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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees

Libya Agrees to Give up WMD; Terror Attacks Over the Holidays?; Kobe Bryant Goes on Offensive

Aired December 19, 2003 - 19:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: A surprising disclosure. Libya admits trying to create weapons of mass destruction. But it's ready to make amends.
A new tape from al Qaeda and concerns of terror attacks over the holidays.

The defense in the Kobe Bryant case goes on the offensive.

Our pre-holiday series, "Miracles." Tonight, what can miracles do for you?

And this weekend's hot Hollywood tickets.

Live from the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is ANDERSON COOPER 360.

Good evening. Thanks for joining us on 360.

Terror threats and a new terror tape coming just in time for the holidays -- details on that just ahead.

But, first, surprising news about weapons of mass destruction. Just a short time ago, President Bush announced that Libya has admitted to a WMD program that one U.S. official says was much more advanced than previously thought. Libya has agreed to dismantle the program and allow international inspectors into the country. Covering the story for us tonight, we have Suzanne Malveaux at the White House and David Ensor in Washington.

Suzanne, we'll start with you. What's the latest?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, this is a process that started nine months ago, discussions that were initiated by Libyan officials involving the United States, United Kingdom and Libya, involving teams of intelligence, diplomats, as well as law enforcement.

We are told that Secretary of State Colin Powell involved in some of these discussions, that Libya has been very open in the last nine months, allowing for photographs to be taken, even samples of its weapons program. Now, President Bush, just an hour ago, saying that this is all a part of the administration's strategy to send a message to leaders around the world that it is not worth it to pursue weapons of mass destruction. Otherwise, you will be isolated, and that, if you do cooperate and give up these weapons, that the United States is open to improved relations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Today, in Tripoli, the leader of Libya, Colonel Moammar Gadhafi, publicly confirmed his commitment to disclose and dismantle all weapons of mass destruction programs in his country. He has agreed immediately and unconditionally to allow inspectors from international organizations to enter Libya. These inspectors will render an accounting of all nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons programs and will help oversee their elimination.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Now, Anderson, since the Lockerbie settlement, international sanctions had been lifted from Libya. But there is no indication that the United States is going to lift its own sanctions, a senior administration official, on background, saying that, yes, they're discussions, but certainly they're not talking about specifics at this time. It's much too early.

And, finally, on the question of whether or not these weapons of mass destruction came from Saddam Hussein or Iraq, that senior administration official saying there is no indication of that -- Anderson.

COOPER: All right, Suzanne Malveaux, covering the story in the White House -- thanks, Suzanne.

Libya, of course, has long been on the U.S. intelligence radar.

David Ensor joins us with that part of the story -- David.

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, and the remarkable thing is that much of the to-and-fro has been between intelligence officers.

We understand it started with some meetings in European capitals between Libyan, British and U.S. intelligence officers and that senior CIA people have actually been to Tripoli. they've met with Moammar Gadhafi. They've gone to some of the key sites.

Now, U.S. officials say that Libya has a nuclear weapons program, that it has a program under which it was trying to develop a nuclear weapon, including uranium processing and enrichment. It also has a robust stockpile of chemical weapons, although the Libyans have told the U.S. that they are not making any new ones. And it has some dual- use biological capability, plants that could be used for the production of biological weapons, although they have more benign uses as well.

So, officials are saying this is a major development. And, obviously, the proof is in the pudding. They want to now see the Libyans dismantle these programs. And they're going to be turning over a large file of material collected by U.S. and British intelligence to international agencies like the International Atomic Energy Agency, which they hope will now go in and watch the dismantling of these programs -- Anderson.

COOPER: David, there's some irony here. In the 1980s, the CIA in Libya, there were a lot of covert operations going on targeting Moammar Gadhafi, weren't there?

ENSOR: Well, that's right. And there probably have been CIA representatives in Libya over the years from time to time. But they haven't normally gone in with their correct names and under their correct identities.

It's been a place where spies have operated as spies. Now you have senior officials from the CIA going in, meeting with Libyan intelligence, meeting with the leader and doing a deal.

COOPER: What a difference a couple years can make.

All right, David Ensor, thanks very much.

How has more Moammar Gadhafi gone from international outlaw to international wheeler and dealer? We're going to look at the strange metamorphosis of this man later on, on 360.

Some new developments tonight from another front in the war on terror, an audiotape attributed to al Qaeda's second in command. There he is, Ayman al-Zawahiri. It was broadcast on the Arab television network Al-Jazeera. The tape claims U.S. forces are on the run in Afghanistan -- that's what he says -- as well as elsewhere, unable to defend themselves, according to him, and even goes on to say that the American soldier is -- and I quote -- "a coward and does not believe in his own ideology."

Another development today, we've learned U.S. officials are trying to determine the credibility of threats against American cities and elsewhere over the holiday season.

Kelli Arena has details.

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, unfortunately, there was a technical problem.

But here is what I can tell you, is that there has been an increase in the volume of intelligence that's come in to counterterrorism officials, nothing specific or credible, they say. But it's intelligence pointing to a possible attack against three major U.S. cities. Those include New York City, Washington, D.C., where you and I both sit, and Los Angeles. No specific targets, though, were mentioned. They say that the tactic for an attack could be, according to intelligence, a suicide bombing against a soft target, like a shopping mall or an airport -- again, though, nothing very specific at this point.

There is no plan at all to raise the national threat level, although that has been discussed, Anderson. And, interestingly enough, despite the increase in volume about a possible attack against the United States, officials say that they're actually more concerned about an attack overseas against Saudi Arabia, for example, where they believe that there could be something operational going on at this point.

The level of concern, I would describe as higher than usual heading into the holiday season. The timeframe that many officials have put on this recent intelligence is anywhere from now through January 1, New Year's Day. Cities, including New York and Washington, officials in those cities say that they have been informed about the intelligence, that they say that they are ready, that they're on alert -- again, nothing to panic about at this point, Anderson, but good to know that this information is coming in.

It's being sorted through. And if anything more concrete comes out of any of this, the officials say that they will be sure not to keep it a secret -- back to you.

COOPER: All right, Kelli Arena, thanks very much for that.

And we apologize for the audio problem.

Terror plots and threats, of course, nothing new around the holidays. Here is a quick news note for you. New Year's Day 2000, that was the day Algerian Ahmed Ressam said he planned to explode a suitcase bomb in L.A. International Airport. He never got the chance. He was caught in December of 1999 by a U.S. Customs agent with 130 pounds of explosive chemicals and four homemade timing devices in his car's trunk.

And three days before Christmas, December 22, 2001, that guy, Richard Reid, was overpowered by passengers and crew aboard a Paris- to-Miami flight. He was spotted trying to ignite explosives in his shoe. Reid was sentenced to life in prison. All around the holidays.

Well, the U.S. Navy has pulled off a major drug bust in the Persian Gulf. And the Pentagon says there may be an al Qaeda connection. The Navy intercepted a vessel carrying $8 to $10 million worth of hashish and seized 12 crew members. Now, the boarding took place Monday inside the Strait of Hormuz by a team from this ship, the USS Decatur, which we're showing right now.

Now, Pentagon officials say, four of the arrested crew members have ties to al Qaeda, but they would not elaborate on the link. The investigation is still going on.

U.S. officials are confirming that Paul Bremer, the top civilian administrator in Iraq, had a pretty close call recently. Also today, there was another -- other incidents of new violence in Iraq.

For all of that, we go to Bill Hemmer, who joins us live from Baghdad.

Good evening, Bill.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Anderson, hello. Good evening from Baghdad.

A close call is right. And details of what happened were only fleshed out today. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER (voice-over): On December 6, the same day Paul Bremer was giving Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld a personal tour of Baghdad, officials say Bremer's convoy came under attack. While Bremer's armored vehicle was leaving a meeting at the Baghdad Airport, a roadside bomb exploded. A barrage of gunfire followed.

Bremer's convoy sped away. No one was hurt. At coalition headquarters, a spokesman downplayed the possibility that Bremer was the target of an assassination.

DAN SENOR, ADVISER TO PAUL BREMER: We have reason to believe that it was just a random, opportunistic attack, not necessarily specifically targeted at him. But it's premature at this point to make that conclusion. It's a determination that is going to come out in the course of the investigation. And we'd like to let that play out.

HEMMER: In Basra, Bremer was nonchalant when asked what happened by reporters.

PAUL BREMER, U.S. ADMINISTRATOR IN IRAQ: And, as you can see, it didn't succeed.

HEMMER: It's the second time a high-ranking U.S. official has eluded attack in Iraq. In October, when the Pentagon's No. 2 man, Paul Wolfowitz, was at the Al-Rashid Hotel, several rockets were fired into the building. One person was killed, Wolfowitz was unharmed. Coalition officials in Baghdad dismiss reports that Saddam Hussein loyalists have infiltrated the coalition.

Elsewhere on Friday, an explosion ripped through a building belonging to the main Shiite political party. One woman is dead. At least eight others are wounded. In another bomb attack, a U.S. military tanker truck was blown off the highway 20 miles west of Baghdad. There were no casualties reported in that incident.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: Also today, Paul Bremer insisting that security is quickly coming to Baghdad. He insists that the capital city has seen a drop in violent crime by about 39 percent over the past two months.

Still, yet again today, with the explosions echoing across the capital city, it is still another reminder that this city far from stable -- Anderson.

COOPER: All right, Bill Hemmer, thanks very much, live in Baghdad, Bill.

Right now, we're following a number of other stories for you "Cross-Country." Let's take a quick look.

Atlanta, Georgia; Fighting the flu goes on. The CDC opened its emergency operations center today, trying to deal with the flu outbreak. They send out teams to help states deal with the problem. The director of the CDC, well, she is calling it an epidemic, though it doesn't technically meet the definition. There are widespread flu outbreaks in 36 states; 42 kids have died.

New York: surgery for former a NBA star. Less than a month after kidney disease forced him to retire from the NBA, Alonzo Mourning underwent a successful kidney transplant surgery in New York today. A spokesman for the New Jersey Nets says a cousin was the kidney donor.

Still in New York: the skyline's future. Architects working on the building of the World Trade Center site, well, they have unveiled a revised plan. Here it is. The building will be the world's tallest at 1,776 feet, with a 276-foot spire. A broadcast antenna would bring the structure's total height above 2,000 feet.

That's a look at stories "Cross-Country" tonight.

Well, Kobe Bryant's back in court. Should the alleged victim's health records be in the courtroom as well? We're going to go live to Eagle, Colorado, for that.

And the teenage sniper found guilty on all counts. Will Lee Boyd Malvo face the death penalty or life behind bars? That's the question now. We're going to go live to the courthouse, where there was some dramatic, heartbreaking testimony today.

Plus, believing in miracles, why is it so important to so many people? We'll take a closer look in our special series, "Miracles."

First, let's take a look inside the box at the top stories on tonight's network newscasts.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: There is a lot going on tonight.

We want to give you a quick update on developments in the Kobe Bryant case. The NBA superstar was at a pretrial hearing today, where the major issues were possible media leaks and the alleged sexual assault victim's medical records.

Gary Tuchman joins us live with the latest from Eagle, Colorado.

Good evening, Gary.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, hello to you.

Kobe Bryant has a basketball game with his Los Angeles Lakers about three hours from now, but, instead, he's 850 miles away from the home game in Los Angeles in this courthouse in Eagle, Colorado. And right now, he's in a closed-door session with his attorneys, with the prosecutors and the judge. The news media being kept out to discuss some sensitive issues.

The major sensitive issue, medical records. Kobe Bryant's attorneys want the accuser's medical records to be released, so they could possibly use it in a trial. We thought that would come up today, but the judge has made no decision on that. As a matter of fact, he hasn't even made a decision on whether it should be open to the public and media, the hearing to make the decision. That was something that took most of the day today, as the judge tried to decide whether he would grant a news media attorney request to keep the meeting open, or whether to grant the request of the accuser's attorneys and the prosecution to keep it closed.

But no decision was made. Instead, the judge said, I won't decide until January 23. That's the next motion hearing. Instead, I want to meet with you in private. That's what they're doing right now. He said, I also want written reports that are due on January 9. There was a complaint from the prosecution about media leaks. They accused the defense of leaking to media news favorable Kobe Bryant. But the judge said that he does not have authority to grant the request to do an investigation about those leaks.

Once again, this is going very slowly. There was a lot of talk about there being a trial this spring or this summer. But the way it's going right now, it would be very unlikely it would even happen that soon -- Anderson, back to you.

COOPER: All right, Gary Tuchman live in Eagle -- thanks, Gary.

We move on the Chesapeake, Virginia, now, and Lee Boyd Malvo, the convicted D.C. sniper, facing a trial of a very different sort today. The same jury that convicted him now has to decide if he lives or dies for his crimes.

Jeanne Meserve was in the courtroom, as she has been all along. And there was some heartbreaking moments today.

Good evening, Jeanne.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You wife is shot?

TED FRANKLIN, HUSBAND OF SNIPER VICTIM: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Where has she been shot?

FRANKLIN: She's shot in the head.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ted Franklin held his face in his hands and wept as he and the jury listened to his anguish the night the snipers blew half his wife's head away.

PETER GREENSPUN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY FOR JOHN ALLEN MUHAMMAD: It is a chilling, horrific piece of evidence. It was played to our jury during the guilt phase. And that is his strongest piece of evidence for death, in my assessment.

MESERVE: A photo of Linda Franklin cooking Christmas breakfast was projected as her daughter Katrina Hannum described how her mother felt Katrina's pregnant stomach the last time she saw her. "It is the one time she got to hold my son," Hannum said. She also spoke of crying jags and nightmares. "Almost every night, I have to watch this man shoot my mother in the head," she testified.

Conrad Johnson's widow recounted how he once had passengers on his bus sing her happy birthday. And Sonny Buchanan's sister said he sold Christmas trees for charity just feet from where he was shot. But Pascal Charlot's daughter was angry. "I would like to say, Malvo, you are evil. You are insane. You took my father's life." Malvo showed no reaction to any of it, but many jurors wept.

The defense put on Esmie McLeod, a school vice principal upset by Malvo's nomadic childhood. "We saw how unfair it was. It was not fair. It was not fair." She cried and some jurors did, too.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MESERVE: Monday, the defense will put Lee Malvo's father on the stand. And they have not closed the door completely on having Malvo himself testify -- Anderson.

COOPER: Just a terrible, terrible day. Jeanne Meserve, thank you very much.

Now a look at some other international stories on tonight's "Uplink." Let's take a look.

Tokyo: Anxiety over North Korea and its nuclear capabilities are prompting Japan to invest nearly $10 billion on a missile defense system. The shield will use components developed by the U.S.

Moving on, Jerusalem: The Israeli prime minister's threat to abandon the road map and finish building a barrier around his country is having a chilling effect throughout the globe. The World Court says it will hold hearings on the legality of such a move. Polls show most Israelis support the fence. But settlers who could be forced to abandon their homes are outraged.

And in outer space, a European spacecraft nicknamed Beagle 2 is now within -- well, within sniffing distance of Mars. The probe detached itself from its mother ship today and remains on track for a Christmas Day touchdown. Once there, it will try to determine whether Mars ever supported life.

And Baghdad: Whether you were for or against the Iraq war, it's hard not to smile when you see images like these. This is a Christmas party the U.S. military threw today for handicapped and orphaned children in Baghdad. Kids were given new clothes, hot food and took part in a football game with American soldiers. We're not sure who fun, but I'm sure it was fun.

That's tonight's "Uplink." The power of miracles. People continue to believe in them. Do you? We're going to have the conclusion of our weeklong series, "Miracles."

Also, the man who made a serial killer cry, a victim's father, find out what he now thinks of Gary Ridgway.

Also tonight, Moammar Gadhafi, he used to be one of the world's worst bad guys. But now he's promising to give up WMDs. Has Moammar Gadhafi really changed his stripes? We'll take a closer look ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER (voice-over): A 2-year-old boy lived, astounding investigators. Is it a miracle when a losing team suddenly wins? Some sports fans seem to think so. Remember when the U.S. Olympic hockey team astonished the world in 1980 by defeating the Soviets? Announcer Al Michaels asked the now famous question: Do you believe in miracles?

Some see a miracle when an unexpected hero appears. A dog finds a child gasping for air and barks to alert the parents, saving the child's life. And even in the midst of tragedy, some insist, miracles do happen. As the World Trade Center came crumbling down around these firefighters, a woman stopped in the stairwell.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In a way, it saved my life, though, because I stopped to help this woman, Josephine Harris, on the fifth floor. She couldn't walk anymore. She had walked down 72 flights. We started going down one step at a time.

COOPER: She refused to go on. Suddenly, all around them, the firefighters heard the thunderous collapse of the tower.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If she doesn't stop on the fourth floor, physically stop, and yell at us, we might be down on the second floor, which didn't exist anymore. It was covered in rubble. And we're dead.

COOPER: Are these truly miracles? Well, that's for you to decide. But the belief that miracles really do happen every day provides many in need with something very precious indeed: hope.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Earlier today, I spoke to a man who you might say specializes in miracles, not performing them, but trying to understand them. Kenneth Woodward, a "Newsweek" contributing editor, is the author of "The Book of Miracles."

I asked him what he thought the difference was between a miracle and a coincidence.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) KENNETH WOODWARD, AUTHOR, "THE BOOK OF MIRACLES": Well, miracles are really stories we tell.

For example, if I walk outside of this studio and I walk into the street and I'm at the bottom of a hill and a car is coming along and, at last minute, swerves away. It was going to hit me and kill me, OK? When I gain my senses, I say, what happened? Maybe I said a prayer, oh, my God, help me. Maybe I prayed to a saint, "Saint Ignatius, help me," something like that.

I have to construct a narrative as to what happened. And then I'll tell you about it, perhaps, or tell my wife about it, something like that. So there are always stories that tell us what world we're living in.

COOPER: So someone who believes in miracles or is particularly religious for one particular faith in that instance might say, well, the car did not hit me because God intervened.

WOODWARD: Yes. Exactly. Yes. That's right.

And others may say, look, I don't believe in miracles. One of the reason a lot of people don't believe in miracles, because they don't want to face the God question. So they say, ah, this is impossible. Well, that's what happened.

COOPER: Can you believe in miracles and not believe in God?

WOODWARD: Look, people believe in everything. They say, when you stop believing in God, you start believing in everything. So there are people like that. But I don't think it's terribly cogent.

COOPER: You recount in your writings a saying, an old Hasidic saying. I can't remember what

(CROSSTALK)

WOODWARD: Well, it says, he who believes all these tales is a fool and he who can't believe any of them is a heretic. And so you have a nice ambivalence there.

I think -- what I do in my book is read the classic tales in Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism. And I think the Bible, of all the scriptures of the world, has the best definition of a miracle: signs and wonders. So a miracle is something that causes us to be astonished, but it's also a sign of something. Otherwise, it has no meaning. It's the sign aspect that's really, really important.

COOPER: I asked Monsignor Sarno earlier in the week why miracles matter, what they do for people. And he said, it gives people hope.

WOODWARD: Well, that's entirely possible.

But, in American culture and American religion, we really want to experience things. You talk about, I had a born-again experience. The Puritans talk about an experience of sin. An experience of God's grace is what the Methodists talk about. Pentecostals today experience the spirit.

Americans want to experience God. So a miracle is a way of experiencing how God is functioning in my life and the fact that this God is not just an abstract creator, but somebody who is vitally interested in me.

COOPER: You've researched this for years. You've written books about it. Do you believe in miracles?

WOODWARD: Sure.

But I believe -- the reason I believe in miracles is, I believe in gifts. I believe that grace is a gift. I think we're constantly receiving gifts that we don't -- that we haven't earned, in a way. And I think you have to have that openness. Otherwise, miracles seem almost too good to be true.

COOPER: All right, Kenneth Woodward, thanks very much.

WOODWARD: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Well, we put that question to you now. What do you think? Today's "Buzz" question is this: Do you believe in miracles? Vote now, CNN.com/360. Results at the end of the program.

How do you forgive a serial killer?

And what are you up to this weekend? We've got some ideas.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Here is "The Reset," looking back at tonight's top stories.

London and Washington, a Libyan surprise. In a sudden announcement just a short while ago, British Prime Minister Tony Blair says that Libyan President Moammar Gadhafi has agreed to destroy in a transparent and verifiable way all his country's weapons of mass destruction. President Bush followed Blair with his own announcement in Washington, saying that the three-way negotiations had been ongoing behind the scenes for nine months. We're going to have more on this in just a moment.

Washington, D.C. Threats increasing. With the holidays around the corner, security analysts are concerned with the volume of terrorist threats at home and abroad. An FBI spokesman said there was no specific threat that they could identify, but that there are -- they are advising Americans to be on a heightened state of alert.

Brooklyn, New York, detainees abused. As many as 20 prison guards at a federal lockup beat prisoners detained after the 9/11 attacks. Videotapes of prisoners being slammed into the wall were discovered, even though officials at the Metropolitan Detention Center had said they were destroyed. A report by international -- by internal investigators recommends that 10 of the guards be disciplined for their actions.

Elsewhere, Washington, D.C., fewer kids on drugs. A new study by the federal government says that illegal drug use is way down among 13 to 18 year-olds, 11 percent down. That's over a two-year period. Drug use among kids has been headed down over the years since the middle '90s when it peaked.

And that is a look at the stories in "The Reset" tonight.

More, though, on Gadhafi. The stunning news just a short while ago that Libya is going to abandon its weapons of mass destruction program. In making that announcement, President Bush praised Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, saying he has taken a step toward Libya rejoining the international community.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In the policy of his government, at the direction of Colonel Gadhafi himself, Libyan officials have provided American and British intelligence officers with documentation on that country's chemical, biological, nuclear, and ballistic missile programs and activities. Our experts in these fields have met directly with Libyan officials to learn additional details.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Well, it might be a stretch to call Libya's leader, Moammar Gadhafi, a reformed terrorist, but if he delivers on his promises, that might be the title he's given. Here's a quick look at the Libyan leader and the events that brought him so much notoriety.

Obviously we're having some technical problems with that. We're going to try to get that piece to you just in a minute.

Let's take a closer look at exactly what the surprise announcement from Libya is going to mean to the world.

I'm joined now by Jim Walsh. He's an expert on nuclear proliferation with Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. Jim, thanks for coming to us on such short notice. Were you surprised by this announcement today?

JIM WALSH, HARVARD'S KENNEDY SCHOOL OF GOVERNMENT: I was surprised. But it's one of those things that you're surprised the day it happens, and then when you begin to think about it, it starts to make sense. And I say that for this reason, Libya clearly made a decision some years ago that it was going to escape its isolation. It did not want to be a rogue or a pariah state anymore. And the first thing it did was settle up the Lockerbie problem. Remember, the U.N. was sanctioning it because it was responsible for the bombing of Lockerbie. So it dealt on that, got a deal and set it aside. And then the next step, following right on the heels of that, was a decision to come to an agreement about its chemical weapons.

COOPER: But Jim, I mean, let's point out, with Lockerbie, some 270 people murdered, Gadhafi, Libyan's government, says they were responsible. They handed over these two guys that were behind it all. And if you go back to '70s and '80s, I mean, this guy was considered a mad man, an international funder of terrorism. He allegedly sent out hit squads to kill dissidents overseas. The U.S. was actively trying to overthrow him. I mean, when did all this change suddenly happen?

WALSH: Well, it's a great question. You're absolutely right, Anderson. Because I smiled during your introduction, to see President Bush praising Moammar Gadhafi, who would have thunk that was possible? But there, it's happening. And you're absolute right, in the early years, Gadhafi is for example alleged to have, after the 1967 Arab/Israeli war, gone to the Chinese and attempted to buy a nuclear weapon. The Chinese turned them down. And then sponsored a series of terrorist attacks in the '70s and was -- probably had some crude stockpile of chemical weapons, maybe was flirting with biological weapons.

COOPER: But what was it that allegedly made him make any kind of switch, or a change of heart, if that is in fact what he's done? I mean, Tripoli was blamed for the bombing in a Berlin disco that killed at least two U.S. servicemen. U.S. attacked him for that, sent over some missiles. I believe we killed one of his daughters in that attack. He was under a lot of diplomatic sanctions, a lot of economic sanctions. I mean, is that -- is the pain from that what sort of made him move in this direction?

WALSH: Well, it's hard to speculate about the motivations of individuals, be it Gadhafi or anyone. But I think you're right to focus in on Lockerbie. Because what happened after Lockerbie? It just wasn't individual countries that were sanctioning Libya. It was the international community. It was all of the U.N. saying no flights, no trade, no nothing.

And he lost the world stage. He lost credibility. He lost economic investment. And I think after years and years of living under sanctions, and seeing his economic infrastructure degrade over time, eventually he made the decision something has got to give, I'm going to deal with the international community, I can't afford to be a pariah.

COOPER: One of his sons was on CNN I believe back in July, talking to CNN's Judy Woodruff, and he was saying we want Coca-Cola, we want Pepsi-Cola, we want Americans to come to Tripoli. It's just amazing what a turnaround has happened.

Do we know anything really publicly? I mean, I guess CIA officers do, but do you know anything about how extensive their WMD program was?

WALSH: Well, that's a great question, because we throw around this term, weapons of mass destruction. And lots of things get mixed in there. Let's talk about it one issue at a time. Nuclear, I don't think they had a nuclear program. They were interested in nuclear weapons. As I said, they tried to get them in the late '60s and in the early '70s. It didn't go anywhere. In fact, I interviewed Egyptian scientists in Cairo, in Egypt about Libya's nuclear weapons program, and it pretty much fizzled.

What they probably had was chemical weapons, and maybe a small BW, or biological weapons program. But they had chem weapons, they had refused to sign the Chemical Weapons Convention which prohibited chemical weapons. And like many Arab states in the region, they said they wanted to hold on to these weapons as a balance against Israel's atomic or nuclear weapons. But I expect that most of whatever stockpile they have is an older generation of chemical weapons.

COOPER: I guess we're going to find out soon. They said they're going to let in inspectors, and we'll be following the story closely. Jim Walsh, thanks. Good to talk to you, as always.

WALSH: Thank you, Anderson.

COOPER: Moving on tonight, a stone-faced murderer was brought to tears yesterday in Seattle. When we come back, the man who looked his daughter's killer in the eye and forgave him. You'll hear from him directly.

Also ahead tonight, a preview on some new movies hitting the silver screen this weekend, including "Mona Lisa Smile," starring Julia Roberts. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Well, convicted serial killer Gary Ridgway has now heard first-hand how his appetite for murder brought so much pain to so many people. At yesterday's sentencing, his victims' family members took turns telling Ridgway their stories of emotional voids and lives cut short. Most were angry.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was -- she had just turned 15 years old and she was just an immature teenager trying to find her way in life before it was snuffed out by Gary Ridgway. I won't ever forgive him for that. He's destroyed my life. He's destroyed my daughter's life. There isn't any life for me anymore.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Others expressed similar contempt for the Green River killer. Not Robert Rule, however, whose daughter Linda was murdered by Ridgway. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT RULE, FATHER OF VICTIM LINDA RULE: You've made it difficult to live up to what I believe. And that is what God says to do. And that's to forgive. And he doesn't say to forgive just certain people. He says to forgive all. So you are forgiven, sir.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Robert Rule was kind enough to join us this evening. Robert, thanks very much for joining us from Seattle tonight. How tough was it for you to make that statement?

RULE: Well, after the first five or six years, I found it in my heart to forgive whoever did kill him -- or kill her. But I didn't know who did it until October -- or November of this year.

COOPER: Your daughter, Linda, was 16 years old when she was killed by this man.

RULE: Yes.

COOPER: And yet you found it able to forgive. I mean a lot of people just say -- how is that possible? How did you find it in your heart to forgive this man?

RULE: It's a commandment that you need to forgive all. And I think most doctors will tell you it's better to love than to hate, because hate will eat you up. And I forgive -- or not forgive -- but I feel sorry for those who are in court -- or were in court and will continue to hate him and not forgive him. Because if you don't give forgiveness, how do you expect to get it?

COOPER: What do you want to see to happen to this man, Ridgway?

RULE: Well, I -- sounds like a contradiction in terms, but I believe in the death penalty. I believe he should have gotten the death penalty. But if he did, my wife and I and those who loved Linda would never have known how she died or where she died or anything. As it is now, we'll have a new death certificate that says the cause of death, the time of death, the place of death.

COOPER: Because he made a deal with prosecutors in order to spare his life, he gave out the information.

RULE: That's right.

COOPER: You -- I'm sorry, go ahead.

RULE: There was 41 families that wouldn't have. There's only seven that would have, that he would have got the death penalty for. And the other 41 would have been out in the cold, so to speak.

COOPER: You work as a Santa during the holidays.

RULE: Yes.

COOPER: Your daughter was killed when she was 16. You missed her growing up. But that has motivated you to work as a Santa. Why?

RULE: Well, I guess it's motivated me to love children at Christmastime, all year. I love children. I do what I can to help children and at Christmastime, the best helper, for children, is Santa Claus.

COOPER: Well, it's a special holiday message that you are giving us tonight, Robert. I appreciate you joining us and I'm sorry for all that you've been through. But our best to you and your family. Thank you very much, Robert Rule in Seattle, Washington, tonight.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: All right. Time to check in with some pop news in tonight's "Current." Walt Disney will be making a movie of "The Three Little Pigs," The traditional story involves three pigs and their conflict with a wolf. The studio has not yet decided which Disney cartoon formula the movie will follow. We'll wait and see on that.

Mary Kate and Ashley Olson have decided to attend New York University according to "People" magazine. They'll attend the Gallatin school which allows students to create their own majors such as world domination.

Fox has announced that Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie will help count down the final moments of 2003. Apparently she and her friend can count and backwards even. Impressive.

Ben Affleck will be spending part of the holidays in the Persian Gulf screening his new movie, "Paycheck" for U.S. troops there. They expect Saddam Hussein, however, will be forced to watch "Gigli" over and over and over again.

Assuming you've got time to do anything but shop this weekend, you might want to take in a movie. There's a few new choices out there. But as we see in this edition of the "Week-ender," one seems to tower above the rest. Get it? Tower. The king of them all. Get it? Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is time.

COOPER (voice-over): "The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King" is already making movie history. It opened with the biggest single-day take in December ever. Director Peter Jackson has hit tri- factor. He's got critics raving, fans gushing and money pouring into the box office. And he did it without any high-priced A-list stars. Unless, of course, you count Gollum.

If are you craving a big Hollywood heavyweight this weekend, check out Julia Roberts rebelling against societal repression in the '50s in "Mona Lisa Smile".

Another movie that might make you smile, "The Calender Girls" sort after female "Full Monte." Based on real-life women who bear it all for charity.

If you want to stay home this weekend and you like old movies with maybe a new kick, on Sunday MTV airs "Volcano High," a Korean action movie dubbed with the voices of hip-hop artists like Method Man and Snoop Dogg.

Also on Sunday, "TIME" magazine reveals its person of the year. Remember, the title isn't an honor, just an indication of impact. So no whining if they pick a bad guy this year, OK.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: My personal nominee, of course, is a good guy, "New York Times" film critic Elvis Mitchell who just happens to be our guest tonight. Nice to have you here.

I'm so excited about this "Lord of the Rings" thing. I'm supposed to see it later tonight. And, as I've warned you already, if you say anything about the ending or anything close, I will not only close my ears, I will be very upset.

ELVIS MITCHELL, FILM CRITIC: This is the grown-up segment.

COOPER: How good is it?

MITCHELL: It is an amazing achievement. It's such a great piece of direction, because what can I say besides that it's in color and they have sound to you. That aside, the tones of these pictures are so different. What he does is really sort of blend the tones of the other two together and it has this beautiful, incredibly wonderful ending.

COOPER: You said the word ending. I'm going to stop you right there. Zipiti yah.

MITCHELL: Zipiti yah? Is that in the prompter?

COOPER: Let's play a little scene here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIRANDA OTTO, ACTRESS: It's tradition for the women of the court to farewell to their men.

The men have found their captain. They will follow you into battle, even to death. You have given us hope.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: He said the word ending. I don't even want to know what he's talking about.

Let's just move on because I think you're going to blow it and tell me what happens in the end.

No! no, no, no! No more. "Mona Lisa Smile." Let's talk about that. I'm not going to see it.

MITCHELL: It's basically -- apparently each generation needs "A Dead Poet's Society" even though its on cassette and DVD, so you can go find it anyway.

COOPER: So this is the new "Dead Poet's Society?"

MITCHELL: Yes. But it's this weird kind of thing -- so it wants to have it's cake and eat it too. There's so many mixed messages, that it actually contradicts itself in every scene. What's fascinating though is watching Julia Roberts with these young actresses, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Julie Stiles and Kirsten Dunst. It's like watching her in the cast of "The Birds." They're like descending on her. Waiting to sort of feast on her carcass.

COOPER: Oh, come on, now!

MITCHELL: I can't say anything about "Lord of the Rings." What can I do here?

COOPER: I like Julia Roberts. I don't want to hear anything bad about her.

MITCHELL: Well, at the ending...

COOPER: Let's finally talk about this other movie, "The Calendar Girls."

MITCHELL: Are you doing Phil Collins here, "Sussudio." Is that what's going on here?

COOPER: Exactly. Shush, Shush, shudio. "Calendar Girls."

MITCHELL: Well, you know, again, apparently each generation needs its own "Full Monte" as well.

COOPER: It is basically a "Full Monte."

MITCHELL: Yes. It's got Helen Mirren who is one of the greatest actresses, basically working in English. It's great to see her smile, because she's usually got that stern look that can scare paint off a wall.

COOPER: I've seen her in "Prime Suspect" that's where I love her the best.

MITCHELL: She was actually in this great movie, "Excalibur," which is very close to "Lord of the Rings."

COOPER: "Excalibur" I love that movie.

MITCHELL: She's in that movie with Liam Nesson.

COOPER: Liam Nesson was in that? I didn't realize that.

MITCHELL: That's why I'm a film critic. I actually know these things.

She's fun in this. She and Julie Walters (ph) -- but they've done this stuff in their sleep. But in fact they'll be doing it in your sleep. It's very polished. It's very smoothly put together. You know, it will be just as good on the plane as it in movie theaters. She's a Golden Globe nominee and it's a great performance by Helen Mirren. If you go to see it, that's why you'll go to see it.

I hope I hear this "Lord of the Rings"...

COOPER: I shupta. We're going to end it right there. Elvis Mitchell, Thanks very much.

MITCHELL: And shubta to you too.

COOPER: And looking ahead to New Year's Eve for a moment, think you'll have the best party? We'd be hurt if we weren't invited. So listen to this, we're having a contest to pick the ultimate, 360, New Year's Eve party. If we pick your party, we will actually feature your party live on the air on New Year's Eve, because we're doing a special broadcast, 11:00 to 12:30 Eastern time on New Year's Eve. And we'll come to your party and broadcast live from your party. It should be fun. E-mail us.

Still ahead, the power of forgiveness. How much could you forgive? We'll that he to the "Nth Degree."

Plus Monday, Rush Limbaugh doesn't want the public getting into his medical records. Will he win the fight? Join us for that on Monday.

And tonight's Buzz question, "do you believe in miracles." Vote now, CNN.com/360. The results when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: There you have it. We asked you, "do you believe in miracles?" 75 percent of you said yes. 25 percent, no. Not a scientific poll, just your buzz. We appreciate your votes.

Tonight forgiveness to the "Nth Degree." In a courtroom without cameras in Virginia today, the families and friends of those killed by Lee Boyd Malvo made victim impact statements. Testimonies about the pain they still endure.

Yesterday we heard similar statements made to Gary Ridgway, the so-called Green River Killer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was only 17 years old. She was murdered by that animal sitting over there who we have to call a man.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Victim impact statements. It's a dry term that doesn't come close to revealing the courage it takes to make them. When you've suffered a loss, a crime, hate of course is understandable. Yesterday, however, we were reminded that forgiveness is also possible. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are people here that hate you. I'm not one of them. I forgive you for what you've done. You've made it difficult to live up to what I believe and that is, what God says to do, that is to forgive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: That man's daughter was murdered by Gary Ridgway.

Forgiveness is something you hear a lot about in this holiday season, a cliche written on a Hallmark card. These trials, these statements are reminders to us all that the true gift of forgiveness is not just something you give to those who have wronged you, the gift of forgiveness is something you give to yourself as well.

That wraps up our program tonight. Coming up next "PAULA ZAHN NOW."

END

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





Holidays?; Kobe Bryant Goes on Offensive>


Aired December 19, 2003 - 19:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: A surprising disclosure. Libya admits trying to create weapons of mass destruction. But it's ready to make amends.
A new tape from al Qaeda and concerns of terror attacks over the holidays.

The defense in the Kobe Bryant case goes on the offensive.

Our pre-holiday series, "Miracles." Tonight, what can miracles do for you?

And this weekend's hot Hollywood tickets.

Live from the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is ANDERSON COOPER 360.

Good evening. Thanks for joining us on 360.

Terror threats and a new terror tape coming just in time for the holidays -- details on that just ahead.

But, first, surprising news about weapons of mass destruction. Just a short time ago, President Bush announced that Libya has admitted to a WMD program that one U.S. official says was much more advanced than previously thought. Libya has agreed to dismantle the program and allow international inspectors into the country. Covering the story for us tonight, we have Suzanne Malveaux at the White House and David Ensor in Washington.

Suzanne, we'll start with you. What's the latest?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, this is a process that started nine months ago, discussions that were initiated by Libyan officials involving the United States, United Kingdom and Libya, involving teams of intelligence, diplomats, as well as law enforcement.

We are told that Secretary of State Colin Powell involved in some of these discussions, that Libya has been very open in the last nine months, allowing for photographs to be taken, even samples of its weapons program. Now, President Bush, just an hour ago, saying that this is all a part of the administration's strategy to send a message to leaders around the world that it is not worth it to pursue weapons of mass destruction. Otherwise, you will be isolated, and that, if you do cooperate and give up these weapons, that the United States is open to improved relations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Today, in Tripoli, the leader of Libya, Colonel Moammar Gadhafi, publicly confirmed his commitment to disclose and dismantle all weapons of mass destruction programs in his country. He has agreed immediately and unconditionally to allow inspectors from international organizations to enter Libya. These inspectors will render an accounting of all nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons programs and will help oversee their elimination.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Now, Anderson, since the Lockerbie settlement, international sanctions had been lifted from Libya. But there is no indication that the United States is going to lift its own sanctions, a senior administration official, on background, saying that, yes, they're discussions, but certainly they're not talking about specifics at this time. It's much too early.

And, finally, on the question of whether or not these weapons of mass destruction came from Saddam Hussein or Iraq, that senior administration official saying there is no indication of that -- Anderson.

COOPER: All right, Suzanne Malveaux, covering the story in the White House -- thanks, Suzanne.

Libya, of course, has long been on the U.S. intelligence radar.

David Ensor joins us with that part of the story -- David.

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, and the remarkable thing is that much of the to-and-fro has been between intelligence officers.

We understand it started with some meetings in European capitals between Libyan, British and U.S. intelligence officers and that senior CIA people have actually been to Tripoli. they've met with Moammar Gadhafi. They've gone to some of the key sites.

Now, U.S. officials say that Libya has a nuclear weapons program, that it has a program under which it was trying to develop a nuclear weapon, including uranium processing and enrichment. It also has a robust stockpile of chemical weapons, although the Libyans have told the U.S. that they are not making any new ones. And it has some dual- use biological capability, plants that could be used for the production of biological weapons, although they have more benign uses as well.

So, officials are saying this is a major development. And, obviously, the proof is in the pudding. They want to now see the Libyans dismantle these programs. And they're going to be turning over a large file of material collected by U.S. and British intelligence to international agencies like the International Atomic Energy Agency, which they hope will now go in and watch the dismantling of these programs -- Anderson.

COOPER: David, there's some irony here. In the 1980s, the CIA in Libya, there were a lot of covert operations going on targeting Moammar Gadhafi, weren't there?

ENSOR: Well, that's right. And there probably have been CIA representatives in Libya over the years from time to time. But they haven't normally gone in with their correct names and under their correct identities.

It's been a place where spies have operated as spies. Now you have senior officials from the CIA going in, meeting with Libyan intelligence, meeting with the leader and doing a deal.

COOPER: What a difference a couple years can make.

All right, David Ensor, thanks very much.

How has more Moammar Gadhafi gone from international outlaw to international wheeler and dealer? We're going to look at the strange metamorphosis of this man later on, on 360.

Some new developments tonight from another front in the war on terror, an audiotape attributed to al Qaeda's second in command. There he is, Ayman al-Zawahiri. It was broadcast on the Arab television network Al-Jazeera. The tape claims U.S. forces are on the run in Afghanistan -- that's what he says -- as well as elsewhere, unable to defend themselves, according to him, and even goes on to say that the American soldier is -- and I quote -- "a coward and does not believe in his own ideology."

Another development today, we've learned U.S. officials are trying to determine the credibility of threats against American cities and elsewhere over the holiday season.

Kelli Arena has details.

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, unfortunately, there was a technical problem.

But here is what I can tell you, is that there has been an increase in the volume of intelligence that's come in to counterterrorism officials, nothing specific or credible, they say. But it's intelligence pointing to a possible attack against three major U.S. cities. Those include New York City, Washington, D.C., where you and I both sit, and Los Angeles. No specific targets, though, were mentioned. They say that the tactic for an attack could be, according to intelligence, a suicide bombing against a soft target, like a shopping mall or an airport -- again, though, nothing very specific at this point.

There is no plan at all to raise the national threat level, although that has been discussed, Anderson. And, interestingly enough, despite the increase in volume about a possible attack against the United States, officials say that they're actually more concerned about an attack overseas against Saudi Arabia, for example, where they believe that there could be something operational going on at this point.

The level of concern, I would describe as higher than usual heading into the holiday season. The timeframe that many officials have put on this recent intelligence is anywhere from now through January 1, New Year's Day. Cities, including New York and Washington, officials in those cities say that they have been informed about the intelligence, that they say that they are ready, that they're on alert -- again, nothing to panic about at this point, Anderson, but good to know that this information is coming in.

It's being sorted through. And if anything more concrete comes out of any of this, the officials say that they will be sure not to keep it a secret -- back to you.

COOPER: All right, Kelli Arena, thanks very much for that.

And we apologize for the audio problem.

Terror plots and threats, of course, nothing new around the holidays. Here is a quick news note for you. New Year's Day 2000, that was the day Algerian Ahmed Ressam said he planned to explode a suitcase bomb in L.A. International Airport. He never got the chance. He was caught in December of 1999 by a U.S. Customs agent with 130 pounds of explosive chemicals and four homemade timing devices in his car's trunk.

And three days before Christmas, December 22, 2001, that guy, Richard Reid, was overpowered by passengers and crew aboard a Paris- to-Miami flight. He was spotted trying to ignite explosives in his shoe. Reid was sentenced to life in prison. All around the holidays.

Well, the U.S. Navy has pulled off a major drug bust in the Persian Gulf. And the Pentagon says there may be an al Qaeda connection. The Navy intercepted a vessel carrying $8 to $10 million worth of hashish and seized 12 crew members. Now, the boarding took place Monday inside the Strait of Hormuz by a team from this ship, the USS Decatur, which we're showing right now.

Now, Pentagon officials say, four of the arrested crew members have ties to al Qaeda, but they would not elaborate on the link. The investigation is still going on.

U.S. officials are confirming that Paul Bremer, the top civilian administrator in Iraq, had a pretty close call recently. Also today, there was another -- other incidents of new violence in Iraq.

For all of that, we go to Bill Hemmer, who joins us live from Baghdad.

Good evening, Bill.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Anderson, hello. Good evening from Baghdad.

A close call is right. And details of what happened were only fleshed out today. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER (voice-over): On December 6, the same day Paul Bremer was giving Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld a personal tour of Baghdad, officials say Bremer's convoy came under attack. While Bremer's armored vehicle was leaving a meeting at the Baghdad Airport, a roadside bomb exploded. A barrage of gunfire followed.

Bremer's convoy sped away. No one was hurt. At coalition headquarters, a spokesman downplayed the possibility that Bremer was the target of an assassination.

DAN SENOR, ADVISER TO PAUL BREMER: We have reason to believe that it was just a random, opportunistic attack, not necessarily specifically targeted at him. But it's premature at this point to make that conclusion. It's a determination that is going to come out in the course of the investigation. And we'd like to let that play out.

HEMMER: In Basra, Bremer was nonchalant when asked what happened by reporters.

PAUL BREMER, U.S. ADMINISTRATOR IN IRAQ: And, as you can see, it didn't succeed.

HEMMER: It's the second time a high-ranking U.S. official has eluded attack in Iraq. In October, when the Pentagon's No. 2 man, Paul Wolfowitz, was at the Al-Rashid Hotel, several rockets were fired into the building. One person was killed, Wolfowitz was unharmed. Coalition officials in Baghdad dismiss reports that Saddam Hussein loyalists have infiltrated the coalition.

Elsewhere on Friday, an explosion ripped through a building belonging to the main Shiite political party. One woman is dead. At least eight others are wounded. In another bomb attack, a U.S. military tanker truck was blown off the highway 20 miles west of Baghdad. There were no casualties reported in that incident.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: Also today, Paul Bremer insisting that security is quickly coming to Baghdad. He insists that the capital city has seen a drop in violent crime by about 39 percent over the past two months.

Still, yet again today, with the explosions echoing across the capital city, it is still another reminder that this city far from stable -- Anderson.

COOPER: All right, Bill Hemmer, thanks very much, live in Baghdad, Bill.

Right now, we're following a number of other stories for you "Cross-Country." Let's take a quick look.

Atlanta, Georgia; Fighting the flu goes on. The CDC opened its emergency operations center today, trying to deal with the flu outbreak. They send out teams to help states deal with the problem. The director of the CDC, well, she is calling it an epidemic, though it doesn't technically meet the definition. There are widespread flu outbreaks in 36 states; 42 kids have died.

New York: surgery for former a NBA star. Less than a month after kidney disease forced him to retire from the NBA, Alonzo Mourning underwent a successful kidney transplant surgery in New York today. A spokesman for the New Jersey Nets says a cousin was the kidney donor.

Still in New York: the skyline's future. Architects working on the building of the World Trade Center site, well, they have unveiled a revised plan. Here it is. The building will be the world's tallest at 1,776 feet, with a 276-foot spire. A broadcast antenna would bring the structure's total height above 2,000 feet.

That's a look at stories "Cross-Country" tonight.

Well, Kobe Bryant's back in court. Should the alleged victim's health records be in the courtroom as well? We're going to go live to Eagle, Colorado, for that.

And the teenage sniper found guilty on all counts. Will Lee Boyd Malvo face the death penalty or life behind bars? That's the question now. We're going to go live to the courthouse, where there was some dramatic, heartbreaking testimony today.

Plus, believing in miracles, why is it so important to so many people? We'll take a closer look in our special series, "Miracles."

First, let's take a look inside the box at the top stories on tonight's network newscasts.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: There is a lot going on tonight.

We want to give you a quick update on developments in the Kobe Bryant case. The NBA superstar was at a pretrial hearing today, where the major issues were possible media leaks and the alleged sexual assault victim's medical records.

Gary Tuchman joins us live with the latest from Eagle, Colorado.

Good evening, Gary.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, hello to you.

Kobe Bryant has a basketball game with his Los Angeles Lakers about three hours from now, but, instead, he's 850 miles away from the home game in Los Angeles in this courthouse in Eagle, Colorado. And right now, he's in a closed-door session with his attorneys, with the prosecutors and the judge. The news media being kept out to discuss some sensitive issues.

The major sensitive issue, medical records. Kobe Bryant's attorneys want the accuser's medical records to be released, so they could possibly use it in a trial. We thought that would come up today, but the judge has made no decision on that. As a matter of fact, he hasn't even made a decision on whether it should be open to the public and media, the hearing to make the decision. That was something that took most of the day today, as the judge tried to decide whether he would grant a news media attorney request to keep the meeting open, or whether to grant the request of the accuser's attorneys and the prosecution to keep it closed.

But no decision was made. Instead, the judge said, I won't decide until January 23. That's the next motion hearing. Instead, I want to meet with you in private. That's what they're doing right now. He said, I also want written reports that are due on January 9. There was a complaint from the prosecution about media leaks. They accused the defense of leaking to media news favorable Kobe Bryant. But the judge said that he does not have authority to grant the request to do an investigation about those leaks.

Once again, this is going very slowly. There was a lot of talk about there being a trial this spring or this summer. But the way it's going right now, it would be very unlikely it would even happen that soon -- Anderson, back to you.

COOPER: All right, Gary Tuchman live in Eagle -- thanks, Gary.

We move on the Chesapeake, Virginia, now, and Lee Boyd Malvo, the convicted D.C. sniper, facing a trial of a very different sort today. The same jury that convicted him now has to decide if he lives or dies for his crimes.

Jeanne Meserve was in the courtroom, as she has been all along. And there was some heartbreaking moments today.

Good evening, Jeanne.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You wife is shot?

TED FRANKLIN, HUSBAND OF SNIPER VICTIM: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Where has she been shot?

FRANKLIN: She's shot in the head.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ted Franklin held his face in his hands and wept as he and the jury listened to his anguish the night the snipers blew half his wife's head away.

PETER GREENSPUN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY FOR JOHN ALLEN MUHAMMAD: It is a chilling, horrific piece of evidence. It was played to our jury during the guilt phase. And that is his strongest piece of evidence for death, in my assessment.

MESERVE: A photo of Linda Franklin cooking Christmas breakfast was projected as her daughter Katrina Hannum described how her mother felt Katrina's pregnant stomach the last time she saw her. "It is the one time she got to hold my son," Hannum said. She also spoke of crying jags and nightmares. "Almost every night, I have to watch this man shoot my mother in the head," she testified.

Conrad Johnson's widow recounted how he once had passengers on his bus sing her happy birthday. And Sonny Buchanan's sister said he sold Christmas trees for charity just feet from where he was shot. But Pascal Charlot's daughter was angry. "I would like to say, Malvo, you are evil. You are insane. You took my father's life." Malvo showed no reaction to any of it, but many jurors wept.

The defense put on Esmie McLeod, a school vice principal upset by Malvo's nomadic childhood. "We saw how unfair it was. It was not fair. It was not fair." She cried and some jurors did, too.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MESERVE: Monday, the defense will put Lee Malvo's father on the stand. And they have not closed the door completely on having Malvo himself testify -- Anderson.

COOPER: Just a terrible, terrible day. Jeanne Meserve, thank you very much.

Now a look at some other international stories on tonight's "Uplink." Let's take a look.

Tokyo: Anxiety over North Korea and its nuclear capabilities are prompting Japan to invest nearly $10 billion on a missile defense system. The shield will use components developed by the U.S.

Moving on, Jerusalem: The Israeli prime minister's threat to abandon the road map and finish building a barrier around his country is having a chilling effect throughout the globe. The World Court says it will hold hearings on the legality of such a move. Polls show most Israelis support the fence. But settlers who could be forced to abandon their homes are outraged.

And in outer space, a European spacecraft nicknamed Beagle 2 is now within -- well, within sniffing distance of Mars. The probe detached itself from its mother ship today and remains on track for a Christmas Day touchdown. Once there, it will try to determine whether Mars ever supported life.

And Baghdad: Whether you were for or against the Iraq war, it's hard not to smile when you see images like these. This is a Christmas party the U.S. military threw today for handicapped and orphaned children in Baghdad. Kids were given new clothes, hot food and took part in a football game with American soldiers. We're not sure who fun, but I'm sure it was fun.

That's tonight's "Uplink." The power of miracles. People continue to believe in them. Do you? We're going to have the conclusion of our weeklong series, "Miracles."

Also, the man who made a serial killer cry, a victim's father, find out what he now thinks of Gary Ridgway.

Also tonight, Moammar Gadhafi, he used to be one of the world's worst bad guys. But now he's promising to give up WMDs. Has Moammar Gadhafi really changed his stripes? We'll take a closer look ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER (voice-over): A 2-year-old boy lived, astounding investigators. Is it a miracle when a losing team suddenly wins? Some sports fans seem to think so. Remember when the U.S. Olympic hockey team astonished the world in 1980 by defeating the Soviets? Announcer Al Michaels asked the now famous question: Do you believe in miracles?

Some see a miracle when an unexpected hero appears. A dog finds a child gasping for air and barks to alert the parents, saving the child's life. And even in the midst of tragedy, some insist, miracles do happen. As the World Trade Center came crumbling down around these firefighters, a woman stopped in the stairwell.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In a way, it saved my life, though, because I stopped to help this woman, Josephine Harris, on the fifth floor. She couldn't walk anymore. She had walked down 72 flights. We started going down one step at a time.

COOPER: She refused to go on. Suddenly, all around them, the firefighters heard the thunderous collapse of the tower.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If she doesn't stop on the fourth floor, physically stop, and yell at us, we might be down on the second floor, which didn't exist anymore. It was covered in rubble. And we're dead.

COOPER: Are these truly miracles? Well, that's for you to decide. But the belief that miracles really do happen every day provides many in need with something very precious indeed: hope.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Earlier today, I spoke to a man who you might say specializes in miracles, not performing them, but trying to understand them. Kenneth Woodward, a "Newsweek" contributing editor, is the author of "The Book of Miracles."

I asked him what he thought the difference was between a miracle and a coincidence.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) KENNETH WOODWARD, AUTHOR, "THE BOOK OF MIRACLES": Well, miracles are really stories we tell.

For example, if I walk outside of this studio and I walk into the street and I'm at the bottom of a hill and a car is coming along and, at last minute, swerves away. It was going to hit me and kill me, OK? When I gain my senses, I say, what happened? Maybe I said a prayer, oh, my God, help me. Maybe I prayed to a saint, "Saint Ignatius, help me," something like that.

I have to construct a narrative as to what happened. And then I'll tell you about it, perhaps, or tell my wife about it, something like that. So there are always stories that tell us what world we're living in.

COOPER: So someone who believes in miracles or is particularly religious for one particular faith in that instance might say, well, the car did not hit me because God intervened.

WOODWARD: Yes. Exactly. Yes. That's right.

And others may say, look, I don't believe in miracles. One of the reason a lot of people don't believe in miracles, because they don't want to face the God question. So they say, ah, this is impossible. Well, that's what happened.

COOPER: Can you believe in miracles and not believe in God?

WOODWARD: Look, people believe in everything. They say, when you stop believing in God, you start believing in everything. So there are people like that. But I don't think it's terribly cogent.

COOPER: You recount in your writings a saying, an old Hasidic saying. I can't remember what

(CROSSTALK)

WOODWARD: Well, it says, he who believes all these tales is a fool and he who can't believe any of them is a heretic. And so you have a nice ambivalence there.

I think -- what I do in my book is read the classic tales in Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism. And I think the Bible, of all the scriptures of the world, has the best definition of a miracle: signs and wonders. So a miracle is something that causes us to be astonished, but it's also a sign of something. Otherwise, it has no meaning. It's the sign aspect that's really, really important.

COOPER: I asked Monsignor Sarno earlier in the week why miracles matter, what they do for people. And he said, it gives people hope.

WOODWARD: Well, that's entirely possible.

But, in American culture and American religion, we really want to experience things. You talk about, I had a born-again experience. The Puritans talk about an experience of sin. An experience of God's grace is what the Methodists talk about. Pentecostals today experience the spirit.

Americans want to experience God. So a miracle is a way of experiencing how God is functioning in my life and the fact that this God is not just an abstract creator, but somebody who is vitally interested in me.

COOPER: You've researched this for years. You've written books about it. Do you believe in miracles?

WOODWARD: Sure.

But I believe -- the reason I believe in miracles is, I believe in gifts. I believe that grace is a gift. I think we're constantly receiving gifts that we don't -- that we haven't earned, in a way. And I think you have to have that openness. Otherwise, miracles seem almost too good to be true.

COOPER: All right, Kenneth Woodward, thanks very much.

WOODWARD: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Well, we put that question to you now. What do you think? Today's "Buzz" question is this: Do you believe in miracles? Vote now, CNN.com/360. Results at the end of the program.

How do you forgive a serial killer?

And what are you up to this weekend? We've got some ideas.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Here is "The Reset," looking back at tonight's top stories.

London and Washington, a Libyan surprise. In a sudden announcement just a short while ago, British Prime Minister Tony Blair says that Libyan President Moammar Gadhafi has agreed to destroy in a transparent and verifiable way all his country's weapons of mass destruction. President Bush followed Blair with his own announcement in Washington, saying that the three-way negotiations had been ongoing behind the scenes for nine months. We're going to have more on this in just a moment.

Washington, D.C. Threats increasing. With the holidays around the corner, security analysts are concerned with the volume of terrorist threats at home and abroad. An FBI spokesman said there was no specific threat that they could identify, but that there are -- they are advising Americans to be on a heightened state of alert.

Brooklyn, New York, detainees abused. As many as 20 prison guards at a federal lockup beat prisoners detained after the 9/11 attacks. Videotapes of prisoners being slammed into the wall were discovered, even though officials at the Metropolitan Detention Center had said they were destroyed. A report by international -- by internal investigators recommends that 10 of the guards be disciplined for their actions.

Elsewhere, Washington, D.C., fewer kids on drugs. A new study by the federal government says that illegal drug use is way down among 13 to 18 year-olds, 11 percent down. That's over a two-year period. Drug use among kids has been headed down over the years since the middle '90s when it peaked.

And that is a look at the stories in "The Reset" tonight.

More, though, on Gadhafi. The stunning news just a short while ago that Libya is going to abandon its weapons of mass destruction program. In making that announcement, President Bush praised Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, saying he has taken a step toward Libya rejoining the international community.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In the policy of his government, at the direction of Colonel Gadhafi himself, Libyan officials have provided American and British intelligence officers with documentation on that country's chemical, biological, nuclear, and ballistic missile programs and activities. Our experts in these fields have met directly with Libyan officials to learn additional details.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Well, it might be a stretch to call Libya's leader, Moammar Gadhafi, a reformed terrorist, but if he delivers on his promises, that might be the title he's given. Here's a quick look at the Libyan leader and the events that brought him so much notoriety.

Obviously we're having some technical problems with that. We're going to try to get that piece to you just in a minute.

Let's take a closer look at exactly what the surprise announcement from Libya is going to mean to the world.

I'm joined now by Jim Walsh. He's an expert on nuclear proliferation with Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. Jim, thanks for coming to us on such short notice. Were you surprised by this announcement today?

JIM WALSH, HARVARD'S KENNEDY SCHOOL OF GOVERNMENT: I was surprised. But it's one of those things that you're surprised the day it happens, and then when you begin to think about it, it starts to make sense. And I say that for this reason, Libya clearly made a decision some years ago that it was going to escape its isolation. It did not want to be a rogue or a pariah state anymore. And the first thing it did was settle up the Lockerbie problem. Remember, the U.N. was sanctioning it because it was responsible for the bombing of Lockerbie. So it dealt on that, got a deal and set it aside. And then the next step, following right on the heels of that, was a decision to come to an agreement about its chemical weapons.

COOPER: But Jim, I mean, let's point out, with Lockerbie, some 270 people murdered, Gadhafi, Libyan's government, says they were responsible. They handed over these two guys that were behind it all. And if you go back to '70s and '80s, I mean, this guy was considered a mad man, an international funder of terrorism. He allegedly sent out hit squads to kill dissidents overseas. The U.S. was actively trying to overthrow him. I mean, when did all this change suddenly happen?

WALSH: Well, it's a great question. You're absolutely right, Anderson. Because I smiled during your introduction, to see President Bush praising Moammar Gadhafi, who would have thunk that was possible? But there, it's happening. And you're absolute right, in the early years, Gadhafi is for example alleged to have, after the 1967 Arab/Israeli war, gone to the Chinese and attempted to buy a nuclear weapon. The Chinese turned them down. And then sponsored a series of terrorist attacks in the '70s and was -- probably had some crude stockpile of chemical weapons, maybe was flirting with biological weapons.

COOPER: But what was it that allegedly made him make any kind of switch, or a change of heart, if that is in fact what he's done? I mean, Tripoli was blamed for the bombing in a Berlin disco that killed at least two U.S. servicemen. U.S. attacked him for that, sent over some missiles. I believe we killed one of his daughters in that attack. He was under a lot of diplomatic sanctions, a lot of economic sanctions. I mean, is that -- is the pain from that what sort of made him move in this direction?

WALSH: Well, it's hard to speculate about the motivations of individuals, be it Gadhafi or anyone. But I think you're right to focus in on Lockerbie. Because what happened after Lockerbie? It just wasn't individual countries that were sanctioning Libya. It was the international community. It was all of the U.N. saying no flights, no trade, no nothing.

And he lost the world stage. He lost credibility. He lost economic investment. And I think after years and years of living under sanctions, and seeing his economic infrastructure degrade over time, eventually he made the decision something has got to give, I'm going to deal with the international community, I can't afford to be a pariah.

COOPER: One of his sons was on CNN I believe back in July, talking to CNN's Judy Woodruff, and he was saying we want Coca-Cola, we want Pepsi-Cola, we want Americans to come to Tripoli. It's just amazing what a turnaround has happened.

Do we know anything really publicly? I mean, I guess CIA officers do, but do you know anything about how extensive their WMD program was?

WALSH: Well, that's a great question, because we throw around this term, weapons of mass destruction. And lots of things get mixed in there. Let's talk about it one issue at a time. Nuclear, I don't think they had a nuclear program. They were interested in nuclear weapons. As I said, they tried to get them in the late '60s and in the early '70s. It didn't go anywhere. In fact, I interviewed Egyptian scientists in Cairo, in Egypt about Libya's nuclear weapons program, and it pretty much fizzled.

What they probably had was chemical weapons, and maybe a small BW, or biological weapons program. But they had chem weapons, they had refused to sign the Chemical Weapons Convention which prohibited chemical weapons. And like many Arab states in the region, they said they wanted to hold on to these weapons as a balance against Israel's atomic or nuclear weapons. But I expect that most of whatever stockpile they have is an older generation of chemical weapons.

COOPER: I guess we're going to find out soon. They said they're going to let in inspectors, and we'll be following the story closely. Jim Walsh, thanks. Good to talk to you, as always.

WALSH: Thank you, Anderson.

COOPER: Moving on tonight, a stone-faced murderer was brought to tears yesterday in Seattle. When we come back, the man who looked his daughter's killer in the eye and forgave him. You'll hear from him directly.

Also ahead tonight, a preview on some new movies hitting the silver screen this weekend, including "Mona Lisa Smile," starring Julia Roberts. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Well, convicted serial killer Gary Ridgway has now heard first-hand how his appetite for murder brought so much pain to so many people. At yesterday's sentencing, his victims' family members took turns telling Ridgway their stories of emotional voids and lives cut short. Most were angry.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was -- she had just turned 15 years old and she was just an immature teenager trying to find her way in life before it was snuffed out by Gary Ridgway. I won't ever forgive him for that. He's destroyed my life. He's destroyed my daughter's life. There isn't any life for me anymore.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Others expressed similar contempt for the Green River killer. Not Robert Rule, however, whose daughter Linda was murdered by Ridgway. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT RULE, FATHER OF VICTIM LINDA RULE: You've made it difficult to live up to what I believe. And that is what God says to do. And that's to forgive. And he doesn't say to forgive just certain people. He says to forgive all. So you are forgiven, sir.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Robert Rule was kind enough to join us this evening. Robert, thanks very much for joining us from Seattle tonight. How tough was it for you to make that statement?

RULE: Well, after the first five or six years, I found it in my heart to forgive whoever did kill him -- or kill her. But I didn't know who did it until October -- or November of this year.

COOPER: Your daughter, Linda, was 16 years old when she was killed by this man.

RULE: Yes.

COOPER: And yet you found it able to forgive. I mean a lot of people just say -- how is that possible? How did you find it in your heart to forgive this man?

RULE: It's a commandment that you need to forgive all. And I think most doctors will tell you it's better to love than to hate, because hate will eat you up. And I forgive -- or not forgive -- but I feel sorry for those who are in court -- or were in court and will continue to hate him and not forgive him. Because if you don't give forgiveness, how do you expect to get it?

COOPER: What do you want to see to happen to this man, Ridgway?

RULE: Well, I -- sounds like a contradiction in terms, but I believe in the death penalty. I believe he should have gotten the death penalty. But if he did, my wife and I and those who loved Linda would never have known how she died or where she died or anything. As it is now, we'll have a new death certificate that says the cause of death, the time of death, the place of death.

COOPER: Because he made a deal with prosecutors in order to spare his life, he gave out the information.

RULE: That's right.

COOPER: You -- I'm sorry, go ahead.

RULE: There was 41 families that wouldn't have. There's only seven that would have, that he would have got the death penalty for. And the other 41 would have been out in the cold, so to speak.

COOPER: You work as a Santa during the holidays.

RULE: Yes.

COOPER: Your daughter was killed when she was 16. You missed her growing up. But that has motivated you to work as a Santa. Why?

RULE: Well, I guess it's motivated me to love children at Christmastime, all year. I love children. I do what I can to help children and at Christmastime, the best helper, for children, is Santa Claus.

COOPER: Well, it's a special holiday message that you are giving us tonight, Robert. I appreciate you joining us and I'm sorry for all that you've been through. But our best to you and your family. Thank you very much, Robert Rule in Seattle, Washington, tonight.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: All right. Time to check in with some pop news in tonight's "Current." Walt Disney will be making a movie of "The Three Little Pigs," The traditional story involves three pigs and their conflict with a wolf. The studio has not yet decided which Disney cartoon formula the movie will follow. We'll wait and see on that.

Mary Kate and Ashley Olson have decided to attend New York University according to "People" magazine. They'll attend the Gallatin school which allows students to create their own majors such as world domination.

Fox has announced that Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie will help count down the final moments of 2003. Apparently she and her friend can count and backwards even. Impressive.

Ben Affleck will be spending part of the holidays in the Persian Gulf screening his new movie, "Paycheck" for U.S. troops there. They expect Saddam Hussein, however, will be forced to watch "Gigli" over and over and over again.

Assuming you've got time to do anything but shop this weekend, you might want to take in a movie. There's a few new choices out there. But as we see in this edition of the "Week-ender," one seems to tower above the rest. Get it? Tower. The king of them all. Get it? Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is time.

COOPER (voice-over): "The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King" is already making movie history. It opened with the biggest single-day take in December ever. Director Peter Jackson has hit tri- factor. He's got critics raving, fans gushing and money pouring into the box office. And he did it without any high-priced A-list stars. Unless, of course, you count Gollum.

If are you craving a big Hollywood heavyweight this weekend, check out Julia Roberts rebelling against societal repression in the '50s in "Mona Lisa Smile".

Another movie that might make you smile, "The Calender Girls" sort after female "Full Monte." Based on real-life women who bear it all for charity.

If you want to stay home this weekend and you like old movies with maybe a new kick, on Sunday MTV airs "Volcano High," a Korean action movie dubbed with the voices of hip-hop artists like Method Man and Snoop Dogg.

Also on Sunday, "TIME" magazine reveals its person of the year. Remember, the title isn't an honor, just an indication of impact. So no whining if they pick a bad guy this year, OK.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: My personal nominee, of course, is a good guy, "New York Times" film critic Elvis Mitchell who just happens to be our guest tonight. Nice to have you here.

I'm so excited about this "Lord of the Rings" thing. I'm supposed to see it later tonight. And, as I've warned you already, if you say anything about the ending or anything close, I will not only close my ears, I will be very upset.

ELVIS MITCHELL, FILM CRITIC: This is the grown-up segment.

COOPER: How good is it?

MITCHELL: It is an amazing achievement. It's such a great piece of direction, because what can I say besides that it's in color and they have sound to you. That aside, the tones of these pictures are so different. What he does is really sort of blend the tones of the other two together and it has this beautiful, incredibly wonderful ending.

COOPER: You said the word ending. I'm going to stop you right there. Zipiti yah.

MITCHELL: Zipiti yah? Is that in the prompter?

COOPER: Let's play a little scene here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIRANDA OTTO, ACTRESS: It's tradition for the women of the court to farewell to their men.

The men have found their captain. They will follow you into battle, even to death. You have given us hope.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: He said the word ending. I don't even want to know what he's talking about.

Let's just move on because I think you're going to blow it and tell me what happens in the end.

No! no, no, no! No more. "Mona Lisa Smile." Let's talk about that. I'm not going to see it.

MITCHELL: It's basically -- apparently each generation needs "A Dead Poet's Society" even though its on cassette and DVD, so you can go find it anyway.

COOPER: So this is the new "Dead Poet's Society?"

MITCHELL: Yes. But it's this weird kind of thing -- so it wants to have it's cake and eat it too. There's so many mixed messages, that it actually contradicts itself in every scene. What's fascinating though is watching Julia Roberts with these young actresses, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Julie Stiles and Kirsten Dunst. It's like watching her in the cast of "The Birds." They're like descending on her. Waiting to sort of feast on her carcass.

COOPER: Oh, come on, now!

MITCHELL: I can't say anything about "Lord of the Rings." What can I do here?

COOPER: I like Julia Roberts. I don't want to hear anything bad about her.

MITCHELL: Well, at the ending...

COOPER: Let's finally talk about this other movie, "The Calendar Girls."

MITCHELL: Are you doing Phil Collins here, "Sussudio." Is that what's going on here?

COOPER: Exactly. Shush, Shush, shudio. "Calendar Girls."

MITCHELL: Well, you know, again, apparently each generation needs its own "Full Monte" as well.

COOPER: It is basically a "Full Monte."

MITCHELL: Yes. It's got Helen Mirren who is one of the greatest actresses, basically working in English. It's great to see her smile, because she's usually got that stern look that can scare paint off a wall.

COOPER: I've seen her in "Prime Suspect" that's where I love her the best.

MITCHELL: She was actually in this great movie, "Excalibur," which is very close to "Lord of the Rings."

COOPER: "Excalibur" I love that movie.

MITCHELL: She's in that movie with Liam Nesson.

COOPER: Liam Nesson was in that? I didn't realize that.

MITCHELL: That's why I'm a film critic. I actually know these things.

She's fun in this. She and Julie Walters (ph) -- but they've done this stuff in their sleep. But in fact they'll be doing it in your sleep. It's very polished. It's very smoothly put together. You know, it will be just as good on the plane as it in movie theaters. She's a Golden Globe nominee and it's a great performance by Helen Mirren. If you go to see it, that's why you'll go to see it.

I hope I hear this "Lord of the Rings"...

COOPER: I shupta. We're going to end it right there. Elvis Mitchell, Thanks very much.

MITCHELL: And shubta to you too.

COOPER: And looking ahead to New Year's Eve for a moment, think you'll have the best party? We'd be hurt if we weren't invited. So listen to this, we're having a contest to pick the ultimate, 360, New Year's Eve party. If we pick your party, we will actually feature your party live on the air on New Year's Eve, because we're doing a special broadcast, 11:00 to 12:30 Eastern time on New Year's Eve. And we'll come to your party and broadcast live from your party. It should be fun. E-mail us.

Still ahead, the power of forgiveness. How much could you forgive? We'll that he to the "Nth Degree."

Plus Monday, Rush Limbaugh doesn't want the public getting into his medical records. Will he win the fight? Join us for that on Monday.

And tonight's Buzz question, "do you believe in miracles." Vote now, CNN.com/360. The results when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: There you have it. We asked you, "do you believe in miracles?" 75 percent of you said yes. 25 percent, no. Not a scientific poll, just your buzz. We appreciate your votes.

Tonight forgiveness to the "Nth Degree." In a courtroom without cameras in Virginia today, the families and friends of those killed by Lee Boyd Malvo made victim impact statements. Testimonies about the pain they still endure.

Yesterday we heard similar statements made to Gary Ridgway, the so-called Green River Killer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was only 17 years old. She was murdered by that animal sitting over there who we have to call a man.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Victim impact statements. It's a dry term that doesn't come close to revealing the courage it takes to make them. When you've suffered a loss, a crime, hate of course is understandable. Yesterday, however, we were reminded that forgiveness is also possible. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are people here that hate you. I'm not one of them. I forgive you for what you've done. You've made it difficult to live up to what I believe and that is, what God says to do, that is to forgive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: That man's daughter was murdered by Gary Ridgway.

Forgiveness is something you hear a lot about in this holiday season, a cliche written on a Hallmark card. These trials, these statements are reminders to us all that the true gift of forgiveness is not just something you give to those who have wronged you, the gift of forgiveness is something you give to yourself as well.

That wraps up our program tonight. Coming up next "PAULA ZAHN NOW."

END

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