CNN.com - Transcripts

Transcript Providers

Return to Transcripts main page

Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees

Michael Jackson Trial Begins; Telltale Signs of a Terrorist

Aired February 28, 2005 - 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.

HEIDI COLLINS, HOST: Good evening from New York. I'm Heidi Collins.
The Michael Jackson trial, it promises to be the trial of this century.

360 starts right now.

Michael Jackson in the biggest battle of his life. Tonight, opening statements in the case against the king of pop. We take you inside the courtroom.

Al Qaeda sympathizers in the U.S., blending in, waiting, and possibly planning attacks. Is there a terrorist living in your midst? Tonight, telltale signs of a terrorist.

A 9-year-old girl still missing in Florida.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Someone that has her, please, let her come home. Do not harm her in any way. Little children does not deserve this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: A kidnapping, or a runaway? Tonight, the latest on the search for Jessica, and the mystery surrounding her disappearance.

The 30-year-old serial murder mystery, is it finally over?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dennis L. Rader has been arrested in connection with 10 homicides.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Tonight, friends of the alleged BTK killer speak out.

And the dramatic fishermen rescue caught on tape. Tonight, we take you beyond the headlines of ice rescues and the men who risk their lives to save others.

ANNOUNCER: Live from the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is ANDERSON COOPER 360. COLLINS: Good evening, everyone. Anderson is off tonight.

The trial of this century is under way. Michael Jackson was on time this morning, as opening statements began in his molestation trial. As expected, both sides painted a very different portrait of the famous defendant.

The defense said Jackson is being victimized for befriending a young cancer patient. But the prosecution insists he used alcohol and pornography to seduce a sick boy.

CNN's Ted Rowlands is following the story from the courthouse in Santa Maria, California. He joins us now live. Ted, good evening.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good evening, Heidi.

Two dramatically different stories, as you mentioned. The defense has not had an opportunity to complete the opening statements portion of their case. Tom Mesereau worked all the way up until the end of the court day, and then told the judge that he will have to finish when court resumes in the morning.

Michael Jackson was accompanied by his brother Randy and his mother today in court. In court, Jackson had very little reaction to what was being said about him. First, when Tom Sneddon got up there and detailed his case. Sneddon, the district attorney here, has taken over this case. And he told jurors what they can expect over the months ahead as he brings on witnesses.

He told them that they should expect not only the victim to take the stand and compellingly tell the details of the sexual abuse, but they should also expect that the victim's brother will take the stand. He said that both will do it for the world to see.

He also acknowledged that the victim's mother in this case could be a problem, saying that she may not have made the same choices as, quote, "you or I would have made along the way."

Then it was Tom Mesereau's turn to get up and defend his client, and he did so vigorously. He took on the victim's mother specifically, and the victim himself, and his brother, saying that the mother had a history of trying to trap celebrities. He brought up a story about Jay Leno, who had a phone conversation with this victim. Leno, according to Tom Mesereau, heard the victim's mother in the background, and red flags went off in Leno's head long before Michael Jackson ever entered into this picture.

Tom Mesereau then said that this extortion, if you will, from the victim's family was a pattern, that she had lied in a deposition in a lawsuit against J.C. Penney, where she received over $150,000. She then lied about having the money and went on the welfare doles when the federal government and applied for Food Stamps along the way.

Clearly they are painting a picture that the mother is behind this and that she is not to be trusted and, clearly, they're setting up a showdown between the victim in this case and Michael Jackson. It will be up to the jury to decide who to believe, Heidi.

COLLINS: That indeed it will, and a showdown it is. Ted Rowlands, thanks so much for that tonight.

Lawyers can speak directly to the jury three times throughout the proceedings. That's during jury selection, closing arguments, and opening statements. And experts believe a jury's attention is at its peak during opening statements. That's why so much is riding on them in the Michael Jackson trial.

CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin takes a look at the art of the open.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTOPHER DARDEN, O.J. SIMPSON PROSECUTOR: What we've been saying, ladies and gentlemen, is the public face, the public persona.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: The prosecution goes first. Its job, to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The opening statement is an outline of the case, a preview of the evidence. As the whole country watched the O.J. Simpson trial, prosecutor Christopher Darden began...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DARDEN: The face you will see and the man that you will see will be the face of a batterer, a wife beater, an abuser.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TOOBIN: The prosecution wants to find the perfect combination of evidence and emotion.

Here's Lynn Rooney, who won a sex abuse conviction against defrocked priest Paul Shanley.

LYNN ROONEY, PAUL SHANLEY PROSECUTOR: He didn't tell for almost 20 years. But now, ladies and gentlemen, that little boy is a man.

TOOBIN: For its part, the defense asks the jury to question what's missing, preying upon the prosecution's weaknesses, while reminding jurors that the burden of proof is always on the other side.

Here's George Parnham, attorney for Clara Harris, who was convicted of running over her husband with her Mercedes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE PARNHAM, ATTORNEY FOR CLARA HARRIS: It is the state's job to prove every element of the indictment of murder against this woman. (END VIDEO CLIP)

TOOBIN: The challenge for the defense attorney is to offer an alternate explanation, allowing the jury to see the case through the defendant's eyes, to evoke sympathy for their client.

Defense attorney Buck Files used this approach for Deanna Laney, who was ultimately found legally insane when she killed her two young sons.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUCK FILES, ATTORNEY FOR DEANNA LANEY: They will tell you that she was confronted with a terrible dilemma for a mother. Does she follow what she believes to be God's will, or does she turn her back on her God?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: So who had the better opening statement in the Jackson trial today?

Joining me from Santa Maria is senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, and here in the studio, while I catch my (UNINTELLIGIBLE) breath, Court TV anchor Lisa Bloom.

Jeffrey, I want to start with you, because as we just said, you were there. Legally speaking, what do you think of the prosecution's opening?

TOOBIN: I thought it was lousy. I thought it was boring. I thought it was disorganized. And I didn't think it really engaged the jury or explained much about what went on the -- what went on.

I thought Tom Mesereau's opening statement for the defense was one of the best openings I have ever heard. I think the prosecution will be reeling tonight. It was really an extraordinary moment in court, the way Tom Mesereau picked this case apart.

COLLINS: Well, in fact, the prosecution went into a lot of detail, didn't they, about the alleged victim's cancer? Doctors told the family to prepare for his funeral. Is he trying to get sympathy for the accuser and his family, then?

TOOBIN: And that really was the most memorable part, this vivid description of how sick this young boy was, the -- What sticks with me was a description of a 16-pound medicine ball-sized tumor removed from the boy's stomach, an image that's very hard to get out of your mind.

But, remember, that was the time that Michael Jackson befriended this young boy. And by all accounts, including prosecutor Sneddon's, during that period when it looked like this boy might die, Michael Jackson did nothing but good things for him. LISA BLOOM, COURT TV ANCHOR: You know, Jeffrey, I'm not burdened by having actually seen the opens, as you did, but I did read the transcript, and I thought the prosecution made a very nice point that Michael Jackson said he's all about milk and cookies with the young boys who spend the night at his house, but really it's alcohol, it's child pornography. That's what he's plying them with.

Didn't that come across in the courtroom?

TOOBIN: Well, yes, certainly the alcohol. I'd be careful about the pornography. There was an interesting objection at one point that the word "pornography," and certainly not "child pornography," was allowed to be used. It was "sexually suggestive pictures."

And the alcohol was a concern. But were questions in my mind. One of the main times that the alcohol was alleged to have been given to the child was when he was on a private plane with Michael Jackson and the boy's mother and a physician.

BLOOM: Right.

TOOBIN: So it's a little hard for me to imagine how...

BLOOM: But we also know from the grand jury transcripts, Jeffrey, that the boy was seen by witnesses at Neverland stumbling around drunk. I mean, I think prosecution has a lot of corroborating evidence on the alcohol.

And the question, then, for the defense is going to be, why does Jackson so much want to give alcohol to this young boy, especially a cancer survivor with one kidney? They're going to have to explain that.

TOOBIN: They are certainly going to have to explain that. And Mesereau has not reached the alcohol part of his opening statement.

But, remember, one of the themes here is that these boys and this family wanted to be at Neverland and spent a good time, a good deal of time there outside of Jackson's supervision.

So I can expect -- but this I don't know -- that some of the alcohol, they will say, was gotten by the kids, and Michael Jackson had nothing to do with it.

COLLINS: All right. To the both of you tonight, we appreciate it. Jeffrey Toobin in Santa Maria, and Lisa Bloom, right here next to us. Appreciate it, guys.

BLOOM: Thank you.

COLLINS: I'm sure we'll be talking again and again and again.

Race seems to be a big factor, though, in whether people think Jackson is guilty or innocent. Here's a news note now. In a new CNN- "USA Today"-Gallup poll, 75 percent of whites believe the charges against Jackson are true, compared to 51 percent of African-Americans. Asked if the charges are not true, 42 percent of African-Americans said yes, but only 14 percent of whites agreed.

The accused BTK serial killer, arrested and facing a court date tomorrow, that tops our news cross-country.

Wichita, Kansas, here's the suspect, Dennis Rader, a married father of two and a Cub Scout leader. Tomorrow, Rader will hear the charges against him. He's accused of 10 murders spanning three decades.

In Washington, a unanimous decision. The FCC says ABC affiliates did not violate indecency rules when they aired "Saving Private Ryan" back in November on Veterans Day. You might remember, some stations dropped the movie, fearing a fine because of the violence and profanity.

Also in Washington, the new attorney general declares war on obscenity. Alberto Gonzales says anyone who distributes obscene material is not covered under free speech.

Off Boynton Beach, Florida, check it out. Yikes. all those black spots in the water that you are about to see -- there you go. They were just yards from the shore yesterday, as they migrated (UNINTELLIGIBLE) north. But don't worry, nobody was hurt, luckily. Lifeguards quickly closed the beach when the sharks were spotted.

And in Atlanta, Georgia, here's to your health. The CDC says the average life expectancy in the U.S. has hit a record high, 77.6 years, an increase of three and a half months from the year before. Researchers say the death rates from heart disease and cancer have dropped. To put the number in perspective, Japan has the longest life expectancies at 80.9 years, while the World Health Organization says the African country Sierra Leone is at the bottom, at 25.9 years.

And that's a look at the stories cross-country tonight.

360 next, snowstorm, pounding down on the Northeast, snarling traffic on the ground and in the air. Hours of delays already being reported. Find out what you need to know before you head outdoors.

Also tonight, rescue on ice. The Coast Guard team that risks everything to save those stuck in frozen waters.

And a little later, the man accused of being the BTK serial killer, a husband, father, and leader of his church. Tonight a friend speaks out about the man he thought he knew.

But first, your picks, the most popular stories on CNN.com right now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: That is Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, being well frosted, or pummeled, by a storm that's causing flight delays of more than five hours in Philadelphia, and two or three hours in the New York area.

Well, from the mountains of West Virginia up into the Great Lakes, from Pennsylvania into New York and Vermont and New Hampshire, all the way into Maine, some of the prettiest parts of the Northeast will be a lot prettier before morning, if you look at it that way, covered by six, eight, or 12 inches of snow, or, in some places, two feet.

We're going to check in with CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras in Atlanta now, for more details on the winter wallop. Hi, Jacqui.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Heidi.

It's getting ugly out there already tonight. And conditions are going to deteriorate through the overnight hours. In fact, the snow may come down so heavy, it may add up to two inches per hour at times.

Some of the worst weather right now across central parts of Maryland, across much of Pennsylvania, and into central parts of New Jersey.

We'll go ahead and take a look at Pittsburgh at this time, where the snow is coming down quite heavy. Visibility has reduced big-time in Pittsburgh. It's down to about a half of a mile at this hour. Thirty degrees is your temperature. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) winter storm warning in the Pittsburgh area right now, and expecting to see about three to seven inches of snowfall overall.

All right, here's the bottom line. This isn't the worst snowstorm of the year, but it's a significant nor'easter. We'll see about six to 12 inches of snow plus, especially in the interior of the Northeast. Some mixing can be expected near the coast. And that's why your number's going to be down a little bit as you head towards Boston, down towards Providence. Very blustery conditions as that low intensifies, with 30- to 60-mile-per-hour gusts and some major travel trouble expected for tonight extending on through your Tuesday.

Here's the heaviest swath of snow across upstate New York through Vermont, New Hampshire, and into much of Maine. We'll see maybe five to eight inches into the Boston area, four to eight inches expected across Philadelphia. Washington, D.C., you've got about two inches on the ground, maybe another two.

Major problems already being reported at the area airports. Atlanta, low clouds and fog. Believe it or not, you're being affected by this system of one to one and a half hours, Chicago about an hour, one to two hours at La Guardia, and four-plus hours in Philadelphia.

Take a look at a couple of snowfall totals already coming in, 10 inches in Mount Mitchell, North Carolina, tomorrow's forecast showing another low following our nor'easter. The worst of it, Heidi, over with by about 7:00 tomorrow morning, but we'll continue to see some snow showers on and off throughout much of the day.

COLLINS: I'm stunned, and I'm also glad I brought a suitcase and my galoshes, as my grandpa would say.

JERAS: Yes, you'll be sleeping there tonight.

COLLINS: Yes.

All right, Jacqui, thanks for that.

The snow's been hitting the Ohio shores of Lake Erie, but it's been the ice that's been causing a lot of trouble. Yesterday, the Coast Guard rescued six anglers and their dogs, who were stranded on an ice floe that broke free and began drifting away. A similar incident happened there Friday. We showed you these dramatic pictures of the Coast Guard saving a group of fishermen.

And tonight, CNN's Keith Oppenheim takes us beyond the headlines and inside the rescue to meet the people who took great risks to save lives.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tim Robertson of the United States Coast Guard prepares for the surface he loves and never trusts, ice.

TIM ROBERTSON, U.S. COAST GUARD: Ice is always a risk, no matter what we're doing, because, obviously, if someone is in trouble, something has gone wrong.

OPPENHEIM: Last Friday, something went terribly wrong. A group of ice fishermen went to one of the best spots for catching walleye. They were all a good mile off the southeastern shore of Lake Erie when the wind shifted and pushed the ice, and the fishermen on it, away from land.

SAM BROWN, RESCUED ICE FISHERMAN: We was just fishing, and we heard a big crack. And next thing we knew, the ice was moving, and we come in, it was too late.

OPPENHEIM: Robertson and a team from Coast Guard station Marble Head, Ohio, zipped up their waterproof buoyant suits and launched their rescue craft, taking it right up onto the 10-mile-long ice floe that was steadily drifting out into Lake Erie, where the water is near freezing, and can kill in minutes.

At one point, Robertson slipped.

ROBERTSON: So I fell off the edge of the ice, because I was at the aft of the boat, you know, I...

OPPENHEIM (on camera): This was because the ice on the edge is pretty thin?

ROBERTSON: Yes, it's just brittle, and the waves were coming across over the top of the ice. That just makes it worse.

OPPENHEIM (voice-over): With the help of air crews and local fire departments, the team rescued 10 fishermen and one dog. Officials believe the wind chill made the fishermen think it was colder than it was. CHIEF CHRIS SWATEK, USCO EXECUTIVE PETTY OFFICER: The air temperature was roughly 35, 40 degrees. In that environment, people may have felt a false sense of security to go out on the ice, thinking that the ice wouldn't crack.

OPPENHEIM: Coast Guard officials were restrained in criticizing the fishermen, but they did say this rescue cost more than $45,000. Still, incidents like this aren't unusual. Tim Robertson showed us pictures from other missions, where the goal was to save people, not vehicles, and reviewed video of this one, showing how stranded fishermen can be in serious danger.

ROBERTSON: And here they are, stepping into the ice, into the water. See how it's cracked right there where he stepped? He basically has to run into the boat.

OPPENHEIM: Success this time, no one fell in. And when it was all over, Tim Robertson and his teammates go back to their station and wait for the next call to go out on unstable ice.

ROBERTSON: All right, we do this in training all the time. Let's go do it again.

OPPENHEIM (on camera): Do you feel proud?

ROBERTSON: Yes. Any time you help somebody, you feel proud.

OPPENHEIM (voice-over): Keith Oppenheim, CNN, Marble Head, Ohio.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: 360 next, al Qaeda sleeper cells. Is the enemy living right here quietly amongst us? We're taking you behind beyond the headlines for a CNN security watch.

Also tonight, a father, husband, and church leader, is he also the BTK serial killer? We'll talk to a man who's known him for 30 years.

And a little later, the search for a 9-year-old girl who vanished from her bed. We're covering all the angles.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: The deadliest single attack since the U.S.-led invasion, that tops our look at global stories in the uplink.

Hilla, Iraq, a suicide bomber drove an explosives-filled car into a group of police recruits, killing at least 125 people, wounding more than 150 others. The casualty count is particularly high, in part, because the attack happened near a busy marketplace.

Beirut, Lebanon, leaders step down. The country's pro-Syrian government resigned abruptly today, during a parliament meeting, saying it didn't want to be a stumbling block for peace. In Beirut, there may have been massive protests against Syria's influence on the government since the former prime minister, Rafik Hariri, was assassinated.

Rome, Italy, the pope is feeling better. The Vatican says Pope John Paul II has begun exercises to improve his speaking and breathing after undergoing a tracheotomy on Thursday. The pope surprised onlookers yesterday by appearing at his hospital window.

London, England, torture TV. Tonight, Britain's Channel 4 premiered a reality TV program it calls "The Gitmo Guidebook." Seven volunteers went through torture techniques the show claims the U.S. is using on prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. Only four of them were able to withstand the 48 hours of torture, which included verbal abuse, sleep deprivation, and exposure to extreme temperatures.

And that's tonight's uplink.

If there is anything more frightening of the prospect of terrorists getting into the country, it is the thought that they may be here already, long since settled in, comfortable, unnoticed, just waiting. That is the terrible threat of a so-called sleeper cell.

As for what such group might look like, it could be that we've seen one already. A report now from CNN's American Bureau. Here's Kelli Arena.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLI ARENA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Lackawanna, New York, one of America's old steel towns just south of Buffalo. Officials say it was here that they brought down a dangerous terror cell.

PETER AHEARN, BUFFALO FBI OFFICE: When you have a group of individuals that are in contact with known terrorists, that makes it very dangerous.

ARENA: Peter Ahearn runs the Buffalo office of the FBI, which oversaw the case. He says these young Americans were recruited by al Qaeda and convinced to travel to terror camps in Afghanistan for training.

There was no evidence the young men were involved in any plot to attack, but Ahearn argues that did not diminish the threat. And he's worried there may be more like them.

AHEARN: I'm always concerned, very concerned. We have a large Arab-American community. If the terrorists want to come here and capitalize on something like that, where they can blend into a community, the potential is there.

ARENA: On that point, everyone agrees, the potential is there. But are there currently sleeper agents in the United States? Officials say the short answer is no, at least, that they know of. FBI director Robert Mueller recently told Congress that finding one remains the FBI's top priority.

ROBERT MUELLER, FBI DIRECTOR: The very nature of a covert operative, trained not to raise suspicion and to appear benign, is what makes their detection so difficult.

ARENA: But Mueller did say agents have identified and are monitoring what he called extremists living in the United States.

MUELLER: The potential recruitment of radicalized American Muslim converts continues to be a concern and poses an increasingly challenging issue.

ARENA: Sources who work counterterrorism say the FBI has around 300 individuals, not just extremists, under some sort of surveillance in several cities, including New York, Baltimore, Falls Church, Virginia, Detroit, Phoenix, and Portland. Those sources say these people have either communicated with known terrorists, are thought to have trained in terror camps overseas, or whose names have surfaced in other terrorism investigations.

RICHARD FALKENRATH, CNN SECURITY ANALYST: Every possible lead available to the federal government has been pursued, and pursued pretty aggressively.

ARENA: Still, the government can only act on what it knows. Agents got a chilling reminder of that last summer, when extensive surveillance reports of U.S. financial buildings were discovered overseas. If the documents had not been found, officials would never have known operatives were here, meticulously preparing for a potential attack.

For CNN's America Bureau, Kelli Arena, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: And a quick news note now, still on the subject of the war against terrorism. A federal judge ruled today the U.S. government cannot continue to hold so-called enemy combatant Jose Padilla without charging him with a crime. Without a charge of some kind within 45 days, the judge said Padilla would be eligible for release.

Stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

The 30-year-old serial murder mystery, is it finally over?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dennis L. Rader has been arrested in connection with 10 homicides.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Tonight, friends of the alleged BTK killer speak out.

And a 9-year-old girl still missing in Florida.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Someone that has her, please let her come home. Do not harm her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: A kidnapping, or a runaway? Tonight, the latest on the search for Jessica, and the mystery surrounding her disappearance.

360 continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: The man suspected of being the BTK serial killer. He was a father, husband and church leader. Was he a vicious murderer? We're covering all the angles. 360 next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The bottom line, BTK is arrested.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Many people have waited a long time to hear those words. After 31 years, police in Wichita say they've captured the BTK killer. The suspect is this man, 59-year-old Dennis Rader. Word of the arrest has shocked those that know him. For them, he is a husband, father and a church leader. In just a moment, we're going to talk to a friend and fellow church member of Rader's.

But first, the pursuit and psyche of the BTK killer. Richard Lamunyon was Wichita's chief of police from 1976 until 1989, and Howard Brodsky is a psychologist who profiles serial killers. He joined me a little bit earlier from Wichita.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Dr. Brodsky, I want to begin with you. If Rader is the BTK killer, does his background fit the profile that you had pieced together?

HOWARD BRODSKY, PSYCHOLOGIST: You know, I think he is the kind of guy I was looking for. The only thing that surprises me is how he was able to blend into the community for all these years.

COLLINS: Again, if Rader is the BTK killer, he led a double life for most of his adult life. How does someone function in two very distinct worlds like that?

BRODSKY: Well, you know, we all function in different worlds. We're different people at home than we are at public, and different people at work. So it's a matter that he was able to keep most of this kind of repressed, down, so people didn't see it. But there were things bleeding through. There is lots of stories circulating now of things that he was doing that when you look at it, you wonder why people weren't really more questioning of who this guy was and if he didn't have more of a problems. COLLINS: Chief Lamunyon, if Rader is the BTK killer, would he have ever been captured if he didn't send those letters, the letters that we've been talking about, for so very long now?

RICHARD LAMUNYON, FORMER WICHITA CHIEF OF POLICE: I think he would have been. I think he's the type of individual, you know, that he went through all this trouble and all these things. I think he would have left a trail. It would have taken us a lot longer. I think obviously what brought it to a conclusion is the fact that he did start communicating with us. He did start telling us, you know, what he was going through, what he had done and wanted us to understand why. So I think we would have eventually got him, but I think it would have been a long time.

COLLINS: Dr. Brodsky, back in the '70s, when the BTK killer first started writing letters, he complained -- and again, this is something he actually wrote in one of those letters. "How many do I have to kill before I get my name in the paper or some national attention?" Do you think he started writing letters again to get caught or, as some people have theorized, for attention?

BRODSKY: Well, I think he probably had different motives at different times. Sometimes he'd wake up and want to be caught and think that would be better. But a lot of the time, he was really liking the attention. He was liking the focus on him. He was liking people scratching their heads wondering what on earth this guy is up to. He liked taunting the police. This was something that really kept him going for quite a while.

COLLINS: And, Chief Lamunyon, now that police have a suspect in custody, looking back over this entire more than 30-year period, is there anything you could have done to catch him sooner?

LAMUNYON: No, I think not. I think, very honestly, had he not come forward when he did and started telling us who he was, leaving a trail, in my opinion, I believe he was wanting to get caught. I think he was wanting to tell his story. He was leading us to him. And so what we did back in the '70 and '80s was everything that we should have done, and what the officers did today just blended right with it. I think this guy told us who he was. He told us he was a part of the community. And all the things that we thought about him, that he was a functioning member of this community, came to pass, and the bottom line is, he's in jail.

COLLINS: All right. Dr. Howard Brodsky and Chief Richard Lamunyon, we appreciate your time here tonight. Thank you.

BRODSKY: Thanks.

LAMUNYON: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Much more ahead in prime-time tonight on the BTK case. Let's find out what's coming up at the top of the hour on "PAULA ZAHN NOW." Hi, Paula. PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Heidi, it's perhaps one of the most heartbreaking interviews I've done recently. We'll have an exclusive in the BTK case. I'll be talking with the son of one of the serial killer's victims. He was 5 years old at the time. He will describe how his life was ruined, and his reaction to a suspect's arrest.

Then we're going to move along to the Michael Jackson case and hear the words of Michael Jackson's accuser. Frank and shocking details about his allegations against the pop star.

All that coming up in just about 20 minutes from now, Heidi.

COLLINS: All right, Paula. Thank you for that.

And also, there are many people tonight who cannot believe the cub scout leader and family man they know may be the BTK killer. Among them my next guest. Paul Carlstedt has been a friend of Rader for decades, and is a member of the congregation that just elected Rader president of the church council. He's joining me now from Wichita. Mr. Carlstedt, we appreciate your time here tonight. I know this is a very difficult time for you. In fact, you have known Dennis Rader personally for several decades. What kind of a friend was he?

PAUL CARLSTEDT, FRIEND OF DENNIS RADER: I met Dennis and his wife when we first moved to Wichita in July in 1975. So I've known Dennis for 30 years. He's been a good friend. He's been a church friend. He's been a loyal friend. And I just cannot fathom what has transpired in the last 72 hours.

COLLINS: I'm sure it's been just shocking to you. The last time you spoke to him, though, was last Wednesday, I understand, two days before his arrest. Did you happen to notice anything different about him at that time?

CARLSTEDT: I didn't notice anything different. There was an air of concern in his voice, because he had come in to church to drop something off for a dinner we were having that night, and he was on his way to the hospital where his mother was. This was the Dennis that I know, that made sure that if he had an obligation to the church, he dropped off what he said he was going to bring before he left.

COLLINS: Paul, I'm sure that you have wondered many times, along with many other people in your community, who BTK was. Did you ever think the serial killer could actually be your friend, Dennis Rader?

CARLSTEDT: No. If somebody had said, write a list of the 100 things that you think in your life that you could have go through, this would never be one of them. If on that list they said list the people that you thought could possibly be accused of these heinous crimes, Dennis would not have been on the list. It's just such a shock to all of us here.

COLLINS: You were also very close with Rader's wife, Paula. Do you have any idea how she's coping with the news? CARLSTEDT: I have not spoken with her. I have heard that she is devastated, that she cannot understand what's going on also. And I just -- I just pray for her and the family, and just hope that the rest of the country prays for them, too.

COLLINS: We want to be very clear. Obviously, there has been no conviction here. But if indeed Rader is BTK, do you think his wife, Paula, knew anything about it?

CARLSTEDT: Knowing Paula, I would say no. I can't imagine the Paula Rader that I know would know anything or have any clue. I think she was pretty much taken aback and aghast by the whole situation. She's just -- she's a wonderful person that I've known. She sings in the choir with us. And I just -- I -- no, she couldn't have known.

COLLINS: We also know that Rader is the father of two children. What kind of a dad is he?

CARLSTEDT: I -- as far as I know, he was a great dad. He took interest in his children. He was the leader of the Scout troop that his son, Bryan (ph) was in. He did things with the family. He was always involved. I remember somebody telling me that they were on a camping trip, on a boy scout camping trip. They cut their finger. And he -- that night he said, you know, this is a little more serious than what I think. He dropped what he was doing and drove him back, which was quite some distance from Wichita, to get the medical care and then went on from there. So I've not heard any of the other side of Dennis.

COLLINS: Quickly, before we let you go tonight, the Associated Press reported that Dennis Rader admitted to several killings. When you hear that and when you look back at your friendship, what goes through your mind?

CARLSTEDT: I think the best expression was looking at the front page of our local paper yesterday and there was a big picture of Dennis on the front. And that is the Dennis Rader that I know. The picture just off to the side was a picture of the Dennis Rader in a jump -- a jail orange suit, that's the Dennis Rader that I don't know. The contrast is there. It was two people. And I can't believe that they're the same one.

COLLINS: Well, our best to you and the community as we learn more about this.

Paul Carlstedt, appreciate your time here tonight. Thank you.

CARLSTEDT: Thank you, very much.

COLLINS: 360 next. Now, the search for a missing 9-year-old girl. Volunteers answering the call for help. We take you beyond the headlines.

A little later, our pick for the best acceptance speech. And it wasn't at the Oscars. Plus, a bizarre tryst. A woman saves her lover's sperm, inseminates herself and has a baby. Is it really possible. Dr. Sanjay Gupta explains.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUTH LUNSFORD, GRANDMOTHER: What I would like to say, Jessie, I love you. And come home. And I'll say it again, someone that has her, please let her come home. Do not harm her in any way. Little children does not deserve this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Those words today from Ruth Lunsford, the last person to see her missing granddaughter. She put little Jessica Marie Lunsford to bed Wednesday night. How the girl disappeared has baffled police. They can't even determine whether she was abducted. It's also frustrating for scores of volunteers who for the last time today scoured the grounds near Lunsford's home in Homosassa, Springs. They were also out this past weekend, unfazed by weather that simply would not cooperate.

CNN national correspondent Susan Candiotti was with one family during search. She takes us beyond the headlines.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Climbing over barbed wire fences, slogging through the pouring rain. It's one way Bill and Debby Evans and their 9-year-old daughter, Diana, are dealing with the feeling of helplessness and fear over the disappearance of Jessica Lunsford.

BILL EVANS, VOLUNTEER SEARCHER: Our quiet little town is no longer quiet. There's a demon out there somewhere.

CANDIOTTI: But where? Finding Jessica is consuming this picturesque town, where you can swim with sea life, where a total of three people were murdered in 2003. Locked doors are rare. One girl's mysterious disappearance has changed that.

DEBBIE EVANS, VOLUNTEER: I've been locking the doors every night trying to ease Dyana's fears, too. She's been a little nervous and scared, just like all the kids are.

CANDIOTTI: Her parents say being part of a search team helps ease those fears.

(on camera): Where are places that you think you might look?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In a garage or the woods.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is not a race. Just make sure that you're seeing everything that we're covering, OK? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Anything that looks out of place. Any fresh dirt.

CANDIOTTI (voice-over): As their search team picks its way over a four-mile grid, Debbie Evans struggles over a fence, peers into a shed, uses a golf club to poke through bushes and ward off snakes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You guys need to be careful. Might be electric fence.

CANDIOTTI: It also means encountering anxious horses and this.

DEBBI EVANS: It's a little scary when you have to go on somebody else's property and run into horses and dogs like that. But if that's what it takes to try to help and find Jessica, you know, we're out here willing to do it.

CANDIOTTI: Bill Evans peeks into a parked car and remembers to lift an abandoned tarp. A neighbor watches from her front door as strangers trudge by in the pouring rain. After more than two hours, the search team finds nothing.

(on camera): Bill, in what way do you have a sense that you're accomplishing something out here?

BILL EVANS: It's not so much a sense of accomplishment. It's what I feel needs to be done. We just lost a precious commodity, and that's one of our own. And there ain't nothing dearer than that.

CANDIOTTI (voice-over): Until that precious commodity is found, a community remains on edge, bonding over a mystery they hope won't have a tragic ending.

Susan Candiotti, CNN, Homosassa Springs, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: 360 next now. Is it deceptive conception? A woman saves her lover's sperm, inseminates herself and has a baby. How's that? We've got a lesson for you, sperm 101.

A little later. Halle Berry with another emotional acceptance speech, but not at the Oscars. We'll explain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to make babies! See you guys in the ovary.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Save me an egg!

WOODY ALLEN, ACTOR: Well, at least he's Jewish.

(END VIDEO CLIP) COLLINS: Sperm in action. As depicted by Woody Allen's film "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex but Were Afraid to Ask."

Well, a recent story about sperm has us asking some questions tonight. You see, a Chicago man is in a legal battle now with a woman he dated briefly, because she allegedly used his sperm to get pregnant. He claims she secretly kept the sperm after oral sex and had the kid without his knowledge.

So that got us thinking, is that even possible? Joining us now with a little sperm 101 is CNN senior medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Sanjay, hey, thanks for agreeing to do this, first of all. Appreciate it.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You talked me into it, Heidi.

COLLINS: Believe it or not, there are actually people out there who are under the impression that sperm dies once it hits air. How viable is sperm outside the body?

GUPTA: Yeah. You know, it really is remarkable. There is a lot of misconception about this. Sperm is viable outside the body, although not forever. For about anywhere from about a half hour to a couple of hours or so. Once it's inside the body, it's usually viable for between 48 and 72 hours, so there is a little bit of a window there, Heidi, which is where in vitro fertilization comes from, as well, the concept for that.

COLLINS: Right, and that I think has to be what we're talking about. I mean, he claims that she got pregnant without intercourse. So then how does this happen, insemination?

GUPTA: Yeah. I mean, you know, yeah, this is very theoretical. I've never heard of a story quite like this one before. But I guess theoretically, you could gather up some of the sperm and actually save it. And if you were within that window and actually literally had an insemination team standing by, you could take some of that sperm and inseminate yourself.

You know, interestingly, they're both doctors here, although I don't think either one of them are fertility experts. It sounds a bit outlandish. We've talked to some fertility experts about this, and they said probably not, this just probably doesn't sound quite right here. But it is a possibility sort of at the outskirts of things, Heidi.

COLLINS: Interesting. And they're both doctors.

GUPTA: They're both doctors.

COLLINS: I think somebody needs to be a lawyer somewhere in all of this. That's for sure.

GUPTA: There will be lawyers involved for sure. COLLINS: I think so. All right, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, nice to see you. Thanks.

GUPTA: Thank you.

COLLINS: 360 next, the loser is, what, Halle Berry? Ah, but this is an Oscar-worthy performance. We'll show it to you coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMIE FOXX, ACTOR: Yeah, you're ready. That's for Ray Charles. Give it up for Ray Charles and his beautiful legacy. I thank you, Ray Charles, for living.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Let's talk about the big entertainment news over the weekend. You surely all know by now that one of the year's most talked about awards went to -- no, not that award. Not the one for the best performance, the one for worst performance. CNN's Jeanne Moos can fill you in.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): OK, by now you've seen all those Oscar highlights from a choked up Jamie Foxx to Chris Rock's two times two equals four reference to female anatomy.

CHRIS ROCK, COMEDIAN: You won't be able to take your eyes off these next four presenters. Penelope Cruz and Salma Hayek.

MOOS (on camera): But in our humble opinion, the award for best acceptance speech goes to Halle Berry, and it didn't even take place at the Oscars.

(voice-over): It happened the night before the Oscars, at the Razzies, where Raspberry awards are handed out for what they so delicately call "cinematic crap."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Catwoman!

MOOS: What was astounding was that Catwoman herself came to accept it. She had had practice acting overcome. Remember the time she won a real Oscar?

HALLE BERRY, ACTRESS: And how there's a chance...

MOOS: Holding that genuine Oscar in her hand, Halle Berry became Raspberry and whipped the audience into a frenzy.

BERRY: First of all, I want to thank Warner Brothers. Thank you for putting me in a piece of (EXPLETIVE DELETED) godawful movie.

MOOS: By the way, the award for worst actor went to President Bush, for his role in "Fahrenheit 9/11."

The Razzie has dishonored movies ranging from "Rambo First Blood: Part II" to "Gigli."

BEN AFFLECK, ACTOR: I'm the bull. You're the cow.

MOOS: But it took a cat to defang her critics. She even thanked her manager.

BERRY: The next time I do a movie, if I get a chance to do another movie, maybe you should read the script before you...

MOOS: And then Catwoman got serious.

BERRY: My mother told me that if you could not be a good loser, then there's no way you can be a good winner.

MOOS: Film critics beware.

BERRY: Cat got your tongue?

MOOS: Catwoman left the audience purring.

BERRY: And I hope to God I never see these people ever again.

MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

BERRY: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: I'm Heidi Collins. Anderson Cooper is back tomorrow.

Prime-time coverage continues now with Paula Zahn -- Paula.

ZAHN: Ah, if we could all lose that gracefully.

COLLINS: Absolutely.

ZAHN: Important life lesson there, Heidi. Thanks so much.

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 February 28, 2005 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, HOST: Good evening from New York. I'm Heidi Collins.
The Michael Jackson trial, it promises to be the trial of this century.

360 starts right now.

Michael Jackson in the biggest battle of his life. Tonight, opening statements in the case against the king of pop. We take you inside the courtroom.

Al Qaeda sympathizers in the U.S., blending in, waiting, and possibly planning attacks. Is there a terrorist living in your midst? Tonight, telltale signs of a terrorist.

A 9-year-old girl still missing in Florida.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Someone that has her, please, let her come home. Do not harm her in any way. Little children does not deserve this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: A kidnapping, or a runaway? Tonight, the latest on the search for Jessica, and the mystery surrounding her disappearance.

The 30-year-old serial murder mystery, is it finally over?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dennis L. Rader has been arrested in connection with 10 homicides.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Tonight, friends of the alleged BTK killer speak out.

And the dramatic fishermen rescue caught on tape. Tonight, we take you beyond the headlines of ice rescues and the men who risk their lives to save others.

ANNOUNCER: Live from the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is ANDERSON COOPER 360. COLLINS: Good evening, everyone. Anderson is off tonight.

The trial of this century is under way. Michael Jackson was on time this morning, as opening statements began in his molestation trial. As expected, both sides painted a very different portrait of the famous defendant.

The defense said Jackson is being victimized for befriending a young cancer patient. But the prosecution insists he used alcohol and pornography to seduce a sick boy.

CNN's Ted Rowlands is following the story from the courthouse in Santa Maria, California. He joins us now live. Ted, good evening.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good evening, Heidi.

Two dramatically different stories, as you mentioned. The defense has not had an opportunity to complete the opening statements portion of their case. Tom Mesereau worked all the way up until the end of the court day, and then told the judge that he will have to finish when court resumes in the morning.

Michael Jackson was accompanied by his brother Randy and his mother today in court. In court, Jackson had very little reaction to what was being said about him. First, when Tom Sneddon got up there and detailed his case. Sneddon, the district attorney here, has taken over this case. And he told jurors what they can expect over the months ahead as he brings on witnesses.

He told them that they should expect not only the victim to take the stand and compellingly tell the details of the sexual abuse, but they should also expect that the victim's brother will take the stand. He said that both will do it for the world to see.

He also acknowledged that the victim's mother in this case could be a problem, saying that she may not have made the same choices as, quote, "you or I would have made along the way."

Then it was Tom Mesereau's turn to get up and defend his client, and he did so vigorously. He took on the victim's mother specifically, and the victim himself, and his brother, saying that the mother had a history of trying to trap celebrities. He brought up a story about Jay Leno, who had a phone conversation with this victim. Leno, according to Tom Mesereau, heard the victim's mother in the background, and red flags went off in Leno's head long before Michael Jackson ever entered into this picture.

Tom Mesereau then said that this extortion, if you will, from the victim's family was a pattern, that she had lied in a deposition in a lawsuit against J.C. Penney, where she received over $150,000. She then lied about having the money and went on the welfare doles when the federal government and applied for Food Stamps along the way.

Clearly they are painting a picture that the mother is behind this and that she is not to be trusted and, clearly, they're setting up a showdown between the victim in this case and Michael Jackson. It will be up to the jury to decide who to believe, Heidi.

COLLINS: That indeed it will, and a showdown it is. Ted Rowlands, thanks so much for that tonight.

Lawyers can speak directly to the jury three times throughout the proceedings. That's during jury selection, closing arguments, and opening statements. And experts believe a jury's attention is at its peak during opening statements. That's why so much is riding on them in the Michael Jackson trial.

CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin takes a look at the art of the open.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTOPHER DARDEN, O.J. SIMPSON PROSECUTOR: What we've been saying, ladies and gentlemen, is the public face, the public persona.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: The prosecution goes first. Its job, to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The opening statement is an outline of the case, a preview of the evidence. As the whole country watched the O.J. Simpson trial, prosecutor Christopher Darden began...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DARDEN: The face you will see and the man that you will see will be the face of a batterer, a wife beater, an abuser.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TOOBIN: The prosecution wants to find the perfect combination of evidence and emotion.

Here's Lynn Rooney, who won a sex abuse conviction against defrocked priest Paul Shanley.

LYNN ROONEY, PAUL SHANLEY PROSECUTOR: He didn't tell for almost 20 years. But now, ladies and gentlemen, that little boy is a man.

TOOBIN: For its part, the defense asks the jury to question what's missing, preying upon the prosecution's weaknesses, while reminding jurors that the burden of proof is always on the other side.

Here's George Parnham, attorney for Clara Harris, who was convicted of running over her husband with her Mercedes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE PARNHAM, ATTORNEY FOR CLARA HARRIS: It is the state's job to prove every element of the indictment of murder against this woman. (END VIDEO CLIP)

TOOBIN: The challenge for the defense attorney is to offer an alternate explanation, allowing the jury to see the case through the defendant's eyes, to evoke sympathy for their client.

Defense attorney Buck Files used this approach for Deanna Laney, who was ultimately found legally insane when she killed her two young sons.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUCK FILES, ATTORNEY FOR DEANNA LANEY: They will tell you that she was confronted with a terrible dilemma for a mother. Does she follow what she believes to be God's will, or does she turn her back on her God?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: So who had the better opening statement in the Jackson trial today?

Joining me from Santa Maria is senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, and here in the studio, while I catch my (UNINTELLIGIBLE) breath, Court TV anchor Lisa Bloom.

Jeffrey, I want to start with you, because as we just said, you were there. Legally speaking, what do you think of the prosecution's opening?

TOOBIN: I thought it was lousy. I thought it was boring. I thought it was disorganized. And I didn't think it really engaged the jury or explained much about what went on the -- what went on.

I thought Tom Mesereau's opening statement for the defense was one of the best openings I have ever heard. I think the prosecution will be reeling tonight. It was really an extraordinary moment in court, the way Tom Mesereau picked this case apart.

COLLINS: Well, in fact, the prosecution went into a lot of detail, didn't they, about the alleged victim's cancer? Doctors told the family to prepare for his funeral. Is he trying to get sympathy for the accuser and his family, then?

TOOBIN: And that really was the most memorable part, this vivid description of how sick this young boy was, the -- What sticks with me was a description of a 16-pound medicine ball-sized tumor removed from the boy's stomach, an image that's very hard to get out of your mind.

But, remember, that was the time that Michael Jackson befriended this young boy. And by all accounts, including prosecutor Sneddon's, during that period when it looked like this boy might die, Michael Jackson did nothing but good things for him. LISA BLOOM, COURT TV ANCHOR: You know, Jeffrey, I'm not burdened by having actually seen the opens, as you did, but I did read the transcript, and I thought the prosecution made a very nice point that Michael Jackson said he's all about milk and cookies with the young boys who spend the night at his house, but really it's alcohol, it's child pornography. That's what he's plying them with.

Didn't that come across in the courtroom?

TOOBIN: Well, yes, certainly the alcohol. I'd be careful about the pornography. There was an interesting objection at one point that the word "pornography," and certainly not "child pornography," was allowed to be used. It was "sexually suggestive pictures."

And the alcohol was a concern. But were questions in my mind. One of the main times that the alcohol was alleged to have been given to the child was when he was on a private plane with Michael Jackson and the boy's mother and a physician.

BLOOM: Right.

TOOBIN: So it's a little hard for me to imagine how...

BLOOM: But we also know from the grand jury transcripts, Jeffrey, that the boy was seen by witnesses at Neverland stumbling around drunk. I mean, I think prosecution has a lot of corroborating evidence on the alcohol.

And the question, then, for the defense is going to be, why does Jackson so much want to give alcohol to this young boy, especially a cancer survivor with one kidney? They're going to have to explain that.

TOOBIN: They are certainly going to have to explain that. And Mesereau has not reached the alcohol part of his opening statement.

But, remember, one of the themes here is that these boys and this family wanted to be at Neverland and spent a good time, a good deal of time there outside of Jackson's supervision.

So I can expect -- but this I don't know -- that some of the alcohol, they will say, was gotten by the kids, and Michael Jackson had nothing to do with it.

COLLINS: All right. To the both of you tonight, we appreciate it. Jeffrey Toobin in Santa Maria, and Lisa Bloom, right here next to us. Appreciate it, guys.

BLOOM: Thank you.

COLLINS: I'm sure we'll be talking again and again and again.

Race seems to be a big factor, though, in whether people think Jackson is guilty or innocent. Here's a news note now. In a new CNN- "USA Today"-Gallup poll, 75 percent of whites believe the charges against Jackson are true, compared to 51 percent of African-Americans. Asked if the charges are not true, 42 percent of African-Americans said yes, but only 14 percent of whites agreed.

The accused BTK serial killer, arrested and facing a court date tomorrow, that tops our news cross-country.

Wichita, Kansas, here's the suspect, Dennis Rader, a married father of two and a Cub Scout leader. Tomorrow, Rader will hear the charges against him. He's accused of 10 murders spanning three decades.

In Washington, a unanimous decision. The FCC says ABC affiliates did not violate indecency rules when they aired "Saving Private Ryan" back in November on Veterans Day. You might remember, some stations dropped the movie, fearing a fine because of the violence and profanity.

Also in Washington, the new attorney general declares war on obscenity. Alberto Gonzales says anyone who distributes obscene material is not covered under free speech.

Off Boynton Beach, Florida, check it out. Yikes. all those black spots in the water that you are about to see -- there you go. They were just yards from the shore yesterday, as they migrated (UNINTELLIGIBLE) north. But don't worry, nobody was hurt, luckily. Lifeguards quickly closed the beach when the sharks were spotted.

And in Atlanta, Georgia, here's to your health. The CDC says the average life expectancy in the U.S. has hit a record high, 77.6 years, an increase of three and a half months from the year before. Researchers say the death rates from heart disease and cancer have dropped. To put the number in perspective, Japan has the longest life expectancies at 80.9 years, while the World Health Organization says the African country Sierra Leone is at the bottom, at 25.9 years.

And that's a look at the stories cross-country tonight.

360 next, snowstorm, pounding down on the Northeast, snarling traffic on the ground and in the air. Hours of delays already being reported. Find out what you need to know before you head outdoors.

Also tonight, rescue on ice. The Coast Guard team that risks everything to save those stuck in frozen waters.

And a little later, the man accused of being the BTK serial killer, a husband, father, and leader of his church. Tonight a friend speaks out about the man he thought he knew.

But first, your picks, the most popular stories on CNN.com right now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: That is Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, being well frosted, or pummeled, by a storm that's causing flight delays of more than five hours in Philadelphia, and two or three hours in the New York area.

Well, from the mountains of West Virginia up into the Great Lakes, from Pennsylvania into New York and Vermont and New Hampshire, all the way into Maine, some of the prettiest parts of the Northeast will be a lot prettier before morning, if you look at it that way, covered by six, eight, or 12 inches of snow, or, in some places, two feet.

We're going to check in with CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras in Atlanta now, for more details on the winter wallop. Hi, Jacqui.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Heidi.

It's getting ugly out there already tonight. And conditions are going to deteriorate through the overnight hours. In fact, the snow may come down so heavy, it may add up to two inches per hour at times.

Some of the worst weather right now across central parts of Maryland, across much of Pennsylvania, and into central parts of New Jersey.

We'll go ahead and take a look at Pittsburgh at this time, where the snow is coming down quite heavy. Visibility has reduced big-time in Pittsburgh. It's down to about a half of a mile at this hour. Thirty degrees is your temperature. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) winter storm warning in the Pittsburgh area right now, and expecting to see about three to seven inches of snowfall overall.

All right, here's the bottom line. This isn't the worst snowstorm of the year, but it's a significant nor'easter. We'll see about six to 12 inches of snow plus, especially in the interior of the Northeast. Some mixing can be expected near the coast. And that's why your number's going to be down a little bit as you head towards Boston, down towards Providence. Very blustery conditions as that low intensifies, with 30- to 60-mile-per-hour gusts and some major travel trouble expected for tonight extending on through your Tuesday.

Here's the heaviest swath of snow across upstate New York through Vermont, New Hampshire, and into much of Maine. We'll see maybe five to eight inches into the Boston area, four to eight inches expected across Philadelphia. Washington, D.C., you've got about two inches on the ground, maybe another two.

Major problems already being reported at the area airports. Atlanta, low clouds and fog. Believe it or not, you're being affected by this system of one to one and a half hours, Chicago about an hour, one to two hours at La Guardia, and four-plus hours in Philadelphia.

Take a look at a couple of snowfall totals already coming in, 10 inches in Mount Mitchell, North Carolina, tomorrow's forecast showing another low following our nor'easter. The worst of it, Heidi, over with by about 7:00 tomorrow morning, but we'll continue to see some snow showers on and off throughout much of the day.

COLLINS: I'm stunned, and I'm also glad I brought a suitcase and my galoshes, as my grandpa would say.

JERAS: Yes, you'll be sleeping there tonight.

COLLINS: Yes.

All right, Jacqui, thanks for that.

The snow's been hitting the Ohio shores of Lake Erie, but it's been the ice that's been causing a lot of trouble. Yesterday, the Coast Guard rescued six anglers and their dogs, who were stranded on an ice floe that broke free and began drifting away. A similar incident happened there Friday. We showed you these dramatic pictures of the Coast Guard saving a group of fishermen.

And tonight, CNN's Keith Oppenheim takes us beyond the headlines and inside the rescue to meet the people who took great risks to save lives.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tim Robertson of the United States Coast Guard prepares for the surface he loves and never trusts, ice.

TIM ROBERTSON, U.S. COAST GUARD: Ice is always a risk, no matter what we're doing, because, obviously, if someone is in trouble, something has gone wrong.

OPPENHEIM: Last Friday, something went terribly wrong. A group of ice fishermen went to one of the best spots for catching walleye. They were all a good mile off the southeastern shore of Lake Erie when the wind shifted and pushed the ice, and the fishermen on it, away from land.

SAM BROWN, RESCUED ICE FISHERMAN: We was just fishing, and we heard a big crack. And next thing we knew, the ice was moving, and we come in, it was too late.

OPPENHEIM: Robertson and a team from Coast Guard station Marble Head, Ohio, zipped up their waterproof buoyant suits and launched their rescue craft, taking it right up onto the 10-mile-long ice floe that was steadily drifting out into Lake Erie, where the water is near freezing, and can kill in minutes.

At one point, Robertson slipped.

ROBERTSON: So I fell off the edge of the ice, because I was at the aft of the boat, you know, I...

OPPENHEIM (on camera): This was because the ice on the edge is pretty thin?

ROBERTSON: Yes, it's just brittle, and the waves were coming across over the top of the ice. That just makes it worse.

OPPENHEIM (voice-over): With the help of air crews and local fire departments, the team rescued 10 fishermen and one dog. Officials believe the wind chill made the fishermen think it was colder than it was. CHIEF CHRIS SWATEK, USCO EXECUTIVE PETTY OFFICER: The air temperature was roughly 35, 40 degrees. In that environment, people may have felt a false sense of security to go out on the ice, thinking that the ice wouldn't crack.

OPPENHEIM: Coast Guard officials were restrained in criticizing the fishermen, but they did say this rescue cost more than $45,000. Still, incidents like this aren't unusual. Tim Robertson showed us pictures from other missions, where the goal was to save people, not vehicles, and reviewed video of this one, showing how stranded fishermen can be in serious danger.

ROBERTSON: And here they are, stepping into the ice, into the water. See how it's cracked right there where he stepped? He basically has to run into the boat.

OPPENHEIM: Success this time, no one fell in. And when it was all over, Tim Robertson and his teammates go back to their station and wait for the next call to go out on unstable ice.

ROBERTSON: All right, we do this in training all the time. Let's go do it again.

OPPENHEIM (on camera): Do you feel proud?

ROBERTSON: Yes. Any time you help somebody, you feel proud.

OPPENHEIM (voice-over): Keith Oppenheim, CNN, Marble Head, Ohio.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: 360 next, al Qaeda sleeper cells. Is the enemy living right here quietly amongst us? We're taking you behind beyond the headlines for a CNN security watch.

Also tonight, a father, husband, and church leader, is he also the BTK serial killer? We'll talk to a man who's known him for 30 years.

And a little later, the search for a 9-year-old girl who vanished from her bed. We're covering all the angles.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: The deadliest single attack since the U.S.-led invasion, that tops our look at global stories in the uplink.

Hilla, Iraq, a suicide bomber drove an explosives-filled car into a group of police recruits, killing at least 125 people, wounding more than 150 others. The casualty count is particularly high, in part, because the attack happened near a busy marketplace.

Beirut, Lebanon, leaders step down. The country's pro-Syrian government resigned abruptly today, during a parliament meeting, saying it didn't want to be a stumbling block for peace. In Beirut, there may have been massive protests against Syria's influence on the government since the former prime minister, Rafik Hariri, was assassinated.

Rome, Italy, the pope is feeling better. The Vatican says Pope John Paul II has begun exercises to improve his speaking and breathing after undergoing a tracheotomy on Thursday. The pope surprised onlookers yesterday by appearing at his hospital window.

London, England, torture TV. Tonight, Britain's Channel 4 premiered a reality TV program it calls "The Gitmo Guidebook." Seven volunteers went through torture techniques the show claims the U.S. is using on prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. Only four of them were able to withstand the 48 hours of torture, which included verbal abuse, sleep deprivation, and exposure to extreme temperatures.

And that's tonight's uplink.

If there is anything more frightening of the prospect of terrorists getting into the country, it is the thought that they may be here already, long since settled in, comfortable, unnoticed, just waiting. That is the terrible threat of a so-called sleeper cell.

As for what such group might look like, it could be that we've seen one already. A report now from CNN's American Bureau. Here's Kelli Arena.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLI ARENA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Lackawanna, New York, one of America's old steel towns just south of Buffalo. Officials say it was here that they brought down a dangerous terror cell.

PETER AHEARN, BUFFALO FBI OFFICE: When you have a group of individuals that are in contact with known terrorists, that makes it very dangerous.

ARENA: Peter Ahearn runs the Buffalo office of the FBI, which oversaw the case. He says these young Americans were recruited by al Qaeda and convinced to travel to terror camps in Afghanistan for training.

There was no evidence the young men were involved in any plot to attack, but Ahearn argues that did not diminish the threat. And he's worried there may be more like them.

AHEARN: I'm always concerned, very concerned. We have a large Arab-American community. If the terrorists want to come here and capitalize on something like that, where they can blend into a community, the potential is there.

ARENA: On that point, everyone agrees, the potential is there. But are there currently sleeper agents in the United States? Officials say the short answer is no, at least, that they know of. FBI director Robert Mueller recently told Congress that finding one remains the FBI's top priority.

ROBERT MUELLER, FBI DIRECTOR: The very nature of a covert operative, trained not to raise suspicion and to appear benign, is what makes their detection so difficult.

ARENA: But Mueller did say agents have identified and are monitoring what he called extremists living in the United States.

MUELLER: The potential recruitment of radicalized American Muslim converts continues to be a concern and poses an increasingly challenging issue.

ARENA: Sources who work counterterrorism say the FBI has around 300 individuals, not just extremists, under some sort of surveillance in several cities, including New York, Baltimore, Falls Church, Virginia, Detroit, Phoenix, and Portland. Those sources say these people have either communicated with known terrorists, are thought to have trained in terror camps overseas, or whose names have surfaced in other terrorism investigations.

RICHARD FALKENRATH, CNN SECURITY ANALYST: Every possible lead available to the federal government has been pursued, and pursued pretty aggressively.

ARENA: Still, the government can only act on what it knows. Agents got a chilling reminder of that last summer, when extensive surveillance reports of U.S. financial buildings were discovered overseas. If the documents had not been found, officials would never have known operatives were here, meticulously preparing for a potential attack.

For CNN's America Bureau, Kelli Arena, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: And a quick news note now, still on the subject of the war against terrorism. A federal judge ruled today the U.S. government cannot continue to hold so-called enemy combatant Jose Padilla without charging him with a crime. Without a charge of some kind within 45 days, the judge said Padilla would be eligible for release.

Stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

The 30-year-old serial murder mystery, is it finally over?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dennis L. Rader has been arrested in connection with 10 homicides.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Tonight, friends of the alleged BTK killer speak out.

And a 9-year-old girl still missing in Florida.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Someone that has her, please let her come home. Do not harm her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: A kidnapping, or a runaway? Tonight, the latest on the search for Jessica, and the mystery surrounding her disappearance.

360 continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: The man suspected of being the BTK serial killer. He was a father, husband and church leader. Was he a vicious murderer? We're covering all the angles. 360 next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The bottom line, BTK is arrested.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Many people have waited a long time to hear those words. After 31 years, police in Wichita say they've captured the BTK killer. The suspect is this man, 59-year-old Dennis Rader. Word of the arrest has shocked those that know him. For them, he is a husband, father and a church leader. In just a moment, we're going to talk to a friend and fellow church member of Rader's.

But first, the pursuit and psyche of the BTK killer. Richard Lamunyon was Wichita's chief of police from 1976 until 1989, and Howard Brodsky is a psychologist who profiles serial killers. He joined me a little bit earlier from Wichita.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Dr. Brodsky, I want to begin with you. If Rader is the BTK killer, does his background fit the profile that you had pieced together?

HOWARD BRODSKY, PSYCHOLOGIST: You know, I think he is the kind of guy I was looking for. The only thing that surprises me is how he was able to blend into the community for all these years.

COLLINS: Again, if Rader is the BTK killer, he led a double life for most of his adult life. How does someone function in two very distinct worlds like that?

BRODSKY: Well, you know, we all function in different worlds. We're different people at home than we are at public, and different people at work. So it's a matter that he was able to keep most of this kind of repressed, down, so people didn't see it. But there were things bleeding through. There is lots of stories circulating now of things that he was doing that when you look at it, you wonder why people weren't really more questioning of who this guy was and if he didn't have more of a problems. COLLINS: Chief Lamunyon, if Rader is the BTK killer, would he have ever been captured if he didn't send those letters, the letters that we've been talking about, for so very long now?

RICHARD LAMUNYON, FORMER WICHITA CHIEF OF POLICE: I think he would have been. I think he's the type of individual, you know, that he went through all this trouble and all these things. I think he would have left a trail. It would have taken us a lot longer. I think obviously what brought it to a conclusion is the fact that he did start communicating with us. He did start telling us, you know, what he was going through, what he had done and wanted us to understand why. So I think we would have eventually got him, but I think it would have been a long time.

COLLINS: Dr. Brodsky, back in the '70s, when the BTK killer first started writing letters, he complained -- and again, this is something he actually wrote in one of those letters. "How many do I have to kill before I get my name in the paper or some national attention?" Do you think he started writing letters again to get caught or, as some people have theorized, for attention?

BRODSKY: Well, I think he probably had different motives at different times. Sometimes he'd wake up and want to be caught and think that would be better. But a lot of the time, he was really liking the attention. He was liking the focus on him. He was liking people scratching their heads wondering what on earth this guy is up to. He liked taunting the police. This was something that really kept him going for quite a while.

COLLINS: And, Chief Lamunyon, now that police have a suspect in custody, looking back over this entire more than 30-year period, is there anything you could have done to catch him sooner?

LAMUNYON: No, I think not. I think, very honestly, had he not come forward when he did and started telling us who he was, leaving a trail, in my opinion, I believe he was wanting to get caught. I think he was wanting to tell his story. He was leading us to him. And so what we did back in the '70 and '80s was everything that we should have done, and what the officers did today just blended right with it. I think this guy told us who he was. He told us he was a part of the community. And all the things that we thought about him, that he was a functioning member of this community, came to pass, and the bottom line is, he's in jail.

COLLINS: All right. Dr. Howard Brodsky and Chief Richard Lamunyon, we appreciate your time here tonight. Thank you.

BRODSKY: Thanks.

LAMUNYON: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Much more ahead in prime-time tonight on the BTK case. Let's find out what's coming up at the top of the hour on "PAULA ZAHN NOW." Hi, Paula. PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Heidi, it's perhaps one of the most heartbreaking interviews I've done recently. We'll have an exclusive in the BTK case. I'll be talking with the son of one of the serial killer's victims. He was 5 years old at the time. He will describe how his life was ruined, and his reaction to a suspect's arrest.

Then we're going to move along to the Michael Jackson case and hear the words of Michael Jackson's accuser. Frank and shocking details about his allegations against the pop star.

All that coming up in just about 20 minutes from now, Heidi.

COLLINS: All right, Paula. Thank you for that.

And also, there are many people tonight who cannot believe the cub scout leader and family man they know may be the BTK killer. Among them my next guest. Paul Carlstedt has been a friend of Rader for decades, and is a member of the congregation that just elected Rader president of the church council. He's joining me now from Wichita. Mr. Carlstedt, we appreciate your time here tonight. I know this is a very difficult time for you. In fact, you have known Dennis Rader personally for several decades. What kind of a friend was he?

PAUL CARLSTEDT, FRIEND OF DENNIS RADER: I met Dennis and his wife when we first moved to Wichita in July in 1975. So I've known Dennis for 30 years. He's been a good friend. He's been a church friend. He's been a loyal friend. And I just cannot fathom what has transpired in the last 72 hours.

COLLINS: I'm sure it's been just shocking to you. The last time you spoke to him, though, was last Wednesday, I understand, two days before his arrest. Did you happen to notice anything different about him at that time?

CARLSTEDT: I didn't notice anything different. There was an air of concern in his voice, because he had come in to church to drop something off for a dinner we were having that night, and he was on his way to the hospital where his mother was. This was the Dennis that I know, that made sure that if he had an obligation to the church, he dropped off what he said he was going to bring before he left.

COLLINS: Paul, I'm sure that you have wondered many times, along with many other people in your community, who BTK was. Did you ever think the serial killer could actually be your friend, Dennis Rader?

CARLSTEDT: No. If somebody had said, write a list of the 100 things that you think in your life that you could have go through, this would never be one of them. If on that list they said list the people that you thought could possibly be accused of these heinous crimes, Dennis would not have been on the list. It's just such a shock to all of us here.

COLLINS: You were also very close with Rader's wife, Paula. Do you have any idea how she's coping with the news? CARLSTEDT: I have not spoken with her. I have heard that she is devastated, that she cannot understand what's going on also. And I just -- I just pray for her and the family, and just hope that the rest of the country prays for them, too.

COLLINS: We want to be very clear. Obviously, there has been no conviction here. But if indeed Rader is BTK, do you think his wife, Paula, knew anything about it?

CARLSTEDT: Knowing Paula, I would say no. I can't imagine the Paula Rader that I know would know anything or have any clue. I think she was pretty much taken aback and aghast by the whole situation. She's just -- she's a wonderful person that I've known. She sings in the choir with us. And I just -- I -- no, she couldn't have known.

COLLINS: We also know that Rader is the father of two children. What kind of a dad is he?

CARLSTEDT: I -- as far as I know, he was a great dad. He took interest in his children. He was the leader of the Scout troop that his son, Bryan (ph) was in. He did things with the family. He was always involved. I remember somebody telling me that they were on a camping trip, on a boy scout camping trip. They cut their finger. And he -- that night he said, you know, this is a little more serious than what I think. He dropped what he was doing and drove him back, which was quite some distance from Wichita, to get the medical care and then went on from there. So I've not heard any of the other side of Dennis.

COLLINS: Quickly, before we let you go tonight, the Associated Press reported that Dennis Rader admitted to several killings. When you hear that and when you look back at your friendship, what goes through your mind?

CARLSTEDT: I think the best expression was looking at the front page of our local paper yesterday and there was a big picture of Dennis on the front. And that is the Dennis Rader that I know. The picture just off to the side was a picture of the Dennis Rader in a jump -- a jail orange suit, that's the Dennis Rader that I don't know. The contrast is there. It was two people. And I can't believe that they're the same one.

COLLINS: Well, our best to you and the community as we learn more about this.

Paul Carlstedt, appreciate your time here tonight. Thank you.

CARLSTEDT: Thank you, very much.

COLLINS: 360 next. Now, the search for a missing 9-year-old girl. Volunteers answering the call for help. We take you beyond the headlines.

A little later, our pick for the best acceptance speech. And it wasn't at the Oscars. Plus, a bizarre tryst. A woman saves her lover's sperm, inseminates herself and has a baby. Is it really possible. Dr. Sanjay Gupta explains.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUTH LUNSFORD, GRANDMOTHER: What I would like to say, Jessie, I love you. And come home. And I'll say it again, someone that has her, please let her come home. Do not harm her in any way. Little children does not deserve this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Those words today from Ruth Lunsford, the last person to see her missing granddaughter. She put little Jessica Marie Lunsford to bed Wednesday night. How the girl disappeared has baffled police. They can't even determine whether she was abducted. It's also frustrating for scores of volunteers who for the last time today scoured the grounds near Lunsford's home in Homosassa, Springs. They were also out this past weekend, unfazed by weather that simply would not cooperate.

CNN national correspondent Susan Candiotti was with one family during search. She takes us beyond the headlines.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Climbing over barbed wire fences, slogging through the pouring rain. It's one way Bill and Debby Evans and their 9-year-old daughter, Diana, are dealing with the feeling of helplessness and fear over the disappearance of Jessica Lunsford.

BILL EVANS, VOLUNTEER SEARCHER: Our quiet little town is no longer quiet. There's a demon out there somewhere.

CANDIOTTI: But where? Finding Jessica is consuming this picturesque town, where you can swim with sea life, where a total of three people were murdered in 2003. Locked doors are rare. One girl's mysterious disappearance has changed that.

DEBBIE EVANS, VOLUNTEER: I've been locking the doors every night trying to ease Dyana's fears, too. She's been a little nervous and scared, just like all the kids are.

CANDIOTTI: Her parents say being part of a search team helps ease those fears.

(on camera): Where are places that you think you might look?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In a garage or the woods.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is not a race. Just make sure that you're seeing everything that we're covering, OK? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Anything that looks out of place. Any fresh dirt.

CANDIOTTI (voice-over): As their search team picks its way over a four-mile grid, Debbie Evans struggles over a fence, peers into a shed, uses a golf club to poke through bushes and ward off snakes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You guys need to be careful. Might be electric fence.

CANDIOTTI: It also means encountering anxious horses and this.

DEBBI EVANS: It's a little scary when you have to go on somebody else's property and run into horses and dogs like that. But if that's what it takes to try to help and find Jessica, you know, we're out here willing to do it.

CANDIOTTI: Bill Evans peeks into a parked car and remembers to lift an abandoned tarp. A neighbor watches from her front door as strangers trudge by in the pouring rain. After more than two hours, the search team finds nothing.

(on camera): Bill, in what way do you have a sense that you're accomplishing something out here?

BILL EVANS: It's not so much a sense of accomplishment. It's what I feel needs to be done. We just lost a precious commodity, and that's one of our own. And there ain't nothing dearer than that.

CANDIOTTI (voice-over): Until that precious commodity is found, a community remains on edge, bonding over a mystery they hope won't have a tragic ending.

Susan Candiotti, CNN, Homosassa Springs, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: 360 next now. Is it deceptive conception? A woman saves her lover's sperm, inseminates herself and has a baby. How's that? We've got a lesson for you, sperm 101.

A little later. Halle Berry with another emotional acceptance speech, but not at the Oscars. We'll explain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to make babies! See you guys in the ovary.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Save me an egg!

WOODY ALLEN, ACTOR: Well, at least he's Jewish.

(END VIDEO CLIP) COLLINS: Sperm in action. As depicted by Woody Allen's film "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex but Were Afraid to Ask."

Well, a recent story about sperm has us asking some questions tonight. You see, a Chicago man is in a legal battle now with a woman he dated briefly, because she allegedly used his sperm to get pregnant. He claims she secretly kept the sperm after oral sex and had the kid without his knowledge.

So that got us thinking, is that even possible? Joining us now with a little sperm 101 is CNN senior medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Sanjay, hey, thanks for agreeing to do this, first of all. Appreciate it.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You talked me into it, Heidi.

COLLINS: Believe it or not, there are actually people out there who are under the impression that sperm dies once it hits air. How viable is sperm outside the body?

GUPTA: Yeah. You know, it really is remarkable. There is a lot of misconception about this. Sperm is viable outside the body, although not forever. For about anywhere from about a half hour to a couple of hours or so. Once it's inside the body, it's usually viable for between 48 and 72 hours, so there is a little bit of a window there, Heidi, which is where in vitro fertilization comes from, as well, the concept for that.

COLLINS: Right, and that I think has to be what we're talking about. I mean, he claims that she got pregnant without intercourse. So then how does this happen, insemination?

GUPTA: Yeah. I mean, you know, yeah, this is very theoretical. I've never heard of a story quite like this one before. But I guess theoretically, you could gather up some of the sperm and actually save it. And if you were within that window and actually literally had an insemination team standing by, you could take some of that sperm and inseminate yourself.

You know, interestingly, they're both doctors here, although I don't think either one of them are fertility experts. It sounds a bit outlandish. We've talked to some fertility experts about this, and they said probably not, this just probably doesn't sound quite right here. But it is a possibility sort of at the outskirts of things, Heidi.

COLLINS: Interesting. And they're both doctors.

GUPTA: They're both doctors.

COLLINS: I think somebody needs to be a lawyer somewhere in all of this. That's for sure.

GUPTA: There will be lawyers involved for sure. COLLINS: I think so. All right, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, nice to see you. Thanks.

GUPTA: Thank you.

COLLINS: 360 next, the loser is, what, Halle Berry? Ah, but this is an Oscar-worthy performance. We'll show it to you coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMIE FOXX, ACTOR: Yeah, you're ready. That's for Ray Charles. Give it up for Ray Charles and his beautiful legacy. I thank you, Ray Charles, for living.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Let's talk about the big entertainment news over the weekend. You surely all know by now that one of the year's most talked about awards went to -- no, not that award. Not the one for the best performance, the one for worst performance. CNN's Jeanne Moos can fill you in.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): OK, by now you've seen all those Oscar highlights from a choked up Jamie Foxx to Chris Rock's two times two equals four reference to female anatomy.

CHRIS ROCK, COMEDIAN: You won't be able to take your eyes off these next four presenters. Penelope Cruz and Salma Hayek.

MOOS (on camera): But in our humble opinion, the award for best acceptance speech goes to Halle Berry, and it didn't even take place at the Oscars.

(voice-over): It happened the night before the Oscars, at the Razzies, where Raspberry awards are handed out for what they so delicately call "cinematic crap."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Catwoman!

MOOS: What was astounding was that Catwoman herself came to accept it. She had had practice acting overcome. Remember the time she won a real Oscar?

HALLE BERRY, ACTRESS: And how there's a chance...

MOOS: Holding that genuine Oscar in her hand, Halle Berry became Raspberry and whipped the audience into a frenzy.

BERRY: First of all, I want to thank Warner Brothers. Thank you for putting me in a piece of (EXPLETIVE DELETED) godawful movie.

MOOS: By the way, the award for worst actor went to President Bush, for his role in "Fahrenheit 9/11."

The Razzie has dishonored movies ranging from "Rambo First Blood: Part II" to "Gigli."

BEN AFFLECK, ACTOR: I'm the bull. You're the cow.

MOOS: But it took a cat to defang her critics. She even thanked her manager.

BERRY: The next time I do a movie, if I get a chance to do another movie, maybe you should read the script before you...

MOOS: And then Catwoman got serious.

BERRY: My mother told me that if you could not be a good loser, then there's no way you can be a good winner.

MOOS: Film critics beware.

BERRY: Cat got your tongue?

MOOS: Catwoman left the audience purring.

BERRY: And I hope to God I never see these people ever again.

MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

BERRY: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: I'm Heidi Collins. Anderson Cooper is back tomorrow.

Prime-time coverage continues now with Paula Zahn -- Paula.

ZAHN: Ah, if we could all lose that gracefully.

COLLINS: Absolutely.

ZAHN: Important life lesson there, Heidi. Thanks so much.

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