Return to Transcripts main page

Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees

What Drove Nichols to Kill?; Who Killed Hariri?

Aired March 15, 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.


RUDI BAKHTIAR, HOST: Good evening from New York. I'm Rudi Bakhtiar. Anderson is in Beirut and will join us in just a moment.
The alleged Atlanta killer is back in court.

360 starts right now.

ANNOUNCER: The man accused of a deadly killing spree appears in court, chained and shackled. Tonight, a 360 look at the charges he faces and what may have driven him to kill.

What should you do in a hostage situation? Would you be able to keep your cool? Tonight, what you need to know if you're faced with death at the hands of a madman.

Who killed Hariri? One month after his assassination, no suspect in custody. Tonight, 360 gets rare access to the Beirut crime scene. Are police really investigating, or try trying to cover up a crime?

And Michael Jackson's accuser returns to the stand for more grilling by Jackson's attorney. Tonight, is the prosecution's case sticking? Or is it doomed by inconsistencies of the witnesses?

This is a special edition of ANDERSON COOPER 360 with Anderson Cooper in Beirut, Lebanon, and Rudi Bakhtiar in New York.

ANDERSON COOPER, HOST: Good evening. I'm Anderson Cooper in Beirut, in Martyr Square.

I'm in a makeshift encampment filled with several hundred young Lebanese determined to stay here, determined to have their voices heard, determined that true democracy comes to Lebanon, determined to get Syria out of this country, a country they have occupied now for decades.

There was a small sign of progress today. Syrian intelligence agents were seen leaving their offices in downtown Beirut, offices they have held for many years now, perhaps a small sign that they are feeling some of the pressure, the pressure being placed on them by these young people here in this camp, by the hundreds of thousands of Lebanese who have demonstrated in the last several days, and by the United States and Europe, who are putting the pressure on Syria to get out and to get out now.

There was an anti-U.S. demonstration also at the U.S. embassy today some 3,000 or so demonstrators, a relatively small demonstration by comparison to what we have seen here this week, pro-Syrian forces calling for the U.S. to stop what they said was interference in Lebanon's affairs.

All of this, of course, began one month ago with the assassination of the former prime minister, Rafik Hariri. In a moment, we're going to show you the scene at the crime scene today. We got some rare access to the crime scene, and there are so many questions about who killed him still.

One month after this man was murdered in broad daylight, a massive, a massive bomb, no one knows who did it, and no one even knows how exactly he was killed. We're going to investigate later on 360.

But right now, let's go back to Rudi Bakhtiar in New York. Rudi?

BAKHTIAR: Thank you, Anderson. We'll be back with you a little later.

We begin tonight with the latest on that anthrax scare at a Pentagon remote mail facility in Washington. This is a story that's been changing all day.

And CNN's America bureau correspondent Jeanne Meserve is on there, the, has the latest from Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Government officials now say it does not appear that the mail facility adjacent to the Pentagon or any other mail facilities were contaminated with anthrax.

Preliminary test results from earlier in the day had reached a different conclusion. Officials say later tests determined the positive results were incorrect.

The scare shut off mail to the entire federal government in Washington, the White House, Capitol Hill, the departments and agencies.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Unfortunately, this is another situation where we have to be vigilant.

MESERVE: The Postal Service once again found itself handing out three-day doses of the antibiotic Cipro protectively to hundreds of its workers.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here we go again.

MESERVE: Their worksite, a postal facility in Northeast D.C., was closed Monday night for testing, and city officials took additional steps.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've also mobilized our hospital network and our epidemiologic surveillance, so they're on the lookout and on alert for any cases that could be related to anthrax. MESERVE: Meanwhile, a flurry of activity for the D.C. Hazardous Materials teams. First, a call from the Internal Revenue Service about a suspicious letter leaking a black substance.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: HazMat tested the material and came up with a high probability of the kind of material that you would use in rat poison.

MESERVE: There was another suspicious letter at CNN's Washington bureau. Testing ruled out a hazard.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MESERVE: Officials are continuing their testing tonight, and precautionary steps as well, until they are absolutely sure they are not dealing with a real threat. They expect definitive results soon, but based on all the information available right now, officials do not believe they have another anthrax attack on their hands, Rudi.

BAKHTIAR: And a little bit of good news there. Jeanne Meserve in Washington, thank you.

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

To Atlanta now. The alleged courthouse killer returned to court today. Shackled and surrounded by guards, Brian Nichols was brought before a magistrate this morning. Nichols is accused of shooting a judge and three others to death. And tonight, we're also learning more about a possible motive, and why a breakdown in police communication may have prolonged his escape.

CNN's Gary Tuchman is following the story and has the very latest for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There was not going to be any skimping on security on this day. Brian Nichols returned to court four days after he escaped from court, but this was a special courtroom in a jail.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning, Mr. Nichols. I'm Judge Cox from (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

MESERVE: And instead of one female deputy escorting him through the hallways and unlocking his handcuffs, Nichols was surrounded by at least 18 men and women, deputies who, incidentally, did not carry firearms. Instead, some armed themselves with TASERs. And yes, his movements were severely restricted, his arms cuffed to his waist, and his feet shackled together.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're here today because of prior charges that have been brought against you...

MESERVE: No formal charges have yet been filed involving the four killings in Atlanta. At this hearing, Nichols was told his rape indictment was enough to leave him in custody while authorities prepare the more serious charges.

Nichols only said four words.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anything else you wish to say or need to ask the court, Mr. Nichols?

BRYAN NICHOLS: Not at this time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, sir.

MESERVE: There are new details of missteps in the hunt for Nichols. Employees of this parking garage say they saw Nichols drive a hijacked vehicle inside, smashing through the entrance gate to get away from police. They say they told the cops to wait in central locations, where all escape routes could be seen.

The garage workers tell CNN the officers instead drove through the garage, and that Nichols walked out of the unguarded exit with two guns visible in the back of his pants.

As for Nichols' possible motivation, sources close to the case say the 33-year-old was upset with what he claims is racial injustice in the justice system. In addition, the woman he held hostage, Ashley Smith, told us...

ASHLEY SMITH, NICHOLS HOSTAGE: He did talk about that he didn't feel like he was guilty. He was not guilty of the rape charge, that he was up against. He felt like he was set up by his ex-girlfriend.

MESERVE: And as far as security in the court goes, CNN has been told that Judge Rowland Barnes' secretary pushed a silent alarm button twice during the siege. It's not clear if anyone responded to it.

Overwhelming security surrounding Brian Nichols will stay in place for his next hearing, which will occur as soon as the promised multitude of new charges are filed against him.

Gary Tuchman, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BAKHTIAR: As we've reported, Brian Nichols held Ashley Smith hostage for seven long, excruciating hours before Smith was able to talk her way out of captivity.

CNN's Heidi Collins goes beyond the headlines with a look at how she survived. Heidi?

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, after hearing the details of what went on that day, you can't help but wonder what you would do in that type of situation.

So we found a hostage negotiating expert and talked to him about what Ashley did right and what she did wrong. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SMITH: I told him that I was supposed to go see my little girl the next morning at 10:00, and I asked him if I could go see her, and he told me no.

COLLINS (voice-over): For former NYPD hostage negotiator Wallace Zeins, one thing is certain. Ashley Smith is alive today because of her ability to stay calm, use her head, and negotiate like a pro.

WALLACE ZEINS, FORMER NYPD HOSTAGE NEGOTIATOR: She was superb. You know what? If she was a police officer, I would want her on my hostage team. She did a fabulous job of maintaining control of her faculties, and his faculties. She controlled him.

COLLINS: We asked Zeins to sit down with us and review the steps Ashley Smith took to make it out alive.

SMITH: My husband died four years ago, and I told him that if he hurt me, my girl wouldn't have a mommy or a daddy.

COLLINS: What is she doing there?

ZEINS: She hit a weak spot on him. She told him about what the most important thing is. And she spoke in nonthreatening words. You know, one thing in hostage negotiating, the longer you talk, the better chance you have of getting out of that situation, because time is on your side. You're developing a rapport.

COLLINS: She is relating to him.

ZEINS: Absolutely.

COLLINS: Already.

SMITH: I talked to him about my family. I told him about things that had happened in my life. I asked him about his family. I asked him why he did what he did.

COLLINS: She questioned him. Is that dangerous?

ZEINS: It's question, you know, questioning the hostage is dangerous. You don't want to get into that situation. You want to speak when spoken to, when taken by a hostage. You want to be able to be calm. Hostage incidents are long.

COLLINS: But at this point, Zeins says, Ashley Smith had already formed a bond with Nichols, who began to trust her.

SMITH: So we went back to my house, and got in the house, and he was hungry, so I cooked him breakfast.

COLLINS: She knows what kind of a violent man she's dealing with, and yet she somehow is able to keep it together well enough to make pancakes for him. ZEINS: Well, she at that point had him under control, the tables reversed. As he makes that exit from that location, he flips flop. What should I do? And he made the choice to surrender through her help.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: I also had a chance to ask Mr. Zeins about the "Atlanta Journal Constitution" reporter who refused to get in the trunk of the car Nichols was trying to force him in. Many of us have heard other experts say never, ever get into a vehicle with a possible attacker. But Zeins says Don O'Briant actually had a 50-50 chance of surviving that decision. It could have gone either way.

He also says if the reporter had known what Nichols had done just moments ago, killed two people, he may have gotten in that car.

BAKHTIAR: Very interesting. Thank you, Heidi.

All right, 360 next, a political assassination. Who done it? Anderson live in Great -- Beirut, with an exclusive look at the murder that sparked a democracy movement.

Also tonight, inconsistencies on the stand. Michael Jackson's accuser faces cross-examination. Does his story hold up? We're going to take a closer look at that.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: And welcome back. I'm Anderson Cooper, live in Beirut, Lebanon, at a tent encampment where hundreds of young Lebanese protesters have been camping out for the last month or so, determined to get Syria out of this country, this country that they have occupied for decades.

All this started, as I said, one month ago, when Lebanon's former prime minister Rafik Hariri, was assassinated, blown up, blown up on -- early one morning about 31 days ago.

Now many people in America probably don't know who Rafik Hariri was, but here, he was an immensely popular former prime minister. He helped rebuild much of Lebanon's downtown, much of Beirut's downtown, this area that we're standing in. They credit him with a resurgence in this country after so much -- so many years of bloody and deadly civil war.

But what has so outraged many Lebanese is that there are no answers about who assassinated Rafik Hariri. It is a murder mystery, and the people here, the Lebanese people here, particularly the young people in this camp, are demanding that murder mystery be solve.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) COOPER (voice-over): This was the scene moments after Rafik Hariri was assassinated, blown apart by a massive explosion. Dozens of cars burn out of control. Rescue workers rush the wounded to a hospital. The former prime minister, his bodyguards, and more than a dozen people just passing by were killed on the spot.

BRENT SADLER, CNN BEIRUT BUREAU CHIEF: There were bodies on the floor here, there were people trying to pull body parts out of burning flames. There was a terrible smell of smoke. There was a smell, obviously, of burnt flesh. It was just terrible.

COOPER: Today, CNN's Beirut bureau chief, Brent Sadler, and I gained rare access to the scene.

(on camera): Now, former prime minister Hariri was traveling in a multivehicle convoy, as he often did. He had many bodyguards with him. They were driving down this road when the blast went off.

But the crater is extraordinarily deep. You get a sense of just how strong the explosive device was.

These cars, which were parked outside the St. George Hotel, have just been completely destroyed. You can still see the tire burnt onto the wheel. This car has just been completely pushed in, this door, this -- the driver's side door, completely destroyed. The car was engulfed in flames. And it's row after row of cars like this.

This is someone's license plate. It's just been completely destroyed.

Wasn't just former prime minister Hariri who died here. Seventeen other people were killed as well.

(voice-over): What's outraged many Lebanese is that it's been more than a month since Hariri's murder, and the mystery of who killed him and how remains unsolved.

SADLER: There are two theories here, Anderson. One, were there explosives put under the ground, or was there a suicide bomber (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?

COOPER (on camera): And the significance of if it was underground is what, that that took time and perhaps collusion in order to set?

SADLER: Exactly.

COOPER (voice-over): That would seem to implicate the Lebanese government or their Syrian allies. No one else would have time or access to execute this type of attack.

In recent days, a photo has surfaced taken by a tourist near the blast site 36 hours before Hariri was killed. In a cordoned-off area, next to a manhole cover, there appears to be some object sticking out of the ground. Is it a detonation device, as some are suggesting? Crater created by the blast is at least 20 feet from the manhole cover, for the photo's emergence has only increased the speculation and anxiety.

Whoever was behind the brazen bombing, the Lebanese say they just want to know the truth. Hariri's gravesite has become a shrine. Daily thousands of visitors come to pay their respects and shed their tears.

The truth, that's what many Lebanese are now demanding, the truth about who killed Hariri, the truth about who really was involved.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: And even now, well past 2:00 a.m. here in Beirut, Lebanon, you can still see people coming to light candles at a picture of Rafik Hariri. His shrine is also still open.

CNN has just received word a short time ago that the U.N., which has been investigating this assassination along with Lebanese forces, the Lebanese forces are in control of the investigation, but the U.N. have announced that they have concluded their investigation. They are going to be returning to New York to report their findings to the U.N. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Kofi Annan sometime next week.

The people in this camp will be listening very closely. If it is proved that there is some link between the people who killed Rafik Hariri and the Lebanese government or their Syrian allies, that will have major implications, major ramifications for what happens next in this push for democracy here in Lebanon.

We're going to have more from Beirut a little bit later on 360.

Right now, let's get a check of the headlines with Erica Hill in New York. Hey, Erica.

ERICA HILL, CNN HEADLINE NEWS: Hey, Anderson. Good to see you.

Topping the headlines at this hour, Italian troops could be leaving Iraq as soon as September. That's the word from Prime Minister Sylvio Berlusconi, who says he's begun discussions with U.S. and Iraqi officials about a partial withdrawal. Berlusconi faces widespread public opposition to Italy's presence in Iraq. Those sentiments were further inflamed by the accidental shooting of an Italian secret agent by U.S. forces in Iraq.

Former WorldCom CEO Bernard Ebbers has been found guilty on all nine counts of fraud of his role in a massive accounting scandal that plunged the company into bankruptcy. Ebbers could spend the rest of his life in prison. Sentencing is set for June 13. Ebbers' attorney says they will appeal.

The Bush administration is issuing new rules aimed at limiting mercury pollution. The EPA says coal-burning power plants produce 48 tons of mercury pollution every year. And with the new rules, they say, that number will be cut in half in 15 years. The change will raise electricity prices, but is intended to help protect babies and young children from nerve damage associated with exposure to mercury. In Miami, a suspected burglar clad only in his underwear found himself in a built of a pickle today, allegedly trying to break into one home, but when police arrived, he jumped 12 feet to the roof of a house next door, which was, by the way, scorching hot. The man was eventually hauled away by members of a SWAT team.

And Rudi, that's the latest from here in Atlanta. I'll send it back to you.

COOPER: Who robs a house in their boxers, Erica?

HILL: Can you imagine? I mean, put some pants on, please.

COOPER: Thank you.

All right, 360 next, doctors warn it could be the next global pandemic, the avian flu. Our 360 M.D., Sanjay Gupta, has medical news you won't want to miss.

Also tonight, Michael Jackson's accuser grilled by the defense. Find out if his story held up under pressure.

Plus, rock star and Hall of Famer Bono. Our one-on-one interview. Find out how he's using fashion to help save the world. We're covering all the angles.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Welcome back. everyone.

Some health experts are raising warning flags about an extremely deadly though rare disease called the avian or bird flu. They say the world is in grave danger of a deadly pandemic triggered by the virus if it starts mutating and gains the ability to spread more easily among people.

This week, 360 M.D. Sanjay Gupta is looking into such dangerous superbugs. Here's his report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The year was 1918. A virus wreaked havoc on populations around the world. Close to 40 million people lost their lives to influenza.

But Karen Wilbur survived.

KAREN WILBUR, 1918 FLU PANDEMIC SURVIVOR: It was so bad that many of the houses had the caskets lined up on the porch.

GUPTA: Eighty-seven years later, a different strain of the flu threatens once again. It's known as strain H5N1, for avian influenza. For now, it is rare, but make no mistake. It is very deadly, killing the Hong Kong government says, almost two-thirds of people infected.

In some ways, 10-year-old Hong An is a modern-day Karen Wilbur. She is one of more than 50 people in Southeast Asia to catch the virus, and one of only a handful in Vietnam to have survived.

HONG AN, AVIAN FLU SURVIVOR (through translator): It was so hard to breathe. My chest hurt so much, I thought I was going to die.

GUPTA: She got avian flu from her pet duck. Others got the virus from chickens or geese.

In South Asia, they all had one thing in common. They depend on these animals for companionship, for food, or as a means to make a living.

Avian flu itself is not new. It has been around for over a century in these animals. But it's only within the last decade that humans have gotten sick from the virus. Experts worry that this is a sign of genetic mutation and say if human-to-human transmission becomes possible, that could be the start of another worldwide pandemic.

DR. KLAUS STOHR, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: This virus can change, can mutate, and then acquire the capacities for rapid, sustained, permanent human-to-human transmission without the animal reservoir. That virus will travel around the world in less than six to eight months.

GUPTA: But this is not 1918. The same technology that allows humans to travel so quickly around the globe also provides better medicine and better protection. Most scientists agree that a repeat of the catastrophic losses of 1918 is unlikely.

Thanks to rapid treatment, Hong An's bout with avian flu has come and gone. She has come back to the hospital for a checkup, but her mother still worries. An gets tired very easily, doesn't eat much, and isn't doing as well in school.

THANH CHAU, HONG AN'S MOTHER (through translator): When we heard it was avian flu, we didn't think she'd survive. We started making plans for her funeral. When she recovered, we thought we were the luckiest people ever.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Michael Jackson's accuser returns to the stand for more grilling by Jackson's attorney. Tonight, is the prosecution's case sticking, or is it doomed by inconsistencies of the witnesses?

360 continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BAKHTIAR: Holes punched in the case against Michael Jackson. We're covering all the angles -- 360, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BAKHTIAR: The case against Michael Jackson will ultimately boil down to credibility, mainly the credibility of the accuser, his brother and sister. The jury have to determine if their testimony is truthful or not.

Tonight, we're going to take a closer look at what they have told the court, going beyond the headlines to see if their words are helping or hurting the prosecution's case. CNN Senior Legal Analyst Jeff Toobin reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST (voice-over): "Michael never did anything to me:" the words that Michael Jackson's accuser admitted he said to the dean of his school, the words that could bring the state's case crashing down. It was just one of several apparent inconsistencies in the alleged victim's story.

On March 10, he took the stand, claiming he was told my Jackson that a man who doesn't masturbate could end up raping a girl. On March 14, during cross-examination, Jackson's lawyer Thomas Mesereau confronted him with a statement he made to the police, that his grandmother told him that. "Why did your story change?" Mesereau demanded. The boy responded that he had heard that from both of them.

The accuser also said that he never spoke to Jay Leno but just left a message on his voicemail. The defense says Leno will testify that he did talk to the boy, who hit the comedian up for cash.

There were also apparent inconsistencies in the testimony of the victim's brother. March 29, 2004, the alleged victim's brother testified to the grand jury that he saw Michael Jackson touching his older brother. He set the scene, talking about vodka and two glasses sitting on a night table, saying, "I got grossed out and I got scared and I left," after witnessing the alleged molestation. March 7, 2005, the same boy took the stand at the trial. When asked if he saw any liquor in Jackson's bedroom, he said, "I don't think so." On April 15, the boy testified to the grand jury again, claiming that while standing on the stairs leading to Jackson's bedroom, he saw his older brother being molested, adding, "I stood there for like, about a minute, and then I left." But at the trial, defense attorney Mesereau confronted him with an earlier statement he made to sheriff's investigators in which he said he witnessed the alleged incident while sitting on the couch.

The 14-year-old spent three days on the witness stand as Jackson's attorney hammered away at his testimony, getting him to admit he lied in a deposition for a civil suit four years ago. And in a particularly dramatic moment, Mesereau pointed out to the jury that a sexually explicit magazine that the accuser's brother said Jackson had showed them was dated August 2003, months after the boys stopped visiting Neverland ranch. The boy responded that they were showing the same magazine but a different issue.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

Troubling contradictions, and maybe Michael Jackson's best hope for exoneration.

BAKHTIAR: So tell me, Jeffrey, how bad are these discrepancies for the prosecution's case?

TOOBIN: You know, they are serious, Rudi. I mean, these are big differences. Problems in the testimony. However, you got to remember, these are kids who are testifying, and sometimes jurors cut kids slack. They don't have the same expectations for kids being consistent, so it may be that they simply believe the core of the government's case.

BAKHTIAR: Jeff, what about the fact that we have heard a legal analyst calling this child a lying little punk and we've heard about him misbehaving in school. Is the jury going to take that into consideration?

TOOBIN: You know, these are credibility determinations, you know, how a jury sizes someone up. It's very hard to evaluate; it's a problem. This testimony surely did not go in the way the government wanted it to, but that doesn't mean the jury is simply going to disregard what the kid said. Remember, this is also a cancer survivor, a 16-pound tumor removed from his stomach. The jury is going to have some sympathy for him. Maybe that means they'll just believe everything he said on direct examination.

BAKHTIAR: I can imagine.

Let's talk about where they go from here.

TOOBIN: OK. Unfortunately for the government, it's downhill from here. The next big witness for the prosecution is the accuser's mother who has even bigger credibility problems, who has admitted cheating on welfare, who has a history of making allegations that have not been supported. So, again, Michael Jackson's defense may have some good days ahead of them.

BAKHTIAR: All right. Remains to be seen.

Legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, thank you.

360, next: doctors thought she would certainly die, but now she's returning to school. We're going to tell you a story some say is a medical miracle.

Also tonight, he's accused of taking steroids, so why won't baseball star Jason Giambi testify before Congress?

Plus, he's made many hits as a rock star, and he's led an effort to save Africa. We're going to talk with U2 frontman Bono to hear what he's doing next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BAKHTIAR: There was an extraordinary moment this week for an extraordinary girl. Jeanna Giese returned to her Wisconsin high school where she was honored at an emotional ceremony. The teenager did something no other person in the world has reportedly every done: she survived rabies without a vaccine. Her parents call it a miracle, and there are many who agree. CNN's Gary Tuchman has more on her amazing recovery.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: She was a healthy 15- year-old, at church in her hometown of Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin, when a bat started flying around, landing on the floor. Jeanna Giese, asked her mother if she could pick it up.

ANN GIESE, JEANNA'S MOTHER: I never thought anything about it. I said, sure, if you want to. Because I won't do it. So, she picked up by the tips of the wings and took it out. And then as she set in the tree it had reached over and just bit her on the finger.

TUCHMAN: The cut healed quickly, and her parents didn't worry about it -- until Jeanna got very sick a month later and was diagnosed with rabies. It was too late for a vaccine to do any good.

Dr. RODNEY WILLOUBY, CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF WISC.: The best thing to do would be to provide comfort care, and let the disease take its course.

TUCHMAN (on camera): So you told the parents their daughter was going to die.

WILLOUBY: Yes, and it's not an easy thing to do.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): And that's why what happened 72 days later was so amazing -- Jeanna went home. A medical first. The world's only known survivor of rabies without a vaccination.

A. GIESE: We don't know why Jeanna was one God saved, but he did. (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

TUCHMAN: Jeanna's damaged nerves are still reconnecting, so it's not that easy for her to walk and talk.

(on camera): So, you're a star basketball player?

JEANNA GIESE, RABIES SURVIVOR: Yes.

TUCHMAN: Volleyball player?

J. GIESE: Yes.

TUCHMAN: What else?

J. GIESE: Softball.

TUCHMAN: Soft. What position do you play in softball?

J. GIESE: Second base.

TUCHMAN: OK. So how soon you might be at second base?

J. GIESE: Soon. TUCHMAN (voice-over): And that doctors say is a realistic goal, because here improvement at rehab in Fond Du Lac -- has been as dramatic as the experimental treatment that saved her life in Milwaukee. Doctor's purposely put Jeanna into a coma, as a team of specialist, lead by Dr. Rodney Willouby, hoped medicine would protect her brain while her immune system would fight the rabies.

WILLOUBY: It's outside of our understanding of the -- of biology and medicine, as it stood a couple of months ago. And so, it's miraculous. Will it work again, I sure hope so. In which case, it become science as well as miracle.

TUCHMAN: Jeanna is now out of danger.

A. GIESE: Conjugate it for me. Tell me how -- tell me you go to bed at night.

J. GIESE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

TUCHMAN: And getting tutored at home, ready to return to school full time later this month.

JOHN GIESE, JEANNA'S FATHER: My main goal was just to keep thinking it was going do work out.

J. GIESE: Catch it, mom.

TUCHMAN: She lost muscle mass, but not her intellect or sense of humor.

TUCHMAN (on camera): Do you get tired of going the therapy.

J. GIESE: Sometimes.

TUCHMAN: Do you tell your parents, you know what, I don't want to go to physical therapy today?

J. GIESE: Yes.

TUCHMAN: And what do they say to you?

J. GIESE: Too bad. You're going.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): Jeanna has received hundreds of letters and packages from around the world, leaving her very emotional.

J. GIESE: Dear, Jeanna, I just had to give you a note to tell you how much I love and care about you.

TUCHMAN: Emotional and very grateful.

Gary Tuchman, CNN, Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BAKHTIAR: Understandably emotional. Well, from positive to negative, conflicting anthrax tests at a Pentagon mail facility.

Erica Hill has the headlines making news -- Erica.

HILL: Yes, Rudi, conflicting tests and a lot of nerves there. But officials now say, all tests for anthrax at Pentagon postal facilities have come back negative. And they expect similar results in additional testing. Three mail facilities were closed down after initial test came back positive. But all of them could open as earlier as tomorrow.

New York Yankees slugger Jason Giambi will not have to testify Thursday at a House hearing on steroids. An Congressional official tells CNN Giambi excused at the request of the Justice Department, which is investigating steroid use in Major League Baseball. Giambi was one of seven current or former players subpoenaed to appear before the committee.

The wedding of Prince Charles and Camille Parker-Bowles will be a very private. Royal officials say the media will be kept away from the civil ceremony, and only 30 people are expected to attend. Don't look for Queen Elizabeth among them. In what is widely seen at a snub, Princes Charles' mother will not attend the April 8 ceremony at the Windsor Town Hall.

Very top of Africa's Mt. Kilimanjaro is visible for the first time in 11,000 years, and that is not a good thing. Snow and ice around the summit have almost completely disappeared 15 years sooner than scientists had predicted. Environmentalist warned, it's just another sign that global warming in indeed real. And similar melting in the Himalayas -- Himalayas rather, could result in a water shortage for millions of people in China, India and Nepal. And that, obviously, causing a great amount of concern.

And with that, Rudi, we'll hand it back to you.

BAKHTIAR: All right, thanks.

360 next, U2's Bono. This hall of fame rocker tells us about his new effort to help save the world.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BAKHTIAR: And that was Bono and his band, U2 rocking New York City last November with a surprise concert. The group was promoting his latest CD, "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb." The CD was a smash, and since its release, Bono has been busy, busy, busy rocking and trying to save the world, all while he and U2 accepted one of the music industry's top honors. He slowed down, just long enough, to chat with our Anderson Cooper for tonight's "Current."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER (voice-over): Bono and "The Boss" rocking out at the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in New York last night. Bono's band, U2, became one of the new inductees. With 30 years together, they're still topping the charts, still bringing down the house.

BONO, ENTERTAINER: Born in the USA, my arse.

COOPER: Bono, however, has touched people with more than just his music. His work on behave of HIV/AIDS, third world debt, and Africa has been relentless and effective, prodding politicians, using governments, using his celebrity to effect change, regardless of political orientation.

His latest venture, a line of clothing called Edun, manufactured in Africa and South America. The fabrics, he says, are Earth- friendly, the workers paid a fair wage.

(on camera): I've got to tell you, that when I first read that you guys were doing a clothing line, I was though, oh, man, that's like J.Lo, and Britney Spears. But this is completely different. I mean, this is -- there's -- this is political, as much as everything...

BONO: Well, the first thing that Ali said to me is, I'll only do this if you're not involved in the fashion.

(LAUGHTER)

BONO: So no. The man who brought you the mullet has not got a clothing line.

COOPER (voice-over): Ali is his wife, Ali Hewson. They met as children, dated as teens, and now have four kids of their own. It was their passion for politics that led them to New York fashion designer Rogen Gregory, believing consumers should care as much about who's making the clothes as the clothes themselves.

ALI HEWSON, EDUN: We hope people will buy the clothes because the design is so great. But then also we have to try and make the story as great.

COOPER (on camera): And what is the story behind these clothes?

ROGAN GREGORY, DESIGNER, EDUN: I think it's the story of the chain, where the cotton is grown, where it's sewn, who it's sewn by, what fabric you chose to use. And then from the other way, who designs it and where it's manufactured. All of these separate events, we try to consider.

COOPER (voice-over): For Bono, the beauty of Edun is that it's not about handouts, it's about business.

(on camera): You don't want this to be just charity. You want this to be a viable business.

HEWSON: This is for-profit.

BONO: This is a for-profit business. It's a trade-not-a- (UNINTELLIGIBLE) model, and it's the fishing (ph) for us, not the fish. It's what Africans want, as it turns out. Of course, they need our aid, they need our assistance. There's not enough of it. But what they really desperately want is to do business with us, to do trades with us. And they can't. At the moment, it's very difficult for them.

COOPER (voice-over): Making Edun work may be difficult for Bono. It requires shoppers to care about people very far away.

(on camera): What is it about Africa for you? You guys first went to Ethiopia I think it was in the mid '80s after the Live Aid -- or the -- was it Live Aid?

BONO: Yes.

COOPER: Yes. I mean, was it that trip that sort of changed you?

BONO: I think that's fair. Certainly, yes, it changed both of us. And -- because Africa kind of makes a fool of our idea of equality, really. It's that simple. And you know, it is unacceptable that people can be left to die, for instance, of a preventable, treatable disease like AIDS when you can any Duane Reade here drugs that will save your life. But an African, he can't get them. He's going to die. That's not allowed. That's not acceptable. And by the way, in 50 years' time, history, when it records this moment, we will look like neanderthals.

COOPER: You also see this as a national security issue. That it's not just -- you're not just sort of saying, help Africa out of the goodness of your heart, America or Europe, where ever. You know, a generation of AIDS orphans is growing up, and they're going to grow up angry and alone and -- if you're not reaching out to them. You think this has a national security component.

BONO: Of course I do. Anyone who has -- Africa is not the front line in the war against terror. But it could be soon. It's certainly a training ground. Collapsed states. Afghanistan is a classic example. There's 10 Afghanistans in Africa. My argument is, and the argument of people like me is, wouldn't it be smarter to spend the money now making friends with these people than defending ourselves against them later.

(SINGING)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BAKHTIAR: Got to love U2. All right. Let's find out now what's coming up on "PAULA ZAHN NOW" -- Paula.

PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks so much, Rudi. At the top of the hour, I will have an exclusive interview for the first time, a childhood friend talks about growing up with Brian Nichols. That, of course, is the suspect in the Atlanta courthouse shootings. He says they were very close. He described Nichols as kind of his little brother. His exclusive story and his reaction to this rampage in Atlanta coming up at the top of the hour -- Rudi. BAKHTIAR: All right. I'll be watching. Thanks, Paula.

ZAHN: Thanks.

BAKHTIAR: 360 next, Anderson Cooper is live in Beirut. We're covering all the angles for you. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Martyrs' Square in downtown Beirut. I'm Anderson Cooper. The fire is starting to burn down here a little bit. It's just about 3:00 a.m., and this camp stays open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It's been here now for about a month ever since the former Lebanese prime minter was assassinated.

A lot of young Lebanese men and women determined to stay here until Syria leaves their country and until they have answers about who killed their former prime minister.

This is a supply tent over here. This encampment has really grown over the last several weeks. This camp -- this tent here is filled with donated water from the Lebanese-American community here. It's made a big difference here.

And you see this kind of thing all over the place, the pictures of the former Lebanese prime minister. People have come to light flags (sic), even at this time of night. And there just different groups have set up different tents.

As we walk down here, basically the camp just keeps operating 24 hours a day. The Lebanese police are on the outside of it, but some of these -- the protesters are afraid the Lebanese police are going to come in the middle of the night and tear down the camp. So they stay awake while some of their friends are sleeping inside these tents. Others are on guard duty. They switch off in shifts which goes on, as I said, 24 hours a day.

And you see these signs all over the place, "the truth." People carry them. They write it on their T-shirts. They want the truth about who killed this man, who killed the former prime minister.

We have just gotten word a few hours ago, CNN has confirmed that the U.N. has concluded their investigation into the assassination of former Prime Minister Hariri. They're going to report their findings to Kofi Annan, it's reported, sometime next week.

Now officially, the Lebanese government is in charge of that investigation, and if there is collusion by the Lebanese government, or by their Syrian allies in the assassination of the former minister, there's no telling what kind of an impact that is going to have, not only on these young protesters, but on hundreds of thousands of Lebanese who have been demanding change here.

We will be continuing to report from Beirut. This country on the brink of change. This region on the brink of change all this week. We'll be going to Syria on Thursday and then back here on Friday. I'll see you back here from Beirut tomorrow night.

Right now, let's go to Paula Zahn in New York -- Paula.

ZAHN: Thanks so much, Anderson, travel safely.

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 March 15, 2005 - 19:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RUDI BAKHTIAR, HOST: Good evening from New York. I'm Rudi Bakhtiar. Anderson is in Beirut and will join us in just a moment.
The alleged Atlanta killer is back in court.

360 starts right now.

ANNOUNCER: The man accused of a deadly killing spree appears in court, chained and shackled. Tonight, a 360 look at the charges he faces and what may have driven him to kill.

What should you do in a hostage situation? Would you be able to keep your cool? Tonight, what you need to know if you're faced with death at the hands of a madman.

Who killed Hariri? One month after his assassination, no suspect in custody. Tonight, 360 gets rare access to the Beirut crime scene. Are police really investigating, or try trying to cover up a crime?

And Michael Jackson's accuser returns to the stand for more grilling by Jackson's attorney. Tonight, is the prosecution's case sticking? Or is it doomed by inconsistencies of the witnesses?

This is a special edition of ANDERSON COOPER 360 with Anderson Cooper in Beirut, Lebanon, and Rudi Bakhtiar in New York.

ANDERSON COOPER, HOST: Good evening. I'm Anderson Cooper in Beirut, in Martyr Square.

I'm in a makeshift encampment filled with several hundred young Lebanese determined to stay here, determined to have their voices heard, determined that true democracy comes to Lebanon, determined to get Syria out of this country, a country they have occupied now for decades.

There was a small sign of progress today. Syrian intelligence agents were seen leaving their offices in downtown Beirut, offices they have held for many years now, perhaps a small sign that they are feeling some of the pressure, the pressure being placed on them by these young people here in this camp, by the hundreds of thousands of Lebanese who have demonstrated in the last several days, and by the United States and Europe, who are putting the pressure on Syria to get out and to get out now.

There was an anti-U.S. demonstration also at the U.S. embassy today some 3,000 or so demonstrators, a relatively small demonstration by comparison to what we have seen here this week, pro-Syrian forces calling for the U.S. to stop what they said was interference in Lebanon's affairs.

All of this, of course, began one month ago with the assassination of the former prime minister, Rafik Hariri. In a moment, we're going to show you the scene at the crime scene today. We got some rare access to the crime scene, and there are so many questions about who killed him still.

One month after this man was murdered in broad daylight, a massive, a massive bomb, no one knows who did it, and no one even knows how exactly he was killed. We're going to investigate later on 360.

But right now, let's go back to Rudi Bakhtiar in New York. Rudi?

BAKHTIAR: Thank you, Anderson. We'll be back with you a little later.

We begin tonight with the latest on that anthrax scare at a Pentagon remote mail facility in Washington. This is a story that's been changing all day.

And CNN's America bureau correspondent Jeanne Meserve is on there, the, has the latest from Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Government officials now say it does not appear that the mail facility adjacent to the Pentagon or any other mail facilities were contaminated with anthrax.

Preliminary test results from earlier in the day had reached a different conclusion. Officials say later tests determined the positive results were incorrect.

The scare shut off mail to the entire federal government in Washington, the White House, Capitol Hill, the departments and agencies.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Unfortunately, this is another situation where we have to be vigilant.

MESERVE: The Postal Service once again found itself handing out three-day doses of the antibiotic Cipro protectively to hundreds of its workers.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here we go again.

MESERVE: Their worksite, a postal facility in Northeast D.C., was closed Monday night for testing, and city officials took additional steps.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've also mobilized our hospital network and our epidemiologic surveillance, so they're on the lookout and on alert for any cases that could be related to anthrax. MESERVE: Meanwhile, a flurry of activity for the D.C. Hazardous Materials teams. First, a call from the Internal Revenue Service about a suspicious letter leaking a black substance.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: HazMat tested the material and came up with a high probability of the kind of material that you would use in rat poison.

MESERVE: There was another suspicious letter at CNN's Washington bureau. Testing ruled out a hazard.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MESERVE: Officials are continuing their testing tonight, and precautionary steps as well, until they are absolutely sure they are not dealing with a real threat. They expect definitive results soon, but based on all the information available right now, officials do not believe they have another anthrax attack on their hands, Rudi.

BAKHTIAR: And a little bit of good news there. Jeanne Meserve in Washington, thank you.

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

To Atlanta now. The alleged courthouse killer returned to court today. Shackled and surrounded by guards, Brian Nichols was brought before a magistrate this morning. Nichols is accused of shooting a judge and three others to death. And tonight, we're also learning more about a possible motive, and why a breakdown in police communication may have prolonged his escape.

CNN's Gary Tuchman is following the story and has the very latest for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There was not going to be any skimping on security on this day. Brian Nichols returned to court four days after he escaped from court, but this was a special courtroom in a jail.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning, Mr. Nichols. I'm Judge Cox from (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

MESERVE: And instead of one female deputy escorting him through the hallways and unlocking his handcuffs, Nichols was surrounded by at least 18 men and women, deputies who, incidentally, did not carry firearms. Instead, some armed themselves with TASERs. And yes, his movements were severely restricted, his arms cuffed to his waist, and his feet shackled together.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're here today because of prior charges that have been brought against you...

MESERVE: No formal charges have yet been filed involving the four killings in Atlanta. At this hearing, Nichols was told his rape indictment was enough to leave him in custody while authorities prepare the more serious charges.

Nichols only said four words.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anything else you wish to say or need to ask the court, Mr. Nichols?

BRYAN NICHOLS: Not at this time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, sir.

MESERVE: There are new details of missteps in the hunt for Nichols. Employees of this parking garage say they saw Nichols drive a hijacked vehicle inside, smashing through the entrance gate to get away from police. They say they told the cops to wait in central locations, where all escape routes could be seen.

The garage workers tell CNN the officers instead drove through the garage, and that Nichols walked out of the unguarded exit with two guns visible in the back of his pants.

As for Nichols' possible motivation, sources close to the case say the 33-year-old was upset with what he claims is racial injustice in the justice system. In addition, the woman he held hostage, Ashley Smith, told us...

ASHLEY SMITH, NICHOLS HOSTAGE: He did talk about that he didn't feel like he was guilty. He was not guilty of the rape charge, that he was up against. He felt like he was set up by his ex-girlfriend.

MESERVE: And as far as security in the court goes, CNN has been told that Judge Rowland Barnes' secretary pushed a silent alarm button twice during the siege. It's not clear if anyone responded to it.

Overwhelming security surrounding Brian Nichols will stay in place for his next hearing, which will occur as soon as the promised multitude of new charges are filed against him.

Gary Tuchman, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BAKHTIAR: As we've reported, Brian Nichols held Ashley Smith hostage for seven long, excruciating hours before Smith was able to talk her way out of captivity.

CNN's Heidi Collins goes beyond the headlines with a look at how she survived. Heidi?

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, after hearing the details of what went on that day, you can't help but wonder what you would do in that type of situation.

So we found a hostage negotiating expert and talked to him about what Ashley did right and what she did wrong. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SMITH: I told him that I was supposed to go see my little girl the next morning at 10:00, and I asked him if I could go see her, and he told me no.

COLLINS (voice-over): For former NYPD hostage negotiator Wallace Zeins, one thing is certain. Ashley Smith is alive today because of her ability to stay calm, use her head, and negotiate like a pro.

WALLACE ZEINS, FORMER NYPD HOSTAGE NEGOTIATOR: She was superb. You know what? If she was a police officer, I would want her on my hostage team. She did a fabulous job of maintaining control of her faculties, and his faculties. She controlled him.

COLLINS: We asked Zeins to sit down with us and review the steps Ashley Smith took to make it out alive.

SMITH: My husband died four years ago, and I told him that if he hurt me, my girl wouldn't have a mommy or a daddy.

COLLINS: What is she doing there?

ZEINS: She hit a weak spot on him. She told him about what the most important thing is. And she spoke in nonthreatening words. You know, one thing in hostage negotiating, the longer you talk, the better chance you have of getting out of that situation, because time is on your side. You're developing a rapport.

COLLINS: She is relating to him.

ZEINS: Absolutely.

COLLINS: Already.

SMITH: I talked to him about my family. I told him about things that had happened in my life. I asked him about his family. I asked him why he did what he did.

COLLINS: She questioned him. Is that dangerous?

ZEINS: It's question, you know, questioning the hostage is dangerous. You don't want to get into that situation. You want to speak when spoken to, when taken by a hostage. You want to be able to be calm. Hostage incidents are long.

COLLINS: But at this point, Zeins says, Ashley Smith had already formed a bond with Nichols, who began to trust her.

SMITH: So we went back to my house, and got in the house, and he was hungry, so I cooked him breakfast.

COLLINS: She knows what kind of a violent man she's dealing with, and yet she somehow is able to keep it together well enough to make pancakes for him. ZEINS: Well, she at that point had him under control, the tables reversed. As he makes that exit from that location, he flips flop. What should I do? And he made the choice to surrender through her help.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: I also had a chance to ask Mr. Zeins about the "Atlanta Journal Constitution" reporter who refused to get in the trunk of the car Nichols was trying to force him in. Many of us have heard other experts say never, ever get into a vehicle with a possible attacker. But Zeins says Don O'Briant actually had a 50-50 chance of surviving that decision. It could have gone either way.

He also says if the reporter had known what Nichols had done just moments ago, killed two people, he may have gotten in that car.

BAKHTIAR: Very interesting. Thank you, Heidi.

All right, 360 next, a political assassination. Who done it? Anderson live in Great -- Beirut, with an exclusive look at the murder that sparked a democracy movement.

Also tonight, inconsistencies on the stand. Michael Jackson's accuser faces cross-examination. Does his story hold up? We're going to take a closer look at that.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: And welcome back. I'm Anderson Cooper, live in Beirut, Lebanon, at a tent encampment where hundreds of young Lebanese protesters have been camping out for the last month or so, determined to get Syria out of this country, this country that they have occupied for decades.

All this started, as I said, one month ago, when Lebanon's former prime minister Rafik Hariri, was assassinated, blown up, blown up on -- early one morning about 31 days ago.

Now many people in America probably don't know who Rafik Hariri was, but here, he was an immensely popular former prime minister. He helped rebuild much of Lebanon's downtown, much of Beirut's downtown, this area that we're standing in. They credit him with a resurgence in this country after so much -- so many years of bloody and deadly civil war.

But what has so outraged many Lebanese is that there are no answers about who assassinated Rafik Hariri. It is a murder mystery, and the people here, the Lebanese people here, particularly the young people in this camp, are demanding that murder mystery be solve.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) COOPER (voice-over): This was the scene moments after Rafik Hariri was assassinated, blown apart by a massive explosion. Dozens of cars burn out of control. Rescue workers rush the wounded to a hospital. The former prime minister, his bodyguards, and more than a dozen people just passing by were killed on the spot.

BRENT SADLER, CNN BEIRUT BUREAU CHIEF: There were bodies on the floor here, there were people trying to pull body parts out of burning flames. There was a terrible smell of smoke. There was a smell, obviously, of burnt flesh. It was just terrible.

COOPER: Today, CNN's Beirut bureau chief, Brent Sadler, and I gained rare access to the scene.

(on camera): Now, former prime minister Hariri was traveling in a multivehicle convoy, as he often did. He had many bodyguards with him. They were driving down this road when the blast went off.

But the crater is extraordinarily deep. You get a sense of just how strong the explosive device was.

These cars, which were parked outside the St. George Hotel, have just been completely destroyed. You can still see the tire burnt onto the wheel. This car has just been completely pushed in, this door, this -- the driver's side door, completely destroyed. The car was engulfed in flames. And it's row after row of cars like this.

This is someone's license plate. It's just been completely destroyed.

Wasn't just former prime minister Hariri who died here. Seventeen other people were killed as well.

(voice-over): What's outraged many Lebanese is that it's been more than a month since Hariri's murder, and the mystery of who killed him and how remains unsolved.

SADLER: There are two theories here, Anderson. One, were there explosives put under the ground, or was there a suicide bomber (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?

COOPER (on camera): And the significance of if it was underground is what, that that took time and perhaps collusion in order to set?

SADLER: Exactly.

COOPER (voice-over): That would seem to implicate the Lebanese government or their Syrian allies. No one else would have time or access to execute this type of attack.

In recent days, a photo has surfaced taken by a tourist near the blast site 36 hours before Hariri was killed. In a cordoned-off area, next to a manhole cover, there appears to be some object sticking out of the ground. Is it a detonation device, as some are suggesting? Crater created by the blast is at least 20 feet from the manhole cover, for the photo's emergence has only increased the speculation and anxiety.

Whoever was behind the brazen bombing, the Lebanese say they just want to know the truth. Hariri's gravesite has become a shrine. Daily thousands of visitors come to pay their respects and shed their tears.

The truth, that's what many Lebanese are now demanding, the truth about who killed Hariri, the truth about who really was involved.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: And even now, well past 2:00 a.m. here in Beirut, Lebanon, you can still see people coming to light candles at a picture of Rafik Hariri. His shrine is also still open.

CNN has just received word a short time ago that the U.N., which has been investigating this assassination along with Lebanese forces, the Lebanese forces are in control of the investigation, but the U.N. have announced that they have concluded their investigation. They are going to be returning to New York to report their findings to the U.N. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Kofi Annan sometime next week.

The people in this camp will be listening very closely. If it is proved that there is some link between the people who killed Rafik Hariri and the Lebanese government or their Syrian allies, that will have major implications, major ramifications for what happens next in this push for democracy here in Lebanon.

We're going to have more from Beirut a little bit later on 360.

Right now, let's get a check of the headlines with Erica Hill in New York. Hey, Erica.

ERICA HILL, CNN HEADLINE NEWS: Hey, Anderson. Good to see you.

Topping the headlines at this hour, Italian troops could be leaving Iraq as soon as September. That's the word from Prime Minister Sylvio Berlusconi, who says he's begun discussions with U.S. and Iraqi officials about a partial withdrawal. Berlusconi faces widespread public opposition to Italy's presence in Iraq. Those sentiments were further inflamed by the accidental shooting of an Italian secret agent by U.S. forces in Iraq.

Former WorldCom CEO Bernard Ebbers has been found guilty on all nine counts of fraud of his role in a massive accounting scandal that plunged the company into bankruptcy. Ebbers could spend the rest of his life in prison. Sentencing is set for June 13. Ebbers' attorney says they will appeal.

The Bush administration is issuing new rules aimed at limiting mercury pollution. The EPA says coal-burning power plants produce 48 tons of mercury pollution every year. And with the new rules, they say, that number will be cut in half in 15 years. The change will raise electricity prices, but is intended to help protect babies and young children from nerve damage associated with exposure to mercury. In Miami, a suspected burglar clad only in his underwear found himself in a built of a pickle today, allegedly trying to break into one home, but when police arrived, he jumped 12 feet to the roof of a house next door, which was, by the way, scorching hot. The man was eventually hauled away by members of a SWAT team.

And Rudi, that's the latest from here in Atlanta. I'll send it back to you.

COOPER: Who robs a house in their boxers, Erica?

HILL: Can you imagine? I mean, put some pants on, please.

COOPER: Thank you.

All right, 360 next, doctors warn it could be the next global pandemic, the avian flu. Our 360 M.D., Sanjay Gupta, has medical news you won't want to miss.

Also tonight, Michael Jackson's accuser grilled by the defense. Find out if his story held up under pressure.

Plus, rock star and Hall of Famer Bono. Our one-on-one interview. Find out how he's using fashion to help save the world. We're covering all the angles.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Welcome back. everyone.

Some health experts are raising warning flags about an extremely deadly though rare disease called the avian or bird flu. They say the world is in grave danger of a deadly pandemic triggered by the virus if it starts mutating and gains the ability to spread more easily among people.

This week, 360 M.D. Sanjay Gupta is looking into such dangerous superbugs. Here's his report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The year was 1918. A virus wreaked havoc on populations around the world. Close to 40 million people lost their lives to influenza.

But Karen Wilbur survived.

KAREN WILBUR, 1918 FLU PANDEMIC SURVIVOR: It was so bad that many of the houses had the caskets lined up on the porch.

GUPTA: Eighty-seven years later, a different strain of the flu threatens once again. It's known as strain H5N1, for avian influenza. For now, it is rare, but make no mistake. It is very deadly, killing the Hong Kong government says, almost two-thirds of people infected.

In some ways, 10-year-old Hong An is a modern-day Karen Wilbur. She is one of more than 50 people in Southeast Asia to catch the virus, and one of only a handful in Vietnam to have survived.

HONG AN, AVIAN FLU SURVIVOR (through translator): It was so hard to breathe. My chest hurt so much, I thought I was going to die.

GUPTA: She got avian flu from her pet duck. Others got the virus from chickens or geese.

In South Asia, they all had one thing in common. They depend on these animals for companionship, for food, or as a means to make a living.

Avian flu itself is not new. It has been around for over a century in these animals. But it's only within the last decade that humans have gotten sick from the virus. Experts worry that this is a sign of genetic mutation and say if human-to-human transmission becomes possible, that could be the start of another worldwide pandemic.

DR. KLAUS STOHR, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: This virus can change, can mutate, and then acquire the capacities for rapid, sustained, permanent human-to-human transmission without the animal reservoir. That virus will travel around the world in less than six to eight months.

GUPTA: But this is not 1918. The same technology that allows humans to travel so quickly around the globe also provides better medicine and better protection. Most scientists agree that a repeat of the catastrophic losses of 1918 is unlikely.

Thanks to rapid treatment, Hong An's bout with avian flu has come and gone. She has come back to the hospital for a checkup, but her mother still worries. An gets tired very easily, doesn't eat much, and isn't doing as well in school.

THANH CHAU, HONG AN'S MOTHER (through translator): When we heard it was avian flu, we didn't think she'd survive. We started making plans for her funeral. When she recovered, we thought we were the luckiest people ever.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Michael Jackson's accuser returns to the stand for more grilling by Jackson's attorney. Tonight, is the prosecution's case sticking, or is it doomed by inconsistencies of the witnesses?

360 continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BAKHTIAR: Holes punched in the case against Michael Jackson. We're covering all the angles -- 360, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BAKHTIAR: The case against Michael Jackson will ultimately boil down to credibility, mainly the credibility of the accuser, his brother and sister. The jury have to determine if their testimony is truthful or not.

Tonight, we're going to take a closer look at what they have told the court, going beyond the headlines to see if their words are helping or hurting the prosecution's case. CNN Senior Legal Analyst Jeff Toobin reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST (voice-over): "Michael never did anything to me:" the words that Michael Jackson's accuser admitted he said to the dean of his school, the words that could bring the state's case crashing down. It was just one of several apparent inconsistencies in the alleged victim's story.

On March 10, he took the stand, claiming he was told my Jackson that a man who doesn't masturbate could end up raping a girl. On March 14, during cross-examination, Jackson's lawyer Thomas Mesereau confronted him with a statement he made to the police, that his grandmother told him that. "Why did your story change?" Mesereau demanded. The boy responded that he had heard that from both of them.

The accuser also said that he never spoke to Jay Leno but just left a message on his voicemail. The defense says Leno will testify that he did talk to the boy, who hit the comedian up for cash.

There were also apparent inconsistencies in the testimony of the victim's brother. March 29, 2004, the alleged victim's brother testified to the grand jury that he saw Michael Jackson touching his older brother. He set the scene, talking about vodka and two glasses sitting on a night table, saying, "I got grossed out and I got scared and I left," after witnessing the alleged molestation. March 7, 2005, the same boy took the stand at the trial. When asked if he saw any liquor in Jackson's bedroom, he said, "I don't think so." On April 15, the boy testified to the grand jury again, claiming that while standing on the stairs leading to Jackson's bedroom, he saw his older brother being molested, adding, "I stood there for like, about a minute, and then I left." But at the trial, defense attorney Mesereau confronted him with an earlier statement he made to sheriff's investigators in which he said he witnessed the alleged incident while sitting on the couch.

The 14-year-old spent three days on the witness stand as Jackson's attorney hammered away at his testimony, getting him to admit he lied in a deposition for a civil suit four years ago. And in a particularly dramatic moment, Mesereau pointed out to the jury that a sexually explicit magazine that the accuser's brother said Jackson had showed them was dated August 2003, months after the boys stopped visiting Neverland ranch. The boy responded that they were showing the same magazine but a different issue.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

Troubling contradictions, and maybe Michael Jackson's best hope for exoneration.

BAKHTIAR: So tell me, Jeffrey, how bad are these discrepancies for the prosecution's case?

TOOBIN: You know, they are serious, Rudi. I mean, these are big differences. Problems in the testimony. However, you got to remember, these are kids who are testifying, and sometimes jurors cut kids slack. They don't have the same expectations for kids being consistent, so it may be that they simply believe the core of the government's case.

BAKHTIAR: Jeff, what about the fact that we have heard a legal analyst calling this child a lying little punk and we've heard about him misbehaving in school. Is the jury going to take that into consideration?

TOOBIN: You know, these are credibility determinations, you know, how a jury sizes someone up. It's very hard to evaluate; it's a problem. This testimony surely did not go in the way the government wanted it to, but that doesn't mean the jury is simply going to disregard what the kid said. Remember, this is also a cancer survivor, a 16-pound tumor removed from his stomach. The jury is going to have some sympathy for him. Maybe that means they'll just believe everything he said on direct examination.

BAKHTIAR: I can imagine.

Let's talk about where they go from here.

TOOBIN: OK. Unfortunately for the government, it's downhill from here. The next big witness for the prosecution is the accuser's mother who has even bigger credibility problems, who has admitted cheating on welfare, who has a history of making allegations that have not been supported. So, again, Michael Jackson's defense may have some good days ahead of them.

BAKHTIAR: All right. Remains to be seen.

Legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, thank you.

360, next: doctors thought she would certainly die, but now she's returning to school. We're going to tell you a story some say is a medical miracle.

Also tonight, he's accused of taking steroids, so why won't baseball star Jason Giambi testify before Congress?

Plus, he's made many hits as a rock star, and he's led an effort to save Africa. We're going to talk with U2 frontman Bono to hear what he's doing next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BAKHTIAR: There was an extraordinary moment this week for an extraordinary girl. Jeanna Giese returned to her Wisconsin high school where she was honored at an emotional ceremony. The teenager did something no other person in the world has reportedly every done: she survived rabies without a vaccine. Her parents call it a miracle, and there are many who agree. CNN's Gary Tuchman has more on her amazing recovery.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: She was a healthy 15- year-old, at church in her hometown of Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin, when a bat started flying around, landing on the floor. Jeanna Giese, asked her mother if she could pick it up.

ANN GIESE, JEANNA'S MOTHER: I never thought anything about it. I said, sure, if you want to. Because I won't do it. So, she picked up by the tips of the wings and took it out. And then as she set in the tree it had reached over and just bit her on the finger.

TUCHMAN: The cut healed quickly, and her parents didn't worry about it -- until Jeanna got very sick a month later and was diagnosed with rabies. It was too late for a vaccine to do any good.

Dr. RODNEY WILLOUBY, CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF WISC.: The best thing to do would be to provide comfort care, and let the disease take its course.

TUCHMAN (on camera): So you told the parents their daughter was going to die.

WILLOUBY: Yes, and it's not an easy thing to do.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): And that's why what happened 72 days later was so amazing -- Jeanna went home. A medical first. The world's only known survivor of rabies without a vaccination.

A. GIESE: We don't know why Jeanna was one God saved, but he did. (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

TUCHMAN: Jeanna's damaged nerves are still reconnecting, so it's not that easy for her to walk and talk.

(on camera): So, you're a star basketball player?

JEANNA GIESE, RABIES SURVIVOR: Yes.

TUCHMAN: Volleyball player?

J. GIESE: Yes.

TUCHMAN: What else?

J. GIESE: Softball.

TUCHMAN: Soft. What position do you play in softball?

J. GIESE: Second base.

TUCHMAN: OK. So how soon you might be at second base?

J. GIESE: Soon. TUCHMAN (voice-over): And that doctors say is a realistic goal, because here improvement at rehab in Fond Du Lac -- has been as dramatic as the experimental treatment that saved her life in Milwaukee. Doctor's purposely put Jeanna into a coma, as a team of specialist, lead by Dr. Rodney Willouby, hoped medicine would protect her brain while her immune system would fight the rabies.

WILLOUBY: It's outside of our understanding of the -- of biology and medicine, as it stood a couple of months ago. And so, it's miraculous. Will it work again, I sure hope so. In which case, it become science as well as miracle.

TUCHMAN: Jeanna is now out of danger.

A. GIESE: Conjugate it for me. Tell me how -- tell me you go to bed at night.

J. GIESE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

TUCHMAN: And getting tutored at home, ready to return to school full time later this month.

JOHN GIESE, JEANNA'S FATHER: My main goal was just to keep thinking it was going do work out.

J. GIESE: Catch it, mom.

TUCHMAN: She lost muscle mass, but not her intellect or sense of humor.

TUCHMAN (on camera): Do you get tired of going the therapy.

J. GIESE: Sometimes.

TUCHMAN: Do you tell your parents, you know what, I don't want to go to physical therapy today?

J. GIESE: Yes.

TUCHMAN: And what do they say to you?

J. GIESE: Too bad. You're going.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): Jeanna has received hundreds of letters and packages from around the world, leaving her very emotional.

J. GIESE: Dear, Jeanna, I just had to give you a note to tell you how much I love and care about you.

TUCHMAN: Emotional and very grateful.

Gary Tuchman, CNN, Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BAKHTIAR: Understandably emotional. Well, from positive to negative, conflicting anthrax tests at a Pentagon mail facility.

Erica Hill has the headlines making news -- Erica.

HILL: Yes, Rudi, conflicting tests and a lot of nerves there. But officials now say, all tests for anthrax at Pentagon postal facilities have come back negative. And they expect similar results in additional testing. Three mail facilities were closed down after initial test came back positive. But all of them could open as earlier as tomorrow.

New York Yankees slugger Jason Giambi will not have to testify Thursday at a House hearing on steroids. An Congressional official tells CNN Giambi excused at the request of the Justice Department, which is investigating steroid use in Major League Baseball. Giambi was one of seven current or former players subpoenaed to appear before the committee.

The wedding of Prince Charles and Camille Parker-Bowles will be a very private. Royal officials say the media will be kept away from the civil ceremony, and only 30 people are expected to attend. Don't look for Queen Elizabeth among them. In what is widely seen at a snub, Princes Charles' mother will not attend the April 8 ceremony at the Windsor Town Hall.

Very top of Africa's Mt. Kilimanjaro is visible for the first time in 11,000 years, and that is not a good thing. Snow and ice around the summit have almost completely disappeared 15 years sooner than scientists had predicted. Environmentalist warned, it's just another sign that global warming in indeed real. And similar melting in the Himalayas -- Himalayas rather, could result in a water shortage for millions of people in China, India and Nepal. And that, obviously, causing a great amount of concern.

And with that, Rudi, we'll hand it back to you.

BAKHTIAR: All right, thanks.

360 next, U2's Bono. This hall of fame rocker tells us about his new effort to help save the world.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BAKHTIAR: And that was Bono and his band, U2 rocking New York City last November with a surprise concert. The group was promoting his latest CD, "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb." The CD was a smash, and since its release, Bono has been busy, busy, busy rocking and trying to save the world, all while he and U2 accepted one of the music industry's top honors. He slowed down, just long enough, to chat with our Anderson Cooper for tonight's "Current."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER (voice-over): Bono and "The Boss" rocking out at the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in New York last night. Bono's band, U2, became one of the new inductees. With 30 years together, they're still topping the charts, still bringing down the house.

BONO, ENTERTAINER: Born in the USA, my arse.

COOPER: Bono, however, has touched people with more than just his music. His work on behave of HIV/AIDS, third world debt, and Africa has been relentless and effective, prodding politicians, using governments, using his celebrity to effect change, regardless of political orientation.

His latest venture, a line of clothing called Edun, manufactured in Africa and South America. The fabrics, he says, are Earth- friendly, the workers paid a fair wage.

(on camera): I've got to tell you, that when I first read that you guys were doing a clothing line, I was though, oh, man, that's like J.Lo, and Britney Spears. But this is completely different. I mean, this is -- there's -- this is political, as much as everything...

BONO: Well, the first thing that Ali said to me is, I'll only do this if you're not involved in the fashion.

(LAUGHTER)

BONO: So no. The man who brought you the mullet has not got a clothing line.

COOPER (voice-over): Ali is his wife, Ali Hewson. They met as children, dated as teens, and now have four kids of their own. It was their passion for politics that led them to New York fashion designer Rogen Gregory, believing consumers should care as much about who's making the clothes as the clothes themselves.

ALI HEWSON, EDUN: We hope people will buy the clothes because the design is so great. But then also we have to try and make the story as great.

COOPER (on camera): And what is the story behind these clothes?

ROGAN GREGORY, DESIGNER, EDUN: I think it's the story of the chain, where the cotton is grown, where it's sewn, who it's sewn by, what fabric you chose to use. And then from the other way, who designs it and where it's manufactured. All of these separate events, we try to consider.

COOPER (voice-over): For Bono, the beauty of Edun is that it's not about handouts, it's about business.

(on camera): You don't want this to be just charity. You want this to be a viable business.

HEWSON: This is for-profit.

BONO: This is a for-profit business. It's a trade-not-a- (UNINTELLIGIBLE) model, and it's the fishing (ph) for us, not the fish. It's what Africans want, as it turns out. Of course, they need our aid, they need our assistance. There's not enough of it. But what they really desperately want is to do business with us, to do trades with us. And they can't. At the moment, it's very difficult for them.

COOPER (voice-over): Making Edun work may be difficult for Bono. It requires shoppers to care about people very far away.

(on camera): What is it about Africa for you? You guys first went to Ethiopia I think it was in the mid '80s after the Live Aid -- or the -- was it Live Aid?

BONO: Yes.

COOPER: Yes. I mean, was it that trip that sort of changed you?

BONO: I think that's fair. Certainly, yes, it changed both of us. And -- because Africa kind of makes a fool of our idea of equality, really. It's that simple. And you know, it is unacceptable that people can be left to die, for instance, of a preventable, treatable disease like AIDS when you can any Duane Reade here drugs that will save your life. But an African, he can't get them. He's going to die. That's not allowed. That's not acceptable. And by the way, in 50 years' time, history, when it records this moment, we will look like neanderthals.

COOPER: You also see this as a national security issue. That it's not just -- you're not just sort of saying, help Africa out of the goodness of your heart, America or Europe, where ever. You know, a generation of AIDS orphans is growing up, and they're going to grow up angry and alone and -- if you're not reaching out to them. You think this has a national security component.

BONO: Of course I do. Anyone who has -- Africa is not the front line in the war against terror. But it could be soon. It's certainly a training ground. Collapsed states. Afghanistan is a classic example. There's 10 Afghanistans in Africa. My argument is, and the argument of people like me is, wouldn't it be smarter to spend the money now making friends with these people than defending ourselves against them later.

(SINGING)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BAKHTIAR: Got to love U2. All right. Let's find out now what's coming up on "PAULA ZAHN NOW" -- Paula.

PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks so much, Rudi. At the top of the hour, I will have an exclusive interview for the first time, a childhood friend talks about growing up with Brian Nichols. That, of course, is the suspect in the Atlanta courthouse shootings. He says they were very close. He described Nichols as kind of his little brother. His exclusive story and his reaction to this rampage in Atlanta coming up at the top of the hour -- Rudi. BAKHTIAR: All right. I'll be watching. Thanks, Paula.

ZAHN: Thanks.

BAKHTIAR: 360 next, Anderson Cooper is live in Beirut. We're covering all the angles for you. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Martyrs' Square in downtown Beirut. I'm Anderson Cooper. The fire is starting to burn down here a little bit. It's just about 3:00 a.m., and this camp stays open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It's been here now for about a month ever since the former Lebanese prime minter was assassinated.

A lot of young Lebanese men and women determined to stay here until Syria leaves their country and until they have answers about who killed their former prime minister.

This is a supply tent over here. This encampment has really grown over the last several weeks. This camp -- this tent here is filled with donated water from the Lebanese-American community here. It's made a big difference here.

And you see this kind of thing all over the place, the pictures of the former Lebanese prime minister. People have come to light flags (sic), even at this time of night. And there just different groups have set up different tents.

As we walk down here, basically the camp just keeps operating 24 hours a day. The Lebanese police are on the outside of it, but some of these -- the protesters are afraid the Lebanese police are going to come in the middle of the night and tear down the camp. So they stay awake while some of their friends are sleeping inside these tents. Others are on guard duty. They switch off in shifts which goes on, as I said, 24 hours a day.

And you see these signs all over the place, "the truth." People carry them. They write it on their T-shirts. They want the truth about who killed this man, who killed the former prime minister.

We have just gotten word a few hours ago, CNN has confirmed that the U.N. has concluded their investigation into the assassination of former Prime Minister Hariri. They're going to report their findings to Kofi Annan, it's reported, sometime next week.

Now officially, the Lebanese government is in charge of that investigation, and if there is collusion by the Lebanese government, or by their Syrian allies in the assassination of the former minister, there's no telling what kind of an impact that is going to have, not only on these young protesters, but on hundreds of thousands of Lebanese who have been demanding change here.

We will be continuing to report from Beirut. This country on the brink of change. This region on the brink of change all this week. We'll be going to Syria on Thursday and then back here on Friday. I'll see you back here from Beirut tomorrow night.

Right now, let's go to Paula Zahn in New York -- Paula.

ZAHN: Thanks so much, Anderson, travel safely.

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