CNN.com - Transcripts

Transcript Providers

Return to Transcripts main page

Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees

Press Conference With Robert Blake; "Cracking The Da Vinci Code": Catholics Strike Back At Best-Seller; Scott Peterson Sentenced To Death

Aired March 16, 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.

RUDI BAKHTIAR, HOST: Good evening from New York. I'm Rudi Bakhtiar. Anderson's on assignment in Lebanon and will join us in just a moment.
We had drama in two California courtrooms, a not-guilty verdict in one, and a death sentence in another.

360 starts right now.

ANNOUNCER: Scott Peterson, condemned to death by lethal injection.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RON GRANTSKI, LACI PETERSON'S STEPFATHER: Scott got what he deserved.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Tonight, inside San Quentin's death row. What life will be like for Scott Peterson while he awaits death behind bars.

A convicted sex offender sought as a person of interest in the case of missing 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford. Tonight, a 360 interview with Jessica's grandparents.

Assassination in Beirut. A family missing their dad for 17 days after a bomb blast find his body only after forcing their way past police. Tonight, Anderson Cooper goes beyond the headlines. Why authorities weren't searching for the victims, and a haphazard investigation for who's behind the bomb.

Sweaty bodies, soiled equipment. Is your gym a breeding ground for deadly bacteria? Tonight, meet a man who contracted a killer bug at the gym and nearly lost a limb.

And a powerful cardinal urging fellow Catholics to shun "The Da Vinci Code," calling the book a gross distortion of history. Tonight, boycotting a bestseller, but why now? And will the faithful take heed?

This is a special edition of ANDERSON COOPER 360, with Anderson Cooper in Beirut, Lebanon, and Rudi Bakhtiar in New York.

BAKHTIAR: Hello, and welcome, everyone. We're going to get to Anderson shortly.

But we begin with a developing story in Los Angeles, where Robert Blake is speaking following the verdict of not guilty in the trial for murdering his wife. Let's listen in.

ROBERT BLAKE, ACTOR: Yes. When all this started, all I know is, I hit the mark, say the jokes, and they pay me money. And I was thrown into a world that I didn't understand at all. And I'm sure those of you in the legal world know that only a fool, only a moron, only an insane fool, tries a civil case before a criminal case, but that's what was happening.

And the legal people around me originally, all of them, said, Robert, we're going to try this civil case. We'll be able to find out what the stuntmen are saying, yada-yada-yada-yada-yada. Then Tom came on the case, and he said, Robert, this is insanity. That's the first thing I have to thank him for. And the second thing is, he got the case stayed. And the third thing is that he taught me what the agenda was of all of those lawyers that were spending my money, running around the country, taking depositions.

And if that had not happened, I wouldn't have known what the hell would have happened to me.

What do you want, man?

QUESTION: I just want to know, sir, who do you honestly believe killed your wife?

BLAKE: Shut up. Anybody else?

(Conferring with attorney.) Relax, man. What am I doing? I haven't mentioned any names. OK.

Anybody got a question that makes sense?

QUESTION: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) going through your mind? You (UNINTELLIGIBLE) a lot in the last three years (UNINTELLIGIBLE). What are you going to do now, first thing that you have (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?

BLAKE: Going to get a job. I'm broke. Right now, I couldn't buy spats for a hummingbird. What did Johnnie Cochran say? You're innocent until proven broke. Well, by the time Gerry and these troops got here, it was the bottom of the barrel. I was a rich man. I'm broke now. I got to go to work.

But before that, I'm going to go out and do a little cowboying. You know what that is? No, you don't know what that is. Cowboying is when you get in a motor home or a van, or something like that, and you just let the air blow in your hair.

And you wind up in some little bar in Arizona someplace, and you shoot one-handed nine-ball with some 90-year-old Portuguese woman that beats the hell out of you. And the next day you wind up in a park someplace playing chess with somebody. And you go see a high school play where they're doing "West Side Story." And you just roam around and get some revitalization that there are human beings in the world, that there are people living their lives that have no agenda, that have no agenda. I have been involved in a world where -- you know, the have no agenda.

I've been involved in a world where -- you know the Mafia saying, The enemy of my enemy is my friend? Well, in this world that I've been in, it's very much that way. People drift from one side to the other in five minutes. You never know where you are, or who's on your side, or who's not on your side.

But Gerry is the absolute rarity. When I was a little boy, there were a lot of decent human beings in the world. There were a lot of dedicated people, whether they were doctors or lawyers, or whatever they were, they were dedicated. And they wanted to do the very best they could. I find very few people now in the world like that.

When I find Gerry, God brought him into my life. He'll never be rich. And he'll never be famous, because he don't know nothing about money, and he has no idea what to do with you people. But by God, he can save lives, and that'll keep him warm on any cold night in his life.

QUESTION: Are you going to see your daughter? (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?

BLAKE: I wish I could agree with you. The most important thing in my life is that I get to be a part of my grandbaby's life. Delinah is going to have a baby, and they don't have to come to Folsom to visit me. And that's worth everything in this universe.

And that's what Gerry did. That's what he did. And I have no doubt that he would never be able to explain to you what an incredible pain in the ass I am. But he never lost focus. You know, genius is the ability to discern that which is important and to act upon it. That's what Einstein said. And this guy came in, and never lost focus.

(BEGIN UNRELATED VIDEO SEGMENT.)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Give me my money!

(END UNRELATED VIDEO SEGMENT.)

Gerry, I have 11 investigators. You've got to sit down and talk to them. They -- blah. And he was very patient. And slowly but surely, he weeded out and weeded out and weeded out. And what was left was Alison (ph) and Bridget (ph). And he stacked up his troops, and he came here, and he did his job.

And you have no idea of how rare that is. You don't know. You never been on this side, where you go through lawyers. I never fired a lawyer. You want to know why they quit? You go ask them why they quit. And you've been running stories about me firing lawyers, and he's incontrollable, and he doesn't do this, and he's that. None of that's true.

I did what my lawyers told me to do. Why they left is their business.

Gerry is...

I have a doctor, Dr. Ronald Laurence (ph). I have had him for 40 years. And people say, Why do you think Dr. Laurence is good? And I say, Because I'm on the right side of the dirt. Nobody cut my chest open. I still got my hips and my knees. I'm not on Prozac, Remizac, Premizac, or any of that stuff. How do I know Gerry is good? Because he's like Dr. Laurence. He came here and he healed me.

You guys know more about criminal law than I do. And Lois was absolutely right. The judge had to tell him, Speak up, we can't hear you. And he says, Judge, the jury can hear me. And I don't care if the media hears me. I'm not here to save them. I'm here to save my man.

QUESTION: What did you say to Gerry?

BAKHTIAR: We've been listening to a very happy Robert Blake talking to reporters outside of the courtroom, where just a short time ago, he -- the verdict of not guilty was read for the murder of his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley.

And now let's go back a little bit. Let's take a look at inside the courtroom if we can. We had video of that just a short time ago, when the verdict was read. And we have Robert Blake's reaction to that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUROR, ROBERT BLAKE TRIAL: Superior Court of the State of California, County of Los Angeles. People of the State of California versus Robert Blake.

We, the jury in the above-entitled action, find the defendant, Robert Blake, not guilty of the crime of first-degree murder of Bonny Lee Bakley in violation of Penal Code Section 187, Subsection 8, as charged in count one of the information.

This 11th day of March 2005, signed by the foreperson, juror number five.

Superior Court of the State of California, County of Los Angeles. People of the State of California versus Robert Blake.

We, the jury in the above-entitled action, find the defendant, Robert Blake, not guilty of the crime of solicitation of murder and violation of Penal Code Section 653-F, Subsection B, to wit, solicit Gary McClarty to commit and join in the commission of the murder of Bonny Lee Bakley, as charged in count three in the information. This 14th day of March 2005...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAKHTIAR: We are joined now by our senior legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, who has been following the strange twists and turns of this case all along.

You've been covering it from the beginning...

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: And the beginning...

BAKHTIAR: ... Jeffrey.

TOOBIN: ... was a long time ago, 2001 was when this murder was.

BAKHTIAR: Were you surprised by the verdict?

TOOBIN: You bet I was. I really was surprised. You know, this case had problems, but Robert Blake was the only person who had motive, who had opportunity. He was the last person to see her alive in the car where she was killed. He was the one who discovered her body there. He had gun residue on his hands.

Now, the defense had explanations for all of that, but that's a pretty good case, I think.

BAKHTIAR: The defense also described Bonny Lee Bakley as a pretty unsavory character who had a lot of enemies. Do you think that weighed in on the case?

TOOBIN: She was a really distasteful person. People who remember the case may remember that, you know, she was -- had run sex sites, where she sort of promised lonelyhearts men that she might see them, and she sent naked pictures of her. She was really a very sleazy character. And she, by all accounts, kind of trapped him into getting her pregnant, and this marriage was, by all accounts, a sham.

But there still was never any suspect in this case besides Robert Blake himself. And -- but jury didn't buy it.

BAKHTIAR: Let's listen to what Robert Blake said when he came out of the courtroom.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLAKE: There's an old saying that success has a large family, and that failure is an orphan. And in this case, it's just the opposite. Failure has a very large family, but success here is a very small family. The people that did this, Bridget Daniels, David Christianson (ph), Gus, and Joanna (ph), these are two young lawyers who came in for short dough and long hours to save my life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAKHTIAR: What do you make of that, Jeffrey?

TOOBIN: Well, he's grateful to his lawyers, as well he should be. This is a really embarrassing failure for the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office. This trial went on for months. It started in December. Very expensive, long trial. And it ends in complete failure for the prosecution.

BAKHTIAR: Where do you think they went wrong?

TOOBIN: Well, I -- they had some difficulties. They did not have an eyewitness. They did not have any sort of DNA testimony. The gun residue on his hands, the defense could say, came from the other gun that Blake was -- had with him that day. The murder weapon could -- which was discovered, was never tied to Blake.

And the two key witnesses against him, the two people he was charged with soliciting for his wife's murder, were really sleazy, unsavory characters, and the jury obviously couldn't stand them, but...

BAKHTIAR: I was going to ask you about that, because they did have two.

All right, there was also a hung jury on one count. They could technically retry him. Do you think this is likely to happen?

TOOBIN: I think it's very remote. There were, there was a murder case acquitted, one solicitation count acquitted. The other solicitation count, the jury split 11 to one in favor of acquittal. That's a very thin reed to try a very complicated, long case again. I think this case is over.

BAKHTIAR: All right, Jeffrey Toobin, our legal analyst, thank you.

Up next on 360, San Quentin's death row, like you've never seen it before. We are going to take you inside the home of America's most notorious killers. See for yourself that the word, world awaiting Scott Peterson.

And eyewitness to history, Anderson Cooper live in Beirut, where a murder mystery has sparked a political movement there.

And a little later, boycotting "The Da Vinci Code." A Catholic cardinal calls it a sack full of lies. We're going to take a closer look at the bestselling novel.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BAKHTIAR: From the war in Iraq to possibly leading the World Bank, President Bush is making his picks.

Erica Hill joining us now with the news making headlines. Hello, Erica.

ERICA HILL, HEADLINE NEWS: Hi, Rudi.

Yes, we'll start off with the World Bank. President Bush says Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz will do a fine job as president of the World Bank. He is nominating Wolfowitz for the post, which will be vacated in June. Wolfowitz is a controversial figure in Europe because of his role in promoting the Iraq war.

Mark McGwire will testify tomorrow before a House committee looking into steroid abuse in Major League Baseball. Now, there had been some questions over whether the retired slugger would attend, and an attorney for Jose Canseco says the committee has denied the former MVP immunity. So Canseco won't be able to answer any questions that would incriminate him.

Turns out there may be more oil coming from Alaska, if the Senate has its way. A provision that would open the state's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling is part of next year's budget. Today, the Senate voted 51 to 49 to reject Democratic attempts to remove it from the bill. Opponents say it would hardly make a dent in the more than 20 million barrels the country uses daily.

A new genetic breakthrough may help explain why men and women are so different. Finally, an answer. Scientists have cracked the code of the female X chromosome. It holds over 1,000 genes, as well as information that could help in diagnosing diseases, among them autism and leukemia. Scientists say the discovery shows that when it comes to genes, women are more complex than men.

Rudi, I don't know about you, but not a shocker there.

BAKHTIAR: No, I'm surprised it took them this long to figure that one out.

HILL: I know.

BAKHTIAR: Thanks, Erica.

HILL: Thanks.

BAKHTIAR: 360 next, Scott Peterson sentenced to death. We're going to take you inside his new home, San Quentin.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL BELMESSIERI, JUROR: Scott came in with a great big smile on his face, laughing. It was just another day in paradise for Scott. Another day that he had to go through emotions, but he's on his way home, Scott figures. Well, guess, what, Scotty...

JUROR, SCOTT PETERSON TRIAL: San Quentin's your new home.

MICHAEL BELMESSIERI, JUROR: And it's illegal to kill your wife and child in California.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAKHTIAR: Two jurors there, making it very clear what they think of Scott Peterson. Today, just hours before Robert Blake was found not guilty, Peterson was sentenced to death. The judge agreed with the jury that Peterson should die for the murders of his wife Laci and unborn son. Peterson showed no emotion at all, even while Laci's family confronted him.

CNN's Ted Rowlands was at the court and joins us now live. Hello, Ted.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Rudi.

It was a very emotional day inside that courtroom as members of Laci Peterson's family got up and said whatever was on their mind to Scott Peterson. At one point, Laci Peterson's brother, Brent Rocha, told Scott Peterson that he had bought a gun himself, and had contemplated killing Scott Peterson. But he says he waited, and he wanted to -- for Scott Peterson to, quote, "sweat it out."

We heard from Laci Peterson's sister. She said, "You have broken my heart, my whole family's heart. You're evil, you're a monster for what you have done." Laci Peterson's biological father said, "You're going to burn in hell for this." God is not going -- or, "You cannot lie to God."

We also heard from Ron Grantski, that's Laci Peterson's stepfather. He said his piece in the courtroom and then outside of court, here is what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RON GRANTSKI, LACI PETERSON'S STEPFATHER: Our family is going to make it. We're stronger because of this. And Scott got what he deserved. We're fortunate we have this law that we have. It's a double murder. He killed our grandson and our daughter. Every state should have it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROWLANDS: Talking, of course, about the death penalty.

Judge Alfred Delucchi sentenced Scott Peterson to death and ordered that he be turned over to the warden at San Quentin State Prison so that he can join the other 640-plus inmates that are on death row, Rudi.

BAKHTIAR: It must have been an incredibly emotional day inside the courtroom. CNN's Ted Rowlands, thank you.

Well, like every other day in court, Peterson remained silent today. That's remarkable, considering what he had to say before his arrest. We thought you'd like to see the interview he gave our Ted Rowlands just a month after Laci disappeared. It's one of the only handful of interviews he's ever given. He speaks of his wife and a baby in a way perhaps thinking to himself he was going to get away with it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROWLANDS: What was it that attracted you to her?

SCOTT PETERSON: You always look for someone that completes you, you know, that harmony. The easiest thing, and the easy way to answer that is, you've seen her picture on the fliers with the big old smile. That tells you everything you need to know about her. If that doesn't attract you to someone, then, you know...

ROWLANDS: Was that this house, happy, smiling?

PETERSON: Oh, definitely, yes, yes. I mean, you've seen interviews with her friends, the way that, you know, like to entertain here and have people over. Yes, it's very quiet now, and it shouldn't be. And it won't be when she gets back. It'll be...

ROWLANDS: Do you have some Christmas presents to open still? Have you kept those? Did you (UNINTELLIGIBLE) down there in the corner?

PETERSON: Yes, (UNINTELLIGIBLE). (UNINTELLIGIBLE), a friend who came up and, you know, was helping took down the tree and things like that, things that I wouldn't be able to do. And that was very kind of her to do that when I was gone one day, just because -- difficult reminder.

ROWLANDS: How about Conner? (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?

PETERSON: That's why these next couple of weeks are so critical. February 16's the due date. So we need to get the fliers out there to all the medical offices that we can. The nursery's ready for him. That door's closed. I can't look -- you know, in that door.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAKHTIAR: Within the next 48 hours, Peterson will be transferred to his new home at San Quentin. What will life be like on death row?

Ted Rowlands is joining us once again, going beyond the headlines with a look inside the cell block.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROWLANDS (voice-over): San Quentin State Prison is home to California's death row. And it is a world all its own. Inmates here spend most their lives isolated in their cells with limited contact. A plastic shield moves along the cell block as guards in riot gear walk by.

Lieutenant Vernell Crittonden took us on a tour of where Scott Peterson is expected to live out his life, starting with a building called the Adjustment Center.

LT. VERNELL CRITTONDEN, SAN QUENTIN: This is where we receive all of our newly arrived death row inmates.

ROWLANDS: This is where Peterson will be evaluated to determine exactly where on death row he'll be placed. Crittonden says Peterson is expected to be a marked man.

CRITTONDEN: Some young inmate on death row may find this a way to make a reputation for himself by saying, I attacked Scott Peterson.

ROWLANDS (on camera): Peterson will most likely spend between 30 and 45 days here at the Adjustment Center. This is where all new arrivals to death row are first brought. It is also where those prisoners that pose a threat are housed.

One of Scott Peterson's first death row neighbors will be Richard Ramirez, the night stalker, who is in the Adjustment Center for security reasons.

After leaving the Adjustment Center, we see a condemned man being escorted down what's called the tube, a long passageway that leads to the visitation center. Death row inmates are allowed personal visits on weekends and attorney visits during the week.

The prisoner in the distance in yellow at the end of the tube is not on death row. He must face the wall when a condemned man walks by.

Next, we see where Peterson will most likely be placed, condemned block row two. More than 400 of the 640-plus death row inmates live here, including convicted child killer David Westerfield and Yosemite murderer Kerry Stainer (ph).

Lieutenant Crittonden then shows us where death row inmates are executed.

CRITTONDEN: You know, we have a choice in the state of California, where you can choose between lethal gas or lethal injection. That is the exhaust for the gas chamber, and right underneath it, behind that door, is where the execution chamber itself is at.

ROWLANDS: The gas chamber exhaust pipe looms over the exercise yard where condemned inmates have the option to spend up to five hours a day.

Peterson, like all death row inmates, will get a hot breakfast, served at 6:30 in the morning, a bag lunch, and a hot dinner around 5:00. He will have a TV and a radio in his cell, and he'll get mail, most likely a lot of it.

CRITTONDEN: I believe that what we've experienced in the past will occur also with Scott Peterson. We will find thousands and thousands of women that will be writing to him all across this country, who will be trying to befriend him, offering him marriage.

ROWLANDS: The tour ends outside the death row cell block where Peterson is expected to live out his life. In the distance, you could see the area of water where prosecutors say he dumped the remains of his wife and unborn son.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROWLANDS: And it's unclear when exactly Scott Peterson will be transported to San Quentin. That is being kept a secret for his own safety. A source close to the prison, however, tells us that is most likely going to happen sometime within the next 48 hours, Rudi.

BAKHTIAR: Ted, let's go back to the courtroom for a moment. Earlier in the day, when the family members of Laci were addressing Scott Peterson and talking very emotionally, I understand that Peterson's dad actually left the courtroom. Can you tell us what was behind that?

ROWLANDS: Brent Rocha, Laci Peterson's brother, was talking to Scott Peterson. And Lee Peterson, Scott Peterson's father, started calling him a liar, saying, You're a liar, you're a liar. The judge immediately piped up and said, Listen, I don't care who you are, to Lee Peterson. And if you don't be quiet, you're going to have to leave.

A few minutes later, Mr. Peterson got up on his own and left the courtroom. And about five minutes later, his wife, Jackie Peterson, Scott's mother, left as well.

BAKHTIAR: All right. Ted Rowlands in California. Thank you.

360 next: history unfolding. Anderson Cooper is live in Beirut where one family's desperate for a fight for justice.

Also tonight, a possible break in the case of a 9-year-old girl who vanished from her bed. Police ask for your help in tracking down a sex offender.

And a little later, cracking the "Da Vinci Code." One cardinal wants Catholics to ban it. Find out why a best-selling fiction novel has church leaders up in arms over it. We're covering all of the angles.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening from Beirut, Lebanon. I'm Anderson Cooper. Thanks for joining us on this special edition of 360.

President Bush today talked about democracy being on the move, a wave of democracy spreading across the Middle East. Well, the wave of democracy has come ashore here in Lebanon. Tonight, all this week and this month, young people here have been protesting, camping out here in Martyr's Square. Beijing had its Tiananmen Square.

Well, this is Martyr's Square. And this is Lebanon. This is ground zero of the pro-democracy movement, the attempt by young people here to get Syria out of Lebanon, a country they have occupied for decades now. The Syrian military, the Syrian secret police, the intelligence agents who have their tentacles in all aspects of Lebanon's government here.

The demonstrators in this square are calling for Syria to get out and to get out now. And they are trying to keep the momentum, the pro-democracy momentum going. They've lit candles here tonight spelling out the word truth. They want the truth about who killed their former prime minister. They want the truth about who really runs their government.

Many Lebanese here do not believe their own government is capable of fairly investigating the murder of the prime minister and 17 other people. We also found out that they are particularly concerned about a body that was found 17 days after the blast. The police, for some reason, had been unable to find this body until the family of this man who died went searching for the body themselves. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER (voice-over): Everyday, Rana Ghalayini, a 23-year-old kindergarten teacher, comes with her mother and sister to visit her father's newly dug grave. Prayers give them peace, but Rana wants justice.

Her father, Abdul Hamid Ghalayini, a businessman, was killed in the massive explosion targeting Lebanon's former prime minister. Abdul Hamid just happened to be passing by. The blast destroyed a Beirut block. In all, 18 people died. When her father didn't come home that night, Rana knew something was wrong.

RANA GHALAYINI, FATHER KILLED IN LEBANON EXPLOSION: I said there is a fire in my heart that went out as if I just knew that my dad had passed away.

COOPER: Rana was convinced her father was buried in the blast. But police didn't find his body.

GHALAYINI: I came here every day, every day five times or seven times. Come and go. Coming back home. Because they weren't doing a thing.

COOPER: Authorities assured Rana they were investigating thoroughly. But that's not what she saw everyday at the crime scene.

GHALAYINI: Yes. They weren't searching. They were lying. Because every time I came here and they say, they were search. I come and stand inside and they weren't really searching -- standing and turning and going into the building and next.

COOPER: After more than two weeks, Rana's family and friends held a candlelight vigil demanding that they be allowed to search for Abdul Hamid.

GHALAYINI: We're asking to go in. We told them that if you're not going to let us in tomorrow at 9:00, we will go by force. It's like something inside you, I don't know how to express it, but...

COOPER (on camera): Finally, the pressure worked. A full 17 days after the bombing Rana's uncle was allowed to go on the site. Within minutes, he says, he smelled a terrible odor. He saw flies buzzing over some debris. They pushed aside just a few inches of rubble and there discovered the body of Abdul Hamid. He was intact. In one hand he was clutching a cell phone.

(voice-over): Rana and her family were on the scene when they realized Abdul Hamid had been found. They tried to break through the police barricade.

An ambulance took the body away. For Rana and her family, it was all too much to bear.

What kind of negligence is this, Rana yells? All of the security should resign, another family member says. The president of the republic should resign. Shame on you. Shame on you. Shame on you. Under the rubble. He wasn't burned, another relative shouts. If they would have searched before, they would have found him alive.

The discovery of Abdul Hamid's body after 17 days was a scandal in Lebanon. His funeral drew a large crowd of mourners, convinced the government's investigation into the body was either incompetent or intentionally derelict.

(on camera): Do you think the Lebanese government really wants answers about what happened there?

GHALAYINI: No.

COOPER (voice-over): Rana wants to know the truth about who killed her father, who planted the bomb and why the crime scene was not properly searched.

GHALAYINI: Sometimes I don't know how am I feeling, because it's a mixture of everything: sadness, anger, vengeance. You feel that there is a guilt inside of you, not finding your dad. It's your responsibility to -- I don't know.

COOPER: Rana doesn't know what to do next. Doesn't know if she and her family will ever get the answers they're searching for.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: And the former prime minister, Rafik Hariri, is actually buried here in Martyr's Square just over there. His grave site, and the grave site of several of those others killed in the blast is open almost 24 hours a day. Even now it's about 2:30 a.m., people are still coming to pay their respects at his grave site.

The investigation into the killing continues. The U.N. has concluded their report and are supposed to announce the results sometime next week. And many here will be watching and waiting to see what U.N. say really happened -- Rudi.

BAKHTIAR: Thank you, Anderson. Amazing times there in Lebanon. Thank you very much.

360 next, a potential major break in the case of a missing Florida girl as police search for a convicted sex offender.

And a little later, the "Da Vinci Code" and controversy: should the book be banned? That story straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF JEFF DAWSY, CITRUS COUNTY, FL: This is a person of interest and I don't want to mislead anybody. Until we get him in and talk to him about the basis of the crime, we're not going to classify him as a suspect, just a person of interest.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAKHTIAR: Citrus County Sheriff Jeff Dawsy there.

For the first time since 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford went missing exactly three weeks ago tonight, police released details of a convicted sex offender who they're insisting, as you just heard, is just a person of interest. CNN's John Zarrella has been following the story all afternoon and joins us live from Homosassa, Florida with the latest.

Hello, John.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Rudi.

Well, that is in fact the case. Police are insisting they just want to talk to this man and they have identified him as 46-year-old John Evander Couey. They believe he that may be in the Savannah area.

Now, he is a sex offender. He also, police say, was saying within eye-shot of Jessica Lunsford's home and they say that a relative, one of the relatives he was staying with, bought him a bus ticket for Savannah in someone else's name. So for all of those reasons, police are suspicious and they want to talk with Couey.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAWSY: We started getting some information through your help, getting the information out there with some leads that this guy Couey should have been in a residence close to Jessica's. We also started doing some investigations and we were able to verify that. We went to the residence in question and one of the relatives to Couey denied that he was staying at that residence. With that information, we left. We continued on our investigation.

One of our task force investigator -- Detective Farkus, I believe, was the detective -- was involved in a professional relationship with one of the relatives from another case of Couey, and when that investigation started to surround Couey, he reached out to this person and says, yes, in fact, Couey was staying at the residence and we may not have been given all of the frank and correct information.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZARRELLA: Now, Savannah police did catch up with Couey on behalf of Citrus County. They questioned him. They found him at a Salvation Army shelter, but they did not hold him. They said they did not have enough to hold him, enough reason to hold him. In fact, there was an outstanding warrant for probation violation; he hadn't reported to his probation officer, but it was regionalized, geographic to this area. So they could not hold him in Savannah on that probation violation.

So, now they are again in Savannah, including investigators from here in Citrus County, looking for Couey.

Now, kind enough to join us this evening are Archie and Ruth Lunsford, the grandparents of Jessica Lunsford.

And I have to ask you, police say you did not know them, this man, and that your granddaughter did not know him. Is that in fact the case? No idea who he was?

ARCHIE LUNSFORD, GRANDFATHER: No idea.

ZARRELLA: Never saw him.

A. LUNSFORD: No.

ZARRELLA: Ruth?

RUTH LUNSFORD, GRANDMOTHER: I'm only guessing that he maybe was at Jessie's yard sale around the holidays.

ZARRELLA: Did Jessie have a yard sale here around the holidays? But other than that no idea?

What are police saying to you at this point in time about this man? They showed you his picture, I assume?

A. LUNSFORD: They showed us his picture yesterday. According to his picture, he didn't look anything like the man we saw today. But man we saw today is evidently the Couey guy. But I've never seen him before, but he was living right here in front of us about 160 yards from where we're staying.

ZARRELLA: And he was never around? Nothing suspicious? You didn't see anything, Ruth, suspicious?

R. LUNSFORD: I never have seen him approach any child out here. They ride their bicycles. They play in my yard. But I have never seen him approaching. But I keep a watchful eye out on -- I thought I did.

ZARRELLA: Let me ask you, right now, what are you feeling? How are you handling everything? Things are starting to move a little bit.

A. LUNSFORD: Yesterday, when they showed me his picture and they told -- I found out where he lived, I cried all day, because it seemed horrible that three weeks Jessie's been gone and this man who could have done this is living right here in our yard (ph).

But now since that, since I've seen him, I don't believe he had anything to do with Jessie and I think Jessie's alive and we're going to see her again.

ZARRELLA: Archie, Ruth, thank you so very much for talking with us.

One other quick fact to pass on, Rudi, police say they did search the house where Couey was staying and they did take some articles from there of interest, but they were not items that belong to Jessie -- Rudi.

BAKHTIAR: All right, thank you. John Zarrella in Florida.

Robert Blake beats a murder charge that could have sent them to prison for the rest of his life. Erica Hill from HEADLINE NEWS joining with us now with the latest at about a quarter to the hour.

Hello, Erica.

ERICA HILL, CNN "HEADLINE NEWS": Hi, Rudi.

Actor Robert Blake has been acquitted of murder in the death of his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley. Blake had been accused of shooting Bonny Lee Bakley outside of a Los Angeles restaurant in May 2001. Jurors cleared him of murder and a charge of solicitation of murder. The jury was deadlocked, though, on a second solicitation charge, which the judge then dismissed. Blake could have faced life in prison if convicted.

Crude oil prices hit a record high today, closing in at almost $56.50 a barrel. That jump following a new report showing sharp declines last week in gasoline and heating oil inventories. Now, meantime, AAA predicts U.S. gas prices could reach an all-time high tomorrow.

A nine-foot alligator blamed for the death of a Florida man has been captured and killed. The victim's body was discovered Saturday in a pond in Lakeland, Florida. Police don't know what the man was doing there, but he had been missing for days. Residents had fed the gator, which wildlife experts say is dangerous, because alligators fed by humans see them as a food source.

Crossing the finish line with only half the number of dogs he started with, Norwegian Robert Sorlie won the Iditarod today. It is his second win in only three tries. Sorlie mushed over 1,000 miles, overcoming insomnia and the slushy snow to take the dogsled title. Always great to watch that.

Rudi, that's the latest from headline news -- back to you.

BAKHTIAR: It sure is, and also rookie Rachel Scdoris also made it to the finish line. Not ahead, but she did pass.

HILL: Not too shabby.

BAKHTIAR: 360 next: cracking "The Da Vinci Code." It's a best seller under fire by Catholic leadership. We're going to take a closer look inside the controversial book for you. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BAKHTIAR: Welcome back, everyone.

It is one of the best-selling fiction novels of all time, and it's causing controversy once again. Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code" is at first glance a murder mystery, but clues are found in great art and the very foundations of Christianity. Now, two years after the book's release, an influential cardinal is urging Catholics not to buy or even read the book, calling it, quote, "A sack of lies."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BAKHTIAR (voice-over): It begins with a murder in the Louvre, the first clue coming in the form of Leonardo Da Vinci best known drawing, the Vitruvian Man. But as the mystery unravels, the readers is led to other mysteries in other masterpieces. Wheels within wheels, the secrets revealed in The Last Supper in the Mona Lisa, open the doors to the Catholic Church's secret societies, some real, some maybe not so real. There's no secret to the book's incredible popularity. It spent 103 weeks on the best seller list, much at that time at number one. And sold more than 25 million copies.

And it's no surprise that some of the questions raised by "The Da Vinci Code" are causing controversy among Christians. What was Jesus's real relationship with Mary Magdalene? Did Christ actually die on the cross and return from the dead three days later? And was there such a thing as the Holy Grail?

The author says, it's just a work of fiction, full of ideas that have been circulating for centuries. So why, then is this man, Tarcisio Cardinal Bertone admonishing Catholics to close the book on "The Da Vinci Code" two years after it first hit the shelves?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BAKHTIAR: Well, it's not just the criticism, it is the source of the criticism that's so powerful. The comments come from the highest- ranking Catholic leader ever to speak out on this book, a cardinal who is very close to the pope. The cardinals that "The Da Vinci Code" is filled with Catholic and Christian bashing.

True or false for some answer, we turn to the co-authors of "Cracking The Da Vinci Code," Peter Jones and James Garlow.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BAKHTIAR: Reverend Jones, let's begin with you. What is it that the Catholic Church finds objectionable in the book?

PETER JONES, CO-AUTHOR, "CRACKING THE DA VINCI CODE": The book by Dan Brown, though it's very entertaining and captivating, nevertheless, begins to undermine some of the basic notions of the Christian faith. And many people are believing this book. And so I, with my co-author Jim, felt that we needed to make some kind of response, and put the record straight. BAKHTIAR: Let's talk specifics here. What kind of specifics are you talking about?

JONES: Well, the whole notion of Jesus as nearly human. Jesus being made divine by the fourth century Roman Empire. The notion that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene, and that his whole golden life was to produce a holy seed of physical successes.

BAKHTIAR: And Reverend Garlow, let's bring you in. The cardinal said that the book is proof of rampant Catholic bashing. And also pose this question, I'm going to read it for you. I ask myself if a similar book was written full of lies about Buddha, Muhammad, or if a novel came out which manipulated all of the history of the Holocaust or the Shoah, what would have happened .

As someone who's studied the book, did you find evidence of Catholic bashing in it?

JAMES GARLOW, CO-AUTHOR, "CRACKING THE DA VINCI CODE": Yes, I thought there actually was. There was Catholic bashing. I'm not here in posture (ph) here to defend the Catholic Church, but I thought many of his attacks were unfair.

BAKHTIAR: I also believe that some good came from the writing of "The Da Vinci Code," right?

JONES: Indeed. I would take a different position from the Cardinal Bertone, who came out yesterday against the book -- and said that Catholics shouldn't buy or read the book.

My own position, and I know my colleague Jim thinks the same thing -- my position is that it's probably a good idea for people to read the book, because of course the cardinal's really only making the church look the way Brown says the church is, namely to suppress things. I know that's not the intention of the cardinal. And also because once the Catholic Church says that, I'm sure many people will merely want to read the book.

BAKHTIAR: Reverend Garlow in response to all of the criticism, the book's publishers says that this is a work of fiction. And also, he says this -- "The ideas put forth in 'The Da Vinci Code' have been circulating for centuries."

As a work of fiction, a novel, why is it causing such a ruckus among the Christian community?

GARLOW: Dan Brown starts with the words saying, that the following things are fact. And that opening page confuses people to what is fact and what is fiction throughout the book. And he intermingled them so well, his writing style, I call them faction. It's the mixing of fact and fiction. So Dan Brown's writing, historical, though it is, is inaccurate and causes people to assume false conclusions.

BAKHTIAR: All right, a lot of controversy. Reverend Peter Jones and Reverend James Garlow, author of "Cracking The Da Vinci Code," thank you both.

JONES: You're very welcome.

GARLOW: Thanks so much.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BAKHTIAR: OK, now, let's find out what is coming up next on PAULA ZAHN NOW. Paula, what have you got for us?

PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, coming up, we will continue the conversation about the stunning verdict in the Robert Blake trial. We will have reaction from Blake himself.

Plus, in the day since the Atlanta shooting, a number of troubling questions have emerged about what exactly Brian Nichols was planning, and about security the at Fulton County Courthouse.

We'll look at that and more in just a couple of minutes. We hope you'll join us, Rudi.

BAKHTIAR: All right, thank you, Paula.

360 next, Anderson Cooper is live in Beirut. Amazing stuff happening there. Stay with us for that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Well, it is almost 3:00 a.m. here in Beirut. The candlelight vigil, the lit candles that a lot of the young people here have been protesting with tonight are slowly burning out. Tomorrow will be another day. These protesters will continue to remain.

Today, President Bush and the White House talked about the wave of democracy spreading across the Middle East. Well, the wave has come ashore right here, right now in Beirut, Lebanon, in Martyr's Square. This is ground zero. The movement to get Syria out of this country -- this country that they have occupied with their soldiers, with their secret police, with their intelligence agents who have that have spread their tentacles into all aspect of Lebanon's government.

We're going to be going to Syria tomorrow. Be back here in Beirut tomorrow night to bring you some reports. Thanks very much for watching 360.

Let's go to Paula Zahn now in New York.

Hey, Paula.

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 March 16, 2005 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RUDI BAKHTIAR, HOST: Good evening from New York. I'm Rudi Bakhtiar. Anderson's on assignment in Lebanon and will join us in just a moment.
We had drama in two California courtrooms, a not-guilty verdict in one, and a death sentence in another.

360 starts right now.

ANNOUNCER: Scott Peterson, condemned to death by lethal injection.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RON GRANTSKI, LACI PETERSON'S STEPFATHER: Scott got what he deserved.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Tonight, inside San Quentin's death row. What life will be like for Scott Peterson while he awaits death behind bars.

A convicted sex offender sought as a person of interest in the case of missing 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford. Tonight, a 360 interview with Jessica's grandparents.

Assassination in Beirut. A family missing their dad for 17 days after a bomb blast find his body only after forcing their way past police. Tonight, Anderson Cooper goes beyond the headlines. Why authorities weren't searching for the victims, and a haphazard investigation for who's behind the bomb.

Sweaty bodies, soiled equipment. Is your gym a breeding ground for deadly bacteria? Tonight, meet a man who contracted a killer bug at the gym and nearly lost a limb.

And a powerful cardinal urging fellow Catholics to shun "The Da Vinci Code," calling the book a gross distortion of history. Tonight, boycotting a bestseller, but why now? And will the faithful take heed?

This is a special edition of ANDERSON COOPER 360, with Anderson Cooper in Beirut, Lebanon, and Rudi Bakhtiar in New York.

BAKHTIAR: Hello, and welcome, everyone. We're going to get to Anderson shortly.

But we begin with a developing story in Los Angeles, where Robert Blake is speaking following the verdict of not guilty in the trial for murdering his wife. Let's listen in.

ROBERT BLAKE, ACTOR: Yes. When all this started, all I know is, I hit the mark, say the jokes, and they pay me money. And I was thrown into a world that I didn't understand at all. And I'm sure those of you in the legal world know that only a fool, only a moron, only an insane fool, tries a civil case before a criminal case, but that's what was happening.

And the legal people around me originally, all of them, said, Robert, we're going to try this civil case. We'll be able to find out what the stuntmen are saying, yada-yada-yada-yada-yada. Then Tom came on the case, and he said, Robert, this is insanity. That's the first thing I have to thank him for. And the second thing is, he got the case stayed. And the third thing is that he taught me what the agenda was of all of those lawyers that were spending my money, running around the country, taking depositions.

And if that had not happened, I wouldn't have known what the hell would have happened to me.

What do you want, man?

QUESTION: I just want to know, sir, who do you honestly believe killed your wife?

BLAKE: Shut up. Anybody else?

(Conferring with attorney.) Relax, man. What am I doing? I haven't mentioned any names. OK.

Anybody got a question that makes sense?

QUESTION: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) going through your mind? You (UNINTELLIGIBLE) a lot in the last three years (UNINTELLIGIBLE). What are you going to do now, first thing that you have (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?

BLAKE: Going to get a job. I'm broke. Right now, I couldn't buy spats for a hummingbird. What did Johnnie Cochran say? You're innocent until proven broke. Well, by the time Gerry and these troops got here, it was the bottom of the barrel. I was a rich man. I'm broke now. I got to go to work.

But before that, I'm going to go out and do a little cowboying. You know what that is? No, you don't know what that is. Cowboying is when you get in a motor home or a van, or something like that, and you just let the air blow in your hair.

And you wind up in some little bar in Arizona someplace, and you shoot one-handed nine-ball with some 90-year-old Portuguese woman that beats the hell out of you. And the next day you wind up in a park someplace playing chess with somebody. And you go see a high school play where they're doing "West Side Story." And you just roam around and get some revitalization that there are human beings in the world, that there are people living their lives that have no agenda, that have no agenda. I have been involved in a world where -- you know, the have no agenda.

I've been involved in a world where -- you know the Mafia saying, The enemy of my enemy is my friend? Well, in this world that I've been in, it's very much that way. People drift from one side to the other in five minutes. You never know where you are, or who's on your side, or who's not on your side.

But Gerry is the absolute rarity. When I was a little boy, there were a lot of decent human beings in the world. There were a lot of dedicated people, whether they were doctors or lawyers, or whatever they were, they were dedicated. And they wanted to do the very best they could. I find very few people now in the world like that.

When I find Gerry, God brought him into my life. He'll never be rich. And he'll never be famous, because he don't know nothing about money, and he has no idea what to do with you people. But by God, he can save lives, and that'll keep him warm on any cold night in his life.

QUESTION: Are you going to see your daughter? (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?

BLAKE: I wish I could agree with you. The most important thing in my life is that I get to be a part of my grandbaby's life. Delinah is going to have a baby, and they don't have to come to Folsom to visit me. And that's worth everything in this universe.

And that's what Gerry did. That's what he did. And I have no doubt that he would never be able to explain to you what an incredible pain in the ass I am. But he never lost focus. You know, genius is the ability to discern that which is important and to act upon it. That's what Einstein said. And this guy came in, and never lost focus.

(BEGIN UNRELATED VIDEO SEGMENT.)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Give me my money!

(END UNRELATED VIDEO SEGMENT.)

Gerry, I have 11 investigators. You've got to sit down and talk to them. They -- blah. And he was very patient. And slowly but surely, he weeded out and weeded out and weeded out. And what was left was Alison (ph) and Bridget (ph). And he stacked up his troops, and he came here, and he did his job.

And you have no idea of how rare that is. You don't know. You never been on this side, where you go through lawyers. I never fired a lawyer. You want to know why they quit? You go ask them why they quit. And you've been running stories about me firing lawyers, and he's incontrollable, and he doesn't do this, and he's that. None of that's true.

I did what my lawyers told me to do. Why they left is their business.

Gerry is...

I have a doctor, Dr. Ronald Laurence (ph). I have had him for 40 years. And people say, Why do you think Dr. Laurence is good? And I say, Because I'm on the right side of the dirt. Nobody cut my chest open. I still got my hips and my knees. I'm not on Prozac, Remizac, Premizac, or any of that stuff. How do I know Gerry is good? Because he's like Dr. Laurence. He came here and he healed me.

You guys know more about criminal law than I do. And Lois was absolutely right. The judge had to tell him, Speak up, we can't hear you. And he says, Judge, the jury can hear me. And I don't care if the media hears me. I'm not here to save them. I'm here to save my man.

QUESTION: What did you say to Gerry?

BAKHTIAR: We've been listening to a very happy Robert Blake talking to reporters outside of the courtroom, where just a short time ago, he -- the verdict of not guilty was read for the murder of his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley.

And now let's go back a little bit. Let's take a look at inside the courtroom if we can. We had video of that just a short time ago, when the verdict was read. And we have Robert Blake's reaction to that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUROR, ROBERT BLAKE TRIAL: Superior Court of the State of California, County of Los Angeles. People of the State of California versus Robert Blake.

We, the jury in the above-entitled action, find the defendant, Robert Blake, not guilty of the crime of first-degree murder of Bonny Lee Bakley in violation of Penal Code Section 187, Subsection 8, as charged in count one of the information.

This 11th day of March 2005, signed by the foreperson, juror number five.

Superior Court of the State of California, County of Los Angeles. People of the State of California versus Robert Blake.

We, the jury in the above-entitled action, find the defendant, Robert Blake, not guilty of the crime of solicitation of murder and violation of Penal Code Section 653-F, Subsection B, to wit, solicit Gary McClarty to commit and join in the commission of the murder of Bonny Lee Bakley, as charged in count three in the information. This 14th day of March 2005...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAKHTIAR: We are joined now by our senior legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, who has been following the strange twists and turns of this case all along.

You've been covering it from the beginning...

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: And the beginning...

BAKHTIAR: ... Jeffrey.

TOOBIN: ... was a long time ago, 2001 was when this murder was.

BAKHTIAR: Were you surprised by the verdict?

TOOBIN: You bet I was. I really was surprised. You know, this case had problems, but Robert Blake was the only person who had motive, who had opportunity. He was the last person to see her alive in the car where she was killed. He was the one who discovered her body there. He had gun residue on his hands.

Now, the defense had explanations for all of that, but that's a pretty good case, I think.

BAKHTIAR: The defense also described Bonny Lee Bakley as a pretty unsavory character who had a lot of enemies. Do you think that weighed in on the case?

TOOBIN: She was a really distasteful person. People who remember the case may remember that, you know, she was -- had run sex sites, where she sort of promised lonelyhearts men that she might see them, and she sent naked pictures of her. She was really a very sleazy character. And she, by all accounts, kind of trapped him into getting her pregnant, and this marriage was, by all accounts, a sham.

But there still was never any suspect in this case besides Robert Blake himself. And -- but jury didn't buy it.

BAKHTIAR: Let's listen to what Robert Blake said when he came out of the courtroom.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLAKE: There's an old saying that success has a large family, and that failure is an orphan. And in this case, it's just the opposite. Failure has a very large family, but success here is a very small family. The people that did this, Bridget Daniels, David Christianson (ph), Gus, and Joanna (ph), these are two young lawyers who came in for short dough and long hours to save my life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAKHTIAR: What do you make of that, Jeffrey?

TOOBIN: Well, he's grateful to his lawyers, as well he should be. This is a really embarrassing failure for the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office. This trial went on for months. It started in December. Very expensive, long trial. And it ends in complete failure for the prosecution.

BAKHTIAR: Where do you think they went wrong?

TOOBIN: Well, I -- they had some difficulties. They did not have an eyewitness. They did not have any sort of DNA testimony. The gun residue on his hands, the defense could say, came from the other gun that Blake was -- had with him that day. The murder weapon could -- which was discovered, was never tied to Blake.

And the two key witnesses against him, the two people he was charged with soliciting for his wife's murder, were really sleazy, unsavory characters, and the jury obviously couldn't stand them, but...

BAKHTIAR: I was going to ask you about that, because they did have two.

All right, there was also a hung jury on one count. They could technically retry him. Do you think this is likely to happen?

TOOBIN: I think it's very remote. There were, there was a murder case acquitted, one solicitation count acquitted. The other solicitation count, the jury split 11 to one in favor of acquittal. That's a very thin reed to try a very complicated, long case again. I think this case is over.

BAKHTIAR: All right, Jeffrey Toobin, our legal analyst, thank you.

Up next on 360, San Quentin's death row, like you've never seen it before. We are going to take you inside the home of America's most notorious killers. See for yourself that the word, world awaiting Scott Peterson.

And eyewitness to history, Anderson Cooper live in Beirut, where a murder mystery has sparked a political movement there.

And a little later, boycotting "The Da Vinci Code." A Catholic cardinal calls it a sack full of lies. We're going to take a closer look at the bestselling novel.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BAKHTIAR: From the war in Iraq to possibly leading the World Bank, President Bush is making his picks.

Erica Hill joining us now with the news making headlines. Hello, Erica.

ERICA HILL, HEADLINE NEWS: Hi, Rudi.

Yes, we'll start off with the World Bank. President Bush says Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz will do a fine job as president of the World Bank. He is nominating Wolfowitz for the post, which will be vacated in June. Wolfowitz is a controversial figure in Europe because of his role in promoting the Iraq war.

Mark McGwire will testify tomorrow before a House committee looking into steroid abuse in Major League Baseball. Now, there had been some questions over whether the retired slugger would attend, and an attorney for Jose Canseco says the committee has denied the former MVP immunity. So Canseco won't be able to answer any questions that would incriminate him.

Turns out there may be more oil coming from Alaska, if the Senate has its way. A provision that would open the state's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling is part of next year's budget. Today, the Senate voted 51 to 49 to reject Democratic attempts to remove it from the bill. Opponents say it would hardly make a dent in the more than 20 million barrels the country uses daily.

A new genetic breakthrough may help explain why men and women are so different. Finally, an answer. Scientists have cracked the code of the female X chromosome. It holds over 1,000 genes, as well as information that could help in diagnosing diseases, among them autism and leukemia. Scientists say the discovery shows that when it comes to genes, women are more complex than men.

Rudi, I don't know about you, but not a shocker there.

BAKHTIAR: No, I'm surprised it took them this long to figure that one out.

HILL: I know.

BAKHTIAR: Thanks, Erica.

HILL: Thanks.

BAKHTIAR: 360 next, Scott Peterson sentenced to death. We're going to take you inside his new home, San Quentin.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL BELMESSIERI, JUROR: Scott came in with a great big smile on his face, laughing. It was just another day in paradise for Scott. Another day that he had to go through emotions, but he's on his way home, Scott figures. Well, guess, what, Scotty...

JUROR, SCOTT PETERSON TRIAL: San Quentin's your new home.

MICHAEL BELMESSIERI, JUROR: And it's illegal to kill your wife and child in California.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAKHTIAR: Two jurors there, making it very clear what they think of Scott Peterson. Today, just hours before Robert Blake was found not guilty, Peterson was sentenced to death. The judge agreed with the jury that Peterson should die for the murders of his wife Laci and unborn son. Peterson showed no emotion at all, even while Laci's family confronted him.

CNN's Ted Rowlands was at the court and joins us now live. Hello, Ted.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Rudi.

It was a very emotional day inside that courtroom as members of Laci Peterson's family got up and said whatever was on their mind to Scott Peterson. At one point, Laci Peterson's brother, Brent Rocha, told Scott Peterson that he had bought a gun himself, and had contemplated killing Scott Peterson. But he says he waited, and he wanted to -- for Scott Peterson to, quote, "sweat it out."

We heard from Laci Peterson's sister. She said, "You have broken my heart, my whole family's heart. You're evil, you're a monster for what you have done." Laci Peterson's biological father said, "You're going to burn in hell for this." God is not going -- or, "You cannot lie to God."

We also heard from Ron Grantski, that's Laci Peterson's stepfather. He said his piece in the courtroom and then outside of court, here is what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RON GRANTSKI, LACI PETERSON'S STEPFATHER: Our family is going to make it. We're stronger because of this. And Scott got what he deserved. We're fortunate we have this law that we have. It's a double murder. He killed our grandson and our daughter. Every state should have it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROWLANDS: Talking, of course, about the death penalty.

Judge Alfred Delucchi sentenced Scott Peterson to death and ordered that he be turned over to the warden at San Quentin State Prison so that he can join the other 640-plus inmates that are on death row, Rudi.

BAKHTIAR: It must have been an incredibly emotional day inside the courtroom. CNN's Ted Rowlands, thank you.

Well, like every other day in court, Peterson remained silent today. That's remarkable, considering what he had to say before his arrest. We thought you'd like to see the interview he gave our Ted Rowlands just a month after Laci disappeared. It's one of the only handful of interviews he's ever given. He speaks of his wife and a baby in a way perhaps thinking to himself he was going to get away with it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROWLANDS: What was it that attracted you to her?

SCOTT PETERSON: You always look for someone that completes you, you know, that harmony. The easiest thing, and the easy way to answer that is, you've seen her picture on the fliers with the big old smile. That tells you everything you need to know about her. If that doesn't attract you to someone, then, you know...

ROWLANDS: Was that this house, happy, smiling?

PETERSON: Oh, definitely, yes, yes. I mean, you've seen interviews with her friends, the way that, you know, like to entertain here and have people over. Yes, it's very quiet now, and it shouldn't be. And it won't be when she gets back. It'll be...

ROWLANDS: Do you have some Christmas presents to open still? Have you kept those? Did you (UNINTELLIGIBLE) down there in the corner?

PETERSON: Yes, (UNINTELLIGIBLE). (UNINTELLIGIBLE), a friend who came up and, you know, was helping took down the tree and things like that, things that I wouldn't be able to do. And that was very kind of her to do that when I was gone one day, just because -- difficult reminder.

ROWLANDS: How about Conner? (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?

PETERSON: That's why these next couple of weeks are so critical. February 16's the due date. So we need to get the fliers out there to all the medical offices that we can. The nursery's ready for him. That door's closed. I can't look -- you know, in that door.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAKHTIAR: Within the next 48 hours, Peterson will be transferred to his new home at San Quentin. What will life be like on death row?

Ted Rowlands is joining us once again, going beyond the headlines with a look inside the cell block.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROWLANDS (voice-over): San Quentin State Prison is home to California's death row. And it is a world all its own. Inmates here spend most their lives isolated in their cells with limited contact. A plastic shield moves along the cell block as guards in riot gear walk by.

Lieutenant Vernell Crittonden took us on a tour of where Scott Peterson is expected to live out his life, starting with a building called the Adjustment Center.

LT. VERNELL CRITTONDEN, SAN QUENTIN: This is where we receive all of our newly arrived death row inmates.

ROWLANDS: This is where Peterson will be evaluated to determine exactly where on death row he'll be placed. Crittonden says Peterson is expected to be a marked man.

CRITTONDEN: Some young inmate on death row may find this a way to make a reputation for himself by saying, I attacked Scott Peterson.

ROWLANDS (on camera): Peterson will most likely spend between 30 and 45 days here at the Adjustment Center. This is where all new arrivals to death row are first brought. It is also where those prisoners that pose a threat are housed.

One of Scott Peterson's first death row neighbors will be Richard Ramirez, the night stalker, who is in the Adjustment Center for security reasons.

After leaving the Adjustment Center, we see a condemned man being escorted down what's called the tube, a long passageway that leads to the visitation center. Death row inmates are allowed personal visits on weekends and attorney visits during the week.

The prisoner in the distance in yellow at the end of the tube is not on death row. He must face the wall when a condemned man walks by.

Next, we see where Peterson will most likely be placed, condemned block row two. More than 400 of the 640-plus death row inmates live here, including convicted child killer David Westerfield and Yosemite murderer Kerry Stainer (ph).

Lieutenant Crittonden then shows us where death row inmates are executed.

CRITTONDEN: You know, we have a choice in the state of California, where you can choose between lethal gas or lethal injection. That is the exhaust for the gas chamber, and right underneath it, behind that door, is where the execution chamber itself is at.

ROWLANDS: The gas chamber exhaust pipe looms over the exercise yard where condemned inmates have the option to spend up to five hours a day.

Peterson, like all death row inmates, will get a hot breakfast, served at 6:30 in the morning, a bag lunch, and a hot dinner around 5:00. He will have a TV and a radio in his cell, and he'll get mail, most likely a lot of it.

CRITTONDEN: I believe that what we've experienced in the past will occur also with Scott Peterson. We will find thousands and thousands of women that will be writing to him all across this country, who will be trying to befriend him, offering him marriage.

ROWLANDS: The tour ends outside the death row cell block where Peterson is expected to live out his life. In the distance, you could see the area of water where prosecutors say he dumped the remains of his wife and unborn son.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROWLANDS: And it's unclear when exactly Scott Peterson will be transported to San Quentin. That is being kept a secret for his own safety. A source close to the prison, however, tells us that is most likely going to happen sometime within the next 48 hours, Rudi.

BAKHTIAR: Ted, let's go back to the courtroom for a moment. Earlier in the day, when the family members of Laci were addressing Scott Peterson and talking very emotionally, I understand that Peterson's dad actually left the courtroom. Can you tell us what was behind that?

ROWLANDS: Brent Rocha, Laci Peterson's brother, was talking to Scott Peterson. And Lee Peterson, Scott Peterson's father, started calling him a liar, saying, You're a liar, you're a liar. The judge immediately piped up and said, Listen, I don't care who you are, to Lee Peterson. And if you don't be quiet, you're going to have to leave.

A few minutes later, Mr. Peterson got up on his own and left the courtroom. And about five minutes later, his wife, Jackie Peterson, Scott's mother, left as well.

BAKHTIAR: All right. Ted Rowlands in California. Thank you.

360 next: history unfolding. Anderson Cooper is live in Beirut where one family's desperate for a fight for justice.

Also tonight, a possible break in the case of a 9-year-old girl who vanished from her bed. Police ask for your help in tracking down a sex offender.

And a little later, cracking the "Da Vinci Code." One cardinal wants Catholics to ban it. Find out why a best-selling fiction novel has church leaders up in arms over it. We're covering all of the angles.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening from Beirut, Lebanon. I'm Anderson Cooper. Thanks for joining us on this special edition of 360.

President Bush today talked about democracy being on the move, a wave of democracy spreading across the Middle East. Well, the wave of democracy has come ashore here in Lebanon. Tonight, all this week and this month, young people here have been protesting, camping out here in Martyr's Square. Beijing had its Tiananmen Square.

Well, this is Martyr's Square. And this is Lebanon. This is ground zero of the pro-democracy movement, the attempt by young people here to get Syria out of Lebanon, a country they have occupied for decades now. The Syrian military, the Syrian secret police, the intelligence agents who have their tentacles in all aspects of Lebanon's government here.

The demonstrators in this square are calling for Syria to get out and to get out now. And they are trying to keep the momentum, the pro-democracy momentum going. They've lit candles here tonight spelling out the word truth. They want the truth about who killed their former prime minister. They want the truth about who really runs their government.

Many Lebanese here do not believe their own government is capable of fairly investigating the murder of the prime minister and 17 other people. We also found out that they are particularly concerned about a body that was found 17 days after the blast. The police, for some reason, had been unable to find this body until the family of this man who died went searching for the body themselves. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER (voice-over): Everyday, Rana Ghalayini, a 23-year-old kindergarten teacher, comes with her mother and sister to visit her father's newly dug grave. Prayers give them peace, but Rana wants justice.

Her father, Abdul Hamid Ghalayini, a businessman, was killed in the massive explosion targeting Lebanon's former prime minister. Abdul Hamid just happened to be passing by. The blast destroyed a Beirut block. In all, 18 people died. When her father didn't come home that night, Rana knew something was wrong.

RANA GHALAYINI, FATHER KILLED IN LEBANON EXPLOSION: I said there is a fire in my heart that went out as if I just knew that my dad had passed away.

COOPER: Rana was convinced her father was buried in the blast. But police didn't find his body.

GHALAYINI: I came here every day, every day five times or seven times. Come and go. Coming back home. Because they weren't doing a thing.

COOPER: Authorities assured Rana they were investigating thoroughly. But that's not what she saw everyday at the crime scene.

GHALAYINI: Yes. They weren't searching. They were lying. Because every time I came here and they say, they were search. I come and stand inside and they weren't really searching -- standing and turning and going into the building and next.

COOPER: After more than two weeks, Rana's family and friends held a candlelight vigil demanding that they be allowed to search for Abdul Hamid.

GHALAYINI: We're asking to go in. We told them that if you're not going to let us in tomorrow at 9:00, we will go by force. It's like something inside you, I don't know how to express it, but...

COOPER (on camera): Finally, the pressure worked. A full 17 days after the bombing Rana's uncle was allowed to go on the site. Within minutes, he says, he smelled a terrible odor. He saw flies buzzing over some debris. They pushed aside just a few inches of rubble and there discovered the body of Abdul Hamid. He was intact. In one hand he was clutching a cell phone.

(voice-over): Rana and her family were on the scene when they realized Abdul Hamid had been found. They tried to break through the police barricade.

An ambulance took the body away. For Rana and her family, it was all too much to bear.

What kind of negligence is this, Rana yells? All of the security should resign, another family member says. The president of the republic should resign. Shame on you. Shame on you. Shame on you. Under the rubble. He wasn't burned, another relative shouts. If they would have searched before, they would have found him alive.

The discovery of Abdul Hamid's body after 17 days was a scandal in Lebanon. His funeral drew a large crowd of mourners, convinced the government's investigation into the body was either incompetent or intentionally derelict.

(on camera): Do you think the Lebanese government really wants answers about what happened there?

GHALAYINI: No.

COOPER (voice-over): Rana wants to know the truth about who killed her father, who planted the bomb and why the crime scene was not properly searched.

GHALAYINI: Sometimes I don't know how am I feeling, because it's a mixture of everything: sadness, anger, vengeance. You feel that there is a guilt inside of you, not finding your dad. It's your responsibility to -- I don't know.

COOPER: Rana doesn't know what to do next. Doesn't know if she and her family will ever get the answers they're searching for.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: And the former prime minister, Rafik Hariri, is actually buried here in Martyr's Square just over there. His grave site, and the grave site of several of those others killed in the blast is open almost 24 hours a day. Even now it's about 2:30 a.m., people are still coming to pay their respects at his grave site.

The investigation into the killing continues. The U.N. has concluded their report and are supposed to announce the results sometime next week. And many here will be watching and waiting to see what U.N. say really happened -- Rudi.

BAKHTIAR: Thank you, Anderson. Amazing times there in Lebanon. Thank you very much.

360 next, a potential major break in the case of a missing Florida girl as police search for a convicted sex offender.

And a little later, the "Da Vinci Code" and controversy: should the book be banned? That story straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF JEFF DAWSY, CITRUS COUNTY, FL: This is a person of interest and I don't want to mislead anybody. Until we get him in and talk to him about the basis of the crime, we're not going to classify him as a suspect, just a person of interest.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAKHTIAR: Citrus County Sheriff Jeff Dawsy there.

For the first time since 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford went missing exactly three weeks ago tonight, police released details of a convicted sex offender who they're insisting, as you just heard, is just a person of interest. CNN's John Zarrella has been following the story all afternoon and joins us live from Homosassa, Florida with the latest.

Hello, John.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Rudi.

Well, that is in fact the case. Police are insisting they just want to talk to this man and they have identified him as 46-year-old John Evander Couey. They believe he that may be in the Savannah area.

Now, he is a sex offender. He also, police say, was saying within eye-shot of Jessica Lunsford's home and they say that a relative, one of the relatives he was staying with, bought him a bus ticket for Savannah in someone else's name. So for all of those reasons, police are suspicious and they want to talk with Couey.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAWSY: We started getting some information through your help, getting the information out there with some leads that this guy Couey should have been in a residence close to Jessica's. We also started doing some investigations and we were able to verify that. We went to the residence in question and one of the relatives to Couey denied that he was staying at that residence. With that information, we left. We continued on our investigation.

One of our task force investigator -- Detective Farkus, I believe, was the detective -- was involved in a professional relationship with one of the relatives from another case of Couey, and when that investigation started to surround Couey, he reached out to this person and says, yes, in fact, Couey was staying at the residence and we may not have been given all of the frank and correct information.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZARRELLA: Now, Savannah police did catch up with Couey on behalf of Citrus County. They questioned him. They found him at a Salvation Army shelter, but they did not hold him. They said they did not have enough to hold him, enough reason to hold him. In fact, there was an outstanding warrant for probation violation; he hadn't reported to his probation officer, but it was regionalized, geographic to this area. So they could not hold him in Savannah on that probation violation.

So, now they are again in Savannah, including investigators from here in Citrus County, looking for Couey.

Now, kind enough to join us this evening are Archie and Ruth Lunsford, the grandparents of Jessica Lunsford.

And I have to ask you, police say you did not know them, this man, and that your granddaughter did not know him. Is that in fact the case? No idea who he was?

ARCHIE LUNSFORD, GRANDFATHER: No idea.

ZARRELLA: Never saw him.

A. LUNSFORD: No.

ZARRELLA: Ruth?

RUTH LUNSFORD, GRANDMOTHER: I'm only guessing that he maybe was at Jessie's yard sale around the holidays.

ZARRELLA: Did Jessie have a yard sale here around the holidays? But other than that no idea?

What are police saying to you at this point in time about this man? They showed you his picture, I assume?

A. LUNSFORD: They showed us his picture yesterday. According to his picture, he didn't look anything like the man we saw today. But man we saw today is evidently the Couey guy. But I've never seen him before, but he was living right here in front of us about 160 yards from where we're staying.

ZARRELLA: And he was never around? Nothing suspicious? You didn't see anything, Ruth, suspicious?

R. LUNSFORD: I never have seen him approach any child out here. They ride their bicycles. They play in my yard. But I have never seen him approaching. But I keep a watchful eye out on -- I thought I did.

ZARRELLA: Let me ask you, right now, what are you feeling? How are you handling everything? Things are starting to move a little bit.

A. LUNSFORD: Yesterday, when they showed me his picture and they told -- I found out where he lived, I cried all day, because it seemed horrible that three weeks Jessie's been gone and this man who could have done this is living right here in our yard (ph).

But now since that, since I've seen him, I don't believe he had anything to do with Jessie and I think Jessie's alive and we're going to see her again.

ZARRELLA: Archie, Ruth, thank you so very much for talking with us.

One other quick fact to pass on, Rudi, police say they did search the house where Couey was staying and they did take some articles from there of interest, but they were not items that belong to Jessie -- Rudi.

BAKHTIAR: All right, thank you. John Zarrella in Florida.

Robert Blake beats a murder charge that could have sent them to prison for the rest of his life. Erica Hill from HEADLINE NEWS joining with us now with the latest at about a quarter to the hour.

Hello, Erica.

ERICA HILL, CNN "HEADLINE NEWS": Hi, Rudi.

Actor Robert Blake has been acquitted of murder in the death of his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley. Blake had been accused of shooting Bonny Lee Bakley outside of a Los Angeles restaurant in May 2001. Jurors cleared him of murder and a charge of solicitation of murder. The jury was deadlocked, though, on a second solicitation charge, which the judge then dismissed. Blake could have faced life in prison if convicted.

Crude oil prices hit a record high today, closing in at almost $56.50 a barrel. That jump following a new report showing sharp declines last week in gasoline and heating oil inventories. Now, meantime, AAA predicts U.S. gas prices could reach an all-time high tomorrow.

A nine-foot alligator blamed for the death of a Florida man has been captured and killed. The victim's body was discovered Saturday in a pond in Lakeland, Florida. Police don't know what the man was doing there, but he had been missing for days. Residents had fed the gator, which wildlife experts say is dangerous, because alligators fed by humans see them as a food source.

Crossing the finish line with only half the number of dogs he started with, Norwegian Robert Sorlie won the Iditarod today. It is his second win in only three tries. Sorlie mushed over 1,000 miles, overcoming insomnia and the slushy snow to take the dogsled title. Always great to watch that.

Rudi, that's the latest from headline news -- back to you.

BAKHTIAR: It sure is, and also rookie Rachel Scdoris also made it to the finish line. Not ahead, but she did pass.

HILL: Not too shabby.

BAKHTIAR: 360 next: cracking "The Da Vinci Code." It's a best seller under fire by Catholic leadership. We're going to take a closer look inside the controversial book for you. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BAKHTIAR: Welcome back, everyone.

It is one of the best-selling fiction novels of all time, and it's causing controversy once again. Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code" is at first glance a murder mystery, but clues are found in great art and the very foundations of Christianity. Now, two years after the book's release, an influential cardinal is urging Catholics not to buy or even read the book, calling it, quote, "A sack of lies."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BAKHTIAR (voice-over): It begins with a murder in the Louvre, the first clue coming in the form of Leonardo Da Vinci best known drawing, the Vitruvian Man. But as the mystery unravels, the readers is led to other mysteries in other masterpieces. Wheels within wheels, the secrets revealed in The Last Supper in the Mona Lisa, open the doors to the Catholic Church's secret societies, some real, some maybe not so real. There's no secret to the book's incredible popularity. It spent 103 weeks on the best seller list, much at that time at number one. And sold more than 25 million copies.

And it's no surprise that some of the questions raised by "The Da Vinci Code" are causing controversy among Christians. What was Jesus's real relationship with Mary Magdalene? Did Christ actually die on the cross and return from the dead three days later? And was there such a thing as the Holy Grail?

The author says, it's just a work of fiction, full of ideas that have been circulating for centuries. So why, then is this man, Tarcisio Cardinal Bertone admonishing Catholics to close the book on "The Da Vinci Code" two years after it first hit the shelves?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BAKHTIAR: Well, it's not just the criticism, it is the source of the criticism that's so powerful. The comments come from the highest- ranking Catholic leader ever to speak out on this book, a cardinal who is very close to the pope. The cardinals that "The Da Vinci Code" is filled with Catholic and Christian bashing.

True or false for some answer, we turn to the co-authors of "Cracking The Da Vinci Code," Peter Jones and James Garlow.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BAKHTIAR: Reverend Jones, let's begin with you. What is it that the Catholic Church finds objectionable in the book?

PETER JONES, CO-AUTHOR, "CRACKING THE DA VINCI CODE": The book by Dan Brown, though it's very entertaining and captivating, nevertheless, begins to undermine some of the basic notions of the Christian faith. And many people are believing this book. And so I, with my co-author Jim, felt that we needed to make some kind of response, and put the record straight. BAKHTIAR: Let's talk specifics here. What kind of specifics are you talking about?

JONES: Well, the whole notion of Jesus as nearly human. Jesus being made divine by the fourth century Roman Empire. The notion that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene, and that his whole golden life was to produce a holy seed of physical successes.

BAKHTIAR: And Reverend Garlow, let's bring you in. The cardinal said that the book is proof of rampant Catholic bashing. And also pose this question, I'm going to read it for you. I ask myself if a similar book was written full of lies about Buddha, Muhammad, or if a novel came out which manipulated all of the history of the Holocaust or the Shoah, what would have happened .

As someone who's studied the book, did you find evidence of Catholic bashing in it?

JAMES GARLOW, CO-AUTHOR, "CRACKING THE DA VINCI CODE": Yes, I thought there actually was. There was Catholic bashing. I'm not here in posture (ph) here to defend the Catholic Church, but I thought many of his attacks were unfair.

BAKHTIAR: I also believe that some good came from the writing of "The Da Vinci Code," right?

JONES: Indeed. I would take a different position from the Cardinal Bertone, who came out yesterday against the book -- and said that Catholics shouldn't buy or read the book.

My own position, and I know my colleague Jim thinks the same thing -- my position is that it's probably a good idea for people to read the book, because of course the cardinal's really only making the church look the way Brown says the church is, namely to suppress things. I know that's not the intention of the cardinal. And also because once the Catholic Church says that, I'm sure many people will merely want to read the book.

BAKHTIAR: Reverend Garlow in response to all of the criticism, the book's publishers says that this is a work of fiction. And also, he says this -- "The ideas put forth in 'The Da Vinci Code' have been circulating for centuries."

As a work of fiction, a novel, why is it causing such a ruckus among the Christian community?

GARLOW: Dan Brown starts with the words saying, that the following things are fact. And that opening page confuses people to what is fact and what is fiction throughout the book. And he intermingled them so well, his writing style, I call them faction. It's the mixing of fact and fiction. So Dan Brown's writing, historical, though it is, is inaccurate and causes people to assume false conclusions.

BAKHTIAR: All right, a lot of controversy. Reverend Peter Jones and Reverend James Garlow, author of "Cracking The Da Vinci Code," thank you both.

JONES: You're very welcome.

GARLOW: Thanks so much.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BAKHTIAR: OK, now, let's find out what is coming up next on PAULA ZAHN NOW. Paula, what have you got for us?

PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, coming up, we will continue the conversation about the stunning verdict in the Robert Blake trial. We will have reaction from Blake himself.

Plus, in the day since the Atlanta shooting, a number of troubling questions have emerged about what exactly Brian Nichols was planning, and about security the at Fulton County Courthouse.

We'll look at that and more in just a couple of minutes. We hope you'll join us, Rudi.

BAKHTIAR: All right, thank you, Paula.

360 next, Anderson Cooper is live in Beirut. Amazing stuff happening there. Stay with us for that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Well, it is almost 3:00 a.m. here in Beirut. The candlelight vigil, the lit candles that a lot of the young people here have been protesting with tonight are slowly burning out. Tomorrow will be another day. These protesters will continue to remain.

Today, President Bush and the White House talked about the wave of democracy spreading across the Middle East. Well, the wave has come ashore right here, right now in Beirut, Lebanon, in Martyr's Square. This is ground zero. The movement to get Syria out of this country -- this country that they have occupied with their soldiers, with their secret police, with their intelligence agents who have that have spread their tentacles into all aspect of Lebanon's government.

We're going to be going to Syria tomorrow. Be back here in Beirut tomorrow night to bring you some reports. Thanks very much for watching 360.

Let's go to Paula Zahn now in New York.

Hey, Paula.

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