjusted for inflation, the price of gasoline today is less than it was 25 years ago. And it's much less than it was any place in the world. It is almost three times as high in most of the European countries. They look at us and they say my goodness, $2 a gallon. That is a bargain. And it is a bargain. It's one commodity that's a lot cheaper now than it was in the past.
BEGALA: The conservative message, the Republican message, Anderson, is going to be America is booming and gas prices should be higher. They should be as high as they are in France. I like those odds. I'll take those to the polling booth any day of the week.
COOPER: We're going to leave it there, guys. Thanks very much. Bob Novak, Paul Begala.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Today's buzz is this. What do you think? Will prices at the pump change your vote for president? Log on to CNN.com/360. Cast your votes, we'll have results at the end of the show.
Coming up, unlocking the secrets of the brain. In a moment, a woman who studies serial killers. What has she learned about what goes on inside their minds. That's part of our week-long series.
Also tonight, remembering actor Tony Randall. Fans knew him best as neat freak Felix Unger on "The Odd Couple." We'll take a look back at his career.
Plus why is Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger suing a toy company? The mind bobbles. We'll take a look at the case.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Hard to believe that is part of the brain of serial killer John Wayne Gacy who killed 33 young men and boys in the Chicago area in the 1970s. In a moment I'll talk with a forensic psychiatrist who has studied Gacy's brain and spent hundreds of hours interviewing him and other killers.
The question is what makes one person turn out to be both a boy scout and another a killer?
Perhaps a more interesting question is, how can someone be both a boy scout and a killer like John Wayne Gacy.
Tonight as we continue our series unlocking the "Secrets of the Brain" we take a close-up look at the mind of a killer.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER (voice-over): Chances are you'll recognize some of these men, and know what they have in common. They're all serial killers. But what you might not know is that according to Court TV, they each suffered head injuries when they were young. Leonard Lake, David Berkowitz, AKA "Son of Sam," Kenneth Bianci, John Wayne Gacy, Carl Panzram. Scientists now believe head injuries could contribute to a murderer's sadistic behavior. While there's no hard evidence linking head injuries to the desire to kill, there is some evidence suggests that brain chemistry and structure could be a factor. University of Southern California psychologists have compared brain scans of nonviolent subjects to those of murderers. They say there appears to be a clear difference between the two.
Look at a murderer's brain. Now look at a normal brain. The scientists discovered that many of the killers had lower activity in the prefrontal cortex, the area involved in planning, reasoning, and impulse control. They also determined the killers had higher than normal activity in a deeper, more primitive part of the brain, the subcortex, where the brain may stimulate aggressive behavior. Their conclusion -- there is a connection between the way a brain functions, and an individual's predisposition towards violence.
Still, psychologists say that brain abnormality alone is not enough to make a person violent. They cite other influences, child abuse, mental illness, genetics. The next step, researchers say, should be to track the relationship between brain function, and violent behavior from an early stage of development.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Our next guest just said a lot of that is a bunch of hooey. Forensic psychiatrist Dr. Helen Morrison is leading expert on serial killers. For more than 30 years, now she has interviewed or studied the cases of at least 80 murderers around the world. She tells her story in a book my life among serial killers, inside the minds of the world's most notorious murders. Dr. Morrison, thanks very much for being with us.
DR. HELEN MORRISON, AUTHOR: Thanks for having me.
COOPER: A lot of that is hooey, why?
Just because someone got a bump on their head as a kid doesn't mean they are going to be serial killer.
MORRISON: Absolutely. What happens to all the people who did get bumps on their head and didn't become serial killers?
What about all the children who have been physically or sexually abused or have unusual families? They don't all become serial killers.
COOPER: The doctors who say there is some cause and effect they can't really prove it. They may have gotten a bump, doesn't mean the two are connected.
MORRISON: Absolutely. We're having so much trouble now with people trying to connect brain and behavior that their skipping a lot of steps that are needed to prove the fact that it indeed is related.
COOPER: In a way, it's the kind of thing you see an "Law and Order," some clever defense attorney trying to come up with that is an excuse for someone's behavior.
MORRISON: Well, not just on Law & Order, but in the courtrooms of the United States, people are always saying well, he got a bump, therefore he's not responsible.
Or you know, they're mentally ill, they're not responsible.
COOPER: Let's talk about what you know. Of the serial killers you've talked to, more than 80 of them, what is the commonality between them?
MORRISON: The commonality is that first of all, they are complete inhuman shells. They have absolutely nothing inside of them. No emotional attachments. No recognition that other people are human beings.
COOPER: And do we know why that is?
MORRISON: We don't know. However, we do know that we can spot it in the early childhood of these individuals, in the early infancy. When they never negotiate that first phase as an infant becoming a separate individual. What happens, what leads to it?
Right now we're working with theory that -- and it's only a theory because we certainly don't have the science yet, that the male chromosome, something happens to a gene related to that chromosome, and it changes but it doesn't get triggered until the person is an adolescent. And at that point we know, with all the brain changes, the hormonal changes, the brain chemistry changes, that gene or whatever it is, gets triggered because the first homicide was committed when the person is an adolescent.
COOPER: You say it's akin to an addiction -- serial killing.
How's that?
Explain that.
MORRISON: One of the things is that if you look at someone who's an addicted person, someone heavily addicted to opium or to heroin or to cocaine, what we know is what one of the serial killers easily described. Was he needed to go get me one was the way he put it. There was no planning, there was no thought. He just had this incredible need. And once the murder was committed, then he went on with his regular life. And they commit more murders, more intensity, more frequently, very much like a drug abuser.
COOPER: I want to show this painting we have that you brought in from John Wayne Gacy. This is something he did.
What's the significance of this to you?
MORRISON: This was a painting that he copied from a newspaper. So it should have been an accurate reproduction. However, if you look at it, the sailboat has no shadow. It doesn't cast a shadow. The sun that should have been brighter behind the boat is brighter in front of the boat. There's also absolutely no indication that there were shadows related to where the boat was anchored.
COOPER: So the meaning is what?
MORRISON: He sees the world in a way that we can't even imagine. There's a part of what he perceives that is completely different than what you and I might see in newspaper print.
COOPER: It's fascinating work. A fascinating book. Dr. Helen Morrison, thanks very much.
MORRISON: Thank you.
COOPER: Well, we're going to continue our series tomorrow with creativity, madness and genius. Is there a close link between the creative brain and the troubled mind? It's an interesting idea.
Also on Thursday, brain sex. Find out how the wiring in your brain affects the way you behave with the opposite sex.
And on Friday, the successful brain. Learn how to tap into your mind like da Vinci and Einstein, or maybe a big media mogul.
Arnold Schwarzenegger coming up as soon as -- talking about moguls, Arnold Schwarzenegger is suing a small toy maker in Ohio over the Arnold bobblehead doll. It's not funny.
Will the doll prevail or will there have to be a total recall?
Oh, there's the pun. I knew it was going to be right around the corner. We'll talk to the company when we come back.
Also tonight remembering a man who made America laugh for decades, actor Tony Randall.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: There's the controversial doll in question. A toy company in Ohio makes bobblehead dolls. That one you just saw. Hillary Clinton didn't mind when they made one of her. Neither did Rudy Giuliani. But Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's film company has sued, saying the bobblehead illegally exploits his image. Joining me now from Akron, Ohio, Toby Bosley, the vice president of the Bosley Bobbing Doll Company. Thanks very much for being with me, Toby.
TOBY BOSLEY, VICE PRESIDENT, BOSLEY BOBBING HEAD DOLL CO.: Thanks for having me.
COOPER: You say you have the right to make this doll, that Arnold Schwarzenegger as the governor is in the public domain. California, though, their penal code has laws which protect individuals from marketing their names without their permission. Why do you think you can do this?
BOSLEY: Well, we believe that it's a caricature of Arnold Schwarzenegger, and it's a parody. I mean, we feel we're protected under the First Amendment.
COOPER: But you show him carrying a gun, you show him wearing a gun belt. It's not him wearing a suit as the governor. It seems like you're playing off his role as a movie actor. Therefore, I mean, if this was just some movie actor, you would have to pay him royalties, wouldn't you?
BOSLEY: If we portrayed him as a Terminator. But what could be more caricature than to have Arnold with a gun?
COOPER: So you're saying though he's carrying a gun and has a gun belt, you're saying that's him as governor?
BOSLEY: That is how we depicted Arnold as the governor, yes.
COOPER: As the governor, have you seen him wearing a gun or carrying a gun belt?
BOSLEY: No, we haven't seen him wearing a gun. But it's been a stand that he's taken from the beginning in office, of banning assault rifles.
COOPER: How did you come to be sued by him? I mean, how did he even find out about this?
BOSLEY: I believe that his wife had actually saw the doll in a Washington gift shop.
COOPER: You're a pretty small company, small toy maker. Are you going to be able to stand up to this kind of a lawsuit? I mean, they've got big guns against them.
BOSLEY: Well, we do -- it put us in a corner here in a bad situation. We're just a small, family owned-business. And we have some good representation that feels strongly about the case.
COOPER: How have these dolls been selling?
BOSLEY: We've got tremendous press with it, so we've had great sales with the dolls over the last couple of weeks. COOPER: You also sell John Kerry, I guess you sell Howard Dean. I'm told you also sell Anna Nicole Smith. Have you heard complaints from any of them?
BOSLEY: Well, if they're not in a public office, of course we have to have a license, and we get the license before we go into production on the doll. So.
COOPER: So what's going to happen with this? Where does this go?
BOSLEY: Well, we're going to fight it. We believe what we did is completely right. And we're going to take this and see what the courts have to say about it.
COOPER: All right, we'll see how it goes. Toby Bosley, thanks very much for being on the program.
BOSLEY: Thank you.
COOPER: All right. It's time to check on some light news now, on pop news, in tonight's "Current."
Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin are talking about how they named their daughter Apple. The couple say the girl's name came from Martin's agent, who also has a daughter named Apple. The agent not only OK'ed the idea, but we hear he even waived the usual 10 percent commission, which we think was very nice.
A collection of more than 3,000 items belonging to Sherlock Holmes creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle will be auctioned in London tomorrow. The collection includes some unpublished writings, including "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Special Victims Unit," and "The Hound of the Baskervilles: Criminal Intent."
Fidel Castro's doctor says the Cuban leader is in excellent health, and his personal physician believes the 77-year-old Castro can live to be at least 140, giving him another 70 years to find something else to wear other than army fatigues.
And Christian rock star Rebecca St. James says she feels sorry for Britney Spears. St. James preaches a message of abstinence before marriage. Says Spears leads fans astray by saying, quote, "anything goes, and if it feels good, do it." When asked to respond, Spears said, "Rebecca St. Who now?" And went back to doing things that just feel good. Not really. We made that up.
When Americans turned their newfangled television sets on in the late 1940s, one of the first faces they saw on a series called "Mr. Peepers" was Tony Randall's. From that day until yesterday, when he died at the age of 84, Tony Randall was never really out of view. Talk about a constant companion.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TONY RANDALL, ACTOR: You're the big man here. JACK KLUGMAN, ACTOR: He's a crowd pleaser.
COOPER (voice-over): His characters had a lot of names. Felix Unger was the famous fuss pot on "The Odd Couple." But the aliases didn't fool us. We recognized him right away, from the small screen...
RANDALL: Light another cigar, Oscar! Burn a hole in my heart!
COOPER: On the big screen.
RANDALL: I've been talking to this psychiatrist about my mother for two years now.
COOPER: On the stage.
RANDALL: When an old bachelor marries a young wife, what is he to expect?
COOPER: We recognized him right away for almost 60 years.
Who else had that air? That perfectly ironed, always correct certainty that seemed to drive the other characters crazy, but that made us love him?
RANDALL: I've always wanted that.
COOPER: Whoever made haughty as charming and as funny as he did?
RANDALL: It's pretty good.
COOPER: Tony Randall became a father for the first time in his late 70s. He founded a classic repertory company, the National Actors Theater, with $1 million of his own money. He loved opera. You'd have thought he was a prince, not a kid from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Come to think of it, he was. A prince of players.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: And he shall be missed. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Time now for "The Buzz." Earlier we asked you -- will prices at the pump change your vote for president? Getting a lot of e-mail on this, more than 19,000 of you have voted. Thirty-six percent of you said yes; 64 percent of you said no. Not a scientific poll. But it is your buzz. Thanks for voting.
Tonight, taking the attack ad to "The Nth Degree."
Politicians all claim to deplore negative commercials. But they all commission them and put them on the air, at a cost of tens of millions of dollars. In the end, baring your teeth seems to work. So we figured it might work for us, as well. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: I'm Anderson Cooper and I approved this ad.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When it comes to the news, are you better off than you were four years ago? Don't you deserve a television anchor with more than just a single syllable to his name? More even than two syllables?
And while we're on the subject, let's talk bang for the buck. Why won't Shep use verbs? What's he afraid of? You paid for the verbs, shouldn't you get them? And "Hardball," don't you need an anchor versatile enough to play more than just one sport?
Anderson Cooper, made in America, 100 percent natural recycled ingredients. Can the others say that?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: It might work. Thanks for watching. Coming up next, "PAULA ZAHN NOW."
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
