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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Queen Elizabeth Visits White House; Massive Tornado Destroys Kansas Town; The 'CSI' Effect on Juries
Aired May 07, 2007 - 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.
Tonight: a closer look than you have ever seen at a major tornado, and a look at the devastation this weekend's storms have left behind. We have got video caught by storm chasers who barely got away with their lives. Imagine speeding down a road at 40 miles an hour in reverse, with a twister coming right at you, just one of the dozens of tornadoes over the weekend.
We will report from a town that has been devastated.
Also ahead tonight: politics -- why new presidential polling shows Republican candidates losing out with the public, that is, until you match them up one on one against some leading Democrats.
Elizabeth II's dinner tonight with George II, and why a British monarch is so much more popular with Americans than the American president right now.
And some live pictures from the event -- guests are moving to the East Wing, East Room, for the evening's entertainment -- entertainment. Violinist Itzhak Perlman is going to be performing tonight with piano accompaniment. Also on the bill, the U.S. Army Chorus. That is at the White House, a white-tie and tails. We will bring you more pictures as they come in.
We begin, however, with the tornadoes and that remarkable video captured on a road in Ellis County, Oklahoma, by storm chasers Reed Timmer and Joel Taylor, just them, some camera gear, a car in reverse, and a tornado close enough to kill.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go. Back up. Back up.
REED TIMMER, STORM CHASER: We saw the tornado on the ground. And it was -- it was skinny, and it appeared to be moving slow.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're OK. We're OK.
TIMMER: And, then, as we were within about 100 yards from it, we saw that it was a very violent tornado.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We do not want you to be out looking at this storm.
TIMMER: And that's when -- when Joel said, you know, enough's enough. We're too close.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't go. Don't go. Jesus Christ. Get in.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was actually very, very worried that we weren't going to be able to back up quick enough and avoid the tornado.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Highway 83. That would be Arnett and to the west, moving
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Finally ended up driving backwards about 40 miles an hour and put a little distance between us and the tornado. We think there was a barn that it hit.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hear that? Oh, no. Those are structures. Oh, no. No. Wow!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And then that debris just got caught up into the tornado. And there was actually a piece of debris that we can count going around the tornado about four times.
TIMMER: But, still, extremely violent. You could see trees getting ripped out of the ground. And this is definitely the closest we have come to any tornado.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't move!
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: The pictures are extraordinary.
Terrifying as it looks and is, that tornado doesn't even begin to match up to the one that hit Greensburg, Kansas, Friday night.
Greensburg, at least in a physical sense, barely exists anymore. About the only thing left standing is a grain elevator. Everything else, literally everything, lies in pieces on the ground. And some of the rubble is 20 feet deep.
At least 10 people died in Greensburg. Today, survivors were allowed to return home, briefly.
CNN's Gary Tuchman is there -- Gary.
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, it was a very sad and strange day here today in Greensburg, because it was actually a very lively day.
People were allowed to come back to their homes, but it was very incongruous, because, while it was lively and while there were lines one-hour-long of cars trying to get into town -- because of the combination of rescuers, recovery workers and people who live here, the lines were very long -- there was nothing to see, because there was so much devastation.
We heard initially the initial reports were 95 percent of the town was gone. Well, that is very accurate. It is not an exaggeration. And it's major damage. This reminds me, Anderson, of looking at Lower Ninth Ward or the Lakeview districts in New Orleans. That's how devastating this is.
Almost every house is destroyed, and heavily destroyed, at that.
We spent the day with one man who came back to look at his home. His name is Norman Volz. Norman is 54 years old. And his story is much sadder than most. Yes, he lost his entire home. But, in addition to coming back to his home, he was looking inside the hallway, where there's a steel pole.
And that steel pole is relevant because he was in the home with his wife Beverly Volz. That steel pole came through the home while they were waiting out the tornado. And she was killed when it hit her in the head.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TUCHMAN: Did Bev say anything when she got hurt to you?
NORMAN VOLZ, HUSBAND OF TORNADO VICTIM: Yes. She -- she said she was hurt. And I knew it. I could see it.
And we just -- I don't know -- I don't remember exactly what we said. We just -- I was trying to get her out. I didn't have the strength. And we just talked like a couple would talk after they had been married 30 years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TUCHMAN: Norman and Beverly did not have children. Norman is now planning his wife's funeral. It's scheduled for Thursday.
We should tell you that two more bodies were recovered today, one in a lake, and one in a home. That means 10 people in this little town were killed from this tornado.
Amazingly, a survivor was found last night. And that's why the effort to find survivors continues. There is so much rubble, they do not want to give up until they're absolutely sure they have found everyone who might still be alive under the rubble.
FEMA is telling us, and also the governor of Kansas, the president of the United States, George W. Bush, is expected to come here on Wednesday for a visit. As of now, though, the White House wasn't confirmed that -- Anderson, back to you.
COOPER: Gary, how big a town are we talking about?
TUCHMAN: Anderson, there are only between 1,500 and 1,700 people who live in this town. It's about one-mile-square. And it's every single block you go. It just so reminds me of New Orleans and coastal Mississippi after Katrina. It's just unbelievable.
COOPER: And are -- have people been allowed back only for a limited amount of time today? And what happens tomorrow?
TUCHMAN: Right.
They're going to be allowed to come back each day to go to their homes to get possessions. But one issue they faced today, they were just allowed to stay here until 6:00 Central time. But, in the middle of the day, when people were trying to get in, in this long line of cars, there was an ammonia leak on a freight train. And, at that point, they stopped people from coming into the town. The line of cars got even longer, as they waited to make sure it was safe to come into town.
COOPER: You know, no matter how many times you see pictures like this, every time, it's still just startling and stunning.
Gary, particular the reporting.
As we said, the weekend brought not one, but dozens of tornadoes to places that see often plenty, well, of tornadoes, but rarely like this. That's because rarely do all the elements come together the way they did over Greensburg and all across Tornado Alley.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER (voice-over): They touched down in Oklahoma, Texas, Iowa, and Kansas. In all, the Weather Service is investigating more than 140 tornado sightings that were reported on Friday and Saturday. It's one of the largest outbreaks in history. And it struck in the heart of Tornado Alley.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We came around that curve right there, and our pickup wasn't even on the ground. It was like -- it felt to us like it was spinning. We could see everything just flying, and the -- it sounded like diesel engines.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Jet engines.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Jet engines. You know, it was horrible.
COOPER: The weather conditions presented a recipe for disaster. On the morning of May 4, a low-pressure system drawing warm, moist air from the Gulf Coast collided with a cold front over Kansas.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have got a large funnel.
COOPER: That triggered supercell thunderstorms, sometimes spawning mesocyclones. These monster storms began to rotate. When that happened, the tornadoes appeared. Some did little or no damage. But, of course, the same can't be said in Greensburg.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our life is destroyed here, I guarantee you. Everything we had was at that hotel. And it's leveled. That whole side of town is leveled, our family's houses, everything.
COOPER: According to the National Weather Center, that tornado was first reported at 9:18 p.m. just outside of Greensburg. Over the next hour, it cut a path 22 miles long, its estimated wind speed, a mind-boggling 205 miles per hour.
At one point, the tornado measured seven miles across, making it larger than the town itself. Although residents were warned of the storm, they may have had no idea just how large a threat they were dealing with. That's because, even with all we know about them, it remains a mystery why some tornadoes vanish in seconds and others turn into massive killers.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: In addition to taking at least 10 lives that we know of, the Greensburg tornado injured many others, left hundreds of people homeless, as Gary Tuchman was talking about.
It also left behind stories of loss, and, thankfully, some stories of survival.
With one survivor story, and reporting tonight for CNN, here's Jeff Flock.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LOU TOMLINSON, TORNADO SURVIVOR: That was my favorite shirt.
(LAUGHTER)
JEFF FLOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Not anymore. Lou Tomlinson, 20- plus years in the Marines, Korea, Vietnam.
TOMLINSON: Ricochets.
FLOCK (on camera): It looks like you got one that's almost a -- that one that one there almost looks like it needed to be closed or something. Jesus.
TOMLINSON: Yes. I don't know.
FLOCK: What was happening? Stuff was flying off your head?
TOMLINSON: Yes, everything from the building was bouncing off my head, I guess.
FLOCK (voice-over): These battle scars are from the Greensburg tornado.
(on camera): What hit you in the eye?
TOMLINSON: I have no idea.
FLOCK (voice-over): Tomlinson ran from his F-350 truck carrying his two dogs into this convenience store in the center of Greensburg just as the storm hit.
TOMLINSON: Just as I got around the wall, three-quarters of the western side just totally disappeared.
FLOCK: He dropped to the floor, sheltering the dogs under him, as a wall fell on him.
(on camera): Is this the first you have seen of it since you left it?
TOMLINSON: Yes, this is the first I have seen my truck.
FLOCK (voice-over): We gave Tomlinson a ride from the shelter where he was staying, back to retrieve what he could from the wreck.
TOMLINSON: Medications.
FLOCK: What he most needed was still there.
TOMLINSON: And they're dry.
FLOCK (on camera): And they are dry. But you haven't been taking your medication.
TOMLINSON: I haven't, no, not since Friday. I haven't had any.
FLOCK (voice-over): It seems time stopped for all of Greensburg on Friday, the moments after the storm hit frozen, a slipper in the debris, string of pearls, a bizarre window blind sculpture.
What hasn't been destroyed likely will soon, so they can start again. And, if there was any doubt, Greensburg will be back, listen to the man who directs Kansas Emergency Management.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have heard people say, well, you're in the hurricane zone. You know, you shouldn't build there. You know what? This is America. We build where we want to build. We live where we want to live. And we understand the risks. The people who live on the coast know that. The people in Kansas know that. We don't like it, but, when it happens, we deal with it and we build back.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: We build back and we help one another. That was Jeff Flock reporting.
The tornado that destroyed Greensburg was one of the largest ever recorded. For the deadliest, let's look at the "Raw Data."
On March 18, 1925, an F-5-rated tornado swept through parts of Indiana, Missouri, and Illinois. Known as the Tri-State Tornado, it killed 695 people, injured more than 2,000. That single tornado traveled more than 300 miles.
We will have more from Greensburg a bit later in the program.
But, up next, a new batch of polling and some surprises in the race for the White House.
Also ahead: the "CSI" effect on juries.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER (voice-over): You know how they do it on "CSI."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Visible match to the hairs I pulled...
(CROSSTALK)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: The question is, how well does reality match up? Do juries understand the difference? And are trials lost because they don't? We will go inside a top crime lab to find out.
Also tonight: the queen's visit to Washington, while her grandson prepares to go off to fight in the war -- a closer look ahead on 360.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: New poll numbers out today on the race for the White House.
According to our latest CNN/Opinion Research poll, in the Democratic race, Senator Hillary Clinton has the edge, with 41 percent, up slightly from last month, followed by Senator Barack Obama with 27 percent, down 1 percent. And former Senator John Edwards is in third with 14 percent.
But, tonight, a closer look shows the race, of course, still up for grabs. And, of course, there's an awfully long time before we actually all vote.
Joining me to talk about what all this means, if anything, former presidential adviser David Gergen, along with HuffingtonPost.com editor in chief Arianna Huffington, and Ramesh Ponnuru, senior editor for "The National Review."
Good to have you all.
Arianna, how did Hillary Clinton widen her lead up to 14 points on Obama? Was it all from the debate?
ARIANNA HUFFINGTON, CO-FOUNDER, HUFFINGTONPOST.COM: Well, she definitely came across as very professional, very disciplined during the debate.
And Barack Obama was much more laid back. I don't think this is the best format for him. He's much better off with huge crowds, you know, the 10,000, 20,000 young people that he inspires and connects with.
But, also, you know, we're discussing polls through the night. Let me just say that I'm very skeptical about polls. You know, we see this huge variations in the Bush numbers between the "Newsweek" poll...
COOPER: The "Newsweek" poll, right.
HUFFINGTON: ... and the CNN poll, like 10 points.
COOPER: Right. "Newsweek" has Bush's popularity at 28 percent...
HUFFINGTON: Twenty-eight percent.
COOPER: ... an all-time low for a "Newsweek" poll. But their -- their House polls traditionally track far lower than just about everybody else's polls.
HUFFINGTON: Right. But, still, a 10-point difference between two polls that were conducted...
COOPER: Right.
HUFFINGTON: ... not over the same time.
COOPER: Sure.
HUFFINGTON: You know, the CNN poll was conducted over the weekend, after the Republican debate. Maybe they looked at the rest of the field. They said better with the devil we know.
COOPER: Right.
HUFFINGTON: But, still, it's just a remarkable difference.
So, I think we all need to be a lot more skeptical about poll numbers. I called both poll companies today to try and get response rates.
COOPER: Mm-hmm.
HUFFINGTON: Nobody's releasing response rates.
(CROSSTALK)
HUFFINGTON: That's partly because they're so dramatically low now, and getting...
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: And response rates you're saying are what?
(CROSSTALK)
HUFFINGTON: Meaning, like, they're now like 30 percent, 35 percent...
COOPER: Right.
HUFFINGTON: ... which means that, of the people called, only about 30 to 35 percent bother to answer the questions.
COOPER: Right.
HUFFINGTON: So, is this a self-selecting group?
COOPER: Right.
HUFFINGTON: And who is selecting themselves out of the group?
COOPER: Well, also, a poll, you know, this far in advance, what does it really mean?
David, but what's interesting, looking at the numbers, not only has Clinton's lead widened. It also seems that Al Gore no longer cuts into her support to the same degree as he did last month. Is that -- does that mean anything?
DAVID GERGEN, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER: I imagine, more than anything else, the influence of the Academy Award selection really helped Al Gore there for a while. And that has probably -- that glow has probably worn off.
I would doubt, Anderson, that these debates have had much impact on the race either way. The audiences that have been watching them have been pretty small. And, so, it just is not going to affect the national sample very much.
I do think what we are seeing in the CNN poll, as fluid as it is, as volatile as these numbers look, on both the Democratic side with Hillary Clinton and on the Republican side with John McCain, we see that the early front-runners in both parties are showing -- who both got pretty -- hit pretty hard, who saw their -- their numbers go down, made some comeback in this CNN poll this time.
It suggests that they firmed up a little bit, not enough to make any large statements about, but enough to take notice of, that both of them are doing better than they were only about a month ago.
COOPER: Yes. Let's look at this Republican number.
And, Ramesh, want you to comment on this. This is the CNN/Opinion Research poll. The Republicans, in a tight race, obviously, especially among -- Giuliani, 25 percent, Senator John McCain, 23 percent. Fred Thompson is 13. Romney's at 10. And Gingrich is at 9.
How much of -- I mean, it's interesting, because the two leading candidates, Giuliani and McCain, really have not tried to distance themselves in any appreciable way from the president, though McCain was probably the most critical of the president in the debate. But it didn't really go that far. They're both pretty aligned with the president on Iraq.
At some point, if Iraq doesn't do better, do you see them distancing themselves?
RAMESH PONNURU, SENIOR EDITOR, "THE NATIONAL REVIEW": Well, first of all, all of the major Republican candidates are aligned with the president on Iraq. They were all for the surge.
I mean, there was some congressional opposition to the president in the Republican ranks. But, at the presidential level, Romney, as well, and Fred Thompson, as well, were all for the surge.
The question is going to be, can they distance themselves from the president? At a certain point, you know, you hear talk among Republican strategists about, oh, well, we will walk way from Iraq. Look, the Republicans -- you know, one can finesse this in any number of ways, but, at the end of the day, the Republican Party basically started a war.
And you can't tell the American public, oh, look over there, you know? Look, I mean, it's just a reality. If the war goes well, you win. If it doesn't, you lose.
HUFFINGTON: But, actually, you can make distinctions.
I was surprised during the debate that Sam Brownback, who has opposed the surge, did not actually say that clearly. He did not distance himself from the president during the debate.
And, of course, we have Chuck Hagel, who has consistently criticized the president recently. And he is the dark horse. He may enter the race. He may dramatically change the dynamic.
In one of the polls that we're discussing, we see the tremendous dissatisfaction with the Republican cast of characters so far in the race. And, of course, the fact that you had three of them saying in the debate that they believe in -- they don't believe in evolution, you know, next time, we're going to...
COOPER: They did distance themselves from evolution.
(LAUGHTER)
COOPER: That's right.
HUFFINGTON: They did distance themselves from evolution.
(LAUGHTER)
HUFFINGTON: And I'm sure, maybe, in the next debate, they will distance themselves from gravity. But you have the sense that they're really in the Dark Ages.
And, then, of course, we had Thompson, who also said that gay employees can be fired, and then tried to distance himself from his statement.
So, it seems to be a cast of characters in disarray.
COOPER: But, you know, David...
GERGEN: Yes. COOPER: ... if the war is unpopular as it certainly seems to be among Americans, Republicans are doing pretty well. Is that just because in -- we are a divided electorate?
GERGEN: I think it's partly because the Democratic Party has some problems of its own, that it is perceived to be, in many instances, to the left of the general -- of the mainstream of the American electorate. And that's something that's been a -- been a cross to bear for the Democrats for some time.
I basically believe, Anderson, that what Ramesh has said, that, overall, this -- the landscape certainly favors the Democrats. They should win election in 2008 in the White House.
But I think the other important political development to watch over the last few days has been what just happened in France. Here we had a very unpopular French conservative president, served a couple of terms. And the conservative male candidate turned out to be -- to win the election handily by beating a weak Socialist woman candidate on the left.
And, you know -- and you would think that the conservative candidate would have gone down in that backwash. But, when it came down to the one-on-one, people took a -- took a look at the two, two candidates, and said, you know, we sort of like the conservative better. And he won a handy election.
So, that was -- that's quite interesting. I would think it would give some pause to the Democrats tonight.
COOPER: We are going to have to leave it there.
David Gergen, Arianna Huffington, Ramesh Ponnuru, appreciate it. Thanks very much.
Up next on 360: another Iraq spending bill , how late the presidential hopefuls sleep in. And french fries might actually be getting their identity back. It is all in tonight's "Raw Politics." That's ahead.
And a little later: You have no doubt seen the "Extra" video. Well, that's actually not the "Extra" video. I don't think Queen Elizabeth has appeared in an "Extra" video yet. But you never know what she does in her private time.
David Hasselhoff -- in an exclusive, you're going to hear from David Hasselhoff's ex-wife about why the video was really made and her ongoing custody battle with Mr. "Knight Rider." And, of course, why keep it private? Why not talk about it on "LARRY KING," which is what she did.
We will have that ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: The new Iraq spending bill is in the works. President Bush vetoed the last one because it came with strings attached, namely a timetable for troop withdrawal. Now talks are under way for a compromise bill. So, maybe there will be strings after all.
That is how "Raw Politics" rules.
With that, here's CNN's Candy Crowley.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: In "Raw Politics" tonight, Anderson: deja vu in phase two.
With an eye on their anti-war left, House Democratic leaders are drawing up another Iraq spending plan. This one would give the president half the money he wants now, the other half in July, after he reports to Congress about progress made by the Iraqi government. Meanwhile, the White House, which has consistently ruled out similar ideas, still plans to meet with Senate leaders to formulate a bill. Who's on first?
French fries are back in vogue. A pro-U.S. conservative has been elected president in France -- and we quote -- "I want to tell the United States that France will always be by their side when they need her." Nicolas Sarkozy suggested that friends can agree to disagree.
C'est la vie.
Can you be too rich to speak for the poor? John Edwards says his 28,000-square-foot home and $400 haircuts do not disqualify him. In an interview with Iowa Public Radio, Edwards asked, "Would it have been better if I had done well and didn't care?"
He got us there.
Location, location, location -- Hillary Clinton went straight to the heart of camp Obama today, showing up in Chicago, Illinois, Obama's adopted town. To those for whom the itinerary was not sufficient, Clinton explained she wanted to let the city know that she doesn't consider Chicago or Illinois off-limits.
While Clinton poached his territory, Obama was in Detroit, talking sports metaphors. "I can relate to the Chicago Bulls," he said. "They're a young team. Sometimes, they're going make a few mistakes. But I think they have got great promise."
Over the weekend, the Bulls lost to the Detroit Pistons by 26 points in the Eastern Conference playoffs. For the record, Obama trails Clinton by 14 points. But the game is yet young.
Somebody's got a little too much time on his hands. Bill Clinton designed a "New York Times" crossword puzzle, which appeared online. Will Shortz, puzzle guru, told Reuters the former president's got a flair for it.
Yes, but shouldn't he be out fund-raising, or something? In its regular feature on the personal side of candidates, the Associated Press asked the '08ers what they considered sleeping in -- the latest, Joe Biden, 9:00 a.m. -- the earliest, Mike Huckabee, who sleeps in until 5:30 a.m. And the wife of Dennis Kucinich says what they really like to do is get up for brunch and then go back to bed until 4:30 in the afternoon.
TMI, Anderson. Too much information.
And that's "Raw Politics."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Too much information.
Don't miss "Raw Politics" and the day's headlines with the new 360 daily podcast. Download it at CNN.com/AC360podcast, or get it from the iTunes store, where it is a top download.
Now, here's Kiran Chetry with what's coming up on -- tomorrow on "AMERICAN MORNING."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Anderson.
Tomorrow, on "AMERICAN MORNING," we pick up the race for 2008. We're going to take a look at two names that you know pretty well, but who have yet to officially join the race.
What difference could Fred Thompson or Michael Bloomberg have on an already crowded GOP field? We're going to take a look tomorrow on "AMERICAN MORNING," beginning at 6:00 Eastern -- Anderson, back to you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Kiran, thanks.
Up next: an exclusive look inside a real crime lab for a reality check on "CSI." How does it compare? And do juries expect too much of the real thing because of what they see on TV?
Also ahead tonight, these stories:
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER (voice-over): The queen's visit to Washington, while her grandson prepares to go off to fight in the war -- a closer look ahead on 360.
Plus: He was doing all right.
DAVID HASSELHOFF, ACTOR/SINGER: I'm a happy guy.
COOPER: How David Hasselhoff went from this to this. HASSELHOFF: This is a mess.
COOPER: Will a judge let him see his kids after the world watched this video? His former wife speaks out.
360 continues.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Millions of dollars are missing, of 600 people who trusted an economics professor to invest their money, lost it. Now, he's behind bars, charged with fraud. And many of the victims are facing this harsh, new reality.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have nothing. Zero, zilch, nothing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You really believe that? You really believe that these are all...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're all fake. They're all fake. Everybody's is fake. Everybody's is fake. None of this true. What he did was, when he took everybody's money, he just went and spent it on himself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: The professor, however, isn't talking. He says he has amnesia. The question is, is he really telling the truth? That's in the next hour of 360.
But first, the TV show "CSI" didn't just launch a franchise; it created a false impression when it comes to solving crimes. CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin writes about it in a recent edition of the "New Yorker" magazine.
Jeffrey was given incredible access inside the New York police department's forensic crime lab. He found out what CSI is all about and how much of the TV show is a myth.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST (voice-over): The search for the microscopic case breaker. Enhancing the prints, mountains of evidence, combed for what really matters. A rare look inside a forensic crime lab.
Look familiar? Well, sort of.
(on camera) The labs on "CSI" have -- are always very dark with kind of a cool blue light.
LISA FABER, NYPD'S HAIR & FIBER UNIT: Yes. TOOBIN: It's not that way here.
FABER: No. It's actually the opposite. You want as much light as possible, because you're looking for evidence that is hard to find.
TOOBIN: But it's not as cool.
FABER: It is definitely not as cool.
TOOBIN (voice-over): Lisa Faber is the top criminalist in the New York City Police Department's hair and fiber unit. Over ten years her meticulous work has helped solve some of the city's worst crimes.
(on camera) Do you have a favorite case involving hair evidence?
FABER: Yes. It was a kidnapping homicide where a 99 cent store owner was kidnapped in Queens, and his body was found dumped in Bayonne, New Jersey.
And detectives ultimately found the car of a suspect, and they asked me to look for the victim's hairs in this car. So, after pouring through hundreds and hundreds of hairs, I found three. And so there was a conviction, and he was sentenced to life.
WILLIAM PETERSON, ACTOR: They also found a strand of hair. Our lab has matched it to you.
TOOBIN (voice-over): But hair analysis isn't as conclusive as it is on "CSI".
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The cuticle and cortex are a visual match to the hairs I pulled from Kate Wykoff's (ph) brush.
FABER: We would never use the word "match", because that implies that they are the same. And that is not the case. We say similar to, could have come from.
TOOBIN: To a jury the hair sample on the left may appear to have the same structure as the hair sample on the right. Indeed, a prosecutor could argue that these hairs are similar to each other. But even those words, "similar to", have led to major controversy.
MARGARET BERGER, BROOKLYN SCHOOL OF LAW: I am not sure that juries understand what they're being told when they're being told that something is consistent with this coming from the defendant. There's no statistical basis for the microscopic hair analysis.
In other words, they have no idea of how many other people would have that same sample of hairs.
TOOBIN: For Berger, hair evidence should be permissible in court only if it includes a DNA match, the gold standard of forensic evidence.
The problem is visual comparisons from hair found at a crime scene and hair from a suspect have led to terrible miscarriages of justice.
In a 1987 case, Jimmy Ray Bromgard convicted of raping an 8-year- old girl. Arnold Melnikoff, the manager of the Montana state crime lab, testified there was a one in 10,000 chance that hairs found at the scene did not come from Bromgard. A bogus scientific claim.
Bromgard was convicted, but 15 years later, DNA evidence showed the hairs weren't his.
FABER: Right now, it's...
TOOBIN: Back in the crime lab, Faber may already be a step ahead of the controversy.
FABER: This is an example of a root that would be suitable for nuclear DNA because of the tissue that you can see around the root end.
TOOBIN: At the NYPD, hair analysis rarely stands alone any more. It's a screening test before the big one, DNA.
(on camera) The days when a jury hears this hair looks like that hair, those may be over?
FABER: Yes. I mean, slowly, as they're hearing more and more DNA statistics, they're probably looking to hear those type of numbers. And as DNA is on TV more and more, it's something that they're looking for.
TOOBIN (voice-over): So in the dim light of "CSI", hair analysis may be a sure thing. But in the bright light of a real crime lab, it may be a first step, but only a first step, to the DNA lab.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: It's amazing. I really did not know all of this stuff. And even fingerprints, you're saying, are suspect?
TOOBIN: Well, fingerprints are less suspect. But the thing about DNA, it's transformed the whole debate over forensic science, because it has scientific basis. You can assign a number. There's a one in so many million chance that this is not a match. I mean, it really is conclusion.
All of the other tests, whether it's hair analysis, arson investigations, bite marks, all of the stuff that you see on "CSI", yes, it's a possibility that there are similarities. But you can't assign any numbers.
And a lot of scientists and academics are starting to say, "Wait a second. If you can't put a percentage on it, it shouldn't be allowed in court."
COOPER: That's amazing. It's a great article. Jeffrey, thanks.
TOOBIN: Thanks. COOPER: You can read more of Jeffrey's reporting in "The New Yorker" magazine.
Up next on 360, a dinner fit for a queen. Queen Elizabeth II is dining at the White House. It's a white tie affair. Richard Quest has all the elegant details -- Richard.
RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Glamour and glitz, Anderson, at the White House. The state dinner is over. But the questions now are raised for you.
When we come back, I want you to tell me -- our quiz for the night -- how should you greet the queen if you were to meet her? And if you were to meet her, how would you address the queen?
And finally, Anderson, when you are dining with the queen, when should you stop eating? Your quiz for the night, when we return.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Queen Elizabeth at tonight's state dinner at the White House. President Bush may be down in the polls, but the queen is up to her tiara in public approval on this side of the Atlantic.
The latest CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll shows 80 percent of Americans have a favorable opinion of her majesty, about 12 percent unfavorable.
CNN's Richard Quest is watching the queen in Washington and joins us once again -- Richard.
QUEST: Good evening, Anderson. Stand to attention and prepare to answer these questions. All right. Here we go. Are you ready?
COOPER: I'm ready.
QUEST: All right. And just for the viewers' information, he doesn't -- we didn't give him the answers.
COOPER: No, I do not know the answers.
QUEST: Right. This could be...
COOPER: Let's see if my good breeding, you know, my good -- how I was raised teaches me anything.
QUEST: Yes, yes, yes. Don't look for a get out of jail free card now. OK.
How should you greet the queen? What should you do when you, first of all, are presented to the queen?
COOPER: I think you're not supposed to do anything. I think you're supposed to wait for her to do something.
QUEST: Wrong! If you're a woman you curtsy. If you're a man, you bow. And it's from the neck, not the waist.
Next question. How should you address the queen?
COOPER: Not honey.
QUEST: Wrong! It is "your majesty" on first reference, and thereafter, it's ma'am, as in spam, not mam as in farm.
Finally, when dining with queen, when should you stop eating?
COOPER: When she stops?
QUEST: Right! Yes. Basically, when the queen stops eating, the meal is over.
COOPER: Wow.
QUEST: One out of three. Pathetic.
COOPER: Do we know, is the queen a fast eater, by the way?
QUEST: She's very talented eating at a slow speed so everyone can join in.
COOPER: I understand this afternoon, Mickey Rooney, the actor, kissed the queen's hand as a greeting. Was he arrested?
QUEST: No, it was a minor breach of protocol. But I can tell you, because the palace have told me queen takes these things in her stride. She was far more delighted. Look at the smile on the woman's face. She was delighted to meet Mickey Rooney, because she last met him in 1944 at the premiere of "National Velvet". So, not a breach of real protocol there.
COOPER: Wow. I understood -- hold on -- I understood, though, you could -- you're not supposed to reach out your hand to shake her hand unless she reaches her hand out. Is that correct?
QUEST: Yes, that is correct. It is a practical reason. You're not to squeeze her hand. She squeezes yours, because if everybody squeezed her hand, the number of people she meets, there would be crushed bones.
COOPER: I see you're in a white tie. I've never been at a white tie. How is that different from a black tie?
QUEST: You're expecting us to believe you've never been in a white tie?
COOPER: I haven't. I'm too cheap. I would not spring for a whole white tie. Like, when do you ever wear it?
QUEST: Well, I'm glad you asked. You wear it at the highest formal occasions.
Let me show you. White tux is a pain in the behind, because there are so many bits to it. I mean you don't have the cummerbund. Instead you have the collar. You have the waist coast. You have the tails.
Now Anderson, just on the off chance that you ever do have to wear one of these things, remember, when you sit down in white -- in tails the tails come up. Right? And then you sit down. You don't -- forget "Broadcast News". You don't sit on your jacket.
COOPER: It is good to know. I will put that in the -- I don't know what I'll put that in. The useless information pile. Richard, appreciate it. Thank you very much.
More royal talk. The queen's grandsons, William and Harry, are both officers, of course, in the British army. It is the youngest, Prince Harry, who is soon heading off with his regiment to serve in Iraq. It is not a duty his country is taking lightly. There have been many security concerns.
With a look that, here's CNN's Tom Foreman.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is for Buckingham Palace and the British military a big question: should his royal highness, Prince Henry of Wales -- Harry to you and me -- join his fellow soldiers on the front lines in Iraq?
Of course, it wouldn't be a question at all if Harry were a commoner. But with his high profile.
WILL GEDDES, ICP GROUP: Does he bring a greater level of risk and threat to his fellow troops? And secondly, does it create a potential high level of risk to the royal family?
FOREMAN: It's a question that has confounded the man charged with deciding on a princely battle strategy. He finally agreed that Harry should fight alongside his men. For a while, anyway.
SIR RICHARD DANNATT, HEAD OF THE BRITISH ARMY: He will deploy with his regiment in due course. I will, as I previously said, keep that decision under review.
FOREMAN: But Harry, himself, has never wavered. Now, Unit Commander Wales, he wants to be with the men under his command, just as he was in training.
PRINCE HARRY, UNITED KINGDOM: If they said, "No, you can't go front line", then I wouldn't drag my sorry ass through Sandhurst, and I wouldn't -- I wouldn't be where I am now. Because the last thing I want to do is have my soldiers sent away to Iraq or wherever like that and for me to be held back home twiddling my thumbs.
FOREMAN: Despite his bravado, same security experts say the fears for Harry's safety are not unfounded.
GEDDES: Certainly, from various intelligence reports that have come through, the insurgents have circulated photographs of Prince Harry, and there are certain bounties, allegedly, that have already been issued.
FOREMAN: But the army has given Harry a calling. Before he found it, he was, it seemed, a prince without purpose. His older brother, William, is directly in line to be king someday.
So, as a spare to the heir, Harry performed his royal duties, like organizing a charity to help children in Southern Africa. But he appeared destined to make nothing of his life except headlines.
Then, everything changed. In May 2005, Harry headed for the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst. Officer Cadet Wales, as he was known, graduated in April 2006 and was assigned to the Blues and Royals Regiment as a unit commander. Some say, failing to deploy Harry to Iraq could hurt him and his men.
GEDDES: It would certainly give some sort of message that that unit was incapable of operating within a theater as hostile as Iraq. But secondly, it would be humiliating to him.
FOREMAN: April was the deadliest month for British troops in Iraq, with 12 soldiers killed by insurgent bombs. And that is why military commanders say Harry can go, but they reserve the right to bring him back if his celebrity status turns Harry and his men into nothing but targets.
Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Up next on 360, an explosive murder plot unfolds just steps away from one of Las Vegas's most popular casinos.
Plus, you saw the videotape. Now hear from the woman on the other end of David Hasselhoff's ugly divorce battle. His ex-wife is speaking out, in her own words.
And he looks like Mickey Mouse, even maybe sounds like Mickey Mouse, but the message, well, is dangerous. It is our "Shot of the Day", next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Well, first Alec Baldwin, now David Hasselhoff is paying the price after a controversial tape surfaced. Reportedly taped by his teenager daughter, the video, obtained by "Extra", apparently shows Hasselhoff drunk, eating -- I think it was a hamburger there.
Today, a judge temporarily suspended his visitation rights to his children. He's apologized for his behavior on the tape. But at the same time, Hasselhoff lashed out at his ex-wife, Pamela Bach. Tonight, she was on "LARRY KING LIVE". And here is Pamela Bach in her own words and how she felt about the tape.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) PAMELA BACH, EX-WIFE OF DAVID HASSELHOFF: The most important thing is I just pray that he gets help. Because they love their father.
LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": How did it get to the TV shows?
BACH: That's what I want to know, and that's part of the old -- the enabler in me wants to get to the bottom of everything. What happens when I see this is...
KING: What happens?
BACH: ... probably very different from all of you.
DEBRA OPRI, ATTORNEY: It's been very rough.
KING: You?
BACH: The side of me of 17 years where he's doing it and being a part of the enabler, there is -- the first part is to get my daughter away and not witnessing it. And separate her.
And then the other part is where's his coffee, where is his Tylenol, where's the Pedia light? Where's the heating pads? Why isn't he taking his blood pressure? That's what I did.
OPRI: The enabler.
BACH: That's what I did five nights a week.
OPRI: She doesn't want her daughters to take over her role.
KING: You still love him?
BACH: I always will.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: And by the way, that's the attorney who used to be the attorney representing Larry Birkhead, who is now suddenly all over the place.
Larry's full interview is coming up at midnight Eastern Time.
And "The Shot of the Day" is coming up shortly. A Mickey Mouse look-alike. But you won't believe what this one is teaching children on television. First Randi Kaye joins us with a "360 News and Business Bulletin" -- Randi.
RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Anderson.
A man was killed in an explosion today in the Las Vegas strip. It happened in the parking garage of the Luxor Casino Hotel. The man killed was a vendor there. He was killed when he removed the device from the roof of his car. Police are calling it a homicide and not a terrorist attack.
In Los Angeles, more fallout from the immigration rally last week, where police fired rubber bullets at the crowd. The deputy chief in charge of the LAPD central bureau has been demoted, and his deputy will now be reassigned. L.A.'s mayor said today, quote, "Accountability begins at the top."
On Wall Street, another record close for the Dow. Blue chips added 48 points to end the day at 13,312. It is the longest bull run in 80 years. The S&P added 3. The NASDAQ fell just slightly.
And most Americans expect gas prices to hit $4 a gallon this year. More than three in four people gave that feedback in a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll. Eighty percent called current prices unreasonable. The average cost now is $3.07 a gallon for self- serve regular -- Anderson.
COOPER: Wow, $4. Who knows? Randi, thanks very much.
Here's "The Shot of the Day". Take a look. He looks like Mickey Mouse, but it's not the real thing. It's far from it. This look- alike named Farfur (ph) is teaching Palestinian kids the ABC's of terror on Hamas' official TV station.
Farfur (ph) also spreads a message of hate towards the United States and Israel. Look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (speaking foreign language)
GRAPHIC: We want to...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (speaking foreign language)
GRAPHIC: We will annihilate the Jews. We are defending Al-Aqsa with our souls and our blood, aren't we Sanabel? I will commit martyrdom.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: I will commit martyrdom. He goes on to make fun of President Bush. Unbelievable.
I reminder, we want you to send us your "Shot" ideas. If you see some amazing video, tell us about it, CNN.com/360. We'll put some of the best clips on the air.
Up next tonight, killer tornadoes, some of the most dramatic video to ever be caught by storm chasers. And incredible stories from people who survived not only the records of their home but the wreckage of their own town.
Be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COOPER: You're watching the only live cable newscast at 11. Coming up in the hour ahead, a tornado up close. Almost two close. Hear from the storm chasers who ended up backing down a lonesome road with a storm chasing them.
Also tonight meet the man who's accused of bilking hundreds of people out of millions of dollars. News to you? He says it's news to him, too, says he can't remember any of it. The question now, is anyone buying it?
And what's on the menu tonight as Elizabeth II sits down with George II, or is it George the 43rd?
Those stories and more, coming up on 360.
We begin with the hour -- this hour with the kind of once in a lifetime images that were nearly the last in a lifetime for a pair of storm chasers in Oklahoma.
Reed Timmer and Joel Taylor captured a tornado as it chased them down a road, chase them and nearly caught them. Here's their story in their own words.
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