Return to Transcripts main page
Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Michael Jackson's Jury African-American Less
Aired February 23, 2005 - 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, HOST: Good evening. I'm Anderson Cooper in New York.
A surprise announcement in the Michael Jackson trial.
360 starts now.
The jury is picked in the Michael Jackson trial, four men, eight women, no African-Americans. Tonight, we take you inside the courtroom for the latest on the trial now scheduled to start next week.
Record rains and massive mudslides. Nine are dead in California's wild winter weather.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was sitting at a desk with a computer on it, and the next thing I know, I heard something, and then it felt like an earthquake.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Tonight, we take you beyond the headlines, an up-close look at mudslides. What factors combined to create those moving mountains of mud?
Mothers beware, rocket fuel in breast milk. An alarming new study finds moms in 36 states have dangerous contaminants in their breast milk. How could this happen? Tonight, what you need to know about what you might be passing on to your child.
A 600-pound tiger on the loose near Los Angeles, shot and killed just hundred of yards from a popular soccer field. Tonight, the latest on where the beast came from, and how it broke free.
And a Harvard president's comments stir controversy. But what are the real differences between men and women when it comes to brainpower?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are about a hundred identified structural differences between the male and the female brain.
(END VIDEO CLIP) COOPER: Tonight, we separate fact from fiction. How men and women really are different.
ANNOUNCER: Live from the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is ANDERSON COOPER 360.
COOPER: And good evening. Hope you've had a good day.
Four words were spoken today in a California courtroom, four words that no one expected to hear today, this week, or perhaps even this month, "We have a jury," four words spoken by the judge in the Michael Jackson trial, a surprise announcement from the bench. The trial is set to start next week.
Now, if you've been listening to the pundits and professional prognosticators, you might have thought the jury selection process would take weeks. But it's taken just five court days. Four men, eight women have been selected. Now, we already know about as much about that jury as the lawyers themselves do, and in just a moment, we'll tell you some surprising things about who's on the panel, and, perhaps just as importantly, who is not on the jury.
First, CNN's Miguel Marquez has the latest from the court in Santa Maria.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Judging Michael Joe Jackson, eight women and four men.
TIM MOLLOY, ASSOCIATED PRESS: They appear to be seven white jurors, four Hispanic, and one Asian.
MARQUEZ: Sooner than anyone expected, Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville announced, "We have a jury," after a furious back-and- forth between Jackson and his lawyers.
DAWN HOBBS, SANTA BARBARA NEWS PRESS: You could see Mr. Mesereau was asking him, Is this it? Do you like these people? And he's nodding his head yes. They're going back and forth. And (UNINTELLIGIBLE) it was a very exciting moment in the courtroom.
MARQUEZ: The oldest juror is a retired 79-year-old great- grandmother, the youngest, a 20-year-old male who says he's an assistant head clerk. One juror said her grandson had to register as a sex offender. She said that experience will help her be fair to Michael Jackson.
Another juror is a 21-year-old male paraplegic who wants to be a motor sports reporter. A 22-year-old female said Michael Jackson's music was before her time. One juror Jackson wanted, the only African-American, a 51-year-old female, was questioned at length by both the defense and the prosecution. A former correctional officer, she was outspoken about race, calling Santa Barbara County jail system a good old boys' joint and questioning whether Jackson could get a racially mixed jury of his peers. She was dismissed by the prosecution.
STEVE CORBETT, "SANTA MARIA TIMES": When that woman was excused, you could see in Michael Jackson's face disappointment. He put his head in his hand. He looked around, he put his head in his hand again.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARQUEZ: Now the eight alternates are now being selected. If they are selected by tomorrow, and the way things are going, that could very well happen, we have a day, maybe a day and a half, of motions. And then opening statements could be as early as Monday, Anderson.
COOPER: Miguel Marquez, thanks.
You can be sure a lot of factors went into choosing the jury, and a lot of money as well. Jury consultants can make up to $5,000 a day, practice mock trials can cost as much as $20,000 a day. Money well spent if it helps a defendant pick a fair jury.
Covering the case for us tonight, CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin. Also joining us from Chicago, well-known trial consultant Paul Lisnek.
Appreciate both of you being with us.
Jeff, let's start off with you. No African-Americans on the jury. How significant?
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Very. I hate to say that, because, you know, we'd like to think we live in a different society. But if you look at every survey, if you look at anecdotal experience, you know, African-American jurors are more sympathetic to African-American defendants. And in a high-profile case, that's accentuated. I think it's a big deal.
Now, I don't think it's necessarily sinister. Santa Maria has 1.9 percent African-Americans. There's not a big jury pool there. But no black jurors means a bad -- a worse jury than Michael jury -- Jackson might have expected.
COOPER: Paul, you agree with that?
PAUL LISNEK, TRIAL CONSULTANT: Well, yes. I don't think this case is one which is going to turn on race. So I think Jeff's comments are well taken, and I do agree, but I don't think that Jackson is in a really necessarily a bad place for not having an African-American on the jury complete.
On the other hand, I wouldn't look at this jury as it exists and call it Michael Jackson's fan club, either, with some of the dynamics that we're seeing on there.
COOPER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) did, I mean, Jeff, how much do either side, the prosecution or the defense, really know about this jury? TOOBIN: I think one of the real stories here is how little they know. This was an eight-page questionnaire, which is much shorter than you usually see in high-profile cases. And the judge limited the lawyers to 10 minutes of questioning of each jurors. There's simply a lot you can't learn when that's all you know. So I, you know, I think they may have been bought a pig in a poke here to a certain extent.
COOPER: Paul, one of the things that...
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: ... let me ask you, though, Paul, because I, one of the things I was surprised about is, one of the jurors apparently said her grandson was a registered sex offender.
LISNEK: Yes, it's funny. And you know, as Jeff has said, I mean, what's so tough is, we know so little. What that means is, what I would add onto his comment is, it means the consultants in that courtroom were watching nonverbal behavior. That's pretty much all they had to go with. With regard to the juror whose grandson was a sex offender, you know, what we're really concerned, that, of course, that fact alone disturbs us all, certainly from Michael Jackson's side.
But what we don't know is the rest of the questioning at this point. I mean, she says that it's making her more sympathetic to Michael Jackson, but maybe it's because, you know, she also feels as though he needs help. But does that mean she thinks he did it? You know, we don't know that right now. And that's one of the jurors who I'm a bit surprised that his team allowed to go through, for what we know right now.
COOPER: Perhaps we got a peek at what the defense is going to arguing in this case. They repeatedly were asking prospective people on this jury whether or not those people thought a child could be manipulated to say something that wasn't true.
LISNEK: Absolutely. I think that's the key to the defense here, and that was even reinforced today. The defense is in a difficult quandary here, because how do you attack a child who is also a cancer survivor? And I think, from jury selection, the way they're going to do that is by attacking the parents, the mother, saying, Do you believe that a mother could manipulate a child into lying on the witness stand? That's going to be the defense. You know, feel sorry for the accuser, don't blame the accuser.
COOPER: Paul, final thought, what did we learn today...
LISNEK: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...
COOPER: ... by the fact that this moved so quickly, just five court days, and they have a jury?
LISNEK: Well, what we've learned is that this judge is going to take no prisoners. This judge, you know, Jeff talked about the seven- page questionnaire. I promise you that questionnaire started out at 50 or 60 pages. This judge is going to control this case, move it along as much as he can, even though it's California. And I think we're going to see strong control here.
Think there's a big difference, by the way, in the jurors, those who have very young children and those who have teenagers or older. Think that's a key factor here with regard to how, who they're going to believe, the teenager accuser, or maybe even Jackson's young kids?
COOPER: Paul Lisnek, always good to talk to you. And Jeffrey Toobin as well, thanks.
LISNEK: Thanks, guys.
COOPER: From the trial of Michael Jackson to the many trials in California, the state has just been hammered by Mother Nature this week. Consider this, it hasn't been this wet in Los Angeles since Sitting Bull was captured 115 years ago. Benjamin Harrison was the president. Idaho and Wyoming became states of the Union. And the Census Bureau declared the end of the Western frontier. In other words, not since 1890 has so much rain fallen on southern California.
Take a look at that. The water is just washing away roads. The death toll now stands at nine. Today we saw some very strange sights, very upsetting sights as well. In Malibu, take a look at this image. See that? That isn't a boulder, just an enormous bolder. It has already fallen most of the way down this cliffside toward the highway. But right now, it's just, it's perched there precariously.
It is being watched, as you can imagine, very, very closely. The fear is, it's going to topple not just onto the road beneath it, but into the homes which are on the other side of that road.
At the Santa Paula Airport near L.A., a sign of just how powerful the water can be. Bulldozers at work clearing away enormous chunks of what was a runway. The swollen Santa Paula River overran the runway and just broke it up like it was nothing.
And until this week, I thought the term red tag meant a sail. Sadly, we have learned it means something else entirely. Authorities red-tag a house out there in California when it has been evacuated because it's soon going to collapse or slide down a mountainside. There's the red tag. We've seen them over and over. We've seen these pictures for the last couple of nights now, homes just collapsing.
It's easy for all, for the rest of us just to move on to the next story, but just for a moment, imagine having to watch your home literally hanging in the balance, knowing it is only a matter of time before it crumbles away and falls.
This house belongs to Patricia and Robert Prole. They were inside the house with their two kids when it literally started to crack. Listen to Patricia Prole now, Prole, describe what she saw and what she heard.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PATRICIA PROLE, HIGHLAND PARK RESIDENT: We noticed that the house was making a lot of noises, a lot of creaking and settling noises.
ROBERT PROLE, HIGHLAND PARK RESIDENT: The dog was going absolutely crazy.
PATRICIA PROLE: And the -- yes. And we could smell this horrible smell...
ROBERT PROLE: The smell of the...
PATRICIA PROLE: ... of wet earth. And it was really powerful. And trees almost. And we thought, Oh, you know, we had a landslide.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Well, the Proles had less than 20 minutes to get out of their home. They grabbed their cat, their goldfish, and family photographs. The house has not fallen yet, but even if it does not, it has been condemned.
The mudslides have made headlines all week, but we wanted to go beyond the headlines tonight and look at the science of mudslides. Exactly what causes them? Why do they seem to happen so frequently out in California?
Spoke earlier with Bill Nye, the science guy.
Bill, what happens when these hills are inundated with water?
BILL NYE, THE SCIENCE GUY: Well, that's -- once in awhile you get mudslides. The thing is, there is something about the soil, especially in California, that's different from just concrete or rock. It is what we like to call thicksatropic (ph). What a fabulous word. I know what you're saying...
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: ... what does it mean?
NYE: It means it's like ketchup. And you know this, this is in your experience. If you turn ketchup upside down, nothing happens, right? But if I whack it, it goes all over the place.
And so what happens in the clay soils in California, they will absorb water, they will soak up water for a long time, and then when there's enough weight above them, they just break loose. In other words, they hold their shape for a long time, when there's enough weight, they come apart, and then you get these spectacular, and, well, miserable mudslides.
COOPER: Yes, terrible, and deadly in many cases. So what, a drainage ditch, a drainage pipe, is the best way to prevent it?
NYE: Ah, yes. You see, so you might think. You might think, as a amateur civil engineer, what we need to do is build a big, heavy retaining wall, and that's true, and that's important, you do that. But the main thing is drainage.
And so what happens around here, I will tell you anecdotally, the drainage systems are just not adequate. This rainstorm, a very good friend of mine, a guy who's lived here since 1966, said he remembers in '66 there was this horrible rain, and his house almost came loose, and all this stuff.
Well, that was 40 years ago. Is that a long time ago? Or is that just the other day in geological terms?
So these rainstorms occur, and in general, the houses around here are not adequately drained to get the water away from this soil, which has this thicksatropic property.
COOPER: Final question, this is probably a stupid one, why do we hear all about California mudslides? Are there not mudslides here in the East Coast? I mean, I know there are not quite as many hills, but is that it, all it is?
NYE: Well, I think it's that there aren't as many hills made of clay. You know, for example, you're in New York, right?
COOPER: Yes.
NYE: The hills are made of bedrock. And so, like the Palisades and so on. The soil that would have slid is long stripped away. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) in other word, they like escarped. The soil that would have scarped is long gone. But it still, it happens from time to time.
It's just here, one of the mysteries around here is why people are allowed to build these houses on these unstable slopes in this environment? And I'm not sure why that is, but we could definitely, as taxpayers and voters, do better in preparing for these kind of rainstorms.
COOPER: Bill Nye, the science guy, appreciate you being with us. Thanks, Bill.
NYE: Thanks.
COOPER: A sad milestone at ground zero today. That tops our look at news cross-country right now.
New York City, the process of identifying remains from the 9/11 attacks of the World Trade Center is over. The city's medical examiner says it has used all the DNA technology possible. The result, more than four out of 10 families have no remains for burial. They hope perhaps in the future new advances in DNA may help identify more remains.
In Washington, D.C., the U.S. Supreme Court says no to a controversial prison policy in California. New inmates there are segregated by race for up to 60 days, supposedly to reduce violence. Alderson, West Virginia, now, while Martha Stewart's been in prison, she has been, well, making a lot of money. Since October, the value of her company's stock has jumped 115 percent. We'll do the math for you. That means Martha Stewart's own share value has gone up by $533 million. Not bad for being in the Big House.
That's a quick look at stories right now cross-country.
Coming up next on 360, a young American accused of plotting with al Qaeda to kill President Bush. His family says he's being framed. Tonight, what we know about the alleged plot, and also what you probably don't know about the life of this young American. We're covering all of the angles.
Also tonight, rocket fuel in breast milk. It's been discovered in moms in 36 states. We're going to get to the bottom of how it happened, and what it might mean for you and your baby.
All that ahead. But first, let's take a look at your picks, the most popular stories right now on CNN.com.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: A former honor student is now the prime suspect in a plot to kill the president of the United States, a plot involving al Qaeda. Authorities say he was listening to audiotapes promoting violent jihad and had books about surveillance. His parents say he is being framed, and the Justice Department is overreacting.
His name is Ahmed Abu Ali. He is 23 years old, and he's American. Imprisoned in Saudi Arabia for the last 20 months, this young man has now been returned to the United States. He is in custody.
And CNN's Kelli Arena from the America Bureau takes a look at who this young man really is.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLI ARENA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ahmed Abu Ali spent most of his life in northern Virginia and was just 19 years old when he left home to study in Medina, Saudi Arabia, in 2000. His sister says he was on a religious quest.
TASNEEM OMAR ABU ALI, SISTER: Mecca and Medina are the two holiest cities for us. Ahmed went there to study. He was a student on a full scholarship. And he was a very spiritual person, and a very good person.
ARENA: The siblings were raised in a community with a large Muslim population. Abu Ali attended school at Islamic Saudi Academy, where he graduated valedictorian. He started to study engineering at the University of Maryland, but changed his mind.
His father, originally from Jordan, works for the Saudi embassy. His mother is a pharmacist. Abu Ali returned to Virginia from Saudi Arabia in August of 2000. He was known to attend his family mosque five times a day. The imam there says he did not notice any change in him.
IMAM JOHARI ABDUL-MALIK, DAR AL-HIJRAH ISLAMIC CENTER: Well, I saw consistent development. I didn't see anything inconsistent either before or after he was in Saudi Arabia.
ARENA: Abu Ali was in the United States during the September 11 attacks. He spoke about them with a close family friend, Shaker el- Sayeed.
SHAKER EL-SAYEED, FAMILY FRIEND: Uncle, the only way to change the world to any better place, if there is a chance, is through education. We have to learn our religion, and we have to teach it and apply it in our life.
ARENA (on camera): Still, according to the government, immediately upon his return to Saudi Arabia in September of 2002, he told his former roommate that he wanted to join al Qaeda.
(voice-over): About the same time, el-Sayeed, who has known Abu Ali since he was born, went to visit him.
EL-SAYEED: He was also a person who was about, you know, serious about his life. He wants a future in which he would do something good for people around him.
ARENA: The indictment lists some of the things found at Abu Ali's home in Virginia, a document on conducting surveillance, another praising the September 11 attacks, audiotapes promoting violent jihad, and a book written by al Qaeda's number two, Ayman al Zawahiri.
EL-SAYEED: If we are going to try people for having books at their home, we better try people who incite violence publicly in books that they wrote.
ARENA: His parents say they trust the truth will eventually come out, pitting a life story against the bare bones of an indictment. Many supporters say even if he is convicted, they will never believe what they say are trumped-up charges.
Kelli Arena, CNN, America Bureau, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: As for President Bush, he's making the last stop in his European fence-mending tour. That tops our look at global stories in the uplink.
Mr. Bush arrived in Brataslava, Slovakia, today. He's the first U.S. president to visit the 12-year-old nation. There he's going to meet tomorrow with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a target of White House criticism lately because feels his decisions have moved Russia away from democracy. Mr. Bush earlier downplayed the rift somewhat as he discussed the upcoming meeting. Listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I've got a close relationship with Vladimir on a personal basis. I have, I expressed some concerns at the European Union yesterday about, you know, some of the -- some of the decisions, such as freedom of the press, that our mutual friend has made. And I look forward to talking to him about his decision-making process.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: And that meeting happens tomorrow.
Tokyo, Japan, now, police on the run. Take a look at this. Two officers checking on a man who ran his car into a building flee when he comes after them with a baseball bat. The police eventually did arrest the man. Today the prime minister of Japan reprimanded his police force and called for more training.
London, England, now, Buckingham Palace insists it is not a snub. Yesterday it raised some eyebrows when it reported that Queen Elizabeth II will not attend the civil marriage ceremony of her son, Prince Charles, and Camilla Parker-Bowles. The palace says the couple wanted a low-key ceremony, and the queen's presence wouldn't allow that. Instead, she'll attend the religious service afterward.
That's a quick look at stories in the uplink.
Every night, CNN's Rudi Bakhtiar scans cyberspace looking for the most popular stories on CNN.com to give you the information that you may not see anywhere else. Rudi is here again tonight to tell us what Web watchers are watching and what they may be missing.
RUDI BAKHTIAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, the Robert Blake murder trial hasn't been getting the kind of TV coverage that the Michael Jackson case has been getting, but it's still pretty popular with the Web surfers. Today his defense lawyers rested their case, a case that may actually come down to forensic science.
So we took the idea of forensic science, did some digging of our own, and found out about something called the CSI effect.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BAKHTIAR: On "CSI," crime scene investigators are playing a big role in solving homicides. They do it by finding the smallest of clues, a strand of hair, a drop of blood, a cigarette butt. By extracting DNA, these TV investigators are able to solve case after case after case.
But fact is far from fiction. Some real-life forensic scientists say shows give people an unrealistic notion of the possibilities of trace evidence. They call it the CSI effect. Professor Max Houck (ph) from West Virginia University says it creates the perception of, quote, "the near-infallibility of forensic science." Instead of taking minutes or even an hour, DNA testing can take as long as a month. And it's not just viewers who are impatient. Prosecutors are also demanding faster results from crime labs. Legal analysts think these shows may have an impact on the justice system, creating impatient jurors who want to see quick test results and not the detailed evidence they have to see.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BAKHTIAR: In fact, you might remember the case just last year of Robert Durst, the millionaire who was accused of murder. The jury consultant on that trial, Robert Hershorn (ph), wanted jurors familiar with shows like "CSI," because he wanted them to understand the importance of a gap in the evidence.
In a survey of 500 people in that jury pool, the defense found that about 70 percent of the viewers were viewers, that is, of "CSI" or similar programs. And Anderson, Durst was acquitted.
COOPER: Well, I, it's not just prosecutors and jurors or potential jurors who are, I guess, benefit or are influenced by sort of this CSI effect.
BAKHTIAR: Exactly. And I was curious about that, so I made some phone calls. I got West Virginia University's director of forensic science on the phone, Dr. Clifton Bishop, who says, yes, criminals, they're watching the exact same shows, and they're learning as well, they're doing things like not licking envelope so that they won't be leaving DNA evidence behind. So this CSI effect is working all the way around.
COOPER: It's interesting, I once talked to a police officer, and I asked him, you know, because I watch "Law and Order" a lot, and I said to him, Why do people talk to the police? Because on all these shows, whenever people talk to police, it's always (UNINTELLIGIBLE). And he said, I don't really know why people do it, but all these criminals continue to talk to us, because they think they can convince you that they're innocent or didn't do it.
BAKHTIAR: Interesting.
COOPER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE). All right, Rudi...
BAKHTIAR: Good show.
COOPER: ... thanks very much. Yes.
360 next, men, women, science, and the brain. Are we simply hardwired to be different? That's the big controversy that has a Harvard professor in some hot water. Tonight we take you beyond the headlines, look at the science, how men and women are really different in the brain.
Plus, an alarming story about rocket fuel in mother's milk, high levels found in women across the country. Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us to explain how this toxin is getting into your body. Also a little later tonight, a tiger roaming by the Reagan presidential library. That's right, I said a tiger. It was shot, it was killed. That's it being taken away. Find out why officials think the tiger might have been someone's pet. Covering all the angles.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Well, the controversy surrounding Harvard University President Lawrence Summers continues. Last month, Summers told a conference that innate differences between the sexes may help explain why men outnumber women in math and science professions.
Now, those comments have made Summers a target of criticism. And since then, he's been fighting for his job. Yesterday he met with school faculty for two hours in an effort to ease some of their anger.
But tonight we wanted to look beyond the controversy. About -- we wanted to look at men and women's brains. And see that when it comes to gray matter, exactly how are men and women different? CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen takes us tonight beyond the headlines.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They notice it when they make dinner. They notice it when they walk the dog.
MICHAEL GURIAN, AUTHOR: There are about 100 identified structural differences between the male and the female brain.
COHEN: Family therapist Michael Gurian and his wife Gayle Reid Gurian say they notice all of the time how differently their brains function. How he tends when they're talking to get right to the point.
M. GURIAN: Your taking in a sorts of stuff. Whereas all I am doing, is I am listening for what I think is the key variable and I hone right in on that and that's very male/female.
COHEN: Gurian, author of the book "What Could He Be Thinking" says when scientists look inside of men's and women's brains, literally with MRI's, they find a biological reason for this difference.
Women in general have a larger corpus callosum. That's the area of the brain that handles communication between the two hemispheres. So the 2 sides talk better to each other. That's one theory as to why studies show women tend to multi-task better.
M. GURIAN: Female brain approach: gather a lot of material, gather a lot of information, feel a lot, hear a lot, sense a lot.
COHEN: MRI's show men on the other hand tend to move information more easily within each hemisphere. M. GURIAN: Men, because we tend to compartmentalize our communication into a smaller part of the brain, we tend to be better at getting right to the issue.
COHEN: MRI's also show men have more activity in mechanical and spatial centers of the brain. So, does that mean scientists think men really do have better inmate science and math abilities? In a way, yes.
Neuropsychiatrist Ruben Girst studies the differences between men's and women's brains.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our top performers on spatial tasks were almost all men.
COHEN: But scientists say in other way, women's brains are superior. Women have more activity in verbal centers, and in general have 15 percent more blood flow to the brain.
M. GURIAN: You're going to be able to do a lot more with 15 percent more blood flow.
COHEN: Researchers point out of course there are women who do highly complicated math and science. And there are men with great verbal skills. It's not black and white. There's a lot of gray matter when you're talking about human brain.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COHEN: Now, based on what we know about our wiring, psychologists have developed tests that show some of the differences between the sexes. Now, as you'll see in a moment, certain traits tend to be more male and others more female.
Now Anderson, we have a simple quiz for you and for everyone at home. And we have four questions. I am sure you will do great, Anderson. You will have 10 seconds to figure out the right answer. Now, pay attention because at the end there will be a prize. No kidding. No surprises prizes.
We will tell you why you will probably do well on some and maybe not so well on others. Let's take a look at question No. 1.
Which frame do you see below does not contain either of the fruits on the top. All right 10 seconds, go.
COOPER: What. None of them do.
COHEN: Oh, Anderson, try harder.
COOPER: What, I can't -- the colors. The colors are all different?
COHEN: Oh, oh excuses, excuses. COOPER: Well no, of course they have strawberries. The one in the middle doesn't contain the strawberry. I thought it had to be the same black color.
COHEN: No, that registers as a wrong answer. The middle one would be the correct answer. It doesn't contain either of the fruits.
All right. Question 2, look at shape on the top. Find the same shape below. Go!
COOPER: The one in the middle.
COHEN: Wow. The one in the middle, wow, we will give everyone a few more second. You must be speedy here.
OK, Anderson, there you go. You were right.
COOPER: OK.
COHEN: It's the one in the middle.
COOPER: Should I not say the answer? I won't say the answers...
COHEN: OK. Don't say the answers to the end so everyone can play along.
Question three, look the at color range on the top. Find the same color range below. 10 seconds.
COOPER: I love the cheesy music. OK, my answer is the one on the right.
COHEN: Sorry. It's the one on the left. Oi, is right. You got that one wrong.
OK. Question 4, which shape below is different from the shape on the top? Again, 10 seconds.
COOPER: This is terrible.
COHEN: Do, do, do, do, do, do.
COOPER: Let's see, I don't know. The one on the right.
COHEN: You are wrong. It's the middle one.
Oh, Anderson. I am so sorry. You are still smart. You're still smart. Don't worry. Don't get too down about it.
Now, what does this all mean? Well, women tend to be generally very good at visual memory task and about distinguishing between subtle hints at details. So the rainbow was a subtle hint of detail. Women tend to be better at that.
Good visual memory. Men are actually great at visual things, it's the memory they have a problem with. Now, men tend to be good at figuring out a shape. How things rotate. That star was rotated and you had to rotate that in your head. Men tend to better at that.
Also, men tend to be better at seeing things in 3-dimensions. And that's what those cubes are all about.
So, again, this is not 100 percent. It is not -- it doesn't mean if you didn't answer like a man, but you're a woman that actually a man, these are all sort of generalizations. So, keep that in mind. They're generalizations about how men's and women's brains work.
COOPER: I'm glad that's what it means. I clearly, am just not very good at anything. Elizabeth Cohen, thanks very much.
COHEN: Thanks.
COOPER: Mothers beware. Rocket fuel in breast milk. An alarming new study finds moms in 36 states have dangerous contaminants in their breast milk. How could this happen? Tonight, what you need to know about what you might be passing on to your child.
A 600-pound tiger on the loose near Los Angeles. Shot and killed, just hundreds of yards from a popular soccer field. Tonight, the latest on where the beast came from and how it broke free. 360 continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: In "Justice Served" tonight, there is legal drama playing out and in the quiet neighborhood in Connecticut. And it centers around a simple question that is perhaps not simple at all: can the government take away your home? Not for a public project like building a highway or building a park, but take your home and hand it over to big private developers?
The city of New London wants to take several people's homes against their will and hand the property over to developers.
Now, I think a lot of us would be surprised to here this A, legal, and B, possible and it happens all of the time. The question is, could it happen to you? Once again, here is CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOOBIN: Matt Dery has lived his whole life in Fort Trumbull, a working-class neighborhood of New London, Connecticut. His grandmother moved here more than a century ago.
MATT DERY, FORT TRUMBULL HOMEOWNER: She purchased the property that this house is on around 1903.
TOOBIN: Now he and his neighbors have been told to move out. Sell or forcibly be evicted.
DERY: They said if we didn't sell to them that they would take the property by imminent domain.
TOOBIN: The statue allows city officials to condemn private property for public use. Traditionally to build highways, schools, and rebuild blighted area. The city of New London concedes that the area is not a slum, but it's classified by the state of Connecticut as distressed.
City officials want to hand over the 90 acres of riverfront property to a private developer to build a hotel complex and condominiums. They argue that the term public use includes private economic development.
WESLEY HORTON, SHIELDS & KNOX: You can't have one rule for roads and another rule for blight and a third rule for economic development. It's all the same thing.
TOOBIN: Michael Rikon, an expert on imminent domain law, thinks some cities have gone too far.
MICHAEL RIKON, GOLDSTEIN, GOLDSTEIN, RIKON AND GOTTLIEB: I believe that sponsor, developers with great deal of money have the ability to lobby more successfully than small property owners.
TOOBIN: Seeing the opportunity to revitalize the area, the city adopted the redevelopment plan five years ago. Two years after the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer had agreed to build a $270 million research facility nearby. Ninety homeowners have taken the offer and moved. Matt and his remaining six neighbors have not.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is where we live, this where our hearts are and this is where we plan to stay.
TOOBIN: A Supreme Court ruling is expected by late June, likely will likely serve as a precedent for similar case around the country.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Jeffrey Toobin joins us now. I mean, it's a -- I've read about Robert Moses, here in New York, doing this to build highways and parks and the like. But to do it for private developers, can you fight it at all?
TOOBIN: You know, unless the Supreme Court decides otherwise, the answer is really no. You can fight about price and people do fight about the market value of their house. But if they condemn your house, if they used the power of imminent domain, you're out of luck.
COOPER: And this can happen in suburbs and cities, anywhere?
TOOBIN: It can happen anywhere. It's likely to happen where big business wants to go. So, it happens mostly in cities. But if they want to build a Wal-Mart that the community thinks is valuable, if they want to build a stadium, those kind of things in suburbs as well.
COOPER: And when you say -- I mean, unless the Supreme Court rules differently, the only way it fight it -- what you're really saying, the only thing to fight is about the price. I mean, you just try to get as much money as you can?
TOOBIN: That's right. This would be an example of stopping the process of saying we could keep their home, if the Supreme Court rules for the homeowners here. But the current state of the law is, you have no right to fight. The only thing you can fight about is the price.
COOPER: How common is this? I mean...
TOOBIN: Well, the group that brought this case said, five -- said 50,000 cases -- I am sorry, 10,000 cases over five years. No one really knows. because you don't have to report it. Municipalities do it all the time. There's no central clearing house of information.
COOPER: So, unless it's brought up in court, there's no way to track it?
TOOBIN: Exactly.
COOPER: Interesting. Jeffrey Toobin, thanks.
TOOBIN: OK.
COOPER: Well, 360 next, a chemical found in rocket fuel has been found in mother's breast milk. We're going to try to get to the bottom of how this could happen and What you can do about it.
Plus, a tiger, perhaps somebody's pet, shot and killed after roaming the hills of a California town, around the Reagan Library, was near a soccer field. You're going to hear from the man who helped in the hunt.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Well, this next story will probably sound awfully frightening to the millions of women who've been told that, for babies, there's nothing better -- or no better nourishment than breast milk. It provides protein and carbohydrates, fat, minerals, vitamins and enzymes to the babies. But apparently, that is not all it is providing. A new studies says that in dozens of states here in America, mothers breast milk contains a chemical used to make, of all things, rocket fuel. CNN senior medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta had more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Rockets are probably the last thing that come to mind when you think of breast feeding. But new research finds that Prechlorate, a toxic part of rocket fuel, is found in breast milk at potentially damaging level. Turns out people are exposed through run-off water in irrigation of crops.
Prechlorate can make it into tap water and grow in fruits and vegetables irrigated by contaminate water. Now a new study by researches are Texas Tech University, looked at 36 women in 18 states. Levels five to eight times higher than those considered safe by the EPA were found in those mother's breast milk. The Environmental Protection Agency is currently reviewing the paper.
RICHARD WILES, ENVIRONMENTAL WORKING GROUP: It's without question that the majority of infants will exceed what EPA considers a safe dose.
GUPTA: Nursing mothers eat Prechlorate contaminated foods and pass it through breast milk to their nursing children. Higher levels can affect the thyroid gland and negatively impact brain development.
WILES: What you need is a high exposure for a relatively short period of time that can affect brain development and produce IQ deficits and in worst cases, even mental retardations.
GUPTA: That's a serious price for nursing babies and their mothers. And it's spurring strong reaction.
SANDRA STEINGRABER, MOTHER AND BIOLOGIST: I think that most women see their relationship between the nursing infant and themselves as a one of a kind of sacred communion.
GUPTA: At home, there is no way to control Prechlorate level. You can't wash it off you're produce, you can't filter it out of your water with traditional system. And there are no commercial test. For now, women like Steingraber are still focusing on the bigger picture.
STEINGRABER: In my mind, the answer to this is not to take babies back to formula, which is an inferior food for babies, but rather to get the chemicals on out of the environment in the first place and out of women's breasts.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA: And a really difficult situation, Anderson. We can't give a lot of good advice in terms of trying to get the Prechlorate out of the diet. Talked to a lot officials about this. What they can tell us is this, breast feeding is still a very good way to feed your child. And it is associated with a lot of positive benefits, including a lower risk of SIDS, higher IQ, better development as well. They have to straighten this Prechlorate issue out and we're certainly going to keep you posted on that, Anderson.
COOPER: Prechlorate, though, I mean, do they know for a fact that it affects the mental ability? Could it be something else.
GUPTA: You know, for a long time breast milk has been tested. Decade ago, it actually had high levels of pesticide in it, and the EPA went back and cleaned up the pesticides. Breast milk became much cleaner overall. Prechlorate, there's nothing really good about it when it comes to the body. There had been some studies done, to answer you question directly, showing a direct link between Prechlorate levels, higher levels and delayed development in children. So, yes, there is a causal link here.
COOPER: All right, Dr. Sanjay Gupta thanks. Coming next on 360, a tiger tracked down, shot and killed, roaming around near the Reagan Presidential Library. The question is, how did it get there? Was it wild or somebody's pet? We're going to talk to the man who helped in the hunt.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Well, so ends the story of that tiger on the loose near the Ronald Reagan Memorial Library in Moor Park, California. It could have been worse. No human was hurt after all, but then it was bad enough. The tiger had to be killed.
Authorities say that there may be between 5,000 and 13,000 tigers in private hands in America. L.A. police will be looking for those in their area that have exotic pet licenses trying to discover who let the cat that was killed today out in the first place, and failed to report the escape, which might have just saved the animal's life?
Joining us from Moor Park is Marty Wall from the California Fish & Wildlife Department. He was there today at end of that sad affair.
Marty, thanks for being with us. How hard was it tracking this tiger?
MARTY WALL, CALIF. DEPT OF FISH & GAME: Well, for the past week or so, it's been very difficult because of the rain. The tracks are only good for a couple of minutes with the kind of rainfall we've been having.
COOPER: Finally today you had a visual on the tiger. How did the end come about?
WALL: Well, we got a report a little bit after 6:00 this morning that a resident had seen it behind his property over by the shopping center. And we responded as did the deputies and the Department of Agriculture wildlife specialists. And it had worked its way into a really tight little draw directly adjacent to the 23 freeway and a park and a middle school.
COOPER: And so what, you surrounded it?
WALL: Well, we got personnel on the hills above it. And it was in a very tight brushy area. We could just see glimpses of it here and there. And the decision was made that tranquilizer just would not be an option with, with the proximity to the neighborhood, and a busy freeway at that time. And the first person that had a clear shot took it.
COOPER: I know this is -- I mean, it's a hard thing, no one wants to do something like that. Was there any alternative?
WALL: Well, you know, we could second-guess these situations very easily after the fact. But when things are happening, things are happening fast. And our primary objective is for public safety, it really cuts our options down. So, we have to make a decision quick.
COOPER: Do you have any idea at this point, or any updates, of where this tiger came from? And why whoever had it didn't report it?
WALL: Well, you know, I can't speak to as that person's motivation, but we are investigating aggressively right now. And attempting to find out exactly who owned this tiger and what the story was with it. And more importantly, why he or she did not come forward and help us.
COOPER: Yes, a lot of questions to be answered by that person. Martin wall, I know it's been a long day and upsetting day on how it ended. We appreciate you being with us today. Thanks very much.
WALL: You are welcome.
COOPER: Martin Wall.
360 next, the Michelin Man with the taste of fine food. Michelin Man's coming to New York. We'll tell you why on the Nth Degree ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Tonight, judgment day to the Nth Degree.
Imagine the fear, imagine the trembling, it was announced today that Michelin, the tire company, whose guide books have become bibles for gourmets the world over is preparing a first ever edition that'll cover and assign those famous Michelin stars to the restaurants right here in New York.
New York. City the excess, city of every kind of cuisine. City of King Kong chefs bestriding their kitchens the way the original bestrode the Empire State. The city of thousand dollar dinners for two, of drinks with diamonds in them, of burgers out of reach but all but royals about. A city till now unrated by Michelin.
There must be trembling today where the creme brulees are made. Shivering among the squid and the octopus slicers. Anxiety, amidst the aioli, grief at the grill, sobbing at the saute pan, the snooty French tasters are coming, the ones who make or break careers who give or take away stars, who anoint and crown or defrock and dash.
We think this would be not be a good week to go out for a high- end bite in New York. The shaking hands are bound to overseas and bound to chop rough and fine, bound to remove from the oven too soon or maybe too late. I would give it a week or two until the city's cooks have taken in the news and maybe taken in a couple of deep breaths.
I'm Anderson Cooper. Thanks for watching 360.
Up next, a very special edition of "PAULA ZAHN NOW" "Breast Cancer Survivor Stories." That starts in about 20 seconds. Thanks for watching 360.
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 February 23, 2005 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, HOST: Good evening. I'm Anderson Cooper in New York.
A surprise announcement in the Michael Jackson trial.
360 starts now.
The jury is picked in the Michael Jackson trial, four men, eight women, no African-Americans. Tonight, we take you inside the courtroom for the latest on the trial now scheduled to start next week.
Record rains and massive mudslides. Nine are dead in California's wild winter weather.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was sitting at a desk with a computer on it, and the next thing I know, I heard something, and then it felt like an earthquake.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Tonight, we take you beyond the headlines, an up-close look at mudslides. What factors combined to create those moving mountains of mud?
Mothers beware, rocket fuel in breast milk. An alarming new study finds moms in 36 states have dangerous contaminants in their breast milk. How could this happen? Tonight, what you need to know about what you might be passing on to your child.
A 600-pound tiger on the loose near Los Angeles, shot and killed just hundred of yards from a popular soccer field. Tonight, the latest on where the beast came from, and how it broke free.
And a Harvard president's comments stir controversy. But what are the real differences between men and women when it comes to brainpower?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are about a hundred identified structural differences between the male and the female brain.
(END VIDEO CLIP) COOPER: Tonight, we separate fact from fiction. How men and women really are different.
ANNOUNCER: Live from the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is ANDERSON COOPER 360.
COOPER: And good evening. Hope you've had a good day.
Four words were spoken today in a California courtroom, four words that no one expected to hear today, this week, or perhaps even this month, "We have a jury," four words spoken by the judge in the Michael Jackson trial, a surprise announcement from the bench. The trial is set to start next week.
Now, if you've been listening to the pundits and professional prognosticators, you might have thought the jury selection process would take weeks. But it's taken just five court days. Four men, eight women have been selected. Now, we already know about as much about that jury as the lawyers themselves do, and in just a moment, we'll tell you some surprising things about who's on the panel, and, perhaps just as importantly, who is not on the jury.
First, CNN's Miguel Marquez has the latest from the court in Santa Maria.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Judging Michael Joe Jackson, eight women and four men.
TIM MOLLOY, ASSOCIATED PRESS: They appear to be seven white jurors, four Hispanic, and one Asian.
MARQUEZ: Sooner than anyone expected, Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville announced, "We have a jury," after a furious back-and- forth between Jackson and his lawyers.
DAWN HOBBS, SANTA BARBARA NEWS PRESS: You could see Mr. Mesereau was asking him, Is this it? Do you like these people? And he's nodding his head yes. They're going back and forth. And (UNINTELLIGIBLE) it was a very exciting moment in the courtroom.
MARQUEZ: The oldest juror is a retired 79-year-old great- grandmother, the youngest, a 20-year-old male who says he's an assistant head clerk. One juror said her grandson had to register as a sex offender. She said that experience will help her be fair to Michael Jackson.
Another juror is a 21-year-old male paraplegic who wants to be a motor sports reporter. A 22-year-old female said Michael Jackson's music was before her time. One juror Jackson wanted, the only African-American, a 51-year-old female, was questioned at length by both the defense and the prosecution. A former correctional officer, she was outspoken about race, calling Santa Barbara County jail system a good old boys' joint and questioning whether Jackson could get a racially mixed jury of his peers. She was dismissed by the prosecution.
STEVE CORBETT, "SANTA MARIA TIMES": When that woman was excused, you could see in Michael Jackson's face disappointment. He put his head in his hand. He looked around, he put his head in his hand again.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARQUEZ: Now the eight alternates are now being selected. If they are selected by tomorrow, and the way things are going, that could very well happen, we have a day, maybe a day and a half, of motions. And then opening statements could be as early as Monday, Anderson.
COOPER: Miguel Marquez, thanks.
You can be sure a lot of factors went into choosing the jury, and a lot of money as well. Jury consultants can make up to $5,000 a day, practice mock trials can cost as much as $20,000 a day. Money well spent if it helps a defendant pick a fair jury.
Covering the case for us tonight, CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin. Also joining us from Chicago, well-known trial consultant Paul Lisnek.
Appreciate both of you being with us.
Jeff, let's start off with you. No African-Americans on the jury. How significant?
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Very. I hate to say that, because, you know, we'd like to think we live in a different society. But if you look at every survey, if you look at anecdotal experience, you know, African-American jurors are more sympathetic to African-American defendants. And in a high-profile case, that's accentuated. I think it's a big deal.
Now, I don't think it's necessarily sinister. Santa Maria has 1.9 percent African-Americans. There's not a big jury pool there. But no black jurors means a bad -- a worse jury than Michael jury -- Jackson might have expected.
COOPER: Paul, you agree with that?
PAUL LISNEK, TRIAL CONSULTANT: Well, yes. I don't think this case is one which is going to turn on race. So I think Jeff's comments are well taken, and I do agree, but I don't think that Jackson is in a really necessarily a bad place for not having an African-American on the jury complete.
On the other hand, I wouldn't look at this jury as it exists and call it Michael Jackson's fan club, either, with some of the dynamics that we're seeing on there.
COOPER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) did, I mean, Jeff, how much do either side, the prosecution or the defense, really know about this jury? TOOBIN: I think one of the real stories here is how little they know. This was an eight-page questionnaire, which is much shorter than you usually see in high-profile cases. And the judge limited the lawyers to 10 minutes of questioning of each jurors. There's simply a lot you can't learn when that's all you know. So I, you know, I think they may have been bought a pig in a poke here to a certain extent.
COOPER: Paul, one of the things that...
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: ... let me ask you, though, Paul, because I, one of the things I was surprised about is, one of the jurors apparently said her grandson was a registered sex offender.
LISNEK: Yes, it's funny. And you know, as Jeff has said, I mean, what's so tough is, we know so little. What that means is, what I would add onto his comment is, it means the consultants in that courtroom were watching nonverbal behavior. That's pretty much all they had to go with. With regard to the juror whose grandson was a sex offender, you know, what we're really concerned, that, of course, that fact alone disturbs us all, certainly from Michael Jackson's side.
But what we don't know is the rest of the questioning at this point. I mean, she says that it's making her more sympathetic to Michael Jackson, but maybe it's because, you know, she also feels as though he needs help. But does that mean she thinks he did it? You know, we don't know that right now. And that's one of the jurors who I'm a bit surprised that his team allowed to go through, for what we know right now.
COOPER: Perhaps we got a peek at what the defense is going to arguing in this case. They repeatedly were asking prospective people on this jury whether or not those people thought a child could be manipulated to say something that wasn't true.
LISNEK: Absolutely. I think that's the key to the defense here, and that was even reinforced today. The defense is in a difficult quandary here, because how do you attack a child who is also a cancer survivor? And I think, from jury selection, the way they're going to do that is by attacking the parents, the mother, saying, Do you believe that a mother could manipulate a child into lying on the witness stand? That's going to be the defense. You know, feel sorry for the accuser, don't blame the accuser.
COOPER: Paul, final thought, what did we learn today...
LISNEK: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...
COOPER: ... by the fact that this moved so quickly, just five court days, and they have a jury?
LISNEK: Well, what we've learned is that this judge is going to take no prisoners. This judge, you know, Jeff talked about the seven- page questionnaire. I promise you that questionnaire started out at 50 or 60 pages. This judge is going to control this case, move it along as much as he can, even though it's California. And I think we're going to see strong control here.
Think there's a big difference, by the way, in the jurors, those who have very young children and those who have teenagers or older. Think that's a key factor here with regard to how, who they're going to believe, the teenager accuser, or maybe even Jackson's young kids?
COOPER: Paul Lisnek, always good to talk to you. And Jeffrey Toobin as well, thanks.
LISNEK: Thanks, guys.
COOPER: From the trial of Michael Jackson to the many trials in California, the state has just been hammered by Mother Nature this week. Consider this, it hasn't been this wet in Los Angeles since Sitting Bull was captured 115 years ago. Benjamin Harrison was the president. Idaho and Wyoming became states of the Union. And the Census Bureau declared the end of the Western frontier. In other words, not since 1890 has so much rain fallen on southern California.
Take a look at that. The water is just washing away roads. The death toll now stands at nine. Today we saw some very strange sights, very upsetting sights as well. In Malibu, take a look at this image. See that? That isn't a boulder, just an enormous bolder. It has already fallen most of the way down this cliffside toward the highway. But right now, it's just, it's perched there precariously.
It is being watched, as you can imagine, very, very closely. The fear is, it's going to topple not just onto the road beneath it, but into the homes which are on the other side of that road.
At the Santa Paula Airport near L.A., a sign of just how powerful the water can be. Bulldozers at work clearing away enormous chunks of what was a runway. The swollen Santa Paula River overran the runway and just broke it up like it was nothing.
And until this week, I thought the term red tag meant a sail. Sadly, we have learned it means something else entirely. Authorities red-tag a house out there in California when it has been evacuated because it's soon going to collapse or slide down a mountainside. There's the red tag. We've seen them over and over. We've seen these pictures for the last couple of nights now, homes just collapsing.
It's easy for all, for the rest of us just to move on to the next story, but just for a moment, imagine having to watch your home literally hanging in the balance, knowing it is only a matter of time before it crumbles away and falls.
This house belongs to Patricia and Robert Prole. They were inside the house with their two kids when it literally started to crack. Listen to Patricia Prole now, Prole, describe what she saw and what she heard.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PATRICIA PROLE, HIGHLAND PARK RESIDENT: We noticed that the house was making a lot of noises, a lot of creaking and settling noises.
ROBERT PROLE, HIGHLAND PARK RESIDENT: The dog was going absolutely crazy.
PATRICIA PROLE: And the -- yes. And we could smell this horrible smell...
ROBERT PROLE: The smell of the...
PATRICIA PROLE: ... of wet earth. And it was really powerful. And trees almost. And we thought, Oh, you know, we had a landslide.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Well, the Proles had less than 20 minutes to get out of their home. They grabbed their cat, their goldfish, and family photographs. The house has not fallen yet, but even if it does not, it has been condemned.
The mudslides have made headlines all week, but we wanted to go beyond the headlines tonight and look at the science of mudslides. Exactly what causes them? Why do they seem to happen so frequently out in California?
Spoke earlier with Bill Nye, the science guy.
Bill, what happens when these hills are inundated with water?
BILL NYE, THE SCIENCE GUY: Well, that's -- once in awhile you get mudslides. The thing is, there is something about the soil, especially in California, that's different from just concrete or rock. It is what we like to call thicksatropic (ph). What a fabulous word. I know what you're saying...
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: ... what does it mean?
NYE: It means it's like ketchup. And you know this, this is in your experience. If you turn ketchup upside down, nothing happens, right? But if I whack it, it goes all over the place.
And so what happens in the clay soils in California, they will absorb water, they will soak up water for a long time, and then when there's enough weight above them, they just break loose. In other words, they hold their shape for a long time, when there's enough weight, they come apart, and then you get these spectacular, and, well, miserable mudslides.
COOPER: Yes, terrible, and deadly in many cases. So what, a drainage ditch, a drainage pipe, is the best way to prevent it?
NYE: Ah, yes. You see, so you might think. You might think, as a amateur civil engineer, what we need to do is build a big, heavy retaining wall, and that's true, and that's important, you do that. But the main thing is drainage.
And so what happens around here, I will tell you anecdotally, the drainage systems are just not adequate. This rainstorm, a very good friend of mine, a guy who's lived here since 1966, said he remembers in '66 there was this horrible rain, and his house almost came loose, and all this stuff.
Well, that was 40 years ago. Is that a long time ago? Or is that just the other day in geological terms?
So these rainstorms occur, and in general, the houses around here are not adequately drained to get the water away from this soil, which has this thicksatropic property.
COOPER: Final question, this is probably a stupid one, why do we hear all about California mudslides? Are there not mudslides here in the East Coast? I mean, I know there are not quite as many hills, but is that it, all it is?
NYE: Well, I think it's that there aren't as many hills made of clay. You know, for example, you're in New York, right?
COOPER: Yes.
NYE: The hills are made of bedrock. And so, like the Palisades and so on. The soil that would have slid is long stripped away. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) in other word, they like escarped. The soil that would have scarped is long gone. But it still, it happens from time to time.
It's just here, one of the mysteries around here is why people are allowed to build these houses on these unstable slopes in this environment? And I'm not sure why that is, but we could definitely, as taxpayers and voters, do better in preparing for these kind of rainstorms.
COOPER: Bill Nye, the science guy, appreciate you being with us. Thanks, Bill.
NYE: Thanks.
COOPER: A sad milestone at ground zero today. That tops our look at news cross-country right now.
New York City, the process of identifying remains from the 9/11 attacks of the World Trade Center is over. The city's medical examiner says it has used all the DNA technology possible. The result, more than four out of 10 families have no remains for burial. They hope perhaps in the future new advances in DNA may help identify more remains.
In Washington, D.C., the U.S. Supreme Court says no to a controversial prison policy in California. New inmates there are segregated by race for up to 60 days, supposedly to reduce violence. Alderson, West Virginia, now, while Martha Stewart's been in prison, she has been, well, making a lot of money. Since October, the value of her company's stock has jumped 115 percent. We'll do the math for you. That means Martha Stewart's own share value has gone up by $533 million. Not bad for being in the Big House.
That's a quick look at stories right now cross-country.
Coming up next on 360, a young American accused of plotting with al Qaeda to kill President Bush. His family says he's being framed. Tonight, what we know about the alleged plot, and also what you probably don't know about the life of this young American. We're covering all of the angles.
Also tonight, rocket fuel in breast milk. It's been discovered in moms in 36 states. We're going to get to the bottom of how it happened, and what it might mean for you and your baby.
All that ahead. But first, let's take a look at your picks, the most popular stories right now on CNN.com.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: A former honor student is now the prime suspect in a plot to kill the president of the United States, a plot involving al Qaeda. Authorities say he was listening to audiotapes promoting violent jihad and had books about surveillance. His parents say he is being framed, and the Justice Department is overreacting.
His name is Ahmed Abu Ali. He is 23 years old, and he's American. Imprisoned in Saudi Arabia for the last 20 months, this young man has now been returned to the United States. He is in custody.
And CNN's Kelli Arena from the America Bureau takes a look at who this young man really is.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLI ARENA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ahmed Abu Ali spent most of his life in northern Virginia and was just 19 years old when he left home to study in Medina, Saudi Arabia, in 2000. His sister says he was on a religious quest.
TASNEEM OMAR ABU ALI, SISTER: Mecca and Medina are the two holiest cities for us. Ahmed went there to study. He was a student on a full scholarship. And he was a very spiritual person, and a very good person.
ARENA: The siblings were raised in a community with a large Muslim population. Abu Ali attended school at Islamic Saudi Academy, where he graduated valedictorian. He started to study engineering at the University of Maryland, but changed his mind.
His father, originally from Jordan, works for the Saudi embassy. His mother is a pharmacist. Abu Ali returned to Virginia from Saudi Arabia in August of 2000. He was known to attend his family mosque five times a day. The imam there says he did not notice any change in him.
IMAM JOHARI ABDUL-MALIK, DAR AL-HIJRAH ISLAMIC CENTER: Well, I saw consistent development. I didn't see anything inconsistent either before or after he was in Saudi Arabia.
ARENA: Abu Ali was in the United States during the September 11 attacks. He spoke about them with a close family friend, Shaker el- Sayeed.
SHAKER EL-SAYEED, FAMILY FRIEND: Uncle, the only way to change the world to any better place, if there is a chance, is through education. We have to learn our religion, and we have to teach it and apply it in our life.
ARENA (on camera): Still, according to the government, immediately upon his return to Saudi Arabia in September of 2002, he told his former roommate that he wanted to join al Qaeda.
(voice-over): About the same time, el-Sayeed, who has known Abu Ali since he was born, went to visit him.
EL-SAYEED: He was also a person who was about, you know, serious about his life. He wants a future in which he would do something good for people around him.
ARENA: The indictment lists some of the things found at Abu Ali's home in Virginia, a document on conducting surveillance, another praising the September 11 attacks, audiotapes promoting violent jihad, and a book written by al Qaeda's number two, Ayman al Zawahiri.
EL-SAYEED: If we are going to try people for having books at their home, we better try people who incite violence publicly in books that they wrote.
ARENA: His parents say they trust the truth will eventually come out, pitting a life story against the bare bones of an indictment. Many supporters say even if he is convicted, they will never believe what they say are trumped-up charges.
Kelli Arena, CNN, America Bureau, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: As for President Bush, he's making the last stop in his European fence-mending tour. That tops our look at global stories in the uplink.
Mr. Bush arrived in Brataslava, Slovakia, today. He's the first U.S. president to visit the 12-year-old nation. There he's going to meet tomorrow with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a target of White House criticism lately because feels his decisions have moved Russia away from democracy. Mr. Bush earlier downplayed the rift somewhat as he discussed the upcoming meeting. Listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I've got a close relationship with Vladimir on a personal basis. I have, I expressed some concerns at the European Union yesterday about, you know, some of the -- some of the decisions, such as freedom of the press, that our mutual friend has made. And I look forward to talking to him about his decision-making process.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: And that meeting happens tomorrow.
Tokyo, Japan, now, police on the run. Take a look at this. Two officers checking on a man who ran his car into a building flee when he comes after them with a baseball bat. The police eventually did arrest the man. Today the prime minister of Japan reprimanded his police force and called for more training.
London, England, now, Buckingham Palace insists it is not a snub. Yesterday it raised some eyebrows when it reported that Queen Elizabeth II will not attend the civil marriage ceremony of her son, Prince Charles, and Camilla Parker-Bowles. The palace says the couple wanted a low-key ceremony, and the queen's presence wouldn't allow that. Instead, she'll attend the religious service afterward.
That's a quick look at stories in the uplink.
Every night, CNN's Rudi Bakhtiar scans cyberspace looking for the most popular stories on CNN.com to give you the information that you may not see anywhere else. Rudi is here again tonight to tell us what Web watchers are watching and what they may be missing.
RUDI BAKHTIAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, the Robert Blake murder trial hasn't been getting the kind of TV coverage that the Michael Jackson case has been getting, but it's still pretty popular with the Web surfers. Today his defense lawyers rested their case, a case that may actually come down to forensic science.
So we took the idea of forensic science, did some digging of our own, and found out about something called the CSI effect.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BAKHTIAR: On "CSI," crime scene investigators are playing a big role in solving homicides. They do it by finding the smallest of clues, a strand of hair, a drop of blood, a cigarette butt. By extracting DNA, these TV investigators are able to solve case after case after case.
But fact is far from fiction. Some real-life forensic scientists say shows give people an unrealistic notion of the possibilities of trace evidence. They call it the CSI effect. Professor Max Houck (ph) from West Virginia University says it creates the perception of, quote, "the near-infallibility of forensic science." Instead of taking minutes or even an hour, DNA testing can take as long as a month. And it's not just viewers who are impatient. Prosecutors are also demanding faster results from crime labs. Legal analysts think these shows may have an impact on the justice system, creating impatient jurors who want to see quick test results and not the detailed evidence they have to see.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BAKHTIAR: In fact, you might remember the case just last year of Robert Durst, the millionaire who was accused of murder. The jury consultant on that trial, Robert Hershorn (ph), wanted jurors familiar with shows like "CSI," because he wanted them to understand the importance of a gap in the evidence.
In a survey of 500 people in that jury pool, the defense found that about 70 percent of the viewers were viewers, that is, of "CSI" or similar programs. And Anderson, Durst was acquitted.
COOPER: Well, I, it's not just prosecutors and jurors or potential jurors who are, I guess, benefit or are influenced by sort of this CSI effect.
BAKHTIAR: Exactly. And I was curious about that, so I made some phone calls. I got West Virginia University's director of forensic science on the phone, Dr. Clifton Bishop, who says, yes, criminals, they're watching the exact same shows, and they're learning as well, they're doing things like not licking envelope so that they won't be leaving DNA evidence behind. So this CSI effect is working all the way around.
COOPER: It's interesting, I once talked to a police officer, and I asked him, you know, because I watch "Law and Order" a lot, and I said to him, Why do people talk to the police? Because on all these shows, whenever people talk to police, it's always (UNINTELLIGIBLE). And he said, I don't really know why people do it, but all these criminals continue to talk to us, because they think they can convince you that they're innocent or didn't do it.
BAKHTIAR: Interesting.
COOPER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE). All right, Rudi...
BAKHTIAR: Good show.
COOPER: ... thanks very much. Yes.
360 next, men, women, science, and the brain. Are we simply hardwired to be different? That's the big controversy that has a Harvard professor in some hot water. Tonight we take you beyond the headlines, look at the science, how men and women are really different in the brain.
Plus, an alarming story about rocket fuel in mother's milk, high levels found in women across the country. Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us to explain how this toxin is getting into your body. Also a little later tonight, a tiger roaming by the Reagan presidential library. That's right, I said a tiger. It was shot, it was killed. That's it being taken away. Find out why officials think the tiger might have been someone's pet. Covering all the angles.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Well, the controversy surrounding Harvard University President Lawrence Summers continues. Last month, Summers told a conference that innate differences between the sexes may help explain why men outnumber women in math and science professions.
Now, those comments have made Summers a target of criticism. And since then, he's been fighting for his job. Yesterday he met with school faculty for two hours in an effort to ease some of their anger.
But tonight we wanted to look beyond the controversy. About -- we wanted to look at men and women's brains. And see that when it comes to gray matter, exactly how are men and women different? CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen takes us tonight beyond the headlines.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They notice it when they make dinner. They notice it when they walk the dog.
MICHAEL GURIAN, AUTHOR: There are about 100 identified structural differences between the male and the female brain.
COHEN: Family therapist Michael Gurian and his wife Gayle Reid Gurian say they notice all of the time how differently their brains function. How he tends when they're talking to get right to the point.
M. GURIAN: Your taking in a sorts of stuff. Whereas all I am doing, is I am listening for what I think is the key variable and I hone right in on that and that's very male/female.
COHEN: Gurian, author of the book "What Could He Be Thinking" says when scientists look inside of men's and women's brains, literally with MRI's, they find a biological reason for this difference.
Women in general have a larger corpus callosum. That's the area of the brain that handles communication between the two hemispheres. So the 2 sides talk better to each other. That's one theory as to why studies show women tend to multi-task better.
M. GURIAN: Female brain approach: gather a lot of material, gather a lot of information, feel a lot, hear a lot, sense a lot.
COHEN: MRI's show men on the other hand tend to move information more easily within each hemisphere. M. GURIAN: Men, because we tend to compartmentalize our communication into a smaller part of the brain, we tend to be better at getting right to the issue.
COHEN: MRI's also show men have more activity in mechanical and spatial centers of the brain. So, does that mean scientists think men really do have better inmate science and math abilities? In a way, yes.
Neuropsychiatrist Ruben Girst studies the differences between men's and women's brains.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our top performers on spatial tasks were almost all men.
COHEN: But scientists say in other way, women's brains are superior. Women have more activity in verbal centers, and in general have 15 percent more blood flow to the brain.
M. GURIAN: You're going to be able to do a lot more with 15 percent more blood flow.
COHEN: Researchers point out of course there are women who do highly complicated math and science. And there are men with great verbal skills. It's not black and white. There's a lot of gray matter when you're talking about human brain.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COHEN: Now, based on what we know about our wiring, psychologists have developed tests that show some of the differences between the sexes. Now, as you'll see in a moment, certain traits tend to be more male and others more female.
Now Anderson, we have a simple quiz for you and for everyone at home. And we have four questions. I am sure you will do great, Anderson. You will have 10 seconds to figure out the right answer. Now, pay attention because at the end there will be a prize. No kidding. No surprises prizes.
We will tell you why you will probably do well on some and maybe not so well on others. Let's take a look at question No. 1.
Which frame do you see below does not contain either of the fruits on the top. All right 10 seconds, go.
COOPER: What. None of them do.
COHEN: Oh, Anderson, try harder.
COOPER: What, I can't -- the colors. The colors are all different?
COHEN: Oh, oh excuses, excuses. COOPER: Well no, of course they have strawberries. The one in the middle doesn't contain the strawberry. I thought it had to be the same black color.
COHEN: No, that registers as a wrong answer. The middle one would be the correct answer. It doesn't contain either of the fruits.
All right. Question 2, look at shape on the top. Find the same shape below. Go!
COOPER: The one in the middle.
COHEN: Wow. The one in the middle, wow, we will give everyone a few more second. You must be speedy here.
OK, Anderson, there you go. You were right.
COOPER: OK.
COHEN: It's the one in the middle.
COOPER: Should I not say the answer? I won't say the answers...
COHEN: OK. Don't say the answers to the end so everyone can play along.
Question three, look the at color range on the top. Find the same color range below. 10 seconds.
COOPER: I love the cheesy music. OK, my answer is the one on the right.
COHEN: Sorry. It's the one on the left. Oi, is right. You got that one wrong.
OK. Question 4, which shape below is different from the shape on the top? Again, 10 seconds.
COOPER: This is terrible.
COHEN: Do, do, do, do, do, do.
COOPER: Let's see, I don't know. The one on the right.
COHEN: You are wrong. It's the middle one.
Oh, Anderson. I am so sorry. You are still smart. You're still smart. Don't worry. Don't get too down about it.
Now, what does this all mean? Well, women tend to be generally very good at visual memory task and about distinguishing between subtle hints at details. So the rainbow was a subtle hint of detail. Women tend to be better at that.
Good visual memory. Men are actually great at visual things, it's the memory they have a problem with. Now, men tend to be good at figuring out a shape. How things rotate. That star was rotated and you had to rotate that in your head. Men tend to better at that.
Also, men tend to be better at seeing things in 3-dimensions. And that's what those cubes are all about.
So, again, this is not 100 percent. It is not -- it doesn't mean if you didn't answer like a man, but you're a woman that actually a man, these are all sort of generalizations. So, keep that in mind. They're generalizations about how men's and women's brains work.
COOPER: I'm glad that's what it means. I clearly, am just not very good at anything. Elizabeth Cohen, thanks very much.
COHEN: Thanks.
COOPER: Mothers beware. Rocket fuel in breast milk. An alarming new study finds moms in 36 states have dangerous contaminants in their breast milk. How could this happen? Tonight, what you need to know about what you might be passing on to your child.
A 600-pound tiger on the loose near Los Angeles. Shot and killed, just hundreds of yards from a popular soccer field. Tonight, the latest on where the beast came from and how it broke free. 360 continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: In "Justice Served" tonight, there is legal drama playing out and in the quiet neighborhood in Connecticut. And it centers around a simple question that is perhaps not simple at all: can the government take away your home? Not for a public project like building a highway or building a park, but take your home and hand it over to big private developers?
The city of New London wants to take several people's homes against their will and hand the property over to developers.
Now, I think a lot of us would be surprised to here this A, legal, and B, possible and it happens all of the time. The question is, could it happen to you? Once again, here is CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOOBIN: Matt Dery has lived his whole life in Fort Trumbull, a working-class neighborhood of New London, Connecticut. His grandmother moved here more than a century ago.
MATT DERY, FORT TRUMBULL HOMEOWNER: She purchased the property that this house is on around 1903.
TOOBIN: Now he and his neighbors have been told to move out. Sell or forcibly be evicted.
DERY: They said if we didn't sell to them that they would take the property by imminent domain.
TOOBIN: The statue allows city officials to condemn private property for public use. Traditionally to build highways, schools, and rebuild blighted area. The city of New London concedes that the area is not a slum, but it's classified by the state of Connecticut as distressed.
City officials want to hand over the 90 acres of riverfront property to a private developer to build a hotel complex and condominiums. They argue that the term public use includes private economic development.
WESLEY HORTON, SHIELDS & KNOX: You can't have one rule for roads and another rule for blight and a third rule for economic development. It's all the same thing.
TOOBIN: Michael Rikon, an expert on imminent domain law, thinks some cities have gone too far.
MICHAEL RIKON, GOLDSTEIN, GOLDSTEIN, RIKON AND GOTTLIEB: I believe that sponsor, developers with great deal of money have the ability to lobby more successfully than small property owners.
TOOBIN: Seeing the opportunity to revitalize the area, the city adopted the redevelopment plan five years ago. Two years after the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer had agreed to build a $270 million research facility nearby. Ninety homeowners have taken the offer and moved. Matt and his remaining six neighbors have not.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is where we live, this where our hearts are and this is where we plan to stay.
TOOBIN: A Supreme Court ruling is expected by late June, likely will likely serve as a precedent for similar case around the country.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Jeffrey Toobin joins us now. I mean, it's a -- I've read about Robert Moses, here in New York, doing this to build highways and parks and the like. But to do it for private developers, can you fight it at all?
TOOBIN: You know, unless the Supreme Court decides otherwise, the answer is really no. You can fight about price and people do fight about the market value of their house. But if they condemn your house, if they used the power of imminent domain, you're out of luck.
COOPER: And this can happen in suburbs and cities, anywhere?
TOOBIN: It can happen anywhere. It's likely to happen where big business wants to go. So, it happens mostly in cities. But if they want to build a Wal-Mart that the community thinks is valuable, if they want to build a stadium, those kind of things in suburbs as well.
COOPER: And when you say -- I mean, unless the Supreme Court rules differently, the only way it fight it -- what you're really saying, the only thing to fight is about the price. I mean, you just try to get as much money as you can?
TOOBIN: That's right. This would be an example of stopping the process of saying we could keep their home, if the Supreme Court rules for the homeowners here. But the current state of the law is, you have no right to fight. The only thing you can fight about is the price.
COOPER: How common is this? I mean...
TOOBIN: Well, the group that brought this case said, five -- said 50,000 cases -- I am sorry, 10,000 cases over five years. No one really knows. because you don't have to report it. Municipalities do it all the time. There's no central clearing house of information.
COOPER: So, unless it's brought up in court, there's no way to track it?
TOOBIN: Exactly.
COOPER: Interesting. Jeffrey Toobin, thanks.
TOOBIN: OK.
COOPER: Well, 360 next, a chemical found in rocket fuel has been found in mother's breast milk. We're going to try to get to the bottom of how this could happen and What you can do about it.
Plus, a tiger, perhaps somebody's pet, shot and killed after roaming the hills of a California town, around the Reagan Library, was near a soccer field. You're going to hear from the man who helped in the hunt.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Well, this next story will probably sound awfully frightening to the millions of women who've been told that, for babies, there's nothing better -- or no better nourishment than breast milk. It provides protein and carbohydrates, fat, minerals, vitamins and enzymes to the babies. But apparently, that is not all it is providing. A new studies says that in dozens of states here in America, mothers breast milk contains a chemical used to make, of all things, rocket fuel. CNN senior medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta had more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Rockets are probably the last thing that come to mind when you think of breast feeding. But new research finds that Prechlorate, a toxic part of rocket fuel, is found in breast milk at potentially damaging level. Turns out people are exposed through run-off water in irrigation of crops.
Prechlorate can make it into tap water and grow in fruits and vegetables irrigated by contaminate water. Now a new study by researches are Texas Tech University, looked at 36 women in 18 states. Levels five to eight times higher than those considered safe by the EPA were found in those mother's breast milk. The Environmental Protection Agency is currently reviewing the paper.
RICHARD WILES, ENVIRONMENTAL WORKING GROUP: It's without question that the majority of infants will exceed what EPA considers a safe dose.
GUPTA: Nursing mothers eat Prechlorate contaminated foods and pass it through breast milk to their nursing children. Higher levels can affect the thyroid gland and negatively impact brain development.
WILES: What you need is a high exposure for a relatively short period of time that can affect brain development and produce IQ deficits and in worst cases, even mental retardations.
GUPTA: That's a serious price for nursing babies and their mothers. And it's spurring strong reaction.
SANDRA STEINGRABER, MOTHER AND BIOLOGIST: I think that most women see their relationship between the nursing infant and themselves as a one of a kind of sacred communion.
GUPTA: At home, there is no way to control Prechlorate level. You can't wash it off you're produce, you can't filter it out of your water with traditional system. And there are no commercial test. For now, women like Steingraber are still focusing on the bigger picture.
STEINGRABER: In my mind, the answer to this is not to take babies back to formula, which is an inferior food for babies, but rather to get the chemicals on out of the environment in the first place and out of women's breasts.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA: And a really difficult situation, Anderson. We can't give a lot of good advice in terms of trying to get the Prechlorate out of the diet. Talked to a lot officials about this. What they can tell us is this, breast feeding is still a very good way to feed your child. And it is associated with a lot of positive benefits, including a lower risk of SIDS, higher IQ, better development as well. They have to straighten this Prechlorate issue out and we're certainly going to keep you posted on that, Anderson.
COOPER: Prechlorate, though, I mean, do they know for a fact that it affects the mental ability? Could it be something else.
GUPTA: You know, for a long time breast milk has been tested. Decade ago, it actually had high levels of pesticide in it, and the EPA went back and cleaned up the pesticides. Breast milk became much cleaner overall. Prechlorate, there's nothing really good about it when it comes to the body. There had been some studies done, to answer you question directly, showing a direct link between Prechlorate levels, higher levels and delayed development in children. So, yes, there is a causal link here.
COOPER: All right, Dr. Sanjay Gupta thanks. Coming next on 360, a tiger tracked down, shot and killed, roaming around near the Reagan Presidential Library. The question is, how did it get there? Was it wild or somebody's pet? We're going to talk to the man who helped in the hunt.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Well, so ends the story of that tiger on the loose near the Ronald Reagan Memorial Library in Moor Park, California. It could have been worse. No human was hurt after all, but then it was bad enough. The tiger had to be killed.
Authorities say that there may be between 5,000 and 13,000 tigers in private hands in America. L.A. police will be looking for those in their area that have exotic pet licenses trying to discover who let the cat that was killed today out in the first place, and failed to report the escape, which might have just saved the animal's life?
Joining us from Moor Park is Marty Wall from the California Fish & Wildlife Department. He was there today at end of that sad affair.
Marty, thanks for being with us. How hard was it tracking this tiger?
MARTY WALL, CALIF. DEPT OF FISH & GAME: Well, for the past week or so, it's been very difficult because of the rain. The tracks are only good for a couple of minutes with the kind of rainfall we've been having.
COOPER: Finally today you had a visual on the tiger. How did the end come about?
WALL: Well, we got a report a little bit after 6:00 this morning that a resident had seen it behind his property over by the shopping center. And we responded as did the deputies and the Department of Agriculture wildlife specialists. And it had worked its way into a really tight little draw directly adjacent to the 23 freeway and a park and a middle school.
COOPER: And so what, you surrounded it?
WALL: Well, we got personnel on the hills above it. And it was in a very tight brushy area. We could just see glimpses of it here and there. And the decision was made that tranquilizer just would not be an option with, with the proximity to the neighborhood, and a busy freeway at that time. And the first person that had a clear shot took it.
COOPER: I know this is -- I mean, it's a hard thing, no one wants to do something like that. Was there any alternative?
WALL: Well, you know, we could second-guess these situations very easily after the fact. But when things are happening, things are happening fast. And our primary objective is for public safety, it really cuts our options down. So, we have to make a decision quick.
COOPER: Do you have any idea at this point, or any updates, of where this tiger came from? And why whoever had it didn't report it?
WALL: Well, you know, I can't speak to as that person's motivation, but we are investigating aggressively right now. And attempting to find out exactly who owned this tiger and what the story was with it. And more importantly, why he or she did not come forward and help us.
COOPER: Yes, a lot of questions to be answered by that person. Martin wall, I know it's been a long day and upsetting day on how it ended. We appreciate you being with us today. Thanks very much.
WALL: You are welcome.
COOPER: Martin Wall.
360 next, the Michelin Man with the taste of fine food. Michelin Man's coming to New York. We'll tell you why on the Nth Degree ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Tonight, judgment day to the Nth Degree.
Imagine the fear, imagine the trembling, it was announced today that Michelin, the tire company, whose guide books have become bibles for gourmets the world over is preparing a first ever edition that'll cover and assign those famous Michelin stars to the restaurants right here in New York.
New York. City the excess, city of every kind of cuisine. City of King Kong chefs bestriding their kitchens the way the original bestrode the Empire State. The city of thousand dollar dinners for two, of drinks with diamonds in them, of burgers out of reach but all but royals about. A city till now unrated by Michelin.
There must be trembling today where the creme brulees are made. Shivering among the squid and the octopus slicers. Anxiety, amidst the aioli, grief at the grill, sobbing at the saute pan, the snooty French tasters are coming, the ones who make or break careers who give or take away stars, who anoint and crown or defrock and dash.
We think this would be not be a good week to go out for a high- end bite in New York. The shaking hands are bound to overseas and bound to chop rough and fine, bound to remove from the oven too soon or maybe too late. I would give it a week or two until the city's cooks have taken in the news and maybe taken in a couple of deep breaths.
I'm Anderson Cooper. Thanks for watching 360.
Up next, a very special edition of "PAULA ZAHN NOW" "Breast Cancer Survivor Stories." That starts in about 20 seconds. Thanks for watching 360.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
