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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees

Bin Laden Releases New Tape; Surveillance USA

Aired December 16, 2004 - 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.


HEIDI COLLINS, HOST: Good evening from New York. I'm Heidi Collins.
The voice of hatred heard again.

360 starts now.

A new message of hate, purportedly from Osama bin Laden, but this time a new method of delivery. What's on the tape, and how experts are using it to prevent future attacks.

Shocking discovery about who's watching you, and what they're watching. In one of America's most popular casinos, tonight a 360 look at surveillance USA.

Our special series, Ancient Cures: Modern Hope or Hoax? Investigating the medical benefits of herbs. Are these ancient treatments relevant today?

And the real aviator, a look at the man who loved both Hepburn and Gardner, took on the government, and made billions along the way. The life and time of Howard Hughes.

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

COLLINS: Good evening, everybody. Anderson has the night off.

The most hated voice in this country was heard again today on the Internet, reminding Americans that the man behind the 9/11 attacks is still alive, and feels safe enough to shake his finger not only at the United States government, but at several governments in the Muslim world as well.

CNN senior international correspondent Nic Robertson reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): A link from this jihadi Web site, delivering what purports to be Osama bin Laden's latest message, referring directly to this attack on the U.S. consulate in Jeddah last week, almost undoubtedly recorded in the last 10 days.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

OSAMA BIN LADEN (through translator): We pray to Allah to accept the mujahadeen who stormed the U.S. consulate in Jeddah as martyrs.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: Unlike recent video messages delivered to Arabic broadcaster Al Jazeera, bin Laden's audio-only anti-Saudi-royals diatribe is available in its 74-minute entirety.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He didn't want this message to be edited. And it's clear that for some time, Al Jazeera has been carefully editing Osama bin Laden's messages, and indeed has particularly edited out, on some occasions, references to the Saudi government.

ROBERTSON: In this poor-quality message, the voice claimed to be bin Laden's accuses the Saudi royals of being puppets of a crusader- Zionist alliance led by America, seeking to steal the wealth and occupy the lands of Muslims.

BIN LADEN (through translator): Millions are suffering in poverty, while money pours into the hands of the Saudi royal family.

ROBERTSON: Possibly significant, this message was released hours before a planned antiroyal demonstration inside Saudi Arabia.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Perhaps he wanted to lend his authority and his definition to the conflict.

ROBERTSON (on camera): The demonstration's organizers are here in London, a group of Saudi dissidents intent on overthrowing the Saudi government.

But despite Web site claims that thousands turned out, fought battles with police, and were arrested, a witness in Jeddah said demonstrations there fizzled amid tight security, Bin laden's message apparently having little effect.

(voice-over): Already on heightened alert following the attack on the consulate last week, the U.S. embassy in Saudi Arabia warned Americans about the demonstrations, advising them to stay off the streets, bin Laden seen as adding to that threat.

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: He's a terrorist, he's a murderer, and we're going to continue to hunt for him until he is captured and brought to justice.

ROBERTSON: While Pakistani troops have all but closed down the hunt for bin Laden in their tribal lands, it seems the al Qaeda leader is so confident of his lines of communication now, he can boldly release statements within days of al Qaeda attacks, though, in this case, without showing his face.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Osama bin Laden returning to his roots, Heidi, returning to his roots, and the message all about, all about the Saudi royal family and overthrowing them. COLLINS: Well, Nic, you know, obviously we have seen so many recordings, whether they're audio or videotapes. How has Osama bin Laden not been caught? How have these not been traced back, their origination, to him?

ROBERTSON: That may be part of why this message is also delivered through the Internet. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) more recent messages delivered on the videotape to Al Jazeera, that he tries to stay one step ahead of the authorities that are trying to catch him.

There must, there's likely some electronic signature that's associated with this Web site, with this audio message. But is it enough to lead to Osama bin Laden? After all, he's not likely to be going into the Internet cafe and sending this message himself. But how many steps, how many steps between him and when this message was put into the Internet? And where was it put in? And can investigators find that out, and therefore get one step closer to him?

COLLINS: (UNINTELLIGIBLE), all right, Nic Robertson, appreciate it tonight.

No question Osama bin Laden can still make himself heard, but can he do any more than that? After years of being hunted, after years of hiding, is he really still the head of al Qaeda, or just its mouthpiece?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS (voice-over): Up until 9/11, it used to be clear, Osama bin Laden ran al Qaeda, his chief deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, his military commander, Mohammed Atef, one, two, and three in the hierarchy.

Even the acts of 9/11, probably the idea of al Qaeda commander Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, had to be approved by bin Laden.

Then came the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. Bin Laden and al- Zawahiri were on the run, Atef killed by U.S. missiles. There were al Qaeda attacks ordered Khalid Shaikh Mohammed after 9/11, including this one on a synagogue in Tunisia. But Khalid Shaikh Mohammed was captured.

Al Qaeda changed, becoming as much of a movement as a group. While there were messages from bin Laden and al-Zawahiri, attacks were more likely to come from groups that billed themselves as followers of Osama.

The worst attack, on March 11 in Madrid, wasn't ordered by bin Laden, but was linked to al Qaeda sympathizers. A group called Al Qaeda in Saudi Arabia claimed the mantle of bin Laden when it carried out a series of attacks, including the recent one on the U.S. consulate in Jeddah.

And even Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, whose relationship with bin Laden is unclear, renamed his group Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia just a few months ago. So now there is no real hierarchy. But as the attacks keep coming, that may not really matter.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: We're joined now in Washington by CNN terrorism analyst Peter Bergen.

Good to see you again, Peter.

So do you think that Osama bin Laden is actually ordering attacks at this time, or just trying to make himself relevant with this type of tape?

PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Well, I think both. I mean, he -- you know, we've seen bin Laden calling for specific attacks in this recent audiotape against the Saudi royal family, the Saudi government, and perhaps oil installations in the Middle East. And I think those attacks, people will act on those. So by the medium of these audiotapes, even though he may not directly have command and control over al Qaeda, he certainly continues to energize the base and also sometimes suggests specific acts.

I mean Ayman al-Zawahiri, the number two of al Qaeda, has called for attacks on Pakistani President Musharraf. That was late 2003. After that, after Ayman al-Zawahiri called for those attacks, there were assassination attempts against Musharraf.

So the tapes do serve as a way of retaining some kind of command and control over the organization.

COLLINS: Well, the attack against the American consulate in Jeddah that bin Laden mentioned on the tape happened only 10 days ago. I mean, that's pretty reactive, a short amount of time for a guy who was supposed to be holed up in a cave somewhere. Do you still believe bin Laden is hiding in a remote area of Pakistan, as we've thought for quite a while now?

BERGEN: I think that's the conventional wisdom. I'm not sure it's true. It could be true, but it's just a fact that all the senior al Qaeda leaders that been found in Pakistan have been found in cities.

And judging by the fact that bin Laden seems very well informed in these statements about recent developments, he pays close attention to the news, he's sort of a policy wonk, he talks about supplemental funding for the Iraq and Afghan war in the most recent videotape -- these are the kinds of things you don't find out if you're in the kind of area we're seeing on the television right now, an area without electricity, an area without access to Internet or newspapers.

It seems to me that bin Laden is somewhere in some sort of semiurban setting, judging by how well informed he is.

COLLINS: Well, Peter, quickly, before we let you go here, in the past, some of these tapes have actually preceded terrorist attacks. Any clue here as to what could be al Qaeda's next target?

BERGEN: Well, I think certainly targets within Saudi kingdom, without a doubt. But now we're getting so many tapes, now an average of about one every six weeks, that it's sort of hard to separate the attacks from the tapes. I mean, there's just -- there's sort of a standing order now, attack Westerners, attack Jews, and also attack governments like the Saudis.

COLLINS: Peter Bergen, CNN terror analyst tonight, thanks, Peter.

Stay tuned to CNN, day and night, for the most reliable news about your security.

Saddam Hussein meets his lawyer for the first time. That tops our look at global stories in the uplink.

Near Baghdad, the ousted leader talked with his lawyer for more than four hours. A couple days ago, his attorney protested lack of access to him.

Meanwhile, the commander of U.S. troops says high-ranking members of Saddam's Ba'ath party who escaped their leader's downfall are operating with impunity in Syria. General George Casey says Syria is harboring those who are coordinating and funding the Iraqi insurgency.

In Antarctica, a save-the-penguins fails. The penguins have to travel more than 60 miles for food, because their typical fish supply is blocked by an iceberg that covers 1,200 square miles. The iceberg is also blocking routes to three research stations. An attempt to drill into the iceberg to free it from its position didn't work. A U.S. icebreaker will give it a try next month.

And that's tonight's uplink.

360 next, serial arsonist, 26 homes torched. Police arrest a suspect. We have the latest in the investigation.

Plus, cameras, cameras everywhere. A big casino in big trouble for zooming in on women. Who's monitoring the people monitoring you? We take a closer look.

Also tonight, gas pump. Tell you about that.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: When we first heard that dozens of homes in an affluent Maryland community went up in flames, we were told it was possibly arson, perhaps set by ecoterrorists. Then police said someone with direct access to the site may be responsible.

Well, tonight, an arrest has been made. Now in custody is someone whose job was to make sure nothing like this would happen.

CNN justice correspondent Kelli Arena is live in Washington now with this developing story. Hi, Kelli.

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Heidi.

Well, a security guard who worked at the development is under arrest tonight. His name is Aaron Speed, and he's 21 years old. Sources say he's expected to appear tomorrow morning in federal court. That subject to change. And at this point it is unclear what the exact charges will be.

A motive is also unclear at this point, although I'm told that Speed was interviewed. Authorities searched the home of Speed's parents overnight, where sources say that he was living with his wife and child. Speed insists that authorities have the wrong man, and that he is innocent.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AARON SPEED, ARSON SUSPECT: They've humiliated me, they humiliated my family. OK? Everything that I'm doing, I'm doing willingly to prove to them I'm innocent. I'm taking a polygraph today. That will show them I'm innocent, after this is done and over with.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARENA: Sources tell CNN that other individuals may have been involved, and that the investigation on that front continues.

One federal official tells CNN that Speed is cooperating, but would not go any further than that.

Now, Speed worked for Security Services of America. That's the company that was hired to guard the housing development. A spokesperson for the company did not have any comment.

The fires, if you remember, damaged 26 homes, 10 of them severely, costing about $10 million in damage, Heidi.

COLLINS: Ten million. All right. Kelli Arena, thanks so much for the update.

ARENA: You're welcome.

COLLINS: The CDC fears thousands of flu shots will go to waste. That tops our look at stories tonight cross-country.

Health officials say more than half the nation's chronically ill patients and senior citizens took the government's advice and delayed getting the vaccine until more doses became available. The shots are now in, but not many people are rolling up their sleeves.

Denver, Colorado, this woman's 12-year prison sentence for starting a wildfire thrown out. An appeals court has ruled Terry Lynn Barton's sentence was too harsh. The former forestry worker admitted to setting this wildfire in 2002, the largest in Colorado history. Under today's ruling, she'll get a new sentencing hearing before a new judge.

Clark County, Oregon, a father faces three years in prison for trying to circumcise his 8-year-old son with a knife. He says he was inspired to do it after reading the Bible and says he didn't mean to hurt his son.

In Hawaii, on the north shore of Oahu, surf's up. The massive waves we told you about yesterday, up to 40 feet tall, have attracted world-class surfers for a big-wave competition. They have no fear.

That's a look at stories cross-country tonight.

360 next, Ancient Cures, herbal medicines, the power of healing that may be in your garden. Part of our special series.

Also tonight, surveillance cameras everywhere. Who's watching you? A casino busted for zooming in on women's private parts. Is anyone monitoring the monitors? We'll take a closer look.

And a little later, You're fired! The tribe has spoken. We're cutting the fat, the phrases used to get rid of reality TV losers. That's tonight's overkill.

And in a moment, today's 360 challenge. Do you know the news?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Christians say the Bible tells the way to eternal life. It may also provide clues to a longer life here on earth.

Tonight, as we continue our series Ancient Cures: Modern Hope or Hoax? senior medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta looks at how your health might be improved with help from spices from biblical times.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The nativity, a scene that evokes images of a child in swaddling clothes, gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Back then, myrrh was a gift, but its use since ancient time has shifted.

MICHAEL BALICK, ENTHNOBOTANIST: When peoples wanted to embalm the dead and preserve the body from rotting, they would fill it full of myrrh. And in the '90s, scientists looked at this plant, myrrh, looked at this resin, for its potential anticancer activity.

GUPTA: Other studies have suggested myrrh may lower blood sugar levels.

Also in biblical times, spices like saffron, turmeric, and cinnamon all flourished.

DR. ROBERTA LEE, BETH ISRAEL MEDICAL CENTER: Cinnamon, which was referred to in biblical times, has been recently being shown to reduce fasting blood sugars, and it's now being entertained as something that can be used for type II diabetes.

GUPTA: Thousands of years ago, saffron was an expensive and aromatic spice used by ancient Egyptians, Romans, and Greeks as an aphrodisiac. Today, it's being studied as a possible treatment for eczema, a skin disorder, and for depression.

LEE: Here's something that's been used for hundreds of years, which we're now looking at again, which may be very useful as an antidepressant.

GUPTA: Turmeric and ginger, also used by the ancients, have been shown to fight inflammation in early studies, and many doctors believe inflammation is at the core of illnesses like arthritis and Alzheimer's.

While these herbs and roots show promise for fighting disease, that doesn't mean dousing your food with them will reap a natural cure.

LEE: Work with a knowledgeable health care practitioner about using these natural remedies. Some of these remedies interact very significantly with our prescriptive medications.

GUPTA: Even still, if the studies pan out, herbs and plants could be coupled with more conventional medicine. And some doctors believe they could be a milder alternative to some prescription medications, with fewer side effects.

BALICK: Western medicine has a great deal it can learn from the use of these plants.

GUPTA: The secrets to fighting illness may yet be buried in ancient herbs.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Our next guest knows a thing or two about herbal remedies. Mark Blumenthal is the founder and executive director of the American Botanical Council, and he's also a professor of medicinal chemistry at the University of Texas at Austin. He's joining me tonight from Austin.

Thank you for being here, Mr. Blumenthal.

You know, I think people often worry that herbs aren't regulated very closely, and now there's actually this study that found remedies in the Boston area were actually tainted with heavy metals. It was mercury, lead, arsenic. So how do you actually know that what you're getting is safe?

MARK BLUMENTHAL, FOUNDER, AMERICAN BOTANICAL COUNCIL: Well, most of the herbal products in the marketplace are safe. They've come down to us through the history of human experience for hundreds, thousands of years.

The study you're referring to that was just published in the "Journal of the American Medical Association" about this, the herbs from Boston, were actually imported from India by Indian grocery stores, and they only came from Indian grocery stores.

Now, and clearly, it's lamentable to find any food or dietary supplement or herbal product that's got heavy metals in it. But the fact is that these products basically circumvented or bypassed the traditional dietary supplement industry and system here. So they products are outliers, and they're certainly not representative of the products people find in natural0food stores or supermarkets or drugstores.

COLLINS: So not the standard. OK, well, let's look at some specific medical issues, and herbs that have been used to treat them. Let's start with memory problems. We hear an awful lot about Gingko biloba.

BLUMENTHAL: Well, Gingko is the oldest living tree in a world, and a very concentrated, standardized pharmaceutically prepared extract from Ginkgo that was developed originally in Germany about 30 years ago, has been shown in over 100 published clinical trials to be effective and safe for a variety of purposes, primarily for memory, concentration, age-related senility, dementia, especially in early stages of Alzheimer's.

A recent report from England last year showed that in an evaluation of 33 clinical trials on Gingko, that it showed promising benefits for people with early stages of Alzheimer's dementia.

COLLINS: And, you know, we've heard so much about flu season and the shortage, we just did a story tonight, in fact, about the vaccine. Anything that can help prevent the flu?

BLUMENTHAL: There's a number of things. Of course, natural remedies are maybe not as powerful as this flu vaccine, but in the absence of a vaccine, people -- a lot of people are trying elderberry extract or elderberry syrup. There's an Israeli company that makes this wonderful syrup from a edible elderberry that grows in North America and Europe. There's those jams and syrups made from elderberry. It's very -- it's quite tasty, actually.

But the elderberry's been shown in experimental laboratory studies and in human clinical studies to actually boost the immune system, so (UNINTELLIGIBLE) actually taking elderberry before flu might help prevent it. Or if you get a flu or cold, it could help actually reduce the severity of the symptoms and the duration, or the length of time.

COLLINS: Well, you've certainly given us a lot to think about tonight. Mark Blumenthal, we appreciate your time here.

BLUMENTHAL: Thank you.

COLLINS: Our special series, Ancient Cures: Modern Hope, or Hoax? wraps up tomorrow with the power of music therapy, soothing the pain with sound waves.

Shocking discovery about who's watching you, and what they're watching. In one of America's most popular casinos, tonight, a 360 look at surveillance USA.

And the real aviator, a look at the man who loved both Hepburn and Gardner, took on the government, and made billions along the way. The life and time of Howard Hughes.

360 continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: We know you're watching us, but who is watching you? Sometimes the wrong people.

Yesterday in New Jersey, an Atlantic City casino was fined $80,000 for the inappropriate use of its security cameras. Investigators say on several occasions the cameras recorded the private parts of female workers and customers. Two casino employees have since been fired.

This disturbing story got us thinking about how often all of us are being watched. As CNN's Adaora Udoji reports, very few things escape a camera's eye.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ADAORA UDOJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Corona, California, a mall security camera shows an apparent abduction, a young woman chased down and then thrown in a trunk. Sarasota, Florida Florida, 11-year-old Carlie Bruchia last seen before disappearing talking to a man resembling the suspect later arrested for her murder. Winona Ryder in Beverly Hills caught shoplifting. Just three of the estimated 3 million security cameras across the country watching.

JOHN FIRMAN, INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CHIEF'S OF POLICE: They're everywhere and anywhere.

UDOJI: It's not big brother gone amok, says John Firman of the country's largest police chiefs group, he says it provides critical clues in fighting crime.

FIRMAN: If you're a victim of a violent crime and the officer of the department that has to investigate that crime can get out on the street and get videotape from the 7-11, from the Bank of America, from an in-car camera in a police car and from a fixed camera, stationary camera that's there by the police, that officer in that department now have a whole cadre of evidence.

UDOJI: Still in London, one study concluded that crime increased 10 percent in 2002 despite the fact the city had installed more cameras than ever before.

(on camera): And critics there, as well as in this country have major privacy concerns. Concerns about reported abuse. (voice-over): For example, this year accusations that a New York City employees released a housing security tape showing a man committing suicide. The American Civil Liberties Union says Americans are watched dozens of times an hour.

JAY STANLEY, ACLU: We're rapidly getting to a place where you have no privacy left. And we need to put in place good rules and regulations to make sure this vast power isn't abused.

UDOJI: Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, 7 out of 10 Americans in one survey found cameras reassuring. Cameras are in more places than ever before, the question is, are they making a difference?

Adaora Udoji, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: So how much is too much when it comes to security cameras? To discuss that, joining me from Washington is Jeffrey Rosen, a professor at George Washington University school of law, and the author of "The Naked Crowd: Reclaiming Security and Freedom in an Anxious Age."

Thank you for being with us tonight. Jeffrey, we did just see this happen in Atlantic City. How concerned are you about security personnel actually abusing their jobs?

JEFFREY ROSEN, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: I'm very concerned and not surprised about what happened in Atlantic City. I sat in a control room in England and watched the same thing happen, men zeroing in on pretty women and watching teenagers make out. It's not a surprise. What do you think bored unsupervised me are going to do when they're put in front of a camera? And voyeurism really is a problem.

COLLINS: You mentioned Britain. There are more than 4 million surveillance cameras there. Apparently the average person is caught on tape something like 300 times a day. Are we at this level yet in the United States?

ROSEN: You know, people haven't counted in America, but I imagine we're well on our way. And there may even be more camera here than there. They're absolutely everywhere.

COLLINS: What's so bad about it, though? If you don't have people abusing their jobs as we saw in the earlier piece, and these cameras are just recording movements and perhaps police go back and check these tapes if a crime has been committed, what's wrong with it?

ROSEN: The worst thing about them is they're a feel-good technology to distract us from responses to terrorism and crime that might actually work. The British governments looked at all of the surveys done at these cameras in America and Britain and concluded that there was no connection between the spread of the cameras and the decline of violent crime or terrorism. People like them, as your survey showed, because they make us feel safer, but they don't actually make us safer and they might distract us from solutions that actually worked.

COLLINS: But there was a survey that was done back in 2001 by the International Association of Police Chiefs, and it said that 80 percent of U.S. police departments use cameras, 63 percent believe they are useful tools in investigations. So why would those fighting on the frontlines support it if it really didn't work?

ROSEN: I think people on the frontlines support it, because the public supports it. As your survey suggested, 7 out of 10 people think they're great, and the police have to respond to public demand, and that's why they like them.

But there really hasn't been a single serious terrorism or violent crime case that's been solved on the basis of cameras alone. It's been solved on the basis of old-fashioned detective work and investigation. And that's really the only thing that's been proven to work.

COLLINS: Jeffrey Rosen. We appreciate your thoughts on this tonight. Thank so much.

ROSEN: Thanks for having me.

COLLINS: In Florida tonight, a woman is until arrest for the murder of her four-year-old daughter. Police say she beat the child to death. Some say it could have been prevented, insisting the agency that should have protected the girl ignored the warning signs. CNN's Susan Candiotti reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): I love my daughter says a sobbing mother as she's led away in handcuffs. But why then did Kenya Hill wait almost 14 hours to call 911 when her 4- year-old daughter Kai lay lifeless in their rented motel room.

BARBARA MILLER, ORANGE CO. SHERIFF'S SPOKESMAN: When deputies arrived here, they noticed the child was dead and apparently had been dead for some time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are being held without bond.

CANDIOTTI: Two days after the toddler's death, police charge Kenya Hill with first-degree murder and child abuse. Police say an autopsy showed the child suffered a fractured skull, head bruises, mouth and gum injuries, as though she had been hit in the mouth with an object. Injuries inconsistent, police say, with what Hill told them, that her daughter fell into a doorway when Hill tried to grab and spank her.

She felt she tried felt her daughter's heart beating, but didn't call for hours, because she thought Kai would get better on her own. Kai was the youngest of 6 children all living temporarily in a hotel room described as filthy. This woman baby-sat for Hill.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was a nice person, but she doesn't know how to keep kids, don't know how to handle kids.

CANDIOTTI: Charged with child abuse and neglect in 2001, Hill lost her children, but won them back. Two weeks ago, a probation officer called an abuse hotline to report she was living in a motel with a boyfriend, actually her husband, who was under court order to stay away. Officials say there were no claims of abuse.

Another case of missed warning signs in Florida? Authorities will have to sort it out. Too late for 4-year-old Kai Gadison.

Susan Candiotti, CNN, Miami.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: 360 next, gas tank explosion, what you should do if this happens to you. We've got some life-saving tips you won't want to miss.

In a moment today's 360 Challenge. How closely have you been following today's news? Find out next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Time now for today's 360 Challenge. Be the first to answer all 3 questions correctly and win a 360 T-shirt.

Was the latest purported Osama bin Laden tape released today on TV, the radio or the Internet?

A New Jersey casino was fined for inappropriately doing what to its female workers and customers?

And name spice used as an aphrodisiac in ancient times that may also treat depression.

To take the challenge log on to cnn.com/360. Then click on the answer link. Answer first, and you'll get the shirt.

Find out last night's challenge winner and tonight's answers coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: If you haven't seen the previews already, that was of course Leonardo DiCaprio as the great aviator, Howard Hughes. Martin Scorsese's new movie, "The Aviator," is already generating Oscar buzz. It opens nationwide tomorrow.

It can probably be said about Hughes that he was as eccentric as he was rich. And he was very, very rich. From the phobias that consumed him to his affairs with Hollywood's most beautiful women, Hughes was the rare man who actually lives up to the legend. Our next guest has spent years researching about Hughes' remarkable life. Michael Drosnin is the author of "Citizen Hughes." Mr. Drosnin, thanks for being with us tonight.

MICHAEL DROSNIN, AUTHOR: Good to be with you, Heidi.

COLLINS: Exciting for you I'm sure, that this movie is coming out. But let me ask you a little bit about the research that you did for your book, that came out quite a while ago now, but some people would suggest that Howard Hughes was this completely egomaniacal, crazy sort of strange man, yet others would say he was brilliant and just eccentric. Who was he, really?

DROSNIN: Howard Hughes was an American original. He was both a hero and a villain. First, he lived the American dream, and then the nightmare.

I have nearly everything he ever put in writing, and I tell the story in my own words in the book, which has come out again with the movie.

COLLINS: In fact, just to put it in perspective a little bit, Howard Hughes once said, and I'll quote this for a family show at home tonight, he says "I'm not a paranoid deranged millionaire, gosh darn it, I'm a billionaire." What does that say about him? He only had to correct how much money he was making.

DROSNIN: He was in fact a billionaire, the first actual billionaire. "Fortune" magazine declared him so in 1968, 1.3 billion, but his real fortune in today's terms is far greater. Just part of his empire was sold for $5 billion. He was the world's richest and most secretive man. He spent 20 years of his life, the last 20 years in total seclusion, and from total seclusion used his great wealth to try to buy the government of the United States, and succeeded to a remarkable degree. He bought presidents. No one ever turned down his money.

COLLINS: Amazing. Let's go ahead and take a look at a clip of the movie. We know about some of his affairs. Specifically, with Katharine Hepburn and Ava Gardner. Let's look at a little clip about that in the movie.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What the hell is this?

LEONARDO DICAPRIO, ACTOR: It's a present. Go on, open it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, a box of trash. You shouldn't have.

DICAPRIO: Keep looking. Keep looking. It's a Kashmiri sapphire, best in the world. I had my boys all over the damn world looking for this.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why?

DICAPRIO: Because, look. It matches your eyes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: What was his appeal to women?

DROSNIN: Well, money is a great aphrodisiac, I think. If you're the richest man in the world, it helps. But he was also a very daring, dashing figure, a very handsome man when he was young. And he was a master of the grand gesture. That's certainly true, but I'll tell you something, Hughes liked to be seen with beautiful women, but he was actually afraid of women, at least women his own age. He stashed teenagers around Hollywood in safehouses, and those are the women he spent his time with.

COLLINS: All right, well, we're going to have to read that book and see the movie, both I think to get a clear picture of what this man was all about. We appreciate your time tonight. Thanks so much for being with us.

DROSNIN: Great to be with you, Heidi.

COLLINS: Thanks.

In tonight's "Current" now, if the governor of Illinois has his way, Santa will no longer bring violent videogames to kids across his state. Governor Rod Blagojevich is pushing for legislation that would restrict the sale of the controversial games. But as Sibila Vargas reports, some people think the governor is just being a Scrooge to retailers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SIBILA VARGAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Video games have come a long way, from (UNINTELLIGIBLE) dots to graphic violence. They've come too far in the mind of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. He's proposing to ban the sale of violent and sexually explicit videogames to minors in his state. Games like "Grand Theft Auto," where people are target practice.

GOV. ROD BLAGOJEVICH (D), ILLINOIS: These games directly assault the very values we were raised to believe in, and the very values I believe most parents try to teach their kids today.

VARGAS: The first-term Democrat said he took action after hearing about "JFK Reloaded," a game that puts players in the role of Lee Harvey Oswald.

BLAGOJEVICH: I watched that and felt a great deal of outrage and contempt.

VARGAS: But efforts in other states to restrict the sale of graphic games have fallen victim to court challenges. A spokesman for Illinois retailers predicts the same thing will happen there.

DAVID VITE, ILLINOIS RETAIL MERCHANTS ASSOCIATION: There's no way to provide a bright-line definition of violence or graphic sexuality that can stand the constitutional test.

VARGAS: Vite says the industry's voluntary labeling system, which is supposed to keep kids from buying inappropriate games, is working.

VITE: The incidence of sales of mature video games has been reduced in the last year by more than 20 percent.

VARGAS: In the meantime, the popularity of games with kids and adults is growing, with an estimated $10 billion worth sold last year. More than Americans spent on movie tickets.

They were even celebrated at an awards show this week, where a trophy went to Halo 2, one of the games Illinois' governor has objected to.

Sibila Vargas, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: You can expect more in-depth reporting tonight on CNN. Let's get a preview of what's coming up on "PAULA ZAHN NOW" and "NEWSNIGHT WITH AARON BROWN." Paula and Aaron are joining me now from their studios. Let's go ahead and begin with Paula. Hi, Paula.

PAULA ZAHN, HOST, "PAULA ZAHN NOW": Hi, Heidi. Tonight, we're dealing with a question that Christians have been asking for centuries, what did Jesus really look like? Well, thanks for the latest advances in forensic science, we now have an idea, and we're going to share an image with you tonight. You might be surprised by what you see. Join me at the top of the hour and find out -- Heidi.

COLLINS: I bet we will be surprised. Paula, thank you.

Aaron.

AARON HOST, "NEWSNIGHT": Well, Heidi, when Dr. David Graham went before Congress and warned there were at least five drugs commonly used these days that are dangerous, he became a classic whistle- blower. He said the FDA is too close to the drug companies it's supposed to regulate.

Dr. Graham joins us tonight on "NEWSNIGHT."

COLLINS: All right, Aaron, we'll be watching that too, 10:00 tonight. Thanks so much, guys.

360 next now, pumping gas and getting burned. One woman explains how her trip to the gas station became an explosive nightmare.

Also tonight, the Donald finally hires someone. Reality TV and all that firing. It's "Overkill."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: It's a sort of mindless task that millions of us do every day. Stop at a gas station, hop out of the car, and fill the tank. The vast majority of those chores end with us driving away without another thought, and then there is what happened to Theressa Lopez. CNN's Wolf Blitzer reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Theressa Lopez was filling up her car at a gas station near her Houston home when something truly unexpected happened. Surveillance video recorded the horrifying scene as a fireball erupted and engulfed Lopez. She says her first thought was to move her car.

THERESSA LOPEZ, VICTIM: Just to get it out the way out of the other things, like the gas station thing, to get it out the way, because, if not, everything was going to explode.

BLITZER: Amazingly, Lopez was treated only for burns on her hands and right leg. It's not clear what caused the fire. Firefighters reported finding a lighter nearby. Lopez says she doesn't know what happened.

LOPEZ: I didn't have no lighter in my hand. I didn't have a cigarette. I didn't have anything with me. And just -- the car just like started on fire.

BLITZER: Her roommate, who was with Lopez, says the car's gas gauge wasn't working, and as a result they overfilled the tank, and the gas overflowed.

PRISCILLA CALDERON, ROOMMATE: The thing is that the car hasn't been well. The meter doesn't work on the gas.

BLITZER: The Petroleum Equipment Institute has been tracking these kinds of fires for more than a decade. It says the most common culprit is static electricity. And in most cases the motorist caused it to build up by getting back in the car while fueling, then returning to the pump, where a minute spark ignites the gas vapors.

A more obvious cause? Smoking at the pump. The Institute says concern over cell phones is unwarranted. It says, of the hundreds of pump fires it's investigated, not one was found to have been caused by a mobile phone. Wolf Blitzer, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: And now a quick round of what's wrong with this picture. Here is the president at a panel decision of his new economic agenda, but one of the challenges being referred to in the TV monitor there is proofreading. Challenge is spelled "enge" as I'm sure you know not "ange." No word from the White House on this matter.

360 next, a reality check for reality losers. From "The Apprentice" to "Survivor," why getting fired is ripe for overkill.

Here's another look at tonight's questions. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Millions of people will be watching tonight when Donald Trump announces if his next apprentice will be Jennifer or Kelly. But it's not the hiring that makes his show stand out. It's the firing. We like it when reality losers lose. Every program does it there own way but it seems we have reached the point where we're getting the axe has reached overkill.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): Donald Trump's delivery and hair are unique, but "The Apprentice" isn't the only show to show contestants the door. Some seem to really enjoy the power. Isn't that right, Simon?

There are so many ways to let people go, like this sweet and painfully sappy approach on "The Bachelor."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've enjoyed every moment that we spent together. I don't think that we are meant to spend our lives together.

COLLINS: The "Amazing Race" handles the losers pretty matter of factly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're the last team to arrive. Sorry to tell you you've both been eliminated from the race.

COLLINS: So did the "Weakest Link" but they did it in a way that made some feel worthless.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You are the weakest link. Good-bye.

COLLINS: "The Biggest Loser," the reality weight watching show can be downright cruel with its good-bye.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let's find out which team is this week's biggest loser.

COLLINS: Then there's model wannabes who are getting booted off the catwalk in two reality programs, "America's Next Top Model."

TYRA BANKS, MODEL: I only have one photo in my hand. Pack your belongings and leave.

COLLINS: And on Bravo's "Project Runway" Heidi Klum does it with an international flair.

HEIDI KLUM, MODEL: Star, I'm sorry, you're out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The tribe has spoken.

COLLINS: If you think this all started with "Survivor," you're wrong. Back in the 70s, "The Gong Show" was doing it with the gong which may be the best way to let all these reality shows know they've been overkill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: "The Gong Show." Don't you miss it? I'm Heidi Collins in for Anderson Cooper. CNN's primetime lineup continues right now with Paula Zahn -- Paula.

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


Aired December 16, 2004 - 19:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, HOST: Good evening from New York. I'm Heidi Collins.
The voice of hatred heard again.

360 starts now.

A new message of hate, purportedly from Osama bin Laden, but this time a new method of delivery. What's on the tape, and how experts are using it to prevent future attacks.

Shocking discovery about who's watching you, and what they're watching. In one of America's most popular casinos, tonight a 360 look at surveillance USA.

Our special series, Ancient Cures: Modern Hope or Hoax? Investigating the medical benefits of herbs. Are these ancient treatments relevant today?

And the real aviator, a look at the man who loved both Hepburn and Gardner, took on the government, and made billions along the way. The life and time of Howard Hughes.

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

COLLINS: Good evening, everybody. Anderson has the night off.

The most hated voice in this country was heard again today on the Internet, reminding Americans that the man behind the 9/11 attacks is still alive, and feels safe enough to shake his finger not only at the United States government, but at several governments in the Muslim world as well.

CNN senior international correspondent Nic Robertson reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): A link from this jihadi Web site, delivering what purports to be Osama bin Laden's latest message, referring directly to this attack on the U.S. consulate in Jeddah last week, almost undoubtedly recorded in the last 10 days.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

OSAMA BIN LADEN (through translator): We pray to Allah to accept the mujahadeen who stormed the U.S. consulate in Jeddah as martyrs.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: Unlike recent video messages delivered to Arabic broadcaster Al Jazeera, bin Laden's audio-only anti-Saudi-royals diatribe is available in its 74-minute entirety.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He didn't want this message to be edited. And it's clear that for some time, Al Jazeera has been carefully editing Osama bin Laden's messages, and indeed has particularly edited out, on some occasions, references to the Saudi government.

ROBERTSON: In this poor-quality message, the voice claimed to be bin Laden's accuses the Saudi royals of being puppets of a crusader- Zionist alliance led by America, seeking to steal the wealth and occupy the lands of Muslims.

BIN LADEN (through translator): Millions are suffering in poverty, while money pours into the hands of the Saudi royal family.

ROBERTSON: Possibly significant, this message was released hours before a planned antiroyal demonstration inside Saudi Arabia.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Perhaps he wanted to lend his authority and his definition to the conflict.

ROBERTSON (on camera): The demonstration's organizers are here in London, a group of Saudi dissidents intent on overthrowing the Saudi government.

But despite Web site claims that thousands turned out, fought battles with police, and were arrested, a witness in Jeddah said demonstrations there fizzled amid tight security, Bin laden's message apparently having little effect.

(voice-over): Already on heightened alert following the attack on the consulate last week, the U.S. embassy in Saudi Arabia warned Americans about the demonstrations, advising them to stay off the streets, bin Laden seen as adding to that threat.

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: He's a terrorist, he's a murderer, and we're going to continue to hunt for him until he is captured and brought to justice.

ROBERTSON: While Pakistani troops have all but closed down the hunt for bin Laden in their tribal lands, it seems the al Qaeda leader is so confident of his lines of communication now, he can boldly release statements within days of al Qaeda attacks, though, in this case, without showing his face.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Osama bin Laden returning to his roots, Heidi, returning to his roots, and the message all about, all about the Saudi royal family and overthrowing them. COLLINS: Well, Nic, you know, obviously we have seen so many recordings, whether they're audio or videotapes. How has Osama bin Laden not been caught? How have these not been traced back, their origination, to him?

ROBERTSON: That may be part of why this message is also delivered through the Internet. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) more recent messages delivered on the videotape to Al Jazeera, that he tries to stay one step ahead of the authorities that are trying to catch him.

There must, there's likely some electronic signature that's associated with this Web site, with this audio message. But is it enough to lead to Osama bin Laden? After all, he's not likely to be going into the Internet cafe and sending this message himself. But how many steps, how many steps between him and when this message was put into the Internet? And where was it put in? And can investigators find that out, and therefore get one step closer to him?

COLLINS: (UNINTELLIGIBLE), all right, Nic Robertson, appreciate it tonight.

No question Osama bin Laden can still make himself heard, but can he do any more than that? After years of being hunted, after years of hiding, is he really still the head of al Qaeda, or just its mouthpiece?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS (voice-over): Up until 9/11, it used to be clear, Osama bin Laden ran al Qaeda, his chief deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, his military commander, Mohammed Atef, one, two, and three in the hierarchy.

Even the acts of 9/11, probably the idea of al Qaeda commander Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, had to be approved by bin Laden.

Then came the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. Bin Laden and al- Zawahiri were on the run, Atef killed by U.S. missiles. There were al Qaeda attacks ordered Khalid Shaikh Mohammed after 9/11, including this one on a synagogue in Tunisia. But Khalid Shaikh Mohammed was captured.

Al Qaeda changed, becoming as much of a movement as a group. While there were messages from bin Laden and al-Zawahiri, attacks were more likely to come from groups that billed themselves as followers of Osama.

The worst attack, on March 11 in Madrid, wasn't ordered by bin Laden, but was linked to al Qaeda sympathizers. A group called Al Qaeda in Saudi Arabia claimed the mantle of bin Laden when it carried out a series of attacks, including the recent one on the U.S. consulate in Jeddah.

And even Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, whose relationship with bin Laden is unclear, renamed his group Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia just a few months ago. So now there is no real hierarchy. But as the attacks keep coming, that may not really matter.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: We're joined now in Washington by CNN terrorism analyst Peter Bergen.

Good to see you again, Peter.

So do you think that Osama bin Laden is actually ordering attacks at this time, or just trying to make himself relevant with this type of tape?

PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Well, I think both. I mean, he -- you know, we've seen bin Laden calling for specific attacks in this recent audiotape against the Saudi royal family, the Saudi government, and perhaps oil installations in the Middle East. And I think those attacks, people will act on those. So by the medium of these audiotapes, even though he may not directly have command and control over al Qaeda, he certainly continues to energize the base and also sometimes suggests specific acts.

I mean Ayman al-Zawahiri, the number two of al Qaeda, has called for attacks on Pakistani President Musharraf. That was late 2003. After that, after Ayman al-Zawahiri called for those attacks, there were assassination attempts against Musharraf.

So the tapes do serve as a way of retaining some kind of command and control over the organization.

COLLINS: Well, the attack against the American consulate in Jeddah that bin Laden mentioned on the tape happened only 10 days ago. I mean, that's pretty reactive, a short amount of time for a guy who was supposed to be holed up in a cave somewhere. Do you still believe bin Laden is hiding in a remote area of Pakistan, as we've thought for quite a while now?

BERGEN: I think that's the conventional wisdom. I'm not sure it's true. It could be true, but it's just a fact that all the senior al Qaeda leaders that been found in Pakistan have been found in cities.

And judging by the fact that bin Laden seems very well informed in these statements about recent developments, he pays close attention to the news, he's sort of a policy wonk, he talks about supplemental funding for the Iraq and Afghan war in the most recent videotape -- these are the kinds of things you don't find out if you're in the kind of area we're seeing on the television right now, an area without electricity, an area without access to Internet or newspapers.

It seems to me that bin Laden is somewhere in some sort of semiurban setting, judging by how well informed he is.

COLLINS: Well, Peter, quickly, before we let you go here, in the past, some of these tapes have actually preceded terrorist attacks. Any clue here as to what could be al Qaeda's next target?

BERGEN: Well, I think certainly targets within Saudi kingdom, without a doubt. But now we're getting so many tapes, now an average of about one every six weeks, that it's sort of hard to separate the attacks from the tapes. I mean, there's just -- there's sort of a standing order now, attack Westerners, attack Jews, and also attack governments like the Saudis.

COLLINS: Peter Bergen, CNN terror analyst tonight, thanks, Peter.

Stay tuned to CNN, day and night, for the most reliable news about your security.

Saddam Hussein meets his lawyer for the first time. That tops our look at global stories in the uplink.

Near Baghdad, the ousted leader talked with his lawyer for more than four hours. A couple days ago, his attorney protested lack of access to him.

Meanwhile, the commander of U.S. troops says high-ranking members of Saddam's Ba'ath party who escaped their leader's downfall are operating with impunity in Syria. General George Casey says Syria is harboring those who are coordinating and funding the Iraqi insurgency.

In Antarctica, a save-the-penguins fails. The penguins have to travel more than 60 miles for food, because their typical fish supply is blocked by an iceberg that covers 1,200 square miles. The iceberg is also blocking routes to three research stations. An attempt to drill into the iceberg to free it from its position didn't work. A U.S. icebreaker will give it a try next month.

And that's tonight's uplink.

360 next, serial arsonist, 26 homes torched. Police arrest a suspect. We have the latest in the investigation.

Plus, cameras, cameras everywhere. A big casino in big trouble for zooming in on women. Who's monitoring the people monitoring you? We take a closer look.

Also tonight, gas pump. Tell you about that.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: When we first heard that dozens of homes in an affluent Maryland community went up in flames, we were told it was possibly arson, perhaps set by ecoterrorists. Then police said someone with direct access to the site may be responsible.

Well, tonight, an arrest has been made. Now in custody is someone whose job was to make sure nothing like this would happen.

CNN justice correspondent Kelli Arena is live in Washington now with this developing story. Hi, Kelli.

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Heidi.

Well, a security guard who worked at the development is under arrest tonight. His name is Aaron Speed, and he's 21 years old. Sources say he's expected to appear tomorrow morning in federal court. That subject to change. And at this point it is unclear what the exact charges will be.

A motive is also unclear at this point, although I'm told that Speed was interviewed. Authorities searched the home of Speed's parents overnight, where sources say that he was living with his wife and child. Speed insists that authorities have the wrong man, and that he is innocent.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AARON SPEED, ARSON SUSPECT: They've humiliated me, they humiliated my family. OK? Everything that I'm doing, I'm doing willingly to prove to them I'm innocent. I'm taking a polygraph today. That will show them I'm innocent, after this is done and over with.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARENA: Sources tell CNN that other individuals may have been involved, and that the investigation on that front continues.

One federal official tells CNN that Speed is cooperating, but would not go any further than that.

Now, Speed worked for Security Services of America. That's the company that was hired to guard the housing development. A spokesperson for the company did not have any comment.

The fires, if you remember, damaged 26 homes, 10 of them severely, costing about $10 million in damage, Heidi.

COLLINS: Ten million. All right. Kelli Arena, thanks so much for the update.

ARENA: You're welcome.

COLLINS: The CDC fears thousands of flu shots will go to waste. That tops our look at stories tonight cross-country.

Health officials say more than half the nation's chronically ill patients and senior citizens took the government's advice and delayed getting the vaccine until more doses became available. The shots are now in, but not many people are rolling up their sleeves.

Denver, Colorado, this woman's 12-year prison sentence for starting a wildfire thrown out. An appeals court has ruled Terry Lynn Barton's sentence was too harsh. The former forestry worker admitted to setting this wildfire in 2002, the largest in Colorado history. Under today's ruling, she'll get a new sentencing hearing before a new judge.

Clark County, Oregon, a father faces three years in prison for trying to circumcise his 8-year-old son with a knife. He says he was inspired to do it after reading the Bible and says he didn't mean to hurt his son.

In Hawaii, on the north shore of Oahu, surf's up. The massive waves we told you about yesterday, up to 40 feet tall, have attracted world-class surfers for a big-wave competition. They have no fear.

That's a look at stories cross-country tonight.

360 next, Ancient Cures, herbal medicines, the power of healing that may be in your garden. Part of our special series.

Also tonight, surveillance cameras everywhere. Who's watching you? A casino busted for zooming in on women's private parts. Is anyone monitoring the monitors? We'll take a closer look.

And a little later, You're fired! The tribe has spoken. We're cutting the fat, the phrases used to get rid of reality TV losers. That's tonight's overkill.

And in a moment, today's 360 challenge. Do you know the news?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Christians say the Bible tells the way to eternal life. It may also provide clues to a longer life here on earth.

Tonight, as we continue our series Ancient Cures: Modern Hope or Hoax? senior medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta looks at how your health might be improved with help from spices from biblical times.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The nativity, a scene that evokes images of a child in swaddling clothes, gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Back then, myrrh was a gift, but its use since ancient time has shifted.

MICHAEL BALICK, ENTHNOBOTANIST: When peoples wanted to embalm the dead and preserve the body from rotting, they would fill it full of myrrh. And in the '90s, scientists looked at this plant, myrrh, looked at this resin, for its potential anticancer activity.

GUPTA: Other studies have suggested myrrh may lower blood sugar levels.

Also in biblical times, spices like saffron, turmeric, and cinnamon all flourished.

DR. ROBERTA LEE, BETH ISRAEL MEDICAL CENTER: Cinnamon, which was referred to in biblical times, has been recently being shown to reduce fasting blood sugars, and it's now being entertained as something that can be used for type II diabetes.

GUPTA: Thousands of years ago, saffron was an expensive and aromatic spice used by ancient Egyptians, Romans, and Greeks as an aphrodisiac. Today, it's being studied as a possible treatment for eczema, a skin disorder, and for depression.

LEE: Here's something that's been used for hundreds of years, which we're now looking at again, which may be very useful as an antidepressant.

GUPTA: Turmeric and ginger, also used by the ancients, have been shown to fight inflammation in early studies, and many doctors believe inflammation is at the core of illnesses like arthritis and Alzheimer's.

While these herbs and roots show promise for fighting disease, that doesn't mean dousing your food with them will reap a natural cure.

LEE: Work with a knowledgeable health care practitioner about using these natural remedies. Some of these remedies interact very significantly with our prescriptive medications.

GUPTA: Even still, if the studies pan out, herbs and plants could be coupled with more conventional medicine. And some doctors believe they could be a milder alternative to some prescription medications, with fewer side effects.

BALICK: Western medicine has a great deal it can learn from the use of these plants.

GUPTA: The secrets to fighting illness may yet be buried in ancient herbs.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Our next guest knows a thing or two about herbal remedies. Mark Blumenthal is the founder and executive director of the American Botanical Council, and he's also a professor of medicinal chemistry at the University of Texas at Austin. He's joining me tonight from Austin.

Thank you for being here, Mr. Blumenthal.

You know, I think people often worry that herbs aren't regulated very closely, and now there's actually this study that found remedies in the Boston area were actually tainted with heavy metals. It was mercury, lead, arsenic. So how do you actually know that what you're getting is safe?

MARK BLUMENTHAL, FOUNDER, AMERICAN BOTANICAL COUNCIL: Well, most of the herbal products in the marketplace are safe. They've come down to us through the history of human experience for hundreds, thousands of years.

The study you're referring to that was just published in the "Journal of the American Medical Association" about this, the herbs from Boston, were actually imported from India by Indian grocery stores, and they only came from Indian grocery stores.

Now, and clearly, it's lamentable to find any food or dietary supplement or herbal product that's got heavy metals in it. But the fact is that these products basically circumvented or bypassed the traditional dietary supplement industry and system here. So they products are outliers, and they're certainly not representative of the products people find in natural0food stores or supermarkets or drugstores.

COLLINS: So not the standard. OK, well, let's look at some specific medical issues, and herbs that have been used to treat them. Let's start with memory problems. We hear an awful lot about Gingko biloba.

BLUMENTHAL: Well, Gingko is the oldest living tree in a world, and a very concentrated, standardized pharmaceutically prepared extract from Ginkgo that was developed originally in Germany about 30 years ago, has been shown in over 100 published clinical trials to be effective and safe for a variety of purposes, primarily for memory, concentration, age-related senility, dementia, especially in early stages of Alzheimer's.

A recent report from England last year showed that in an evaluation of 33 clinical trials on Gingko, that it showed promising benefits for people with early stages of Alzheimer's dementia.

COLLINS: And, you know, we've heard so much about flu season and the shortage, we just did a story tonight, in fact, about the vaccine. Anything that can help prevent the flu?

BLUMENTHAL: There's a number of things. Of course, natural remedies are maybe not as powerful as this flu vaccine, but in the absence of a vaccine, people -- a lot of people are trying elderberry extract or elderberry syrup. There's an Israeli company that makes this wonderful syrup from a edible elderberry that grows in North America and Europe. There's those jams and syrups made from elderberry. It's very -- it's quite tasty, actually.

But the elderberry's been shown in experimental laboratory studies and in human clinical studies to actually boost the immune system, so (UNINTELLIGIBLE) actually taking elderberry before flu might help prevent it. Or if you get a flu or cold, it could help actually reduce the severity of the symptoms and the duration, or the length of time.

COLLINS: Well, you've certainly given us a lot to think about tonight. Mark Blumenthal, we appreciate your time here.

BLUMENTHAL: Thank you.

COLLINS: Our special series, Ancient Cures: Modern Hope, or Hoax? wraps up tomorrow with the power of music therapy, soothing the pain with sound waves.

Shocking discovery about who's watching you, and what they're watching. In one of America's most popular casinos, tonight, a 360 look at surveillance USA.

And the real aviator, a look at the man who loved both Hepburn and Gardner, took on the government, and made billions along the way. The life and time of Howard Hughes.

360 continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: We know you're watching us, but who is watching you? Sometimes the wrong people.

Yesterday in New Jersey, an Atlantic City casino was fined $80,000 for the inappropriate use of its security cameras. Investigators say on several occasions the cameras recorded the private parts of female workers and customers. Two casino employees have since been fired.

This disturbing story got us thinking about how often all of us are being watched. As CNN's Adaora Udoji reports, very few things escape a camera's eye.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ADAORA UDOJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Corona, California, a mall security camera shows an apparent abduction, a young woman chased down and then thrown in a trunk. Sarasota, Florida Florida, 11-year-old Carlie Bruchia last seen before disappearing talking to a man resembling the suspect later arrested for her murder. Winona Ryder in Beverly Hills caught shoplifting. Just three of the estimated 3 million security cameras across the country watching.

JOHN FIRMAN, INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CHIEF'S OF POLICE: They're everywhere and anywhere.

UDOJI: It's not big brother gone amok, says John Firman of the country's largest police chiefs group, he says it provides critical clues in fighting crime.

FIRMAN: If you're a victim of a violent crime and the officer of the department that has to investigate that crime can get out on the street and get videotape from the 7-11, from the Bank of America, from an in-car camera in a police car and from a fixed camera, stationary camera that's there by the police, that officer in that department now have a whole cadre of evidence.

UDOJI: Still in London, one study concluded that crime increased 10 percent in 2002 despite the fact the city had installed more cameras than ever before.

(on camera): And critics there, as well as in this country have major privacy concerns. Concerns about reported abuse. (voice-over): For example, this year accusations that a New York City employees released a housing security tape showing a man committing suicide. The American Civil Liberties Union says Americans are watched dozens of times an hour.

JAY STANLEY, ACLU: We're rapidly getting to a place where you have no privacy left. And we need to put in place good rules and regulations to make sure this vast power isn't abused.

UDOJI: Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, 7 out of 10 Americans in one survey found cameras reassuring. Cameras are in more places than ever before, the question is, are they making a difference?

Adaora Udoji, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: So how much is too much when it comes to security cameras? To discuss that, joining me from Washington is Jeffrey Rosen, a professor at George Washington University school of law, and the author of "The Naked Crowd: Reclaiming Security and Freedom in an Anxious Age."

Thank you for being with us tonight. Jeffrey, we did just see this happen in Atlantic City. How concerned are you about security personnel actually abusing their jobs?

JEFFREY ROSEN, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: I'm very concerned and not surprised about what happened in Atlantic City. I sat in a control room in England and watched the same thing happen, men zeroing in on pretty women and watching teenagers make out. It's not a surprise. What do you think bored unsupervised me are going to do when they're put in front of a camera? And voyeurism really is a problem.

COLLINS: You mentioned Britain. There are more than 4 million surveillance cameras there. Apparently the average person is caught on tape something like 300 times a day. Are we at this level yet in the United States?

ROSEN: You know, people haven't counted in America, but I imagine we're well on our way. And there may even be more camera here than there. They're absolutely everywhere.

COLLINS: What's so bad about it, though? If you don't have people abusing their jobs as we saw in the earlier piece, and these cameras are just recording movements and perhaps police go back and check these tapes if a crime has been committed, what's wrong with it?

ROSEN: The worst thing about them is they're a feel-good technology to distract us from responses to terrorism and crime that might actually work. The British governments looked at all of the surveys done at these cameras in America and Britain and concluded that there was no connection between the spread of the cameras and the decline of violent crime or terrorism. People like them, as your survey showed, because they make us feel safer, but they don't actually make us safer and they might distract us from solutions that actually worked.

COLLINS: But there was a survey that was done back in 2001 by the International Association of Police Chiefs, and it said that 80 percent of U.S. police departments use cameras, 63 percent believe they are useful tools in investigations. So why would those fighting on the frontlines support it if it really didn't work?

ROSEN: I think people on the frontlines support it, because the public supports it. As your survey suggested, 7 out of 10 people think they're great, and the police have to respond to public demand, and that's why they like them.

But there really hasn't been a single serious terrorism or violent crime case that's been solved on the basis of cameras alone. It's been solved on the basis of old-fashioned detective work and investigation. And that's really the only thing that's been proven to work.

COLLINS: Jeffrey Rosen. We appreciate your thoughts on this tonight. Thank so much.

ROSEN: Thanks for having me.

COLLINS: In Florida tonight, a woman is until arrest for the murder of her four-year-old daughter. Police say she beat the child to death. Some say it could have been prevented, insisting the agency that should have protected the girl ignored the warning signs. CNN's Susan Candiotti reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): I love my daughter says a sobbing mother as she's led away in handcuffs. But why then did Kenya Hill wait almost 14 hours to call 911 when her 4- year-old daughter Kai lay lifeless in their rented motel room.

BARBARA MILLER, ORANGE CO. SHERIFF'S SPOKESMAN: When deputies arrived here, they noticed the child was dead and apparently had been dead for some time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are being held without bond.

CANDIOTTI: Two days after the toddler's death, police charge Kenya Hill with first-degree murder and child abuse. Police say an autopsy showed the child suffered a fractured skull, head bruises, mouth and gum injuries, as though she had been hit in the mouth with an object. Injuries inconsistent, police say, with what Hill told them, that her daughter fell into a doorway when Hill tried to grab and spank her.

She felt she tried felt her daughter's heart beating, but didn't call for hours, because she thought Kai would get better on her own. Kai was the youngest of 6 children all living temporarily in a hotel room described as filthy. This woman baby-sat for Hill.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was a nice person, but she doesn't know how to keep kids, don't know how to handle kids.

CANDIOTTI: Charged with child abuse and neglect in 2001, Hill lost her children, but won them back. Two weeks ago, a probation officer called an abuse hotline to report she was living in a motel with a boyfriend, actually her husband, who was under court order to stay away. Officials say there were no claims of abuse.

Another case of missed warning signs in Florida? Authorities will have to sort it out. Too late for 4-year-old Kai Gadison.

Susan Candiotti, CNN, Miami.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: 360 next, gas tank explosion, what you should do if this happens to you. We've got some life-saving tips you won't want to miss.

In a moment today's 360 Challenge. How closely have you been following today's news? Find out next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Time now for today's 360 Challenge. Be the first to answer all 3 questions correctly and win a 360 T-shirt.

Was the latest purported Osama bin Laden tape released today on TV, the radio or the Internet?

A New Jersey casino was fined for inappropriately doing what to its female workers and customers?

And name spice used as an aphrodisiac in ancient times that may also treat depression.

To take the challenge log on to cnn.com/360. Then click on the answer link. Answer first, and you'll get the shirt.

Find out last night's challenge winner and tonight's answers coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: If you haven't seen the previews already, that was of course Leonardo DiCaprio as the great aviator, Howard Hughes. Martin Scorsese's new movie, "The Aviator," is already generating Oscar buzz. It opens nationwide tomorrow.

It can probably be said about Hughes that he was as eccentric as he was rich. And he was very, very rich. From the phobias that consumed him to his affairs with Hollywood's most beautiful women, Hughes was the rare man who actually lives up to the legend. Our next guest has spent years researching about Hughes' remarkable life. Michael Drosnin is the author of "Citizen Hughes." Mr. Drosnin, thanks for being with us tonight.

MICHAEL DROSNIN, AUTHOR: Good to be with you, Heidi.

COLLINS: Exciting for you I'm sure, that this movie is coming out. But let me ask you a little bit about the research that you did for your book, that came out quite a while ago now, but some people would suggest that Howard Hughes was this completely egomaniacal, crazy sort of strange man, yet others would say he was brilliant and just eccentric. Who was he, really?

DROSNIN: Howard Hughes was an American original. He was both a hero and a villain. First, he lived the American dream, and then the nightmare.

I have nearly everything he ever put in writing, and I tell the story in my own words in the book, which has come out again with the movie.

COLLINS: In fact, just to put it in perspective a little bit, Howard Hughes once said, and I'll quote this for a family show at home tonight, he says "I'm not a paranoid deranged millionaire, gosh darn it, I'm a billionaire." What does that say about him? He only had to correct how much money he was making.

DROSNIN: He was in fact a billionaire, the first actual billionaire. "Fortune" magazine declared him so in 1968, 1.3 billion, but his real fortune in today's terms is far greater. Just part of his empire was sold for $5 billion. He was the world's richest and most secretive man. He spent 20 years of his life, the last 20 years in total seclusion, and from total seclusion used his great wealth to try to buy the government of the United States, and succeeded to a remarkable degree. He bought presidents. No one ever turned down his money.

COLLINS: Amazing. Let's go ahead and take a look at a clip of the movie. We know about some of his affairs. Specifically, with Katharine Hepburn and Ava Gardner. Let's look at a little clip about that in the movie.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What the hell is this?

LEONARDO DICAPRIO, ACTOR: It's a present. Go on, open it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, a box of trash. You shouldn't have.

DICAPRIO: Keep looking. Keep looking. It's a Kashmiri sapphire, best in the world. I had my boys all over the damn world looking for this.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why?

DICAPRIO: Because, look. It matches your eyes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: What was his appeal to women?

DROSNIN: Well, money is a great aphrodisiac, I think. If you're the richest man in the world, it helps. But he was also a very daring, dashing figure, a very handsome man when he was young. And he was a master of the grand gesture. That's certainly true, but I'll tell you something, Hughes liked to be seen with beautiful women, but he was actually afraid of women, at least women his own age. He stashed teenagers around Hollywood in safehouses, and those are the women he spent his time with.

COLLINS: All right, well, we're going to have to read that book and see the movie, both I think to get a clear picture of what this man was all about. We appreciate your time tonight. Thanks so much for being with us.

DROSNIN: Great to be with you, Heidi.

COLLINS: Thanks.

In tonight's "Current" now, if the governor of Illinois has his way, Santa will no longer bring violent videogames to kids across his state. Governor Rod Blagojevich is pushing for legislation that would restrict the sale of the controversial games. But as Sibila Vargas reports, some people think the governor is just being a Scrooge to retailers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SIBILA VARGAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Video games have come a long way, from (UNINTELLIGIBLE) dots to graphic violence. They've come too far in the mind of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. He's proposing to ban the sale of violent and sexually explicit videogames to minors in his state. Games like "Grand Theft Auto," where people are target practice.

GOV. ROD BLAGOJEVICH (D), ILLINOIS: These games directly assault the very values we were raised to believe in, and the very values I believe most parents try to teach their kids today.

VARGAS: The first-term Democrat said he took action after hearing about "JFK Reloaded," a game that puts players in the role of Lee Harvey Oswald.

BLAGOJEVICH: I watched that and felt a great deal of outrage and contempt.

VARGAS: But efforts in other states to restrict the sale of graphic games have fallen victim to court challenges. A spokesman for Illinois retailers predicts the same thing will happen there.

DAVID VITE, ILLINOIS RETAIL MERCHANTS ASSOCIATION: There's no way to provide a bright-line definition of violence or graphic sexuality that can stand the constitutional test.

VARGAS: Vite says the industry's voluntary labeling system, which is supposed to keep kids from buying inappropriate games, is working.

VITE: The incidence of sales of mature video games has been reduced in the last year by more than 20 percent.

VARGAS: In the meantime, the popularity of games with kids and adults is growing, with an estimated $10 billion worth sold last year. More than Americans spent on movie tickets.

They were even celebrated at an awards show this week, where a trophy went to Halo 2, one of the games Illinois' governor has objected to.

Sibila Vargas, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: You can expect more in-depth reporting tonight on CNN. Let's get a preview of what's coming up on "PAULA ZAHN NOW" and "NEWSNIGHT WITH AARON BROWN." Paula and Aaron are joining me now from their studios. Let's go ahead and begin with Paula. Hi, Paula.

PAULA ZAHN, HOST, "PAULA ZAHN NOW": Hi, Heidi. Tonight, we're dealing with a question that Christians have been asking for centuries, what did Jesus really look like? Well, thanks for the latest advances in forensic science, we now have an idea, and we're going to share an image with you tonight. You might be surprised by what you see. Join me at the top of the hour and find out -- Heidi.

COLLINS: I bet we will be surprised. Paula, thank you.

Aaron.

AARON HOST, "NEWSNIGHT": Well, Heidi, when Dr. David Graham went before Congress and warned there were at least five drugs commonly used these days that are dangerous, he became a classic whistle- blower. He said the FDA is too close to the drug companies it's supposed to regulate.

Dr. Graham joins us tonight on "NEWSNIGHT."

COLLINS: All right, Aaron, we'll be watching that too, 10:00 tonight. Thanks so much, guys.

360 next now, pumping gas and getting burned. One woman explains how her trip to the gas station became an explosive nightmare.

Also tonight, the Donald finally hires someone. Reality TV and all that firing. It's "Overkill."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: It's a sort of mindless task that millions of us do every day. Stop at a gas station, hop out of the car, and fill the tank. The vast majority of those chores end with us driving away without another thought, and then there is what happened to Theressa Lopez. CNN's Wolf Blitzer reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Theressa Lopez was filling up her car at a gas station near her Houston home when something truly unexpected happened. Surveillance video recorded the horrifying scene as a fireball erupted and engulfed Lopez. She says her first thought was to move her car.

THERESSA LOPEZ, VICTIM: Just to get it out the way out of the other things, like the gas station thing, to get it out the way, because, if not, everything was going to explode.

BLITZER: Amazingly, Lopez was treated only for burns on her hands and right leg. It's not clear what caused the fire. Firefighters reported finding a lighter nearby. Lopez says she doesn't know what happened.

LOPEZ: I didn't have no lighter in my hand. I didn't have a cigarette. I didn't have anything with me. And just -- the car just like started on fire.

BLITZER: Her roommate, who was with Lopez, says the car's gas gauge wasn't working, and as a result they overfilled the tank, and the gas overflowed.

PRISCILLA CALDERON, ROOMMATE: The thing is that the car hasn't been well. The meter doesn't work on the gas.

BLITZER: The Petroleum Equipment Institute has been tracking these kinds of fires for more than a decade. It says the most common culprit is static electricity. And in most cases the motorist caused it to build up by getting back in the car while fueling, then returning to the pump, where a minute spark ignites the gas vapors.

A more obvious cause? Smoking at the pump. The Institute says concern over cell phones is unwarranted. It says, of the hundreds of pump fires it's investigated, not one was found to have been caused by a mobile phone. Wolf Blitzer, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: And now a quick round of what's wrong with this picture. Here is the president at a panel decision of his new economic agenda, but one of the challenges being referred to in the TV monitor there is proofreading. Challenge is spelled "enge" as I'm sure you know not "ange." No word from the White House on this matter.

360 next, a reality check for reality losers. From "The Apprentice" to "Survivor," why getting fired is ripe for overkill.

Here's another look at tonight's questions. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Millions of people will be watching tonight when Donald Trump announces if his next apprentice will be Jennifer or Kelly. But it's not the hiring that makes his show stand out. It's the firing. We like it when reality losers lose. Every program does it there own way but it seems we have reached the point where we're getting the axe has reached overkill.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): Donald Trump's delivery and hair are unique, but "The Apprentice" isn't the only show to show contestants the door. Some seem to really enjoy the power. Isn't that right, Simon?

There are so many ways to let people go, like this sweet and painfully sappy approach on "The Bachelor."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've enjoyed every moment that we spent together. I don't think that we are meant to spend our lives together.

COLLINS: The "Amazing Race" handles the losers pretty matter of factly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're the last team to arrive. Sorry to tell you you've both been eliminated from the race.

COLLINS: So did the "Weakest Link" but they did it in a way that made some feel worthless.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You are the weakest link. Good-bye.

COLLINS: "The Biggest Loser," the reality weight watching show can be downright cruel with its good-bye.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let's find out which team is this week's biggest loser.

COLLINS: Then there's model wannabes who are getting booted off the catwalk in two reality programs, "America's Next Top Model."

TYRA BANKS, MODEL: I only have one photo in my hand. Pack your belongings and leave.

COLLINS: And on Bravo's "Project Runway" Heidi Klum does it with an international flair.

HEIDI KLUM, MODEL: Star, I'm sorry, you're out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The tribe has spoken.

COLLINS: If you think this all started with "Survivor," you're wrong. Back in the 70s, "The Gong Show" was doing it with the gong which may be the best way to let all these reality shows know they've been overkill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: "The Gong Show." Don't you miss it? I'm Heidi Collins in for Anderson Cooper. CNN's primetime lineup continues right now with Paula Zahn -- Paula.

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