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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Starbucks Bomb; Judging Samuel Alito; Interview With Senator Edward Kennedy
Aired January 09, 2006 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening again, everyone.
A bomb at a busy Starbucks and a hot time ahead for the man who is about to get the toughest job interview of his life.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: Judging the judge -- Alito faces Congress and questions about his past and present philosophy.
JUDGE SAMUEL ALITO, SUPREME COURT JUSTICE NOMINEE: The judge's only obligation -- and it's a solemn obligation -- is to the rule of law.
ANNOUNCER: Tonight, Senator Ted Kennedy sounds off, while Republicans fire back.
Doctors bring miner Randy McCloy out of his induced coma. He's now breathing on his own -- tonight, the latest on the Sago Mine sole survivor.
Race and hate rock South Carolina -- five white teens accused of yelling racist comments, jumping out of their trucks, and beating this black teen. The accused say it was just a fight. But the charge is lynching.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was a modern-day lynching.
ANNOUNCER: And is too much multitasking making you less productive on the job and hurting your home life? Take our quiz to find out if you need to slow down.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: From across the U.S. and around the world, this is ANDERSON COOPER 360.
Live from the CNN studios in New York, here's Anderson Cooper.
COOPER: Good evening.
We begin with a developing story -- police now looking for the person or people who left a bomb at a Starbucks in San Francisco.
CNN's Sumi Das is there and joins us now with the latest.
Sumi, what -- what do you have?
SUMI DAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, I can tell you that police responded about 1:15 p.m., local time, after they received a call.
A Starbucks employee found a suspicious device on the floor of the bathroom. Now, police responded. They evacuated the Starbucks. And they tried to evacuate the apartment building above the Starbucks as well. A bomb squad determined that it was an improvised explosive device. And they ended up rendering it safe and then removing it from the premises.
Now, the San Francisco -- San Francisco Police Department has said that had it detonated it would have caused a lot of damage. And that's why they went to the neighboring businesses. They told folks to stay inside and stay away from any glass.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As we saw the bomb squad pull up, an officer came in and said we should really take it seriously until they figure out what's going on. So, stay away from the windows. And there were about two customers in the store at the time, so, everyone was lined up against the wall, kind of watching. It was kind of scary.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We did see the bomb squad come. They did remove the bomb. We did -- when we did hear the bomb -- the little, whatever they call it when they detonate it, like some kind of a minor little explosion. We did hear that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What did it sound like?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Muffled gunfire almost.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DAS: We have been peering into the coffee shop since we arrived here. We have seen Starbucks employees huddled with police officers. Presumably, they are gathering information for the investigation that has been launched into this incident.
We also noted that there's a surveillance camera that is trained on the front door of this Starbucks. We have not been able to confirm whether or not the San Francisco Police Department has begun reviewing that tape. I can tell you, however, that the Starbucks is closed. Typically, it stays open until 11:00 p.m., local time. They are planning on opening tomorrow morning -- Anderson.
COOPER: Sumi, just two questions -- do we know what kind of device it was?
DAS: Well, they are only saying it's an improvised explosive device. There have been some reports that it was a metal flashlight. So, that's all we know at this point. And that's all the authorities have told us. COOPER: OK. And -- and did they -- that witness said they -- she heard some sort of a muffled explosion, which would seem to indicate they actually detonated or disabled the device. Do you know how they did that?
DAS: No, they haven't told us how they disabled the device. They have only said that they rendered it safe. And that is the only description that they have provided us with so far.
COOPER: All right, Sumi Das, appreciate it. Thanks very much.
We move now to the Alito hearings. No grilling, that starts tomorrow. Statements only today from the nominee and from members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, who did most of the talking, anybody three-and-a-half-hours worth. The stage is now set for a rough-and- tumble mix of politics and posturing and substance -- yes, substance.
We will report on it all starting, tonight with CNN's Ed Henry.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEN. ARLEN SPECTER (R), PENNSYLVANIA: But if you would raise your right hand.
ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At the end of the day, Judge Samuel Alito finally got his chance to speak and immediately sought to blunt claims he would be a rigid conservative on issues like abortion.
ALITO: A judge can't have any agenda. A judge can't have any preferred outcome in any particular case, and a judge certainly doesn't have a client. Good judges are always open to the possibility of changing their minds.
HENRY: Alito is trying to find common ground on a Judiciary Committee bitterly divided on social issues. For hours, earlier, Democrats hammered away at a 1985 job application in which Alito stated his personal view, that the Constitution does not guarantee the right to an abortion.
SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN (D), CALIFORNIA: In 1985, you clearly stated that you believed Roe should be overturned and that the Constitution does not protect a woman's right to choose.
SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: So, we'll ask you: Do you still personally believe very strongly that the Constitution does not protect a right to an abortion?
HENRY: Alito never got a chance to answer because round one was just opening statements. The give and take comes Tuesday. Republicans, meanwhile, gently reminded Alito that he should not stray too far from his past views.
SEN. SAM BROWNBACK (R), KANSAS: But the right to an abortion is not in the Constitution. It's -- the court created it. It created a constitutional right. HENRY: Alito, who started the day at breakfast with President Bush, will also be grilled about his long support for a muscular executive branch.
SEN. EDWARD KENNEDY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: In an era where the White House is abusing power, is excusing and authorizing torture and is spying on American citizens, I find Judge Alito's support for an all-powerful executive branch to be genuinely troubling.
HENRY: Key Republicans suggested a more cautious approach to this issue.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: A time of war, I want the executive branch to have the tools to protect me, my family and my country, but, also, I believe, even during a time of war, the rule of law applies.
HENRY: The Republican chairman of the committee, Arlen Specter, expressed concern that both sides are digging in before Alito has a chance to answer a single question.
SPECTER: Listening to the opening statements, I'm concerned that so many senators are already in concrete, without having heard from the nominee.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY: Democrats are launching this full-scale attack because this is a swing seat on the high court, could tilt social policy to the left or the right for the next 30 years.
It does not appear right now that Democrats can sustain a filibuster, unless something dramatic happens at the hearings. So, Democrats figure these attacks, including the ones launched at the president over domestic spying, could pressure Alito into making a mistake. And, failing that, Democrats figure, if Alito is likely to get through, at least they can try to score some points on the president in the meantime -- Anderson.
COOPER: Ed, thanks.
A good judge may not have an agenda, as Mr. Alito said today, but judges do have records. So do senators, including Ted Kennedy, the senior Democrat from Massachusetts.
He is on record opposing the nomination this time around. But, 15 years ago, he supported Judge Alito's nomination for the federal court of appeals. When we spoke this afternoon, I asked him, why the change?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KENNEDY: Fifteen years of service on the Circuit Court of Appeals, more than 300 cases that he has written, and no one can read those cases without finding hostility to basic individual rights and individual liberties, without finding very favorable support for the executive power and the support for the police and excessive force over individuals.
And, in a time when we have seen the executive run amok with regards to our torture laws, run amok with regards to eavesdropping, run amok with regards to denying even American citizens the right to counsel when they are imprisoned. The real question is whether this judge would stand up to an executive.
COOPER: You also in your opening statement seemed to be focusing, and in your editorials in the papers, seem to be focusing on his character, on his credibility. In particular, you cite a 1990 case of his failure to recuse himself from a case regarding the Vanguard company, in which he -- he had investments, after promising he would recuse himself. Why is that, in your opinion, so important?
KENNEDY: Well, first of all, it -- it wouldn't have to be all that important, but Judge Alito has made it important.
He made a pledge and a promise to the -- to the committee to recuse himself in the Vanguard case, and also to any other cases which he had a financial interest. So, he has to answer a question why he gave the pledge and commitment to the committee, and then went ahead and made the decisions on that particular case.
There's also the association that he had with an organization called CAP, which is an alumni organization at Princeton University. He listed that as an organization that he was proud of. That was an organization that discriminated against blacks. It discriminated against disabled, discriminated against women, and was thoroughly condemned by Senator Bradley, former senator from New Jersey, and also from Bill Frist, who went to Princeton.
But Judge Alito has put that on his application as an indication that he had been a very part -- a part of that whole organization and structure. I think the committee will want to know just what the reasons for that were.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well, now Ed Gillespie, who is helping Judge Alito's nomination through the Senate -- here's what he told us about that group, Concerned Alumni of Princeton.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED GILLESPIE, FORMER REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: It was a conservative-oriented group, or, actually, that wanted to put forward an alternative point of view to a very liberal approach at Princeton University.
And what it was concerned with -- they had a number of concerns. One was hard quotas, numerical quotas, for admissions in college. I think this is a distraction. I think it's unfortunate that people would raise questions about this good man's character. I think that Senator Kennedy probably just doesn't want to debate jurisprudence and judicial philosophy and so is raising some red herrings. COOPER: Senator Kennedy also says that -- that, I mean, Alito flat-out went against something he had told the -- not only Senator Kennedy, but Congress, that he would do. He did not recuse himself from a case regarding Vanguard that he had investments in. Do you think that's just a red herring?
GILLESPIE: Well, what -- it is.
What Judge Alito said in 1990 was, during his initial period of service, he would recuse from any case involving Vanguard. Thirteen years later, a case came before him involving the Vanguard funds. And every ethicist, judicial ethicist that has looked at that case, has said Judge Alito acted appropriately.
COOPER: But Senator Kennedy said, even though the case itself wasn't really important, what -- it becomes important, because Judge Alito did not follow through doing something that he had promised he would do.
GILLESPIE: Except, Anderson, that what the judge said is, is, the normal, I guess the standard language in these applications, which is, during my initial period of service -- no one could argue that 13 years after he went on the bench that he was still in his initial period of service.
COOPER: But Senator Kennedy is saying that Judge Alito in his 15 years on the bench has a track record of consistently and almost always ruling against the individual, ruling for corporations, and he says not -- at no point has he ruled in favor of a person of color in a discrimination case, against a corporation.
GILLESPIE: Yes, I know he said that. And I was surprised, because, Anderson, it's just factually inaccurate.
I believe it was Senator Brownback who entered into the record four different cases where Judge Alito did exactly that, ruled in favor of an employee in a racial discrimination case. And so that's the beauty of the hearing process, is that, in the course of the next three or four days, the judge will have an opportunity to cite where statements that are made about him are factually inaccurate.
There were 20 statements made during opening statements alone today by Democratic members of this committee that were factually inaccurate.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Watching the hearings for us today, CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, who joins us from Washington tonight.
You know, Jeff, we just heard Ed Gillespie say there were 20 inaccuracies at today's hearings, including Kennedy's statement that Judge Alito has never sided with an individual in a discrimination case. What do you make of it?
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, you know, you start to get into some real semantics here.
I think what Senator Kennedy said is that he had never written an opinion on an employer's -- on supporting a plaintiff in a racial discrimination case. And what the Republicans pointed out is, he had been on panels, he had been part of a group that ruled in favor of plaintiffs in racial discrimination cases.
I think the gist of it is that this is a conservative judge. He tends to rule with defendants in discrimination cases. It's not to say he's never ruled in favor of plaintiffs, but certainly he's a conservative. That means he generally sides with the defendant.
COOPER: What about the issue of Vanguard and whether or not Judge Alito should have recused himself from that case? I mean, how important is that? I mean, Gillespie says it's a red herring.
TOOBIN: I think that is likely to be a trivial matter, when -- when all is said and done.
The problem with these hearings, Anderson, is that the big issues, the nominees tend not to speak out on. You know, is he going to vote to over rule Roe v. Wade? And we will have all sorts of code words, but there will be no straight answer.
COOPER: And that's what, really, people about.
TOOBIN: That's what people care about. And that is what really matters. That's what we care about Supreme Court justices. We care whether they're going to overrule affirmative action.
Sandra Day O'Connor was the one vote on the court that preserved affirmative action in the University of Michigan law school case. She was arguably one or the two votes that is -- is supporting the right to choose for women on abortion. Those are the big issues that matter, but because they don't answer those questions, arguing, saying that they might be called on to rule on them...
COOPER: We end up discussing the Concerned Alumni of Princeton.
TOOBIN: Right.
So, we -- we hear about the alumni at Princeton. We hear about this Vanguard case. They're all kind of proxies. They're all substitutes for the real issue, which we sort of have to take on faith one way or another.
COOPER: Well, the questioning begins tomorrow. What do you expect? What are you looking for?
TOOBIN: I think Senator Specter will begin with that 1985 statement that Ed Henry mentioned. In 1985, in his job application to the Justice Department, he said he was a committed foot soldier in the Reagan revolution. He believed that there was no right to a woman to choose abortion in the Constitution.
What he tried to do in his opening statements, he said, look, that's when I was a lawyer. Look at my 15 years as a judge. It's a very different Sam Alito. I think the two Sam Alitos, the judge and the crusading lawyer, those are the two people we're going to see put forward, and we will see which one the Senate believes is the real Sam Alito.
COOPER: We will be watching. Jeff Toobin, thanks very much.
TOOBIN: It starts at 9:30 tomorrow morning.
COOPER: Nine thirty tomorrow morning, you will be on.
TOOBIN: We will be here.
COOPER: Thanks.
(LAUGHTER)
COOPER: All right.
Let's get you caught up on some of the other stories we are following at this moment.
In Baghdad, new details on the abduction of an American journalist. Jill Carroll was kidnapped Saturday, her interpreter shot to death. Her driver called it the perfect ambush. The whole thing, he says, took just a couple of seconds. Carroll is in -- is 28 years old and on assignment for "The Christian Science Monitor."
Congress is looking into the deadly mine -- Sago Mine tragedy. A hearing is set for next week. Also, West Virginia mining officials are going to hold their own investigation into the disaster that left 12 men dead. And the state's governor today called for a special committee to look into the accident.
Remembering the miners who died in West Virginia today. Today, funerals were held for three of the men who perished. Services for two more miners will take place tomorrow.
In Houston today, Andrea Yates pleaded not guilty to drowning three of her five children. Yates was convicted, you will remember, of the 2002 murders. But those convictions were thrown out because of a tainted testimony. Lawyers for Yates will use the insanity defense when the trial begins in March. There may be a plea deal. We are going to talk to George Parnham, Andrea Yates' attorney, later on 360.
And a very bullish day on Wall Street -- the Dow closed above 11000. Now, that hasn't happened since June of 2001. Investors are optimistic about the economy and that the Fed could finally stop raising interest rates.
Well, there are signs of improvement for the only miner who survived the Sago Mine tragedy. Coming up next, more on Randy McCloy's Jr.'s fight for life and why doctors tonight have reason to be optimistic that he will recover.
Also ahead, a modern-day lynching or simply a fight? Five white teens stand trial in South Carolina, accused of attacking a black teen, charged with lynching.
Across America and around the world, you're watching 360.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: One week ago tonight, at exactly this time, I was reporting from West Virginia about the uncertain fate of 13 miners trapped deep inside the Sago Mine. We know, of course, that 12 of the men didn't make it out alive. But one young man did, just barely. His condition has been critical since brought to the surface.
But, at this hour, we're told that Randy McCloy Jr. is giving his doctors, and, more importantly, his family, some reason to hope.
CNN's Chris Huntington has the latest on his prognosis.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Doctors say Randy McCloy is not out of the woods. But he is back in his home state. Over the weekend, he was stable enough to fly back to West Virginia from the Pittsburgh hospital where he had spent two days undergoing treatments in a high-pressure oxygen chamber.
Anna McCloy, Randy's wife, smiles cautiously after doctors tell her of Randy's progress.
ANNA MCCLOY, WIFE OF RANDAL MCCLOY: It goes from day to day.
HUNTINGTON: All along, doctors have said that McCloy's recovery would be two steps forward and one step back. They say his heart is strong and that he's breathing on his own now, but he remains hooked up to a ventilator, just in case, is still on kidney dialysis, and today developed a fever that, while not unexpected, could signal complications.
DR. JULIAN BAILES, NEUROSURGEON: In the realm of fevers, expected fevers in ICU, on an ICU patient, absolutely, pneumonia is high on the list.
HUNTINGTON: Doctors say CAT scans and MRIs show evidence that McCloy suffered some brain damage due to carbon monoxide poisoning, but they don't yet know the long-term impact on McCloy, in part because he's still in a coma.
Sunday, he was taken off the sedative that kept him in a deep coma. He's now in a moderate stage coma and can respond to doctors by grimacing and moving his arms and legs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He comes up to grab your hand. And that's a very important distinction. As you go deeper into a coma, a patient may not even -- their brain doesn't even care that they're being stimulated.
HUNTINGTON: Doctors say it could take two or three days for McCloy to completely flush the sedative from his system. And that could delay his possible awakening. In that time, McCloy will undergo some physical therapy to stimulate his muscles and circulation.
BAILES: So that, if he does awaken, he's sort of ready to go.
HUNTINGTON: And ready to rejoin Anna and their two children.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HUNTINGTON: Now, Anderson, those two children, Randy III, who is 4 years old, and Isabel, who is 1-year-old, may be a huge key to Randy McCloy's recovery.
The doctors today, lead doctor, Larry Roberts, took off his official doctor's hat, and he said, I believe that Randy can probably hear those children when they're in the room with him, hear his family. And he's encouraging the family to be around as much as is possible -- Anderson.
COOPER: Well, that is -- that would certainly be great news. And -- and let's hope he has a speedy recovery.
Chris, thanks.
For days, Randy McCloy and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon lay in comas on opposite sides of the world, comas that were induced by their doctors to help them heal. But how can a coma help? When is at it the right prescription? We have been getting a lot of e-mails from viewers about that. We are going to get the answers from Dr. Sanjay Gupta coming up.
Also ahead, we kick off a weeklong report on the mind and body. Tonight, multitasking, doing a bunch of things at once, you probably think it makes your life easier. But there's new evidence it might be actually making things worse. Tonight, you can take our quiz, find out if you need to slow down. For instance, do you often find yourself saying things like, I often lose things I need for work?
Or what about this? I underachieve due to disorganization? If you answered yes, you definitely need to see what's coming up on 360.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Well, have you noticed the medical term that is suddenly in the news? Medically-induced coma. It has come up in two big stories.
As we just heard, Sago Mine survivor Randy McCloy is being brought out of an induced coma. And, half-a-world away, doctors are doing the same thing to Israel's prime minister, Ariel Sharon, who was induced into a coma after suffering a stroke. Five days later, Sharon remains in serious condition and has not opened his eyes, but, today, doctors said there has been slight improvement with his right arm and leg in pain stimuli tests.
To help give us a better understanding of an induced coma, we spoke earlier with CNN senior medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: So, why do doctors medically induce a coma?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: The -- the whole idea is to basically put the brain at rest.
The brain has just undergone this trauma, either because of lack of blood flow to it, because of blood in the brain itself. So, the idea is, put the brain at rest, make it so it doesn't demand anything else for a while, and see if it can heal on its own. And that's done with medications.
COOPER: And -- and are there dangers about, I mean, putting the patient to sleep, basically, like that?
GUPTA: Yes, you know, it's -- it's a little different than general anesthesia, which has its own set of dangers.
But, basically, when -- whenever you use these medications, you know, they're pretty significant medications. They have a long half- life. And there is the notion that you might be subjecting the patient to increased risk of infections, increased risk of some kind of neurological damage. Those -- those are pretty rare, but they can happen.
COOPER: And, then, how do you know when to bring the patient out of the -- the coma?
GUPTA: That is probably the single most difficult question we have as neurosurgeons.
Basically, you're waiting until the brain to stop its swelling. It is not as inflamed anymore and it just starts to cool down. Sometimes, you can actually measure the pressure in the brain. And if the pressure has come down to a normal level, you can start lifting the -- the sedation or -- or the medications that are putting in the coma.
But that doesn't mean -- and this is an important point -- that they're going to wake up from that. You know, if -- if the brain has been irreversibly damaged by the stroke, it makes no difference, really.
COOPER: Well, why would you use the same procedure for -- for radically different cases? I mean, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is in a medically induced coma, or was, and -- and Randy McCloy is as well.
GUPTA: They're very -- they're very similar situations in some ways, in that they're both sort of a form of stroke.
Sharon had a -- a -- blood in his brain, which caused pressure on it, causing stroke-like symptoms. And Randy actually -- it was interesting, because the carbon monoxide kicked the oxygen out of his blood, so he wasn't getting oxygen to his brain. And that caused a stroke-like symptom as well. Basically, the idea is the same. You want to just let the brain cool down for a while, just cool it, see if it heals on its own, and then slowly wake it up again and see what happens.
COOPER: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thanks.
GUPTA: Thanks, Anderson.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Lynched because of the color of his skin? A group of white teens accused of beating a black teen -- the trial began today. We will have the latest on that.
And baby Noor, the three-month-old girl saved in Iraq, was operated on in Atlanta today. We will tell you how the surgery went.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Five whites accused, on trial, accused of attempted lynching -- that's in South Carolina. And that is coming up.
But, first, here is what is happening at this moment.
In Washington tonight, these are the stories we're following. House Republicans are talking about who will replace Texas Congressman Tom DeLay as their majority leader. Ohio Republican John Boehner wants the post, as does Missouri's Roy Blunt. He's the current majority whip. Republicans will likely vote the week of January 31st.
In Cuba, 15 would-be refugees to America must be asking what happened. They sailed from Cuba to an abandoned bridge in the Florida Keys. But according to the Coast Guard, they weren't in the U.S., because they couldn't walk to land. Today, they were returned to Cuba.
In Turkey, at least 14 people have been infected with bird flu. Almost all cases have been linked to infected poultry. Remember, the greater concern is that the virus may mutate and spread easily from person to person. There's no evidence that has happened.
Also in Turkey, authorities tell CNN that the would-be assassin of the late Pope John Paul II will be released from a Turkish prison this Thursday. He shot the Pope back in 1981. His bullets missed the pope's vital organs. The pope's public forgave -- excuse me, the pope publicly forgave him for his crime.
In South Carolina, the trial began today for five white teens accused of beating a black teenager and leaving him for dead. The state defines the crime as a lynching. The teens' supporters say it was a fight. CNN's Rick Sanchez investigates.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a case that recalls a darker era in the South. Last summer, a black teenager, Isaiah Clyburn, was walking along a country road near Gaffney, South Carolina. He had been playing pool with a friend. Several pick-ups trucks passed him. The 16-year-old told Clyburn would later tell investigators that one of the youths shouted a racial slur at him.
(on-screen): It was early July of last year. Isaiah Clyburn had just been dropped off right about here by one of his friends. Isaiah was walking in that direction. His friend continued driving in this direction, when he says he suddenly looked in his rearview mirror and he saw three pickup trucks surrounding Isaiah.
He says he then turned around again and he saw four or five boys beating Isaiah, some of them kicking him, while he was on the ground, he says.
(voice-over): Stanley Yeargin, Sr., is the father of the boy who dropped Isaiah off.
STANLEY YEARGIN, SR., FATHER: I can't say what (INAUDIBLE) I don't know. He just said they stopped. He saw a couple get out, and then more got out, and they had jumped on Mr. Clyburn.
SANCHEZ (on-screen): Started beating him up?
YEARGIN: Right.
SANCHEZ (voice-over): Yeargin's son turned around and rescued Isaiah from his assailants.
(on-screen): Kind of saved him, didn't he?
YEARGIN: I would think so, I guess. I don't know. I don't know how serious it was. It seems to be serious now, though.
SANCHEZ (voice-over): So serious, in fact, that five teenagers are about to appear in this South Carolina courthouse charge with lynching, yes, lynching. They will face up to 20 years in prison if convicted. The defendants' attorneys are not commenting, but one of the teenagers, Chris Kates (ph), seen here entering the courthouse with his family, says it was just a fight. He says he stopped because Clyburn made an obscene gesture at him and then the other teens jumped in.
Isaiah's father, who spoke to us only after we agreed to conceal his appearance, says that's not how it happened.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We didn't cause this. I didn't cause this action, nor Isaiah cause this action. And I just wish it never happened.
SANCHEZ: If it was just a fight, he asks, why then did it involve four other teens?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They didn't really have to like him. They could have called him what they wanted to and just left.
SANCHEZ: Was Clyburn singled out because he was black? That question will never come up in court because lynching in South Carolina is defined only as a mob attack, regardless of race. Attorneys for the Clyburn family and now the Reverend Jesse Jackson are saying race should matter in this case. That's why they want federal hate crime charges brought against the teens.
REVEREND JESSE JACKSON, CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST: I would think most citizens of Gaffney would be against this, that it's morally wrong, but their silence must not speak louder than their action.
SANCHEZ: South Carolina's past, like that of much of the South, is filled with episodes of violence and bigotry towards blacks. Yet it remains one of only four states in the country without a hate crime law. What happened to Isaiah Clyburn, say civil rights leaders, is reason enough to change that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: And, in fact, there has been some talk about changing that. Here's what's going to happen tomorrow. The jury selection ended today, which means that, tomorrow about 10:00 a.m., they're going to start opening statements and the trial will, in fact, begin.
There were some meetings behind closed doors today with some of the defendants, the attorneys, and the judge, where some deals, we understand, were at least attempted. They gave them up to eight years in prison. The defendants all turned it down. That's why the trial resumes tomorrow.
Something else that's peculiar and somewhat interesting to South Carolina. Attorneys that we talked to in this state are telling us, Anderson, that many, if not most of the prosecutions, that they see in this state, because of the way the lynching statutes are written here, involve African-Americans, in fact, more African-Americans than non- African-Americans.
Back to you, Anderson.
COOPER: So, just to be clear, in South Carolina, the lynching statute doesn't matter what race the person is on either side of the equation. Is that correct?
SANCHEZ: Exactly, as in most states. Well, there's only four states that don't have hate crime laws. South Carolina is one of them. Arkansas and Indiana are two of the others.
We can tell you that, if it's a hate crime, then it has to do with race. If it's not a hate crime, the way it's written here, it's only the lynching laws that they go by, it's simply if two or more people attack another person -- it doesn't matter what the color of their skin is -- then it's considered a lynching. Civil rights organizations that we contacted say, in 60 percent of the cases here, it's usually a black defendant that's accused of the lynching.
COOPER: Interesting. All right, Rick Sanchez, thanks, following the trial from South Carolina for us tonight. A story of a little Iraqi child next, whose life only began three months ago and would surely have ended there in Iraq, in her native land, but for the American soldiers who fell in love with her and helped bring her here for surgery. The fight to save Baby Noor began today. We'll tell you about it.
Also ahead, the latest on what happened at the Sago Mine in West Virginia. What caused the accident in which 13 men died? And what caused the heartbreaking miscommunication that led their families -- 12 men, I should say -- and the country believe for three hours that they were still alive?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: There are thousands of surgeries performed in this country each day. But the surgery that was performed today in Atlanta -- and that went very well, you should know right away -- may have been unique because the patient was unique. A little girl, 3 months old, saved by American soldiers from a certain death in Iraq. CNN's Rusty Dornin has the story of Baby Noor.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When the Georgia National Guardsmen raided this Iraqi family's home, they were looking for insurgents. Instead, they found the baby with the irresistible smile and a heartbreaking death sentence.
Her name is Noor Al-Zahra, the Arabic word for light. When she was born, Iraqi doctors told the family of Baby Noor she only had 45 days to live. But she'd already lived more than two months.
She has a severe form of spinal bifida, a birth defect in which the spinal column fails to completely close. The U.S. soldiers decided they wanted to help. Lieutenant Jeff Morgan contacted a friend in Atlanta who enlisted the help of officials and an organization called Childspring International.
Baby Noor would get a free operation to save her life. But first, they had to get the little girl out of Iraq. The family, whose faces are obscured for fear of reprisals, hid the baby and met the soldiers near their village under the cover of darkness, not wanting others to know they were getting help from the U.S.
Baby Noor's journey from Iraq was shrouded in secrecy. Her arrival made headlines across America. The infant's grandmother and father came here for what may be a two-month recovery period. Today, the first of possibly three surgeries at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. This one was to reposition her spinal cord and close the hole in her back.
DR. ROGER HUDGINS, CHILDREN'S HEALTHCARE OF ATLANTA: Today's surgery did go very well. It was as difficult as I thought it was going to be, because, again, this was not the time that we typically close a defect such as this.
DORNIN: Her family is staying in seclusion for now. And a spokesperson says they were very anxious but full of hope.
CHRISTINA PORTER, CHILDSPRING INTERNATIONAL: There were tears of joy. I wanted to just share one thing that the grandmother did say, which was, "Shokran, America, shokran."
DORNIN: It's Arabic for thank you. But while the first hurdle has been cleared, there are more to come.
HUDGINS: It does look like she's not going to be able to move her legs. That is, she's going to be paraplegic.
DORNIN: The immediate concern is fluid build-up in her brain. Doctors will watch her closely and could possibly perform another surgery to drain the fluid as early as Wednesday. Her doctor, now one of her greatest advocates, say he and the staff are growing to love what they call a special baby.
HUDGINS: She looks you in the eye. She's smiling now. She's cooing in the most delightful little way. It is my hope that she will be developmentally and mentally normal.
DORNIN: A hope now shared by many here and around the world.
Rusty Dornin, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well, Virginia Cha from Headline News joins us with some of the other stories we're following tonight.
Hey, Virginia.
VIRGINIA CHA, CNN HEADLINE NEWS ANCHOR: Hey, Anderson. We begin with San Francisco police following leads at this hour, trying to figure out who left a bomb in a Starbucks bathroom. The bomb squad disarmed it on the spot. A police spokesman says, if the device had exploded, it would have caused damage. Police say the store did not receive any threats before or after the bomb was found. More on this developing story later on 360.
In Washington tomorrow, Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito faces grilling on the second day of confirmation hearings on Capitol Hill. Senate Judiciary Committee members promise tough questions on abortion, domestic spying, and presidential power. Today, in his opening statement, Alito told senators, quote, "A judge can't have any agenda. A judge can't have any preferred outcome in a particular case."
Also in Washington, Vice President Dick Cheney is said to be feeling fine after being hospitalized for several hours for shortness of breath. That comes from his spokeswoman who says the problem apparently has nothing to do with Cheney's history of heart ailments. His office says the cause is believed to be linked to medicine he's taking for inflammation in his foot.
And at the National Zoo, the biggest attraction turns 6 months old. Aw. It's the baby panda, who now weighs 27 pounds. Tickets to see the panda are all gone for this month. Some were even hocked on eBay, so I hope you got your tickets early, Anderson.
COOPER: All right. Thanks for that.
In Alaska, ominous signs from a volcano. Scientists say it is a matter of when, not if, the volcano is going to blow. So how soon is it going to happen, and how much damage could it do? We'll look at that.
Plus, we've teamed up with "Time" magazine in our weeklong series, "Mind and Body," which starts tonight, with a look at multitasking at the office, at home. We're expected to juggle a bunch of things all at once, but are we losing our focus? Are there simply too many distractions, pulling us in too many directions? And what's the cost of it all?
You can take our multitasking quiz at home. It continues right now with some simple questions. See how you answer them.
Do you often find yourself saying this? "There are too many demands of my attention." Or how about this? "I have trouble lingering over anything, and I want to cut to the chase." Hmm, I would say yes to both of those. We're guessing both statements would be familiar to many of you. If they are, stay with us. That's next on 360.
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COOPER: Well, throughout the hour, we've been showing you a checklist of sorts, a list of symptoms, really, stemming from an epidemic few of us can escape, an epidemic of distractions. We suspect, if you're all like us, you answered yes to most questions we've been asking you throughout the hour. Of course, we all know what it means to multitask.
It's often seen as the key to success and a measure of efficiency. But a new report by "Time" magazine turns that notion on its head. 360 has partnered with "Time" to produce a weeklong series, "Mind and Body." It begins tonight with a look at how easy it is to lose focus and how we can get it back.
Here's CNN's Heidi Collins.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It has a fresh fruit smoothie scrub and massage. We have the...
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For Tara Oley (ph), that is Zen. At her day spa in Manhattan, Oley has perfected the art of selling calm. The setting exudes relaxation and harmony, but she rarely stops long enough to follow her own business mantra, "Just calm down."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's always a million things going on. And when I think I have a minute to breathe, all of a sudden, the phone rings.
COLLINS: Booking appointments, crafting gift certificates, chatting with vendors, noting payroll, and greeting her guests.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can have, like, hot chocolate, hot apple cider...
COLLINS: She's multitasking, trying to be efficient, something many of us do. A recent study, done by a London university professor, found multitasking can actually reduce your I.Q. by 10 points. It's not a permanent drop, but eye-opening about what happens to your cognitive skills.
By way of comparison, it's double the I.Q. dropped after smoking marijuana. With cell phones, BlackBerries, instant messaging, TiVo, call waiting, all of it now so easy, that, well, it's all backfiring. American companies actually lose an estimated $588 billion each year to inefficiency in the office.
DR. EDWARD HALLOWELL, AUTHOR, "DRIVEN FROM DISTRACTION": Because our technology has allowed us to access so much data and has allowed us to communicate with each other instantly, we haven't quite figured out how to control that. And so it tends to control us.
COLLINS: In this world of double-shot espressos, and BlackBerries, and wireless Web, shouldn't doing three things at once make us more efficient?
CLAUDIA WALLIS, "TIME" MAGAZINE: In terms of both productivity and in terms of, you know, even your social life, you know, it helps you keep in touch, it helps you communicate to your colleagues and friends, but if you're trying to get something done and you need concentration, it can be a terrible curse, breaking into your thoughts, pinging and zinging just when you're, you know, coming to a collusion on something.
COLLINS: Claudia Wallis is the author of "Help, I've Lost my Focus," an article in "Time" magazine's annual "Mind and Body" issue out this week.
WALLIS: I think it has become difficult to focus on one thing. I think we're losing the habit.
COLLINS: Look around most offices today and you see people typing while talking on the phone, surfing the net, and toggling between projects. Fact is, balancing all that pinging and zinging burns up an average of 2.1 hours of our time every day. We waste more than two hours each day on unnecessary interruptions.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You drive me crazy.
COLLINS: Dr. Edward Hallowell is the author of "Delivered from Distraction" and a psychiatrist who specializes in attention deficit traits. He says we are engaged in a lot of things but doing few of them well. HALLOWELL: If you multitask too much, you won't do anything well. And it's an illusion, because people think, "Oh, I must be working hard. I'm multitasking."
COLLINS: That said, Hallowell concedes that a good multitasker gains respect from their peers.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm sort of like the Energizer Bunny. I've learned to teach people how to multitask.
COLLINS: ... a skill it seems many of us are still trying to master.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm so sorry. OK, you're all set.
COLLINS: Because you can't do it all and do it all well.
WALLIS: We need to reclaim the possibility of doing one thing at a time, really focusing on the job we're trying to do, the task we're trying to accomplish.
COLLINS: Dr. Hallowell does have some advice for all of us, learn to prioritize and, above all else...
HALLOWELL: Remember that you do have control, not total control, of course, but you can make some changes. And then, chief among the changes -- and this is one that most people never think of -- create a positive emotional environment. Your brain will work much better in an atmosphere of positive emotion.
COLLINS: Positive emotion is exactly what "Just calm down" is all about. For Tara Oley (ph), change is constant. She never stops moving or smiling. Luckily for her and her clients, the balancing act has worked out so far.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: So I'm not sure that she realized how interesting this was when we doing a story about multitasking, but when Tara was being interviewed for this story, Anderson, she had placed a customer on hold on the telephone and completely forgot about the person for, like, quite a while.
(LAUGHTER)
So she may think that he's doing a good job multitasking, but I think our experts that we heard from in the piece would say, "You know what? If she did one thing at a time, she would do better." And they call it, not multitasking, of course, but single-tasking. Do not start another project until you are completely finished with one that you're working on. Get in the habit of turning off your cell phone or, you know, turning off your e-mail alert...
COOPER: The BlackBerry, right.
COLLINS: ... while you're working on something and just get that one thing done before you move on.
COOPER: Yes, easier said that done.
COLLINS: I know.
COOPER: I know. I tossed out my BlackBerry for a while, but now it's -- somehow it found me again. It's like...
COLLINS: It's magnetically attached to you.
COOPER: Exactly. It's very sad. All right, Heidi, thanks very much.
The news tomorrow is "On the Radar" tonight. Some serious stuff and some multitasking to tell you about.
President Bush tomorrow will address the Veterans of Foreign War in Washington. The subject: the war on terror and how it's going. Meantime, members of his advisory panel of homeland security will be handing in their latest advice. The Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, a secretary in a slightly eerie bit of multitasking, will later address the Travel Industry of America's annual State of the Travel Industry Luncheon.
Senator Kennedy, he's a multitasker, certainly. While grilling Judge Alito tomorrow, perhaps he'll be daydreaming about book royalties. We learned today that Kennedy will soon be the published author of a children's book titled, "My Senator and Me: A Dog's-Eye View of Washington, D.C." Royalties, by the way, will go to charity.
And finally, Omar Sharif, actor, championship bridge player, and -- who knew -- a parking lot brawler. That's the allegation, at least. He'll be in court tomorrow in Beverly Hills. The one-time star of "Lawrence of Arabia" is charged with smacking a parking lot attendant after the valet refused to accept payment in euros. Mr. Sharif has pleaded not guilty.
On the docket tomorrow, "On the Radar" tonight.
We want to thank our international viewers for watching. If you're just joining us, a lot to tell you about coming up.
Searching for clues to the Sago Mine tragedy. A number of investigations announced today. Tonight, we'll give you the latest on what we know about what happened inside that mine.
Also, a supreme showdown. The confirmation hearings for Judge Samuel Alito, opening day fireworks, and analysis.
And a giant awakes in Alaska, where some say this massive volcano may erupt. The question is, when? Across America and around the world, stay tuned for 360.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Police report of a mysterious device in a Starbucks in Seattle. We'll have the latest on 360.
ANNOUNCER: Federal and state investigations launched into what really caused the explosion at Sago Mine.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The mine rescue system was designed for a period of time that has passed.
ANNOUNCER: Meanwhile, another miner's letter surfaces. Last words documented his final hours on Earth.
Andrea Yates, back in court, pleads not guilty by reason of insanity. Tonight, her attorney speak out about the possibility of a plea deal and what Andrea Yates now knows about what he did to her kids.
And radio host and best-selling author Dr. Laura Schlessinger with some good news: A bad childhood can actually lead to a good life.
From across the U.S. and around the world, this is ANDERSON COOPER 360. Live from the CNN studios in New York, here's Anderson Cooper.
COOPER: Good evening again. We'll be turning our attention to West Virginia, trying to determine what exactly happened to the Sago Mine there. But first, here are some of the stories we're following at this moment.
U.S. Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito faces questioning tomorrow from senators about abortion and his record on civil rights. Testifying on the first day of his confirmation hearings in the Senate, the veteran federal appeals court judge said that, should he be elevated to the Supreme Court, he would administer justice equally to all.
In Israel, the condition of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon remains serious after a massive stroke and many hours of brain surgery last Wednesday. Mr. Sharon has not opened his eyes, but doctors said there was a slight movement in his right arm and right leg today during pain stimuli tests.
In Iraq, a suicide attack inside the interior ministry compound killed 28 people today, as the U.S. ambassador was watching a parade nearby. The two bombers responsible were dressed as senior police officers. Al Qaeda has claimed that it was behind the attack.
Now, the developing story out of San Francisco. In a place where the biggest jolt normally comes from a Vente Americano, tonight it is a homemade explosive device instead.
CNN's Sumi Das now with the latest.
DAS: Thanks very much, Anderson. Well, traffic at this intersection is flowing now, but earlier today it was a different scene, as cars were diverted and the area was really taped off. An employee at this Starbucks, here at this intersection, Van Ness and Bush, found a suspicious device on the floor of the bathroom. CNN has learned, from a source within the San Francisco Police Department, that that device was a large firecracker. And it was housed in an empty flashlight case.
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