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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Senate Stalls Immigration Reform; Police Charge Suspect in Death of Kansas Teenager
Aired June 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, everyone.
A lot happening tonight, including breaking news, the apparent death of immigration reform, but certainly not the fight over it.
Also tonight, Kelsey Smith's alleged killer, who is he? And how the videotape of her abduction led to a tip which led police to the man they say is a murderer.
Also tonight, your tax money being wasted -- this time, it involves a road in Florida, a congressman from Alaska, thousands in campaign contributions, and millions of dollars down the drain. We're "Keeping Them Honest."
And the celebrity socialite whose name we dare not speak is out of jail already, after only three days. The outrage is growing, allegations of preferential treatment -- tonight, how she got out so early. And will she be sent back, with the fury now building?
We begin, though, with breaking news. You can pretty much forget immigration reform for a while. Tonight, on Capitol Hill, senators, in so many words, could not agree to stop debating and start deciding. They were arguing over a reform package hammered out with the White House that seemed to have something for everyone -- for everyone to take issue with, that is. So, they did. It has been a day of high drama on Capitol Hill.
CNN's Dana Bash has been following it all.
Dana, what happened?
DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, really, Anderson, if there was anything that should have gotten accomplished here in Washington, this was it. This immigration bill has the backing of Democrats, of Republicans, and the Bush White House. But, tonight, supporters just could not pass a crucial vote. And now the Senate is moving on.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The motion is not agreed to.
BASH (voice-over): With that, the grand compromise collapsed.
SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MAJORITY LEADER: This bill is something that the country needs. And the Senate needs to do this. I hope that we can figure out a way to do it.
BASH: All day long, as the immigration bill teetered on the verge of ruin, its architects pleaded for its survival.
SEN. EDWARD KENNEDY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: It's a jungle on that border, a jungle on that border. And, every day we have -- we continue without this legislation, we have these well-trained, well- disciplined, highly motivated border guards out there chasing people across the desert that are landscapers. They ought to be out there looking for the terrorists, the smugglers, the lawbreakers!
BASH: Across the aisle, a Republican veteran warned, if immigration went down, the Senate's credibility would go with it.
SEN. TRENT LOTT (R-MS), MINORITY WHIP: Do we have the courage, tenacity and the ability to get anything done anymore?
BASH: But, in the end, the bipartisan support gave way to bipartisan opposition and brinkmanship. Senate Democratic leaders wanted a final immigration vote by week's end. To make that happen, they tried to limit debate, saying, two weeks is enough.
Not fair, said Republicans, who argued, senators needed more opportunities to change the controversial bill.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), MINORITY LEADER: This is no small matter. It's a big issue, a big problem. And it requires broad bipartisan cooperation to bring a bill like this to conclusion.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BASH: Certainly, stunning defeat was not the conclusion leaders in either party here in Congress wanted.
But, Anderson, the person who is perhaps most hurt politically by this stunning move tonight is President Bush, because immigration reform really topped his domestic agenda. And this robs him from an accomplishment that he really needs -- Anderson.
COOPER: Dana, there are some senators pledging they're going to introduce other immigration legislation. Is that -- is that for real?
BASH: It is for real that they're promising it. We heard that on the Senate floor. We heard that from senators walking out of the chamber, really in -- with a dazed look on their face.
But the political reality is, Anderson, as you get closer to Election Day, something like this, something that is so emotional, so divisive, even within each party, it makes it pretty hard to get -- to get something like this done. And that's a reality that, behind the scenes, privately, senators and their aides are telling us they realize.
COOPER: Dana Bash, appreciate the reporting.
With us now by phone, perhaps the most passionate follower of the immigration debate -- that we know of, at least -- CNN's Lou Dobbs.
Lou, what do you make of this?
LOU DOBBS, HOST, "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT": Well, I think it's a great victory for reason and the American people.
It is an important rejection of a process that was flawed from the outset, from the very outset, in my opinion, Anderson. This -- this vote showed great courage on the part of some individual senators, particularly the Republicans, who were defying a president who had led them on disastrous courses before, and the courage of Democrats, including Byron Dorgan and Senator Webb, Senator McCaskill, who gave an eloquent speech today, Senator Bernie Sanders, who is an independent, as you know.
This is a remarkable rejection of powerhouse politics by elites who are accustomed to shoving legislation like this, as important, and as -- as sweeping as the canvas of this legislation would have been, right down the throats of the American people.
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: Whether you agree with the legislation or disagree, what does it say, though, about Congress and their ability to lead on such an important issue for them not to be able to come up with some sort of solution?
DOBBS: I think it says a great deal about the leadership of this Congress, and particularly the Senate, that they have the arrogance to put together a combination of five Democrats and five Republicans to create the so-called grand bargain, at the behest of the president, and to try to run this legislation through without going through committee, without doing adequate research, without the conditions precedent for any immigration reform in this country, as I have said, Anderson, as you know, for years.
First, we must have border security and control of immigration. Then, we can have meaningful reform of immigration law, but not until then. And this was an effort by the president and the Democratic leadership in the Senate to simply obviate their responsibilities as senators and the great deliberative body the Senate is supposed to be, and to have public hearings and to have real fact-finding.
This thing would have cost $2.6 trillion just for the retirement benefits alone of an estimated 12 million illegal aliens. That number is actually 12 million to 20 million. So, there's just so little fact-finding and so little public voice in this, that it was really anti-democratic.
COOPER: For those who want to see change on the border, whatever side of the aisle you're on, what happens now? I mean, without this, will anything change?
DOBBS: I believe that a great deal is about to change.
I believe that the voices of Senator McCaskill, Senator Dorgan, Senator Webb will be heard loudly and clearly. I believe that Senator Sessions, Senator DeMint, and Senator Kyl, who, in the end, rejected this attempt to, even though he was a member of the so-called grand bargain, to ram cloture through.
It was rejected. It's a procedural vote, but it's incredibly important in governance. And I think it has just changed the direction of a number of elements of our body politic.
One, it has reversed the fortunes of the elites who think they can disregard the 280 million middle-class Americans in this country, and look to the interest of business and to illegal aliens as their primary concern. It's asserted the primacy of the American citizen. It's asserted the primacy of border security and port security as conditions precedent to any attempt to reform immigration law.
I think it's also a straight declaration that we are going to have to enforce these existing U.S. immigration laws and that there are higher values at work. It also, I think, Anderson, puts Senator McCain in a very difficult position now, as the only Republican presidential candidate who supported this ill-considered legislation.
It also creates, I think, an opportunity for the Republicans to return viability to their party. So, I think there are some interesting possibilities here.
COOPER: Ramifications all around.
Lou Dobbs, appreciate your time. Thank you, sir.
Now, Kelsey Smith, her abduction was caught on tape. Tonight, her alleged killer is in jail. Saturday evening, with a camera watching, someone shoved the 18-year-old into her own car in a parking lot outside Kansas City -- the body, apparently hers, discovered yesterday -- a vigil held tonight -- her parents speaking out, as well, wanting to know someone could be abducted without anyone noticing or doing anything about it, if they did.
It turns out someone did do something. The suspect's neighbor phoned in a tip, and perhaps others did, too, that led police to the man who appeared in court today.
Reporting for us tonight, CNN's Ed Lavandera.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Around this Kansas City neighborhood, Edwin Hall is known as Jack. He moved here with his wife and young son a few months ago.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He didn't really speak to anyone or say anything to anyone. And we didn't know him well or anything.
LAVANDERA: And someone going by the name Jack on this MySpace Web page looks just like Edwin Hall. This is the Web site photo. This is the Edwin Hall's mug shot. This Jack lives in Kansas City, just like Edwin Hall. And both have a wife with the same name. If this is Edwin Hall's MySpace page, it paints a disturbing picture of the 26-year-old man accused of kidnapping and killing a teenage girl.
He calls himself a sweet, troubled soul, who likes eating small children and harming small animals. His heroes are Batman and his dad, even though he calls him "the bastard." And one of his favorite movies is "Strangeland..."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "STRANGELAND")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: (INAUDIBLE) my daughter, Hendricks?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: ... a 1990s movie about a schizophrenic killer who lures teenage girls over the Internet and tortures the daughter of a police detective. Kelsey Smith's father has had a long career in law enforcement.
Investigators say Edwin Hall kidnapped Kelsey Smith from this Target store Saturday night. Police say, this surveillance tape shows Hall's pickup truck entering the parking lot soon after Smith arrived. The video then shows Smith being forced into her own car.
On Wednesday, Smith's body was found in the woods. But, at this point, it's not clear if Edwin Hall even knew Kelsey Smith. Those closest to the teenage victim are wondering why she was targeted.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When did you first see her? Was it just random? What was going through your mind?
LAVANDERA: Cameron Migues lives next door to Hall. His call to police led to Smith's arrest.
CAMERON MIGUES, NEIGHBOR OF SUSPECT: I saw the pictures. She goes, and it looks just like our neighbor. And we both just kind of laughed it off at first. And, then, when I saw the picture of the truck...
LAVANDERA: Until that moment, Migues says, Edwin Hall was just a friendly, normal guy.
Ed Lavandera, CNN, Dallas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: It's easy to imagine what Kelsey's mother and father have been going through, easy to imagine, of course, but horrible to contemplate, harder, still, to think that Greg and Missy Smith have been living this nightmare all out in the public eye.
They spoke tonight on "LARRY KING LIVE," along with Kelsey's boyfriend, John Biersmith.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GREG SMITH, FATHER OF KELSEY SMITH: It hit -- it kind of me pretty quick, because Kelsey is so responsible. And she always contacts us if something happens or if she has to change plans or something like that.
And I wasn't too concerned when she was 10, 15 minutes late, because that might happen on a rare occasion. But John was over at our house. So, he text her to get an answer. And, when she didn't text back, I really started to get concerned.
MISSY SMITH, MOTHER OF KELSEY SMITH: Kelsey did nothing wrong that night. She went to Target to get a gift. She was coming back home. She was going to be home by 7:20 p.m. And it just happened. She didn't do anything wrong.
G. SMITH: Officers -- one of the lead officers on the case called me on the phone and said he had some news, and he would like to talk to me. And he would like to meet personally. And I asked him if it was something that I should be concerned about. And he said, you need to brace yourself.
So, I went and told my wife that we might be getting bad news. And we waited out in front of the house until the officers got there, which was just a matter of minutes.
JOHN BIERSMITH, BOYFRIEND OF KELSEY SMITH: I was almost out to Longview Lake. I had to go drop off a phone charger for Tim Miller (ph).
And, all of a sudden, they kicked me out of Longview Lake or told me that I couldn't go any farther, and I had to go back to the house. I knew something was wrong then.
And, so, I listened to the radio on the way home. And that's how I heard. I heard that they found what they found on the radio. And it wasn't until I saw the cop cars on her street that I -- I realized what happened.
M. SMITH: And, in a few days, we will have a memorial to her. And then there will be a private service for us.
She -- she was life.
(CROSSTALK)
M. SMITH: When you think of an all-American girl, she was it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Her boyfriend heard on the radio. Kelsey's boyfriend and her mom and dad, that -- that was earlier tonight on "LARRY KING LIVE."
Not far from where the Smiths lived, the parents of another missing Kansas girl are still without answers. But, today, the parents of 17-year-old Kara Kopetsky at least got a small piece of news. Police say they have no reason to believe that Kara's disappearance back on May 4 is related to the Smith case.
Kelsey Smith's killing aside, the fact is, violent crime rarely happens at all where she lived. Here's the "Raw Data."
With a population of about 160,000, there were 494 violent crimes in Overland Park in 2005, including two murders during that year. Thirty forcible rapes were also reported.
Meantime, in West Hartford, Connecticut, much a cloudier picture -- a 15-year-old girl missing for almost a year has been found in a hidden room, underneath a staircase. There are many questions tonight about what was going on in that house. We will take a look at that in the hour ahead.
Also ahead tonight, see who is allegedly on the take to the tune of billions, not millions, of dollars.
Also tonight: Remember the bridge to nowhere? Well, this time, it's a road to nowhere, except to your wallet.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER (voice-over): Her characters kill and catch killers. Now Patricia Cornwell says she's the target.
PATRICIA CORNWELL, BESTSELLING NOVELIST: Never met him, just a -- a stranger.
COOPER: Speaking out for the first time on the terror of being stalked and targeted for the last seven years by an obsessed man.
Also tonight: politicians spending your money on a project in Florida that no one seems to want, except a congressman from Alaska and the Florida businessmen who gave to his campaign.
TOM SCHATZ, PRESIDENT, CITIZENS AGAINST GOVERNMENT WASTE: It's actually a form of legalized bribery.
COOPER: Dealing for dollars, millions of your tax dollars. We're "Keeping Them Honest" -- next.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: That is the street sign for Coconut Road. And that modest road in Florida may not look like much, but it is worth millions to the people who persuaded a congressman in Alaska to build it. That's right, a congressman from Alaska. The road is in Florida.
He didn't actually build the road himself, of course. He slipped it into a congressional bill as an earmark, sticking Florida taxpayers with the other bill. Once we started looking into it, the story got even more outrageous. Here's CNN's Tom Foreman, "Keeping Them Honest."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Coconut Road is only a few miles long, running through golf courses and homes by the waters of sunny Florida. But you could say it stretches all the way to Alaska, because that's the home state for the congressman who wrote a bill to spend millions of your tax dollars on Coconut Road.
REP. DON YOUNG (R), ALASKA: That money is for transportation. That is not added pork.
FOREMAN: That's him, Republican Don Young, railing in 2005 against the suggestion that money to rebuild after Katrina should be taken from the millions he wanted for his pet projects and those of fellow congressmen.
YOUNG: This is grandstanding by individuals that don't know what they're talking about. And I will go back to that. It's ignorance and stupidity.
FOREMAN: But back to Coconut Road -- until the Democrats took over, Congressman Young was head of the House Transportation Committee, the man behind this 800-page bill, which includes $10 million to build a computer-controlled smart intersection, connecting Coconut Road with Interstate 75, $10 million, despite local worries about congestion and environmental impact, $10 million, even though the U.S. congressman from that area, Connie Mack, did not ask for the money, $10 million, even as a county commissioner insisted the connection was not wanted or needed.
So, why was the congressman from Alaska so interested in this tiny road through Florida? Maybe the answer lies in a hotel on Coconut Road. Mr. Young was the honored guest at a campaign fund- raiser here in which local business people, many of whom could benefit from the interstate connection, gave him $40,000.
(on camera): "The New York Times" points to one developer, Daniel Aronoff, suggesting his property could greatly increase in value. Aronoff's office said he was unavailable to talk about it.
But Joe Mazurkiewicz is talking. He contributed to Young at that meeting.
JOE MAZURKIEWICZ, BJM CONSULTING, INC.: I was very impressed with his -- his understanding of our problems.
FOREMAN: Mazurkiewicz says the congressman spent that whole day studying the area's transportation issues, approving not only the Coconut Road connection, but, more importantly, an expansion of the interstate. That's what he calls good government.
MAZURKIEWICZ: This particular interstate -- section of the interstate in south Lee County is -- is at gridlock right now.
FOREMAN: But Citizens Against Government Waste call it something else.
SCHATZ: It's actually a form of legalized bribery. It's not illegal. But it is certainly something to raise the hackles of taxpayers, who have to pay for this unnecessary interchange.
FOREMAN: Congressman Young's office says he's not going to comment on all of this. But, from Florida to Alaska, taxpayer advocates are asking, was anyone "Keeping Them Honest" on Coconut Road?
Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Those earmarks. We're not going to let up on earmarks.
Congress promised to stop the secrecy surrounding these hidden spending requests. And we will be watching.
Speaking of promises, President Bush vowed to veto the latest stem cell bill. And he kept that promise today.
That's where "Raw Politics" begins tonight.
Here's Candy Crowley.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, tonight begins with a short story.
Congress sent President Bush a bill to ease restrictions on embryonic stem cell research. The president will veto it. End of story.
Three weeks until presidential candidates close out second- quarter fund-raising -- various reports have sources revealing that, one, Hillary Clinton is on track to post a record $27 million haul, or, two, Clinton's fund-raising has fallen short, that, three, Barack Obama could raise as much as $40 million, or, four, Obamaville will be happy with $20 million.
Viewers guide: Campaigns leak low numbers, so a higher one will look like success, and campaigns leak high estimates for their opponents, so a low number will look like failure.
In the last nationwide poll...
REP. RON PAUL (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm Ron Paul. I'm a congressman from Texas.
CROWLEY: ... presidential candidate Ron Paul scored 1 percent. but say this for that 1 percent. They know their way around the Internet. For the three Republican debates so far, Paul has won or placed high in most online surveys asking who won the debate. The results are unscientific, code for "don't mean anything." People with enough time, Internet savvy, and determination can run up the numbers.
How many votes will John McCain lose for touting that immigration plan so unpopular in his party? At least one. A South Carolina chairman for the McCain campaign has quit, saying McCain can't read the pulse of American citizens on immigration.
But there's more. The defecting David Nix says, when the focus is on McCain, McCain -- quote -- "loses his cool."
Now, that's "Raw Politics" -- Anderson.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Be sure to catch CNN this Friday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern. Presidential candidates Hillary Clinton, John Edwards and Barack Obama talk about their faith and values with CNN's Soledad O'Brien.
Erica Hill joins us now with a 360 bulletin -- Erica.
ERICA HILL, HEADLINE NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, the BBC and a British newspaper are reporting the former Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United States may have received up to $2 billion in secret payments from a British defense firm over nearly two decades.
The reports say those payments were tied to Prince Bandar bin Sultan's role in negotiating an $85 billion deal to sell British warplanes to Saudi Arabia in 1995. In a statement, Prince Bandar categorically denied those allegations.
The commander of U.S. forces in Iraq says a new approach by American-led forces had produced -- quote -- "breathtaking improvements" in Anbar. That's a Sunni province west of Baghdad. In an exclusive interview with CNN, Lieutenant General David Petraeus said locals in Anbar are now opposing al Qaeda and the violence has plummeted. But he also said al Qaeda does remain well-entrenched in some Baghdad neighborhoods, while sectarian killings surged last month.
And, after a long-delayed launch, the space shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to lift off at 7:38 tomorrow night. Now, you may remember, Atlantis was damaged in a freak storm in late February as it sat on the launch pad. Repairs took more than two months -- tonight, though, NASA saying there are no technical problems looming.
And the weather, Anderson, looks promising for tomorrow.
COOPER: That's certainly some good news there.
Time now for "What Were They Thinking?" this time in Galesburg, Illinois. That's where officials at the local high school withheld diplomas from five students at their commencement ceremony last month. Why, you ask? Because cheers broke out when the students' names were called.
Apparently, that violated the school policy aimed at restoring graduation decorum. Officials at Galesburg High told the students and their parents they would hand over the diplomas if the students apologized.
That didn't happen. There were meetings. Things were at a standstill, until a lawyer took the students' case at no cost, and threatened to sue. Amazing how that works. The school caved yesterday and says it will review its graduation decorum policy.
Now here's John Roberts with what's coming up tomorrow on "AMERICAN MORNING."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN ROBERTS, CO-HOST, "AMERICAN MORNING": Anderson, the forecast calls for temps into the 80s and 90s this weekend in the Northeast, other parts of the country facing record drought.
How prepared is your home for the most extreme weather conditions? We will show you a quick test that reveals where you're losing all your cool air, and money, to boot.
"AMERICAN MORNING" begins at 6:00 a.m. Eastern -- Anderson, back to you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: John, thanks.
Up next, a 360 exclusive: bestselling author Patricia Cornwell on her frightening real-life experience with a cyber-stalker.
Also ahead: what you don't know about Hillary Clinton. Carl Bernstein of Watergate fame shares details from his revealing new book.
And I'm still not saying her name, but we had to do this story. Our favorite heiress -- or not exactly -- checked out of jail, maybe not for long. There is outrage growing. Could it actually send her back? New information ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: We talked about Kelsey Smith and the capture of her alleged killer a bit earlier in the program.
Meantime, in West Hartford, Connecticut, in a different case, a much cloudier picture tonight -- a 15-year-old girl missing for almost a year has been found in a hidden room under a staircase. We knew that last night. That's about the only hard fact in this story.
The rest is tough to pin down. Was Danielle Cramer kidnapped? Did she run away? Was she abused at home or at the house where police found her?
More on the mystery tonight from CNN's Jim Acosta.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The father of a man accused of hiding a 15-year-old girl from her family defended his son, then put a hand on our camera, that son, the main suspect in this case, 41-year-old Adam Gault, his common-law wife, Ann Murphy, and a young woman living with them, Kimberly Cray, all accused of unlawful restraint and other charges, after Danielle Cramer was accidentally found by police in a tiny room under a staircase in their home.
Police say Danielle is being examined at a hospital. Her mother says, she's doing much better now.
JENNIFER HESSE, MOTHER OF DANIELLE ERICA CRAMER: She has said some things about what she has gone through. I'm not going to tell you those things at this point. But she is very happy to, obviously, have been reunited with her mother.
ACOSTA: But there's another side to the story. A lawyer for one of the women charged says Danielle was living with the three adults willingly, after running away from home.
MICHAEL GEORGETTI, ATTORNEY FOR KIMBERLY CRAY: And what you're going to find is, this is a case of individuals trying to protect a young girl from being sexually assaulted and physically assaulted.
ACOSTA: CNN has made repeated attempts to contact Cramer's parents about those allegations. But our calls have not been returned. Police say they don't believe those accusations of abuse.
CAPTAIN JEFFREY BLATTER, BLOOMFIELD, CONNECTICUT, POLICE DEPARTMENT: The parents -- there has been no allegations that the parents have sexually abused their children. And anyone who said otherwise is not being truthful.
ACOSTA: But it's hard to get at the truth with so many conflicting accounts of why Danielle was living away from home for nearly a year.
BLATTER: We believe that she was taken out-of-state, on more than one occasion. She was compelled to assume a new identity.
ACOSTA: Yet, that defense attorney says Danielle was not held against her will.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was free to come and go at all times. She has a cell phone. She was given a cell phone. And she had complete use of the cell phone. And she went to school.
ACOSTA: Police say they're not buying that, either, saying there was no indication she was going to school, even though she was just 14 when she disappeared.
BLATTER: Just keep in mind that the defense attorneys are repeating what their clients are telling them. Emotionally, we're talking about a 14-year-old under the influence of a 40-year-old. People have control over others.
We don't like that. It doesn't seem realistic to us. But it's true. And we've seen it before. And apparently it's happening again.
ACOSTA (on camera): Police stress this was not an abduction, that Danielle was a runaway. But detectives would not elaborate as to what was driving her away from her true family.
(voice-over) She's recovering, now. But it's still far from clear why Danielle wasn't home.
Jim Acosta, CNN, Bloomfield, Connecticut.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well, according to the Justice Department, more than one million American women will be stalked this year, many of them through the Internet.
Cyber stalkers can turn life upside down for their victims, including Patricia Cornwell, the best-selling crime novelist. She says her nightmare began seven years ago, when a man she'd never met fired his first attack at her into cyberspace. Since then, he has dragged her name through the mud online, making all sorts of false allegations.
She became so frightened at one point, she moved. She's hired a bodyguard, as well. This week, a federal judge ordered her stalker to stop his vendetta. Enforcing the order, however, will be a challenge.
I spoke to Patricia Cornwell earlier.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: This man, Leslie Sachs, have you ever met him?
PATRICIA CORNWELL, AUTHOR: The only time I ever met him was in 2000, when I sued him the first time for accusing me of plagiarism. And then, I had to sit in a room, when I was deposed and go to a hearing. Beyond that, I'd never heard of him, never met him. Just a stranger.
COOPER: He's spreading all these lies about you on the Internet, that you're anti-Semitic, that you're being investigated by the government. That you're, you know, trying to kill him. How did all this start?
CORNWELL: Well, all I can say is in 2000, I started hearing rumors that there was somebody in Richmond, Virginia, who was claiming that a book that I was about to published was on some self-published ghost story he'd written.
We sent letters asking him to cease and desist the things he was putting on the Internet and so on. And he didn't. And then he finally started putting things in the newspaper. So I had to sue him. And we got an injunction. And he was ordered to stop doing this. He was really trying to piggyback and sell books because of using my name.
COOPER: Right. He's actually putting your name on his book.
CORNWELL: He's putting stickers on his book and this sort of thing.
And so allegedly, he fled to Europe to avoid any consequences of defying the court order. So supposedly, he is a refugee in Brussels or something, as we speak.
And now this has gone on for years and years and years. I've tried to ignore him. But when he started accusing me of about to going to prison for committing felonies and saying that I hate Jews and things like that, I said, "I'm sorry. This has to stop."
The Internet, see it's -- you can spread -- it's like a virus when people post things.
COOPER: And people read this stuff on the Internet, and they don't know where it's coming from. They don't do any research on it. And so it takes on a life of its own.
That's your biggest fear. It's not necessarily that this guy is stalking you. Though, in a sense, he's stalking you on the Internet.
CORNWELL: Yes.
COOPER: You're afraid that this is going to provoke somebody else out there who reads this, who suddenly says, "Oh, my God, you're an anti-Semite, to -- to take action against you."
CORNWELL: That's right. It incites other people. It opens the gate for them to target you for -- in a lot of different ways. You don't know what's provocative to some, you know, off-tilt type of person.
But the other thing is there's a very big issue here, which is, you know, you have cyber stalking. This is cyber attacks, really, when someone is doing this. And you have an unrelegated (sic) forum, which is cyberspace. They're not editors and journalists and people that check whether something is accurate. So you can do anything you want. It's -- it's the wild, Wild West.
COOPER: And you've had an American judge say cease and desist, to stop this, take this off the Internet. He's basically this guy -- Sachs has basically blown that off. He just ignored it.
CORNWELL: What he said when the preliminary injunction was granted the other day, and he's supposed to take everything off the Internet, his retort was that the judge and I could shove it up our you-know-whats. I mean, that's what he put in writing. So...
COOPER: And I mean, some of the things -- I went online and looked at some of the things. He says that you have a documented history of stealing and copying things, that you hate Jews and you have neo-Nazi fantasies along with your friends, the Bushes, who got rich financing the Nazis. He says that you have a plot to kill him.
Does -- is he just completely nuts?
CORNWELL: Well, there's two things. I think he clearly is not a well person. This is someone who's very paranoid and somewhat delusional.
But he's rational enough to utilize this to try to make money off of it. He's written an 800- or 900-page book about me that he's been trying to sell to publishers for a year and a half. So he is trying to capitalize, so it isn't just the ranting and ravings of somebody who doesn't know what he's doing. There is a method to his madness.
COOPER: You've had legal judgments against this guy. You haven't been able to -- he's ignored them. Haven't been able to pull his stuff off the Internet. If you go online, it's still all out there.
And the more you read it, I mean, it's clear it's -- ramblings of a, on some level, deluded person. It doesn't actually make sense what he is saying, even if you wanted to believe that it made sense.
What can you do? You're going to try to contact -- you're trying to contact Google and Yahoo!
CORNWELL: And other Internet service providers. My lawyer says that's the next stage. And this is the really important part in terms of overall affect on other people. Is a lot of these companies, these goliaths of Internet companies, on their content pages, they have references to removing material if a court order said it's defamatory, libelous, or whatever, which is what's happening in this case.
The question is how do they do that? I mean, this stuff is what I call space trash. It's floating around everywhere.
COOPER: Once it's out there, it's out there.
CORNWELL: So how do you get it back? So what I'm hoping is that, in a very diplomatic way, we can work out a remedy with these types of companies and say what is doable, so that your commerce is not totally screwed up by this? Maybe we have hyperlinks to a judgment so you can see if you want to read this, that this person has been accused of -- or been found libelous, or whatever, the material has.
I don't know. But that's the next stage, is to see what we can do with Google and Yahoo! and hope that they really do want to be responsible. I'd like to believe that these companies don't intend to allow people to be injured by the service they provide.
COOPER: It's a scary -- it's a brave, new world, a scary, new world, as well. Patricia Cornwell, I hope this works out for you.
CORNWELL: Thank you. So nice to see you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Coming up tonight, some clues to a mystery that is worthy of its own best-seller, the mystery of Hillary.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER (voice-over): She could be our next president. So, who is Hillary Clinton? Best-selling author, Carl Bernstein, on what drives Hillary Clinton and her rocky love affair with power and Bill.
Plus, you know who checks out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She wasn't released. She was reassigned.
COOPER: Say what? Reassigned from jail to her mansion. The outrage over celebrity justice, tonight on 360.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Senator Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail yesterday, the day after Carl Bernstein's new book about her began flying out of bookstores. It is called "A Woman in Charge: The Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton".
In it, the man who helped take down one American president more than three decades ago now puts the Clinton marriage, among other things, under the microscope.
Some critics are calling the book an unflattering portrait of the presidential contender. The author doesn't see it that way. And it's also received some excellent reviews.
I talked with Carl Bernstein earlier.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: A lot of the supporters of Hillary Clinton will say, you know, for someone who's been in public life so long, she's still not really known. Is that what you found?
CARL BERNSTEIN, AUTHOR, "A WOMAN IN CHARGE": Absolutely. She's the most famous woman in the world, and nobody really knows very much about her.
COOPER: How is that possible?
BERNSTEIN: Because she wanted it that way.
COOPER: Why?
BERNSTEIN: Because she's camouflaged. She likes to control things. She has a self-perception that is quite different from that of others around her, except perhaps some acolytes. And even there, the perception is usually quite different.
COOPER: In the book, you write, "It took Hillary more than two years to make up her mind to marry Bill. She had serious doubts not only about his womanizing, but about living in Arkansas, about the intensity with which he pursued his passions." In 1989, he...
BERNSTEIN: Including the passion for her.
COOPER: In 1989, he actually, you write, wanted a divorce.
BERNSTEIN: Yes. He had -- he had a kind of breakdown in 1989. And he wanted to run for president in '88.
His chief of staff, Betsy Wright, who is one of the people who talked to me at great length, had called him to a meeting, as he was about to announce for the presidency in '88 and says, "Look, before you go ahead with this, you have to tell me who all the women are that you've seen. Because if this is going to ruin your life, and Hillary's life and Chelsea's life, you can't do this."
So he laid it out for her. She brought another person to the meeting, and -- she told me -- to be a witness, because she knew that Bill was liable to deny that the meeting ever took place. And he decided not to run in '88.
But thereafter, he went into such a funk or depression that he thought his life was over. And in the course of that, he was very, you know, inattentive to his job as governor. And in the course of that, he fell in love with a woman named Marilyn Jenkins, decided that he -- this is according to Betsy Wright, to me and others. Decided he wanted to leave the marriage.
And as Betsy Wright told me, Hillary would not give her a pass, is what Bill and Hillary told Betsy Wright.
COOPER: Would not give him a pass, would not grant him a divorce?
BERNSTEIN: Would not give him a pass out of the marriage.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: We'll have more of the conversation with Carl Bernstein in the next hour of 360, as well.
Up next, though, ahead, she was released from prison for medical reasons. Many are saying it wasn't fair. Guess what? She may be headed back. We have new developments tonight.
Also ahead, talk about "Raw Politics". What started this brawl? We're about to see it. There you go. It is our "Shot of the Day", among politicians. Coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: All right. This one's hard. So, hear me out.
There aren't many people -- in fact, there are no people, whose name I won't mention on this program, except for one. I don't really remember how it started, but it somewhere in between a sex tape, a car crash, and a bizarre and growing celebrity fascination, based on, as far as we can tell, nothing.
But here's the rub: she actually made news today. Real news. She was released from prison. Did I mention she'd gone to prison?
Anyway, she was released after only serving three of what was supposed to be 23 days behind bars. That had a lot of people calling it a case of celebrity justice.
But then, just a couple hours ago, she who shall not be named, was told she has a court date -- or a court hearing tomorrow morning that might put her back behind bars.
So who am I talking about? What am I talking about? Randi Kaye can tell you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): No matter how they spin it...
STEVE WHITMORE, LOS ANGELES SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: It is not an early release. It is a reassignment.
KAYE: ... it seems Paris Hilton cashed in a get-out-of-jail-free card.
WHITMORE: She has been fitted with an ankle bracelet, and she has been sent home.
KAYE: Sent home with her new bauble after just five days in jail, including two where she only served a few hours. Hilton was supposed to serve 23 days.
But just after 2 a.m., the hotel heiress split from her cell for greener pastures, her West Hollywood mansion. The L.A. sheriff made the decision after consulting with the jail's medical personnel. She'll be electronically monitored for 30 days.
The reason for her reassignment? A mysterious medical condition. Celebrity web site TMZ.com says law enforcement told them Hilton's condition is "purely psychological," that she was "in peril of having a nervous breakdown."
The site also reports a psychologist visited Hilton in jail and told the sheriff the hotel heiress's "mental state was fragile."
The decision to send Hilton home, even though the jail has doctors on staff, has infuriated civil rights leaders.
NAJEE ALI, PROJECT ISLAMIC HOPE: I know for a fact that there are hundreds of inmates right now who have medical conditions in that county jail who are not released, who will not go home, who are incarcerated. So, what about justice for them?
KAYE: How sick could Hilton really have been? This was her at the MTV awards Sunday, just hours before she reported to jail. PARIS HILTON, HOTEL HEIRESS: I'm really scared. But I'm ready to do this.
KAYE: Hilton was jailed for violating probation in an alcohol- related reckless driving case. The judge had said electronic monitoring in lieu of jail was not an option.
ALI: Their decision to release Paris Hilton is a slap in the face to every inmate. This is a miscarriage of justice. Once again, we see two standards of justice: one for the rich and famous, and one for the poor, who can't afford legal help.
KAYE: Hilton released this statement: "I am going to serve the remaining 40 days of my sentence. I have learned a great deal from this ordeal and hope that others have learned from my mistakes."
The media waited patiently, even watched from rooftops. No Hilton, just friends and deliveries, an order of her favorite cup cakes, on the house this time, a welcome home gift.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These are the flavors that she orders when she comes to our store.
KAYE: Also, organic pet food and a giant fruit basket. Sound like hard time to you?
ALI: There's no punishment for her. She's really laughing at the system.
KAYE (on camera): Who will have the last laugh? Civil rights leaders are demanding an investigation. And plan a protest outside Hilton's mansion this weekend.
L.A.'s district attorney is extremely troubled. He says the judicial process may have been improperly circumvented, that a hearing should have been held before her release. He's launched an investigation.
Randi Kaye, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Unbelievable.
Still ahead, breaking news on Capitol Hill, a stunning setback for the immigration bill. Is it dead?
And our "Shot of the Day", some raw and rough politics.
Plus, these stories.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER (voice-over): Also, faith and politics. From the right...
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Jesus Christ is my savior.
COOPER: And the left.
JOHN EDWARDS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have a deep and abiding love for my Lord, Jesus Christ.
COOPER: Spreading the gospel on the campaign trail. But will it turn into votes?
Also, a suspect arrested for the kidnapping and murder of a Kansas teen. He's a husband and a father. Tonight on 360, why police say they've got their man.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: The "Shot of the Day" is coming up, something you'd expect in a boxing ring, not from your lawmakers. Well, maybe not.
First, Erica Hill from Headline News joins us again with the "360 News and Business Bulletin" -- Erica.
ERICA HILL, HEADLINE NEWS ANCHOR: Anderson, a federal judge has frozen Congressman William Jefferson's assets. The Louisiana Democrat was indicted this week on federal corruption charges. Prosecutors say Jefferson earned (ph) cash and stock in a bribery scheme nearly two years ago. Federal agents say they found $90,000 in cash in his freezer.
Jefferson is scheduled to be arraigned tomorrow morning. He says he is innocent.
Another problem in the freezer, or refrigerator, as it may be. Nearly 500,000 pounds of ground beef being recalled in 11 states, all out West.
United Food Group expanded the recall after 13 people were infected with E. Coli bacteria. And the meat was sold in 13 supermarket chains and sold under various brand names.
On Wall Street, stocks sliding on worries the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates. The Dow plunged 198 points to close at 13,266. The NASDAQ fell 45 to 2,541. The S&P dropped 26.
And you may feel like you're working hard for your money. But a new U.N. study shows the U.S. work force actually doesn't work the longest hours. That honor goes to Peru.
Fifty percent of its workers are toiling more than 48 hours a week, followed closely by South Korea and, Anderson, Thailand. Of course, Anderson Cooper, you didn't figure into that study, since you work about 105 hours a week.
COOPER: Yes. Well, I would skew results, I guess. Time for the "Shot of the Day". Check out what happened today in the Alabama state senate. Here it comes. Where is it? It's about to happen. Oh!
That was Republican Senator Charles Bishop, punching Democratic Senator Lowell Barron. Some tension as the lawmakers tried to hammer out legislation on the last day of the regular legislative session.
Of course, American politicians have nothing on Taiwanese lawmakers. They love to duke it out. Boom. Punches, or really whatever they can get their hands on. Like the big signs that they're starting to hit each other with here in this brawl. Boom.
Also, Russian politicians like to duke it out. This fight in the state Duma, back in 2005, was over election results.
"Raw Politics". I think our American politicians can get better at this, though, if they keep trying.
A 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 your best clips on the air.
Up next on the program, breaking news. The immigration reform bill is stalled indefinitely. So now what? We'll have a live report from Capitol Hill.
Also ahead, Kelsey Smith's alleged killer. Who is he? And how the videotape of her abduction -- this videotape -- helped lead to his arrest. Next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: You're watching the only live newscast on cable right now. We begin with breaking news on one of the hottest issues out there: what to do about millions of illegal immigrants, how to control the border, whether to make it easier or tougher for illegals to become citizens.
Presidential candidates have been sniping over it, and for weeks now, senators have been trying to pass a compromise reform bill. Well, some have, at least. And others have been trying to kill it. Tonight, the bill looks dead.
CNN's Dana Bash has been following the late developments all night, joins us now from the Capitol.
Dana, what happened?
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